#hist tree

My take on the Hist Tree from The Elder Scrolls lore. Argonians ftw! 🦎

"When a Hist dies, it de-ages rapidly, and turns into a seed that carries all the memories of the Hist and the Argonians it protected in life. I wish this was not something anyone would ever have the opportunity of witnessing." - Seeks-For-Knowledge

The Hist are their own species of large trees native to the Black Marsh. Their roots reach deep into the heart of Nirn. Some claim the Hist to be an ancient and sentient race, hailing from a realm of their own, but which got destroyed by the war of the Ehlnofey. There are multiple Hist trees, and they communicate with each other through their roots, though it is possible for a Hist to become isolated and unable to communicate with other Hist.

Argonians Argonians, otherwise known as People of the Root, have a deep connection to the Hist. The Hist's sap is said to be the blood, essence and soul of an Argonian. At tthe end of their life, Argonian souls return to the Hist.

Those who live in the Black Marsh incubate their eggs in pools of Hist sap to assist in their hatching ritual. Breaking this early connection can be deadly to the eggs.

Argonians who feel the need for a change in their physical gender can undergo a ceremony that allows the Hist to transform their body to the one they feel connected to. Afterwards, a grand celebration is held for the newly transformed Argonian.

Argonians born outside of Black Marsh cannot hear the Hist, and if an Argonian with a connection to a Hist travels far enough from their Hist, their connection will grow weaker until they travel back to the Hist again.

Communication The Hist can communicate in varying ways, which seem to depend on the individual Hist. This includes ways such as receiving dreams and hearing messages in the wind. Some Argonian tribes of Black Marsh appoint Sap-Speakers, who specialise in communing with the Hist.

The Hist are capable of calling to Argonians en mass, as they once memorably did during the Third Era, when they called Argonians to come to Black Marsh to protect it from the incoming Oblivion Crisis. This defense proved to be exceedingly effective, as the Argonians attacked themselves, going through the Oblivion Gates and fighting with enough ferocity that the Dagon's liutnenants felt the need to close said gates.

Hist Sap Hist Sap is created from the very spirit of the Hist. It is licked by Argonians in religious rites. Licking it allows the Hist to send the Argonian visions and to increase their combat prowess. However, ingesting large amounts of Hist Sap is dangerous, and can lead to sap-poisoning.

If the sap is ingested by non-Argonians, it has powerful hallucinogenic properties that increase their levels of aggression to dangerous levels.

Hist-magic Hist-magic is available to Histmages, Argonians who draw from the power of the Hist to perform magic, which doesn't operate in the same way as commonly used magic, which makes it particularly unpopular among Telvanni mages.