The bustling streets of Riften are seen as a small Argonian hatchling is seen playing with a kid of the orphanage. The kids are seen running around Riften, laughing and playing as the citizens and imperial guards watch on happily.
Alesan: You can't catch me Xalnir! Hehehe.
The Argonian hatchling who has a scale tone of bluish green is seen laughing as he chases Alesan playfully, his tail happily wagging.
Xalnir: Hehehe. This lizard is fast. Fast enough to catch you. Hehehe.
Alesan quickly runs by The Bee and Barb and almost bumps into a relatively tall Argonian who is in traditional barkeep clothes.
Alesan: Whoa. Sorry Mr Talen.
Talen: Hey! Hehe. It is fine, but you better start running faster. Xalnir might catch up to you quicker than you think. Hehe. Be careful!
Xalnir: Don't worry Hist-Father, I will get him!
Talen: Be careful my spawn. I do not want you getting hurt.
Xalnir: Do not worry about me! Hehehe.
Talen smiles as he walks into the tavern and the kids run around a corner and continue to play. Talen makes his way into a building which reveals a bustling tavern filled with people inside of all races conversing and either drinking or eating. Talen-Jei is seen grabbing a nearby pitcher and pouring it into a patrons drink and speaks to him.
Talen: Here is your refill, milord.
Patron: Ahh yes, thank you Talen. I really do love your Velvet Lechance. It's such an amazing recipe.
Talen: As do I, heh.
The patron takes a sip of the drink and exhales happily. As Talen-Jei is seen bringing the pitcher to a bar table where a female Argonian is seen.
Talen: Here, Keerava. This pitcher needs cleaning. Have the patrons been given their food?
The female Argonian speaks in a husky and deep voice.
Keerava: Thank you my dear, and yes, they have been given their plates. So far so good today.
Talen: Great, I am going to go check on Xalnir. Think you can handle it my Hist-Wife?
Keerava smiles and nods.
Keerava: Yes, no worries my love, I will be fine.
Talen-Jei: Great.
Talen kisses Keerava before heading out of the tavern with a towel on his shoulder. Talen opens the door, revealing the decently sized city of Riften in the Skyrim province in Tamriel. Wood and stone work together to form a beautiful design throughout the city, small but beautiful buildings line each side of the city as a canal is seen cutting the city in half. Gorgeous wooden bridges line the top of the canal and reveal a dockside presence down below right next to the canal layered with stone. Talen looks around for Xalnir and finds him at a market stall within the market as another Argonian is seen showing him jewelry. Talen smiles as he approaches and hears snippets of their conversation.
Xalnir: Saxhleel? That is what it is called?
Argonian: Yes, these jewels represent the Argonian culture and heritage we share with the hist. We Argonians like you and I are called Saxhleel in our homeland.
Talen: Hey Xalnir. Is Madesi showing you some nice jewelry.
Xalnir: Yeah, they look really really nice.
Talen: They are. He is the best Jeweler I know, hehe. He knows his jewelry.
Madesi: Ahh look. If it is not my best Hist-Brother. Hello Talen. I was just showing Xalnir my Saxhleel jewelry. He seems really interested.
Talen: Hmm, I can see that. Hehe. It is good for him to know our roots.
Xalnir: Madesi told me we are from a place called Black Marsh. It seems really cool to visit.
Talen: It is, but it is also very dangerous.
Xalnir: Dangerous?
Talen: Yes, but we will talk about it later if you want to. Head home, Xalnir. I will be in soon, me and Madesi are going to have a nice talk, okay?
Xalnir: But...
Talen: Come on, Xalnir, run home, okay? Please.
Xalnir: Awwww. Okay.
Xalnir begins to walk back home and Talen and Madesi watch him for a bit before facing each other.
Talen: Egg-Brother. You know Keerava does not like the stories you tell about Argonia to her spawn.
Madesi: I know Hist Brother. But, I feel it is crucial for Xalnir to understand his homeland. All he has known is the cold, hard land of Skyrim. Not the wonderous Marshes of Argonia.
Talen: I understand your desire to help, but I do not wish for Keerava to be angry at you, or even me. Please try to brush the stories off for now.
Madesi: I know Egg-Brother, but Xalnir deserves to know about his own race. If he understands his culture and history, great things will come to him.
Talen: Okay, listen, you can tell Xalnir your stories but not in public. I trust you enough to take him home and describe Argonia to him, but do not tell him these things in the open. I do not wish for Keerava to find out.
Madesi: Understood hist-brother I will do as you say. I thank you for at least understanding my views.
Talen: Thank you egg-brother. I wish you the best.
Madesi: As do I.
Talen walks off and Madesi goes back to tending his market stall in the market. Xalnir is seen upstairs in the tavern sitting in his room, inspecting a tooth dagger.
Talen: You like that dagger, don't you?
Xalnir is taken by surprise from his father's presence.
Xalnir: Yeah, this is the dagger you brought from Black Marsh, right?
Talen: Ahh, yes. It is. We Argonians may vie for peace, but we have had a complicated history and a violent one.
Xalnir listens deeply, intrigued by his dad sudden change of heart.
Talen: Our people have seen much conflict and death, but we have always prevailed from it indirectly or directly. This dagger was handed down from my family generation to generation. You see my spawn. My family was a fighting family. We fought in many great conflicts, all for the preservation of our homeland and the hist.
Xalnir: You were a fighter?
Talen: Hehe. Sadly no. I was one of the very few members of my family to chase a different dream. It led me to Skyrim and led me to your hist mother. But, most importantly, it led me to you. I understand you are eager to learn about Argonia. And, I want what's best for you. So, in my own thinking time, I decided to let Madesi teach you about the Marshlands of Argonia.
Xalnir gasps in happiness.
Xalnir: Really? Wow. Thank you hist father.
Xalnir hugs Talen and catches him off guard, causing him to blush.
Talen: Hehe, it is no worry my spawn, I want what is best for you and I feel this is what is best for you. However, your mom will not know about this, okay? If she does, she would likely not let you go. Your hist mother loves you too much for that, I want you to promise to me that you will keep this between us, okay?
Xalnir: Mhmm. I promise.
Talen: Good.
Talen kisses his son on the head and embraces him as he takes a deep breath.
YOU ARE READING
The Black Marsh Hero (Elder Scrolls)
FanfictionA lone argonian born in skyrim wonders of seeing his homeland but finds himself at an impass. His father, Talen-Jei, understands his wishes to see Black Marsh, but his Mother Keerava doesn't. She doesn't want to see her little hatchling fall victim...
