4E, 201, 21st of Evening Star
Since the capture of Falkreath two weeks prior, Imperius had been busier than ever before. He secured the rest of the Falkreath hold on the western half of the lake north of Falkreath itself, the deposed jarl leaving small, poorly equipped garrisons in crumbling forts who, upon seeing the large hosts of armored soldiers and beast like cavalry, surrendered without much of a fight. They were offered the chance for paid work like all the rest of the prisoners. Most, seeing an opportunity for a steady income without heavy taxation, accepted the deal wholeheartedly. Only a few, who's loyalties couldn't be tempted, refused the offer. During his various conquests and securing territory for the Imperium, he noticed that the infrastructure was severely lacking, with only dirt roads and the well traveled path the means of travel, and poorly maintained signs pointing to the direction of towns and land marks. Not to mention the state of the castles and forts he captured in securing the territory the fledgling nation had gained, the stone aged beyond recognition, moss and wild foliage creeping into the stonework. He needed to change that
"Valian, I need you to send the construction crews to the war room, I have a project that should keep them busy."
The centaur saluted and trotted to the crews finishing the repairs to the walls, and the rebuilding of the archer towers lost to the siege weeks prior.
"Marianus, the imperator has a task for you gents, he needs you in the war room right away."
The leader of the construction crews, Marianus, looked up from a book Imperius lent him to help him with the current construction techniques, and to teach him new and advanced techniques way ahead of the current times. He was a middle aged man, just out of his prime and entering the era of old age, with white hairs appearing around his dark brown beard, with laughing lines appearing around his face, from all the times he shared a laugh with his workers and family. Imperius was approached by the builder soon after the capture of Falkreath. While he liked the Jarl, and supported the Empire, he knew when the tides of fortune were changing, and aligned himself with this new regime, admiring the dream that this warlord espoused, but mainly liking the lowered taxes regarding contracts and deals.
"Good, was wondering when the boss would put us to work again, was starting to get bored fixing walls and rebuilding towers, no thanks to this metal giant."
The workers nodded in agreement, smiles slowly started to appear on their sun tanned faces, and made their way to the war room. Imperius looked up from his map, markings covering specific spots in the Imperium's territory, smiling when Marianus entered the room with his workers.
"Ah, Marianus, my best builder," he waved the experienced builder over to his desk.
"Come, sit. I have a task that will keep you and your boys busy for a while, most likely killing that boredom you worked up."
The builder chuckled, and sat at a chair before the desk, glancing at the map, noticing the many marks that dotted the map.
"So what's the job boss? Must be something big considering the many marks on that map of yours. I don't mind the work though, always liked to keep my hands busy."
Imperius smiled at the man. This is why he chose Marianus as his chief builder, managing, overseeing, and helping on construction sites, increasing the efficiency of how buildings were built. He was always upbeat, ready to start another task, never liking to be idle. Someone suited for the task of rebuilding the infrastructure of their territory. Not to mention he is able to pass his skills onto his workers, making the work easier and faster than ever. The imperial builder was also easy to work with regarding contracts and negotiations. The rates he offered the builder were acceptable in Imperius' eyes, and they seemed to please the builder to no end, so their relationship kicked off from there.
"My friend, I have a project that will take months, if not a year to complete. It is the building of infrastructure in our current territory, from our stronghold of Lagash Citadel, to Half Moon Mill, to Falkreath, and finally to Riverwood. By infrastructure I mean stone roads, with no grass growing between the stones themselves, fixing and making new bridges across impassable rivers, and creating outposts for patrols to house themselves. We need constant surveillance over the lands in our possession."
Marianus looked at Imperius, and a flash of respect quickly came over his face. This must be why so many people followed this man. He mainly followed him for his ability to get things done, to make good on his promises, and his knack of choosing the right people for the right job. The rates on the contracts only added to his overall opinion of the warlord. He shook himself out of his personal thoughts and gave the imperator a nod.
"I'll make this happen Imperius. Don't you worry, you'll have your pretty roads and guard towers soon enough," he said, accepting the marked map Imperius handed him.
Imperius chuckled at that, Marianus teased him for wanting things to look nice and proper. 'Functionality over appearance, that was his motto' he thought to himself, watching his best builder go out the door, carrying the marked map, followed by his workers. He knew that if anyone can complete this task he had lain out, it was Marianus.
"Galba, can you go fetch the giant. I need to speak to him about a matter," The centurion saluted.
"Your will is my command Imperator," he said, walking off in search of the metallic being.
He found him next to the forge, watching a blacksmith fixing some bent strips of steel to make into armor, the steel glowing a magma red as the smith hammered it into the desired shape.
"Giant, Imperius needs you. He needs to speak to you about something."
The large being nodded and made his way through the citadel, sometimes bending over to fit through the doorways. As he made his way, he looked around the interior of the citadel. Large . He entered the war room and waved in greeting to Imperius.
"Imperius, you sent for me?" the being said.
"Yes I did, now if you would please follow me, I want to show you something."
Imperius opened a door off to the side of the Imperium war room, leading to a spacious room, letting the giant stand to its full height. In the center of the room, on a small wooden podium was the book that Imperius had earlier, the leather back glaringly obvious against the dreary brown of the podium.
"I never got to show you earlier, but I wanted you to read this, as it has extensive knowledge on you, and what you are. We, more specifically you, never really found out what you were. Now you can, and I thought I could help with that. Meet me in the war room when you're done reading," Imperius said before turning around and leaving the way he came, leaving the being alone with the book, entering the war room with Galba and Valian already inside.
"Galba, send a team of miners to start a quarry on the nearby mountains, we are going to run out of stone very quickly with my new project set in motion."
The centurion nodded and left the room, leaving only Imperius and Valian as the sole inhabitants.
"What about Ulfric and Tullius, aren't you afraid that either one of them will decide to cause trouble for the Imperium?" he asked.
Imperius shook his head in pity. The dossier he read while at the Thalmor Embassy in the previous timeline enlightened him to the reason for the civil war. It also revealed Ulfric's true purpose. Ulfric is a dormant agent of the Thalmor, being supplied by them to prolong the civil war without even knowing it, while also making sure that the Stormcloaks or Imperials do not emerge the victor, whittling down the resources of either faction until they are minuscule. Then, at that moment the Thalmor will finish what they started in the Great War, the utter decimation of humanity.
"No, the fools will be so focused on killing each other, wasting their resources and man power that they won't notice us until it's too late. Ulfric will die, there is no forgiveness for that brat. The lives he is wasting with this civil war, and he doesn't realize he's aiding the elves, whom he hates, " Imperius said, laughing at the irony of Ulfric's rebellion.
"Sir, what do you mean he's helping the elves? I though the nord was against all elves to begin with?" Valian asked. He had heard rumors of the rebel Jarl, and of his extensive hatred of the Empire and the Thalmor. So when he heard that he was helping the elves, it didn't make sense.
He stopped laughing, containing his giggles until he calmed down.
"Ah Valian, that's a story for another time, for now I need you to deliver this to the man in charge of the miner's guild here, make sure that he knows it's from me," he said.
The lieutenant nodded and made his way to the guild's building to deliver the message.
Imperius sighed and made his way back to the room to check upon his metallic friend, whom he found still engrossed with the tome he had given him. The large being looked intently at the pages, eyes rapidly darting back and forth as he read the words on the page. Imperius didn't want to disturb him, so made to leave once again, but stopped when the being closed the book and looked his way. Understanding the unspoken question, Imperius went straight to the point.
"I trust that you have found what you were looking for in the book?" he asked.
The being nodded.
"I have learned much from this, Imperius. I now know my true nature, what I am, and my purpose. I am a Guardian, that is for certain. I have chosen a name for myself as well. I feel empty without a name," the being, now a Guardian, said.
"What is your name?"
"My name is Urvannam. What is it you require of me Imperius? I am ready to serve," the Guardian, now Urvannam, asked.
"I need you to start building sets of armor similar to my segmented plate armor for my legionaires. I will send you some measurements of the median size of our soldiers so that you can start forging. I also ask of you to forge weapons for the legion as well. We need a stockpile of weapons for the upcoming campaign. If you wish, we could build a forge more suited to your size and style of forging right here in this room. If that is what you wish, let me know. For now, you are left to your own devices until you receive the armor sizes, the regular forges are in the courtyard," Imperius said.
Urvannam nodded and went back to reading the tome. As he made to leave, Imperius turned back towards the Guardian. He felt compelled to say something to him. He didn't know what, but he knew he had to. Then it came to him.
"Urvannam, it brings me great happiness to know that you have found out who you are, just to let you know," he said before closing the door behind him.
As he sat down in a chair in the war room, with a table covered by a map of Skyrim, he evaluated their situation. Both sides have massive support from the people, huge budgets, and an almost endless stream of recruits. The Imperium only has one legion at its command, about six thousand men ready to die for the cause, but with the extra four thousand centaurs joining the ranks, it adds to about ten thousand men. Both sides have lots of territory to call their own, either side practically diving Skyrim in half. The Imperium on the other hand only controls the Falkreath territory and the southern tip of Whiterun that contains Riverwood. Not good odds for them at the moment
'My legion is enough to hold off an entire army of either side, but if they team up to defeat me, we might as well throw in the towel and call this off', he thought.
It appears that Balgruff is testing the garrison forces at Riverwood, bypassing the mine completely, by sending a small force of about fifty men, which were slaughtered when they attacked the town garrison of about one hundred legionaries. And it looks like Ulfric and Tullius are showing their faces, for an imperial scouting force and a stormcloak scouting party met and clashed nearby the mine, the garrison mopping up the remaining soldiers of the winning side to ensure no witnesses.
"Okay, send a messenger to the construction crews with the message to halt on the infrastructure project and to begin working on building a defensive wall at Riverwood, with watchtowers, catapult sections, all the works, and make sure to make the wall thick and strong. I don't want a wave of imperials or stormcloaks catching us by surprise before we are ready for them," Imperius ordered.
A messenger nodded and raced out of the room with all haste, hearing the urgency in his commander's voice. Next, Imperius told the smiths to start working overtime, making more armor and weapons for the legionaries, and centaurs. He selected a few skilled smiths, including Urvannam in the group, and ordered them to begin working on a few secret projects, showing them the schematics and blueprints, and to regularly update him on their progress.
'The civil war is getting close, too close for my comfort, we must be prepared.'