Morrowind Mod:Tamriel Rebuilt/A Study on Guars

Guars of the Ashlands, West Gash and Sedentary For years, Guars have been used as a way of shipping goods between towns. But what are Guars like in the wild? They range from timid, shy creatures to vicious, blighted fiends. Through my dutiful research, I have finally been able to study the following species of Guar: those from the dry Ashlands, the wet West Gash and sedentary types that wander at will. All These three types all show different personalities, different levels of aggressiveness and physical traits.

The West Gash Guar is a withdrawn, peaceful Guar. These Guars are trained for trading and functioning as moving caravans. After spending about five days watching a herd of the West Gash Guar I have made the following discoveries. The Guar herd usually spends its time eating most everything in its chosen grazing area. The West Gash Guar is the only one of its species known to band together in herds. They do this to protect themselves from two things, humans in particular. During my observations, a hunter engaged the herd, the hunter leapt out and attacked one on the guars but was then attacked and chased out by half of the herd, while the other Guars gathered comberries to help heal their ingured.

During my travels to observe the next Guar species, I came across an injured Guar and promptly healed it. It turned out to be a swamp Guar, and graciously, it decided to join me. Thus, my companion and I headed out to find the next Guar species.

Wild Guars are found in the area between Balmora and Vivec. Over the last couple of years, these usually calm loners have become increasable aggressive with several attacking me on sight. Luckily I had worn my speed-enchanted boots and was able to run to the nearby mountains so no Guar lives would be lost. People believe that the Guars are becoming more aggressive because of the horrific poaching of Guars for their hides as well as the growing number of Comberry-harvesting mages. But the Dunmer have another theory, the plague of the Red Mountain. A travelling Dunmer told me that the Red Mountain is causing everything to change. She said that the Blight that comes from Red Mountain makes Guars and other passive creatures very aggressive.

By the end of our conversation, the Guar had given up trying to climb the mountain and began to eat. The only friendly wild Guars are the ones that travel in herds like their relatives, the West Gash Guar. Although technically the same species, the two non-blighted Guar species have evolved differentially with the Wild Guars having a harder head and jaw. Guars from the West Coast have no structural advantage but have learned a way to communicate with more than just one species. My new Guar, which I call Lumpy, opened his wide jaw as to say something to the blighted Guar but was quickly attacked. Lucky, I was able to divert the attention away from him and soon we were on our way.

Travelling into the Ashlands was a horrific experience as the ash had transformed the land into a vile place; my Guar and I were amazed at the difference between the regular habitat of the Guar and this perversion. As we crept up a mountain, we spotted what we were looking for, an Ashlands Guar. It seemed so much more active then the others but strangely, more sluggish; we could tell it was in pain. It rarely dropped its head to eat, and when it did it had to dig into the ash to do so. It looked identical to the Wild Guar but it was even more aggressive. Unlike the Wild Guar, it was aggressive not because it was protecting itself but because of the lack of food. We were about to get closer to the Guar when an Ash storm struck, which left us with no choice but to camp and wait out the storm. I decided to study this Guar further, leading me into the Ghostgate itself. Although this was an Ashlands Guar, I believe the blight had spread into the Wild Guars' territory and it altered after being blighted. After my short examination inside the Ghostgate, I came to the conclusion that the Blight was travelling not though the ash, but from the large amount of blighted cliff racers who attacked the Guars for their meat, really it was stupid of me to believe that Guars would of [sic] used the Ghostgate so really I should of expected the outcome.

The Swamp and Grazelands Guar

After relocating to the West Gash region with my Guar companion, the thirst to observe other species drove me to continue my research by studying two other Guar types, The North-Eastern Swamp Guar and the Grazelands Guar.

From my hut on the waters of West Gash, I headed to the northern swamp bogs of Morrowind where I found the grazing Swamp Guar. Although strong and imposing, the Swamp Guar is not in the least bit hostile. I was able to walk right up to a herd without being attacked and was thus able to study them first-hand. Unlike the West Gash Guar, the Swamp Guar is not timid and thus is preferred by Guar herders over the regular West Gash Guar. The herd of Swamp Guars I was travelling with ate mainly grass and the tiny animals found in the murky swamps, and treasured the rare comberry that was found. The Guars never strayed away from the herd, suggesting a family-like bond between them, uncharacteristically since most Guar herds seem to disperse over a period of time. Although they accepted me from the start, they seemed to let me into their family unit as time passed. Swamp Guars are also very compassionate creatures; one in the herd found a blighted scrib and led me to it to heal it. Another found an orphaned baby Guar and accepted it into the herd.

After spending a few more days studying the Guars, I headed towards my next destination, the Grazelands, to observe the Guar species in the area. I decided to take a boat to Vos and to talk to one of the Ashlander camps to find out about the Guar, because, until recently, the Grazelands have been a relatively unmarred stretch of land. Outlanders, due to the construction of towns like Vos and its Telvanni counterpart Tel Vos have only recently explored the Grazelands and thus little is known about the elusive Grazelands Guar. However, the Ashlanders I came in contact with say that the Grazelands Guars are simply wild Guars whose homes were consumed by the blight and those forced to find greener pasture. My Guar seemed to disagree with this statement, but still has not signalled to me what actually happened. Oddly enough, he is quite a good talker.

As you might be able to tell, I do not conform strictly to the beliefs of the Imperials and thus refused to believe the gander told by them on the topic of the Ashlanders. I was right to do so as the Ashlanders were far from the ruthless barbarians they were made out to be.

After our trip to the Ashlander Camp my Guar companion and I headed through the fields of the Grazelands. We searched for hours on hand, but it seemed nothing inhabited the area besides Golden Saints and Ogrims. The only Guar I found ran away from me as if I was a hunter, but I was able to trail it to its home. As I watched the Guar through the Wickwheat, I noticed it was a rouge Guar, which never travelled with a herd. We watched as it spent most of the day hidden in its den eating Wickwheat. Nomadic as it was, it was strange how such a species native to Morrowind could become so isolated when most other types move in herds.

The Habits Of A Guar

Upon arriving back at Morrowind, my elusive publisher hunted me down yet again and insisted that I write a book on the habits of the Guar, especially after my last book on Horkers, which never made it past the editor's desk. He wanted unparallel description about their diet, their routines and their observable culture- and here I will honour his request. Although seemingly undertaking an impossible task, I began revisiting all of my previous Guar spots. This book shall cover the habits of the following Guar types, The Swamp Guar, The Wild Guar and the Grazelands Guar- all of which were described in detail in my previous works.

From my residence in the West Gash Region, I first headed to outer-lying swamplands of the West Gash. Here I was hoping to find the same herd I had met about a year before- that is if hunters or fates had not hurried them away. However, I was not faced with the prospect of re-assimilating myself; with the tremendous mental capacity of a Guar, my image would be locked into their memory forever. Sure enough, I located them in the same spot as I left them and upon my arrival, I was met with sounds of recognition and approval. My first thoughts were to examine the dung heap of the herd. As I searched through the mound, I found no traces of material victuals, thus leading me to believe that the Swamp Guar has a superb digestive system- unmatched by the mer in the land, and very rich, organic dung. Just imagine, with such fertile dung, planting a garden would be a breeze (of foul air). Thus, with no conclusive evidence obtained by searching the dung heaps, I settled on a more direct route- observing what foods they consumed. They seemed to enjoy pond scum, flowers and any sort of mushroom they found as well as small, flying swamp insects. After a full day of eating, the Guars then walked over and into the swamp and began to rest in such a position that only their head was above water. Noticing what came down to the swamp at night, from what I could gather, was a safety precaution. The Guars rose the very minute that light filled the skies and directly went back to grazing. After observing this phenomena, I stayed an extra five days watching them step through the same procedure daily before heading inlands towards the territory of the Wild Guar.

It took me just a few more days to track down a wild Guar. Just like my previous encounter with the species, it attacked me on sight. I headed into the mountains but it persisted in attempting to reach me- without succeeding. Knowing that I couldn't study the animal in such a state, I decided that I needed to be out of there, I cast a spell which allowed me to stay invisible for a prolonged stretch of time, whereupon the guar did not detect me and I was able to observe it in close range. The spell, however, came with some terrible side effects as parts of my body are only now starting to come back into focus. But I digress; the first day I observed it eating bittergreen, thus providing an explanation for the Wild Guar's aggression. It is well known to traders and bandits that bittergreen can make a Guar to lose its mind. Traders have since discovered ways to keep bittergreen away from their Guars, but still bandits try to feed this poison to the Guars for personal amusement. Although bittergreen is generally large and high enough for us to see, some bittergreen shrubs are low-lying and too small to be noticed. It is apparent now that this type of Guar has learned to sniff out and dig for bittergreen. I had planned on researching this phenomenon more in-depth, but an ash storm hit, forcing me into cover and the Guar into a hidden barrow system; within minutes I had lost my Guar in the maze of tunnels. While crawling through the system of tunnels, still invisible, I could see countless other Guars and to my chagrin, various dead Guars. It seemed apparent that although these Guars shared the same sleeping habitats, the bittergreen truly had driven them all insane. Trying to keep this picture out of my mind I cut my study short and went straight to observe the Grazelands Guar.

The final Guar I studied was the Grazelands Guar. Like the Wild Guar, these creatures are aggressive but not because of the abundance of bittergreen or the Blight. These creatures have been driven to defend themselves by the recent human intrusion at Vos and Tel Vos as well as the Ashlanders employing members of their pack for herding. The Grazelands Guar lives in the untouched paradise of the Grazelands. Just by looking at their surroundings, I observed that Wickwheat is a main staple of the Grazelands Guar's diet. After carefully watching a Guar feed, I discovered that they go to their own little open den to sleep, just like their West Gash counterparts. The Grazelands region is not being a very hostile environment for a Guar so generally their dens are open topped. These dens also frequently have flowers spread about them; this is probably to attract a Guar of the opposite gender.

Notice that I have not officially outlined any information about Guar mating, but rest assured I will find out once I come across some substantial and confirmed information. It is rumoured that every Guar species mates on the same mouth of a year. I will find out about this phenomenon and report back as soon as I have the information.

The Domesticated Guar and the Origins of the Guar

The domesticated Guar is the only topic I wish to cover in this book, as this particular type of guar, trained from other species of guar, mainly swamp guar, is used for a variety of functions including around the household, farming, trading and for enjoyment as pets. However, lost in all the practical use for Guars, the informed Guar owner must know what strain certain tasks have on the Guar and what pain it causes. This book seeks to answer that question in maximum detail.

The Dunmer have herded and domesticated Guars since the earliest time recorded. Back then, Guars were not only used for modern conventional duties but also for cart pulling, road and building construction, and even as a cheap source of fertilizer. Although they may still be utilized to perform these duties, most of these methods are now obsolete. Transport time has significantly diminished with the domestication of stilt-striders, better tools have replaced the need for construction labour and seasonal flooding has replaced the need for dung.

Today, domestic Guars are mainly used by traders who want to transport goods to areas where silt-striders are not accessible, as well as kept as pets for enjoyment or for help on the farm. However, the question arises whether the strain on Guars living this lifestyle is bearable or not. Generally, Guars that are utilized by a trader, although generally having a better life than other domesticated Guars due to the kindness of their owners, will age faster than other Guars due to the strenuous load they must shoulder as well as the constant threat of monster attack.

Apart from pack Guars, many are still used on the various plantations of Morrowind, generally by those clans and houses that adhere to the older, archaic customs. Thus it can be concluded; these Guars have inhabited the land possibly as long as the Dunmer themselves, and have been one of the most useful animals in the history and development of the Morrowind Province.

The Mating Habits of the Guars

As promised, I will now bring you the book on Guar mating. This information has taken quite a long time to compile, so long in fact, that the Publisher decided that a pictorial description would suffice instead of a textual account. I will honour his request and supply detailed drawings on this arousing topic.

[For the next 10 pages the book graphically describes and depicts the entire Guar mating process]