Ranks in the Great House Telvanni
This is an explanation of the ranks in our guild. The Italic part concerns those in front of the monitor.
Please note that player ranks and character ranks are not corresponding with each other.
Ascent through the ranks
UESP says:
Dunmer Great House membership is largely a matter of birth and marriage, but Imperial colonists may also become retainers of a Great House, or may be adopted into a Great House. Initially an outlander may gain status in a house as an oath-bonded hireling, pledging exclusive loyalty to a single house and forsaking ambitions with all other houses. Later, after faithful service and advancement in lower ranks, an outlander may seek adoption into a Great House. Adoption and advancement to higher ranks in a Great House requires that a Great House councilor stand as sponsor for the candidate's character and loyalty. Finding a councilor to sponsor an outlander often involves performing a great service for the prospective sponsor and the Great House in question.
You can bring all your friends, as long as they would fit within the guild! A recommendation from one of our members is enough. Bribes or presents to the Archmagister and the members of the council will be of help, though ;) Feel free to get in touch with other players who seem to fit in - recruit new slaves, or bring fellow roleplayers, or hire brawny mercenaries!
The proper ways to address others, house members and others, can be found here.
Important: Because the Great House Telvanni has a reputation to maintain, displaying our guild tabard while wearing pink armour or nothing at all in public without an appropriate excuse (like an in-game guild drinking competition or public shaming) will lead to an immediate loss of all ranks and privileges. Please report violations to the High Council and remember to include graphical evidence.
All positions can be withdrawn at any time by decision of the Archmagister. As his or her assassination chances increase with such actions, you can trust that they will only be taken if necessary.
A character's rank within the Great House will be openly visible through their
Advancement
You can advance in the Great House, whether you're a spellslinger, a fighter or a slave.
Slaves
Please remember that our slaves are players as well and have volunteered for this. Everyone can have a slave character on their accounts, just give word that the character is property and not person.
Slaves that aren't owned by anyone in particular are property of the the Central Morrowind Branch (so basically to the one who claims them first), but their maintenance and auctioning-out is the duty of the Slavemaster (please see the corresponding council rank). Please treat our slaves well, because these are expensive and hard to replace.
Hireling
In Morrowind, you need both Intelligence and Willpower at a solid 30 to become a hireling - consider yourself intelligent and willful to be a part of Great House Telvanni!
Congratulations - you work for the Greatest House of all. You must be so proud.
Retainer
In the future, this rank is awarded only to those who have proven their competence in at least one magical skill.
The Retainer holds the lowest possible rank in the House.
Oathmer
The Great House Telvanni, Central Morrowind Branch, lets everyone take the oath that binds them to the Great House, as long as they are competent and useful and do not appear stupid. The oath goes as followed:
I will not antagonise the Great House Telvanni by action or inaction.
The Telvanni will know when you break it - it does nothing else. But since the Great House Telvanni is mentioned in the oath, and not the Archmagister or anyone in particular, it isn't very limiting... Spies for or agents of other Houses would not be able to pass it, though, unless they are very, very, very clever about it. Feel free to get in touch if you want to know more about the oath and its limitations, although it's basically a plotting device to make sure that the paranoid wizards will let others hang out around them.
Lawmer
Someone who knows the rules and has proven that he can survive in Dunmer society. This title is rewarded to Oathmer who perform outstandingly well!
Spellwright
The lowest nobility rank. A Spellwright is a member of the Dunmer House Nobility. This is not to be confused with being a part of the family. If you were born as a Telvanni noble, you aren't necessary a high-ranking House member, and the other way around. It's the rank where you will want to stop progressing - you're important enough that nobody bosses you around, but you're not as outstanding as to attract assasins.
Mouth
A Mouth speaks for a Master - that much they all have in common. Becoming Mouth is the fastest way up in the ranks. You need to find a council member who accepts you as their personal assistant, and then do everything necessary to keep them happy. Yes, everything.
A Mouth speaks with the authority of their council member, so pissing one off would not be a smart thing to do. Also, a politically incapable Mouth might cause quite the disturbances between wizards...
Mouth is not a rank, but a job description and title.
While a Mouth might magickally not be superior to someone who holds the same rank, they have influence that other Telvanni have not - they have, at least in theory, the ear of a council member...
Warden
This rank is rather unique to the Central Morrowind Branch - they serve the Aetherial Blade. What exactly it is they are doing... well, they're warding something, are they not. Why don't you ask?
Wizard
The title that every Telvanni deserves and desires, or is it? Congratulations, you have wormed your way up, the only way further up is to become a Master - a Council Seat is only a few assassinations away! But now that you think about it... there are a lot of other people who could probably want one, and there's almost no more competition left to hide behind..
Master
A (mostly honorific) rank, given to Telvanni Wizards who needed additional persuasion to not assassinate the Archmagister. Those who hold this title are the most capable indivicduals, but also the most dangerous. And the best thing is that they have an entire rank just for them, so that everybody knows!
The Council
Like in Vvardenfell, every Telvanni Council Member in Central Morrowind is entitled to a mouth who will speak for them and act on their behalf, if necessary. The position can vary from someone who manages the councilor's appointments to a trusted lieutenant or even someone who is the real authority while the council member has their head in the clouds.
The council members and their mouths are the following:
The Aetherial Blade - The right hand and praetorian of the Archmagister, clad in an armoured glove. The Aetherian Blade enforces the will of the Archmagister, should the execution of this need encouragement or supervision, and speaks on the Archmagister's behalf.
Currently the position is held by Valorin / @Valorin, husband of the Archmagister both IC and OOC.
The Slavemaster - Only a happy slave is a productive slave. Therefore, the well-being of our property is very important to us as a whole. It is the task of the slavemaster to keep all slaves in good condition and employment.
Currently the position is held by Nelvan Telvanni / @Sethize, he currently does not have a Mouth
The Curator - The mer in charge of the Reliquary. Whenever something new or something fancy is discovered, it is their responsibility to make sure one of these ends up in our possession. The Curator doesn't necessarily know all the dangerous locations where such things can be acquired first-hand, but has a profound knowledge about the subject as a whole.
This position is currently held by Telvanni Cernon / @Cernon, his Mouth is Ralyn Telvanni / @ScattyThePirate
The Ambassador - When Port Telvannis knocked and demanded influence in Central Morrowind, the most sophisticated slaughterfish in the pond was chosen to keep them at bay - and hopefully not side with them.
This position is currently held by Telvanni Rahaen'fviel / @Rahaenfviel, and her mouth is Telvanni Shelonah Serven / @Scalblaja.
The Archmagister is very occupied with important duties that are beyond the understanding of most members in the lower ranks (currently the improvement and maintenance of addons). Therefore she delegates most of the responsibility to the members of the High Council. They are the mer in charge, their decision on a subject is final - they have been awarded their positions for that very reason. Complaining to the Archmagister will not have any immediate effect, which is why harsh criticism should be offered directly by means of poison or Hlaalu.
The council members are those who get yelled at if things don't run smoothly. They are not necessarily the ones doing all the work.
The main purpose of the council is to keep bothersome duties away from the Archmagister. Anyone who doesn't meet that purpose will be replaced by somebody who will.
The Archmagister
The Archmagister - The leader of the Great House Telvanni's relative branch, leader of the council and first among not-so-equals. As the house is not a democracy, the Archmagister will hear the opinion of the other members of the House, and then decide how he or she likes.
Currently the position is held by Vivicah Telvanni / @manavortex, and her mouth is Amrun Malyon / @malakil
It's probably unnecessary to point that out, but please treat everyone the way you would want to be treated if you were in their position. We are Telvanni, but that does not mean that we can't be nice to each other, quite the opposite - being friendly means that the other mer has less reason to have you killed.
Due to the fact that we are smarter than the less Greater Houses, our ranks aren't reserved for Dunmer only - quite the opposite, everybody can become a Telvanni. All it takes is a brilliant mind, deep interest in magic or transmogrific research, good looks and a deep purse!
