The Line of Emperors IX

XXX. CEPHORUS II SEPTIM

After the death of Uriel Lariat IV, also known as the Illicit, the ELder Council greatly protested the further advancement of the line of Lariat, as their claim on the White-Gold throne was founded on nothing more than the oaths of adoption made by Emperor Cassynder towards Uriel IV, the likes of which do not extend to his children or his children's children. In turn, the councilmen of the Elder Council consulted the annals of ancestry and at long last discovered there an heir more true to the line of Tiber Septim: a Nordic nobleman by name of Cephorus, raised to the throne by the assent of the Elder Council, and duly accepted by Stone, Hedge and Flame.


This was not to the will of the line of Emperors now deposed. Andorak Lariat, son of Uriel IV, opposed the Council's decision and declared his hostility to the appointed Emperor. Once again, civil war frayed the borders of the Empire. Those loyal to Lariat were few in number, and there is no doubt that Cephorus II would have dealt with them swiftly were it not for the sudden onslaught of the Camoran Usurper. The exploits of this Bosmeri sorcerer are better recounted elsewhere. Suffice to say that he was both a ruthless and cunning conqueror, and that the Legions, forced into fighting on two fronts, proved incapable of stopping his northwards advancement.


At long last, Cephorus II was forced to accommodate Andorak, providing amnesty in return for an end to the war. With Andorak back in line, the march of the Usurper was quickly halted, and Cephorus II returned a measure of peace to the inner provinces: truly a rejuvenation of the Emperors of old. Still, many of the provincial lords, ever fickle, turned away from the Empire, and the northwest was to flounder in a state of permanent rebellion for decades to come.


XXXI. URIEL V SEPTIM or THE CONQUEROR

Uriel V assumed the throne in 3E 268, and faced an Empire of dissension: while the administrative and military might of the Imperials was stronger than it had been for over a century, many had lost faith in the rule of Cyrodiil, and the people were fractured. Uriel V was a farsighted man, and, taking the example of Reman I and Tiber Septim, the conquering Emperors of old, he decided on a policy of military expansion far beyond the borders of the continent. In this way, the peoples of Tamriel were once again united to a single purpose, as has been the higher calling of the Emperors of Cyrodiil since the dawn of man.


These conquests, the subject of many a song, carried Uriel V and his faithful Legions across the Padomaic Ocean, to distant Akavir, where in 3E 288 they settled a large and prosperous valley, bringing Imperial culture and civilization to its natives. For two years the Imperial Province of Akavir prospered under the hand of the Emperor. However, this enterprise, grand and beautiful in its design, was not to last. The Tsaeci lords of this realm, quick to forget the ancient oaths they swore to Emperor Reman at Pale Pass, responded to the Emperor's arrival by amassing in great number, and attacking the fledgling colony without warning. Despite the great effort of his soldiers, including the willing sacrifice of the Tenth Legion, the Emperor was killed. Fallen in foreign lands, never will he rest in the tombs of his forefathers, in Cyrodiil, his home.


Though his venture was seemingly futile, Emperor Uriel V is to this day remembered as one of the greatest generals and leaders the Empire has ever seen, the first to increase the Cyrodiil's borders since Tiber Septim himself. Indeed, Uriel's conquests convinced many of the Provincial rulers of the legitimacy of this branch of the Septim dynasty, and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the will of Talos was alive and well in the heart of Empire.


XXXII. URIEL VI SEPTIM or THE PATIENT

When Uriel V, his father, was cut down in Akavir, Uriel VI has but five years old. The Elder Council had since the days of Pelagius III assumed many responsibilities, a necessity in the face of the often weak regents of that branch. Uriel V had restored the grandeur of the Emperor's sole and undisputed power, but the COuncil was yet loath to give up its privileges, accustomed as they were to the wielding of power. They gave Thonica, the consort of Uriel V, a limited regency only, and later conspired with her to further encroach on those prerogatives that are the right of the Emperor alone.


When Uriel VI was belatedly crowned Emperor in 3E 307, he found this to be a largely ceremonial role. No content with this illusory power, the Emperor set about to regain his position through a careful and measured policy, exploiting both the complex systems of governance as the weak mind and will of many a councilman. In but six years, he had reconquered the governance of Tamriel much as his father had conquered the eastlands.


XXXIII. MORIHATHA SEPTIM

When in 3E 313 Uriel VI came to a premature end in an unfortunate horse-riding accident, his beloved and well-respected sister, Morihatha, was crowned Empress of Tamriel. Morihatha, as beautiful as she was cunning, had been instrumental in her late brother's takeover of Imperial might, and was now well-accustomed to the mechanics of power. Unlike the purely diplomatic Uriel VI, Morihatha had mastered both the word and the sword, using both in her quest to once and for all rid the Empire of the simmering rebellions that had been ongoing since the days of her grandfather, Cephorus II. By her will the Empire was reshaped, as institutional and administrative structures took root even in the most distant and unruly provinces.


Still, her calm and deliberate demeanor in dealing with these insurgents proved to be her ultimate undoing. In 3E 339 Empress Morihatha was assassinated, a deed later found to be ordered by Thoricles Romus, Councilman of Black Marsh, who was enraged by the Empress' refusal to send military aid to his mismanaged province. Romus was promptly executed, and any and all Argonians were henceforth banned from sitting on the Council, until an Emperor decides otherwise.


Morihatha had no living children, and her younger sister, Eloisa, had passed away four years before. The throne thus passed on the Eloisa's only son, who was crowned Pelagius IV, the current Emperor, and Emperor for many years to come! In the ten years that Pelagius IV has been in power, the Empire has been blessed with a never before seen sense of peace and purpose: the Emperor has continued Morihatha's good work of uniting the warring provinces, and striking down all opposition with an even hand. Under his tutelage, the Law has been kind and strict, the Legions honorable and strong, and by his intercession with the Nine Divines all harvests and industry go well. In the name of this humble scholar, and in the name of my dearly departed master Jaume Abtacil, I hereby humbly give thanks to Emperor Pelagius IV, for his continued defense and benevolent governance of the Empire, and for commissioning this full account of the Line of Emperors.