tetrapod's Lore Corner (2)
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A Treatise on the State of the Empire [Abridged]
as authored by Servilius Asteprites, First Adjunct of the Synod, 4E 200
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NOTE: THIS TEXT HAS BEEN REDACTED IN ITS ENTIRETY PER PENITUS OCULATUS GUIDELINES REGARDING THE DISTRIBUTION OF SUBVERSIVE MATERIALS. IT IS AN ILLEGAL ACT UNDER IMPERIAL LAW TO PARTAKE OF THIS TEXT IN ANY FASHION WITHOUT ADEQUATE CREDENTIALS OR THE EXPLICIT APPROVAL OF AN ARCHMAGISTER, MINISTERIAL LEGATE, OR PUBLIC OFFICIAL OF EQUIVALENT RANK AS SPECIFIED IN THE PROPER DOCUMENTATION THROUGH LEGITIMATE CHANNELS. THIS TEXT IS NOT LEGALLY AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC UTILIZATION. IF A COPY OF THIS TEXT IS FOUND IN THE POSSESSION OF ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO DOES NOT POSSESS AT LEAST ONE OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OUTLINED ABOVE, CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE ARE OBLIGATED TO REPORT THIS MATTER TO THE NEAREST AVAILABLE CIVILIAN OR MILITARY AUTHORITY AT ONCE.
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The Cyrodiilic Empire is dying. That is merely an observable fact, and how anyone can fail to recognize the truth of this statement is beyond my understanding. This is not a newfangled phenomenon. The Empire has been in a state of chronic decline for two centuries, ever since the destruction and upheaval caused by the Oblivion Crisis in the closing days of the Third Era.
That was a time of death and destruction on an unimaginable scale, as indicated by the scant few records which survived the depredations of Mehrunes Dagon's daedric hordes. It plunged the Empire into a dark age the likes of which have not been seen since the Interregnum. And here we remain today, still wallowing in the stagnant epilogue of that era of dusk.
A mere six years after the conclusion of the Oblivion Crisis, the province of Morrowind was left in smoldering ruins by the combined depredations of the daedric armies, the volcanic disasters of the Red Year, and a despoiling Argonian invasion, all made substantially worse by the withdrawal of Imperial garrison troops to attend to matters elsewhere in Tamriel. It's no great wonder that the Dunmer came to view the Empire, who abandoned them to face their bloody fate alone, in such an unfavorable light. Since that time, Morrowind has remained an Imperial province in name only.
It was shortly afterwards, with the Empire at its weakest point in centuries, that the province of Black Marsh took advantage of Cyrodiilic fragility to secede as an independent kingdom under the auspices of the nativistic An-Xileel. As we lacked a true Emperor to rule from the Ruby Throne at that time and were thus forced to rely on duly selected Potentates to provide leadership, the Imperial Legions were utterly unable to contest this act of disloyalty. It was to be but the first of many.
In 4E 22, the Summerset Isles seceded from the Empire as the sovereign nation of Alinor following the ascendency of the Thalmor political faction. As with the previous, Imperial authorities were powerless to stop them despite the recent ascension of the illustrious Titus Mede I to the Ruby Throne, a Colovion warlord turned Emperor by righteous force of arms.
Only seven years later, the Thalmor sponsored a coup in Valenwood that drove the Imperial Legion from that barbarous jungled province. The homeland of the Wood Elves willingly entered into a union with Alinor, and thus was the Third Aldmeri Dominion given birth, to the future woe of all Tamriel.
Much later, in 4E 100, the Aldmeri Dominion gained influence over the Khajiit of Elsweyr following the resolution of the three-years-long Void Nights, a phenomenon that can be read about at length in other sources. As a direct result, in 4E 115 the Elsweyr Confederacy was voluntarily divided into the kingdoms of Anequina and Pelletine, both of which promptly became client states of the Dominion.
With that, only the provinces of Cyrodiil, Skyrim, High Rock, and Hammerfell remained under stable and meaningful Imperial control. This state of affairs continued until the beginning of the Great War in 4E 171, when the Aldmeri Dominion assailed the Empire with fire and sword.
By the war's end in 4E 175, Cyrodiil was thoroughly ravaged, the Imperial City despoiled unto the depths of Oblivion, and Hammerfell had been willfully abandoned to the Thalmor, though the hardy Redguards managed to maintain their independence as a self-governing kingdom despite the Emperor's infidelity.
Each of these many setbacks served to severely weaken the Empire over the course of this turbulent Fourth Era, and they are merely the most noteworthy. The sacking of Third Orsinium, the Umbriel Crisis, the revolt of the Reachmen, and countless other equally destructive events have all contributed to the deterioration of Tamrielic civilization.
However, this humble scholar is of the opinion that none of the above were as detrimental as the signing of the White-Gold Concordat. Specifically I raise to your attention the infamous clause that instituted the ban on the worship of Talos, the Hero-god of Mankind.
The Cyrodiilic Empire's death knell was sounded when its leadership accepted the Concordat. By banning Talos-worship and allowing Thalmor officials free reign to operate within Imperial territory in search for internal dissenters, Titus Mede II consigned the Empire to an ignoble fate of Thalmor puppetry.
Make no mistake – as it stands currently, the Empire is effectively an Aldmeri client state. Even in Skyrim, the homeland of the Nords and quite possibly the province that the Empire would be most loathe to allow the Thalmor access, there are now Aldmeri agents freely rounding up Talos-worshipers and insurgents. Their justicars even maintain a full-fledged headquarters in Solitude! One would think that the Imperial authorities would keep the Thalmor as far away as possible from the Civil War in Skyrim, fearing they may 'stir the pot' so to speak. However, it seems we cannot even accomplish that much.
There is no doubt. The Empire exists in its current state only because the Thalmor allow it to do so. One can argue that the Dominion was weakened by the Great War just as much as the Empire, and that is likely true. But the point is irrelevant. The fact remains that the Dominion was the sole victor of the Great War, if not on paper then in practice.
The Empire's governing institutions are a disordered mess. The Elder Council, the Synod, and the College of Whispers are incessantly embroiled in political intrigues, strangling their administrative effectiveness. The Emperor, competent though he may be, is powerless to alter this state of affairs.
The Dominion on the other hand suffers from no such internal limitations. Regardless of who emerges victorious in Skyrim's Civil War, there is no possibility that either the Empire or a Stormcloak Skyrim could hope to stand against the Dominion.
Cyrod intellectuals arguing in favor of the Empire's efforts to subdue our wayward northern province have grown fond of the following phrase: 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' In other circumstances, I might acknowledge the veracity of such an assertion. However, where the state of our modern-day Empire is concerned, I will not. What these illustrious individuals fail to understand is that the 'house' of the Empire is not divided, because there is no longer any house at all.
The Dominion tore out the house's foundations during the Great War and it has since begun to collapse under its own weight. Anti-Dominion sentiment is rife throughout Cyrodiil and beyond, but no person in a position of power is capable of capitalizing on it. The only regions that the Thalmor have yet to gain a significant foothold – which are Hammerfell, Argonia, and Morrowind – are notably either independent nations or in the case of the latter only a de jure Imperial province, with de facto authority being held by local governing bodies that despise the Dominion and the Empire equally.
With that, I grudgingly postulate the ultimate triumph of the Thalmor over the Empire of Man is seemingly inevitable. It is a simple question of geopolitics. Which could better withstand such an organized and subversive onslaught? A singular highly-centralized polity? Or a collection of smaller locally-concentrated polities?
I would argue for the latter. As shown by the Great War, a relatively small number of strategically momentous defeats in Cyrodiil brough the entire Empire to its knees. In that way, the nature of its centralized organization was to its own detriment.
But were the current territories of the Empire instead comprised of four or five sovereign kingdoms, then said polities would be better able to make use of their own resources in a hypothetical second war against the Dominion, especially if they formed mutually-beneficial alliances with one another. Rather than conquering Tamriel in one fell swoop, the Thalmor would instead be forced to subjugate each region piecemeal. Were they to be presented with such a united front of opposition, then that would be a difficult proposition indeed.
Where am I going with this, you may ask? If you would know, then heed these words – the truth of the matter is that the Empire as it currently exists is no longer necessary to guarantee the prosperity of Man. The Septim Emperors, whose rulership maintained the liminal barriers that protected our homes from the Lords of Oblivion, no longer sit upon the Ruby Throne. And even if they did, they would not be needed. The sacrifice of Saint Martin Septim, Long may his Name be Praised, ensured that the Covenant of Akatosh would endure unabated regardless of the status of the Dragonfires or of the Emperor's blood.
And thus we are brought to this penultimate point. If the Emperors are not needed in this postmortem Era, then why do Emperors still reign in the Imperial City? Though Titus Mede II acquitted himself adequately against the Dominion in the Great War, he was still unable to achieve victory and indeed scarcely avoided total defeat. I will not disparage his name by omitting his accomplishments. He valiantly salvaged the Empire from certain destruction, graceless though that feat may have been.
That said, in his noteworthy lack of secondary successes the Emperor has shown himself to be an insipid ruler. Such an Emperor is decidedly not what the Men of Tamriel require in such a predicament as these contemporary circumstances.
Therefore, I ask of my countrymen: Is the Bear of Markarth, Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of the Eastmarch, not perhaps of sound judgement in his purportedly treasonous pursuits? If the 'house' of Man no longer stands, then is it not better to forge new polities, whether they be in blood or otherwise, that are more assuredly capable of standing against the Thalmor menace?
My non-answer to this admittedly rhetorical question would be 'perhaps.' The contention that Men are killing Men when they should be killing Mer is a valid one. The contention that resources needed for infrastructural reconstruction and military rearmament are being wasted on useless internal conflict is also a valid one. The fact is, there are many such contentions that one could reason for or against, whichever direction your inclinations cause you to lean. It's entirely possible that there is no objectively correct answer.
The only thing I can say for certain is that the Civil War in Skyrim can only strengthen the position of the Thalmor and hasten the terminal decline of the Empire. The longer it drags on, the worse it will inevitably become. If it must be ended swiftly, then which outcome would be most preferable? That is the ultimate question, and it is one that I will leave for the reader to deduce for themselves. All this humble scholar asks is that his paltry thoughts outlined above be given due consideration by the esteemed reader, and not dismissed out of hand as mindless dissension and subversivism as some will doubtlessly prefer.