The Morag Tong: Morrowind Guide To Guilds & Factions - Factions and Guilds in the Elder Scrolls III

2008-10-22

Page content

The Morag Tong

The Morag Tong roughly translates as ‘Forester’s Guild’ from the ancient Dunmer language (‘Tong’ meaning guild). Parallels are drawn with a ‘forester’ or woodsman; he walks attentively and alert through familiar grounds (the woods) often to patiently stalk his pray in a hunt. In a similar vein, the Morag members hunt their prey in familiar grounds (the shadows) strictly following the assassin’s code, celebrating such acts in the name of the Deadra Mephala, the demon of murder, lust, and secrets. This ‘tong’ is of ancient lineage and later there was a schism within it, which lead to the foundation of the Dark Brotherhood, a similar but smaller organisation.

The Morag Tong finds is headquartered in Vivec, somewhere in the Arena canton although the information is highly secret to non-members. Despite being recognized as a guild in every respect, their activities still need to remain secret in order to be effective. Publicly known halls are found in Balmora (Morag Tong Guildhall) and Ald’Ruhn.

Ranks

The primary attributes in this guild are Speed and Agility, allowing for swiftness of action when being issued with a ‘writ’ (an assassination contract). Important skills are the Short Blade skill, the Sneak skill which allows you to remain undetected (crucial in this case) and the Illusion school of magic which also proves useful. Other skills are Acrobatics, Light Armour and Marksman.

The Morag has absolutely no allies or official enemies, although they do despise the Dark Brotherhood. The Brotherhood assumes that all writs or contracts of execution should be exclusive to them, hence they look at the Morag as competition. The Morag Tong are above all politics within the empire, they only revere their chosen diety, in this case Mephala, and are preoccupied with carrying out their ‘writs’ swiftly.

The current Morag leader is Eno Hlaalu, found somewhere in the Vivec Arena. He is the current grandmaster and the only one who can help you join the association. He will give out execution contracts which have been assigned, and later on issue some special duties. Morag Tong ranks are: Associate, Blind Thrall, Thrall, White Thrall, Thinker, Brother, Knower, Master, Exalted Master and Grandmaster.

This post is part of the series: The World of Morrowind: Guilds & Factions

A series of articles on the various factions and guilds in the world of the Elder Scrolls III.