Tamriel, dawn's beauty in the language of the Altmer.
Is the continent upon where all of the Elder Scrolls games take place.
Home to many diverse races and even more conflicts.
Tamriel has been host to many adventures.
You've experienced Tamriel in your own way.
But want to learn more about it's story.
Well, to get to the heart of the story you have to go back to the beginning...
*The Elder Scrolls Theme Song Plays*
Every province of Tamriel has it's secret histories.
But no land in the Empire is as undocumented and as unexplored as Black Marsh.
Bordering Morrowind to the North and Cyrodiil to the west.
Black Marsh also known as Argonia is one of the most inhospitable locations in Tamriel.
The water soaked landscape gives way to dense swamp land which is swarming with flesh eating insects, poisonous plants and disease.
It has been called "The Garbage Heap of Tamriel"
To where everything rotten and spoiled eventually flows.
But for those resilient enough to live there, there is a dangerously alluring beauty to be found within it's borders.
The original natives of Black Marsh and maybe even Tamriel are as mysterious as the province itself.
That's because these ancient natives are a species of sentient trees that grow in the heart of Argonia.
The hist.
The Argonians will tell you that the hist are more ancient then all the mortal races.
Older than the oppressive Elves and surely older than the hot-headed races of man.
The Hist have existed since time and memorial.
Their connection with the Argonians runs deeper than any root.
Very little is known and even less is understood about the Reptilian inhabitants of Black Marsh.
Years of defending their borders have made the Argonians experts in Gorilla Warefare.
And their natural abilities make them equally at home in water as on land.
They are well suited for the treacherous swamps of their homelands and have developed natural immunities to diseases and poisons.
That have doomed many would-be adventurers into the region.
They are in general reserved people.
Slow to trust and hard to know.
Yet, they are fiercely loyal and will fight to the death for those that they have named as friend.
While Argonians appear Reptilian in nature they also exhibit qualities of fish and amphibians.
They are able to breathe under water through small gills behind their ears.
And swim using the same method as that of a tadpole or even an eel.
Moving their tales side to side to propel them through the water.
Argonian appearance ranges from Reptilian to almost human.
This is caused by the Hist sap that they ingest as hatchlings.
Which ceremonially takes place on their naming day.
Speaking of ceremony, the Argonians revere the Hist with an almost religious vigor.
When the sap of a hist is consumed, a tree is capable of communicating with the Argonian through visions and beyond that, it also rewards Argonian guerilla fighters with heightened combat prowess.
When forced to defend their homeland, the Argonians depend on the Hist and the Hist depend on them in turn.
The relationship between tree and humanoid does not stop there.
The Argonians apparently believe that the Hist have given them their souls and when they die their souls are returned to the Hist to be reincarnated into a new Argonian.
Because of their relationship it is understandable why the Argonians are so protective of the Hist, they not only depend on the Hist in this life but according to them they also depend on the Hist in the next life.
While we're on the topic of life and death, it is important to note that the Hist acknowledge Sithis as their master.
"In the Argonian homeland of Black Marsh, those born under the sign of a shadow are taken at birth and presented to the Dark Brotherhood."
"A shadow scale hatchling is trained in the arts of stealth and assassination and lives a life in service to the mighty kingdom of Argonia."
The history of the Argonian people is dark and shrouded in many mysteries.
Before the interfering races of men and mer, the Argonians were isolationists.
Almost nothing is known about their activities until well into the first era when Black Marsh had the misfortune of attracting pirates.
Who wished to use the coasts of Argonia as a base to attack rich merchant groups in Eastern Cyrodiil.
At the time, the rulers of the white gold tower were the Imperials of the first empire.
Former human slaves of the heartland high elves.
In response to the pirate raids being launched from the coasts, the Imperials invaded Black Marsh to put a stop to the illegal activities.
Simple enough, but what they weren't counting on were the highly organized Argonians who undermined their efforts at every turn.
All though the Imperials meant the Argonians no harm, the Argonian people regarded all outsiders as hostile invaders.
It's pretty hard to blame them for this mindset though, considering the only humans the Argonians had encountered up to this point were the pirates who had tried killing them.
Clearly the Imperials felt unwelcomed in Black Marsh and as quickly as they came, they departed.
The Argonian people will not be brought into the Imerpial fold until a year after their defeat at what is called "The battle of Argonia"
Which took place about a century later.
Even with an Imerpial yolk, Black Marsh proved far too wild to tame.
And the Empire was only able to govern the outskirts of the swamp land.
It was considered suicide, even for the empire to try and penetrate Argonia's harsh interior, home of the Hist.
Imperial occupation in parts of Black Marsh went on for centuries.
That was until a mysterious and lethal flu broke out, which killed virtually every non-reptilian race in Black Marsh.
In the blink of an eye, the Argonians and the Hist had Black Marsh to themselves once again.
The true origin of the disease remains a mystery to this day.
After the pandemic, the Argonians enjoyed the peace of isolation.
But it was short lived.
When the Daedric Prince, Bolag Bal sought to make Tamriel burn in the second era.
Even the reserved Argonians were forced to lend their swords in the fight for Tamriel's survival.
In an effort to avert the crisis, the Argonians reluctantly pledged their blades to the Ebonheart Pact.
Where they used their natural abilities to serve as scouts and skirmishers.
After this crisis was over, most Argonians were glad to live life in the swamps again where they would hopefully be left alone.
They should have learned by now that in Tamriel, a life without interference is a pipe dream at best.
At the dawn of the third era, a man by the name of Tiber Septim came right again with his Imerpial legions ushering in his empire.
And if there's anything we know about empires, it's that membership is not optional.
Saying Tiber Septim conquered Black Marsh is a bit of an overstatement.
He gained control of the borders and major cities along the coast, but Tiber Septim was a wise military strategist and knew what it would mean to face the Argonians in the heart of their homeland.
Even as the Dragonborn with an army at his back, facing the Argonians would mean certain death.
So rather Tiber Septim decided to avoid the inner swamps all together.
He was met with little resistance from the Argonians.
I suspect that at this point in history, the Argonians and the Hist knew the human races pretty well.
After all, they had fought along side the Nords in the Pact.
As long as men controlled the outer rims of Black Marsh, their people were left alone.
Besides, the Argonians had a much bigger problem on the horizon.
The treacherous Dark Elves.
Having served with the Dark Elves side by side as comrades in the Ebonheart Pact, centuries earlier you would think that tensions between the two races would be minimal.
Unfortunately for the Argonians, the very traits that enabled them to do so well in their homelands also made them ideal slaves for hard labor in the regions of Morrowind.
After having spilt blood together, some houses of Morrowind still managed to justify the enslavement of entire tribes of Argonians.
Despite the disgust and frustration of many people throughout Tamriel.
In time, the Argonians will seek revenge on their Elven masters.
But that dear viewer, is a story for another day.
*The Elder Scrolls Theme Song Plays*