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Book Information Wisdom of the Tides
ID	8490
Collection	Solstice Summations

Wisdom of the Tides

by Vicecanon Heita-Meen

An account of the Tide-born's beliefs as told to Vicecanon Heita-Meen

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Many years ago, I promised Walks-in-Ash that I would lend her my blade should she ever have need of it. The least I could do after she placed her faith in me as we marched against the Akaviri, but I had assumed it would be under the banner of the Ebonheart Pact. Imagine my surprise when, instead, it was a banner lead by champions across all of Tamriel—the Stirk Fellowship.

When we arrived in Solstice, I was prepared for a battle against Worm Cultists. I had sharpened my blade especially for this. Even had my armor polished and adjusted, but what awaited me on these tropical shores was far more than war.

There is a tribe of Argonians that call this island home. The Tide-Born. They live in a collection of villages scattered across the western shores, with Shell-Tide being the largest and a hub for trade. It is also where many of the villages bring their eggs to hatch, warmed here in the sandy shoals.

Most curiously, there is no Hist tree in sight. It seems these Saxhleel, for one reason or another, have lost their connection to the Hist. Even I cannot here [sic] its song, though some of these Tide-Born tell me there may still be a tree on the eastern side of the island, beyond the Writhing Wall [sic]. They mention this with blithe disinterest. As if I were asking for directions to a food stall.

To learn more of their ways, I spent some time shadowing an egg-nurse named Noki in Shell-Tide Village, though they are called shoal-tenders here. She has given me an introduction to their beliefs. I will do my best to describe what I have learned.

When an Argonian dies in Tamriel, they are laid to rest in the dirt so that they may return to the Hist. The Tide-Born believe that the River sorts their memories and decides which will be brought into the fold of the Hist and which will be discarded. These discarded memories, they say, become the Tide-Born. That the River meets the sea of the Void and its eternal churn, the Tide, carries them to the shores of Solstice. To the eggs which warm themselves in this shoal.

As she explains this to me, Noki places a small strand of seaweed near the mouth of a hatchery bed, forming a sort of wall that protects the eggs. When she is certain she has my attention, she lets the strand go and lets the current pull it toward the eggs. We we [sic] watch as it dances around the clutch. A delicate rhythm governed by the unseen forces of the current.

Perhaps my spines gave away my uncertainty, because Noki took my hand and guided it toward the clutch. She had me hold my hand beneath the water, but just above the shells. She stepped back and left me to marvel at what I saw. A strand of seaweed changed course and began to weave its way around and between my claws. I could feel the rush of water that carried it and, more than that, I could feel a gentle pressure behind the current. A pressure not dissimilar to Noki's touch.

Later that day, as we sat on a short jetty revealed by the low tide, I asked Noki a question that sat burning beneath my scales. Why would this Tide return what was discarded? To what end? She thought a long while about this and, as she gathered her thoughts, she plucked an urchin from the water and pulled slime and detritus from its spines. She returned it to the sea before she answered.

"All Argonians, even you Heita-Meen, are born with destined scales placed before them. They are what drive us to be who we are. Whether that is courageous, fearsome, curious. As we walk our path towards them, some of us wander, get lost, or pass on before we ever reach them. When this happens the tide returns us so that we may walk the path once again and, one day, finally adorn ourselves with our destined scales, iridescent in the Void."

I sat and chewed on these words for some time. It wasn't until long after the sun had set and the heat disappeared from the rocks beneath us that I became aware of a song. It wasn't that of the Hist, no, but something just beneath the churn of the waves, passed through the rocks to the soles of my feet. A gentle rhythm both familiar and strange.

I believe, if what Noki said is true, that I achieved my destined scales in this life. The freedom of my fellow Saxhleel are proof enough for me. But there are many egg-kin who walked along this path beside me who fell long before its end. Not just warriors, but slaves. Those who once suffered the cruelty of House Dres. Will the tides one day return them to these shores, free of their chains? These tired scales can hope.

In the end, Noki was generous with her time, even when it was clear that I had lengthened her days and complicated her tasks. I am grateful for this. These thoughts are dedicated to you, Noki. To the time we spent together wading through your hatchery and stretching our aching bodies in the warm sands.