The history of Elder Scroll is covered on this page.
History of Elder Scroll
First Empire of the Nords
The First Empire of the Nords is the collective term for the Nordic kingdom during a phase of expansion in the First Era, known as the Skyrim Conquests.[1] Its capital was the city of Windhelm in Skyrim, where a First Empire palace still stands. The empire was formed when King Vrage the Gifted began a campaign to conquer High Rock and Morrowind (a feat that is attributed by some to Sai, the God of Luck) circa 1E 240. By the end of the conquests, the First Empire of the Nords encompassed Skyrim, High Rock, Morrowind with the exception of the Dwemer kingdom of Vvardenfell, and a large portion of Cyrodiil's Nibenay Valley. These invasions upset the balance in High Rock and Cyrodiil, and although the Nords' empire lasted less than two centuries, the result was decisive; from then on, power in those regions shifted from the elves to the humans.
Though the last ruler, King Borgas, died in 1E 369, the ultimate end of the First Nordic Empire came in 1E 420, when the Pact of Chieftains ended the War of Succession and the empire finally shattered; Skyrim eventually lost all of its holdings in Morrowind, Cyrodiil, and High Rock, and many of the Nordic kingdoms began to declare independence. The Nords were driven from Morrowind by force when Indoril Nerevar and Dumac Dwarfking joined together, repelling the invaders in 1E 416. The Western Reach in High Rock was retaken by the Aldmer. Before long, Skyrim was more divided than it had been in centuries.
Alessian Empire
The Alessian Empire, also called the First Empire,[1] the Empire of Cyrodiil, and the Empire of Men, was established by the former human slaves of the Ayleid Empire in 1E 243 following the Alessian Slave Rebellion. The Empire traces its founding to the moment when Saint Alessia received the Dragonfires and the Amulet of Kings from Akatosh; she used the Amulet to drive the Daedra out of the mortal realm. Akatosh told Alessia that as long as the Dragonfires remained lit and her heirs wore the Amulet of Kings, the gates of Oblivion would remain shut and Tamriel would be spared the depredations of the Daedra.
Only a few rulers of the First Empire are now known: Queen Alessia, its founder and spiritual leader; Belharza the Man-Bull, Alessia's heir by her consort Morihaus, crowned in 1E 266; Gorieus, crowned in 1E 461; and Hestra, who expanded the reaches of the Empire all the way to High Rock in 1E 1029. One of the defining events of the Empire was the rise of the zealously monotheistic Alessian Order, which followed the teachings of the prophet Marukh. The Order's influence spread rapidly until, in 1E 361, its puritanical doctrines were formally adopted and enforced by the Empire. Thereafter, the arch-prelates of the Order were said to wield almost as much power as the emperors themselves. It was a sect of the Order called the Marukhati Selective that was responsible for the Dragon Break known as the "Middle Dawn".
The Alessian Empire's territory fluctuated considerably throughout its history. At its inception it encompassed East Cyrodiil, including the Nibenay Valley and the White-Gold Tower, which later became the centerpiece of the Imperial City; West Cyrodiil remained a patchwork of independent Colovian kingdoms that resisted the Alessian Order's dogma. A number of Ayleid vassal-states also briefly existed under the Empire's umbrella until the xenophobic Alessian Order methodically extinguished them.[9] Following the defeat and death of High King Kjoric the White in 1E 478, the Empire seized portions of southern Skyrim, but failed in its bid to acquire the Kingdom of Skingrad. A westward expansion and attempt to annex High Rock was likewise thwarted at the Battle of Glenumbra Moors in 1E 482, which would be remembered as one of the Order's most disastrous mistakes. High Rock would later be inducted into the Empire in 1E 1029 after the Empress Hestra defeated King Styriche, the Vampire of Verkarth, only to reassert its independence in 1E 2305 in response to the Alessian Order's excesses.
The final days of the Empire arrived in 1E 2321, when tensions within the Alessian Order's bloated priesthood gave way to internal strife, prompting the kingdoms of West Cyrodiil to completely sever ties with the Empire and establish their own government, the Colovian Estates. Hemorrhaging money and land, the Empire finally broke under the strain and the War of Righteousness erupted. After a decade of violence that wiped out half of the population of the Iliac Bay and saw the loss of the Order's extensive monastic complex at Lake Canulus, among untold other atrocities, the war ended in 1E 2331 with the dissolution of the Alessian Empire and Order both.[8] Cyrodiil and Tamriel would remain divided until the rise of Reman I and the foundation of the Second Empire in 1E 2703.
Reman Dynasty
The Reman Dynasty was founded by Reman Cyrodiil after he defeated the Akaviri invasion of Tamriel at the battle of Pale Pass in 1E 2703. Until that point, Tamriel had been divided into several small kingdoms, but once Reman had brought the armies of Colovia and the Nibenay Valley together to defeat the invasion, he was able to unite all Tamriel's human inhabitants in the face of possible aggression from the Aldmer.
Although the Battle of Pale Pass established Reman as the leading power in Tamriel, many parts of the continent refused to acknowledge his rule. Valenwood was not subdued until 1E 2714. In 1E 2811, Cyrodilic forces defeated the last organized army of Argonians at the Battle of Argonia, and the following year saw Argonia admitted to the Empire as a province under the name "Black Marsh". The rest of the province was conquered piecemeal, with the whole area passing under Imperial control in 1E 2837.
The last war of conquest began in around 1E 2840 when Reman II began an attempt to bring Morrowind, the only province outside Imperial control, into the empire. Progress was slow, and the three living gods of Morrowind's Tribunal, Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil proved to be extremely capable leaders. By 1E 2920, both sides were approaching exhaustion and after the Empire captured the fortress of Ald Marak, a truce was agreed to bring an end to the war.
In the aftermath of the battle, both Reman III and his heir, Prince Juilek, were assassinated on the orders of Potentate Versidue-Shaie, bringing an end to the Reman Dynasty and instigating the period of the Second Empire known as the Akaviri Potentate. Reman I, II and III were entombed in a chamber deep within Sancre Tor, along with two other unknown emperors.
