Disaster at Arenthia
Imperial Commission Report
Second Year of the Fifth Era
Part I: A New Emperor
Emperor Martin Septim II was crowned on Rain's Hand 5th, in the 203rd year of the 4th Era. His first act was to reinstate Talos as one of the Nine Divines. While it is beyond the scope of this commission to determine whether that decision was correct or not, it did adversely affect the fragile peace brought by the White-Gold Concordat.
The Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion began a flurry of diplomatic activity that quickly broke down. The Aldmeri Dominion claimed that the re-veneration of Talos violated the treaty. The Empire claimed that the Thalmor invasion of Skyrim violated the treaty. Neither side was willing to budge from their position.
Thalmor rumors state that the Emperor physically assaulted their ambassador, but eyewitness accounts do not back this up. Regardless, negotiations quickly broke down and both sides prepared for war. The Empire was still reeling from the Great War, nonetheless, the new Emperor moved quickly to organize his legions.
Emperor Martin Septim II utilized a hero from the Great War, General Jonna to lead all his legions. They organized five legions, but time would show that was not nearly enough. While the Emperor employed some creative solutions to increase the numbers of legionnaires, none of them would be ready for Arenthia.
Part II: The Invasion of Valenwood
One the morning of Second Seed 1st 4E 203, the First Imperial Legion (later known as "The Emperor's Legion") lined up across from the 4th Thalmor Division. Reports from both sides confirm that Emperor Martin Septim II tried one last attempt at diplomacy, but that the Thalmor not only spurned his attempt, they tried to assassinate him right there on the field.
Reports from both sides also confirm that dragons, yes dragons, were on hand to fight with the Imperial Legion. Imperial witnesses claim Martin flew to the field of battle on the back of a dragon, but the Thalmor dismiss this as propaganda. In addition, the Second Imperial Legion was held back in reserve in case it was needed.
The battle resulted in a victory for the Imperial Legion. The Thalmor were completely routed. The First and Second Imperial Legions followed through with an assault on the City of Arenthia. Once the Imperial Legions broke through and captured the heart of the city, Emperor Martin Septim II addressed the populace.
It was hoped that, since the Emperor was a Bosmer (a first in Imperial History), that he would be recognized as a liberator instead of a conqueror. However, he was realized as neither. The population, while eager to throw off the yoke of the Thalmor were not eager to carry the yoke of the Empire.
Emperor Septim did, however, convince them to lay down their arms and cease fighting for the Aldmeri Dominion. Through diplomacy, and no small amount of coinage, a deal was struck where the Imperial Legion was permitted to station some troops in the city. This would prove their undoing.
Part III: The Destruction of Arenthia
The Thalmor retaliated on two fronts. First was the invasion of Cyrodiil. Second was the invasion of Hammerfell. The Thalmor guessed, and rightly so, that the Imperial Legion was in no shape to fight on multiple fronts at the same time. Their multi-pronged retaliatory invasions forced Emperor Septim to spread his armies too thin.
While all the invasions were repelled, there was not enough of a garrison left to properly defend Arenthia. Indeed, the plan to occupy Thormar Keep was put on hold due to the number of troops required to properly defend both Hammerfell and Cyrodiil concurrently.
With barely a minimum garrison in Arenthia, the Thalmor were able to easily overwhelm not only the Legionnaires, but the townsfolk as well. Reports from the scouting party indicated that every man, woman and child was slain by the Thalmor. In addition the walls and every building were burnt and torn down.
When the dust cleared and the last ember went out, the Legion sent another scouting party. The fires were reported to burn so hot that metal nails and door hinges were melted to slag. There were barely even bones left to evidence the genocide that took place. The destruction of Arenthia and her population were total.
Part IV: Conclusion
The Commission believes that the first invasion of Valenwood was doomed from the start for several reasons, some of which could have been foreseen beforehand, unfortunately. Some, in hindsight, may have been preventable. The goal is not to pass judgment, but to learn to prevent similar atrocities in the future.
First, it became evident after the Second Thalmor War had ended, that the Aldmeri Dominion was preparing to take advantage of the death of Emperor Titus Mede and attempt to conquer Cyrodiil once more. Indeed, there was a skirmish in Skyrim, started by the Thalmor: The Battle of Skyhaven Temple.
Second, the Aldmeri Dominion had a vast intelligence network inside the Empire. The Empire, meanwhile had no such network located in the Aldmeri Dominion. While Emperor Martin Septim II had tried to gain some intelligence before starting the war, what little he gained proved inconsequential overall.
Third, the Thalmor troops were better trained and better equipped. Most of their forces were kept on Summerset Isle, so the extent of their military was not known when the war began. The number of divisions available only became evident when they launched their dual invasions into Cyrodiil and Hammerfell.
Fourth, while unknown at the time, there was a secret passage from the Palace in Arenthia that led directly to the outside of the city. It is believed now that the Thalmor used this passage to overwhelm the city guard and then assemble their troops inside the Palace. From inside the Palace, the city itself was easily overwhelmed.
Conclusion: There were many factors that contributed to the disaster at Arenthia. It is the conclusion of this commission that the two biggest factors were 1) the lack of intelligence available before the war and 2) the number of troops used in the first invasion. The concept of overwhelming force used in the rest of the war seems to have been born out of this disaster. The state of the Empire's intelligence network will not be disclosed in this report.