The Imperial Legion

"For the Emperor!"

- The Legion's Battle Cry  are the military arm of the Empire of Tamriel. They maintain order between the Imperial Provinces and enforce the laws of Cyrodiil. The modern Imperial Legion was created by Tiber Septim, the founder of the 3rd Empire of Tamriel. It is made up of various different Legions stationed all around the continent. Currently it is made up of 11 Legions, but in the past it has had up to 18 Legions.

Structure and History
The Imperial Legion is the most well trained and more disciplined army in all of Tamriel. Ever since their formation during the beginning of Tiber Septim's Empire and his conquest of the province their formations and strategies had no equal. However as the years of the 3rd Era went by and not many wars plagued that Era the Legion's abilities started to stagnate. It wasn't until after the First Great War in the 4th Era and the military genius of Emperor Titus Mede II that the Imperial Legion got a reform, even their ranks were changed. With renewed strategies and training the Legion prepared to face the Aldmeri Dominion to which they had almost lost before.

In Titus Mede II's reign the Empire was much weaker, holding only three provinces and only about half its usual levy. When Augurius Mede united the Empire for the first time since the reign of the Septims in the 3rd Era he aggressively expanded the numbers of the Legion, drafting citizens from the imperial provinces to serve in its numbers. He was also the one that changed the Legion's banner, adding more designs to the red background and black dragon banner of the Legion since the Mede Dynasty took over the Empire. During his reign the Empire had upwards to 13 Legions, however one of them that was made up of mostly Nords almost wholly defected to serve Ulfric Stormcloak during the Stormcrown Rebellion. Augurius kept the structure of the Legion mostly the same as what his father had established. It wasn't until Darius Septim was crowned that the Legion had another major change.

Darius Septim gave more autonomy to the imperial provinces, and thus each province now had its own military. Because of this the Legion's presence outside of Cyrodiil considerably diminished, with them only keeping a garrison in one city in each province except for Orsinium. After the Stormcrown Rebellion the new emperor brought the imperial provinces back into the Empire with the Second White-Gold Concordat, one of the terms was that each province provided 25% of its military to fill the Legions' numbers. The Imperial Legion now has the purpose of maintaining the order in the Empire of Tamriel. They serve as the guards in the province of Cyrodiil. Outside of Cyrodiil they don't interfere with the other provinces despite maintaining a garrison in one city from there. The only instance in which the Imperial Legion will interfere in another province like Skyrim is if the ruler of the province requests help or if the emperor orders the Legion to interfere. If a province attacks another then the Imperial Legion gets free reign to interfere in order to maintain order in Tamriel.

Bases
The Imperial Legion's main bases are located in Cyrodiil, as they are the military of that province. They maintain garrisons in forts around the regions of Cyrodiil as well as in the Imperial City where they serve as guards. The Legions that remain in Cyrodiil are the 1st, 2nd and the 3rd Legions.

Outside of Cyrodiil the Legion maintains one base in each province, with the only exception being Orsinium due to its small size. The bases in the other provinces are:
 * Blackmoor, Skyrim: The base of the 4th Legion.
 * Aldingwall, High Rock: The base of the 5th Legion
 * Karnver Falls, Hammerfell: The base of the 6th Legion
 * Helnim Wall, Morrowind: The base of the 7th Legion
 * Riverbridge, Black Marsh: The base of the 8th Legion
 * Duncori Walk, Elsweyr: The base of the 9th Legion
 * Treepoint (also known as Glenpoint), Valenwood: The base of the 10th Legion
 * Ebon Stadmont, Summerset Isles: The base of the 11th Legion

Recruitment
The Imperial Legion has open recruitment, meaning that any citizen of the Empire can offer to join. If a Legion's numbers are too low then conscripts are drafted from nearby cities.

As per the terms of the Second White-Gold Concordat 25% of the garrison of the military of the 10 Imperial Provinces, excluding Cyrodiil, must be sent to serve as part of the Imperial Legion.

Members

 * Darius Septim, Emperor
 * Etienne Geles, General of the 3rd Legion
 * Roderic Acques, General of the 5th Legion

Former Members

 * Augurius Mede, Emperor
 * Caius Mede, Prince

Ranks
Unlike the Stormcloaks, the Imperial Legion uses more a traditional ranking system. The names of some of their ranks comes from Old Cyrodillic, the language used by the early Imperials as well as the Nedic tribes that inhabited the Heartlands of Tamriel. The current ranks were set up by Emperor Titus Mede II after the First Great War.
 * General
 * Legate
 * Tribune
 * Praefect
 * Centurion
 * Quaestor
 * Munifex
 * Auxiliary

Equipment
The Imperial Legion uses highly standardized equipment, with little change in weapons between the legionnaire ranks. All swordsmen use the same sword and shield, all archers use the same bows and arrows, etc. All legion weapons are made of steel and oak. The only difference is the armor that changes from rank to rank. Mages in the Imperial Legion use different armor to the regular soldiers, they wear clothing. There are three different armors for Mages in the Imperial Legion. The regular mage robes are used by Auxiliaries, Munifexes and Quaestors. The officer robes are used by Centurions, Praefects and Tribunes. The veteran officer's robes are used by Legates and Generals. Despite the standardized equipment the Imperial Legion uses there are some that have their own custom weapons and/or armor.