The Serpent-men and the Argonians
> "The Worshippers of the Unnamed Lord, know as 'Argonians' on Nirni, are the Descendents of Boethiah and the Serpent-men."
I think I've finally understood this sentence. Many people, including myself, often understood it as:
Unnamed Lord = Sithis, because PSJJJ is devoid of a true name. Serpent-men = Tsaesci.
On this matter, IFW said:
> "The above text goes against pretty much everything we know about the Argonians, but it is possible that there might be some stranger meanings going on within the passage. For example, Boethiah is the Prince of Plots so his name may be a metaphor for ‘plots’. The term descendents (descending from an ancestor) rather than descendants (descending from a particular ancestor) is also strange. Also, according to Michael Kirkbride the continent Akavir is in the ‘permanent future’ and everything that occurs on Tamriel is past news to it. Could it be possible that the proto-Tsaesci traveled to ancient Black Marsh as regular reptiles and were transformed into Argonians by the Hist in a greater scheme to ensure their own existence? No one truly knows: this text has puzzled countless scholars since the day it was written. "
Unnamed Lord = Sithis, we got it.
But to make sense out of the whole assertion, we try to distort the big picture to get Boethiah and Tsaesci involved in the Argonian creation process, while we have plenty of other sources pointing toward the Hist as the creators of the Argonians.
In fact, "Serpent" does not refer to Tsaesci (Snakemen), or to Orkey (The Snake), but to the Serpent Constellation. The Serpent Constellation is the Second Serpent, aka Sep, or the mad mind of the unmade Lorkhan/Sheogorath, or Sithis.
Which peoples are the closest to Sithis? Men and Hist.
Now, should we reject Tsaesci in this explanation? Not necessarily. "Serpent-men" leads to them at first thought after all.
We know Tsaesci are immortal vampire snakemen, mastering Blood Magic. We are not really entirely sure how it works, the same way we don't truly know how vampirism works (if the two are not one and same thing).
We know however that a link binds the vampire-master and his victims when he bites them. A poisoning occurs during the blood transmission.
We also know that blood contains (at least a part) of his owner's soul. When a vampire bites someone, he binds the other's soul to himself.
Which other being bound countless souls to itself? The Hist, of course, as it controls nearly all Argonian population.
What makes one an Argonian? A ritual through which the Saxheel licks Hist sap. As sap is literally the tree blood, I believe this blood transmission ritual in Argonian culture is a kind of vampirism, a Blood Magic known by the only Hist.
Once an Argonian is dead, his soul goes back to the Hist. Same thing happens to the vampires. “The Descendents of Boethiah and the Serpent-men” are like the "Scions" of Lamae Bal.
You got it: I truly believe the "Serpent-Men" of Kier-jo are the Hists.
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Now, how does Boethiah fit in that stuff? We don't have many clues to answer. Maybe he wanted to create a race of slaves to help the Chimer, and an interface between Ehlnofeys and Hist. Maybe he wants to mimic/challenge his rival Molag Bal by creating his own kind of vampirism (which, chronologically speaking, would makes sense the other way around: Molag Bal would have stolen the idea of vampirism from Boethiah and the Serpent-Men).
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From a more speculative point of view, the Tsaesci may be the Hist of the next Amaranth (even if the next Amaranth is not really the next one, that makes me accept "Yokuda is past, Akavir is future").
> Representations of the chim, and by extension the Psijic Endeavor, are always protean values, such as the anumidi models renowned by the Dwemer, the Scarab of contemporary astrolothurges, and the Striking ("exact egg-cracking") of old Argonia. All of these representations possess an innate and constant aspect of transformation.
This excerpt from Vehk's Teaching about the Hist recalls the Tsaesci Creation Myth, especially the "Striking" bit. I do believe the Tsaecsi Creation Myth tells the story of the Hist since the Twelve Worlds of Creation till the Landfall and the Hist's arrival in Akavir, where they achieved their Tsaescence, become by this mean the Tsaesci.
To sum this point up, Serpent-Men can be a clue leading towards Tsaesci as well, even if Kier-jo does truly talk about the Hists.
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Based on that, here comes another speculative idea : Lorkhan is the King of the Black Marsh.
In the Interview with Three Argonian in Shadowfen, we read:
> “There may have been a time when a monarch reigned over Black Marsh, but those days are gone. Sucked down into the mud with the xanmeers and Duskfall secrets. The current (and most popular) interpretation is that the monarch’s role as commander of the Shadowscales was always overstated. The order’s first and only sovereign is Sithis itself. The king may have been seen as Sithis’ avatar, or his mud-anointed servant, but who knows now? The Scalded Throne’s been empty for centuries … if there was ever a Scalded Throne to begin with. I’d be shocked if a king ever sat on it again.”
A Sithis' avatar? Who could it be if not Lorkhan? His mud-anointed servant? Lorkhan has been filled by the Void, the Great Night, which could be symbolized by the mud for the Argonians, who live in ever-changing swamps.
The Scalded Throne? How does one scald water? With a hot stone drowned in it. This recalls Molag Bal, literally the Fire Stone, and it also recalls the Heart of Lorkhan, fallen in the East, near the Black Marsh. We heard the territory of the Hist used to be wider. Maybe their expansion reached Vvardenfell.
This Scalded Throne is also the seat of a missing king. And Lorkhan is the Missing God.
Having the Hist/Serpent-Men of Kier-jo in mind, we read this in Sermon 33:
> Lie Rock became full of foolishness, haggling with the Void Ghost who hides in the religions of all men.
As Hist are "Serpent-MEN", they should have the Void Ghost in their religion, which appears to be the Serpent, Lorkhan defeated by the Aedra, who could be the King of Black Marsh.
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Voilà! Though this thread has con (or is it pro?): it demystifies the Hist a bit, but I think it's a good thing to make them a bit less alien to the ES world. It allows us though to see differently the futuristic Hist-Jill War from KINMUNE, which seems to continue in Akavir through the Tsaesci-Ka Po'Tun War. On this point, one should look into the Jills-Tiger-folk affiliation in last MK's posts.
Thanks to /u/Erethor for his translation from my French post and his contribution to the reflection!