The Argonian Account , Book I Content . In a minor but respectable plaza in the Imperial City sat , or perhaps lounged , Lord Vanech ' s Building Commission . It was an unimaginative , austere building not noted so much for its aesthetic or architectural design as for its prodigious length . If any critics wondered why such an unornamented , extended erection held such fascination for Lord Vanech , they kept it to themselves . In the 398th year of the 3rd Era , Decumus Scotti was a senior clerk at the Commission . It had been a few months since the shy , middle - aged man had brought Lord Vanech the most lucrative of all contracts , granting the Commission the exclusive right to rebuild the roads of Valenwood which had been destroyed in the Five Year War . For this , he had become the darling of the managers and the clerks , spending his days recounting his adventures , more or less faithfully . . . although he did omit the ending of the tale , since many of them had partaken in the celebratory Unthrappa roast provided by the Silenstri . Informing one ' s listeners that they ' ve gorged on human flesh improves very few stories of any good taste . Scotti was neither particularly ambitious nor hard - working , so he did not mind that Lord Vanech had not given him anything to actually do . Whenever the squat little gnomish man would happen upon Decumus Scotti in the offices , Lord Vanech would always say , " You ' re a credit to the Commission . Keep up the good work . " In the beginning , Scotti had worried that he was supposed to be doing something , but as the months went on , he merely replied , " Thank you . I will . " There was , on the other hand , the future to consider . He was not a young man , and though he was receiving a respectable salary for someone not doing actual work , Scotti considered that soon he might have to retire and not get paid for not doing work . It would be nice , he decided , if Lord Vanech , out of gratitude for the millions of gold the Valenwood contract was generating , might deign to make Scotti a partner . Or at least give him a small percentage of the bounty . Decumus Scotti was no good at asking for things like that , which was one of the reasons why , previous to his signal successes in Valenwood as a senior clerk for Lord Atrius , he was a lousy agent . He had just about made up his mind to say something to Lord Vanech , when his lordship unexpectedly pushed things along . " You ' re a credit to the Commission , " the waddling little thing said , and then paused . " Do you have a moment free on your schedule ? " Scotti nodded eagerly , and followed his lordship to his hideously decorated and very enviable hectare of office space . " Zenithar blesses us for your presence at the Commission , " the little fellow squeaked grandly . " I don ' t know whether you know this , but we were having a bad time before you came along . We had impressive projects , for certain , but they were not successful . In Black Marsh , for example , for years we ' ve been trying to improve the roads and other routes of travel for commerce . I put my best man , Flesus Tijjo , on it , but every year , despite staggering investments of time and money , the trade along those routes only gets slower and slower . Now , we have your very clean , very , very profitable Valenwood contract to boost the Commission ' s profits . I think it ' s time you were rewarded . " Scotti grinned a grin of great modesty and subtle avarice . " I want you to take over the Black Marsh account from Flesus Tijjo . " Scotti shook as if awaking from a pleasant dream to hideous reality , " My Lord , I - I couldn ' t - " " Nonsense , " chirped Lord Vanech . " Don ' t worry about Tijjo . He will be happy to retire on the money I give him , particularly as soul - wrenchingly difficult as this Black Marsh business has been . Just your sort of a challenge , my dear Decumus . " Scotti couldn ' t utter a sound , though his mouth feebly formed the word " No " as Lord Vanech brought out the box of documentation on Black Marsh . " You ' re a fast reader , " Lord Vanech guessed . " You can read it all en route . " " En route to . . . " " Black Marsh , of course , " the tiny fellow giggled . " You are a funny chap . Where else would you go to learn about the work that ' s being done , and how to improve it ? " The next morning , the stack of documentation hardly touched , Decumus Scotti began the journey south - east to Black Marsh . Lord Vanech had hired an able - bodied guard , a rather taciturn Redguard named Mailic , to protect his best agent . They rode south along the Niben , and then south - east along the Silverfish , continuing on into the wilds of Cyrodiil , where the river tributaries had no names and the very vegetation seemed to come from another world than the nice , civilized gardens of the northern Imperial Province . Scotti ' s horse was tied to Mailic ' s , so the clerk was able to read . It made it difficult to pay attention to the path they were taking , but Scotti knew he needed at least a cursory familiarity with the Commission ' s business dealings in Black Marsh . It was a huge box of paperwork going back forty years , when the Commission had first been given several million in gold by a wealthy trader , Lord Xellicles Pinos - Revina , to improve the condition of the road from Gideon to Cyrodiil . At that time , it took three weeks , a preposterously long time , for the rice and root he was importing to arrive , half - rotten , in the Imperial Province . Pinos - Revina was long dead , but many other investors over the decades , including Pelagius Septim V himself , had hired the Commission to build roads , drain swamps , construct bridges , devise anti - smuggling systems , hire mercenaries , and , in short , do everything that the greatest Empire in history knew would work to aid trade with Black Marsh . According to the latest figures , the result of this was that it took two and a half months for goods , now thoroughly rotten , to arrive . Scotti found that when he looked up after concentrating on what he was reading , the landscape had always changed . Always dramatically . Always for the worse . " This is Blackwood , sir , " said Mailic to Scotti ' s unspoken question . It was dark and woodsy , so Decumus Scotti thought that a very appropriate name . The question he longed to ask , which in due course he did ask , was , " What ' s that terrible smell ? " " Slough Point , sir , " Mailic replied as they turned the next bend , where the umbrageous tunnel of tangled tree and vine opened to a clearing . There squatted a cluster of formal buildings in the dreary Imperial design favored by Lord Vanech ' s Commission and every Emperor since Tiber , together with a stench so eye - blindingly , stomach - wrenchingly awful that Scotti wondered , suddenly , if it were deadly poisonous . The swarms of blood - colored , sand - grain - sized insects obscuring the air did not improve the view . Scotti and Mailic batted at the buzzing clouds as they rode their horses towards the largest of the buildings , which on approach revealed itself to be perched at the edge of a thick , black river . From its size and serious aspect , Scotti guessed it to be the census and excise office for the wide , white bridge that stretched across the burbling dark water to the reeds on the other side . It was a very nice , bright , sturdy - looking bridge , built , Scotti knew , by his Commission . A poxy , irritable official opened the door quickly on Scotti ' s first knock . " Come in , come in , quickly ! Don ' t let the fleshflies in ! " " Fleshflies ? " Decumus Scotti trembled . " You mean , they eat human flesh ? " " If you ' re fool enough to stand around and let them , " the soldier said , rolling his eyes . He had half an ear , and Scotti , looking around at the other soldiers in the fort noted that they all were well - chewed . One of them had no nose at all to speak of . " Now , what ' s your business ? " Scotti told them , and added that if they stood outside the fortress instead of inside , they might catch more smugglers . " You better be more concerned with getting across that bridge , " the soldier sneered . " Tide ' s coming up , and if you don ' t get a move on , you won ' t get to Black Marsh for four days . " That was absurd . A bridge swamped by a rising tide on a river ? Only the look in the soldier ' s eyes told Scotti he wasn ' t joking . Upon stepping out of the fort , he saw that the horses , evidently tired of being tortured by the fleshflies , had ripped free of their restraints and were bounding off into the woods . The oily water of the river was already lapping on the planks , oozing between the crevices . Scotti reflected that perhaps he would be more than willing to endure a wait of four days before going to Black Marsh , but Mailic was already running across . Scotti followed him , wheezing . He was not in excellent shape , and never had been . The box of Commission materials was heavy . Halfway across , he paused to catch his breath , and then discovered he could not move . His feet were stuck . The black mud that ran through the river was a thick gluey paste , and having washed over the plank Scotti was on , it held his feet fast . Panic seized him . Scotti looked up from his trap and saw Mailic leaping from plank to plank ahead of him , closing fast on the reeds on the other side . " Help ! " Scotti cried . " I ' m stuck ! " Mailic did not even turn around , but kept jumping . " I know , sir . You need to lose weight . " Decumus Scotti knew he was a few pounds over , and had meant to start eating less and exercising more , but embarking on a diet hardly seemed to promise timely aid in his current predicament . No diet on Nirn would have helped him just then . However , on reflection , Scotti realized that the Redguard intended that he drop the box of documents , for Mailic was no longer carrying any of the essential supplies he had had with him previously . With a sigh , Scotti threw the box of Commission notes into the glop , and felt the plank under him rise a quarter of an inch , just enough to free him from the mud ' s clutches . With an agility born of extreme fear , Scotti began leaping after Mailic , dropping onto every third plank , and springing up before the river gripped him . In forty - six leaps , Decumus Scotti crashed through the reeds onto the solid ground behind Mailic , and found himself in Black Marsh . He could hear behind him a slurping sound as the bridge , and his container of important and official records of Commission affairs , was consumed by the rising flood of dark filth , never to be seen again .