Oh yeah, that's why a ton of the Stormcloaks fought for the Empire and are ex-legionnaires. You know, because they didn't believe in them. They may isolate themselves by choice but that doesn't mean they don't support them. That's like saying the U.S didn't support the Allies in World War 1 even though they weren't directly involved.
Oh yeah, that's why there is conscription. Why you had Nords in Oblivion who had fled to avoid Military service. It was a Great War, I'm sure many left to fight against the elves because they felt they had to, or maybe they thought it was fun. The usual excuses in war (those who joined willingly anyway).
The Old Holds isolate themselves by choice, the direct opposite of what the Empire stands for which goes for the cosmopolitan view.
That's like saying North Korea really supports democracy and freedom of speech, but chooses otherwise.
The Nords that stand behind the Empire stand behind what they've known for millennium. They fear change. They fear the truth. They're just like you Imperials who think Skyrim cannot sustain itself in a war against Elves because the Empire couldn't.
The Empire couldn't because they had lost well over half the army. Though I'm sure if the combined might of the Empire barely survived, a province who has just come out of a Civil War will whoop their arse.
You mean before the Empire was even established? Yeah, I'm pretty sure they didn't do it for them then, unless the Nords are time travelers.
plops, I didn't realize the Empire wasn't established
390 years after Tiber Septim was crowned Emperor. Taking their god damn time, then.
Half are loyal now, the Eastern holds have been, and always will continue to be, more traditional. they still practice the old Nord right of passage, they still pay homage to the Old Gods, the Empire was okay to them, for a while. Then the White Gold Concordant was signed and... well... you know.
The Empire ignored them. The dissent was there since Tiber's reign and even death. If you think this dislike for the Empire started with the White-Gold Concordat, you're mistaken. The Talos Ban was simply the final thing, and a major rally.
Skyrim would be an Independent state free to make it's own choices without constant Imperial intervention.
When has the Empire made Imperial intervention in Skyrim, besides this one time. Skyrim has a plops load more free choices than any other province.
Your Empire's already destroyed anyway.
Still standing.
You can't even call your measly collection of fractured states an Empire.
Who is fractured besides Skyrim?
The Aldmeri Dominion may be full of Elven pricks with a superiority complex but they have unity.
So did the Empire, until the Stormcloaks started their plops.
What does the Empire have? Half of Skyrim (the half of which has the Reachmen in it), and a collection of Kingdoms in High Rock that are constantly engulfed in power struggles.
Yes, measly collection indeed.
And YOU expect to take on the Aldmeri Dominion head on? You're the same people who couldn't fight a defensive war against the Old Mary Dick Minions with three provinces at your back.
Actually you're the same people too. Last time I checked, Skyrim was part of the Empire during the Great War.
The Empire had it's armies spread out across the provinces, it was hit by a surprise attack by a superior Military force. Couldn't fight a defensive war you say, yet it took the Aldmeri Dominion four years to get the Imperial City, and the Empire actually had the Aldmeri forces too weakened to move and on the run in Hammerfell.
Good luck trying to invade two provinces covered in tropical forests and deserts wearing heavy plate armor. I can hear the Imperials complaining about armor chaffing already, and they haven't even invaded yet.
Legionnaires are specially outfitted depending on a large number of factors, including climate, location, task, and expectations. They employed armors of chain, scale, plate mail, and gender-neutral skirts in the province of Morrowind in 3E 427, heavy steel plate overlying chain mail in the capitol province of Cyrodiil during the Oblivion Crisis, and lighter leather, chainmail, and steel plate armors in Skyrim during the Stormcloak Rebellion. Battlemages tend to wear hoods, healers wear light padded armor, guardsmen on loan to nobles wear the vestments of their town, city, county, or hold, and rangers and foresters tend to wear fur or leather apparel in addition to their Legionary armor. In addition, uniform may vary depending on the culture of the local area or province.
What do you think they would have been wearing when they were stationed in these provinces? They even had armor for the swamps of Black Marsh
.
Blindly into death? That's the Nordic way of life, friend. You've pretty much just proven to me why the Empire has no place in Skyrim anymore.
Yes blindly into death, great, you had your glory. Sorry to your families left behind to left at the mercy of the Dominion. Cause who cares about them, right?
You've just proven to me that the Nords are no better than the Thalmor.
You also claim that the the Aldmeri Dominion was as weak, if not, weaker than the Empire by the end of the war,
The Aldmeri Dominion could have continued for at least five more years. They were weak, but they didn't have their lands occupied for a year.
then you go and claim that continuing to fight the war would be going blindly to your death even though all of Hammerfell and most of Skyrim wanted to keep fighting,
The Empire could barely maintain order during the peace that followed the White-Gold Concordat. Yet less than half the Imperial Army are going to invade Dominion occupied parts of Hammerfell. How do you supply this army, your people haven't been farming and the Aldmeri were wiping out entire villages and people fleeing. So with the infrastructure of the Empire in near ruins, explain to me in your own thoughts on how the hell they were going to fight a war in Hammerfell, keep the borders protected, keep the supply roads safe, fight whatever remaining Aldmeri forces were still in Cyrodiil as there was mention to secondary forces.
Skyrim wanted to keep fighting, and yet they accepted peace. Where was the outrage twenty six years ago? The Redguards didn't want to give up their lands, they wanted to fight. Where is it that Skyrim said no? If it was most of Skyrim why wasn't there rebellion right away or refusal like Hammerfell. Not even Ulfric was opposed to the Empire until a year after the Great War.
Hammerfell seceded and they won, by themselves. Ruined country or not, they won and they still live. What does that say about the Empire's chances?
They won? Won what? The Dominion simply left to regain strength and left Hammerfell indeed ruined. What did the Redguards achieve? They held onto their province, that isn't a victory. That is a delay.
The threat remains, and once again the Aldmeri Dominion are lining their borders for round two.
Breton forces were devastated after Red Ring, as were the Nordic forces and the Cyrodiil forces. Retaking the Imperial City wasn't an easy thing. It was a massive battle, not some resistance and guerilla warfare.
Besides, it was the Empire that dealt the heavy blow to the Aldmeri forces in Hammerfell. So I say the Empire's chances are looking pretty damn good considering they survived.
Yes, I do think they left for reasons of pure cowardice and I commend the Sons and Daughters of Skyrim in that they at least have the balls to nut up and fight the Thalmor by themselves. By pure determination, ferocity and grit, they will win. Just like Hammerfell.
Hammerfell didn't win, you don't win by sending the Dominion from your lands with a treaty. Like the White-Gold Concordat, it is just a delay, temporary breathing room.
You only win when you kill the head of the snake.
That same Empire that could have won if they just continued to fight, but feared the loss of their power and surrendered because of it?
Won? How?
Although victorious, the Imperial armies were in no shape to continue the war. The entire remaining Imperial force was gathered in Cyrodiil, exhausted and decimated by the Battle of the Red Ring. Not a single legion had more than half its soldiers fit for duty. Two legions had been effectively annihilated, not counting the loss of the Eighth during the retreat from the Imperial City the previous year.
If they couldn't keep order in the short years after the Great War, how would they have invaded the Aldmeri Dominion? Not to mention how the hell are you going to supply a war of that length when your lands were occupied for a year.
Tiber Septim had to use a giant godly golem. Yet Titus Mede II should have done it with less than half the Imperial Army.
You don't win, until you kill them all. You're not just fighting enemy soldiers, you're against an ideology.
I couldn't care less about the rest of Tamriel. I wan't Nordic independence and Thalmor exile, that's what most Nords want. You think Ulfric is stupid enough to invade Alinor on his own?
Thalmor don't leave simply because you want them to. They don't need a treaty to be there, they never have. Only way to be rid of the Thalmor is to defeat Alinor, even then they may pop up again.
You should care, for it'll take more than Nords to defeat them. Personally I wouldn't put anything past Ulfric, he's after a good song, wanting to be the hero. Men trying to be heros in war get themselves and often others killed doing something stupid.
Empire may have it's issues, but you're still going to need them to fight the Dominion. Skyrim and Cyrodiil need each other.
We opened the door for them? You let them regain their strength. We're weakening an already weak Empire that couldn't put a dent in the Aldmeri Dominion in it's current state.
There was no stopping them regaining their strength. The Septim Dynasty should have eliminated them when they were the minority, when they had the chance. Now everyone pays that mistake.
Has nothing to do with let them, the Empire would not have been able to invade the Dominion after Red Ring, or even before the Great War started due to people in all provinces being complacent and relaxed.
The Great War gave the Empire a kick in the rear, and everyone now understands the Thalmor threat.
Whats more cowardly? Refusing to fight a war because you fear the collapse of your power, or fighting a war for your traditions when it leads to the collapse of a power that oppresses you because they fear war?
Where is the Empire refusing to fight a war out of the fear of war?
The terms were harsh, but Titus II believed that it was necessary to secure peace and give the Empire a chance to regain its strength.
"But to answer your question, the White-Gold Concordat was the fancy name they put on the peace treaty between the Empire and the Thalmor. It ended the war and saved the Empire to fight another day."
"From the Imperial City, our war here is just a sideshow. An interlude before the main event against the Thalmor resumes."
"The ordinary citizen will be happy to get back to life as normal, to have their families return home. And they should enjoy it while they can... I suspect all of Tamriel will again be called to arms in the not too distant future."
"Skyrim's days are darkening, soon the Legion will be called into service like never before"
Looks to me like they're gearing up for a war, have been for twenty six years.
If it is cowardly to know when and when not to fight, then at I'd hate to see what it is to be brave.
Skyrim wasn't even touched by the brunt of the Great War and THEY'RE the weakest?
Skyrim was still touched by the Great War, thousands of Nords died in the war. The Great War was twenty six years ago. Skyrim is fighting a Civil War, and Civil Wars are bloody. Many would have died in it, and throw in the Dragons. No matter which way you want to paint it, they are attacking cities and Imperials/Stormcloaks are both suffering from them.
Not, you know, the country that lost an entire chunk of it to Red Mountain,
200 hundred years ago. Morrowind is doing quite well, and they've rebuilt most things. Protected by an elite army, and thanks to our actions in Dragonborn they have access to large amounts of ebony.
or the one that has deep seated corruption in it's Elder Council and was also ravaged by War?
Cyrodiil was ravaged twenty six years ago, and while they still have scarring. It has been twenty six years since their war. Skyrim is still having a Civil War, and it doesn't end after either questline.
There is corruption in every province. Though maybe you can outline which corruption of the Elder Council you speak of?
How about the one that fought the Aldmeri Dominion alone.
They were left with their province devastated, but they've also had twenty one years to rebuild and regain strength.
Y'know I think Skyrim is okay compared to the rest of Tamriel. We may have Dragons and a Civil War going on but its no worse than the rest of Tamriel.
What with Civil War, Dragons, Vampires, out of control bandits, increased Forsworn activity, Falmer starting a slow invasion of the surface, magical ruptures appearing all over Skyrim and a Daedric Prince planning on using the province as host to a plague... Throw in the fact we do mess around with not just one, but three Elder Scrolls.
Things are looking dicey.