Part 4 of Last Days of the Third Era
EMPEROR AND HEIRS BURRIED
The Imperial City – His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Uriel Septim VII and all the members of the Imperial Family, who perished tragically to the hands of assassins unknown on the eve of Harvest’s End, were buried today during the early afternoon hours in the Sovereign’s Spire of the Green Emperor Way with highest Imperial honors. Besides the friends and relatives of the Family, members of the Elder Council, and the highest representatives of the Imperial institutions, more than seventy diplomatic delegations from all parts of the Empire observed the funeral. The final homage to the late Emperor was also given by the representatives of various guilds, religious communities, and independent organizations as well as by numerous individuals of the public and cultural scene of the Imperial City. Thousands of citizens accompanied the last direct descendants of the Septim bloodline, hallowed by divine Talos himself, in a vast procession the likes of which hadd never been seen in the history of the Empire. The gathered people covered every step of the way the procession was to take with flowers and tears.
The procession left the Imperial Palace in the early afternoon. The members of the Imperial Guard carried the thirty coffins to the Temple of the One, where Archbishop Danor Valodius performed the Funeral Rites. The procession moved on towards the Green Emperor Way just past noon, reaching it from the west side two hours later. After the official funeral ceremonies were completed, the citizens were allowed to approach the entrance to the Imperial Tombs and leave flowers and candles as tokens of grief and promises of loyalty in the days to come.
The Elder Council issued a special decree by which from this day forward, the 1st of Hearth Fire will be observed as an Empire-wide day of mourning, and named the newly established holiday, “The Day of Tears”.
HE WHO LIVES BY THE SWORD SHALL DIE BY THE SWORD!
The Imperial City – “The wounds of our Emperor and his Family are a grave warning and a stern reminder that even in the center of Order there lurks Chaos, and even amongst the Good there hide the Evil. We must awaken, cut the roots of evil and avenge the holy blood of our divine Emperor!” – said Danor Valodius, the Archbishop of the Temple of the One, during the funeral rites for the Emperor Uriel Septim and the Imperial Family. What follows are the selected excerpts from his speech:
“This world is a tyrant – to a tyrant, let alone to a noble soul. These are the words, my dear brothers, my sad sisters, which come into our minds here, at the bier of Uriel Septim, and Geldall, Enman and Ebell Septim, of their wives and of their children, hallowed be their names unto the dusk of the world.
“All the more do these words come to mind since we are standing in the Temple that grew from the bones and ashes of the greatest luminary of all the mortal peoples, Tiber Septim, the divine Talos. His message of Unity, unity under one Empire, under one Emperor, and under One God, still echoes these holy halls. And it is in Unity alone that this humble servant of the One can offer consolation to you, my mournful friends.
“Today we say the final farewell to our beloved rulers, whose wounds run deep next to all our hearts, the hearts of their close friends and esteemed relatives, but also the hearts of men, women and children of all the peoples of the Empire. It is difficult to say, which wound hurts more bitterly: the wound of His Most Revered Majesty, Uriel Septim; or the wounds of his three sons, Prince Ebell, Prince Enman and Crown Prince Geldall, who we all looked upon with high hopes; or the wounds of the innocent children, the youngest of which were sufferer Talin, who was only six, and sufferer Kintyra, a baby of two; or the numerous wounds the land and people shall suffer in the void of their absence. We would endure these wounds easier in the holy light of the Dragon Fires. Yet they shine not, for the first time in many generations.
“Emperor Uriel Septim, whom we accompany today on his final journey from this sacred temple, will be remembered for his many great deeds, but above all, for his benevolent, generous and selfless love for all the peoples of the Empire. In the midst of interracial strife and war mongering among the provinces, he was a unifying force of irresistible charisma. Among his numerous and glorious achievements, we must not forget his wise and sincere devotion to religion, and the efforts he put into finishing the great Temple in Latreia. The Emperor was a man of great heart, but also of great mind; in his infinite wisdom, he knew that without the temple – that divine foundation of mortal dignity, there can be neither life nor future. And here through these rites, he shall be built into that foundation, and through his blood and suffering, it shall be sanctified further.
“The wounds of our Emperor and his Family are a grave warning and a stern reminder that even in the center of Order there lurks Chaos, and even amongst the Good, hide the Evil. Have the centuries of peace made us forget the terrors of war? Have we become lax and let the seed of misrule grow roots under the foundations of the Empire? We must awaken, my sorrowful brothers and grieving sisters, cut the roots of evil and avenge the holy blood of our divine Emperor! I say now unto those who dared spill it, and may the One vest my words with His mighty wrath: he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword!”
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