Pocket Guide to the Empire , Third Edition : Black Marsh Content . It has been called the Garbage Heap of Tamriel , to where everything rotten and despoiled eventually flows . Its borderlands and coasts have been ravaged by civilization after civilization , but its heart is inviolate , for so poisonous is its air , ground , and water , its mysteries are secure . Detractors long ago called the southeastern swampland of Tamriel " Black Marsh , " but to its admirers , of whom there are a few , it is Argonia . History . Every Province of Tamriel has its secret histories , but no land in the Empire is as undocumented and unexplored as Black Marsh . We know that Topal the Pilot and other early Aldmer i explorers passed through the " fetid , evil swamp lands and their human lizards , " suggesting an early primitive species that might be related to the modern day Argonians . By the phrasing of the poet ' s words , it is also clear that Black Marsh had begun its long tradition of being a place no one would want to live in , man or mer , which it maintains into the present day . Yet people did live there , and people did move there . Compared to much of Tamriel , there have been a large variety of cultures that have live in Black Marsh at different points in the past . Most surprisingly from a modern perspective , we hear of few wars or conflicts between these cultures until well into the Second Era . In additional to the reptilian Argonians , who are today Black Marsh ' s most visible denizen , there were once tribes of men - Kothringi , Orma , Yespest , Horwalli - and tribes of mer - the Barsaebic Ayleid s and the Cantemiric Velothi - and even a tribe who may have been related to the Khajiit of Elsweyr , the vulpine Lilmothiit . Some were sent to Black Marsh as refugees of prisoners , other settled along the coastal waterways and adapted to its strange and usually insalubrious environment . The cities of Stormhold and Gideon were originally founded by the Ayleids ( their Ayleid names are unknown ) , but were so far removed from their culture in the heartland that they never were attacked by the Alessian army when it rose in revolt . The southern coastal regions , not surprisingly , were the realms of the Lilmothiit , though they were a nomadic group and left few enduring signs of their existence that were not covered up by later civilizations . The Black Marsh elves settled in the eastern regions near present - day Archon , Arnesia , and Thorn . The origin of the species associated with the name " Argonian " is the stuff of myth , not history . We know they were spoken of in various terms by the early non - reptilian inhabitants of Black Marsh , as everything from funny curiosities that would wander in from the misty , mephitic inland bayous for short times , to noble heroes who saved the innocent from horrors of the swamps , to savage monsters who terrorized communities . The historian Brendan the Persistent writes , " The Argonian people have , throughout Temrielic history , been perhaps the most misunderstood , vilified , and reviled of all the sentient races . Yet , those who have taken the time to experience Argonian culture have gained a greater appreciation for this noble and beautiful people . " It should be noted that the historian disappeared during his final expedition into the deeper swamps of Black Marsh . Rumors and speculation also abound regarding the Hist , a species of giant spore tree growing in the innermost swamps of Argonia . Some have maintained that natives worship the trees ; others claim the trees are , in fact , a sentient race , more ancient than all the races of man and mer . No reliable accounts of expeditions into central Argonia exist to lend credence to these claims , and modern Argonians are reticent to speak of the mysterious trees . The Argonians , as they came to be called , only occasionally left their homeland , though we find individuals in other parts of Tamriel in the early years of the First Era . The expatriates from Black Marsh did no offer any great insight into the tribal customs of their people , preferring to assimilate into the larger Tamrielic culture . Certainly , outside experience with the natives of Black Marsh in their own folkways , at least in any official capacity , was sporadic until middle of the First Era . A very successful enterprise of bandits and thieves had long been exploiting the swampland of southeastern Tamriel , a convenient location to the riches of the Empire , where one could disappear without recourse . The coastline along the east of Topal Bay had become notorious for acts of piracy , and in 1E 1033 , the Empress Hestra demanded the head of the most infamous of the brigadiers , " Red " Bramman . After many an unsuccessful battle in the Bay , the Imperial Navy discovered the pirate - king ' s means of escaping capture : a narrow , winding river which emptied into the Bay near Soulrest , its mouth screen by dense thickets of mangroves . The Imperial Fleet followed the course deeper into the heart of Black Marsh than any non - Argonian had ever been before . They eventually caught Bramman in his bandit kingdom not far from what is no called Blackrose , and took his head for the Empress . More importantly , they provided the first reliable accounts of the true culture of Black Marsh . The Argonians in the interior swamps of Black Marsh were skittish and little wonder , as the contact they had with men from the outside was from the like of Bramman and other brigands . Imperial civilization was , to them , rape , pillage and slavery . As the Cyrodiils pushed deeper into their land , trying to settle it along the pirate routes , they encountered stronger and more violent resistance with each incursion . Once the pirate menace was dealt with , the First Empire was generally content to leave Black Marsh to its native inhabitants . It was not until the time of the Second Empire that Black Marsh was first " conquered " , at least in name . In 1E 2811 , at the Battle of Argonia , the last organized army of reptilians in Black Marsh ' s history was defeated , and they retreated to Helstrom , into the impenetrable center of the Province where the men and mer wouldn ' t follow . The following year , Black Marsh was officially incorporated into the Cyrodilic Empire . The coastal areas and some parts of the interior where it was safe to travel received Imperial leaders to rule in the emperor ' s name . The land that had once been the home of freedom for Tamriel ' s criminals became its greatest prison state . Anyone considered too dangerous to hold in " civilized " dungeons in other Provinces was sent to Black Marsh . Its most famous convicts include the notorious axe murderer Nai , the heretic Devir - Mir , and Tavia , the wife of the last emperor of the First Era , who was sent to Gideon in 1E 2899 , accused of treason . The worst of the dungeons was constructed in the following era by Potentate Versidue - Shaie on the ruins of the Lilmothiit community called Blackrose . The Rose , as it is called , is still the most secure and notorious prison of our own time , where Jagar Tharn ' s associates who were not executed await their final end . In the chaos of the Second Era , banditry returned to Black Marsh in force . Slave traders from Morrowind were freer than ever to exploit their southern neighbor , and entire tribes of Argonians were dragged in chains to the Dunmer land . Former Imperial officials founded warlord dynasties which earned a reputation for tyranny even in that dark time . Whether the terrible Khahaten Flu arose from natural causes , or was created by an Argonian shaman in retaliation for his people ' s oppression , is still a matter of debate . But its result was clear . The plague began in Stormhold in 2E 560 , and quickly spread to every corner of Black Marsh , killing all those not reptilian stock . For over forty years , it held the Province in its grip , decimating entire cultures ( notably , the Kothringi ) and driving outsiders from the land . Even when the land became inhabitable again , fear of the disease kept most outsiders away . House Dres of Morrowind continued to send slavers into the north , but few others saw any reason to trouble themselves with the land . Even Tiber Septim , it was said , thought twice before conquering Black Marsh for his new Empire . The borders of the province fell easily to his forces , but he wisely decided to avoid strategically unimportant inner swamps , and thus met with little resistance . Black Marsh ' s position in the Third Era has been much the same as it has been throughout the other times in history . The Empire finds strategic benefit in holding the coasts , and keeps its most dangerous criminals in Black rose and other dungeons closer to its interior . The heart of Black Marsh remains the sole province of the reptilian Argonians , and any further annexation of this area by Imperial forces seems unlikely . Current Events . Black Marsh continues to be a " backward " land economically by Imperial standards . Most of the agriculture is grown by subsistence farmers , though recently more has been shipped abroad , of Tamriel . Banditry appears to be on the decline in recent years , with most criminal acts being perpetrated not by outsiders , but by natives , such as the " Naga " thugs of Argonian stock . Rumors persists of gangs such as these smuggling powerful drugs across the borders of Black Marsh , but this has remained unproven to this day . Still , the Emperor ' s fleet guards the Topal Bay carefully , protecting merchants from the pirates who have never truly been eliminated . Imperials continue to rule in the Empire ' s name along the coastal cities of the Province , but most have native Argonians as advisors . These Archein s also act as governors in the rural areas that still make up the majority of Black Marsh . Beyond the reach of the Empire , there is little supervision of the inner swamplands , and it is unknown whether or not these areas even recognize Imperial rule of the Province . Since the abolishment of slavery , Black Marsh ' s relationship with its northern neighbor Morrowind has been much improved , though border clashes continue as Argonians have begun to reclaim land conquered during the Arnesian War . There have also been reports of minor skirmishes with Imperial troops along the coastal regions , but it is not believed that there is any threat posed by these isolated incidents . More troubling is the recent prison break at the formidable Blackrose Prison . Though it has since been sealed and its weak points mended , some of the worst murderers , thieves , and political revolutionaries had already escaped into the swamps . It is believed unlikely that any of them could have survived the cruel , dangerous lands of inner Black Marsh .