Argonian Eggs

[Deeza]

We need to have some for the villages. How big are they? What do they look like? Are they kept in nests or hung from the ceiling?

Let's hear everyone's ideas.

[morcroft]

Most reptilians bury their eggs, don't they? Sandboxes?

There's an ancient and terrible enmity between Argonians and Khajiit entirely due to an unfortunate incident with some kitty litter....

[Catlemur]

:lmao:Maybe a small building with sand inside it.

[Deeza]

The eggs are important for another reason - apparently the argonians use them instead of soul gems. So they should be put in that folder in the CS.

[Koniption]

I don't know what Argonian eggs might look like, visually, but read my lore findings and ideas below:

Lore and lore-ish stuff that follows, from below website:
http://www.imperial-library.info/fsg/bre...cle1.shtml


Lore Findings:

*Argonians use unhatched eggs as soulgems - don't know whether this includes their own kinds' eggs, though.

*Agonians have nests, but don't know whether "nest" refers to an egg hatching area/young caring area, a communal tribal area . It is not known whether "nests", if egg hatching area, are for one family or whether it includes eggs from several families.

*Argonian words cut from the Annotated Annuad (were not in the game, thus not really reliable as lore): " Ixtaxh-thtithil-meht - 'Exact Egg-Cracker', the Hist word for Padomay/Sithis". "Thtithil" meant "egg", "Meht" meant "cracker".

*"..Nelson's comments and Hines's can mesh only due to one word: like. Argonians don't lay eggs LIKE reptiles. Most reptiles lay 'egg' eggs, whether the shell is leathery, as with snakes, or hard, as with turtles. For both Mark and Pete to be right, then Argonian eggs must hatch within the mother when outside "warmer climates, in places with established, stable, and permanent communities" and take the other route of hatching immediately AFTER being laid or extruded (which ever term you prefer). However, you wouldn't "see" that many eggs if they hatched right after birth, so it sounds like the reality is that two devs have different ideas on this, ergo there's no hard and fast decision on the books." (In one sentence, it was said that in the stable, permanent Argonian communities, you'd see lots of eggs..)

*There was a story about a female Argonian who licked the Hist tree before she was supposed to and ended in a "soft-leafed patch", "with a boy from her nest". It kind of infers they did something sexual together.


So from the above I come this compromised conclusion:

*Argonians have leathery eggs (because if the eggs sometimes hatch inside the mother, they'd have to be leathery to prevent hard shell pieces cutting the mother.

*I know some eggs from real reptiles are laid, but are infertile - hence the embryo will not develop and thus the egg will never hatch. Maybe Argonians lay infertile eggs at times, and only then consider using these as soul gems, since there is no soul or life in the egg anyway.

*I think Argonian nests are not necessarily limited to one specific nest per household, but rather is a communal nest for the immediate community. I say this due to the phrases used in the story of the female Argonian who prematurely licked the Hist - "if" she was engaging in something sexual with a boy from her same nest, I don't think they were brother and sister (also because her parents got mad at her only, and never went after the boy < from what I read >).

*If the eggs are leathery and hatched externally, maybe they need to be kept moist, so the eggs don't dry out. Snake eggs are leathery, and I think most snakes bury their eggs under moist debris or under moist soil. I had some anole lizards a long time ago, and one laid an egg. It was leathery, but it also dried out and died. So maybe Argonians keep their eggs covered or surrounded by moist peat from the bogs/swamps, or region-specific debris that keeps their eggs moist. Similarly, crocodiles bury their eggs in large piled mounds of leaves, peat, and other debris near rivers/lakes.

Koniption

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Now that's a huge compendium. Great research picking out those points, KP!

Damp, leathery and communal nests sound like a good idea to me. This resource has been mentioned quite a few times: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=23634 but I've been meaning to look into exploring different textures and other options for quite a while. It's not been a major issue as yet but the point about using them as soulgems makes it a little more important IMO.

[Deeza]

That's a fantastic lore search, KP! I wholeheartedly endorse your conclusions!

[Koniption]

@ Deeza & IG : Thanks!

If Argonians give birth to one child at a time, then the egg should be a little larger than the size of a newborn baby (to allow some room for movement).

If they give birth to multiple children from same mother at same time, then the eggs'll have to be smaller and each individual babies will not be identical twins/triplets/etc...unless the twins or triplets (etc) are in the same egg to begin with, in which case they'd be identical twins/triplets/etc and the egg will either be same size as single birth, or a little larger.

Heck, the idea of identical twins or triplets inside an infertile egg (the twins/triplets are basically just yolks that won't develop) could make for interesting "soul gem" stories or quests. Maybe the egg can hold two or three times the amount of souls or hold a "super powerful" soul. Maybe Argonians born from such eggs are special or regarded in some way, too.

Koniption

[Catlemur]

About the soulgem eggs.As there are many poor Argonians and slaves some more wealthy guys might buy the eggs and make them soulgems.

[Deeza]

Good point Catlemur. If you look in the Quests folder there was an idea for a quest just like this.

The same person also suggested that it's the infertile eggs that are used as soulgems, as KP suggested.