The Imperial City
History in the Second Era
Sometime before 2E 541 the Reachman warlord Durcorach the Black Drake conquered the Imperial City, and was proclaimed Emperor of Cyrodiil shortly after. Durcorach married Veraxia Tharn to legitimize his rule, and the so-called Longhouse Emperors would go on to rule over the Imperial City and Cyrodiil longer than most previous conquerors. His son, Emperor Moricar the Middling, preferred to stay in the Imperial City rather than accompanying his armies. After his own son, Prince Leovic, returned from his campaign against border raiders, he was received in the Great Hall of White-Gold, where he chose Clivia Tharn as his wife; he had inherited the Ruby Throne by 2E 566. Varen's Rebellion ended in 2E 577 when Varen Aquilarios's forces stormed the Imperial City and confronted Leovic's last legion in a bloody battle that razed the Market District. Varen personally dispatched Leovic at the foot of the Ruby Throne before proclaiming himself emperor. During the Planemeld, the Imperial City was invaded by the Daedric forces of Molag Bal, who were helped by the Worm Cult and the traitorous Legion Zero. Dark Anchors opened above the city, from which Daedra flooded out, killing and enslaving the citizens of the City. A giant Dark Anchor was then opened above the White-Gold Tower. The Daggerfall Covenant, Ebonheart Pact, and Aldmeri Dominion invaded the City and extensively fought among themselves and against the legions of Daedra and Worm Cultists during the Three Banners War, in an effort to claim the Imperial City for themselves.
Layout & Geography
At the center of the City is the Green Emperor Way, in which lies the White-Gold Tower at its own center. Beneath the city is an extensive underground whose sewers connect to various substructures which in turn break into the many natural caverns of the island. The White-Gold Tower in particular has a vast basement system, and which leads to an Ayleid ruin known as the Hall of Epochs. The underground is thus a haven for those who don't wish to be found: bandits, goblins and vampires dwell beneath, occasionally rising to endanger the city's inhabitants. Through the Red Ring Road and the other main roads that span across the province, it is connected to a myriad of outer provincial settlements (i.e, Arenthia to the southwest in Valenwood, Gideon to the southeast in Black Marsh, Kragenmoor to the northeast in Morrowind, Riverhold to the south in Elsweyr, Riverwood to the north in Skyrim, and Stonedale to the northwest in Hammerfell).
Arboretum District
The Arboretum District is the southeast district of the Imperial City. It consists of botanical gardens and statues to each of the Divines. The Arboretum contains an archival institution known as the Imperial Academy of Records and Histories in its east section that had millennia of scrupulous record-keeping as of the Second Era mostly regarding lineage, writs of stewardship, and letters patent. Its proximity to the institution makes it a popular haunt for the city's scholars. Circa 2E 582, the Arboretum was being used to burn these archives by the invading Daedra. Soldiers of the three alliances managed to salvage some records for the archival institution. There was also a failed attempt by the daedric forces to snuff out the Dragonfires permanently.
Arcane University
The Arcane University (also called the Imperial University) is a walled complex located on City Isle in Cyrodiil. It is a district of the Imperial City, and is connected by bridge to the Arboretum District. It was founded in the Second Era and replaced the Crystal Tower of Summerset Isle as the center of magical learning in Tamriel. Originally an old Ayleid district adjacent to the Imperial City, the complex was rebuilt as the headquarters of the Mages Guild[2] after the guild's founding in the early Second Era. The Arcane University served as the seat of the Council of Mages and was Tamriel's foremost magical research center, home to many powerful guild mages, scholars, and apprentices. The university grounds are guarded by Imperial Battlemages, a legion of magic-wielders once trained in the Battlespire, as well as some of the Mage's Guild's own The Order of the Lamp knights. In the center of the district is the Arch-Mage's Tower. The tower contained the Council Chamber, the Arch-Mage's living quarters, and a ground floor open to the public. The chambers were linked by magical teleportation pads. Accessible from the tower was the Imperial Orrery, a reconstructed Dwarven machine used to chart the heavens. The university grounds were divided by a wall; one half of the grounds were reserved for members of the Mages Guild. The university contained a Chironasium for enchanting, a Lustratorium for alchemy, a Praxographical Center for spell making, and quarters and practice rooms for permanent residents. The Mystic Archives had a large collection of books and notes. The grounds also contained an alchemical garden, an outdoors lecture area, and a watchtower for the Battlemages and Knights.
Arena District
The Arena District is home to the Imperial Arena, also known as the Bloody Jewel of the Imperial City. It is located in the northeast of the Imperial City and contains little of note other than the Imperial Arena, which serves as a proving ground for warriors and as a popular attraction and gambling opportunity for citizen and tourist alike. Some citizens, however, believe that the fighting is faked, claiming the blood to be "berry syrup" and the fighting "ham-acting". Others say the Elder Council runs the Arena to amuse the masses. The Arena is also used for other events such as musical symphonies, troupes of acrobats, and even mock naval battles. The sewers that run beneath the district are known for being gory, such as the section known as Beneath the Bloodworks regularly serves as a vampire nest. The Harena Hypogeum, also beneath the Arena District, was held by the Ebonheart Pact during the Three Banners War. Two statues are present in the district, the statue of Alessia in the south and the statue of Morihaus in the north. Alessia is depicted in her role as the first ruler of the Cyrodiilic Empire and the founder of the Eight Divines, while Morihaus is depicted as a pit fighter who led Alessia's armies.
History
The Imperial Arena was founded by Gaiden Shinji between 1E 946 and 1E 947 under the Alessian Empire. In 1E 2920, a fight between Reman II's son Prince Juilek and the Potentate Versidue-Shaie's son Savirien-Chorak occurred here to see which of the Akaviri and Cyrodiilic fighting styles was better. In 2E 582, Molag Bal's forces took over the Imperial City and used the Arena for entertainment by forcing captured citizens to fight against Daedric creatures such as Clannfear and Ogrim.
Dragonfire Cathedral
The Dragonfire Cathedral is one of the greatest kept secrets in the Imperial City, a monumental subterranean vault and temple found in the ancient underground of the City. The Cathedral's architecture is Ayleid, but it was repurposed in the early days of the Alessian Empire to house the Sublime Brazier, a relic essential to the lighting of the Dragonfires.
Palace District
The Palace District is the inner section of the Imperial City, which surrounds the White-Gold Tower. It contains a large open street patrolled by the Imperial Palace Guard and parks with visages of past Emperors' heads created by topiary-mages. They can speak freely via magic and whenever an Emperor requires counsel, birds are drawn into these topiaries and control their branches to have them express. Various people of importance to the Empire have been buried in the park's mausoleums and cemeteries, including Imperial counts, saints, battlemages, and even emperors. Some notable figures include Prince Camarril and the Trentius family. The northern gardens are the coolest acreage during the summertide. The historical fiction, 2920, The Last Year of the First Era describes it as austeric, with tiered flowerbeds of blue-gray and green flowers.
Elven Gardens District
The Elven Gardens District is a residential district in the northwest of the Imperial City.
Market District
The Market District or Memorial District is located in the northeast section of the Imperial City and is the main hub for trade in the City. The streets of the Market District are often crowded with trinket vendors, soothsayers, and self-styled prophets of any Daedra or Divine imaginable. Beggars also choke the edges of the walkways. Attractive women and men of all races stand outside the alehouses of the District, flirting to attract business. The District is also full of food stalls, selling roasted oysters, fried cheese, and all manner of food and snacks. Other products sold in the District are spices, bolts of silk, fine jewelry, clothing, weaponry, shields, armor, books, spells, staves, potions, and other general goods. Baandari Pedlars also have a seasonal camp in the Market District.[58] There are plenty of bars in the district that cater to specific groups, such as the Colovians. There are also religious buildings in the District. For example, there is a Yokudan Chapel, where Crowns worship the eight Yokudan Divines. The chapel has a system of louvered ventilation ducts in the clerestory, designed to catch the slightest breeze and funnel it down into the nave.
Prison District
The Imperial City Prison (also called the Imperial Prison or the Imperial Dungeons) is located in the Prison District of the Imperial City, connected by bridge to the Market District. It is infamous for its impregnability, although several secret escape tunnels connect up to the ancient subterrane and the prison sewers beneath. It is the headquarters of the Imperial Legion. The Prison District is a circular walled enclosure located on the northeastern peninsula of City Isle, outside the walls of the Imperial City proper. A gated wall splits the district in two, with offices and the armory on the public-facing side and a prison yard beyond the gates. In the center lies the Bastion, a tall tower that leads to the prisons below.
Nobles District
The Nobles District is the western district of the Imperial City. The wealthy primarily live in this exclusive district.
Temple District
The Temple District is located in the southwest of the Imperial City and is home to The Temple of the One, the largest religious structure in Cyrodiil. This great structure, a staple of ceremony and official worship since the days of Reman I and the institution of the Dragonfire ritual, is dedicated to the ineffable deity of the Alessian Order. They called this spirit 'the One', identifying it as Akatosh, the 'Supreme Spirit'. Although the Remans were not known to follow Alessian teachings, they regularly used the temple to worship, and Tiber Septim restored the building and its associated cult when he took the Dragon Throne. The District is also home to other temples dedicated to the Divines, such as the Benevolence of Mara's cathedral. There are thousands of cults operating in the Temple District and the Imperial City at large, such as the priests of St. Alessia, the Cult of Heroes, the Cult of Emperor Zero, the Cult of the Ancestor Moth, and the cult of Shezarr, to name but a few. It is said that Empress Alessia was buried on the site of the Temple of the One; but this is decidedly false, and the true location of her body is unknown.
Waterfront District
The Waterfront District is found in the southwest of the Imperial City. It serves as the main harbor for the City and as a residential area for the poorer residents. Ships from throughout Tamriel come here for trading, transporting goods, and other business. The harbor part of the District is full of traders, privateers, sailors, the destitute and is home to the Thieves Guild. The Imperial Trading Company has its warehouses here alongside an office. The Waterfront lighthouse is connected to the harbor and lights the way for ships at night, it is controlled by the Imperial Legion. The residential parts of the District are home to hundreds of shacks, shanties, and lean-tos that crowd between the wall and the water, and many are built raised up from the water on stilts. The District is home to many different neighborhoods of different races, such as the Bosmer neighborhood extant in the Second Era, with its tavern named the Tipsy Torchbug. While Argonians are rarely found residing within the walls of the Imperial City, large numbers are known to dwell in the Waterfront District. 'The Xanmeer', a large building found in the district is clear evidence of their impact there. Gondolas and river-ships sail along the watery avenues of the district's flooded lower dwellings.