Imperial City

There is but one city in the Imperial Province, but one city in Tamriel, but one city in the World; that, my brothers, is the city of the Cyrodiils.

— Refayj

Imperial City Nibennium Nibenium, Nibennion, Rumarium
Imperial capital
Dawn in the Imperial City
Nickname(s): Cyrodiil City, City of Empires, City of a Thousand Cults, City of White and Gold
Country	Cyrodiil
Region	Nibenay
Founded	Merethic Era
Population
• Total	Over 1 million

The Imperial City, also known as Nibennium or by various other names, is a massive metropolis astride Lake Rumare that has served as the capital of the empires of man since the early First Era. Prior to that, it was the center of the Ayleid civilization.

Name

The city has been known by other proper names, including Cyrodinium, Nibenium, Nibennion and Rumarium, and by other monikers such as the Capital, the City of a Thousand Cults, the City of Empires, the Great City, or just the City.

To the Ayleids, it was known as Aedrisel ("Hall of the Ancestors") and Mallari-Latta ("Gold-White").

History

Early history

According to the Aldmeri epic poem Udhendra Nibenu, the natives of the Rumarean islands were "Bird-Men", who could fly, but lacked written language. They made Topal the Pilot lord of their isles in exchange for the knowledge of writing.

Founding

The city itself was founded in the Merethic Era by the Aldmer, with the construction of the White-Gold Tower on the centermost of the Eight Islands. By the First Era, White-Gold was chief among the Ayleid city-states of Cyrodiil.

Alessian era

The rebel assault on the City was the last major battle of the Alessian Slave Rebellion. It saw the deaths of mannish commander Pelinal Whitestrake and Ayleid king Umaril the Unfeathered in a duel atop White-Gold Tower. Afterwards, rebel forces led by Morihaus took control, and the City became the capital of the nascent Alessian Empire.

On the 23rd of Sun's Dawn, 1E 461, Emperor Gorieus was crowned in the Imperial City without any entertainment in accordance with Marukh's doctrine.

In 1E 478, the Imperial City survived a plague that swept the Colovian West and killed King Mhorus Larich of Skingrad, which led his eldest surviving son Dorald, an Alessian priest in the Imperial City, to immediately cede the kingdom to the Empire.

In 1E 946, construction of the Imperial Arena began under Gaiden Shinji.

According to the Remanada, Reman was then found at Sancre Tor with the Amulet of Kings embedded in his forehead by a shepherdess who carried the infant to the White-Gold Tower and placed him on the throne uncontested at an unknown date in the First Era.

On the 6th of Evening Star, 1E 2920, Emperor Reman III was assassinated by the Morag Tong on his own throne. On the 22nd of Evening Star, Versidue-Shaie announced from the Speaker's Balcony of the Imperial Palace that the Cyrodiil line was dead and that he would assume the role of emperor but keep the title of potentate, with his first act being the declaration of the beginning of the Second Era.

Interregnum

In the late 5th century 2E, 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. Durcorach's son, Moricar the Middling, preferred to stay in the Imperial City rather than accompany his armies. Prince Leovic, upon returning from a campaign against border raiders, 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' 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.

Septim era

Cuhlecain captured the Imperial City in 2E 854. Before he was crowned, however, he was assassinated, and his top general, Tiber Septim, was crowned the new Emperor of all Cyrodiil.

In 2E 857 the Cult of the Ancestor Moth rose up in the Moth Rebellion. The Third Legion, mostly comprised of newly-recruited Colovian peasant boys, was sent from nearby Anvil to quell it. There the Legion earned its sobriquet "The Faithful" while besieged in the Hesod Barracks by the Cultists. After the rebellion ended, Tiber Septim triumphantly reentered the capital.

Under Antiochus, the city was as infamously decadent as its emperor. The result of this was the War of the Red Diamond, in which the Imperial City was captured in only a fortnight by Uriel Septim III in 3E 121 as two other attacks drew Imperial forces away from the capital.

Circa 3E 145 - 3E 153, the "Mad Emperor" Pelagius Septim III had the Imperial Palace have frequent early-morning scrubdowns due to his obsession with cleanliness.

In 3E 391, Queen Barenziah accompanied her daughter and son on a journey to the Imperial City. Barenziah was there to plead with the emperor for aid, and hoped the presence of the children would soften his heart. However the false emperor remained unmoved, and when word came that evening that her husband Symmachus was killed in a revolt, the surviving royals were forced into exile.

In 3E 399 the Eternal Champion entered the Imperial City and descended into the depths of the Imperial Palace to face the impostor Jagar Tharn. Tharn was killed by the Champion, which freed Uriel Septim VII and Talin Warhaft, putting an end to the Imperial Simulacrum. Following the Restoration, a grand state memorial service was held for Symmachus at the Imperial City, befitting the man who had served the Septim dynasty for so long and so well.

Fourth Era

In 4E 17, Titus Mede captured the Imperial City with a thousand men and seized control of the Empire from Thules the Gibbering, marking the start of the Mede dynasty.

In 4E 122 during the Great War, Aldmeri armies advanced deeper into Cyrodiil and by the end of the year, the Dominion general Lord Naarifin had advanced to the very walls of the Imperial City. There were fierce naval clashes in Lake Rumare and along the Niben as the Imperial forces attempted to hold the eastern bank.

In 4E 123, fresh legions from Skyrim bolstered the Emperor's main army in the Imperial City, but the Aldmeri forced the crossing of the Niben and began advancing in force up the eastern bank. By the end of the year, the Imperial City was surrounded on three sides with only the northern supply route to Bruma remaining open.

During the spring of 4E 124 Aldmeri reinforcements gathered in southern Cyrodiil and on 12th of Second Seed they launched a massive assault on the Imperial City itself. One army of the Dominion drove north to completely surround the city, while Lord Naarifin's main force attacked the walls from the south, east, and west. The Eighth Legion fought a desperate rearguard action on the walls of the city, while Titus Mede II broke out of the city to the north with his main army, smashing through the surrounding Aldmeri forces and linking up with reinforcements marching south from Skyrim under General Jonna. Meanwhile, however, the capital fell to the invaders and the infamous Sack of the Imperial City began. The Imperial Palace was burned, the White-Gold Tower itself looted, and the elves perpetrated atrocities against the populace.

On the 30th of Rain's Hand in 4E 125, the Battle of the Red Ring occurred, named after the road that encircles the Imperial City, where Titus II split his remaining forces into three hosts that surrounded the occupied Imperial City. Titus himself was injured by assassins and unable to fight; however, unknown to his troops, his place was taken by the mysterious Forgotten Hero, who donned his armor and led the Legion to victory. An attempt by the Aldmeri to break out of the city to the south was blocked by the unbreakable shieldwall of General Jonna's battered legions.

After a long, bloody battle, the Dominion army in Cyrodiil was utterly destroyed and the Imperial City recaptured. Lord Naarifin was hung from the top of White-Gold Tower and kept alive for thirty-three days.

Geography

Nibennium is the largest city in the known world, by both size and population. Its core covers the entirety of City Isle, with bridges connected to suburbs and outposts on the remaining seven islands. Adjacent mainland settlements like Weye, Fax Aleshut, and Tiberiad are sometimes considered satellites to the larger hub. Nibennium also possesses a vast underground, which may rival the surface city in its extent.

Undercity

Main article: Imperial Undercity

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, in which Jagar Tharn and his servants took refuge, 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. Conversely, the Blades used secret passages such as the Old Way to move around the city, though using them can pose serious risks: Emperor Uriel Septim VII was assassinated by the Mythic Dawn in one of these passages beneath the Prison District.