Eye of Argonia
| Setting | Black Marsh |
|---|---|
| Time Period | Second Era |
| Developer | Bethesda |
| Release Date | Canceled |
The Elder Scrolls Adventures 2: Eye of Argonia[1] was the cancelled sequel to The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard,[2] but due to Redguard's poor sales, the sequel did not enter development.[3] With Cyrus being a popular character with the development team, "many stories were written about his adventures", and these were said to inspire concepts for Redguard sequels.[4] Basic designs for Eye of Argonia had been devised before Redguard's release.[2][3] Like its predecessor, Eye of Argonia was conceived as an action-adventure game.[3] In 2000, Howard noted that action-adventure games did not sell well in the PC market, and that if Eye of Argonia were to be produced, it would be for the console market where the genre was better suited.[3][5]
Redguard writer Michael Kirkbride stated that, additional to Eye of Argonia, plans existed for a further sequel set in Elsweyr titled Paradise Sugar.[1]
Development[edit]
Narrative and Setting[edit]
- Todd Howard noted that "if Redguard was Raiders of the Lost Ark, then Eye of Argonia would be Temple of Doom. Scary jungle stuff in the land of lizards."[3] He further stated that the "seeds are planted" in Redguard,[3] in which the Eye of Argonia is discussed by Tobias and Dreekius and presented as a treasure sought by both Tobias and Cyrus.[6]
- The mock Q&A section of The Origin of Cyrus! refers to a future adventure involving the gem: "Cyrus has been searching for the Eye all over Tamriel. All we can say is that it's a priceless gem that also serves as a key to the Lost City of Black Marsh. Stay tuned!"[7]
- According to third hand information from Michael Kirkbride, Iszara would have been a playable character, and the crew of Cyrus's ship, the Carrick, would have been introduced.[8] The latter element was recycled for Michael Kirkbride's unofficial texts: Lord Vivec's Sword-Meeting with Cyrus the Restless and Tiber Septim's Sword-Meeting with Cyrus the Restless.[9]
Post Cancellation[edit]
- The titular jewel would later be referenced in Morrowind, in the book Ruins of Kemel-Ze[10] and dialogue with Trels Varis.[11] It is also the subject of a book in Douglas Goodall's unofficial plug-in AFFresh.[12]
- A Fighters Guild quest from Oblivion (most likely The Hist) was based on the scrapped plot of Eye of Argonia.[13]
- Cyrus' quest for the Eye is alluded to in Tiber Septim's Sword-Meeting with Cyrus the Restless.[9]
Purported Logo[edit]
The Daedric alphabet font packaged on the Morrowind disc and in the Oblivion fansite kit included logos for Elder Scrolls games as dingbats (in place of numerals).[14] One of the logos, reading "Argonia: And a hero from Haerot will save them", was not associated with any known title, and consequently thought to belong to an unreleased game or Eye of Argonia specifically.[15][14] When asked about it in 2018, neither Michael Kirkbride nor Pete Hines were aware of the logo.[14][16]
In actuality, the logo was for "The Argonia Project", a Morrowind mod by "Scribe of Black Marsh" (also known as "Argonian"), a fan who created the Daedric font in 2001[17] before it was then used by Bethesda for in-game textures and packaged into official releases.[18] In 2022, id Software developer Adam Pyle confirmed he was Scribe of Black Marsh and the creator of the logo.[19]
See Also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Kirkbride, M. [MKirkbride]. (8 September 2014). Comment on "Why have Thalmor (re-)named the archipelago Alinor?". Reddit.
- ^ a b Redguard Todd Howard Interview
- ^ a b c d e f [Yorick]. (27 July 2002). "Information on Argonians, and.. A possible expansion pack?". The Elder Scrolls Forums. Archived from the original on 5 August 2002.
- ^ Bethesda Softworks. Redguard - Behind the Scenes. elderscrolls.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2004.
- ^ Howard, T. "Interview of Morrowind's Project Leader, Todd Howard". CoreyFro. Archived from the original on 27 January 2001.
- ^ Events of Redguard
- ^ The Origin of Cyrus! — Michael Kirkbride
- ^ Wiwiland. TESA:Eye of Argonia
- ^ a b Tiber Septim's Sword-Meeting with Cyrus the Restless
- ^ Ruins of Kemel-Ze — Rolard Nordssen
- ^ Events of Tribunal
- ^ The Eye of Argonia — Shmij-Tei
- ^ The Elder Scrolls: A Brief History of Tamriel
- ^ a b c [ladynerevar]. (5 January 2018). "The Curious Case of Argonia". Tumblr.
- ^ [Hungry Donner]. (19 August 2003). Comment on "The Argonia Project". The Elder Scrolls Forums. Archived from the original on 19 October 2003.
- ^ Hines, P. [DCDeacon]. (5 January 2018). "I don’t know what that is and I don’t recall it being on any game disc". Twitter.
- ^ Pyle, A. [Scribe of Black Marsh]. (27 January 2001). "Daedric Runes Font Available for Download". The Elder Scrolls Forums. Archived from the original on 24 July 2001.
- ^ Pyle, A. [Argonian]. (19 August 2003). Comment on "The Argonia Project". The Elder Scrolls Forums. Archived from the original on 19 October 2003.
- ^ Pyle, A. [SyncError]. (8 January 2022). Comment on "Origins of the Logo: Eye of Argonia". Reddit.
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