Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-12277465-20131015215419/@comment-5436695-20131016190810

Imperial soldiers LOOK better yeah Don't act as if you didn't understand that "look" in this case means "look during the fight". But if you really didn't - go to any Imperial-controlled city, wait for a dragon attack and see the fight.

you can also hear them coming from five miles away.

Prove it. Why would all trade stop?

The mede empire happily trades with the Dominion as evidenced in the Embassy quest, and the Dominion is supposed the be their hated enemy. And Ulfric happily trades with East Empire Company that is supposed to belong to his hated enemy. So what? During a truce or stalemate trade can be possible. But after Ulfric forces everyone not Viking enough out of Skyrim there will be no such situation.