Elder Scrolls have an in-universe explanation for their titty lizards:
The Hist Trees created the Argonians by calling forth the animals of the swamp, combining their genomes, and mutating them into the Argonian race.
This is also why they have gills, lungs, horns, vocal cords, thumbs, and various reptillian features with no consensus. It is not clarified whether or not Argonians are capable of reproduction without the Hist, but the vast majority of Argonians are born from eggs ritualistically mutated by the Hist.
Also, it’s just a lot easier from a game design perspective if they use the same models as other characters.
So this explanation wasn’t canon as of Morrowind as I recall.
So one mod, something like “Better Clothes” retextured the outfits and cleaned up some of the meshes.
It also added an entire system to “correct” the Argonian titties issue. Most merchants sold a “sewing kit” which would correct the mesh to switch to the flat model. All female Argonians had a dialogue option to adjust their clothing, in case a script had failed to fire.
(Oblivion has had mods which alter Khajiit breasts in… more “feline” ways…)
It’s canon that the Lusty Argonian Maid is one of the oldest written works in Tamriel. It’s like the Epic of Gilgamesh of Tamriel, they just keep finding older copies.
Is that canon in the sense of it existing in the game set earliest in in-universe history, or is it canon in the sense that there’s in-universe research about it?
The second one, there are some historian notes about how the modern play is different from archeological records of the story, they can be read in the game ESO.
Also, ESO takes place chronologically before TES:III, TES:IV, and TES:V
Same. I still play once in a while, but after getting Codwell’s gold I lost motivation to play. I just kind of hop on once in a great while to pay the stableman, check my sales, research crafting perks. The endgame is geared towards group play and I never got into any groups.
Since people seem to enjoy this comment I’m going to talk more about why the Hists are the dominant species of Tamriel.
The hist is a connected hivemind also capable of individuality when separated from each other. In the past multiple Hist Trees have been moved to other planes of oblivion, such as the vampiric hist tree in the realm of Molag Baal which eventually commits suicide or other hist trees which exist in the oblivion plane Umbriel after they escaped the clutches of Clavicus Vile.
The hist is capable of communicating directly with people via psychic connection, through dreams, through magic devices (which it is capable of crafting itself), or even through wind and windchimes. The hist is also capable of taking souls which would otherwise be captured and storing them within itself for safekeeping even against ancient and powerful elven technology.
Sometimes the Hist sleeps, or weakens due to outside interferences, causing entire generations to go without hearing its’ voice. Some argonians entirely lack the ability to communicate with the Hist. However, the Hist is still capable of communicating with other races if it chooses to.
The Hist has an ancient history with the elves who created Tamriel and who were fooled into sacrificing their immortality. Some modern elves depict Argonians as servants created for slavery by the elves rather than accepting the sovereignty of the Hist or even the sentience of the Argonians. Multiple uprisings have occurred as the Argonians endure assault and enslavement throughout the ages, their subservience solely to the hist preventing them from organizing against anything less than an existential threat. The Hists differ greatly from the Wyrd Tree and traditional elven nature spirits, the Ehlnofey, who are a chosen few of the ancestors of all elves tasked by the Bosmeri god Y’ffre of song and nature whose presence is still felt in the regions ruled by the Green Pact, which is a sentient forest comparable to the Hist network. It’s assumed that all of these things are interconnected in their origins but it’s never been elaborated how or why.
Some popular unconfirmed fan theories are that the ancient elves never stopped researching ways to regain their immortality. One method they pursued was becoming one with nature, producing the Hist as a byproduct of that research, which was actually successful in the cases of Y’ffre and also the Wyrd Tree. This theory also accepts that the Dunmer’s collective instantaneous disappearance from Tamriel was a result of similar research, that they basically raptured themselves. The Dark Elves of morrowind were also successful at creating a Divine vessel, whose parts were scattered in a daedric plot and divided amongst the three living gods of morrowind.
During the Planemeld Crisis and again during the Oblivion Gate Crisis the Argonians were the racial factions whose territory suffered the least. The Argonians actually invaded Oblivion in both events and overran the Daedre.
Just curious, where did you learn all of that lore from exactly? Was it purely from the quest lines and game lore books? Or was it an external source of any kind?
You can find some of it spread thinly throughout the main games and on the wiki but by far the largest source of mostly-canonical written lore is from the Elder Scrolls Online which contains tons of related quests and 7,012 ingame lore-books of which I have only read a small fraction of.
The Hist and Argonians I think are just one of those fascinating pieces of fantasy fiction that a great many people have made entire video essays about.
EDIT: Note that ESO chronologically takes place during the Planemeld and before the Oblivion crisis, so you won’t find any of that lore in there except for the bits as they happen.
The real answer is Michael Kirkbride left Bethesda right after doing all the legwork that led up to Skyrim. The man is reportedly difficult to work with but he is a world building genius.
Elder Scrolls have an in-universe explanation for their titty lizards:
The Hist Trees created the Argonians by calling forth the animals of the swamp, combining their genomes, and mutating them into the Argonian race.
This is also why they have gills, lungs, horns, vocal cords, thumbs, and various reptillian features with no consensus. It is not clarified whether or not Argonians are capable of reproduction without the Hist, but the vast majority of Argonians are born from eggs ritualistically mutated by the Hist.
Also, it’s just a lot easier from a game design perspective if they use the same models as other characters.
So this explanation wasn’t canon as of Morrowind as I recall.
So one mod, something like “Better Clothes” retextured the outfits and cleaned up some of the meshes.
It also added an entire system to “correct” the Argonian titties issue. Most merchants sold a “sewing kit” which would correct the mesh to switch to the flat model. All female Argonians had a dialogue option to adjust their clothing, in case a script had failed to fire.
(Oblivion has had mods which alter Khajiit breasts in… more “feline” ways…)
Well I do know of a certain maid that would probably be eager to help find out how capable of reproduction they are.
It’s canon that the Lusty Argonian Maid is one of the oldest written works in Tamriel. It’s like the Epic of Gilgamesh of Tamriel, they just keep finding older copies.
Is that canon in the sense of it existing in the game set earliest in in-universe history, or is it canon in the sense that there’s in-universe research about it?
The second one, there are some historian notes about how the modern play is different from archeological records of the story, they can be read in the game ESO.
Also, ESO takes place chronologically before TES:III, TES:IV, and TES:V
So the retconned Uncle Crassius into a plagiarist???
How dare they malign the reputation of the man who makes you trade erotic favors for faction advancement!
Neat.
Maybe I should start playing ESO again.
Same. I still play once in a while, but after getting Codwell’s gold I lost motivation to play. I just kind of hop on once in a great while to pay the stableman, check my sales, research crafting perks. The endgame is geared towards group play and I never got into any groups.
Since people seem to enjoy this comment I’m going to talk more about why the Hists are the dominant species of Tamriel.
The hist is a connected hivemind also capable of individuality when separated from each other. In the past multiple Hist Trees have been moved to other planes of oblivion, such as the vampiric hist tree in the realm of Molag Baal which eventually commits suicide or other hist trees which exist in the oblivion plane Umbriel after they escaped the clutches of Clavicus Vile.
The hist is capable of communicating directly with people via psychic connection, through dreams, through magic devices (which it is capable of crafting itself), or even through wind and windchimes. The hist is also capable of taking souls which would otherwise be captured and storing them within itself for safekeeping even against ancient and powerful elven technology.
Sometimes the Hist sleeps, or weakens due to outside interferences, causing entire generations to go without hearing its’ voice. Some argonians entirely lack the ability to communicate with the Hist. However, the Hist is still capable of communicating with other races if it chooses to.
The Hist has an ancient history with the elves who created Tamriel and who were fooled into sacrificing their immortality. Some modern elves depict Argonians as servants created for slavery by the elves rather than accepting the sovereignty of the Hist or even the sentience of the Argonians. Multiple uprisings have occurred as the Argonians endure assault and enslavement throughout the ages, their subservience solely to the hist preventing them from organizing against anything less than an existential threat. The Hists differ greatly from the Wyrd Tree and traditional elven nature spirits, the Ehlnofey, who are a chosen few of the ancestors of all elves tasked by the Bosmeri god Y’ffre of song and nature whose presence is still felt in the regions ruled by the Green Pact, which is a sentient forest comparable to the Hist network. It’s assumed that all of these things are interconnected in their origins but it’s never been elaborated how or why.
Some popular unconfirmed fan theories are that the ancient elves never stopped researching ways to regain their immortality. One method they pursued was becoming one with nature, producing the Hist as a byproduct of that research, which was actually successful in the cases of Y’ffre and also the Wyrd Tree. This theory also accepts that the Dunmer’s collective instantaneous disappearance from Tamriel was a result of similar research, that they basically raptured themselves. The Dark Elves of morrowind were also successful at creating a Divine vessel, whose parts were scattered in a daedric plot and divided amongst the three living gods of morrowind.
During the Planemeld Crisis and again during the Oblivion Gate Crisis the Argonians were the racial factions whose territory suffered the least. The Argonians actually invaded Oblivion in both events and overran the Daedre.
Do not fight the Hists. You will lose.
Holy shit, this guy Elder Scrolls!
Just curious, where did you learn all of that lore from exactly? Was it purely from the quest lines and game lore books? Or was it an external source of any kind?
If you’re looking for more ES lore check out fudgemuppet and camelworks on youtube, sometimes I’ll listen to those instead of podcasts
You can find some of it spread thinly throughout the main games and on the wiki but by far the largest source of mostly-canonical written lore is from the Elder Scrolls Online which contains tons of related quests and 7,012 ingame lore-books of which I have only read a small fraction of.
The Hist and Argonians I think are just one of those fascinating pieces of fantasy fiction that a great many people have made entire video essays about.
EDIT: Note that ESO chronologically takes place during the Planemeld and before the Oblivion crisis, so you won’t find any of that lore in there except for the bits as they happen.
So… I know who he is and how vampires are created. Did he… Uh, transform the tree?
Since vampyrism can be contracted via spell he probably didn’t have to do much.
Yeah, but he’s not really about only doing what he has to do.
Why does this kind of depth not make it into their games anymore?
Rhetorical question, we all know why.
The real answer is Michael Kirkbride left Bethesda right after doing all the legwork that led up to Skyrim. The man is reportedly difficult to work with but he is a world building genius.
Meh, Morrowind ones ftw