#ashlanders

but theres something so jarring about fandoms in general and how white-dominated they are

i first played morrowind before i had internet access. i didnt know about fandoms, i didnt know fanfiction was a hobby other people actually did seriously, and i didnt know there were whole online communities of people who got together to discuss their fav games

when i played morrowind and saw the ashlander characters for the first time, i was instantly struck by how familiar they were to me. in my little kid brain i thought to myself "oh theyre just like my family! thats so neat :)"

it was the first time i ever felt that kind of familiarity in fiction. u could say this was the first time i ever felt actually represented in media (obviously other romani characters existed before, but they were largely VERY racist so.) TO ME, the ashlanders were my very first exposure to representation that was anything like me and my actual family (i clarified in another post BUT im a mixed irish-roma-mongolian which is why im addressing these specific cultures)

anyway. it was really cool to have this, it was awesome to feel represented in this way for the first time in media that i liked. i was so excited about this, i very soon after started using the internet so i could talk about my Favourite Game Morrowind and how awesome it was and how i wanted to talk about how cool it was to have the ashlanders be a group of character that felt so familiar to my culture

only to come online and get immediately BLASTED by elder scrolls fandom endlessly musing about how WEIRD and ALIEN and UNUSUAL and STRANGE the ashlanders were and how they could NEVER IMAGINE living anything like them or BEING anything like them

It had been a long day— by Azura, it had been a long week! Erra sighed to himself as he weaved through the bustling streets of Maar Gan. The second Turdas of every month was always a little chaotic in the market square as vendors set up their stalls for the Monthly Night Markets. He did not mind; it is just that so many people in one spot still left him a little overwhelmed at times. Even after fifteen years of living with the settled Dunmer, the crowds were something he just could not get used to. Especially when he had been on the road for days. He supposed that was why he chose to settle in Maar Gan, rather than Ald’ruhn or Vivec City. The outpost, with its sizable Velothi population situated on the edge of the Redoran-Ashlands, made him feel less homesick. Yes, business in Ald’ruhn was more lucrative, and it would have been smarter to try to set up in the heart of Redoran lands. Those would have been smarter decisions, yes. But he would have been miserable.

War Leaders are called Khans, and they refer to their living spaces as Yurts.

So since I'm playing this as "Ashlanders are influenced by nomadic steppe cultures" I've decided to use Turkic terms when I describe the divisions of camps since I don't think that "Urshilaku Tribe", "Urshilaku Camp" and "All the Tribes gathering in one location" suffice, especially when it's coming from the mouth of a guy who breathes the culture like its air (Erra).

So having said that, I'm arranging the tribal structure thusly:

Singular/Immediate family camps: Zhuz Clan Gathering/ Extended family camps: Orda Tribal Gathering/Tribal Camps (what you see in Morrowind): Ulus Gathering of two or more Tribes for political means: Kurultai Gathering of all four Tribes under one Great Ashkhan: Khanate

So if Erra's referencing the Urshilaku Camp as you see it in game he'll say Urshilaku Ulus.

Using Erra's family as an example, it should go:

Ilaba'andul Zhuz Ilaba'andul-Sul Orda Urshilaku Ulus Urshilaku-Ahemmusa Kurultai Urshilaku-Ahemmusa-Zainab Kurultai Kurultai of the Four Great Tribes Ashlander Khanate.

A new take on colors of this guar rider :3 Old version: