The Lusty Argonian Maid is an iconic Elder Scrolls book and popular meme for Bethesda’s sprawling RPG series. First introduced in the series’ third mainline entry, Morrowind, the risqué short story is essentially a bit of Tamriel smut that’s filled with innuendos.
In an interview with YouTuber Filmdeg Miniatures, writer and quest designer Mark Nelson explained that the addition of the in-universe book is actually a mystery. While Nelson remembers writing it, he has no idea why he decided to create an in-universe smut series for Morrowind.
“I don’t even remember why I wrote it,” Nelson told the YouTuber (via PCG). “It may have been after, like, a happy hour or something, quite honestly.”
Nelson explained that a purely comedy-focused book like The Lusty Argonian Maid had to be sneaked into The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind when no one was paying attention. While pretty much every Bethesda RPG is filled with comedic moments – Morrowind’s opening minutes are interrupted by the hilarious death of Tarhiel – Nelson claims humour wasn’t actually allowed.
Because no one was paying attention we could just put anything into the game,” Nelson told the YouTuber. “Todd’s rule was always ‘humor has no place in games.’ That’s Todd’s rule. So of course that became ‘humor has no place in games, if Todd doesn’t catch it…’ And that’s where things like The Lusty Argonian Maid came in. I probably was like, I need a break, I’ve been scripting or creating something kind of boring. I’m gonna write a stupid little story.”
Nelson explained that Morrowind’s development was a “passion project” for the majority of the game’s staff, and one that shouldn’t have worked. Nevertheless, the game was a surprising success on PC and Xbox, and Bethesda continued to push RPGs forward towards mainstream audiences.
As for The Lusty Argonian maid, it’s become an iconic piece of The Elder Scrolls, and for a series that has so many fictional books, it makes sense for one piece of risqué literature to slip on through. If anything, it makes Tamriel feel more real, even if the adventures of Lifts-Her-Tail are purely comedic in nature.