The Argonian Account , Book III Content . Decumus Scotti was supposed to be in Gideon , a thoroughly Imperialized city in southern Black Marsh , arranging business dealings to improve commerce in the province on behalf of Lord Vanech ' s Building Commission and its clients . Instead , he was in a half - submerged , rotten little village called Hixinoag , where he knew no one . Except for a drug smuggler named Chaero Gemullus . Gemullus was not at all perturbed that the merchant caravan had gone north instead of south . He even let Scotti share his bucket of trodh , tiny little crunchy fish , he had bought from the villagers . Scotti would have preferred them cooked , or at any rate , dead , but Gemullus blithely explained that dead , cooked trodh are deadly poison . " If I were where I was supposed to be , " Scotti pouted , putting one of the wriggling little creatures in his mouth . " I could be having a roast , and some cheese , and a glass of wine . " " I sell moonsugar in the north , and buy it in the south , " he shrugged . " You have to be more flexible , my friend . " " My only business is in Gideon , " Scotti frowned . " Well , you have a couple choices , " replied the smuggler . " You could just stay here . Most villages in Argonia don ' t stay put for very long , and there ' s a good chance Hixinoag will drift right down to the gates of Gideon . Might take you a month or two . Probably the easiest way . " " That ' d put me far behind schedule . " " Next option , you could join up with the caravan again , " said Gemullus . " They might be going in the right direction this time , and they might not get stuck in the mud , and they might not be all murdered by Naga highwaymen . " " Not tempting , " Scotti frowned . " Any other ideas ? " " Ride the roots . The underground express , " Gemullus grinned . " Follow me . " Scotti followed Gemullus out of the village and into a copse of trees shrouded by veils of wispy moss . The smuggler kept his eye on the ground , poking at the viscuous mud intermittently . Finally he found a spot which triggered a mass of big oily bubbles to rise to the surface . " Perfect , " he said . " Now , the important thing is not to panic . The express will take you due south , that ' s the wintertide migration , and you ' ll know you ' re near Gideon when you see a lot of red clay . Just don ' t panic , and when you see a mass of bubbles , that ' s a breathing hole you can use to get out . " Scotti looked at Gemullus blankly . The man was talking perfect gibberish . " What ? " Gemullus took Scotti by the shoulder and positioning him on top of the mass of bubbles . " You stand right here … " Scotti sank quickly into the mud , staring at the smuggler , horror - struck . " And remember to wait ' til you see the red clay , and then the next time you see bubbles , push up … " The more Scotti wriggled to get free , the faster he sunk . The mud enveloped Scotti to his neck , and he continued staring , unable to articulate anything but a noise like " Oog . " " And don ' t panic at the idea that you ' re being digested . You could live in a rootworm ' s belly for months . " Scotti took one last panicked gasp of air and closed his eyes before he disappeared into the mud . The clerk felt a warmth he hadn ' t expected all around him . When he opened his eyes , he found that he was entirely surrounded by a translucent goo , and was traveling rapidly forward , southward , gliding through the mud as if it were air , skipping along an intricate network of roots . Scotti felt confusion and euphoria in equal measures , madly rushing forward through an alien environment of darkness , spinning around and over the thick fibrous tentacles of the trees . It was if he were high in the sky at midnight , not deep beneath the swamp in the Underground Express . Looking up slightly at the massive root structure above , Scotti saw something wriggle past . A eight - foot - long , armless , legless , colorless , boneless , eyeless , nearly shapeless creature , riding the roots . Something dark was inside of it , and as it came closer , Scotti could see it was an Argonian man . He waved , and the disgusting creature the Argonian was in flattened slightly and rushed onward . Gemullus ' s words began to reappear in Scotti ' s mind at this sight . " The wintertide migration , " " air hole , " " you ' re being digested , " — these were the phrases that danced around as if trying to find some place to live in a brain which was highly resistant to them coming in . But there was no other way to look at the situation . Scotti had gone from eating living fish to being eaten alive as a way of transport . He was in one of those worms . Scotti made an executive decision to faint . He awoke in stages , having a beautiful dream of being held in a woman ' s warm embrace . Smiling and opening his eyes , the reality of where he really was rushed over him . The creature was still rushing madly , blindly forward , gliding over roots , but it was no longer like a flight through the night sky . Now it was like the sky at sunrise , in pinks and reds . Scotti remembered Gemullus telling him to look for the red clay , and he would be near Gideon . The next thing he had to find was the bubbles . There were no bubbles anywhere . Though the inside of the worm was still warm and comfortable , Scotti felt the weight of the earth all around him . " Just don ' t panic " Gemullus had said , but it was one thing to hear that advice , and quite another to take it . He began to squirm , and the creature began to move faster at the increased pressure from within . Suddenly , Scotti saw it ahead of him , a slim spire of bubbles rising up through the mud from some underground stream , straight up , through the roots to the surface above him . The moment the rootworm went through it , Scotti pushed with all of his might upward , bursting through the creature ' s thin skin . The bubbles pushed Scotti up quickly , and before he could blink , he was popping out of the red slushy mud . Two gray Argonians were standing under a tree nearby , holding a net . They looked in Scotti ' s direction with polite curiosity . In their net , Scotti noticed , were several squirming furry rat - like creatures . While he addressed them , another fell out of the tree . Though Scotti had not been educated in this practice , he recognized fishing when he saw it . " Excuse me , lads , " Scotti said jovially . " I was wondering if you ' d point me in the direction of Gideon ? " The Argonians introduced themselves as Drawing - Flame and Furl - Of - Fresh - Leaves , and looked at one another , puzzling over the question . " Who you seek ? " asked Furl - of - Fresh - Leaves . " I believe his name is , " said Scotti , trying to remember the contents of his long gone file of Black Marsh contacts in Gideon . " Archein Right - Foot … Rock ? " Drawing - Flame nodded , " For five gold , show you way . Just east . Is plantation east of Gideon . Very nice . " Scotti thought that the best business he had heard of in two days , and handed Drawing - Flames the five septims . The Argonians led Scotti onto a muddy ribbon of road that passed through the reeds , and soon revealed the bright blue expanse of Topal Bay far to the west . Scotti looked around at the magnificent walled estates , where bright crimson blossoms sprang forth from the very dirt of the walls , and surprised himself by thinking , " This is very pretty . " The road ran parallel to a fast - moving stream , running eastward from Topal Bay . It was called the Onkobra River , he was told . It ran deep into Black Marsh , to the very dark heart of the province . Peeking past the gates to the plantations east of Gideon , Scotti saw that few of the fields were tended . Most had rotten crops from harvests past still clinging to wilted vines , orchards of desolate , leafless trees . The Argonian serfs who worked the fields were thin , weak , near death , more like haunting spirits than creatures of life and reason . Two hours later , as the three continued their trudge east , the estates were still impressive at least from a distance , the road was still solid if weedy , but Scotti was irritated , horrified by the field workers and the agricultural state , and no longer charitable towards the area . " How much further ? " Furl - of - Fresh - Leaves and Drawing - Flame looked at one another , as if that question was something that hadn ' t occurred to them . " Archein is east ? " Furl - of - Fresh - Leaves pondered . " Near or far ? " Drawing - Flame shrugged noncommittally , and said to Scotti , " For five gold , show you way . Just east . Is plantation . Very nice . " " You don ' t have any idea , do you ? " Scotti cried . " Why couldn ' t you tell me that in the first place when I might have asked someone else ? " Around the bend up ahead , there was the sound of hoofbeats . A horse coming closer . Scotti began to walk towards the sound to hail the rider , and didn ' t see Drawing - Flame ' s taloned claws flash out and cast the spell at him . He felt it though . A kiss of ice along his spine , the muscles along his arms and legs suddenly immobile as if wrapped in rigid steel . He was paralyzed . The great curse of paralysis , as the reader may be unfortunate enough to know , is that you continue to see and think even though your body does not respond . The thought that went through Scotti ' s mind was , " Damn . " For Drawing - Flame and Furl - of - Fresh - Leaves were , of course , like most simple day laborers in Black Marsh , accomplished Illusion ists . And no friend of the Imperial . The Argonians shoved Decumus Scotti to the side of the road , just as the horse and rider came around the corner . He was an impressive figure , a nobleman in a flashing dark green cloak exactly the same color as his scaled skin , and a frilled hood that was part of his flesh and sat upon his head like a horned crown . " Greetings , brothers ! " the rider said to the two . " Greetings , Archein Right - Foot - Rock , " they responded , and then Furl - of - Fresh - Leaves added . " What is milord ' s business on this fine day ? " " No rest , no rest , " the Archein sighed regally . " One of my she - workers gave birth to twins . Twins ! Fortunately , there ' s a good trader in town for those , and she didn ' t put up too much of a fuss . And then there ' s a fool of an Imperial from Lord Vanech ' s Building Commission I am supposed to meet with in Gideon . I ' m sure he ' ll want the grand tour before he opens up the treasury for me . Such a lot of fuss . " Drawing - Flame and Furl - of - Fresh - Leaves sympathesized , and then , as Archein Right - Foot - Rock rode off , they went to look for their hostage . Unfortunately for them , gravity being the same in Black Marsh as elsewhere in Tamriel , their hostage , Decumus Scotti , had continued to roll down from where they left him , and was , at that moment , in the Onkobra River , drowning . Trivia . It is said that the laborer who paralyzed Scotti was an " accomplished Illusionist , " which would be true in Oblivion but not in Skyrim , since Paralysis is switched to an Alteration spell . This is due to the fact that the book was in Oblivion first , when Paralysis is an Illusion spell .