Brief History of the Empire, Part III                           Stronach                                                                                                                                                           )	    ;    
        A Brief History  of the Empire,  Part III             The first volume of this series tells in brief the story of the succession of the first eight emperors of the Septim Dynasty, from Tiber I to Kintyra II. The second volume described the War of the Red Diamond and the six emperors that followed its aftermath, Uriel III to Cassynder I. At the end of that volume, I described how the Emperor Cassynder's half-brother, Uriel IV assumed the throne of the Empire of Tamriel.       It will be recalled that Uriel IV was not a Septim by birth. His mother, though she reigned as Emperess for many years, was a Dark Elf married to a true Septim Emperor, Pelagius III. His father was Katariah I's consort after Pelagius' death and during her reign, a Breton nobleman named Gallivere Lariat. Before taking the throne of Empire, Cassynder I had ruled the kingdom of Wayrest, but poor health had forced him to retire. Cassynder had no children, so he legally adopted his half-brother Uriel and gave him the kingdom. Seven years later, Cassynder inherited the Empire at the death of his mother. Three years after that, Uriel found himself the recipient of Cassynder's inheritance once again.      Uriel IV's reign was difficult and long one. Despite being a legally adopted member of the Septim family, and despite the Lariat family's high position -- indeed, they were distant cousins of the Septims -- few of the Elder Council could be persuaded to accept him fully as a blood relation of Tiber. The Council had assumed much responsibility during Katariah I's long reign and Cassynder I's short reign, and a strong-willed alien monarch like Uriel IV found it impossible to hold their unswerving fealty. Time and time again, the Council and Emperor were at odds; and time and time again, the Council won the battles. Since the days of Pelagius II, the Elder Council had consisted of the wealthiest men and women in the Empire, and the power they wielded was ultimate.      The Council's last victory over Uriel IV was posthumous. Andorak, Uriel IV's son, was disinherited by vote of Council, and a cousin more closely related to the original Septim line was proclaimed Cephorus II in 3E 268. Cephorus had been a Nordic king of  For the first nine years of Cephorus II's reign, those loyal to Andorak battled the Imperial forces. In an act that the sage Eraintine called "Tiber Septim's heart beating no more," the Council granted Andorak the High Rock kingdom of Shornhelm to end the war. Andorak's descendants still rule that land.      Of course, Cephorus II had foes that demanded more of his attention than Andorak. "From out of a nightmare," in the words of Eraintine, a man who called himself the Camoran Usurper had led an army of daedra and undead warriors on a rampage through Valenwood, conquering kingdom after kingdom. None could resist his onslaughts, and as month turned to bloody month in the year 3E 249, fewer even tried. Cephorus II sent more and more mercenaries into Hammerfell to stop the Usurper's northward march, but they were bribed, turned into undead, or slaughtered.      The story of the Camoran Usurper does deserve a book of its own. I recommend the reader find Palaux Illthre's "The Fall of the Usurper" for more detail. In short, the destruction of the forces of the Usurper had little do with efforts of the Emperor. The results was a great regional victory and an increase in hostility toward the seemingly inefficious Empire.      Uriel V turned opinion back toward the potential power of the Empire. Turning the attention of Tamriel away from internal strife, Uriel V embarked on a series of invasions beginning almost from the moment he took the throne in 3E 268. Uriel V conquered Roscrea in 271, Cathnoquey in 276, Yneslea in 279, and Esroniet in 284. In 3E 288, he embarked on his most ambitious enterprise, the invasion of the continent kingdom of Akavir. This was ultimately a failure, for two years later Uriel V was killed in Akavir on the battlefield of Ionith. Nevertheless, Uriel V holds a reputation second only to Tiber as the great warrior emperor of Tamriel.      The last four Emperors, beginning with Uriel V's infant son, are described in the fourth and final volume of the series.   