Ashen Empire

The Ashen Empire is the major political, military, and economic power that arose after Dagoth Ur conquered all of mainland Tamriel. It is centered in Mournhold and replaced all major kingdoms, with the excellent of the Summerset Isle, over a millenium before 4E 1017. It was founded in 3E 427 (the Empire's foundation marked the start of the 4th Era), after Dagoth Ur took the power of the Heart of Lorkhan. It's governing type is a mix between a monarchy, theocracy, and an oligarcy. It has a powerful church and aristrocracy and a very oppressed lower class of peasants, called serfs or commoners.

The Sixth House
The Sixth House is the religious arm of the Ashen Empire and is also it's bearucratic one. Dagoth Ur adopted the orginzation known as The Ordinators from the recently destroyed Tribunal temple and used them to establish the worship of himself and the Akulakhan. Once he'd conquered all of Tamriel, he wiped out all the other religions, leaving only his own faith left. The Sixth House was adapted from House Dagoth, it's members becoming functionaries and civili servants in the transition from political organization to governing body. The Ordinators are not longer a militant order, but are the buearucrats of the Ashen Empire. They collect taxes, write reports, over see Dagoth Ur's interests in the provinces far from Morrowind, and generally keep the Empire in order. There are many different ranks of in the Ordinators, so there can be any given number of them in a city or province, as there are a large number of fairly low ranking ones. Some Ordinators serve nobles as buearucrats and accountants, hired out from the Sixth House to preform this function.

The Ash Ghouls act as the enforcement wing of the Ashen Empire, rooting out any trouble-makers or malcontents. They pre-emptively deal with rebellions, interrupt crimes that affect the Sixth House, and hunt down mages not of noble standing. They are supernatural beings, enhanced by Dagoth Ur himself to be more lethal in combat and resillient to damage. They excel in defeating mages, and that tends to be their primary function.

The Sixth House is primarily made up of Dunmer. It has two primary headquarters, the Ministry of Truth, in Vivec, and Dagoth Ur's palace in Mournhold.

General nobility
The Great Houses are the nobility and aristocracy of the Ashen Empire. Their purpose, as determined by Dagoth Ur, is to keep the serfs in line. They run plantations, merchantile enterprises, and fund armies. Serfs serve as workers in all three- workers on plantations, traders and sailors for the merchants, and as soldiers in armies- under the command of Great House nobles. Serfs technically belong to Dagoth Ur are only on loan to the nobility. The more powerful a

house, the more serfs it can manage, and thus the greater it's production. The Great Houses are not Dunmer, in the early 4th Era Dagoth Ur replaced all the old Dunmeri families with Imperial ones. This was punishment for the Dunmer openly defying him and not accepting him as their savior. Dominances and cities are ruled by members of the Great Houses, usually heads of a House. Each House has varying power over the Dominances, for example, one House that has almost complete control over Black Marsh may have no influence in High Rock. The most powerful Houses are noted for maintaining Keeps and Mournhold. To build such a residence is incredibly expensive, but worth the pay off, as the sign of status can lead to many great things.

Mages in the Ashen Empire
Since Dagoth Ur suspended all magicka from all of Tamriel except to his nobility there are few mages outside of the Great Houses. Those mages most likely have noble ancestors, probably the result of a noble dallying with a serf mistress or prostitute. All other mages are members of noble houses, and recieve training that way. A mage born on the street has to learn on the street, as Ash Ghouls hunt down any none-noble mages. Magic has not changed much from the way it was in the Third Era. However, the bloodlines have been very deluded. Most mages only have access to one school of magic, and in turn are called Aetherlings. While Aetherlings make up the majority of magic users, there is a second kind of sorcerer: Aetherkin.

Aetherkin have a stronger connection to Aetherius than Aetherlings, and thus can use all the schools of magic. It is like that for a mage- you can either use one, or all of them. However, there is a pay off. Aetherlings all eventually become masters in their lone school. Aetherkin, however, have to spread there attention out over all the schools and thus most only reach about an adept skill level in each. The combination of all that skill though makes Aetherkin inherently dangerous, but not so much that a normal man with enough skill could equal one in a fight.. What really makes Aetherkin dangerous is their access to the spell "Ash Clairvoyance." Created by Dagoth Ur when he ascended into godhood, Ash Clairvoyance allows one to know their enemy's moves before they make them. This can make a skilled enough Aetherkin virtually invincible, dodging every attack as it's made, and knowing exactly where their enemy ends up giving the Aetherkin the exact spot to plant their spell or blade. The only way to combat Ash Clairvoyance is for another Aetherkin to cast it themself. Since both Aetherkin are experiencing Ash Clairvoyance, the spells cancel each other's abilites out. However, Ash Clairvoyance works in a manner similar to Ash Guardian- it requires the expenditure of a Heart Stone to cast, and the power trapped in a Heart Stone determines the length of the effect. Using Ash Clairvoyance in combat requires strategy and competance- many an Aetherkin have died for not packing enough Heart Stones, for using them at the wrong moments.

The Heart Stone Trade
To be added.

The Commoners
The commoners, also known as peasants or serfs, make up the majority of the Empire's population. Unlike the nobility, which is solely made up of the Imperial race, or the Sixth House, which is mainly composed of dunmer, all ten races are part of the commoner class (although an Imperial commoner is very rare). The serfs work in the factories, plantations, and armies of the Ashen Empire. They are a sorrowful, depressed people, lacking any hope of ever improving their status. Serfs reproduce rapidly, which makes up for their frequent deaths. Serf mortality is very high, as they die often from being underfed, over-worked, and mistreated. If serfs don't preform menial labor tasks, like factory working, farming, or ash-sweeping, to name a few, they can join in other professions.

Some serfs work for the military, as soldiers. This is frowned upon, as any serf who works to uphold the Ashen Empire is considered a traitor. The appeal of a soldier is that, although the threat of death is very real, a serf will recieve pay. The secondary option is to work as a criminal. The cities of the Ashen Empire are each ripe with their own individual criminal underworld. One can find work as a hitman, thief, or any other illegal profession a serf can dream of. The only down side to this is that criminals are treated even worse than regular serfs by the law. If a criminal is caught, he is usually executed on sight. Some serfs end up as mistresses for noble or in brothels- obviously this is not a preferred profession. The final option for a serf is to be a craftsman. Those with specialised skills that allow them to rise above the rest of the population. They operate in more capitalist fashion, selling services or wares to those who need them for bargained price. However, there are very few serf craftsman.

Serfs live a hard life. They recieve no wages for exhausting labor, are considered expendable, and are usually unintelligent. While these breeds hopeless, dispair, and misery among the population, there is also a great deal of resentment just below the surface. Dagoth Ur considers rebellion, if left unchecked, a very real threat, which makes the function of the Ash Ghouls all the more necessary.

Tertiary Factions

 * The Thieves Guild- There is a guild in every city major city, however, they are not inter-connected. For example, the guild in Mournhold has no communication with the guild in Windhelm. This is because travel in and out of cities leaves one exposed to the garrison, as all entrances in and out of cities are guarded, so thieves tend to rarely venture beyond city walls.
 * The Camonna Tong- The most organized criminal underworld. Unlike the Thieves' Guild, it manages to communicate between cities, but is only active in Morrowind.

Appearances

 * The Eighth Trial (Blog: Part 1)
 * The Eighth Trial (Blog: Part 2)
 * The Eighth Trial (Blog: Part 3)