Years before the events of the Dragon Crisis and year after the Oblivion Crisis, there was one great test to Tamriel. Unlike Dragon and Oblivion Crises, there were never any individual heroes who brought end to both of them. There was no Hero of Kvatch or Dragonborn to save Tamriel. As a fact, most of the heroes during this event actually failed their objective. That objective was to keep a crumbling Empire secure from Thalmor invaders. For decades, the Thalmor faction had been gaining ground in Summerset Isle. At the end of the Oblivion Crisis they took control of Summerset Isle, Alinor, an ancient name which was used by the people of Tamriel before man ascended over mer. 7 years later, in 4E 29, the Thalmor political factions in Valenwood seized control. Imperial factions and their supporters seeked exile in the Empire. With this new found success, the Thalmor renamed themselves the Aldmeri Dominion, consisting of a unified Alinor and Valenwood, although politically lead by the Altmer. For the next seventy years, the Aldmeri isolated themselves, which would have great consequences for the rest of Tamriel, who would not be able to keep up with the technological advances of the Altmer.
In 4E 98, the two moons, Masser and Secunda vanished. Within most of the Empire, this was viewed with trepidation and fear. In Elsweyr it was far worse. Culturally the moons are much more influential to the Khajiit. After two years of the Void Nights, the moons returned. The Thalmor announced that they had restored the moons using previously unknown Dawn Magicks, but it is unclear if they truly restored the moons or just took advantage of foreknowledge that they would return. The Imperials soon lost all political influence and 15 years later, the pro-Imperial Elsweyr Confederacy was couped, with the ancient kingdoms of Anequina and Pelletine being restored as client kingdoms of the Dominion. Dominion territory now bordered Cyrodiil itself. Seventy years after the two moons disappeared, Emperor Titus Medes II ascended to the throne of a chaotic Empire; the lost of Black Marsh, Valenwood and Elsweyr had decreased the borders of the Empire. Morrowind had been devastated by the Red Mountain eruption and the Argonian invasion. Hammerfell was in a state of political uncertainty between the Crowns and Forebears.
On the 30th of Frostfall, 4E 171, three years into Emperor Medes II reign, the Aldmeri Dominion sent an emissary with a list of demands, including the banning of Talos worship, the disbandment of the Blades, the cession of Southern Hammerfell and number of tributes to be paid to the Dominion; in return, a cart with a 'gift' was to be given to the Emperor. Medes rejected this; the cart was overturned by the Aldmeri, revealing the heads of 100 Blades agents based in Summerset Isle, Valenwood and Elsweyr. The Dominion issued a declaration of war and the Empire responded with their own, despite Medes' Generals warning him about the Empire's military weakness. And so begins the Great War. You are an Imperial or Thalmor soldier; you may have your families, your future, your life. You are not a hero who has a destiny to defeat this great evil. Your rank, name and number is the only marker of your influence.
OOC Information
Presuming that you've played the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, you may be aware of the Great War. If you haven't gotten that far in the game, or you don't have it, this is basically an event between Oblivion and Skyrim. The Great War will still result in the White-Gold Concordant; however, characters still have the chance to influence the events of the Great War. The Empire are fighting a near impossible war, so defeat seems inevitable. The Thalmor have their own problems; no one except those at the top know the true reasons for going to war. The war is supported by about 60% of the Altmer population, although only 40% of the Bosmer population in the Dominion support it, while Khajiit support is as low as 20%, since their trading caravans are going to be badly affected.
Both sides have varying armies; the Thalmor primarily rely on a disciplined force of lightly armoured soldiers, armed with swords, supplemented by archers. Nearly all of them are skilled in magic to a degree; Thalmor Wizards choose to specialise in magic and there is usually a wizard to support a group of soldiers, compared to the Empire, who have relatively few Battlemages. Despite being lightly armoured, they have the advantage of Elven smithery versus the Steel used by the majority of Legionnaires and pro-Imperials. The Thalmor also have an advantage in numbers. The Thalmor are also supplemented by Dominion Beast Auxiliary, which consists of Khajiit and Argonians who aren't allowed to join the Thalmor for racial reasons. They are expert scouts and skirmishers, however they are few in number.
The Imperial Legion is just as disciplined as the Thalmor, however they have the advantage of diversity. In their ranks, they do not just have Imperials but also Bretons, Nords, Redguards, Bosmer (who are descendants of the pro-Imperial Bosmer who fled Valenwood after the Thalmor coup), Dumner and Orcs. The Imperial Legion is therefore able to apply each race's skill to their military; traditionally, Nords, Redguards and Orcs would serve as the heavily armoured warrior core of the military, while Imperials, Bosmer and Dumner would serve as light armoured Skirmishers and Bretons as the few Battlemages the Imperial Legion has. However this isn't always the case. Their weakness is their lack of magic proficiency amongst the rank and file members, who rely on cold steel and arrows to do damage, although the Orcs do have pretty good quality armour. Despite their numbers, they lack any effective numbers to be able to defeat their enemies.
You don't have to be an Imperial Legionnaire or a Thalmor Wizard - you can do have the freedom in choosing. You can be an Arognian thief, a Khajiit trader, a Redguard warrior trying to defend his land from Thalmor invaders. You are allowed to be a member of an elite group like the Blades (a subplot will revolve around the Blades and their persecution by the Thalmor, along with their eventual replacement by the Penitus Oculatus). Just don't expect to have your character be the Grand Master of the Blades if you make poorly structured one-liners which have poor grammar and spelling.
And the app... (please give me feedback and suggested improvements)
NS Name:
Character Name:
Age:
Race:
Faction(s):
Rank: (if applicable)
Weapons:
Armour:
Biography:
RP Example: (if you make a decent biography, you're allowed to use that as your example))
Rules
1. Please don't Godmod.
2. Please respect other RPers.
3. Please be mature.
4. And finally, enjoy yourself!
