Snow Khajiit (and Senche).

Anyone ever see Argonians in or near Bruma? I haven't which makes it seem as if they cannot live in a cold climate.

Argonians are water-dwelling reptiles with some amphibious characteristics. Even in Earth evolution (which isn't how Argonians came to be, btw ) water-dwelling reptiles are far cousins from birds compared to land-dwellers.



An Argonian's habitat is water, hence why feathers don't work. They don't have a distant form, as they exist from very reptilian to near-human, depending on Hist contact/content. There is, however, a tree-dwelling race not yet discussed much officially in Black Marsh, which may have feathers -- HOWEVER, they are NOT related to Argonians!


It does, however, describe quite well the general method through which Argonians came to be and make their water-dwelling lifestyle quite clear -- neither of which is permissive in the slightest of feathers.


We aready know that Argonians in Solsthem do not have feathers
We already know Argonians in Skyrim do not need feathers
We already know Argonians dwelling in Skyrim-like conditions don't have feathers
We already know that Argonian form is influenced by Hist, of which none exist in Skyrim


Yeah, I have seen them. I only quoted texts of them living in Skyrim as well as a quote from http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Right-Wind IN THIS VERY THREAD

Maybe there will be volcanic areas with naturally heated pools that would be suitable for Argonians.

@DEFRON:

Alright, lore-master, let's cross-examine this strict adherence to what's in the compendium with the nature of adding new things to the game. Lore is the fictional, written background of the gameworld, with information on all the races, weapons, legends, ect. How does one balance the process of adding new things to the game, to the universe in general, when there is solid-iron lore that cannot be bent for any reason? Lore is, and should be, flexible. The only reason that there is nothing in the lore about a new idea is that it has not been added yet. I doubt seriously that every bit of the TES universe was written with the development of Arena, and I seriously doubt that there have been no inconsistencies or moderate changes for the purpose of adding something to a new game.

There has been no mention of partially-feathered Argonians in games or lore so-far because, well, there has been no mention of them so-far. They would be what's known as an addition; something new. Perhaps instances of Northern born Argonians (the direct decedents of pure, amphibiously-natured reptiles that had emigrated from Black-Marsh maybe two or three generations ago) hatching with feathered-patches had just started to appear at around the part of the TES timeline that Skyrim takes place. How would the unbreakable, apparently utterly-rigid lore stop that?

If you dislike the idea, say so. If you would refrain from buying the game due to seeing a feather on an Argonian in a screenshot, say so. But don't tell me that it's impossible to add a new idea to the game because it hasn't been mentioned in past games.

EDIT: Punctuation and italics.

I don't have an opinion on the matter either way, but I just thought I'd mention that King Arthur already provided a solution to the feather issue.

BEDEMIR: What also floats in water?
VILLAGER #1: Bread!
VILLAGER #2: Apples!
VILLAGER #3: Very small rocks!
VILLAGER #1: Cider!
VILLAGER #2: Great gravy!
VILLAGER #1: Cherries!
VILLAGER #2: Mud!
VILLAGER #3: Churches -- churches!
VILLAGER #2: Lead -- lead!
ARTHUR: A duck.
CROWD: Oooh.

So I guess that could be a precedent if you really wanted one.

I'd like to see feathered and furred Argonians as long as it's only a moderate part of their bodies and not the entire thing.

Just because there could be Feathered Reptiles here on Earth, doesn't magically make it so they HAVE to exist on Nirn.

They don't have to, but it would make sense for Argonians that reside in Skyrim.

Yes, lore needs to be flexible, but only for things that are of merit for gameplay. Feathers hardly qualify. We already know Argonians can survive in Skyrim, so they aren't needed for that reason (not to mention in a world of magic, there are much more subtle ways to go about it). We have a fair idea of how Argonians came to be, so that rules out their "evolution" (which doesn't exist for Argonians, not to mention couldn't take place in just a few generations -- not to mention reptiles didn't evolve into birds, but rather birds and reptiles share a common ancestor, a land-based dinosaur -- further removed from Crocodiles and similar reptiles than land-based ones) to get feathers, and it generally serves absolutely no purpose other than "looking cool" to some. What if someone said Khajiit should have huge fangs like the saber-tooth tiger? I would certainly hope that other people would tell that person "NO!" because it is a plain bad idea. It has no place in the lore, and even though the lore does not expressively forbid it, it is just a plain stupid idea to give Khajiit saber-teeth. It is the same with giving Argonians feathers


I already said I didn't like it in my first post. If you want me to be more explicit in my disliking: It's a dumb idea that serves absolutely no purpose while having no basis in TES lore or reality. Argonians have an interesting and wonderful culture and such a move would be to dismiss it for what some would find "cool" while detracting from what Argonians really are.

If argonians looked like that, I'd never play another race. Those argonians look just too cool for school...unless I can make a nord look like a complete follower of chaos, notably a Khornanite! :chaos:


You need to visit the Fighters Guild in Bruma, and talk to Basks-In-Sun at Solstheim, which is, arguably, a colder place than northern Cyrodiil.

Bethesda clearly thought that Argonians would look better without their beast-legs in Oblivion. Most of the information about fictional races in fantasy games is about making them look cool. The compendium's claim that the Argonians look different from game-to-game because different "breeds" moved to different regions is the best example I can think of concerning lore being used or altered to allow a change in appearance for a new game. There is nothing wrong with it, it happens in the production of almost every sequel to any game you can think of. It's not that the lore was written and they implemented it into the design, it's that they changed something about the designed and the lore filled in the gaps.



That's the spirit! Now: I completely agree that the Culture written for the Argonians is fascinating and cool; one of the most well-rounded fictional races I know of. I would not want to do anything to harm that awesomeness. It's easy to see that our imaginations regarding this matter are working on very different pages. You prefer the strictly amphibious-reptile look that they've had throughout the series, and want BSG to build upon that, as do I.

My suggestion of feathers stemmed from an imaginative leap that I do not expect everyone to agree with. Nor do I expect it to make into the game, it was purely an "if I could have something in game" kind-of thing. I imagined large groups of Argonians going into the North, living there, many dying there, and the most climate-tolerant managing to breed. From there, I saw each consecutive generation becoming a little-more warm-blooded until finally, some start hatching with feathered patches, and crests along their heads and spines. A new, almost Raptor-esque breed of snow-dwelling Argonians unique to Skyrim is something that lurks in my imagination, nothing more. I do not write for BSG, I do not do concept art for BSG (although I will still water-color of sketch a concept piece and post it), it was nothing more than something that I thought, as you said, would look cool.


Now, on a non-feather-related note: What about a frill? Something like http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/frilled-lizard/, only not as large, and with more Argonian coloration. It could extend during combat, and might look badass if your character isn't wearing a helmet.