here for a good time not a long time

Some further notes on the outfit designs, etc. Pretty long and rambling, just a heads up!

I based the clothing off of ancient Aztec and Mayan clothes, trying to use credible sources and depictions. I say 'trying' due to the fact that hunting down sources for some of the images was particularly hard, and I'm sure some of them were mislabeled, as tends to happen. I will shout out Zotzcomic/Daniel Parad, an Amercian artist from a Salvadoran family. She did some wonderful posters of ancient Aztec and Mayan styles that really helped.

The first Argonian woman is wearing a tunic/dress inspired by the huīpīlli blouse ancient Aztec woman would wear, and is still worn today by some Mexican and central American countries. I imagine that this Argonian is some sort of fisherman or at least engages in a lot of manual labor, so she needs something loose to move around in, and less jewelery so it doesn't get caught or worn down.

The second Argonian, and first male one, is wearing an outfit loosely inspired by an ancient Mayan 'hip cloth skirt', and an ESO outfit I thought was neat (I think it's the Black Marsh Keeper). I imagined he was a mage of some type, and thus doesn't do a lot of labor. Maybe he's a Hist minder or even Hist speaker. Either way, he has the luxury of long cloth that could get dirty, and lots of jewelry and feathers.

the next male has an outfit somewhat based on the ancient Aztec maxtlatl that was worn by men. It's similar to a loincloth, but would usually be paired with a cape/cloak. I just made his waist wrap thicker, and gave him a sort of shawl. I imagined him as some old veteran on his way to the best hot mud baths in his tribe lol.

and our last Argonian is another lady, dressed in an outfit loosely inspired by various depictions of ancient Mesoamercian clothes, fantasy aesthetics and so on. I gave myself a lot more liberty with her, trying to combine what I learned and studied into something unique but still inspired by the real world. Maybe this lady is going to a dance, or some event.

I really wanted to incorporate a lot of color. Something that really bugs me about the ESO Argonian clothing is the lack of color! In my mind it makes no sense. Reptiles and amphibians are a group of animals that often use color as communication (bearded dragons, chameleons, dart frogs and so many more), and so many Mesoamercian cultures are colorful. I saw many examples of bright, bold colors while looking for references. I imagine in universe, Argonians could use the unique and varied flora and fauna of Black Marsh to dye these clothes and maybe give them as gifts to friends and family, or just as hand-me-downs. I dont have a justification for the gold and turquoise though, lol, it just looks very nice. The feathers could be from loved ones or the birds of the Marsh. (Side note: I have no idea if the fashions/costumes of ESO can be dyed. Even still, its sad the default colors are so muddy)

theres also some patterning on the clothes! I imagine this would be embroidery, or even hand painted. Argonians focus on the present, the 'Aurbic Now', so to speak. I could easily imagine an artsy lizard sitting down and embroidering for hours as a sort of meditative state, or for fun, or whatever. It seems like a good way to pass time as well! And plenty of the examples I found featured patterns and embroidery.

closing thoughts? I'm disappointed at the lack of diverse fashion for the Argonians in ESO. Actually, I'm pretty disappointed at the lack of diverse fashion for each race of Tamriel in ESO. I think ESO does some very cool stuff with some lore (all of the Murkmire release, expanding more on the various races, some fun Daedra stuff) but it really disappointed me with the fashion. Dunno if you can tell, but I'm a huge history nerd, especially historical fashion. It really saddens me that there's a lack of diverse, distinct options for ESO fashion. I should note- I'm strictly speaking about fashion, not armor.

BV was really hard for me, for some reason. I ended up really liking the final result though! I wanted to incorporate some little details from Ghost's design (like the boots, chest plate which is now mostly destroyed, and the waist clothes) since they're siblings. Figuring out the class for BV was pretty easy, though I imagine its a pretty unique case.

Perhaps their patron (the Radiance in this case) made a deal with the dream verison of BV (Lost Kin), promising to fulfill its desires, but twisted them and now puppets their body.

I didnt draw them next to each other so theyre not to scale, lmao. Anyway! I only choose classes since all HK and SS characters are anthropomorphized bugs, they'd be pretty similar in DND. I think Hornet might have some more human features, hence hair.

I thought about making Ghost a paladin, but I'm going to be drawing the Hollow Knight as well, and paladin fit them better in my opinion. Ghost could work as an arcane knight as well, or hexblade warlock! I went with cleric for the religious tones and the flexibility of cleric builds (spells vs healing vs stealth vs melee etc). Their design took a few drafts, but i like the half armored look i went with. I wanted to keep them gender ambiguous, so no form fitting silhouette. And a hood, because it sort of mimics long hair and offsets the more masculine elements!

The feathers were warm, at least.

No big deal, if she was surrounded by them. They were warm, and they didn't irritate the evidence of her fights like she thought they would.

Itchy? Yeah. That checked out. Feathers were light, and so was Barnaby; he was made up of some kind of plasma. Though she recognized him as soft, and warm - and by the gods, she didn't think she'd ever think this, but safe... he was also wet. But... not like one would expect "wet" to be.

It was difficult for her to put her finger on it. It wasn't like water. It didn't leave a residue of wetness on your skin. It wasn't loose, or thin, no. He was.... like a slime, in a way. Not one that would fall into gross pieces on her, or one that would leave a strange film. He rather reminded her of... putty.

Solid enough to hold shape. Would still feel rather damp, but there wasn't any real impact on the things it touched. Yeah. That was the word.

She rose and fell on his belly, arms crossed underneath her. True to his nature, after he made sure she was alright, he'd fallen asleep. "Silly bird," she whispered quietly, cuddling closer to the wings draped over her like a blanket.

"Mmr?" He murmured, ears perking up a bit. "Billie?"

She smiled meekly, rubbing her reddened, puffy eyes. "Yeah?"

"My dear, are you okay?"

"Mhm. I was just thinking that you feel weird."

He chuffed, disgruntled. Slowly he sat up from the sofa, his spiraled eyes unimpressed. "How rude," he whispered, but it held no weight - other than guised affection. "I even made non lethal tea for you."

"That's the bare minimum," she countered, her voice a bit abrupt in the quiet, before instinctively matching his volume with how much he'd winced. Her tail wagged a little bit from the banter. "You outta do that with mortal guests to start."

"Silly me," Barnaby purred softly, noting her little tail, the soft expression on his face betraying his endearment. "I'll make sure to do that quite a bit more often, my dear. Fret not."

Holding her steady, he sat up a bit more, an exhale leaving him. "Hoo. This old sofa is not good for the back! Hoohoo." He stretched, twisting his torso comedically. "I'm quite out of sorts, but that was a great nap! I'd forgotten how nice sleeping in company was."

She expected that sentence to carry more... weight, but... it didn't. There was a gentle relief, like the reprieve after a long, windy rainstorm finally passed. She didn't miss the soft undertone of sadness, but... there was acceptance. Sheepishly, she looked down, inspecting herself instead. Trying not to focus on what he'd lost.

Her much cleaner fur stood out to her. "... thanks for cleaning the blood and dirt out, Barnaby," she murmured quietly, her eyes taking in the cuts and blemishes over her arms.

His owlish (pft) eyes followed her gaze, drawing closer. "Hmm... I am sorry I wasn't able to heal those... I'm a researcher of magic, certainly, but healing magic was not my specialty."

"What was your specialty?"

He chortled. "Ahohohoo, wouldn't you like to know. I'd rather not share. It... it's best to avoid a repeat outcome." He gestured loosely to himself and his 2 dimensional body, and it dawned on her.

She blinked a few times, processing the information. "Oh, I... yeah, okay. I can respect that," she conceded, crossing her arms. Slowly she slid onto the couch, still propped against him.

It was odd to her, his preening habits. Or rather that he was perfectly alright with cleaning the blood out, knowing most of it would just be swallowed. "... you know," Billie started, amusement creeping into her voice. "When we first met, I really thought you'd, er... eat me."

Silence. Then,

"HoohohohohohohohoppfftWHAT?" he guffawed, flapping his wings enthusiastically, tears of laughter stinging his eyes. She leaned back, mildly surprised at the outburst. "Why- hmmmhmhmhmhm," he giggled uncontrollably, and despite the embarrassment creeping into her face, the giggles were rather contagious.

"Look-" she defended, pouting a little.

"No, no, no!" Barnaby leaned over to pinch her cheeks with the most maniacal cackle she'd ever heard. "That's hilarious, little pretty! But why did you ever get that impression?? Goodness, how silly! And I thought I was the crazy one!"

"Hey!" She barked, but his feathers were too soft to be disgruntled by. She giggled a little, pushing him back. "It's not my fault! You literally sang about cooking me into various food items! You remember 'goat meat stew'? I'm not crazy!"

He crooned, an odd mixture of a giggle and a trill of affection. "Ohohoho, I forgot about that," he pulled at his bowtie thoughtfully. "... truth be told, my dear, I might have actually thought about it!"

"What!!"

"Well," it was his turn to be defensive, "I was half asleep because someone was trying to steal my stuff! I hadn't had any tea or breakfast! You'd have done nicely, I'm sure." He smiled innocently, growing a bit toothy when she looked at him in exasperation and bewilderment. "In fact, I'm sure it's not too late to prep dinner..."

She squeaked, scrambling. "No fair!! I thought you'd changed!!" She exclaimed, ears dragging behind her as she made to run- he snagged her by the scruff with his beak, gently dropping her back in his wings.

"I have," he crowed, "but I'm still a prankster." He nibbled her ears just a little, a habitual response. She squirmed in protest at first, exclaiming something about fairness, but she gradually gave in out of annoyance.

Slowly it devolved into timid preening once more, thoroughly checking for knots and mud. If she was being honest, his bird brain was probably looking for bugs, too. Begrudgingly, she leaned into it, thoughts of her mother running a brush over her fur when she was much smaller. Billie closed her eyes at the gesture, a quiet calm washing over her, coming through a sigh.

"You know, I'm sorry." Barnaby broke the tender silence softly, a trill leaving his chest, "For all of that. I'd... realized, when you said that, I hadn't apologized."

She opened one eye, glancing at him with half a turn of her head, mildly perturbed he'd stopped. "You didn't need to apologize," Billie sighed. "I... understand it. I mean - not entirely. Mom says losing a kid is... much more intense... it's a grief that sort of eats you up inside. And I'm still a kid, so all I know is that it's just been me and mom." She gave pause, considering her next words, neverminding the teary expression that rode his features. "... if my mom lost me... I think... I think she'd find herself in a spiral too. The only difference is that she doesn't have a gem to feed that spiral."

Barnaby wiped his face quickly, before he melted on her. "You're not unlikable," he muttered.

He watched her face go through a flurry of emotions, bouncing from exasperation to a slight side eye. "... thanks, arseho- OH YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COURTROOM THING." Immediately she slapped a hoof over her mouth. "I... sheesh. I know that! You weren't exactly the picture of likeable yourself. I figured, after I left, that you were projecting." Disgruntled, she wound her arms against her chest, a slight grumble to her breath.

Still... watching her, he chuckled a little, winding his neck around her loosely. "If there's ever something I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask. I... I'd like to return the favor one day," his voice, still soft spoken, spoke from on top of her head.

Sheepishly, she gave his long tube of a neck an affectionate squeeze, holding it close. "I'm... just happy, if I can come visit. Are you okay with that?" The trepidation in her question gave away how nervous she'd been to even broach the topic, but he caught the anxious shimmer in her eyes, the way her posture sloped in uncertainty.

He couldn't sit on that question too long, otherwise he feared she'd backtrack and he'd never have company again. "I'd like that a lot," he smiled. "Bring your mother too. I'd like to meet her."

Billie's eyes lit up and she immediately bolted upright to squish his head. "I'm okay with that!!" She exclaimed, beaming as she began to rattle on about her mother, filling in gaps of knowledge and what to expect, personality and such.