Is it possible that Avrsusa Sarethi and her sister have any connection between the Sarethi family from Morrowind?

''She used to have a shop in Vivec City, but had to flee when Red Mountain erupted.'' - According to the UESP Wiki.

During the Red Year, the Ministry of Truth collapsed onto Vivec City, the impact created tsunamis which ravaged mainland Morrowind and caused Red Mountain to erupt, devastating Vvanderfell forcing many Dunmer fleeing to Solstheim. The shop surely was destroyed, and the last of Sarethi Family may have fled to Skyrim, living in a Farm outside of Riften. Makes sense, or just is it just pure coincidence?

Thoughts?

Definitely, there's a lot of instances of that. Even in Morrowind there was a Telvanni councilor, a silt strider driver, an alchemist I think, and a couple of commoners who were all related. There were even commoners related to the Archmagister of House Redoran. Even more interesting is that nearly every family in Morrowind had their old ancestral tomb you could pillage.The Sarethi's you're talking about were probably related to Athyn Sarethi, who was a Redoran councilor!

My favourite instance of Dunmer families that fled is the Hlaalu family who were at one time a great house, but now are tendng a poor farm.

Most likely.

Romlyn Dreth of Riften goes into Haelga's bunkhouse at night and tells stories about how his "great ancestor" Valen Dreth stopped the Mythic Dawn in Cyrodil. I actually recognized a lot of Dunmer names in Skyrim because of Morrowind. The same with Oblivion.

isn't there a Hlaalu in skyrim too?

Another one: I've always thought that Aranea Ienith must be related to the Ieniths who built the Ienith Ancestral Tomb on Vvardenfell.

Yes they have a farm I believe outsid eof Windhelm and there if one living in Riften near the Ratways. (the Hlaalu that is.)

Dunmer live much longer lives than humans if they don't have children, so 200 years back isn't that long to them. So yeah, it's probably likely that they're related to Dunmer in Oblivion or Morrowind. Not that they'll ever tell you about it, though. I tried to get the Dunmer woman with the Hlaalu surname to say something at all related to House Hlaalu and all I got from her was an attitude and the idea that she has a skooma problem.

I think there is a surprising lack of back story or diologue about the dunmer. They themseleves should have mroe to say. I was also highly disappointed when I combed over the gray quarter and found no dunmer (bonemold, chiten, netch) armor. I had high hopes that beth might slip some in there in some poor old dunmers bedroom.

Honestly, considering how long most races can live in Tamriel, I'd say there's a lack of background with every race. The Altmer can live for centuries but if you go talk to one they only mention current events. I understand that you can't load all of that information in there with one or two NPCs, but still, a passing reference would be nice.

Also, while chitin was pretty radtastic early on, I'd assume they had to travel light once they left Morrowind since the guar wouldn't make it too far in Skyrim's cold.

I don′ t think that House Hlaalu suffered that much, they should still have the king Hlaalu Helseth. Besides, they are most likely the strongest House at the moment, since House Telvanni was destroyed by the Argonians(damn worthless slaves), House Redoran and House Indoril were already at the edge during the reign of Uriel Septim VII, and House Dres had to abolish slavery and introduce another economic system.

Actually, does anyone know where Helseth even is at the moment? Last I knew the Argonians were still holding onto the southern half of mainland Morrowind, which would (or could; I haven't heard specifics) include the capital city of Mournhold. Helseth's either fled for higher ground or he's busy being a royal ransom. Edit: Although at the time Skyrim takes place, he's either very old or a bit dead. So maybe the better question is whether or not he has any heirs, and if they're still in power in what's left of Morrowind.

Speaking of Helseth, he actually helped Dres out, IIRC. He married a Dres noblewoman at some point after Tribunal. Even though he abolished slavery later, it was still while in an alliance with House Dres, and those kinds of connections with a ruling family would still go a long way to helping the rest of the House out. (Or at least those portions of House Dres which were on friendly terms with the new queen's family.) It's Houses Indoril and Redoran that really got the short end of the stick in the post-Nerevarine crisis years.

House Telvanni wasn't the Argonian's only target though. After the Oblivion Crisis and seceding from the Empire, the Argonians of Black Marsh were unified and stronger as a whole than ever. When Vvardenfell erupted during The Red Year, the Argonians took advantage of the chaos and hardship in Morrowind and invaded them. Taking out House Telvanni was a step in the right direction, since they were severely weakened after The Red Year, but the other Houses and the rest of Morrowind was also on the Argonians' agenda.

So with Vvardenfell virtually uninhabitable and the Argonians holding most of Morrowind in their hands, it's not a far cry to suggest that the other Houses are also in disarray, if they even still exist. We only know about the destruction of House Telvanni because it's detailed in a journal in a quest in Skyrim. But since the Dunmer that tried to stay in their homeland are now mostly holed up in Soltheism, it's not looking too good for the other Houses.

The diary that you find in the shipwreck near Winterhold and the Hlaalu farm are just about heartbreaking. Especially for someone who played Morrowind as a Dunmer, and built his very own Telvanni shroomtower.

I wonder what happened to Divayth Fyr. Did he get steamrolled along with the rest of the Telvanni? Or did Vistha-Kai save him from an inevitable lynching? Or did he just pack up and leave when things went to pot?

Here is a list of the Dunmer Family Names

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dunmer_Names#Dunmer_Family_Names

It could be that Sarethi and Hlaalu are as common as Smith and Jones. Or, the families are so old and venerable that they have spread across the land.

If you play the Thieves Guild questline you'll have a surprise when you learn that one of the guild members is the grandchild of a major character of TES: Arena.