House Hlaalu

House Hlaalu is most well disposed toward the Empire. They are businessmen (thieves, according to some) who like trade (legal or not) and are not above engaging in a bit of skullduggery now an then. About half of the members of House Hlaalu are not Dark Elves, including two of their council members. You may read about House Hlaalu in "Grasping Fortune". There are 32 copies just laying around, most Booksellers will have a copy or two in their inventories and I snagged one just so you wouldn't have to do the legwork.

Members of factions receive different types of welcomes from members of other factions, depending on how they get along. The formula is (Faction Reaction * 5)*(0.5 +(Faction Rank *0.5)). In plain terms, this means that as you attain higher ranks in your faction, people with negative modifiers will like you less and people with positive modifiers will like you more. This does not mean that everyone will start attacking you on sight, nor does it mean that they are going to fall all over themselves to be helpful. It does, however, modify their initial disposition toward you. This initial disposition will be further modified by your Personality, your overall reputation, your Criminal Status, whether or not you are Diseased, what kinds of favors you have done for the faction you're dealing with, etc. The other person may wind up liking you a lot or not liking you at all, but your faction and rank can impose a serious modifier.

House Hlaalu Reactions to Other Factions
Hated Enemy
(-3)
Enemy
(-2)
Hostile
(-1)
Indifferent
(0)
Friendly
(+1)
Ally
(+2)
Beloved Ally (+3)
  Ashlanders
Vampires
House Redoran
House Telvanni
Thieves Guild
  Mages Guild
Imperial Cult
Temple
Commona Tong
Fighters Guild
Imperial Legion
  House Hlaalu

Advancement within House Hlaalu will depend upon your skill level in three of the following skills:

Light Armor
Marksman
Mercantile

Security
Short Blade
Speechcraft

House Hlaalu's rank structure:

Rank Speed Agility One required Skill at Two other required Skills at Minimum Faction Reputation
1 - Hireling 30 30 0 0 0
2 - Retainer 30 30 10 0 5
3 - Oathman 30 30 20 0 10
4 - Lawman 30 30 30 5 20
5 - Kinsman 30 30 40 10 30
6 - House Cousin 31 31 50 15 45
7 - House Brother 32 32 60 20 60
8 - House Father 33 33 70 25 80
9 - Councilman 34 34 80 30 100
10 - Grandmaster 35 35 90 35 125

Of course, these promotions don't come just based on your skills. You must perform quests to gain reputation and rank within the House. Each successfully completed quest typically adds 5 points to your Faction Rep. Just ask about "business" to anyone who has it in their conversation threads. The House Hlaalu quest givers are, in no particular order:

Typically, each rank requires two or three successfully completed quests in addition to the minimum stat and skills requirements. The exception to this is that to advance beyond rank 7, you must build a stronghold. To advance beyond rank 8 you must improve your stronghold. You can start construction after reaching rank 5.