The Argonian Account , Book IV Content . Decumus Scotti was drowning , and he didn ' t think much of it . He couldn ' t move his arms or his legs to swim because of the paralysis spell the Argonian peasant had lobbed at him , but he wasn ' t quite sinking . The Onkobra River was a crashing force of white water and currents that could carry along large rocks with ease , so Scotti tumbled head over heels , spinning , bumping , bouncing along . He figured that soon enough he would be dead , and that would be better than being in Black Marsh . He wasn ' t too panicked about it all when he felt his lungs fill with water and cold blackness fell upon him . For a while , for the first time in some time , Decumus Scotti felt peace . Blessed darkness . And then pain came to him , and he felt himself coughing , spewing water up from his belly and his lungs . A voice said , " Oh bother , he ' s alive , ain ' t he , now ? " Scotti wasn ' t quite sure if that were true , even when he opened his eyes and looked at the face above him . It was an Argonian , but unlike any he had seen anywhere . The face was thin and long like a thick lance ; the scales were ruby - red , brilliant in the sunlight . It blinked at him , its eyelids opening and closing in vertical slits . " I don ' t suppose we should eat you , should we now ? " the creature smiled , and Scotti could tell from its teeth that it was no idle suggestion . " Thank you , " said Scotti weakly . He craned his head slightly to find out who the " we " were , and discovered he was on the muddy bank of the still , sludgy river , surrounded by a group of Argonians with similarly needle - like faces and a whole rainbow of scales . Bright greens and gem - like purples , blues , and oranges . " Can you tell me , am I near - well , anywhere ? " The ruby - colored Argonian laughed . " No . You ' re in the middle of everywhere , and near nowhere . " " Oh , " said Scotti , who grasped the idea that space did not mean much in Black Marsh . " And what are you ? " " We are Agaceph s , " the ruby - colored Argonian replied . " My name is Nomu . " Scotti introduced himself . " I ' m a senior clerk in Lord Vanech ' s Building Commission in the Imperial City . My job was to come here to try to fix the problems with commerce , but I ' ve lost my agenda , haven ' t met with any of my contacts , the Archein s of Gideon . . . " " Pompous , assimiliated , slaver kleptocrats , " a small lemon - colored Agaceph murmured with some feeling . " . . . And now I just want to go home . " Nomu smiled , his long mouth arching up like a host happy to see an unwanted guest leave a party . " Shehs will guide you . " Shehs , it seemed , was the bitter little yellow creature , and he was not at all pleased at the assignment . With surprising strength , he hoisted Scotti up , and for a moment , the clerk was reminded of Gemullus dropping him into the bubbling muck that led to the Underground Express . Instead , Shehs shoved Scotti toward a tiny little raft , razor - thin , that bobbed on the surface of the water . " This is how you travel ? " " We don ' t have the broken wagons and dying horse s of our brothers on the outside , " Shehs replied , rolling his tiny eyes . " We don ' t know better . " The Argonian sat at the back of the craft and used his whip - like tail to propel and navigate the craft . They traveled quickly around swirling pools of slime that stank of centuries of putrefaction , past pinnacled mountains that seemed sturdy but suddenly fell apart at the slightest ripple in the still water , under bridges that might have once been metal but were now purely rust . " Everything in Tamriel flows down to Black Marsh , " Shehs said . As they slid through the water , Shehs explained to Scotti that the Agacephs were one of the many Argonian tribes that lived in the interior of the province , near the Hist , finding little in the outside world worth seeing . He was fortunate to have been found by them . The Naga s , the toad - like Paatru , and the winged Sarpa would have killed him on the spot . There were other creatures too to be avoided . Though there were few natural predators in inner Black Marsh , the scavengers that rooted in the garbage seldom shied away from a living meal . Hackwing s circled overhead , like the ones Scotti had seen in the west . Shehs fell silent and stopped the raft completely , waiting for something . Scotti looked in the direction Shehs was watching , and saw nothing unusual in the filthy water . Then , he realized that the pool of green slime in front of them was actually moving , and fairly quickly , from one bank to the other . It deposited small bones behind it as it oozed up into the reeds , and disappeared . " Voriplasm , " Shehs explained , moving the boat forward again . " Big word . It ' ll strip you to the bone by the second syllable . " Scotti , desirous to distract himself from the sights and smells that surrounded him , thought it a good time to compliment his pilot on his excellent vocabulary . It was particularly impressive , given how far from civilization they were . The Argonians in the east did , in fact , speak so well . " They tried to erect a Temple of Mara near here , in Umpholo , twenty years ago , " Shehs explained , and Scotti nodded , remembering reading about it in the files before they were lost . " They all perished quite dreadfully of swamp rot in the first month , but they left behind some excellent book s . " Scotti was going to inquire further when he saw something so huge , so horrifying , it made him stop , frozen . Half submerged in the water ahead was a mountain of spines , lying on nine - foot - long claws . White eyes stared blindly forward , and then suddenly the whole creature spasmed and lurched , the jaw of its mouth jutting out , exposing tusks clotted with gore . " Swamp Leviathan , " Shehs whistled , impressed . " Very , very dangerous . " Scotti gasped , wondering why the Agaceph was so calm , and more , why he was continuing to steer the raft forward towards the beast . . " Of all the creatures in the world , the rats are sometimes the worst , " said Shehs , and Scotti noticed that the huge creature was only a husk . Its movement was from the hundreds of rats that had burrowed into it , rapidly eating their way from the inside out , bursting from the skin in spots . " They are indeed , " Scotti said , and his mind went to the Black Marsh files , buried deep in the mud , and four decades of Imperial work in Black Marsh . The two continued westward through the heart of Black Marsh . Shehs showed Scotti the vast complicated ruins of the Kothringi capitals , fields of ferns and flowered grasses , quiet streams under canopies of blue moss , and the most astonishing sight of Scotti ' s life — the great forest of full - grown Hist trees . They never saw a living soul until they arrived at the edge of the Imperial Commerce Road just east of Slough Point , where Mailic , Scotti ' s Redguard guide , was waiting patiently . " I was going to give you two more minutes , " the Redguard scowled , dropping the last of his food onto the pile at his feet . " No more , sir . " The sun was shining bright when Decumus Scotti rode into the Imperial City , and as it caught the morning dew , it lent a glisten to every building as if they had been newly polished for his arrival . It astonished him how clean the city was . And how few beggar s there were . The protracted edifice of Lord Vanech ' s Building Commission was the same as it had always been , but still the very sight of it seemed exotic and strange . It was not covered in mud . The people within actually , generally , worked . Lord Vanech himself , though singularly squat and squinty , seemed immaculate , not only relatively clean of dirt and scabs , but also relatively uncorrupt . Scotti couldn ' t help but stare at him when he first caught sight of his boss . Vanech stared right back . " You are a sight , " the little fellow frowned . " Did your horse drag you to Black Marsh and back ? I would say go home and fix yourself , but there are a dozen people here to see you . I hope you have solutions for them . " It was no exaggeration . Nearly twenty of Cyrodiil ' s most powerful and wealthiest people were waiting for him . Scotti was given an office even larger than Lord Vanech ' s , and he met with each . First among the Commission ' s clients were five independent traders , blustering and loaded with gold , demanding to know what Scotti intended to do about improving the trade routes . Scotti summarized for them the conditions of the main roads , the state of the merchants ' caravans , the sunken bridges , and all the other impediments between the frontier and the marketplace . They told him to have everything replaced and repaired , and gave him the gold necessary to do it . Within three months , the bridge at Slough Point had disappeared into the muck ; the great caravan had collapsed into decrepitude ; and the main road from Gideon had been utterly swallowed up by swamp water . The Argonians began once again to use the old ways , their personal rafts and sometimes the Underground Express to transport the grain in small quantities . It took a third of the time , two weeks , to arrive in Cyrodiil , none of it rotten . The Archbishop of Mara was the next client Scotti met with . A kindhearted man , horrified by the tales of Argonian mothers selling their children into slavery , he pointedly asked Scotti if it were true . " Sadly , yes , " Scotti replied , and the Archbishop showered him with septims , telling the clerk that food must be brought to the province to ease their suffering , and the schools must be improved so they could learn to help themselves . Within five months , the last book had been stolen from the deserted Maran monastery in Umphollo . As the Archeins went bankrupt , their slaves returned to his parents ' tiny farms . The backwater Argonians found that they could grow enough to feed their families provided they had enough hard workers in their enclave , and the buyers market for slaves sharply declined . Ambassador Tsleeixth , concerned about the rising crime in northern Black Marsh , brought with him the contributions of many other expatriate Argonians like himself . They wanted more Imperial guards on the border at Slough Point , more magically lit lanterns posted along the main roads at regular intervals , more patrol stations , and more schools built to allow young Argonians to better themselves and not turn to crime . Within six months , there were no more Nagas roaming the roads , as there were no merchants traveling them to rob . The thugs returned to the fetid inner swamp , where they felt much happier , their constitutions enriched by the rot and pestilence that they loved . Tsleeixth and his constituency were so pleased by the crime rate dropping , they brought even more gold to Decumus Scotti , telling him to keep up the good work . Black Marsh simply was , is , and always shall be unable to sustain a large - scale , cash - crop plantation economy . The Argonians , and anyone else , the whole of Tamriel , could live in Black Marsh on subsistence farming , just raising what they needed . That was not sad , Scotti thought ; that was hopeful . Scotti ' s solution to each of their dilemmas had been the same . Ten percent of the gold they gave him went to Lord Vanech ' s Building Commission . The rest Scotti kept for himself , and did exactly nothing about the requests . Within a year , Decumus Scotti had embezzled enough to retire very comfortably , and Black Marsh was better off than it had been in forty years .