The Oblivion Crisis Content . " At the turning of the Fourth Age , in the year 3E 433 , the Emperor Uriel Septim VII was assassinated and the Amulet of Kings was destroyed . This set in motion a chain of events that would bring down an empire and change forever the relationship between man and the gods . The assassins first attacked the Emperor in the White - Gold Tower . While the Blades held them back , the Emperor made his way down to the dungeons , to a secret escape route built into one of the prison cells . For reasons known only to himself , the Emperor pardoned the fortunate prisoner in that cell . Some say the prisoner reminded him of a childhood friend . Others say it was a moment of prophecy . Whatever the case , the prisoner came to play a fateful role in the history of the Empire and Tamriel - surely a sign that the gods themselves were at work . The pursuing assassins killed the Blades bodyguards in a relentless series of sneak attacks . Eventually they struck down the Emperor himself . Before he fell , Uriel Septim VII gave the Amulet of Kings to the prisoner , who somehow made it out of the Imperial Sewers and into the light of day . The assassination is now known to have been the work of a group of daedric cultists known as the Mythic Dawn . ( Those who still suspect the Dark Brotherhood should consider two facts : first , they would have only needed a single assassin , not a small army of them ; second , the Dark Brotherhood would never be so foolish as to effectively declare war on the Empire and thus ensure their complete destruction . Witness to the eventual fate of the Mythic Dawn . ) The Amulet of Kings next surfaced at the Weynon Priory near Chorrol . Jauffre , secret Grandmaster of the Blades and head of the priory , took possession of the amulet . The messenger was set off to Kvatch to find a lowly priest named Martin Septim . Unbeknownst even to himself , Martin was the bastard son of Uriel Septim VII , and the last heir to the Ruby Throne . He alone could use the Amulet of Kings to light the Dragonfires that wards the barrier between Tamriel and Oblivion , and save the world from the Mythic Dawn plot . The prisoner arrived at Kvatch to find it overrun by Daedra that had poured in from a newly - opened Oblivion Gate , the start of the Empire - spanning desvastation of the Oblivion Crisis . How the prisoner closed the gate is not recorded . Once closed , Martin and the surviving Kvatch guardsmen drove back the daedra . Now known as the Hero of Kvatch , the prisoner and Martin returned to Weynon Priory , only to find the priory sacked and the Amulet taken . Jauffre survived the attack , however , and the three of them made their way to Cloud Ruler Temple , bastion of the Blades . This secret fortress in the mountains outside Bruma is where Martin was held safe while the Hero of Kvatch searched for the lost Amulet . Knowing only that a mysterious group called the Mythic Dawn was behind the assassination and thief of the Amulet , the Hero of Kvatch was sent to locate the cult . With the help of Baurus , a Blade in service of the Emperor , they somehow used the Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes , esoteric works by the madman Mankar Camoran , to direct them to the Mythic Dawn ' s secret Lair . Scholars familiar with the Commentaries claim the location is not directly mentioned in them . How they did this remains a mystery . No official records exist of how the Hero of Kvatch penetrated the Mythic Dawn ' s lair near Lake Arrius . There is a bardic tale that claims the Hero used trickery and disguise , but that is just was discovered there is that Mankar Camoran was behind the Mythic Dawn , and that the group the daedric prince Mehrunes Dagon . Mankar Camoran believed himself to be a direct descendant of the Camoran Usurper , the infamous pretender to the throne of Valenwood . Somehow the hero escaped with the Mysterium Xarxes itself , the holy book of the Mythic Dawn cult . Mankar Camoran fled to Oblivion with the Amulet of Kings With some effort and great risk to his sanity , Martin deciphered the Mysterium Xarxes and intended to use it to open a gateway to Mankar Camoran in order to recover the Amulet of Kings . Before Martin could do the ritual to open the gateway , Mehrunes Dagon opened an Oblivion Gate outside Bruma . the Hero of Kvatch saved the city and Martin by entering the gate and closing it before a daedric siege engine could destroy Bruma and the Cloud Ruler Temple . Many songs and stories have been told of this battle and I will not retell them here . The Hero of Kvatch was now known as the Savior of Bruma . With the city and Cloud Ruler Temple safe , Martin opened the portal to Mankar Camoran ' s " Paradise " . The detail of what transpired in this place have not been recorded . All that is known is that the Savior of Bruma traveled to this Paradise , killed Mankar Camoran , and returned with the Amulet of Kings . With the Amulet in hand , Martin Septim presented himself to the Elder Council to be crowned Emperor of all Tamriel . Once crowned he planned to relight the Dragonfires and seal Tamriel from Oblivion . In a last - ditch attempt to stop him , Mehrunes Dagon launched an assault on the Imperial City , opening several Oblivion Gates within the capital itself . Uncrowned , Martin joined the battle in the city streets . Mehrunes Dagon himself left Oblivion and entered Tamriel , breaking the covenant . Only the unlit Dragonfires allowed this to be possible . Now that the barrier was ripped asunder , it was too late to the Fires . Martin Septim chose to make the ultimate sacrifice - he shattered the Amulet of Kings to become the avatar of the god Akatosh and do battle with Mehrunes Dagon . Records of this battle vary wildly . What we do know is that Mehrunes Dagon was defeated and sent back into Oblivion . The avatar of Akatosh was turned to stone and can be seen to this day in the Temple of the One in the Imperial City . With the Amulet gone , the Dragonfires quenched , and the last Dragonblood Emperor dead , the barrier to Oblivion is sealed forever .