Post by Lucien Lachance on Oct 22, 2008 0:27:00 GMT -5
Argonian
Argonians are the reptilian denizens of Black Marsh. Little is known and less is understood about them. Years of defending their borders have made the Argonians experts in guerrilla warfare, and their natural abilities make them equally at home in water and on land. They are well-suited for the treacherous swamps of their homeland, and have developed natural immunities to the diseases and poisons that have doomed many would-be explorers into the region. Their seemingly expressionless faces belie a calm intelligence, and many Argonians are well-versed in the magical arts. Others rely on stealth or steel to survive, and their natural agility makes them adept at either.
They are, in general, a reserved people, slow to trust and hard to know. Yet they are fiercely loyal, and will fight to the death for those they have named as friends.
While Argonians appear reptilian in nature at first glance, they also exhibit fish- and amphibian-like qualities, such as being able to breathe underwater, having small gills behind their ears, and swim using the same body mechanism as that of a tadpole or eel, waving its tail side-to-side to propel itself through the water. Unfortunately for the Argonians, the very traits that enabled them to survive so well in the swamps of their homelands also made them ideal slaves for hard labour in regions of Morrowind that would prove uninhabitable to the other races. They are commonly enslaved along with the Khajiit in Morrowind. Though slavery is illegal in the rest of the Empire, the Dunmer of Morrowind were allowed to own slaves for quite some time. This was due to the conditions of the treaty under which Morrowind joined the Empire, which allowed the Dunmer to follow their ancient traditions concerning the ownership of slaves. King Helseth has recently abolished slavery from Morrowind due to political and moral reasons.
Attributes
+10 Agility and Speed
-10 Willpower, Endurance, and Personality
Female
+10 Intelligence
-10 Endurance and Personality
Skills
+10 Athletics and Security
+5 Alchemy, Blade, Hand to Hand, Illusion, and Mysticism
Gameplay
Argonians make very good thieves, with the right stat boosts. Since they have a +10 boost to Security and Athletics, they can make agile rogue-like characters. They are a great choice if you want to be stealthy, as the male's +10 bonus to agility and speed are useful to stealth oriented characters. Resist disease and immunity to poison are always useful, and being able to breathe underwater can allow for a quick escape from the guards or monsters. A +5 boost to Illusion, Alchemy, and Mysticism gives them considerable magical potential. Females in particular appear to be suited for a Mage-type class.
Argonian names follow a certain format, like the Orcs. Some do not have actual names, but just descriptive phrases, like Hauls-Ropes-Faster, City-Swimmer or Deeh the Scalawag. However, they do have names that do not follow this format, such as Gin-Wulm or Weebam-Na for example.
Enemy Argonians are rare, limited to some Marauder Archers, clad in heavy armor and wielding bows & arrows. There is also a tribe of Argonians living in Veyond Cave.