The First Four Rulers

I dedicate this to his majesty Emperor Titus Mede II. May he reign forever in grace and wisdom and may the knowledge contained in this tome aid in that glorious time. For this, to Julianos do I pray.

Upon the turning of the Era His Majesty and ever ruling Lord Emperor Talos ruled for 38 years. During his most perfect and glorious reign Tamriel saw a time of prosperity that has not been equaled since. In this time the damage from the wars of conquest waged by His Eminence Tiber Septim were largely repaired and all kingdoms across the land enjoyed a period of prosperity. The exact details of the wars waged by Tiber Septim and the lessons that can be learned from there is a matter that would best be discussed by Your Highness’ general Marcus Rexalia. His political genius combined with the military dominance now enjoyed by the Imperial legions allowed the provinces of Tamriel to see a time of unparalleled prosperity. It is said that the coffers of the High Rock kingdom of Daggerfall, once nearly empty due to warring and insurrections, grew to nearly ten-fold its previous peak. While the land enjoyed prosperity there were some who did not enjoy the reign of Tiber. Loans given to distant kingdoms in order to repair their infrastructure from the wars were often difficult to pay back. These kingdoms, often not equipped to grow their own coffers in the way Daggerfall was able to do through trade and industry were kept in perpetual debt to the Ruby Throne. Beyond this, Tiber placed incentives on joining his Imperial army that made it so no soldier would ever think of joining any other army of any other ruler and therefore indirectly weakened the military might of many independent kingdoms.

The prosperity of the Tiber years continued through the first four rulers of the Septim dynasty. Pelagius followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and was known to consult his personal diaries for advice and even allowed the vast majority of his predecessor’s advisors to remain in their posts. While no mouth went unfed during the short reign of Pelagius and he made very few and only minor political blunders by even the most critical accounts, he never the less gained the ire of very powerful rulers. After ruling for nearly three years he was assassinated by a member of the Dark Brotherhood. My own personal research has pointed to Count Javid, ruler of Bruma at the time as the most likely culprit. This is because Pelagius was seen as a continuation of his grandfather whose policies were not well received in Bruma. The Unification Act of 3E 7 made it so that the vast majority of taxes on shipments of goods went to Imperial coffers rather than those of a specific kingdom. Bruma at the time had little in the way of industry as they were not blessed with the same lush forests as some of their Skyrim neighbors and could not sustain a profitable logging industry outside of the county. Instead they survived largely on taxes of goods coming into Cyrodiil from Skyrim that used their roads. When this source of income was taken they fell on hard times and the Count sought revenge on the rulers he saw as responsible.

His short rule meant that Pelagius had no children and so the crown was then passed to his cousin and the niece of Tiber Septim, Kintyra I. While serving as the Queen of Silvenar her people knew prosperity but more importantly they lived under a time of great celebrations, art and cultural expansion and expression. This tendency to favor the arts continued on in her reign from White Gold and was aided by the largesse enjoyed by much of the nobility around Tamriel. Many of our finest pieces of art and poetry come from this age. Kintyra ruled for seven years and passed away in 3E 48. Her son took the throne and the name Uriel I. Prosperity continued further yet under the wise rule of Uriel I and we owe many of our best and most just laws to his Majesty. Among the laws enacted during the reign of Uriel I are the Shipping Act of 3E 50, several laws that to this day regulate marriages and inheritance, those that set the legal proceedings that were used for nearly 200 years and of course the most important being the regulations that allowed the flourishing of the Mages’ and Fighters’ Guild. While these two guilds saw the most meteoric rise in prominence and membership, through the legal wisdom of Uriel and the love of art shown by his mother guilds of all types grew largely during this time. Uriel enjoyed a long and peaceful reign and went to Aetherius in the year 3E 64 after a 16 year rule. Upon his death his son took the throne and his father’s name becoming Uriel II and the Fifth Ruler of the Septim line.