Argonians (Skyrim)

Argonians in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

For Argonians in other games, see Argonian.

Enigmatic and intelligent, the Argonians are experts at guerrilla warfare, and their natural abilities suit their swampy homeland, Black Marsh. They have developed immunities to the diseases that have doomed many would-be explorers in the region, and they are capable of easily exploring underwater locations due to their ability to breathe underwater. Argonians make proficient thieves, due to their increased lockpicking and sneaking skills.

Culture

Politics

After conquest of the Dunmer province of Morrowind, little is known about the politics of the Argonians in the Fourth Era. There is an Argonian political faction called the An-Xileel, but there is little information about them, except they're composed of mostly, if not all, Argonians, and that they pushed back Mehrunes Dagon's forces during the Oblivion Crisis in Black Marsh, and were also the faction responsible for orchestrating the conquest of Morrowind.

Assemblage

In Windhelm, Argonians are sequestered from the predominantly Nordic population, and are forced to live at the Argonian Assemblage, located at the city docks. After the mass exodus of Dunmer and Argonian peoples to Windhelm, the citizens became suspicious, worrying that the immigrants would influence or otherwise dilute their culture, and so forced them into segregation. Largely, this extreme behavior was inspired by the political confrontation between the Empire of Tamriel and the rulers of Skyrim. However, this eventually just turned into blatant racism.^[1]

Marriage

Unlike the citizens of Skyrim, who prefer to marry using an Amulet of Mara, some Argonians adhere to their native marriage traditions. In Black Marsh, it is customary to present a lover with an Argonian Wedding Band, which is crafted by the courting member. Each ring is unique and has personal meaning to the creator and the recipient.

"In Black Marsh, tradition dictates we present a potential mate a unique wedding ring to represent our future bond."

"Every Argonian wedding proposal band is supposed to have three flawless amethysts as part of their design. Two of the gems, the ones on the outside, represent the couple to be married... one for the husband, one for the wife. The amethyst in the center represents The Hist, the entity that all Argonians consider a sacred part of our lives." - Talen-Jei^[2]

Character creation

Skill bonuses

Skill	Modifier
Lockpicking	+10
Light Armor	+5
Alteration	+5
Pickpocket	+5
Restoration	+5
Sneak	+5

Starting spells

Flames (Destruction)
Healing (Restoration)

Special abilities

Histskin: Invoke the power of the Hist to recover health ten times faster for 60 seconds. Can only be used once per day.
Resist Disease: Your Argonian blood is 50% resistant to disease.
Waterbreathing: Your Argonian Lungs can breathe underwater.

Popular usage and unique gameplay

The Argonians' stealth and lockpicking make them brilliant assassins, thieves, scouts, and ambushers. Their lack of combat bonuses in archery and one-handed weapons can be overcome by natural skill leveling and play. Argonians can be used fairly well as spellswords, but conjuration training may be necessary. They can also be useful mage-thieves due to their skills in both magic and stealth, though one may want some illusion training.

They are roughly comparable to their rivals and neighbors, the Khajiit and the Bosmer. Like the Khajiit, Argonians do more damage in unarmed combat compared to other races, due to their tough, scaled skin, though not as much as their clawed feline counterparts.^[3]

Argonians have unique advantages due to their natural waterbreathing ability. This gives them an all-terrain versatility in an area that other races need magic, potions, or enchanted gear to fill. Argonians are able to make ample use of Skyrim's waterways as a means of quick travel, free from ambush and interference (for example, traveling from Riverwood to Whiterun by river can be quite expedient and avoids roadside hazards including wolves, bandits, and assassins). River travel has its own share of hazards, however, such as waterfalls, rapids, and hostile animals such as Slaughterfish and Mudcrabs. They can also be quite a "tank" in battle because of their Histskin ability that multiplies their health regeneration 10 times.

Notable male Argonians

The following is a list of some of the more notable Argonians that can be found in Skyrim:

Beem-Ja - A mage bodyguard encountered in Ironbind Barrow.
Deekus - A lone resident in a campsite near Hela's Folly and is a target of the Dark Brotherhood.
Deep-In-His-Cups - A random encounter after completing "A Night to Remember" quest.
Derkeethus - The only Argonian follower, found in Darkwater Pass.
Gulum-Ei - A dock worker in East Empire Company.
Madesi - A jeweler in Riften.
Neetrenaza - A dock worker in Windhelm.
Scouts-Many-Marshes - A dock worker in Windhelm, and one of the two only marriageable male Argonians.
Stands-In-Shallows - An old Skooma addict residing in the Argonian Assemblage.
Talen-Jei - The proprietor of the Bee and Barb.
Teeba-Ei - A miner who resides at Stonehills and works at Rockwallow Mine, housecarl to the Stormcloak-based Jarl Sorli the Builder of Morthal.
Veezara - The last Shadowscale of the Dark Brotherhood.
Watches-The-Roots - An adventurer with From-Deepest-Fathoms who perished during the expedition at Avanchnzel.

Notable female Argonians

Deeja and her brother, Jaree-Ra - Blackblood Marauders who plundered a merchant ship near Solitude.
From-Deepest-Fathoms - A survivor of Avanchnzel who lives in Riften's Docks and gives the quest "Unfathomable Depths".
Shahvee - A dock worker in Windhelm, and the only marriageable female Argonian.
Wujeeta - An ex-Skooma-addict working at the Riften Fishery.

Related items

Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Argonians (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template 360 / XB1 , PS3 / PS4 , PC / MAC , NX / PS5 , XS , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

360 There seems to be a graphical glitch tied to the Argonians. The backs of most helmets will not appear when worn by the Dragonborn, a few exceptions being the iron, Daedric, scaled, hide, and the Imperial helmets. Other helmets such as the steel, dragon bone, and elven helmets are missing the back section of them, making most helmets look rather ridiculous on the Argonian race. The ancient nord helmet also does not properly change over from its male version to the female version when worn by a female Argonian. It instead stays as the male version with no back to the helmet.
Becoming a vampire will cause female Argonians to use male walking/running animations and standing posture.