4. Second Era

Era Theme

The Second Era is the Interregnum, an age of fractured power and contested thrones. It begins with the assassination of Reman III and the end of the First Empire, leaving Tamriel without a Dragonborn emperor. For four centuries, the continent endured invasions, alliances, and civil wars until the rise of Tiber Septim. This era is defined by absence: the Ruby Throne was empty, legitimacy in question, and every province sought to impose its own vision of order.

The Interregnum and Void of Power

With Reman’s dynasty ended in 1E 2920, no successor could claim the Dragonfires. The Akaviri Potentate, Versidue-Shaie, assumed control, governing through ruthless discipline and assassination. His martial law held Tamriel for a century but bred resentment. After his death in 2E 430, chaos engulfed the continent. @Cyrodiil fractured into squabbling warlords, known as the petty kings of the Interregnum. Without a Dragonborn, the authority of empire became a memory, and Tamriel entered centuries of instability.

The Akaviri Potentates

After the death of Reman III, Tamriel was not immediately plunged into chaos. Versidue-Shaie, an Akaviri potentate, seized the throne, ruling as regent for the fallen dynasty’s empire. His governance was brutal but effective: assassinations replaced open war, and martial law kept rebellious nobles in line. Versidue-Shaie’s successor, Savirien-Chorak, attempted to maintain control, but the Potentates were ultimately outsiders, never truly accepted as legitimate rulers. Their reliance on the Morag Tong for political killings deepened instability, and when Savirien-Chorak and his heirs were slain in 2E 430, the empire collapsed fully into the Interregnum.

The Three Banners War

In the heart of the Interregnum came the Three Banners War (2E 582). Three alliances vied for control of the Ruby Throne:

  • The @Daggerfall Covenant: @Bretons, @Redguards, and @Orsimer under a banner of trade and stability.

  • The Aldmeri Dominion: @Altmer, @Bosmer, and @Khajiit claiming divine right to rule.

  • The Ebonheart Pact: @Nords, @Dunmer, and @Argonians bound by necessity against greater threats.

This conflict devastated @Cyrodiil and drew in every province. No alliance achieved lasting victory, but the war defined the Second Era as one of ceaseless strife. The alliances themselves reshaped culture, forging bonds that lingered long after peace.

Numidium’s Shadow

Though Tiber Septim would later wield it, the Numidium casts its shadow in the Second Era. Built by Kagrenac in the First, this colossal brass golem was seized by the Tribunal at @Red Mountain and hidden away in @Morrowind. During the Interregnum, whispers of the Numidium’s existence spread across Tamriel, inspiring fear of Dunmeri power. While it remained unused, its mere presence shaped diplomacy and ambition. The Numidium became a symbol of unattainable supremacy: the weapon that could unify Tamriel, but one held by those unwilling to share its power.

Orsinium’s Rise and Fall

The @Orsimer, descendants of Trinimac’s faithful, repeatedly attempted to establish Orsinium in the Wrothgarian Mountains during the Second Era. Each time, surrounding powers — @Bretons, @Redguards, or Imperials — destroyed it, unwilling to tolerate a strong Orcish state. Yet every destruction was followed by rebuilding, proof of the @Orsimer’s persistence. These cycles of ruin and renewal made @Orsinium a symbol of resilience in the Second Era, an enduring reminder that even outcasts would not yield to history’s scorn.

Rise of Guilds and Institutions

In the absence of empire, new organizations rose to prominence. The Mages Guild and Fighters Guild, founded in the early Second Era, became continent-spanning institutions, providing order where kings could not. The Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood grew into shadow empires, their influence extending beyond borders. These guilds became Tamriel’s true constants during instability: powers not bound by province but by craft, creed, or coin. Their survival into later eras testifies to the durability of institutions over dynasties.

Charter of the Guilds

One of the few stabilizing acts of the Second Era came in 2E 321, when Potentate Versidue-Shaie granted official charters to the Mages Guild and Fighters Guild. This legitimized them as continent-spanning organizations, giving them authority to operate across provincial borders. The guilds became havens of order, bound not by race or province but by profession. Their charters allowed them to outlast dynasties and wars, embedding themselves so deeply into Tamrielic culture that even Septim emperors would rely on their influence. The Guilds were, in effect, the first pan-Tamrielic institutions of the Interregnum.

Akaviri Influence and Decline

Though the Akaviri had once ruled as potentates, their power eroded in the Interregnum. Their legacy, however, remained profound. The Dragonguard, descended from Akaviri dragon hunters, persisted as protectors of rulers and keepers of martial tradition. Akaviri styles in armor, architecture, and swordplay spread across Tamriel, blending with local customs. Yet by the late Second Era, the Akaviri as a distinct force vanished, their role reduced to memory and relics.

The Tribunal and Dunmeri Supremacy

@Morrowind in the Second Era was dominated by the Tribunal Temple, ruling with divine authority. Their power reached its zenith during this age, enforcing order with Ordinators and guiding Dunmeri culture into rigid orthodoxy. Yet cracks began to show: Daedric cults resisted their dominance, and internal strife with House Dagoth foreshadowed future calamities. While @Morrowind was spared the chaos that consumed @Cyrodiil, its stability came at the cost of spiritual tyranny and growing insularity.

The Longhouse Emperors

In the absence of order, Reachmen opportunists seized @Cyrodiil’s throne. Known as the Longhouse Emperors, they ruled with Daedric alliances, notably worship of @Molag Bal. Leovic, their last emperor, legalized Daedra worship throughout the Empire, sparking revolts from every corner. This dynasty’s reign revealed the vulnerability of @Cyrodiil: without a Dragonborn, any claimant with power and backing could seize the Ruby Throne. The Longhouse Emperors left a legacy of infamy, remembered as heretics and tyrants whose downfall paved the way for Varen Aquilarios’ rebellion.

Rise of the Second Empire under Varen and the Colovians

In 2E 576, Varen Aquilarios, a Colovian duke, declared himself Emperor and led a rebellion against the corrupt Emperor Leovic of the Longhouse Dynasty. With aid from the Five Companions, he overthrew Leovic, ending Daedric rule in @Cyrodiil. But Varen was not Dragonborn, and his reign was haunted by doubt. His attempt to relight the Dragonfires with the Amulet of Kings failed catastrophically, sparking the Soulburst, sundering the veil between Nirn and Oblivion. This disaster unleashed @Molag Bal’s Planemeld, binding the fate of the Second Era to Daedric intervention.

Varen’s Rebellion and the Soulburst

Varen Aquilarios’ uprising against the Longhouse dynasty was celebrated as liberation from Daedric corruption. Yet his reign collapsed in catastrophe. Seeking legitimacy, he attempted to relight the Dragonfires using the Amulet of Kings, but Mannimarco, the King of Worms, betrayed him. The ritual failed, and the Soulburst tore the veil between Nirn and Oblivion. Varen vanished, presumed dead, and the Empire was left leaderless again. The Soulburst destabilized magicka, twisted spirits, and emboldened cults, marking the most destructive single event of the Second Era. It proved that without Dragonborn blood, no mortal could sustain the covenant of Akatosh.

The Planemeld and Daedric Intrusion

@Molag Bal sought to merge Nirn with @Coldharbour, unleashing anchors and horrors across Tamriel. The alliances that formed during the Three Banners War also united against this existential threat. Heroes rose from every province, pushing back Daedric forces and closing Dark Anchors. Though the Planemeld was eventually foiled, it left scars across Tamriel: desecrated lands, broken cities, and cults emboldened by near-victory. This era marked the first large-scale Daedric invasion of Nirn, a harbinger of later crises.

The End of the Era and Rise of Septim

The Second Era closed with the meteoric rise of Tiber Septim. Backed by the Colovians, Bretons, and @Nords, Septim unified Tamriel through diplomacy, treachery, and the unmatched power of the Numidium, a colossal golem of Dwemer origin. His coronation in 2E 896 as @Talos, Dragonborn Emperor, ended centuries of chaos. The Second Era was thus bookended by absence and restoration: it began with the loss of a Dragonborn line and ended with the rise of a new one, shaping the Third Era to come.

Cultural Shifts

The Second Era reinforced the idea that empire is not inevitable. Tamriel functioned, however bloodily, without a single crown. Guilds rose as transnational powers, alliances formed across ancient hatreds, and Daedric cults proved themselves enduring. Races that had once been rivals stood shoulder to shoulder in war, while others, like the @Khajiit and @Argonians, gained voices in continental politics for the first time. Though Septim ended the Interregnum, the memory of the Second Era ensured that Tamriel’s peoples knew they could stand apart as well as together.

Legacy

The Second Era is remembered as chaos, but also as crucible. Guilds, alliances, and new powers were forged in its struggles. The Tribunal cemented their godhood, the @Redguards defined their independence, and the @Orsimer rebuilt @Orsinium time and again despite repeated destruction. The Planemeld scarred the land but proved mortals could resist Daedric Princes. Above all, the Second Era taught Tamriel that no empire is eternal — and that when one collapses, the continent will bleed until another rises.