Varen's Rebellion

"When Leovic sat upon the Ruby Throne, you urged your fellow Colovians to be loyal to their Emperor, despite his eccentricities. It was only when Leovic, misled by wicked councilors, declared worship of the Daedric Princes legal and protected in the Empire, that you cried, "Enough!" and took up your righteous sword."

- Abnur Tharn

Varen's Rebellion, also known as the Colovian Revolt, was an uprising in Cyrodiil during the ruling of the Longhouse Emperors. The war broke out as a result of Daedra worship becoming legal in the Empire. Under the council of Mannimarco, the revolt began.

The war
The war started in 2E 576, and began with the construction of a great wall, which would be known as Varen's Wall. This wall served as a division between the Gold Coast and the rest of Cyrodiil, in order to protect the people of the region from a possible Imperial retaliation under the command of Emperor Leovic. With the aid of numerous volunteers, as well as paid workers, the Wall was being built by all materials the people could find, including scavenged materials from the countryside. In a year's time, construction of the Wall was completed, stretching from the Abecean Sea to the Strid River. Within the Gold Coast, Varen had kept a Forge burning, so that his Legions could resupply and rearm themselves if they needed to.

When the wall was completed, Varen left the Gold Coast with the Second Legion to push his rebellion into the heartlands of Cyrodiil. Varen left his nephew, Carolus Aquilarios, behind so he could rule Kvatch while Varen advanced towards the Imperial City. Upon Varen's advances into the rest of Cyrodiil, the Imperial Prefect of Anvil alongside its Count, Ephem Benirus, sent out Imperial forces in an attempted to retake the lands from the rebels. The attempt failed, with the Cohort left behind by Varen as well as the Kvatch Warders severely reducing the strength of the Legionnaires sent by Anvil. Three more attempts would be made by Anvil to retake Kvatch, and all three would fail.

In the Heartlands itself, Varen's rebellion suffered a defeat at Fort Ash, after which he took command of the Legion of Chorrol, with which he pushed the Longhouse Legions back. With the news spreading throughout the province, the Colovian Estates rose behind Varen, and aided him in defeating the Longhouse Emperor. In the battle to liberate Leyawiin from Longhouse control, Sai Sahan set out with mercenaries, who betrayed him upon arrival at the city, attempting to kill him, but failing to do so. Sahan ended up liberating the city on his own, killing both the mercenaries as well as Leovic's defenders. He would return to the base of operations of the rebellion in Bruma to report the news.

The rest of the war would consist of many a bloody battle, with the Longhouse Legions being bolstered by Reachmen auxiliaries and Deadric magic, both sides found victories and defeats, until the rebels managed to fight their way to the Imperial City itself. With the aid of council obtained from Abnur Tharn, Varen's Legions advanced into the city.

Upon arriving at the Imperial City, Varen's legions would fight against the Longhouse Legions, meeting their last stand in what was then the Market District. The Longhouse Legions fought for a week until they were defeated, after which the bodies were burried in mass graves. The rebellion was over, and the district was named the Memorial District by Emperor Varen. With the Longhouse Legions defeated, Varen's army advanced to the Imperial Palace, killing Leovic at the site.