The teaser trailer for long-awaited Skyrim sequel The Elder Scrolls 6 was released back in 2018, and since then Bethesda has been notably quiet on the game’s development. Despite confirmation that the game is in progress, no details have been released regarding its setting or story.
There’s one major element of the Elder Scrolls lore that’s rarely been touched upon in the games themselves, which could be interesting to see here. One of Tamriel’s strangest races once dominated the continent: the Hist. Refugees from a distant reality, this species has been behind some of the strangest events since the Oblivion Crisis, and exploring them further could add a whole new dimension to the world of The Elder Scrolls 6.
Who Are The Hist?
To most travelers the Hist resemble simple trees, though few have delved deep enough into the Argonian homeland of Black Marsh to gain much knowledge of the species for outsiders. What is known, however, is that the Hist are a form of sentient plantlife and, according to their reptilian caretakers, are the source of all life on Nirn. While it’s claimed that the Hist were once found across Tamriel, the events that led to their isolation in Black Marsh are less clear. Some claim that the Dunmeri chopped many of the Hist down for wood, leading some Hist – along with their Argonians – to flee to realms of Oblivion where they could be safe.
Argonians see the Hist as both the source of their life and as their destination in the afterlife, though the specifics about their religion are closely kept secrets. Argonian villages often center on a single Hist tree which they are able to communicate with in some form. During the Oblivion Crisis – Mehrunes Dagon’s attempted invasion of Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls 4 – the Hist called out to the Argonians across Tamriel, rallying them in Black Marsh and defeated Dagon’s forces with alarming ferocity.
The Hist At War
The Hist even appear to have ambitions. After defeating Dagon’s forces, the Hist coordinated many of the Argonians into an expeditionary force which would invade Morrowind in 4E 6. It has been speculated that the Hist may have made some deal with the Thalmor, with the Aldmeri Dominion exploiting the long-standing hatred Black Marsh’s denizens had for the Dunmer, who had often taken the Argonians as slaves while destroying the Hist. It is because of this Hist-led invasion that so many Dunmer refugees can be found in Skyrim and Solstheim.
The invasion of Morrowind isn’t the only time the Hist have demonstrated the true extent of their power since the Oblivion Crisis. Umbriel is a floating city which appeared in Tamriel 49 years into 4th Era, transported to the world of Nirn from the realm that the Hist originated from. Its inhabitants were elves and humans grown in plant-like pods. These beings emerged fully grown and with their lot in life already established, including their jobs. It’s possible that this is how the Argonians imagine the conception of life on Tamriel as well. Despite its origins in the Hist's home reality, however, Umbriel was presided over by a Dunmer named Lord Vuhon, so the extent to which Umbriel represents the intent of the Hist is hard to determine.
What’s certain, however, is that the Hist are one of the most powerful forces on Tamriel, if nothing else but because of their ability to operate, communicate, and organize via methods that are seemingly uncrackable to anyone outside of the Argonian race. The lack of information about the Hist in The Elder Scrolls games so far is particularly unfortunate for Argonian players. The beastfolk of The Elder Scrolls have huge amounts of lore that’s often left by the wayside, and the fact that Argonian players have no connection to the Hist in-game robs those players of a vital part of their chosen race.
While the Hist trees on the surface are limited to Black Marsh, they are also known to have immense root systems that run deep under other provinces, and potentially beyond Tamriel across all of Nirn itself. The Hist are also rumored to be able to uproot themselves and move, though this is a rare occurrence. However, there may be a good reason that the Hist could be on the march in The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Hist And The Aldmeri Dominion
Assuming that The Elder Scrolls 6 takes place after Skyrim some time in the 4th Era, Tamriel is going through a period of immense change. The Empire has been in decline, Emperor Titus Mede II has been assassinated by the Dark Brotherhood, the war with the Aldmeri Dominion has led to the loss of Hammerfell and possibly Skyrim depending on the outcome of the Stormcloak’s Civil War.
After years of being confined to a single province of a human empire, the gradual dissolution of the Third Empire could give the Hist and the Argonians a huge opportunity to reclaim their ancient position in Tamriel. Though a part of the empire, the Argonians have been met with prejudice across much of the continent, forced to work outside Skyrim’s city walls in the last game. The Aldmeri Dominion could be the unlikely allies that the Hist have been waiting for.
Not only that, but the Hist taking advantage of the Aldmeri resurgence could add a more complicated and sympathetic element to the Aldmeri Dominion that wasn’t seen in Skyrim. Skyrim’s Thalmor roamed the land as inquisitors persecuting Talos worshippers, and the High Elves were generally portrayed as unsympathetic supremacists. If the survival and liberation of the Hist and the Argonians is convenient to the Dominion, however, the changing face of Tamriel could become a lot more morally complicated in The Elder Scrolls 6. No matter where the next game is set, the growing power of the Hist should be felt as the 4th Era continues to see some of the biggest changes that have come to the world of The Elder Scrolls since the series began.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development by Bethesda.