A Note on Rulers and Strategic Lessons

We turn our attention now to one of the most pivotal wars of the Third Era, the War of the Red Diamond named after the symbol of office held by the Emperor or Empress. Due to the importance of this war I thought it prudent to begin with a primer on the rulers involved and a note on the strategic lessons that can be learned from Your Highness’ uncle and trusted general Regullius Mede who was kind enough to lend his genius to this project. I will begin first with the rulers involved, primarily the central figure of Potema. There are considerable disagreements in exact timings of several events and names of people present during these events so I pray that Your Highness overlook certain discrepancies and instead looks to the lessons to be learned from the facts that I shall present.

Potema was born in the year 67 of the Third Era and was promised to the King of Solitude at the young age of 14. Once there, the king Mantiarco granted her great leeway in her powers despite his formal position on the throne. She often received dignitaries and was known to court trade deals and other foreign policy agreements without consulting the king. He never removed these agreements after learning of them later which showed the considerable influence she held. It was often believed that a ruler would receive better results if they went to Potema rather than Mantiarco even when he was alive and that he became her puppet despite her presence there being primarily to increase ties between the Septims and Mantiarco’s family. Her marriage to Mantiarco was emblematic of a large push to mend diplomatic wounds between the central Empire and several fringe kingdoms that had been problematic at the time. Upon the death of Mantiarco in 3E 100 Potema immediately began capitalizing on her relations with several rulers and these weak relations with Cyrodiil and spreading her influence even further than her Hold. Through cunning negotiations, political favors and other manners of convincing Potema was able to sway all of Skyrim, several kingdoms of Northern Morrowind and some fringe kingdoms of High Rock to support her. She would hold feasts in which political talk was forcibly steered to criticizing and slandering the Empire and her half-brother Antiochus. Upon his death Potema took the opportunity to address the Elder Council and slander Antiochus further, arguing that ascension was uncertain at best due to the promiscuity of both him and his wife. Throughout her life she showed little loyalty to anyone except herself and her ambitions with her own son being little more than a pawn in her power game. She was known to be a powerful sorceress and was able to capture the power of her own magical prowess and those that joined her ranks from western Skyrim and eastern High Rock and create a horrible army of undead and daedra. Her ambitions were no doubt the cause of the War and it fittingly ended with her death in the year 137 at the Seige of Solitude. She should be seen as the embodiment of pure evil and ambition, though not reviled for her cunning and cleverness can serve a purpose and teach a lesson.

Cephorus was second oldest to Antiochus, believed to be born around 3E 76. He was a great leader and warrior and showed an in born talent for combat from a young age. Due to this prowess he was given the regency over Gilane in Hammerfell as it was believed that he could more easily win over the hearts of the warlike Redguards. He did so successfully and was loved by his subjects despite his imposition on them. He is known as the consummate populist leader and was often seen in parades on the street level with the people and showcased his martial prowess with the swordmasters. He also partook in community feasts where a group of families, different each time, were invited to the palace that they may have met their ruler personally and discuss political matters with him. He claimed this was “To know the wails and cheers of the people so that policy may reflect their heartbeat.” This led to widely popular and successful policies that increased trade and prosperity throughout the kingdom. Some of these included tax reform on certain goods being sent by land to the peninsula Gilane sits atop and land reform that allowed lower classes greater agency in their personal finances while not offending the land owners. Cephorus was kind to his people and known for a great intellect. He was not only a skilled warrior but a student of history and warfare and it has been rumored that several scholarly pieces on these subjects with no known author may have been his works. He gained the Ruby Throne upon the death of Uriel III and ruled for 13 years. His integrity and excellence in leadership was legendary during his time and one would be very hard pressed to find a single soul that knew him that had so much as a single bad word to say about him. Had his reign not been rife with war he would almost undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest rulers in Tamriellic history.

Magnus was the youngest of Pelagius II’s children, born in 3E 79. Not possessing the same strength as his older brother nor the cunning of his older sister Magnus was famous for being a “yes man”. Some have categorized him as Antiochus’ favorite and accounted Wayrest’s affluence at the time to preferential treatment from the Ruby Throne. It is true that he was his brother’s favorite which is evident in letters between the two but signs of preferential treatment are difficult to find. Wayrest saw a period of affluence because Magnus was a very skilled diplomat. His reputation for occasionally backing down from confrontation and agreeing to whatever was told to him was something of a mistake. Magnus was able to discern how to make a person like him better than most and so often acted accordingly, which sometimes entailed allowing a dignitary with a large personality or an ego to throw their weight about. The intelligence so prevalent in his brother Cephorus and his sister Potema lived in him as well but was not as evident. He was gifted with a skill in back door dealings and winning people over with kindness. While his intentions were almost always good, Magnus was able to manipulate many dignitaries and rulers who were not skilled or cynical enough to be ready for his charm. His joining forces with his brother in the War allowed the army to grow and to effectively battle the combined forces of Potema and Uriel III.

I will now transcribe a report on the useful strategic lessons to be learned from the War of the Red Diamond as written to me from Your Higness’ kind and generous uncle Regullius:

When you look at the Red Diamond the first thing to learn is how it started. Potema was no simpleton and knew that even with all her friends they would not stand much of a chance against the entire Empire, especially after the debacle of the War of the Isles. She used what we now call “controlled chaos” which involves planned attacks at seemingly random places in order to cause panic in the hearts of the enemy and, if lucky, make them spread their forces very thin. Potema first began with small peasant revolts that were secretly backed by her friends in other kingdoms. All across Skyrim, Morrowind and parts of High Rock there were small scale revolutions, none successful but just enough that some rulers started to get nervous. The Empress was smart enough to know her aunt was behind it all and so she took it much more seriously than one would expect. This was exactly what Potema wanted. She first captured the Empress in the Illiac Bay region which cut the head off the snake so to speak. This made it so the Elder Council had to assume military duties which is a slower moving body than a single Empress. The second attack in the Azura’s Coast region of Morrowind had huge casualties and was within a week of the kidnapping. The Elder Council sent troops to both places. By doing this they left the Imperial City open for siege and capture by her son Uriel III. His brings me to my second point of the always present element of surprise. Potema almost always moved at night and attacked then too so that the enemy was never sure exactly how many soldiers they were up against. This is considered to be a bit of a gamble because generals often hide their true numbers and so scouting needs to be top notch in order to use this successfully. Potema had top notch scouts. She wasn’t the only one who had some brilliant tactics on her side though. Cephorus’ defeat of Uriell II was realized through the use of a tactic called “the spear and sword”. What happens is a garrison of heavily armored men drives right through the center of the enemies ranks and splits them. They are followed by a large group of skirmishers who flood into the empty space and start killing. This is usually coupled with a flank on the opposite side so the army is split in half and forces to fight on three fronts. The best advantage to this strategy is that by piercing deep into the enemy ranks there are often deaths of high ranking officers which can throw the army into confusion if the battle lasts long. It does usually come with a high death toll unless administered properly. For the shock troops I would suggest some big Orcs.

In the next volume I will describe the troop movements and battles of the War of the Red Diamond. Also, as a gift to Your Highness, a Synod mage was able to find some conversations between the rulers involved that were recorded vie some mechanism called a “memospore”. How this is done is something I have not the foggiest idea on. However it seems that it will prove valuable and hearing the voice of a legendary historical figure such as Potema was a moment any scholar such as myself should be honored to enjoy.

As always I am dutifully yours in service,

Mikavel Silver-Tongue