Lore:Armistice

The Armistice, also known as The Treaty of the Armistice, was signed sometime in the final years of the Second Era. It created a lasting peace between Morrowind and the Cyrodilic Empire, furthering Emperor Tiber Septim's dream of a unified Tamriel in the final years of the Second Era. It was signed as the result of a personal meeting between Tiber Septim and the Dunmer god Vivec, which took place after several Empire-won battles, one of which laid waste to Mournhold. Though it was not known to the population at large, the Tribunal had grown weaker and more isolated ever since the awakening of Dagoth Ur and the loss of access to the Heart of Lorkhan circa 2E 882. Thus, Vivec was practically compelled to negotiate with Septim, whom he expressed respect for in his writings. On the Empire's side, Tiber Septim felt similarly compelled to reach a truce instead of dealing with the three living gods and the lingering threat of the returning Dagoth Ur. Many Dunmer were shocked and angered by what they viewed as the Tribunal's betrayal.

The terms of the Armistice were intended to make Morrowind a part of the Empire, while also allowing it a large degree of autonomy. To succeed in this, Tiber Septim knew that he would have to severely limit Morrowind's military power. Accordingly, he successfully demanded Morrowind's surrender of Numidium to the Empire and its acceptance of a substantial Imperial presence in terms of Legion soldiers. In exchange, Morrowind was permitted to keep its autonomy, maintaining the power of the Tribunal Temple and the Great Houses, while being supervised by Imperial representatives in the capital, Almalexia City, and in each of the six newly-created administrative districts. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly in the minds of Dunmer elites, the practice of slavery in Morrowind was protected by the Empire. Dunmer religious practices were similarly protected.

The Armistice was supported most enthusiastically by House Hlaalu, with House Redoran grudgingly following Vivec's lead, while House Dres did so only with the strong provisions protecting slavery. House Telvanni remained neutral and isolationist throughout the proceedings, until the support of Hlaalu and Redoran was officially established, when they joined in on the support of the treaty. House Indoril bowed to the will of the Tribunal, but remained hostile to the Empire; in fact, many Indoril nobles chose ritual suicide rather than to rule an occupied nation.

Following the Armistice, the island of Vvardenfell became a Temple preserve with some small settlements maintained by the Great Houses as well as scattered Ashlander tribes. However, the island was not opened to large-scale settlement by civilians or exploitation by the East Empire Company until 3E 414.

List of Terms

Morrowind's Terms These were generally of cultural and religious nature and are as follow: Allowing the Dunmer to define and preserve their own laws and customs: Slavery and persecution of abolitionists Local House guards and the Great House Law House Wars and Morag Tong Dunmeri religious practices are recognized as a faith by the Empire Outlawing of necromancy (punishable by death) Great Houses are given control over most local government functions Vvardenfell is kept a Temple preserve The Temple is given impunity to persecute religious dissidents and worshippers of the Bad Daedra A general policy of noninterference with the Tribunal is applied

Empire's Terms These were generally of economic and military nature and are as follow: Morrowind is ruled by a figurehead King, chosen directly by the Emperor Numidium is dismantled and secretly taken out of Morrowind piece by piece to be given over to the Empire The Empire is allowed to have a constant military presence in Morrowind (including manned forts) Mages Guild is given monopoly on all public magical services An Imperial charter is needed to deal with ore and Dwarven artifacts With the exception of Great House Law, Morrowind is governed under Imperial Law Non-Dunmer are forbidden to hire or be marked by the Morag Tong.

References

Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.