The Tsaesci: A Theory

I believe the Tsaesci are a race of Men that live on Akavir. I also believe the Tsaesci are a race of literal Serpents. Allow me to explain.

There is very little information about any of the Akaviri races, but from the few sources I have gone through, it would seem the Tsaesci are in fact fully humanoid. 2920 is an in-game piece of fiction from what I understand, and so I discount its description of snake-like lower-bodies, as it is the only writing with this idea.

Disaster at Ionith is an official Imperial investigation of the failed invasion of Akavir in the middle of the Third Era. This is an official document and contains the accounts of first-hand survivors of battle with the Tsaesci. No mention of their appearance is made, though a sentence does provide perhaps a clue to what they looked like to the Imperials:

“Once the alarm was raised, the Tsaesci inside the city were hunted down and killed to the last man. Needless to say, this was the end of negotiations between the Emperor and the Tsaesci.”

Disaster at Ionith, Part III

This passing reference to men is ambiguous at most, but without any other description of a snake-like being, supports the idea of a humanoid Tsaesci.

Mysterious Akavir gives us the idea that the Tsaesci are a golden-scaled, immortal, and vampiric Serpent race that ate the men of Akavir long ago, but still somewhat look like them. They also attempted to eat all the dragons. The following quote reveals a bit about what the word “Eat” may mean to the Tsaesci:

“After the Serpent-Folk ate all the Men, they tried to eat all the Dragons. They managed to enslave the Red Dragons, but the black ones had fled to (then) Po Tun.”

Mysterious Akavir

Here, it is stated the Tsaesci tried to EAT the dragons, managing to ENSLAVE the Red Dragons. It could seem that EAT and ENSLAVE have similar meanings to the Tsaesci. Again, this is ambiguous, but ambiguity is all we have.

So, what? We have a golden-scaled race of vampires enslaving men and dragons? Perhaps. But I don’t think so. Lets consider the Tsaesci creation myth. It is a strange and esoteric piece of writing, and I will not claim I understand much of it. But from it I gathered a few ideas. In particular the last section, that of “The Laying” made me think I may be on the right track:

“The Laying then happened and we moved into forms that had been grated from the source-information of the first serpents, which was gold-walking, which is patter. The scales became intertwined in the random sequence with music that ate forever, which we fed with you.”

Tsaesci Creation Myth

Moved into Forms, music that ate forever, we fed with you. These terms bring me to my theory: The Tsaesci are literal Serpents. Sentient, intelligent snakes. But they live INSIDE of Men, as Parasites or Symbiotic life-forms. Long ago, the Tsaesci learned how to attach themselves to Men, living inside their bodies, living off their blood, and either influencing or controlling their minds. From the quote above, I believe the “music that ate forever” could refer to the blood, the essense, the life of mortality. “We fed with you” refers to the symbiotic/parasitic relationship the Tsaesci have with their hosts. The entire myth seems to be written as if being spoke from a Tsaesci to another listener, perhaps its human host. Eating Man could mean feeding off him, living off their mortal body in a Vampiric sense. They ate it to become it.

And they tried to eat the dragons as well. But they could not intergrate themselves into all Dragons, and fighting with the Po’Tun killed off all the dragons of Akavir. They continue their search for a stronger host in Tamriel, and find the Dragonborn. Their reverence for the Dragonborn could be the idea of a Man with Dragon-Blood, or the idea of the Dragonborn’s ability to consume dragon souls to become perhaps a dragon himself. The Dragonborn could be a symbol of the Tsaesci’s ultimate goal to become a dragon themselves. This last part of my theory is a little less developed, as I haven’t quite thought it all out yet.

So yes, the Tsaesci are Men, with Serpents living inside them, feeding off their Life-Essence and controlling their mind. What do you guys think? Was that man I had tea with today actually Sheogorath paying me a little visit?