Vvardenfell, Tel Vos

Day 1 (Time: Year 427 of the Third Age)

My last visit to the island of Morrowind was in 2002, when passage to it first became available. It was the height of summer, so my otherwise rigorous academic schedule was more or less empty, allowing me to fully devote myself to uncovering the island's secrets. I spent months exploring the expansive island, becoming familiar with its cities and landmarks, and amassing an impressive collection of local artifacts.

Like other tourists, I rode in steerage and landed, lacking any local currency, in the hole-in-the-wall port of Seyda Neen. It was built in a swamp, a town barely supported by the cottage industry of customs enforcement. Needless to say, the bureaucracy was not a cheery introduction to the locals, but I quickly found such tedium to be unusual on the island.

Eager to avoid revisiting that particular locale (and be subjected to another interrogation by port authorities), I scanned the coastline and settled on starting in the town of Tel Vos. Nominally under the control of the conservative House Telvani, Tel Vos is at once isolated and progressive. Disconnected from the main political stream, it achieves a comfortable balance between elements, a balance visible in its architecture. From there, I could skim the coastline to the south via charter ships before moving inland. I arrived discretely, and drew no unwanted attention.

To be honest, I didn't fully appreciate Tel Vos the first time I explored the island. The Telvani generally favor a gnarled, vertiginous structures, growing towers from the island's massive fungal "trees." The conservative elite rely heavily on magic, making many of their buildings impossible to explore properly without levitation. Needless to say, I found this approach inconvenient, as a tourist. One of the strengths of Tel Vos is that it combines the organic approach of the conservative Telvani with a more practical stone-and-mortar approach seen in cities like Balmora. The result is a very pleasant hybrid, at once accessible and imposing.

I selected a rooftop near the town's main gate to capture my panorama because it afforded a good view of the town's main street. While it doesn't offer a view of the docks (which lie on the other side of town), I think the town's strengths are clearly presented with this shot.

After a few days finding my feet, I hope to charter a boat to tour the eastern coast of the island, from Tel Vos all the way to Vivec.