Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe we haven't yet got the concrete reason for the civil war that tears apart Tamriel after Oblivion, before Skyrim. And you know what that means: fan theories! DO you think a character in Oblivion could have caused it, even YOUR character?

Here's my theory:

My insane Altmer mage, who is very good at hiding his craziness, becomes Arch-Mage after also becoming a member of the Order of the Virtuous Blood. Seeing the Enchanted Chest, a plan formulates in his mind: a plan to bring down Tamriel. He kills a vampire and takes it's dust to the Chest, duplicating it. He secretly does this in the tower for weeks, until he has thousands upon thousands of samples. Knowing that Roland Jenseric will pay handsomely for them, he sells them all for 250 gold each, ending up with a fortune of over 250 million gold. He then buys every conceivable thing he can: houses, weapons, armour, even entire villages, and all for ridiculously high prices. He then gives away his stash to random citizens on the street. Eventually, the system becomes flooded with so much gold that it becomes useless and inflation is ridiculous. The new currency is power, elevating high-level mages, like him, to insane status. Everyone who has no power lives in poverty, while he bides his time in the Arch-Mages tower, eventually leading the Mages Guild to the wholesale slaughter of citizens in order to weaken the Empire substantially. Of course, some members disagreed to the pointless genocide, so the Mages Guild split into two factions: The College of Whispers (named after the whispers he hears n his head) and the Synod. Due to very powerful magic being used in the skirmishes between these two forces, eventually the entire government was killed in the crossfires. Two different factions laid claim to the throne, and BOOM! Civil War on our hands.

Yes, I realise this is madness, but it's pretty fun :biggrin:

This entire theory rests upon the variable that Roland has 250 million septims. We know he doesnt, but if he did then the economy would already be screwed over.

Plus anyway, if your giving your stash away to citizens, then wouldnt they be rich too - creating a massive inflation in the prices for stuff. A lot of people would be poor - but not enough for your character to gain any significant amount of power.

However, if Cyrodills economy svcked balls then yer, it would work

In the past, there have been a few occasions when the High King of Skyrim dies and there is no legitimate heir (or acceptable heir), at which time the Jarls (the leaders of each of the Nine Holds) hold a meeting, called the Moot.

In the cases when the Jarls were not able to agree (I think this happened on at least two prior occasions before the Oblivion crisis), the result is usually Civil War. Often it seems that there are certain Holds and organizations that have supported secession, like the group of bandits known as The Horme.

Fate...