Lore:Empire of Cyrodiil (Interregnum)

The     (also known as the Imperial Empire ) refers to an   state that existed during the early years of the  . Although identified as an empire, it differed from the  ,  , and   in that its only permanent dependency was   itself, and it was at no time ruled by a   emperor.
 
With the collapse of the Second Empire in  , its provinces reasserted their independence, leaving the Imperial heartland of Cyrodiil to its own devices. The region remained a bastion of Imperial culture as the rest of   rejected its influence. Further, institutions that had been hallmarks of the Second Empire, including the  , the  , and the office of  , survived the chaos relatively intact. As such, the Empire of Cyrodiil, as it would come to be known, succeeded the Second Empire as a matter of course. In the absence of legitimate claimants to the Ruby Throne, the Empire of Cyrodiil was ruled over by a succession of pretenders who usually attained the throne through conquest.

The earliest known of these pretenders was  , a leader of the  , who reigned over the Empire for a time before being slain in battle outside   in  . He and his successors, a dynasty called the  , held the throne until the death of   at the hands of   of   in  . Of all of the pretenders who had thus far achieved control of the Empire, the Longhouse Emperors had been some of the more successful ones, having managed to stay in power for a span of several decades.  One triumph of their reign was the opportunistic annexation of   and   in northern   by the   under General  . This occurred during the early years of the   outbreak, which had hit the Khajiit particularly hard. The Khajiit attempted to retake both cities from the Imperials, but were unsuccessful.  Under their rule, Cyrodiil controlled land as far as the Wrothgarian Mountains. 

Leovic's usurper, Varen Aquilarios, had been the Duke of Chorrol before leading the Colovian Estates in rebellion against Leovic when he legalized   worship.  After personally killing Leovic and claiming the title of emperor of Cyrodiil, Varen set out to cement his status a legitimate leader of the Empire by retrieving the lost  . He was encouraged in this endeavor by the powerful necromancer  , who promised that the Amulet could be used in a ritual to persuade   to make Varen a Dragonborn.  Mannimarco betrayed Varen, however, and the ritual broke the covenant with Akatosh and set   adrift in the   in an event named the  .    Varen was believed lost in the event and his wife,  , ascended to the Ruby Throne as Empress Regent.  

Clivia Tharn's reign ushered in a time of increasing instability within the Empire. Swayed by offers of power and immortality, Clivia fell under the thrall of Mannimarco, who convinced her that the   was responsible for the Soulburst and to expel them from the Imperial City, allowing Mannimarco's   to operate freely.   Mannimarco himself aspired to become a god and rule not only Nirn, but his master  's realm of   as well.  Beyond the Empire's borders, the other nations of Tamriel began to unite into three different alliances in response to perceived Imperial aggression and corruption: the  ,   ,  and the first  . Each alliance sought to conquer the Empire of Cyrodiil and place one of their own on the Imperial Throne, triggering the   that wracked the whole of Tamriel in  .

With central Cyrodiil ravaged by war, most of its inhabitants scattered. Some of them hid in the northern and eastern mountains, while others fled south to  . The richest of the Imperials, mostly  , bought estates in western  , around the cities of   and  , away from raging war. That proved to be a mistake, however, as Anvil was captured by pirates who claimed dominion over the entire   and declared it an independent state, leading to strife with loyalist Kvatch. 

The Empire did not sit idle as the armies of the alliances forged deep into its territory. It attempted to expand its reach on two fronts:   and   to the north, and   to the south..  The invasion of High Rock and Hammerfell was spearheaded by the infamous Magus-General  .  To the south, an Imperial Legion was mustered from Colovia to annex Valenwood's Arenthia Vale, which by decree of the Count of   and the Elder Council was renamed the South Weald.  Each of these ventures ultimately failed.  Circa  , Chancellor   as head of the Elder Council attempted to end the Three Banners War and restore the Empire's power through assembling the   and using it to activate an "ancient weapon" within the  . Instead, this unleashed several  s which had been imprisoned for centuries. 

Little is known about the outcome of the Three Banners War; however it is known the Empire of Cyrodiil collapsed during it. By the time of Mehrunes Dagon's plot to gather the Four Amibitions, the Empire of Cyrodiil no longer existed as a power, and its government, the Elder Council, was formerly dissolved.    When  's   happened in the Ninth Century of the  , the Empire had long ceased to exist. Cyrodiil was divided between the Nibenese east and Colovian west, and remained so until reunification under the warlord  , whom Tiber Septim served as a general at the time.  

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