Disclaimer: I don't own TES IV: Oblivion, and I don't make any money from these writings.
Thirty-five years ago, the Eternal Champion overthrew Jagar Tharn and restored Emperor Uriel to the throne. A generation later, another hero pacified the restive Daggerfall region with The Warp in the West. Some years ago, the Nerevarine appeared and tore through Morrowind, leaving a trail of dead cliff racers and Tribunal gods.
As I poured through the texts detailing their histories, I noticed a trend of prisoners becoming heroes of the Empire. The Eternal Champion was the last man to escape from the Imperial Prison before the rash of jailbreaks in 3E 433, Daggerfall's hero had served time in Bruma for various misdemeanors, and the Nerevarine was sentenced to transportation to Vvardenfell. That trend continued with me, when Emperor Uriel and his Blades busted my sorry ass out of the pen two years ago. I'm now the Champion of Cyrodiil, but being a hero of a crumbling empire is hardly worth mentioning.
Cyrodiil is unable to even protect itself because of the political ambitions of its worthless nobility, as I learned while trying to reinforce Bruma. Chancellor Ocato couldn't spare a single legionnaire for the city's defense, as the bulk of the military was tied down in the other provinces. We would have had to make do with what we had: a sorry lot of militia with worn weapons and pathetic armor.
Unwilling to accept those odds, I turned to the other cities. The counts and countesses at the edges of Cyrodiil are fetchers, I'll say that much. The corrupt and egotistical Indaryses of Cheydinhal, the hedonistic Terentiuses of Bravil, the racist Caros of Leyawiin—I wouldn't trust these people to run a shop, much less rule over others. At least they spared troops for the cause, unlike a certain Altmer battlemage in the Imperial City.
I knew a few green troops wouldn't be enough, so I sent orders to the Priory of the Nine and to Battlehorn to reinforce the town militia holding Bruma's walls. Since that still wasn't enough, I took a chance and snuck a few Daedra into Nirn through Frostcrag Spire to act as a failsafe. I am never ever asking Staada or Dylora for a favor again. It just isn't worth it.
Not only can't Cyrodiil defend its own territory, it's a major conduit for drugs heading into the other provinces. A bottle of skooma costing five hundred drakes in Vvardenfell can be purchased in Bravil for seventy-five septims. Before its destruction, the Blackwood Company used Hist Sap from a smuggled tree. Flowers from the plant that produces the fibers for rope are often used for legitimate purposes, but there's been a spike of abuse lately.
Recently, two lethal drugs have appeared on the streets: felldew and greenmote. What were once ceremonial drugs of Daedric worshipers have become commonplace on the streets, and unless the authorities take action quickly, the damage will have been done. These are drugs that make skooma look like plain sugar in comparison.
I was addicted to felldew once, during a mission for Thadon of Mania. First comes the euphoric high, when you feel invincible. Then the effects wear off, and you're left with a sense of emptiness. That is heaven compared to what happens as you enter the five stages of withdrawal.
It begins with a nervous compulsion to get more felldew as your body itches and aches, followed shortly by pain unlike any other you will ever feel. You will barely be able to think, fight, or move as you progress through wounding stage. Should you survive that long, you move into the crippling withdrawal phase, and believe me, you won't be doing any other kind of moving. Once you finally hit rock bottom with the ruinous stage, start praying to whatever deity you believe in to take your soul, because you'll be an unlucky walking corpse by then.
Greenmote's cleaner: just do three hits and you'll be dead. There's no withdrawal, no addiction; only rapture. One out six overdoses ends with a chest-busting heart explosion, but death is a certainty. I've made a suggestion to the bureaucrats of the Imperial City of turning it into a more humane execution method for captured bandits and their gangs.
Bandits? Marauders? Gangs? Plenty of those in the Imperial Province, I'm afraid. Kill ten, and ten other criminals will replace the fallen within three days. It's gotten so bad, Rockmilk Cave has become the site of an endless gang war between the Black Bow Bandits and marauders. Don't try to raid the ruins dotting the countryside, either; any abandoned fortress is bound to be a stronghold for outlaws or worse.
How much worse? I don't know. Traven's prohibition of necromancy created a schism within the Mages Guild, and even after Mannimarco's defeat, there are still pockets of resistance here and there. Same deal with conjurers, who continue to operate in the ruins. Vampires occupy quite a few caves and abandoned forts if they're not masquerading as normal citizens. Hackdirt's full of nutcases and monsters, and a powerful Storm Atronach has laid claim to Sandstone Cavern.
At least they're not as numerous as goblins. The goblins of Cyrodiil have united and put a price on my head after I stole just about every totem staff and placed them in Battlehorn Castle. The sieges were fetchin' epic! It's too bad I had to stash the staves in the Shivering Isles after Countess Valga threatened to hit me with a death warrant.
I won't elaborate on Cyrodiil's problems of wealth, taxes, and fines, but I will say this: There is no excuse for the sort of corruption I saw in Ulrich Leland of Cheydinhal or Audens Avidius of the Imperial City. Neither can there be any redemption after taxing society's poorest, as Hieronymus Lex did with the Waterfront residents. They are supposed to be guardians of the people, not extortionists.
Dagon's invasion of Cyrodiil scarred the land, and Umaril's sneak attacks killed a few priests and nuns. As insane as this will sound, the physical damage caused by those two was minor. Kvatch will be rebuilt. The chapels have been repaired. But the hearts and minds of the Cyrodiil's citizens will take much longer to heal.
Because of the invasions, Cyrodiil has grown much more intolerant. There was the case of an entire family of Azura worshipers found butchered just outside Cheydinhal. Meridia, who sheltered Umaril, had some of hers lynched near Skingrad. Except for Jyggalag, the other Daedric princes all have similar tales.
The holier-than-thou crusaders causing all of this are no less evil than the Mythic Dawn, but because they claim to worship the Nine Divines, the government and the populace turn a blind eye to their crimes.
I will not. There is little difference between a zealot of the Daedra and a fanatic of the Aedra. They harm others for power and pleasure, yet mask their vile intentions behind the veil of piety.
I'm just as despicable as those religious s'wits, but at least I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions. I have murdered, stolen, lied, and even betrayed, but I have never used faith as an excuse. I commit crimes for personal benefit, plain and simple.
At the moment, they're right outside Frostcrag Spire and are armed to the teeth. I think they want to scrap. Pity I'll just give them the Finger and be done with it.