Orders of Tamriel: The Heretics of Ash

Written by Guild Historian Lysona Auline. By order of the Guild of Religious Studies and Documentation.

As you all know Tamriel is filled with numerous Knightly Orders, Religious Cults, Secret Societies and everything in between from the Vigilants of Stendarr to the Seekers of Calipers, there is no doubt that you will eventually come across some brand of religious fanatic or weird wandering hermit order in your travels but today I want to speak of one certain order of mages, the fabled Dust Adepts who call Morrowind's ashlands their home.

To the commoners of Morrowind when one says Dust Adept they think Telvanni mage and to those outside of Morrowind they probably think some kind of broom sweepers guild but the truth behind these mages is far more interesting.

The Dust Adepts are actually a heretical cult of the orthodox Dunmeri faith. Their order even dates back to the Unrecognized Saint that many religious Telvanni (the few that exist anyway) call the Patron Saint of the House. Following the teachings of Saint Vorys the Immolant the Dust Adepts believe that the best way to honor the ancestors is to truly master the ashes that cover a good portion of Morrowind and Vvardenfell.

The Dust Adepts are through and through Boethiah worshipers, even during the age of the Tribunal the Dust Adepts were one of the few to outright reject the Tribunal Orthodoxy and focus on the old ways.

Typical Dust Adept rituals seem to be braving the harsh ash storms in the bare naked, carving scars into themselves (Though that seems to be a common practice in Morrowind's Great Houses and Ashlander tribes), surgically implanting soul gems covered in ash into their hands and in an attempt to always have ash on their bodies surgically implanting bags filled with ash into their backs and arms.

The practices of the Dust Adepts are all designed to overcome the harsh reality of life in Morrowind, to push through the tough landscape and truly master their environment. As such they see the harsh training and measures as a necessity to achieve true magical mastery and enlightenment.

Of course these extreme measures have often broken the minds of many apprentices and the order is responsible for numerous cases of half-mutilated apprentices wandering around the ashlands, either screaming out in pain or having lost their minds completely.