A Report on the Bloodlines of Tamriel's Vampires Vol II

Celann

I am happy to report that there seems to be no vampire presence in Solstheim! Not only that, but I found many books and research notes on vampirism in mainland Morrowind as the dunmer that have fled to this island took all of their books, myths and old tales with them. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to be able to research the vampire without the threat of being attacked.

Never fear, I still kept a potion of disease curing with me at all times. But alas my stay on the ash blasted island of Solstheim could not last long. I send this letter as I move south, after studying what remains of Vardenfell and mainland Morrowind I can tell you that the red year was as devastating to the local vampire populace as it was for the dunmer themselves.

Kind Regards, Ragnar Lothbrok

The Vampires of Morrowind

While not nearly as many bloodlines are present in Morrowind today, a book I sourced from a friendly dunmer while in Solstheim, Vampires of Vardenfell, tells of three bloodlines that used to rule over Morrowind. They organised themselves into three “clans” the Aundae, the Quarra and Berne, which made their nests on Vardenfell, however each of these clans had outcasts leading to rogue vampires of the three bloodlines also prowling the lands. As this book was originally from the early third era, it can be safely assumed that it is well outdated by now as the Oblivion Crisis and Red Year have changed the face of Morrowind.

The Origins of Morrowinds Vampires

As with all vampires, they came from Molag Bal and carry a variation of the vampiric disease. However, the locals of Morrowind do not seem to be able to differentiate between the three strains of the disease and thus all are referred to as Porphyric Hemophilia. It is very difficult to track the origins of each of the bloodlines as almost all of them are currently near extinction, difficult to track or have left Morrowind entirely. However, all research on vampires within Morrowind points towards Molag Bal desecrating the corpse of a fallen foe.

No two sources can agree on what form the fallen foe took however, some say a daedra, some a foul beast and one even went so far as to suggest a saint of the temple of the Tribunal. I would go so far as to say that perhaps all of these sources are true, and each fallen foe is the beginning of one of the three bloodlines of Morrowind. This would explain the similarities between the three if all were created from the desecration of a corpse rather than a living being. As to which is which I could not say for sure, the true origins of the Aundae, Quarra and Berne bloodlines may well be lost to history all together.

The Aundae

Perhaps one of the strangest of the Morrowind clans, they comprise entirely of altmer, though I do not believe this to be a limitation of the disease strain, but rather some form of racial elitism stemming from the elders of the clan. As altmer, these vampires are already naturally inclined towards magic, but the Aundae bloodline appears to have exaggerated this ability in each of them.

The current state of the Aundae is completely unknown. Records and tales from the late third era indicate that infighting between the clans caused heavy casualties for the Aundae, but they came out the better for it and yet they are no longer present in either mainland Morrowind or Vardenfell. I theorise that the survivors of the Red Year and Oblivion Crisis may have fled back to their ancestral homeland of Alinor. Confirming this may be difficult however as travel to Alinor would be highly limited in the current political climate.

The Quarra

The Quarra are the most physically powerful of the bloodlines in Morrowind and held the largest territory. They are the most vicious and aggressive of any vampire I have met, forgoing any stealth or secrecy and can raid entire towns in the night, killing and capturing many. While these raids are uncommon they are devastating and are set into the memory of the townsfolk for generations. This became useful as the folk lore of these small towns, while they must be taken with a grain of salt, are valuable resources when collating descriptions of Quarra attacks.

While they seem to have diminished in numbers by the early 4th era, they are still quite active on the mainland of Morrowind, though their courage seems as diminished as their numbers as there have been no large scale assaults from the Quarra since the Red Year, only small attacks on inns and farms scattered about their old territories. In a one on one combat with a Quarra, they are deadly, perhaps the most deadly, but as a bloodline, they seem to be greatly weakened.

The Berne

The Berne clan are easily the most terrifying of all of Morrowinds vampires. Masters of stealth and ambush they are deadly hunters fuelled by sadism and hunger. Their bloodline seems to grant unnatural agility and prowess in unarmed combat. Another book scavenged from Morrowinds past gives the best description of their hunting habits. Trap is an account of a victim of the Berne clan who was tricked and hunted. The use of trickery, shadows and terror give the impression that the Berna enjoy the hunt as much, if not more so, than the kill.

During my travels among small villages on both Vardenfell and mainland Morrowind tales of strange disappearances and mysterious cloaked figures with glowing eyes were disturbingly common. Thus it must be assumed that the Berne clan, or at least bloodline is strong within Morrowind and very active. I would suggest setting up an outpost in Morrowind as soon as possible to deal with this threat, the populace lives in fear of the night in some regions because of these fiends.

Weaknesses

All three bloodlines in Morrowind share the same weaknesses. They are all severely damaged by exposure to sunlight as it is deadly to them. As such they are never seen by day, hiding in dwemer ruins, caves and other such dank lairs. In addition to this they are very vulnerable to fire, often being unable to extinguish the flames if they are set alight. However, most notable is that they are easily distinguishable by their glowing yellow eyes. This allows for the populace to identify them, stopping any from infiltrating society as the Volkihar are wont to do.