Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-97.81.240.58-20130603234626/@comment-24590102-20140402023217

There was no fight to continue. At the time of the treaty, the conquest of Cyrodiil was no longer a realistic expectation just as much as a punitive expedition into the Summerset Isles would have been unrealistic. A treaty was unnecessary. All that was left to be done was was to stop and rebuild for the next couple of decades.

Now, while Titus Mede II may not have been aware of the fate of Hammerfell, the victorious army had not emerged from that theatre of war and did not stand behind the negotiating Thalmor. What Titus Mede II could see was the aftermath of what is called an "exchange" in Napoleonic simulations - which is a catastrophic loss for both sides and, in which, position alone dictates the victor over the course of the next few moves. Titus Mede II had the advantage of terrain and, dare I say, position. He also had a clear advantage given that he now stood with equal numbers against a foe who, prior to battle, were the ones that greatly outnumbered his forces as well as having the advantage of terrain and position. Titus Mede II was very much in a position to ask the Thalmor to leave. Although he could not force them to, they were in no condition to dig in against the coming "terrorist" attacks of angry locals who cannot be expected to give up their perceived rights. And, had he chosen to demand war reparations, he could have conceded these against a non-interference pact concerning the sovereignty and independence of provinces which volunteered themselves to the Aldmeri Dominion. This would have gone a long way towards the reunification of those parts of Tamriel which had chosen to secede from the Empire. Perhaps not as the same entity - but Otto von Bismarck might have been prone to argue that a confederacy always works better across cultural borders than any incarnation of the singularly federated nation - and I think he may have had a point.