Brief History of the Empire , Book I Summary . There is a version of the books in . While the overall content is the same , they are not identical to the others . There is a quest item version for with the added ' _ Oh ' to the items ID . Series . This book is part of a four - part series on the history of the Empire . Contents . Before the rule of Tiber Septim , all Tamriel was in chaos . The poet Tracizis called that period of continuous unrest " days and nights of blood and venom . " The kings were a petty lot of grasping tyrants , who fought Tiber ' s attempts to bring order to the land . But they were as disorganized as they were dissolute , and the strong hand of Septim brought peace forcibly to Tamriel . The year was 2E 896 . The following year , the Emperor declared the beginning of a new Era - thus began the Third Era , Year Aught . For thirty - eight years , the Emperor Tiber reigned supreme . It was a lawful , pious , and glorious age , when justice was known to one and all , from serf to sovereign . On Tiber ' s death , it rained for an entire fortnight as if the land of Tamriel itself was weeping . The Emperor ' s grandson , Pelagius , came to the throne . Though his reign was short , he was as strong and resolute as his father had been , and Tamriel could have enjoyed a continuation of the Golden Age . Alas , an unknown enemy of the Septim Family hired that accursed organization of cutthroats , the Dark Brotherhood , to kill the Emperor Pelagius Septim as he knelt at prayer at the Temple of the One in the Imperial City . Pelagius Septim ' s reign lasted less than three years . Pelagius had no living children , so the Imperial Crown passed to his first cousin , the daughter of Tiber ' s brother Agnorith . Kintyra , former Queen of Silvenar , assumed the throne as Kintyra Septim . Her reign was blessed with prosperity and good harvests , and she herself was an avid patroness of art , music , and dance . Kintyra ' s son was crowned after her death , the first Emperor of Tamriel to use the imperial name Uriel . Uriel I was the great lawmaker of the Septim Dynasty , and a promoter of independent organizations and guilds . Under his kind but firm hand , the Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild increased in prominence throughout Tamriel . His son and successor Uriel II reigned for eighteen years , from the death of Uriel I in 3E64 to Pelagius Septim ' s accession in 3E82 . Tragically , the rule of Uriel II was cursed with blights , plagues , and insurrections . The tenderness he inherited from his father did not serve Tamriel well , and little justice was done . Pelagius Septim inherited not only the throne from his father , but the debt from the latter ' s poor financial and judicial management . Pelagius dismissed all of the Elder Council , and allowed only those willing to pay great sums to resume their seats . He encouraged similar acts among his vassals , the kings of Tamriel , and by the end of his seventeen year reign , Tamriel had returned to prosperity . His critics , however , have suggested that any advisor possessed of wisdom but not of gold had been summarily ousted by Pelagius . This may have led to some of the troubles his son Antiochus faced when he in turn became Emperor . Antiochus was certainly one of the more flamboyant members of the usually austere Septim Family . He had numerous mistresses and nearly as many wives , and was renowned for the grandeur of his dress and his high good humor . Unfortunately , his reign was rife with civil war , surpassing even that of his grandfather Uriel II . The War of the Isle in 3E110 , twelve years after Antiochus assumed the throne , nearly took the province of Summurset Isle away from Tamriel . The united alliance of the kings of Summurset and Antiochus only managed to defeat King Orghum of the island - kingdom of Pyandonea due to a freak storm . Legend credits the Psijic Order of the Isle of Artaeum with the sorcery behind the tempest . The story of Kintyra II , heiress to her father Antiochus ' throne , is certainly one of the saddest tales in imperial history . Her first cousin Uriel , son of Queen Potema of Solitude , accused Kintyra of being a bastard , alluding to the infamous decadence of the Imperial City during her father ' s reign . When this accusation failed to stop her coronation , Uriel bought the support of several disgruntled kings of High Rock , Skyrim , and Morrowind , and with Queen Potema ' s assistance , he coordinated three attacks on the Septim Empire . The first attack occurred in the Iliac Bay region , which separates High Rock and Hammerfell . Kintyra ' s entourage was massacred and the Empress taken captive . For two years , Kintyra II languished in an Imperial prison believed to be somewhere in Glenpoint or Glenmoril before she was slain in her cell under mysterious circumstances . The second attack was on a series of Imperial garrisons along the coastal Morrowind islands . The Empress ' consort Kontin Arynx fell defending the forts . The third and final attack was a siege of the Imperial City itself , occurring after the Elder Council had split up the army to attack western High Rock and eastern Morrowind . The weakened government had little defense against Uriel ' s determined aggression , and capitulated after only a fortnight of resistance . Uriel took the throne that same evening and proclaimed himself Uriel III , Emperor of Tamriel . The year was 3E 121 . Thus began the War of the Red Diamond , described in Volume II of this series .