I'm guessing the Dragonborn won't be around much longer, the only logical endings for him are being lured into Apocrypha or assassination by the Thalmor. Those are the only things I can come up with, and neither of those will really inspire anyone.
The Dragonborn who saved the world, fought Alduin in the shadow of the Hall of Valor. Helped all of the Holds, and various citizens. Not very inspiring at all... Chances are the Dragonborn will go off on some adventure. Morrowind's hero inspired them, yet they just vanished off to Akavir.
Then screw Skyrim for now, most Imperial arguments are about "the greater good", so forget Skyrim, let that vile dictator Ulfric take over, and focus on the elves. You seem to think the Empire is fine without Skyrim, and there's nothing there worth having, they couldn't even be self-sufficient. Ulfric wins, and you don't have to babysit a province with serious loyalty issues and that has "recently been ravaged by civil war and dragons".
Taxes and protecting citizens who are your subjects. Skyrim is an important symbol, and for too long Cyrodiil & Skyrim have stood together to allow the Thalmor to divide us.
The only option for adventure and travel that's stable and not overly dangerous.
He misses the Legion, speaks about it with his old Legionary friend. There are many options, but even if the Legion was the only one... It doesn't make the attachment any less.
Hmm, this is a very good argument you have here. I'm assuming the sheer population that has to be shrunk down for the game will help here. It's also younger people joining the fight, take Gerdur for example. And people like Hermir who recognize they can do their part while not being on the battlefield. I'm sure the Jarls and Ulfric are aware of this, there's hopefully some plan in place.
The population shrunk for the games doesn't matter. Eastmarch doesn't have enough guards to properly keep the city itself in order. Neither does Riften, and they've lost a watch tower.
Besides all the people currently serving, there is also the dead. That is the problem with militias, they're a very temporary solution. Sooner or later you need to discharge them to get back to their work.
Not everyone is like Gerdur or Hermir. It isn't just the younger people running off, there are a few aged men and women among the Stormcloaks. Most don't simply consider the consequences of leaving to fight. Gilfre who owns the Mill in Eastmarch, this being the Mill that supplies all of Eastmarch barely functions.
"I used to have five good men who worked the mill with me. Then this war started and they all ran off. Idiots with mead in their blood."
"There's plenty of good wood around here, but I just can't harvest it all by myself. Everyone able-bodied is fighting."
"Of course, without functioning mills, who will make the arrows for our soldiers? Men have no sense of irony."
She can't find anyone able-bodied, so it is reasonable to assume there would be farms and various worker guilds suffering from the lack of workers. Take much longer for Skyrim to rebuiuld if all your tradesmen are busy being guards and soldiers now. Both sides are facing this issue, however Imperial side has the rest of the Empire to pick up the slack.
You will either have to disband a great deal of your soldiers to rebuild quicker, those with a trade. Your wood workers, stone masons etc. That comes with an issue of decreased security for your Holds, which already is a concern due to being spread out. Many of the recent Militia would have replaced your original guards who have died. You could be worse off for several years. There bandit issues all over Skyrim, Forsworn problems in the Reach also. I don't think you can afford discharging the Militia, and you'll lose even more to these issues. Tullius can spare men, he isn't building up an army. He could get some reinforcements, or even employ mercenaries to do temporary guard work.
Another issue is your smiths, majority if not all are tied up producing weapons and armor for your Military. You plan on building an army, which means new equipment all over again. You won't be using your mismatched weapons and armor, no doubt. So their work doesn't get easier after the war, or slows down. Very little will have time to smith items you need to rebuild the province, repair buildings, erect new ones, create tools and such. Most only have time for the Military orders.
Oh, right, because the Thalmor would never go any where they aren't supposed to. They're right across the street from who knows what kind of sensitive Imperial documents, and then they can head back to their embassy at the end of the day for a nice hot meal in the company of their fellow Justiciars.
If the Thalmor managed to waltz into Castle Dour, slip by all the sentries and garrison, walk into a restricted area that contains sensitive documents and Imperial intelligence reports, steal them and walk out undetected... Then they fl*ffing deserve to win the next war. Because that is ghost recon plops.
Maybe some poor choice of words, but I'm sure there's something a Justiciar could dig up that may completely turn the tide.
Don't see how a Justiciar would do it. Thalmor espionage ability must be pretty low if they're going from what was used in the novels. Espionage is always a risk, however the Empire has been dealing with that kind of thing for a hundred and fifty years. Chances are likely they've learned and improved their security.
From UESP- "Surrounding the capital,
Whiterun, are fertile plains dotted with farms that supply the food for much of Skyrim."
I'm not sure how the person got that conclusion, their source is the Imperial Legion Officer Guide book, which simply mentions Whiterun Hold is dotted with farms. If you speak with the folks at Rorikstead, you can ask one of them this:
"Your farms are thriving, even despite the harsh climate. What's your secret?"
It is also mentioned in Diplomatic Immunity, I believe. That only Rorikstead does well, when all the farms in Skyrim struggle by.
Only thing about Whiterun is that it is the trade hub of the entire province. Probably does alright in farming, but Skyrim is a harsh land, and the weather isn't always agreeable. Don't think it is easy having a farm in Skyrim. But, if you do well you get rich, very rich as evident with the Battle-Born Clan. I think majority of crops would be imported from High Rock or Cyrodiil. Probably rely mostly on merchants and shipments, than just the farms. Hopefully them traders return quickly, that income will be needed fast.
You do have plenty of game to hunt, and fishing. Chances are you won't be too bad off in regards to food. Once you stop the bandits from raiding your farms and such. Every little bit helps.
I would have thought the Rift would be better farmland, than the frozen tundra of Whiterun Hold.
I think it was all of Markarth's guards went to join the legions, im going off of how in Skyrim it's all "city guard" and not the Legion guarding the holds.
Depends on Legion duty in High Rock. Sometimes they can act as "city guards" on loan to rulers.
If they didn't have warning it was Balgruuf's fault. It was either Ulfric giving him the axe and Balgruuf taking exception, or Balgruuf challenging Ulfric.
They may have some warning, but this is an attack that could happen at any point. Ulfric's troops were hiding in the hills. They would have been on alert, but civilians would still get harmed. Greatly harmed, burning alive doesn't sound like the best of fates. They were going about their day, until the bells sounded. It is a siege, no amount of warning would really prepare for what is to come.
The examples are just there to prove the CoW tendancy to get into trouble. Can't you just picture some apprentice practicing a spell, nothing happens, and then he looks out his window and Winterhold is falling into the sea? I don't think there's proof of the College fighting the daedra.
Would take a great and powerful wizard to do something like that. Though one could argue it is a risk that some random adventurer could trigger something in an ancient ruin, and half of Skyrim sinks into Black Reach. There are many dangerous artifacts just gathering dust in some ruin, waiting to get picked up. Perhaps you Nords should better safeguard these ruins, do what the Empire does and fund research and send teams in to collect artifacts, and other various items to study.
The College fought against the Mythic Dawn and their actions. The Mythic Dawn would summon the gates, fighting Daedra is to be expected.
That's just who the Nords are, they aren't a very trusting people, and understandably magic has fallen out of favour.
Yes, the Stormcloak Jarl of Winterhold has taken to blaming the Mages for the cold now...
