Akaviri Potentate

The ruling body of the Cyrodilic Empire after the assassination of Reman III, the Akaviri Potentate ruled over the Second Empire for many years, before the Interregnum truly began. It was the Potentate that ushered in the second era, and the potentate which held order over the empire for as long as possible.   Under the Remans, the emperor's chief advisor was called the Potentate. In the battle of Pale Pass, Reman I decisively defeated an Akaviri invasion but other events forced him to offer the defeated army amnesty in return for their service in his own army. This led to Akaviri influence in other spheres of life, and over time the position of Potentate was usually filled by one of the snake people. In the year 1E 2920, the Potentate Versidue-Shaie plotted to overthrow the empire. He contrived the assassination first of Crown Prince Juilek and then the emperor himself. On 22 Evening Star 2920, Versidue-Shaie declared that he was taking over the leadership of the empire but retaining his title of Potentate. In the same speech, he declared the end of the First Era and the start of the Second. In order to suppress armies remaining loyal to the Remans, as well as the armies belonging to individual kingdoms seeking greater autonomy, Versidue-Shaie was forced to engage in a relentless series of campaigns that, by the year 2E 283, finally resulted in victory for his forces. This suppression of those loyal to the Remans may have been the "Reman purges", where the Potentates invented contraptions for cutting off heads. The cost of the campaigns was immense, resulting in the impoverishment of both the empire and its constituent kingdoms and in an effort to maintain order without the expense of a standing army, in 2E 321 Versidue-Shaie agreed to a proposal from his kinsman Dinieras-Ves that established what was to become known as the Fighters Guild.   In 2E 324, Versidue-Shaie was assassinated by the nascent Morag Tong[7][8] and succeeded by his son, Savirien-Chorak. In turn, he was assassinated along with all his heirs on one night in Sun's Dawn 2E 430, bringing a final end to the Second Empire and signaling the start of the Interregnum.