"I don't hate Argonians." - every Argonian hater ever.

“I would be uncomfortable talking to an Oblivion Argonian.” I would be uncomfortable talking to Oblivion NPCs in general. XD

I love HISTory podcasts.

Michael: "They're all egg laying creatures." Me: *thinking what a platypus argonian would look like*

My latest oblivion playthrough was with an argonian named “Pops-two-Xans” a godlike character but ultimately an airhead

Their language not having a past and future tense actually isn't as alien as you might think, and was likely inspired by a real world language, specifically Yucatec Maya, which also completely lacks tense and relies complex context indicators to infer temporal relationships indirectly. When you consider the history of the Argonians, this makes a lot of sense. The Maya built great cities, which they then simply abandoned for an unknown reason, not dying out, but just willingly dissolving back into the central American rain forests as the various maya tribes that were eventually discovered by the spaniards and still exist there today. The mayans didn't die out. They simply abandoned urban lifestyle en masse for an unknown reason. This very much mirrors the history of the argonians building massive civilizations, based on sacrifice and sporting meso-american inspired architecture, which they then willingly abandon for philosophical reasons, choosing instead to transition to a more primitive subsistence lifestyle. That their language would likewise be inspired by mayan language makes sense in this context.

I started as argonians because they looked like dragons, and stayed with them for sentient trees that are basically herma Mora from the last cycle that squirt out lizard steroids

I would like my grave stake to say “Did nothing all her life - just chilled in the swamps”

1:17:23 dumb headcanon or not, I can't ignore Sithis being an anagram of "is Hist"

It makes me so happy to Michael stand firmly in the way of any Argoanian misinformation. Almost like he’s maybe ingested some Hist himself.

Ima be honest to yall. You guys are what grounds me. Having well made elder scrolls video uploaded every now and then keeps me sane for some reason.

I've been trying to think of the name of the Fudgemuppet boyband and the Blackmarsh Boys is the only name that will do now. Thanks fellas. Loving these podcasts.

These are so enjoyable to listen to!

"Michael will you explain Argonians to us since that is your expertise?" Scott: So here's how it works..

I wonder how the Bosmer feel about the Hist, since they venerate trees and nature.

21:40 There was a friction among the Hist. One of the Hist disagreed with others and made a deal with Molag Bal to preserve the culture of it's tribe. You can meet them in Coldharbour in ESO

I wonder how the hists memories were affected by the dragon break or if they retain an awareness of the disparity of the realities

"Licks eyeballs in anticipation "

The Argonians have been my favorite race since I first fired up Skyrim in 2012 on my best friend’s 360. Eight years 800+ hours later they’re still my favorite and most played race. Such a cool creation by the OG elder scrolls team.

There's one ineteresting thing about the Hist that you didn't mention there: considering the whole idea of the Hist absorbing Argonian memory, this makes them effectively just very accurate historians. So when you look at it that way, Hist tree sounds very much like the word history. Hist tree, history, very similar. That might be how they got their name from the writers.

Best podcast yet. But I'm a bit biased since the Argonians are my number one race in Elder Scrolls.

I want there to be an Argonian character that talks about man's, mer and kajit being so weird compared to them. It would be a cool character.

I don't think the Hist trees are daedric in any way, but I think there are Hist trees on multiple planes of Oblivion that can communicate back to Blackmarsh

Now all of us know what's in Drew's search history: Argonian feet pics.

Thought he was dual wielding a pair of purple lightsabers from the thumbnail

I have gotten back into Morrowind and ESO thanks to this podcast. The enthusiasm they have for the lore is contagious😎

I love how this culture is mayan and Aztec based even down to looking like quetzalcoatl the bird serpent god and even the weapons and building are similar too

FudgeMuppert with the HISTory of my sexy Argonian companions, looks like our lucky day people.

A shot rang out, a door slammed, a maid screamed, then suddenly a legion of Argonians appeared on the horizon....

the thing about using birds to clean their teeth is probably based on the Egyptian plover (aka the crocodile bird). which is a bird irl that flies into a crocodiles mouth and cleans its teeth (this basically feeds the bird and helps the crocodile not get teeth/mouth infections)

My first elder scrolls game was Skyrim and I always enjoyed picking argonians simply cuz I thought they looked cool. Learning about their greater lore and history is super fascinating and definitely deepens my appreciation for the race. Keep up the good work guys 👍

When Scott actually stopped talking for like 1 minute >

Last time I was this early Argonians still walked on four legs

I don't really see what would be wrong with an Argonian actually viewing themselves as a receptacle for the Hist. That doesn't have to be negative, instead it could be a deeply spiritual thing since their gods aren't omniscient in the same way that Men and Mer tend to think of their gods. The Hist are alive and bound to the land in Black Marsh. Argonians could still be individuals, and have their own desires and live their own lives. But the motivation for some of those things COULD BE that they are literally the vessels through which their gods experience the world. There's a motivation to live your life to the fullest because when it's over and done with, your story - your memories, and experiences - everything you've ever done returns to your gods and teaches them something about the world. And an extension of that could be what you were talking about with their funerals. To write your story on your funeral stake so that in addition to your gods, your entire tribe also gets to read and experience your story. Edit: 54:33 the Argonians aren't the most overpowered race. The Argonians aren't the ones with all of the knowledge. An Argonian dirt farmer in Black Marsh doesn't know about the wizard secrets that the Telvanni slave overheard. The Hist do though. The Hist would be the overpowered race. Except not really, because they're TREES. Their ability to act on all of this knowledge is very limited and indirect. They need the Argonians to be able to ACT on that. So what if the trees know everything going on in the continent? They don't care unless it endangers them. You said it yourself Scott, the Hist are survivalists.

Scott loves the Dunmer so much he’s adapted there racism lol

12:29 Argonian moisturizer, the *DEEPEST LORE*

18:00 The winged argonian would be a cool idea because in a way it would be a throwback at Quetzalcoatl, the aztec precious serpent

I saw argonian and I immediately clicked

Nobody ever talks about the Fighters Guild quest line in Oblivion, in which it seems like an actual, for real Hist Tree is brought out of Black March and into Cyrodiil and used to drug up members of the Blackwood Company. Its a pretty crazy thing to happen and seemingly was purposefully done by Argonians. The Hist being such an integral part of Argonian culture and generally their entire being, it suggests to me that this must have been done intentionally, by The Hist itself. Would have been nice to hear some of your thoughts on this. To go a little into my personal thoughts and headcannon on this, its particularly interesting because you, the player, The Champion of Cyrodiil ends up drinking hist sap and slaughtering an entire village while hallucinating that all the villagers are Goblins. The Champion of Cyrodiil drank hist sap, which could mean that the powers and abilities of The Champion of Cyrodiil could have possibly been added to the knowledge collective that The Hist is building. Now this is just a thought I've had, but I think The Hist was maybe able to now grant these abilities to the Argonians, which is what made them powerful enough to beat back the Oblivion Crisis and even go on the offensive, just like The Champion of Cyrodiil could.

I only noticed from the Australian accent pronunciation but I just realized "Hist Tree" sounds like "History"

It never even occurred to me that the Argonians faces lack any emotional expression. I can say I have plenty of good reason for that though because the way I interpret people's moods and intent is through voice inflection, what I see in a person's eyes as we talk or even while you're interacting with others, and body language. I couldn't tell you exactly when I stopped considering facial expressions trustworthy but I can say it was while I was still a child probably well under the age of 10 years old. I can say that I will probably now try seeing if they show less facial expression next time I play because I'm so far from that being habit that it takes conscious effort to notice it.

I liked how the Morrowind Argonians (and Khajiit, for that matter) cannot wear closed headgear or boots, if I recall correctly. Very decent acknowledgment by the devs of the very different way the character models looked :)

Bog People - bogs are known to Naturally Mummify corpses (in real life)

If the Hist just see things like it and add it to their lizards, the Argonians, the rest of Tamriel better pray to the eight that those trees never see the flying lizards that just returned in Skyrim or they are gonna be made into something a lot more scary than birds

Really needed this podcast on Argonians, there's so much i need and want to know about the argonian race.

The Hist and the Argonians are inobligate symbiotes. They don’t NEED each other to survive, but greatly benefit from their coexistence and mutual relationship. It’s kinda like tarantulas and frogs… except the tarantulas use spears and magic and the frog occasionally pumps massive amounts of cocaine steroids into the spider to beat up demons. As for what the Hist are… Daedra is the technically right term for them since they aren’t anyones ancestors, but I don’t think they’re Deadric in the same way Demora or the Daedric princes are. Daedric may just be the best word to describe them in the Elder Scrolls, but it’s kinda like using the word cow to describe an elephant or rhino because you don’t have any other word for it. I think the Hist really are just their own thing.

An argonian with maxed out acrobatics and agility should be able to run across the surface of the water like a jesus lizard

I’m with Michael. Argonians are awesome. I’ve talked with people who work with snakes and lizards and my impression is that even with the lack of expression, there actually isn’t a lot going on inside, at least much of the time. So I think that a better comparison is birds. They don’t have facial expressions either, but they have a lot of internal stuff like thoughts and emotions and social reflection going on inside. But it is really alien and intuitions shaped by hanging out with mammals like cat, dogs or horses are unhelpful. And for the record: birds are flying dinosaurs. Another random thought: argonians are obviously not coldblooded. They can adventure in Skyrim for Nirns sake! So, endotherm. As for the writing on the burial stakes, I think it’s like index card notations in a library. It’s an abstract of what kind of knowledge and experience is currently going into the hist tree. Head canon. Good episode guys. Makes heading into Murkmire a lot more enjoyable.

Xukas in the murkmire dlc says some interesting things on the tribes, types of argonians, and each hist. There are multiple hist, though each tribe has A hist, and each tribe appear to have a massive difference between one another - though I imagine the hist can convert argonians from one form to another with ease.

Completely agree with everything Michael had to say in this one. Very well spoken like the logical speculation and ideas.

Nothing belongs to you. Nothing belongs to me. All things belong to the Hist. To the Hist we shall return. The Hist may brew our existence into Nirn. But it is Sithis who define our purpose in the great journey. For life is without motion. If not for the void to claim them. Death gives life purpose. To know your days are numbered. Those worthy of the Shadow Scale are the noblest of my kin. For their service is beyond that of honor. Shiver your spine with pride children of the Hist. For our roots grows deep into Tamriel history. Hail Sithis the eternal dread Father. May he grant us safe passage in our return to the Hist. Judges-All-Sinners (Argonian Sorcerer)

I will always be jealous of Drew’s beard, so thank you Drew for covering it with your mic so I don’t have to feel self conscious.

Man I love these podcasts

Ziggurat makes me think of ancient Sumer, but also of the Mayans who historically experience something similar. They had a golden age but then many of their great cities were abandoned, probably because of ecological issues. Great video btw, Elder Scrolls lore is truly fascinating and developed. I love all your deeper exploration of every aspect of it!

Best time of the week!

Thanks for sharing guys :)

Argonians would be #teamtrees

Perfect way to start my morning...

On the topic of bog wights: what if, rather than being a lost soul wandering, their souls did return and what’s left is an empty husk?

I love this series so much! Currently my favorite podcast and I already listen to way too many. Even though they’re long, learning lore through conversations instead of scripts is much better for me. Keep up the great work!

This the Hist do not resist

Scott the hipster: the majority of you guys like something? Well I hate it

Best of the podcast so far, but the Argonians are my favorite so.

Man wish these podcasts would get more views, they are so cool

Did I miss it or did they not mention the hist tree that floated around Oblivion and nirn on an island. Also wasn't umbras quest related to a hist tree

Scott is out here quoting Hermes trismegistus. I'm curious to know the extent of his occult knowledge on theology. Definitely hearing some peter j carrol and McKenna in his ramblings. You can hear the hidden knowledge in his speech, this sold me. Scott is a magician

My argonian is always an agent of the hist that gives him vision to go and effect the big events of history

Theory: The hist are slowly building up an army. The argonians with feathers are slowly gaining wings. Argonians with toad or fish like features are slowly becoming water specialists. Maybe ambush fighters? So my theory is pretty much the hist are making a bunch of tribes that are specialized in one type of thing it’s pretty simple but I thought of during this podcast keep up the good work!

I'd buy Scaly Boy Gang merch

Lol, I like how Drew just sat there for most of it as Scott and Michael "argued"

Fantastic stuff as always, thanks guys! 👏🏾👏🏾

Love love love this podcast. Can't get enough!!!

Scott looks like a Dunmer and Michael like an Imperial

there are flying lizards on earth (more like the flying squirrels, they climb then jump, not fly with wings but have arms and legs connected by a thin skin), yeah like wingsuits I totally see argonians living in a big jungle with high trees having these features, like jumping from a house in the heingts of the tree to one lower, entiere cities high in the forest and not on the ground

Amazing content!

1:10:00 this is why the hist want the bodies back at the marsh. You don't leave a machine filled with secrets for enemies to find, and you don't leave your lizard biomachines for the same reason. Also lizombies are a dope security system

12:40 Michael telling Scott to hold on is so funny to me lol

The staking down is something similar to preemptively chopping off a corpses head or ive also seen corpses held down by a metal collar attached to the bottom of the casket to prevent the body from rising again.

I hope Microsoft uses podcast conversation to make NPC conversation in game. Itd be great to see an Argonian talking about his heritage with an Imperial, or two healers debating the nature of the Hist as u complete a quest for their apprentice.

I'm currently playing in an elder scrolls dnd game as an Argonian Forge Cleric. He was always plagued by this grand ambition to become a great smith, which he felt was unlike everyone in his tribe. He was a dedicated acolyte of the Hist, and was troubled. He prayed for a sign on what to do, drinking the sap, until months later he received a vision, to undergo a ceremony to remove his connection to the Hist, leave Black Marsh, and begin worship of a foreign god. He did so, and found himself learning blacksmithing from a worshipper of Zenithar. He's been struggling with whether or not he has a soul anymore, and whether he was guided by the Hist anymore or something else. The DM just revealed to him that Zenithar is guiding him, and perhaps is what is giving him his soul, or maintaining it. He's on a quest to find the Aetherium forge, and create a masterpiece, guided by Zenithar, who is pleading for him to hurry for some reason. I've been thinking his development will lead him to devote entirely to Zenithar, but still hold fondness for the Hist, the mother who guided her hatchling to leave the nest, and seek out his dreams.

59:30 The Hist doesn't want the Argonians forming empires, leaving Black Marsh, because they'd draw attention to themselves. Except when Tiber Septim conquers them, and Oblivion Gates open all over the continent(world?). After those events Isolationism doesn't seem such a practical means of self defence so enter the An-Xileel. Danger will come to the Hist now, so the Hist turns the Argonians more aggressive.

I wonder what happens if the Hist decides to adopt non-lizards into their brood? Like could a man or mer infant benefit from being connected to the Hist? Could a insects? How about a mountain goat? So many possibilities!

I love these podcasts, keep it up! And pump out more!

I read this wrong as I was scrolling and it looked like Argonians hit the streets. Fudgemuppet make it a series!

What if the hist tree is essentially an alien plant something like that fungus from dark souls or something

Anyone else notice that the statue of sithis from eso looks like a Hindu idol like Vishnu?

Argonians sure love their HIST TREE.

ARGONIONS ARE THE BEST AND MY FAVORITE ELDER SCROLLS RACE!!!!! Second favorite is the Bosmer and third is the Orcs.

Thoroughly enjoyed the podcast, great work guys. Admittedly I'm toying with the idea of an Argonian playthrough on Skyrim at the moment although I'm currently trying to dig up information on their warriors who adopted heavy armour. Then again, I don't even know if there's a mod that would offer thematically appropriate equipment.

guys has anyone else realized how many times our local daedrologist Drew blinks in this video, especially in the beginning Dont know why it got my attention but it did :p . Nice podcast guys keep em coming :D

Came for the Argonian Origin podcast...Stayed for the Lusty Argonian maid.

Don't break Scott's bubble by telling him that in fact many if not most dinosaurs had feathers. Including velociraptors, terranosaurs, etc ;)

Do the bosmer and the green pact next podcast ples

Now this looks like a good podcast

It definitely makes a lot of sense if you look at their connection to the host in a more natural sense, as in an evolving separate organ/organism from themselves. The trees just do what they do as it’s what they evolved or were created to do. The Hist doesn’t need to protect itself from Dark Elf Slavers, but the Oblivion crisis required immediate response. The knowledge learned enslaved argonians is probably just an unintended benefit of the natural processes between Argonians and the hist.

I think the hiss let them get enslaved and Concord because that was just another experience for them to farm In their memory banks

The tl;dr of argonian lore Helmstrom lizard before licking hist: just vibing Helmstrom lizard after licking hist: AYAYAYAYYYYY

I've been looking forward to this one!

Skyrim was my first TES game, and I picked the Argonians immediately. I didn't know their lore back then, but I knew I have chosen the only perfect species.

Argonians worship Sithis, but the Hist are all about staying alive and staying the same. Maybe they have a symbiotic relationship akin to Anu and Padomay, the stasis of the Hist and the ever changing Argonian form