Qon'Tlana: The Mountain Argonians (Documentary Part 1)

Qon'Tlana: The Mountain Argonians

Compiled by The Ehlnofex Collective
Approved by Arch Mage Aetius Lucilius, Synod Council XVIII
Arcane University, 4E 197
Primary Author: Attendant Artois Genal
Patron: Councilor Hadrian Scipio

Prologue:

(I leave this short commentary before my writing to reconcile with those hereafter mentioned in my work in a light none other than positive. I appreciate all that I have been blessed with in the Synod, and my quips at certain people only come out of thoughts of the moment and of pure respect for those above me.)

Documentation of Argonian congregations outside of the Black Marsh have existed since the late First Era, but only in unofficial testaments and writings. Most sitings were attributed to runaway slaves, however, as most of these incidents coincide with historical territories of the Dunmer House Dres and House Indoril. In recent years, the incidents became much more frequent with the expansion of the House Redoran and An-Xileel conflict in southern Morrowind. The majority of these reportings were situated within the Valus Mountains in close proximity to the eastern border of Cyrodiil, all the testaments from shepherds and foresters of encounters with "lizard folk".

These stories finally became of interest to the Ehlnofex Collective in 4E 191 when a geographic research team stumbled upon an entire community of Argonians nestled deep within the mountains due north/north east of Cheydinhal. Their degree of societal structure and even physical appearance was unlike anything documented before. They were claimed to have resembled a form more similar to a bird than of a reptile or amphibian with long/ thin scaly legs, an upper body and neck nearly entirely covered in feathers, and a sharp, beaky jaw that still adorned a full set of razor-sharp teeth. They had arms that hung as far down as their knees with large talons on every digit. Upon learning about this tribe, the Ehlnofex Collective, funded by multiple Councilors, sent a first-contact team of eight researchers from various professions, including myself, to establish communications with the locals.

From the start, our work was impeded. Before departing, we hired two Argonian Jel translators who assured us that the locals would understand a simplified Jel that was assumed to be universal between all Argonians. Our translators began their work as soon as we approached the village, but were met with blank stares. Confused, they attempted again and again to converse with and listen to the tribe, but to no avail. One of the translators turned around and approached our supervisor, Second Adjunct Carinla, with a baffled look on his face,

"I....I've never heard this dialect before. I don't understand anything they're saying.". At this moment, Carinla gave back, which I swear to Stendarr, the most irked glare I've ever seen a human or mer make.

"You can't understand them?"

"Not a word!"

Carinla looked enraged. Failure was not an option for our excursion (not necessarily due to our financial constraints, but for Councilor Scipio to admit that he sent us out without proper background research? Not a chance! Plus, Carlina would have been held accountable for our failure as well, and she has never been a person to accept fault well!). She started pacing in frustration, asking the translators to try to converse with the locals again and again, the tribe looking increasingly confused.

Tensions raised when the Qon'Tlana men began reaching for their spears and axes, finally aggravated by our intrusion without resolve. This gesture was not met well with Carinla, who signaled off for a proximity defense, an invitation to engage any individuals who got within a fifteen metre radius of our team or showed signs of an active attack. Her hostility had spilled out from the exhaustion and frustration of our journey, and it was evident that she was at her breaking point. It didn't take a genius to know that this situation wasn't going to end well. Compulsively, I found myself stepping forward,

"I'll stay behind." Carinla glanced over at me with a bewildered look,

"Our Argonian translators can't even understand them! This is a lost cause!"

"Do you propose an alternative? I doubt that Councilor Scipio would be too happy to learn that we were unable to achieve anything..." She paused for a moment, pondering about it before looking back at me,

"If you stay...we...we can stall our primary task while you complete background information necessary for the project to continue. You stay, we report back to the Councilor with our change of strategy and wait until your work is complete..I like that idea!" From any other perspective than hers, it sounded like she was trying to leave me for dead in the midde of the Valus Mountains. This didn't seem to bother the others though, who were equally satisfied with the consensus and prepared for departure. I felt slightly abandoned until I heared a voice from the back,

"I'll join him on his assignment." It was from an Observer by the name of Enmoth, a small, shy Bosmer whose travel bag appeared larger than him as he struggled to stay balance, wobbling side to side as he walked towards me. "I can compile soil samples without the help of the locals.". Carilna didn't look entirely impressed but didn't question the lad's courage to stay behind.

So our plan had been finalized: Myself and Enmoth would stay in the Qon'Tlana village for eight months as I worked to decipher and learn the local language in order for us to complete our original work. We were provided with monthly supply drops from a Synod connection in Cheydinhal and were to be inspected once a month by Carinla to show our progress. The next eight months would be some of the most amazing of my life as I learned an entirely new way to view the world, learning everything I could of the Qon'Tlana and their mysterious language and culture.

TO BE CONTINUED...