Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-69.171.163.44-20131001014148

My apologies if there is an active thread on this. Feel free to call me mean names if there is.

Required reading. Relevant reading.

"The Thalmor call it, quite forebodingly, "The First War with the Empire"."

Let's start with a review of the prelude to and the events of the Great War. After the Oblivion Crisis, The Empire of Tamriel was scrambling to recover. Cyrodill had just been through a period of intense turmoil, and while it rebuilt, the rest of the Empire crumbled. Almost immediately after the Gates of Oblivion had been shut, the troubles started. Black Marsh became independant, and began exacting revenge on Morrowind for years of Argonian slavery.. Shortly afterwards, the Empire found itself missing The Summmerset Isles and Valenwood, who left to found the Aldmeri Dominion - Which roughly 80 years later stole Elsweyr from the Empire too. Thus, the Empire was left with High Rock, Hammerfell, Skyrim, Morrowind, and Cyrodill herself.

But in the Foruth Era, missing provinces weren't all the Empire had to deal with. The eruption of Red Mountain turned Morrowind into a barely-hospitable wasteland and forced a mass exodus of Dunmer across the Empire. Cyrodill was experiencing a civil war to replace the Septim Dynay. Titus Mede eventually emerged as the victor, but inherited a battered Cyrodill and a crumbling Empire.

In the last third of the second century, Titus Mede II is forced to put the Empire to it's ultimate test - The Great War. The Thalmor, who had cut off contact with the Empire for 70 years prior, returned with demands - Hammerfell, the end of Talos worship, Disbandment of the Blades, and massive monetary concessions. Like any sensible emperor, Titus rejected the proposition and was given the 'gift' that came with the demands - the heads of every Blades agent in elven lands.

Immediately, Hammerfell and Cyrodill were beseiged. The Imperial Army was in no shape to defeat the invaders in both provinces, and the capital was a priority. With all other routes to Cyrodill blocked off, the Imperial Army was forced to march across the Alik'r Desert and suffer heavy losses from Attrition, in order to protect the capital. By the end of this march, their ranks are so thin that they are combat inneffective.

Most of the cities in Cyrodill had been lost, and the capital was under Seige. With no other option, Titus was forced to run from the Imperial city in shame, pushing out of the seige with his army and abandoning it to the Elves. He turned north, and returned a year later with an army of Nords and Imperials, perhaps saving the Empire during the decisive Battle of the Red Ring. And fresh off the Empire's darkest hour, Titus signed the White-Gold concordat - the very same treaty he fought against.

The irony is that the Empire would've been far better off had Titus simply accepted the treaty in the first place. The southern provinces of the Empire lay in ruins - Cyrodill's infastructure had been destroyed by 5 years of Elven warfare, seiges, and looting, (The latter bit was prevalent in the Imperial City.) Hammerfell was all but lost to the Dominion and the war raged on there for the better part of 20 years, and Morrowind had it's own problems. Only Skyrim and High rock remained productive, and Cyrodill atleast was able to maintain the status quo.

The Elves did not stop their offensive. The outlawing of the worship of Talos was pointed specifically at Skyrim, hoping to incite the Nords to rebel. And rebel they did, launching a civil war spreading across the breadth of the procince and tying up an already-broken Empire's resources. As a result, Skyrim, one of the last productive provinces, will either sink into a state of recovery or be completely lost and even hostile to the Empire. Not to mention that it's the source of Dragons that may or may not be wreaking havoc across the Empire.

So, regardless of the outcome of the Skyrim Civil War, the Empire is left with a productive High rock, and a recovering Cyrodill. It is leagues weaker than it was at the beginning of the Great War, and the Elves destroyed many of the resources that made it the powerhouse it once was. The Aldmeri Dominion, with the notable exception of having its army destroyed, has intact infastructure, an little to no internal troubles. The moment they raise another army, the Dominion can push the final nail into the coffin of the Empire.

Can the Empire rebuild itself in time to save it's citizens from the Dominion? Or will it fall come the next Great War? 