The mer of Akavir
(a theoretical study)

"No men or mer live on Akavir". For a long time we held this statement true. But is it? What do we know of the Tsaesci - the so-called, Immortal Vampiric Serpent-men? How many have travelled to their lands and lived to tell the tale? How many of those, who has ever seen a Tsaesci live nowadays? I ask again, what do we know, for a fact, about the Tsaesci? I propose, that the Tsaesci are, in fact, Elves.

The Tsaesci are described either as creatures with human upper body and a snake tail in the place of legs, or just as walking snake- or eel-like creatures. But really, how long has it been, since a denizen of Tamriel seen one of them? Ever since the murder of Savirien-Chorak and his heirs, there has been no record of contact with the Akaviri. Almost a millenium has passed since then. Truths are easily forgotten, whilst lies and legends die hard. Do we not associate the image of a snake with something evil? The Serpent, beast of the stars. The Satakal, whose madness is even more frightening than that of Sheogorath's servants. At last, the poisonous carnivores, that inhabit the woods and jungles of various lands. Now, do we not associate Tsaesci with something evil? Invasions, raids, the death of our beloved Emperor, Uriel V. I hope the kind reader understands what I'm implying.

Humans and Elves have always been known for their intolerance of other races - beasts, they call us. So, is it truly reasonable to put the Akaviri in the same fold as the Khajiit, the Orcs and the Argonians? Argonians were created from the Hist. Orcs were created from the Elves. Khajiit were created from the Elves. The origin of the Tsaesci is unknown, apart from one mention in the Ayleid creation myth, which states that they are descendants of the Ehlnofey, the same as the Elves. That means that they are at least related to modern Elves.

During my studies, I came across a copy of a magnificent religious work of the people of Morrowind. "The 36 lessons of Vivec" it's called. In it, my theory finds futher reinforcement in these words:

The Tsaesci serpents vowed to have their vengeance on the west at least three times.

Why, I ask you, would the "serpents" want to have revenge on Tamriel. Revenge for what? Maybe it is revenge for the war, that, according to the Ayleid myth, created the Padomaic Ocean?

Now, are the Tsaesci really immortal? None of them lived on Tamriel long enough, to prove this. There have been Elves, that live longer than the Akavirian servants of the Empire, yet we do not call them immortal. And if they are really immortal, why do they have such great reproductive properties? Potentate Savirien-Chorak is known to have produced AT LEAST three heirs in the course of roughly four centuries. There may have been, and probably were more. Doesn't that sound too much for an immortal creature? I say, that this immortality is, in fact, Elven longevity.

And now, I come to the last, and most interesting part of my study. The "vampirism" of the Akaviri and their origin. The Tsaesci are known to have "eaten" all humans living on Akavir. I find this very hard to believe - humans are quite capable to fight back when threatened and are numerous and strong. I doubt any power in this universe short of the Daedra and Aedra posess the might to wipe out all of them. Also, eating is not quite the best way of dealing with enemies - human meat is not really the best food on Nirn and can give one a good indigestion. Most probably, the author of "Mysterious Akavir" has relayed to us the tricky words of one of the Tsaesci. What we really should be talking about is the possibility of "eating" a species through interbreeding. I theorize, that once (probably during the Merethic Era) there were mer AND men living on Akavir, but for some reason they started breeding together and the elven blood proved dominant in this racial marriage, creating the race that we now call the Tsaesci - shorter and physically weaker than any mer, Nord, Cyrodiil or even Breton (no offense to the member of these glorious nations intended), but posessing great agility and speed, which is reflected in their lightweight, fast weapon style.

Now, on to the "vampirism" part. Think of it, do you really think that the humans would have tolerated a alien-looking, blood-drinking walking snake beside their Emperor? Seeing as how there are very few high-ranking Khajiit, Argonians and Orcs in Cyrodiil, I find it unlikely. Another fact, that speaks against them being vampires is that it has NEVER been stated, that either Potentate Versidue-Shaie, or his son Savirien-Chorak actually drank blood. Such a thing would be hard to keep a secret. Maybe, the vampirism is just a legend, but I have assumed that the Tsaesci actually just have long fangs. From which "side of the family" this trait comes - I do not know. Probably from the Elves, which vary from race to race much more than the humans. Or maybe the long fangs themselves are a legend, that contributed to the "serpent legend". After all, there is so little we know about Akavir and it's inhabitants...

-- Darth Blade