The Pendulum Begins to Swing

Greetings Your Majesty. Your coronation was a most lovely service and it is my most sincere wish that you are content in your new quarters. I give to you the second volume in my gift to you. I would advise that Your Majesty take sometime to briefly review the first volume as history is not made of separate events but a chain and one must understand what happened before to see why things occur now. May Akatosh continue to smile upon you and your kin.

Yours always in dutiful service,

Mikavel Silver-Tongue

The glorious days of the early Septim dynasty ended with the death of Uriel I and darker times began as his son took the throne and the name of his father. In order to understand the issues that were faced by Uriel II we must first take a look at the ruler himself. His father was known as a man whose kindness was matched only by his sense of justice and his strong will. His son was also known for his kindness and generosity but lacked the strength that his father boasted. Legend has it that when touring the Imperial City shortly after his coronation, Uriel II saw a poor elderly man begging on the streets, and the sight of the man’s suffering upset him so dearly that he wept in the carriage while on the way back to White Gold. This lack of strength was manifested in his court dealings and something that every member of the court could sense. He would often give into any diplomat’s requests if they were stern enough and fell victim to any sophist who used to argument of helping poor suffering people, no matter how weak their claims may have been.

His father’s laws had greatly increased the prominence of the guilds within the Imperial court. Uriel II however, lacked the will to deny anyone anything and also to balance the demands of these several competing guilds. With more slaughterfish in the tank, so to speak, court culture became hectic and the Imperial coffers were nearly completely raided through unnecessary subsidies and programs to aid already affluent guilds and guildmasters. Laws were also forced through that gave these guilds more power and money by loosening regulations on shipping and allowing for more monopolistic trading practices. Uriel II gave little resistance to any of these motions as he avoided confrontation and it was at this time that the powers of the Elder Council grew significantly. In order to stop the hemorrhaging of the Imperial coffers the Elder Council forced Uriel to sign laws that drastically grew their collective powers. All appropriations now needed a ¾ approval of the Council rather than just the High Councilor’s approval (and then it was only on grants of over 20,000 Septims). They also changed the law making process, making them more central to the decision making process by allowing Elder Council members to put forth legislation for consideration as opposed to their old role as a body that only reviewed the Emperor’s proposed legislation. Lastly, the Emperor’s veto power was reduced in strength. Ever since this time there have been questions over who truly was ruling the Empire.

The Elder Council stepping in would have made sure that catastrophe was avoided had the timing been better. Shortly after the changes were made a series of blights occurred and reduced crop yields by as much as 45% in Kvatch, where it was the worst, over the years 3E 70-74. The Imperial coffers were severely depleted and so were unable to avert disaster in the face of large famines and small scale wars that broke out because of them. The shortages were felt especially badly in Skyrim as they rely to this day heavily on imports of food. Riften, one of the more fertile holds of Skyrim, attempted to move into northern Cyrodiil in order to feed its populace. Its movements south entered the lands of county Cheydinhal and the Battle of Lake Arrius saw 64 souls enter Aetherius. Other events were the peasant’s strike of Camlorn, during which all production in the city and surrounding areas came to a halt and a poorly attempted coup by a small band of nobles from the Iliac Bay that was snuffed out in the very early stages of planning by a Blades spy. The difficult times meant that crime rose dramatically and left the Empire in a poor state upon the passing of Uriel II late in 3E 81.

One glum afternoon in the early days of Morning Star saw the coronation of Pelagius II, son of Uriel II. Relatively young at only the age of 26 upon ascension, Pelagius II brought a youthful energy to the throne and a, sometimes ill-informed, air of adventure. He not only had the youthful audacity to try inventive policy solutions but also had the benefit of watching his father make mistake after mistake and learning how to avoid those same issues. The most apparent problem that plagued his father was the growing power of the Council and the weakening of the powers of the Emperor. Pelagius knew that the Council would meet him with staunch resistance if he tried to pass through legislation and the recent calamities left him little in the way of powerful guildmasters as allies to serve as leverage. He then did the only thing he could and removed his competition. Within two months of his ascension to the throne he dismissed the entire Elder Council and reverted many of the laws back to their pre-Uriel II form through decree. He allowed the Council to remain in its role in the legislative process and kept other key laws on the books or only altered them slightly in order to keep face. Pelagius did not return the balance of power to its original level of an all-powerful Emperor and a Council serving as yes men but did make it more or less equal. In order to begin rebuilding the Empire, Pelagius II charged massive sums of money for any Councilors who wished to retain their seats or to anyone knew looking to join. This filled the Imperial coffers nearly immediately but also filled the Council Chambers with unskilled, inexperienced politicians who were able to buy seats. This practice of pay-for-power was used through several levels of government and helped turn the state of Tamriel around in a very short period of time. Guildmasters were able to buy many of the positions and so had no more reason to withhold production and so the economy returned to the levels of affluence enjoyed under Tiber and Pelagius I.