Argon the Great

The greatest Saxhleel, favored by the Hist and the rest of our kind, was never a king of our people, although I strongly believe he was the first true king of our race. His mind led our armies when no others would lead. His strength fought off the invading Pointed Ears from Cyrodiil and kept their armies from overrunning Black Marsh. And his name is now the common name for our people. He was Argon the Great, Bane of the Ayleids.

The Ayleids and the Saxhleel were never friends. When the elves came from the sea, they brought terror from their boats. They attacked our people, who had been living in small communities in the area that would become Cyrodiil since the Striking, believing that the land was their own. They drove us from the vast jungles and attempted to follow us into our ancestral home of Black Marsh, but immediately stopped this conquest when the Hist did horrible things to their warriors.

Our people were safe. While most of our land had been taken away from us, we were still alive. And for a time, we lived in peace.

But peace never comes to those that seek it. In what the smoothskins call the First Era, the Ayleids became fascinated with the Hist. They sought to learn from them, as we had learned from them. The Ayleids surged into the Black Marsh with a terrible army, raiding and capturing our settlements near the edge of their land. Our people traveled into the heart of Black Marsh, terrified of the elves. We asked the Hist for guidance, and their answer stunned all. One Saxhleel, one of our kin, would fight the Ayleids alone.

None of the Saxhleel wished to do this. One warrior against an army was certain death. But suddenly, one stood. His name was Argon. He was not the biggest, nor the fastest, nor the strongest of us. But he was the bravest. He grabbed a spear from one of his egg-brothers and walked to the Ayleids with the blessing of the Hist upon him.

When he reached the elves, they mocked him. One Saxhleel was going to fight the half of the Ayleid army, a force of about five hundred warriors? Absurd, they had thought. But Argon stared at them with defiance in his eyes, and with the aid of the Hist yelled in their own tongue:

“You are nothing, wild elves from the west! You may have driven my people from our lands but you will never conquer our home as your own! We shall fight with every spear, stone, tooth, and claw until you return to where you came. None of you will see the end of this day, as only death awaits those who challenge Argon’s people and Argon’s land!”

And with that Argon drove his spear into the dirt, and the ground erupted at the Ayleids feet as vines and roots pushed themselves upward from the ground to entangle them. Black Marsh itself had awoken to push back the invaders. Argon rushed the army, and began skewering them left from right with a speed no Saxhleel has since been able to match. The rest of our people were rallied by this display and attacked the Ayleids, and a bloodbath began. The fighting raged on for days, with neither side surrendering. And then, it was over. The few remaining Ayleids left alive turned and ran away. One hundred Argonians lay dead on the ground, alongside the corpses of four hundred and thirty elves. We had won.

But the victory was a sad victory. For Argon had been felled on the field of battle. It is said even the Hist cried that day as an honor guard of eight Saxhleel carried his body back to his village. Our people constructed a large tomb made from stone deep in the ground to honor Argon, which is now customary for all Argonian Kings. The village that he was born was renamed Argon’s Nest, and became the city where the leaders of our people would reside.

The surviving elves returned to their leaders and informed them of their loss. The Ayleid Lords were astonished by our bravely, and were especially afraid of Argon, who they believed to be still alive. They never attacked Argon’s land and Argon’s people again. And that is why the races of mer have called our home “Argonia” and our kind “Argonians” ever since.

The Ayleids were gravely weakened by this battle, paving the way for the human called Alessia to overthrow them. We did not help the humans, for there was no need. Our war was over.