6. Fourth Era

Era Theme

The Fourth Era begins in ashes. The Septim dynasty is gone, the Dragonfires extinguished, and Tamriel emerges from the Oblivion Crisis into a world both liberated and destabilized. It is an age of fragmentation, collapse, and resurgent powers. Without a Dragonborn Emperor, the myth of empire falters. Elves and men pursue independence, Daedric scars linger, and the continent lurches toward new conflicts.

Aftermath of the Oblivion Crisis

The closing of the Third Era left Tamriel devastated. Provinces rebuilt, but trust in imperial power was broken. Cities destroyed by Oblivion Gates remained scarred for generations. Daedric cults were scattered but not annihilated, ensuring lingering paranoia across @Cyrodiil. With the Septims gone, the Empire lacked the divine legitimacy that had bound Tamriel together for four centuries. What remained was a weakened throne, reliant on diplomacy, taxation, and dwindling legions.

The Mede Line of Emperors

Titus Mede I, who seized the Ruby Throne in 4E 17, founded the dynasty that carried the Empire forward into the Fourth Era. His rule was pragmatic, built on alliances with generals and noble houses rather than divine sanction. His successors faced constant crisis: weak borders, rebellious provinces, and the ever-looming Thalmor. By the time of Titus Mede II, the dynasty had weathered nearly two centuries of turmoil, but its legitimacy remained fragile. Mede emperors were warriors and administrators, not Dragonborn heirs, and every decree they passed carried the shadow of that absence.

The Red Year’s Wider Impact

The eruption of @Red Mountain in 4E 5 devastated not only @Morrowind but also Tamriel’s geopolitical map. Ashfall carried as far as @Skyrim’s borders, ruining farmland and displacing tens of thousands. Trade routes through the Inner Sea collapsed, and @Solstheim was ceded to the @Dunmer by the High King of Skyrim to shelter refugees. This shift transformed @Solstheim from a Nordic outpost into a frontier of exile, forever changing the balance between @Nords and @Dunmer in the north. The Red Year ensured that Dunmeri influence would never again dominate the continent.

The Mede Dynasty

In 4E 17, Titus Mede, a Colovian warlord, seized the Ruby Throne by force. His dynasty lacked the Dragonborn bloodline but ruled with pragmatic authority. The Medes relied on alliances with Colovian generals and Nibenese nobles rather than divine right. Though never as respected as the Septims, they preserved the Empire through ruthlessness and reform. Still, their reign was marked by constant crisis, each generation struggling to keep Tamriel from unraveling entirely.

The Argonian Invasions

With the fall of the Septims, @Argonians of @Black Marsh, strengthened by the Hist and their survival of the Oblivion Crisis, turned outward. They invaded southern @Morrowind in 4E 6, sacking cities and devastating Dunmeri lands already crippled by the fall of the Tribunal. Entire swathes of @Morrowind were lost, and @Dunmer refugees fled to @Skyrim and @Solstheim. The invasion demonstrated a shift in power: once slaves, @Argonians now threatened one of Tamriel’s great provinces, showing that the balance of history could be overturned.

The Red Year and Morrowind’s Collapse

In 4E 5, @Red Mountain erupted in the event known as the Red Year. Vivec had vanished, and without his divine power to hold Baar Dau, the moonlet crashed into @Mournhold. The eruption devastated @Vvardenfell, burying cities under ash and lava. Combined with @Argonian invasion, @Morrowind was shattered, its people scattered and its religion broken. The @Dunmer, once proud under the Tribunal, became exiles and survivors, forced into diaspora.

The Rise of the Aldmeri Dominion

In 4E 22, the Thalmor seized power in @Summerset, rebranding the province as @Alinor and declaring themselves the new Aldmeri Dominion. They extended influence into @Valenwood, forging alliance with the @Bosmer, and later subsumed @Elsweyr after the Void Nights weakened the @Khajiit. The Dominion positioned itself as the inheritor of Elven supremacy, directly opposing the weakened Empire. Their ideology centered on the denial of @Talos’ divinity, attacking the very foundation of Imperial faith. This rise shifted the continent’s balance: for the first time since Tiber Septim, men faced a unified Elven power capable of contesting dominance.

The Great War (4E 171–175)

The Dominion struck at the Empire in 4E 171, demanding the end of @Talos worship and sweeping concessions. When Titus Mede II refused, war erupted across @Cyrodiil, @Hammerfell, and @Skyrim. The Elves proved terrifyingly effective, conquering much of southern Tamriel and even sacking the Imperial City in 4E 174. Mede regrouped, retaking the capital in a desperate counteroffensive, but the war left the Empire exhausted. The conflict ended with the White-Gold Concordat, which outlawed @Talos worship and legitimized Dominion influence. Many Imperials saw it as necessary for survival; others condemned it as betrayal. The Concordat deepened rifts between Empire and provinces, particularly @Skyrim.

The Sack of the @The Imperial City (4E 174)

Perhaps the most traumatic moment of the Great War came when Dominion forces stormed the @The Imperial City. @Titus Mede II, facing annihilation, evacuated and regrouped. The White-Gold Tower was occupied, @Cyrodiil’s heart desecrated. In 4E 175, Mede returned with reinforcements in a bloody counteroffensive, retaking the city at enormous cost. Though hailed as victory, the Empire was exhausted. Soldiers who survived called the recapture Pyrrhic, a triumph purchased with the last strength of the legions. This scar lingered: the knowledge that the White-Gold Tower, symbol of empire, had fallen to Elves burned in the heart of every Imperial and @Nord.

The White-Gold Concordat

The treaty that ended the Great War was both salvation and humiliation. It outlawed @Talos worship, ceded territory to the Dominion, and allowed Thalmor agents to operate within Imperial lands. For @Titus Mede II, it was a bitter necessity — the Empire could not endure another year of war. For @Nords, it was betrayal: their god outlawed, their temples desecrated, their faith criminalized. The Concordat’s political terms mattered less than its spiritual cost, for it cut at the root of identity in @Skyrim. The seeds of rebellion were planted not by conquest, but by compromise.

@Hammerfell’s Resistance

@Hammerfell refused to accept the White-Gold Concordat. @Redguard lords continued the war independently, waging a brutal struggle against the Dominion. Against all odds, they drove the Thalmor out by 4E 180, securing @Hammerfell’s independence but severing ties with the Empire. The loss of @Hammerfell confirmed what many feared: the Empire was no longer the unbreakable force it had been under the Septims. Tamriel was fracturing, and Elves had proven they could challenge Imperial supremacy.

The Void Nights and @Elsweyr

In 4E 98, the moons @Masser and @Secunda disappeared for two years. The @Khajiit, whose society and religion are bound to the moons, fell into crisis. The Thalmor claimed credit when the moons reappeared, earning Khajiiti loyalty. @Elsweyr was soon absorbed into the Dominion, solidifying their southern flank and securing allies devoted to their cause. This event cemented Thalmor propaganda as a weapon as potent as armies, binding faith to political control.

@Orsinium in the Fourth Era

As in earlier eras, the Orcish kingdom of @Orsinium rose and fell repeatedly during the Fourth Era. Situated between @Hammerfell and @High Rock, it became both pawn and casualty in the wars of greater powers. Yet the @Orsimer endured, rebuilding each time with stubborn determination. Their story in this era mirrors the continent’s theme: the survival of cultures once considered broken or marginal, now refusing to vanish despite calamity.

@Skyrim’s Rising Tensions

In @Skyrim, discontent simmered under the Concordat. The ban on @Talos worship enraged @Nords, who saw it as sacrilege against their patron god. The Empire’s weakness in the Great War left @Skyrim divided: some believed in loyalty to the Mede Dynasty, others in breaking free from Imperial rule. @Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of @Windhelm, became the voice of rebellion, wielding the Thu’um and calling for Nordic independence. By the early 4E 200s, @Skyrim stood on the brink of civil war, its people torn between Imperial allegiance and Stormcloak nationalism.

The Death of High King Torygg

In 4E 201, @Ulfric Stormcloak challenged High King Torygg in Solitude. Using the Thu’um, Ulfric slew Torygg in single combat, claiming it as honorable trial by duel. His supporters hailed him as liberator; his enemies condemned it as murder. Torygg’s death shattered Skyrim’s fragile unity, plunging the province into civil war. The event marked the culmination of a century of decline: empires fractured, provinces lost, gods questioned, and now even @Skyrim, heart of the @Nords, was at war with itself.

Legacy up to 4E 201

By 4E 201, Tamriel had changed beyond recognition from the Septim age. The Empire was weakened, its authority questioned in every province. The Dominion stood ascendant, @Hammerfell free but bloodied, @Morrowind shattered, @Elsweyr bound to Thalmor, and @Skyrim divided against itself. The Fourth Era up to this point is one of endings: of dynasties, of empires, and of certainty. What remains is a continent poised for new myths, where the balance between man, mer, and god stands ready to be rewritten once again.