Nirnroots? Histerical!
This is a continuation of my post in this thread, for context.
You know them, you love them, and you probably know very little about them, I present to you a tinfoil-hat theory on Nirnroots, everyone's favorite singing collard-greens.
History
Nirnroots were an alchemical ingredient introduced in TESIV: Oblivion as part of a collection quest called 'Seeking your Roots', where the Hero of Kvatch worked with an alchemist to uncover secrets about the wailing weed. Nirnroots made a comeback in TESV: Skyrim as normal everyday ingrediants. Skyrim's sequel to 'Seeking your Roots' is 'A Return to Your Roots', were the Dovahkiin hunted down the Nirnroot's elusive cousin, the Crimson Nirnroot. Nirnroots reappear in the Elder Scrolls Online, where they are widespread, but still considered rare.
Only very few in-game books reference Nirnroots. They are as follows:
What do we know of Nirnroot?
- Nirnroot is poisonous in its raw form, making its consumer sluggish and weary. Sometimes, it also has Invisibility and Resistive properties:
>Oblivion
>^Drain ^Stamina
>^Drain ^Agility
>^Drain ^Health
>^Drain ^Speed
>Skyrim
>^Damage ^Health
>^Damage ^Stamina
>^Invisibility
>^Resist ^Magic
>Elder Scrolls Online
>^Ravage ^Health
> ^Lower ^Weapon ^Crit
>^Lower ^Spell ^Crit
>^Invisible.
- Sinderion's Elixir of Exploration is made from Nirnroot, and grants the consumer some/all of the effects listed below:
>^Fortify ^Health
>^Fortify ^Stamina
>^Nighteye
>^Fortify ^Destruction
>^Fortify ^Restoration
>^Fortify ^Blunt
>^Fortify ^Blade
>^Fortify ^Sneak
>^Fortify ^Security
Nirnroot blooms in good times, and becomes rarer in bad. ^([Rumor])
Nirnroots are capable of rapid adaption. Following the eruption of Red Mountain in the 1st Era, the Nirnroots used the volcanic ash salts in their soil to survive the harsh times. Prior to the explosion, they glowed yellow. Now, they glow blue. Deep below the world, they seemed to have adapted to the subterranean world and turned red.
Nirnroots sing.
Nirnroot grows near water. It's found on the shores of lakes and rivers, as well as on small islands (usually just one to an island, at the center). Nirnroot is particularly happy in the swampy Blackwood region of Cyrodiil, near Black Marsh. Check out the map!
My initial guesses/connections:
In the lore, water is memory. It's a bit more complicated than that, but there it is. We already know that Nirnroot can utilize alchemical ingredients in the soil to adapt to unfavorable environments. Perhaps Nirnroot can also filter memories from the water that they live near. Bad/Painful memories may contribute to their toxic properties. Good ones contribute to their beneficial properties (only accessible when the toxic ones are worked out by a Master Alchemist). Considering the diversity of their good properties, it stands to reason that they'd filter memories of people from all walks of life. This includes fighters, mages, and thieves.
Nirnroot, in times other than the Oblivion Crisis, have been shown to have the properties required to make potions of Invisibility. If Nirnroot do become rarer in dangerous times (such as Oblivion mounting a direct attack on Tamriel), they plants may be able to turn invisible during their withdrawal phases.
If Nirnroot blooms in good times, and not in bad, the species may have the ability to predict the future to some extent, where the Nirnroot (species) can largely fall dormant and wait for better times. If they do get sustenance from the memories from in the water, the Nirnroot could sense when there's a sharp rise of bad/painful memories coming in the near future, and use that as a signal to withdraw.
Big Logic-Leap Time!
This is a little bit crazy, so bear with me...
What other species of plant cane foretell bad times on Nirn, has poisonous properties, sings, and likes the climate of Blackmarsh? What other plant can signal the rest of its species (and others) to take action when action is needed? The Hist.
The Hist (and their Argonian servants) see time as one constant thing. To them, man and mer have a limited perception because they care about the chronology of when things happened/happen/will happen. Hist are said to all be connected at the root. Hist Sap acts a mutagen to Argonians, and transforms them into the form that the Hist need. It only acts as a hallucinogen to non-Argonians.
The Hist have relatives. There were relatives to the Hist on Umbriel, and it's said that the Sleeping Tree could be an Umbrielian Hist.
Umbrielian Hists were not as intelligent/sentient as Nirn Hists, but were still capable of making their needs known to the workers of the Fringe Gyre and Myre-Glim on Umbriel. They could create various plants and things from their trees for the people of Umbriel to use.
The Sleeping Tree sits in a volcanic hot spring and glows purple. The sap of the Sleeping Tree is a drug that fortifies their health by a huge amount, but also makes the user sluggish for the duration. Curiously, the Sleeping Tree has neighbors in the form of two Nirnroots. Coincidence? I think not.
The Conclusion?
I think that Nirnroot is another cousin of the Hist, like the Sleeping Tree and the Umbrielian Hist. It shows far too many signs of being related to just be a fluke.
Nirnroot enjoys living near/on a water source, just like Hist like the marsh, the Sleeping Tree likes the hot-spring, and Um-Hist like the Sump in Umbriel.
Nirnroot may not be as smartt as the Hist or even the Um-Hist, but it at east has the wherewithal to enter a state of dormancy when times get rough. It can also filter through its soil and use the resources available to adapt to external issues far before the Dunmer figured out how to use the same resources.
Nirnroot Elixir's Nighteye, Sleeping Sap's purple-vision, and Hist Sap's hallucinogenic properties are all related in this way. They also all affect the Health of the consumer. Even in diluted amounts, the Elixir of Exploration boosts the consumer's health. Sleeping Tree sap can double the durability of a standard citizen of Skyrim. Hist Sap is so powerful in this regard that it can force a lizard to transform into an Argonian.
Their hyper-evolution and ability to conciously go into hiding may be explained by these roots. They go so deep, small, and hairlike that it wouldn't be a total stretch of the imagination to think that the roots of the Nirnroot are all connected beneath the soil of Tamriel.
And then there's the singing. No other plant-type, to my knowledge, sings. The Hist sing to the Argonians. The Um-Hist sing to the Umbrielians. The Nirnroot sing to just about everyone that'll listen.
But why are they so widespread?
Here's my theory:
The Nirnroot are their own kind, non-sympathetic to the Hist, but carrying the similar goals. If the Hist are from outside the current dream, or the current kalpa, then the Nirnroot are the hist-o-type of this dream and this kalpa.
Nirnroot are look for power and safety.
These unassuming plants have seeded throughout the world and took root near the biggest power centers that could sustain them. Near the Great Tree, they grow bigger and stronger than ever. In Cyrodiil, there's an abundance of them near Blackmarsh and the Imperial City. In Skyrim, they delved beneath the earth and invaded the Dwemer Aetherium mines.
Here's the kicker- they are getting more powerful. Due to the lack of Red Mountain ash, they're dying out in the overworld. Only two people have been able to cultivate them properly. Meanwhile, down in Blackreach, they're picking up in numbers. They're heartier, louder, and have taken on a color unlike their original yellow hue or current blue one.
Give them an Era, I'm sure they survive Landfall among the Dunmer. I bet they'd even show up in the next kalpa, if you keep an eye out for them there. They're crafty little weeds, and if the Oblivion Crisis taught us anything, it's that you shouldn't underestimate Plants.