An Intercepted Letter

Curate Tarer Braryn,

As you might have noticed, the envelope sent to you contains two letters: my own, and the one we intercepted of an as of yet unidentified Dissident Priest. We do not know who the writer of the intercepted letter is, or to who he is writing, although we do suspect B to be Gilvas Barelo, a blasphemous Temple priest who has disappeared mysteriously. We have send scouts into the northern Ashlands to search for this Urshilaku camp, but I am not convinced we will prove able to find it, as our intelligence of this region of Vvardenfell is old, and the Ashlanders are known for their nomadic travelling. I advise you to keep this letter out of the archives, seeing the blasphemous writing, as well as to keep an eye out for “B” and “M”.

Yours truly,

Relamus Sarayn

I know you told me not to write you letters, but talk to you in person. Seeing my current position, which will become clear later on, I am forced to write you this letter.

As requested, I have found the Urshilaku camp on the coast of the Sea of Ghosts. While initially resenting towards me and my assistant, they are beginning to accepted me within their midst. I have had some audiences with the Wise Woman of the tribe, and I will try to summarise their believes, as was my initial goal.

Like expected, the Urshilaku resent the Tribunal, questioning their divinity as we do. Instead, they hold on to the Triune House worship, something which us “House Elves”, as they still use to refer to me, have forgotten. While I originally assumed that all their rituals were centred around the Triune House, it seems to me that ancestor worship is deemed more important, although this might just be for the common Ashlander. Indeed, the Ashlanders seem to memorise all their ancestral tombs, using them in initiation rituals and the like.

So while the common Ashlander doesn’t hold a special relation with the Three Good Daedra, the Wise Woman seems to do, at least with Azura. It is believed that they are directly guided by her, and the Wise Woman of the Urshilaku seems to consult her regularly. If it is as they say, I do not know, however, seeing their strong Nerevarine Cult, It is entirely possible that Azura holds a special interest in them.

Like stated earlier, religion seems something purely for the Wise Woman. While the many Ashlanders hold interest in their ancestors, it is in no way comparable to the ancestor worship we know from just before the Tribunal, and it seems to stay at a level of pure “interest” (as opposed to veneration). While the Ashkhan of the Urshilaku seems interested and knowledgeable enough of the teachings of the Daedra and the Nerevarine Cult, I learned that this is a exception within Ashlander culture. This lack of faith within the tribes can be simply explained: life in the Ashlands is harsh, and apart from hunting and supporting the camp, there is little time for meditation or rituals.

As opposed to us, the Ashlanders do not seem to have any scriptures or apocrypha, instead relying on oral traditions. I am certain you are already aware of this, seeing that there are a couple of books containing Ashlander hymns and poetry on the market, but I still included it for emphasis.

While this is a basic summary of the information I have gathered about the Urshilaku, I urge you to take this information with a grain of salt. Many traditions of the Ashlander tribes have been distorted or lost, because of their oral tradition. This has also caused that the different Ashlander tribes hold different religious traditions. The Urshilaku say that they have “strayed of the Old Way”, but in how far this is true I cannot say, seeing the internal rivalry between the tribes.

I hope this letter reaches you, and I hope you will take the information into consideration, and possibly spread it across the Dissident Priests.

Warmest regards to all priests,