On The Species of Tamriel, Volume XII: The Ruling Men of Cyrodiil

Welcome back to the twelfth volume of 'On the Species of Tamriel'. This volume deals with the Imperials of Cyrodiil, and continues the volumes on the races of Men. The Imperials are a very important race on Tamriel, as they ruled large portions of Tamriel, at some point even ruling everything.
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The Imperials (also known under the archaic name 'Cyrods') are the race of humans from Cyrodiil. Living in the biggest and most urbanised province on Tamriel, as well as being the ruling force on the continent for a very long time, the Imperials are the most populous race around, being the most numerous in their own province of Cyrodiil, as well as prominently visible in the other provinces.
Biologically, the Imperials are almost indistinguishable from the Bretons of High Rock and the Nords of Skyrim, partially because of their shared Nedic and Atmoran heritages. More prominent differences are the average magickal capabilities of the Imperials, as well as being more or equal skilled melee fighters than the Bretons and less or slightly equal to the Nords. The Nedes were pale to tanned skinned but dark-haired like and unlike their northern brethren, the Atmorans, who were pale-skinned and fair-haired, this has somewhat waned in more recent times, because of the Nedic-Atmoran interbreeding which explains why some Imperials are fair-haired and some Nords are dark-haired.
The Imperials originate from the Nedes, the only race descendent of the Wanderering Ehlnofey to stay on Tamriel, in what might be the best documented history on Tamriel. These Nedes had long been ruled over by the Ayleids, or Wild Elves. The Nedes of Cyrodiil did not experience the interbreeding with Elves (if any) as the Nedes in High Rock did, who gave rise to the Breton ancestors, the mixed-species Manmer whom the Bretons descend from. which accounts for them being regarded as different races. At what point the Nedes were seen as Imperials for the first time is unknown, only that it was after the Alessian Slave Rebellion of 1E 242.
Imperial culture is very tolerant to outsiders (partially because of their centralised geographic position, as well as the role of the Imperial City). As a result, their culture has been heavily influenced by that of the other races, and influences those as well.
Cyrodiil is the most populous province on Tamriel, and, as a result, is heavily urbanised. Because of this, as well as their important political role, many Imperials are traders and politicians. Because of their long history with politics and trading, Imperials have developed a affinity to public speaking and charming, skills invaluable on the big political scene of Tamriel.
The Imperials are one of the most technologically advanced races on the continent, as they are capable of building and maintaining a large enough infrastructure to support many big cities, most notably the Imperial City, the biggest city on Tamriel. Not only is this supported by technology, but also by force. The Imperial Legion, for long the most dominant military force on Tamriel, patrols the many roads, as well as guarding the Imperial City itself. Just as Cyrodiil itself, the Legion is not only composed of Imperials, but draws Nords, Bretons and Redguards from the entirety of the Empire. The sheer amount of numbers are backed by expert strategists, hardened by the long history of violence the Imperials have.
The religion of the Imperials was based around the eight divines, and later the nine divines (sometimes called 'the Eight and One'), which comprises of the gods Akatosh, Arkay, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth, Mara, Stendarr, and Zenithar, as well as the later addition of the hero-god Talos, who, during most of his mortal life, was known as Tiber Septim. The Imperial pantheon also has gods like Shezarr, Alessia, Reman Cyrodiil and Morihaus. The original pantheon was adopted by the early Nedes, based of the Aldmeri and Nordic pantheons, and heavily reorganised by the Alessian Order in the years following the Slave Rebellion. After the death of Tiber Septim, the founder of the third Empire, he was incorporated as the ninth divine, and one of the only human beings (the others being Alessia and Reman Cyrodiil) in the Cyrodiilic pantheon.
While strictly not illegal, Daedra worship is strongly looked down upon in Cyrodiilic culture, disregarding what Daedra is being worshipped. This itself can be seen as strange, as the Imperials have a history of cults.
The history of the Imperials is one of the best documented ones in Tamrielic history. Descending from the Nedes, the proto-Cyrods have long been the slaves of their Elven masters, the Ayleids. This changed during the Human Slave Rebellion, sometime in the first Era, when the the Nedes and the Ancient Imperials, led by Saint Alessia, as well as two divine heroes, Morihaus the Winged Man-Bull and the Shezarrine Pelinal Whitestrake (The Shezarrines are the mortal incarnations of Shezarr, their name for Lorkhan). The Humans of Cyrodiil staged an uprising and fought themselves free of the Elves, climaxing at the siege of the Imperial City, when Pelinal Whitestrake single-handedly stormed the White-Gold Tower, and killed Umaril the Unfeathered, the Ayleid sorcerer-king, who was the champion of the Daedric prince Meridia. Afterwards, the Ayleid kings attacked Pelinal, and severed his body into eight pieces.
This was the start of the First Empire, or the Alessian Empire. It was a time of relative piece and prosperity, until the Empire collapsed due to conflict within the Alessian Order, a religious and hugely influential cult. Cyrodiil was split into multiple kingdoms, all ruled by local warlords. While there were multiple of these kingdoms, the most dominant ones were those of Colovia, in Western Cyrodiil, and those of the Nibenay, in the East. Even to this day there are cultural differences between the areas.
Cyrodiil was again unified under Reman Cyrodiil, the hero-king of the Imperials at the end of the First Era. Cyrodiil was under attack by the Akaviri, and to combat them, he united the Imperials of Colovia and the Imperials of Nibenay. He was successful, and started his own dynasty, the Reman dynasty as well as the Second Empire or the Reman Empire.
The Reman Empire was different from the others, as the Tsaeci of Akavir had a huge amount of influence of the Empire. So much in fact, that after the assasination of the last Reman, Reman III and his heirs, the Potentate Versidue-Shaie, proclaimed himself as sole ruler (while not using the title 'Emperor'). The Akaviri Potentate ended in 2E 430, when the last descendent of Versidue-Shaie, Savirien-Chorak, was assassinated. This created another power vacuum, and saw the reestablishment of the many warlord led kingdoms.
Tamriel was yet again united at the end of the Second Era, this time by Talos, or, as he was known after his coronation, Tiber Septim. Since there are conflicting theories regarding his history, I while keep with the official one.
He was born on Atmora, under the name Talos (meaning Stormcrown in Old Ehlnofex). He grew up in Skyrim, were he was soon discovered as a expert ruler and tactician. In Skyrim, he also learned the ancient art of the Voice, and was eventually called by the Greybeards of High Hrothgar. They told him that he was prophesised to be the ruler of Tamriel, but he had to go south for that. In Cyrodiil, he became general under Cuhlecain, the king of Colovia. Before they could install Cuhlecain as Emperor, Talos had to defend Cyrodiil from the combined armies of High Rock and Skyrim. The Nords quickly joined his side after his use of the Thu'um (which he, being Dragonborn, was expertly skilled in). High Rock retreated, but was able to assassinate now emperor Cuhlecain and cut Talos' throat (it is rumoured that Talos himself might have done this, but sources are hard to find for obvious reasons). Talos quickly used this opportunity to install himself as emperor, taking the Cyrodilic name Tiber Septim. He went on to conquer the rest of Tamriel, and his heirs (known as the Septim dynasty, or the Dragonborn emperors) ruled Tamriel for the entirety of the Third Era, in what would be called the Third or Septim Empire. The Septim Empire saw huge prosperity and stability throughout Tamriel, but this changed at the end of the Third Era, starting with the Imperial Simulacrum, and ending with the Oblivion Crisis. During the Crisis, the last emperor, Uriel Spetim VII was assassinated, along with all his heirs. The only heir left was his illegitimate son Martin, who, with the help of the Champion of Cyrodiil, changed in an avatar of Akatosh, to stop Mehrunes Dagon's invasion. This saw the end of the Septim bloodline, and even though then High Chancellor and later potentate Ocato of Firsthold tried to keep the empire together, the Empire collapsed, and would never become more than a shade of its former glory, also because of the explosive grow of the Aldmeri Dominion. With the assassination of Ocato and the weak power the Medes, the new Imperial dynasty of the Empire, had, along with the growing power of the Thalmor, Tamriel was once again at war. During the Great War, the Imperial City was sacked, and the Empire became nothing more than a vassal state of the Thalmor. Along with the power the Thalmor held over the Empire, the worship of Talos was proclaimed illegal, since the Thalmor don't recognise his divine position. This angered the Imperials, but especially the Nords, which caused increased tensions between the Empire and Skyrim.
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The Imperials are indeed a extremely important race, and have possibly the best documented history of all the races. It is key to understand the basics of Imperial Culture for any scholar willing to study the politics and history of Tamriel.
DISCLAIMER: Neither the author nor the publisher in any way condone any racist or supremacist stance towards the above mentioned race. This work should be regarded as a summary of common traits found in said race. Eventhough these traits might be common, they in no way are valid for all individuals of the race, and should not be regarded as such.
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