The Guarherder's Art

The guar is the most remarkable of all of Morrowind's unique wildlife, and its importance to Dunmer culture and society cannot be understated. The guar is the only animal that is truly domesticated or herded. Across Morrowind, I am pleased to see Dunmer today herding guar, much like our ancestors in the days of St. Veloth. However, I am shocked to discover that in these shadowed years of the spineless Cyrodiils' rule we Dunmer have begun to forget how to herd our most important livestock properly. Therefore, to amend this abhorrence of the glory of great Resdayn, I deliver to all Dunmer the waning knowledge of the art of guarherding.

Guar are cowardly creatures, and when domesticated become even more spineless. Today many Dunmer take to bringing in their herd by scaring their guar using ghastly and horrible screams, or by using creature command spells. I am sorry to tell these foolish Dunmer that those methods do not work. Guar are too intelligent to be controlled using command spells for long and too cowardly so they flee at sudden loud noises or the hasty arrival of a Dunmer. Nevertheless, there is hope for these guarherds; I will give you the three most effective means of controlling your guar. The barbaric Ashlanders of northern Vvardenfell prefer the first method. Over time, befriend your guar, first by feeding them from afar, then working slowly to feed them out of your hand. This makes the guar affectionate towards you; they will never stray too far, knowing that they can rely on you for food. Most, if not all, professional guarherds, along with Ashlanders-on occasion--use the second method. Like the first method, you give food to your guar, but while you do this, you whistle or call a special word. Over time, the guar will believe that, whenever you whistle or speak that word, you will feed it, and will always come running towards you. Amateur or foreign guardherds use the third method. This method confines your guar with fences, similarly done by the n'wahs to their flocks of weird creatures in the other lands of Tamriel. The last method is the worst, but it is useful for those too impatient to use the first two. The first two methods are however necessary in training your guar to perform specific tasks. To do so, make a special hand movement or say a certain word, and reward your guar with food when they get it right.

Another important skill of guarherding is being aware of what to feed them and what they should eat. Guars are omnivorous creatures, so they eat both meat and foliage. However, I do not recommend that you feed your guar meat as it might run off to hunt prey. Guar do not eat saltrice, fungi or kreshweed in the wild, as they are poisonous to them, and you should not feed you guar these either lest they die or get ill. Marshmerrow and comberries are the favorite food of guar, due to their sweet flavor. As such, it is best that you reserve these foods as a treat for your guar, to use on rare occasions to keep their loyalty. The best foods to feed them are bittergreen, wickwheat, trama root, fire fern, and wild flowers (many of these are poisonous to mer, but guar are resistant to the poisons), as these are the plants they often eat in the wild. Malnutrition will occur if they do not eat enough of these. In fact, it is the lack of these plants in other provinces, which has impeded attempts to spread the gaur afar.

Owners can train their guar to perform many basic and menial tasks. Firstly, it is common to encounter guar caravans traveling from city to city across the lands of Morrowind. Pack guar can carry a weight much greater than their own, once they have been specially trained and bred for the purpose. Wickwheat is the food that gives the pack guar their strength. Once they have eaten correctly and have reach adulthood, your herd is ready. Part-time, traveling merchants or those who need a large weight of goods taken a substantial distance tie a rope around the guar's neck. Professional caravaners on the other hand have trained their guar to obey their commands, and so do not use a rope. Intensively trained guar can even be ridden in similar fashion as foreigners do to their own strange creatures; there are even stories of Ashlanders riding guar into battle. The guar however must be professionally trained for this purpose, and the skills needed for this are too numerous to be listed here. Other tasks a guar can be trained to do include plowing fields, watching over or playing with children, and towing carts.

Guar are herded for the various products that can be made from them. Guar skin is used in making waterproof clothing, making drums, and making the yurts in which the uncivilized Ashlanders dwell. Guar meat is not tasty or filling, although it can be eaten if one is lost in the expansive ash wastes or mountainous regions. Guar bones are carved to make cutlery, tools, and weapons. Guar innards are also used abhorrently by the Ashlanders to make clothes, water containers, musical instruments, and string. Ashlanders even eat them in soups.

By writing and publishing this book, it is my hope that we Dunmer regain the ancient art of guarherding as practiced for thousands of years by our sires. The Cyrodiils have often tried to erase the glorious and faultless traditions of Morrowind to such an extent that we Dunmer need to reestablish some of our time-given customs. Guarherding is one of these. It has become tainted by using the methods of the n'wahs. The guar are not herded as well as they once were, at our expense. The guar is a noble creature, and I am devoting the rest of my life to ensuring that future generations continue to harness and nurture these wonderful beasts.