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I've had a talk with Valorin yesterday before he fell asleep, and he mentioned that he feels our house behaving a bit too much like Vampire domain and too little like a Telvanni House. I agree with him a bit, and I'd wanted to see if I can shed some light on the Telvanni as individuals, maybe to enhance our role playing a bit.
I'll add Vivicah's background information in italic - this is in no way mandatory or supposed to be an example for you to follow, it's just one character's background that you can and should replace with your own.
First of all, some questions for your character.
Why are you here?
Why are you on the main land of Tamriel, instead of Vvardenfell in a mushroom tower? Why are you meddling in the affairs of the Pact at all, given that our House wasn't even invited in?
Vivicah found herself in Stonefalls after she left Coldharbour, and due to her short attention span she let herself completely be caught in the events and quests of the pact. After @ballehalle stopped playing, I stepped up as Archmagister, and Vivicah suddenly found herself in a place of power that she never wanted to have in the first place, which likely is why it was given to her (given her background story, where she ran away from a similar position earlier).
I believe that she was given the position because she's smart enough not to do any damage, lazy enough not to fuck things up, and ambitioned enough to make House Telvanni look good. She's very young and completely not fit for her position, and she knows it, but she also knows that she's the best person for the job. That's why she relys heavily on the advice of others.
Going back to Vvardenfell to stay would mean abandoning her job, and that would mean admitting failure. And Vivicah Telvanni never fails.
What is it you're actually doing?
Telvanni is a house of mages. Outside of our towers we need to were clean robes, so we're happiest when we can just do whatever it is we're doing, and don't have to bother with anything else. After all, that's why we got so filthy rich, right? So we could pay others to keep everything bothersome away from us.
Vivicah is changing her obsession weekly. She has the attention span of the average butterfly. When she's into something, things happen, and fast - like that one time she had set her mind to dispose slavery, lived in an Argonian mud hut for four weeks, freed two slaves from another Telvanni and nobody ever noticed.
What do you want to achieve?
Given the fact that we're not a vampire domain, the command structure in the Great House deserves some further examination. The average Telvanni would, in my opinion, put a lot of effort into not being on the council, because that only has disadvantages for them - on the one hand, it's keeping them from doing what they love, and on the other hand it's making people come and talk to them and want things, which is bad.
A Telvanni knows that he or she is special and that their research is most important, far more than the shenanigans the other House members meddle with. They wouldn't want a position on the council just to boost their ego (which doesn't need any further boosting!). They would want one because it would help them accomplish something, acquire something, that would be worth the price.
The Librarian would be a Librarian anyhow, but now that he's on the council, people are disturbing his research all the time, asking him for stuff. What is it he wants to gain from his position that makes it worth the additional duties?
Social interaction among antisocial mer?
Why are you not wherever you always are, researching, studying, killing? What makes you come to the meetings? Do you feel the need to bond with the other Telvanni? Are you trying to get a reputation as a social member of the house, one that can be easily approached when something is needed, so that you can gather favours more easily?
A Telvanni would never take advantage of another house member, unless it's the most cost-efficient way to solve a problem. We're all intelligent. We're all reasonable. We're all filthy rich. If another Telvanni has something we want, why not just buy it from them? Or maybe swap it for a favour? There's no reason for intrigue, because we can just tell it as it is.
You have this unique Dwemer device rotting in your basement. I need it to complete my research project on gyrothurgic ripples, which is very interesting because of sunspots. Will you give it to me, please? You'll get a copy of my notes.
Port Telvanni has been trashed by these rude Akaviri ten years ago. Maybe that has flushed you over?
Titles, ranks and riches?
We're Telvanni, that's title enough. Yes, we do have ranks, but do they really refer to the competence of the mage, or just to the competence of bootlicking? Well, one thing is certain - everyone who's not a Telvanni is below us. This is as matter-of-fact as gravity, so it's a real surprise if someone is not aware of this, or isn't it? Besides, everyone who's not a Dunmer is ugly and lowly and a s'wit or n'wah, unless they are a Telvanni, because then they are a Telvanni.
I picture mages as nerds - they are not overly social, and they probably suck at etiquette or don't mind it at all, at least they do in Morrowind. I'm from IT, I picture it a bit like our people, just with mushroom towers instead of basements. Individuals may have different views on that, but I think what matters most to a Telvanni is the skill and the usefulness of the person they're talking to, not the number of fancy ranks they bear.
Looking forward to hear your thoughts on this. :)
