Aminos' Official Publications [Minor In-game Spoilers]

Littered among a study at an estate in Auridon, the writings of Aminos Makoych sit, bound in leather and written in an orderly cursive. The topics of the writing are broad, ranging from complex and esoteric aetherial musing to political analysis. The writings collected below are but some of his published works which may be found within his study.

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The current political climate of Tamriel can be described as unusual in the historical frame of reference that has existed throughout recorded history. While the history of Tamriel can usually be described at best as large regional powers and several smaller actors throughout the continent, this is the first time in recorded history where much of the land is either under direct or contested control of a handful of larger hegemony. Any territory remaining independent is either protected through its geo-political insignificance to the larger powers agenda's, or is currently under contested rule by multiple actors.







The Daggerfall Covenant, more aptly known as the Greater Daggerfall Covenant, is an expansion of the previous Daggerfall Covenant, the later consisting only of the Breton Kingdoms of Daggerfall, Camlorn, Evermore, Shornhelm, and Wayrest, while the Great Covenant brought the northern Hammerfell Kingdom of Sentinel and the orc clans of Orsinium into the alliance. This, ostensibly, has brought together all political entities of northern Tamriel into a collective, and cooperative, military alliance.

The purported goal of the Covenant is to re-establish the Cyrodiilic Empire, through crowning High King Emeric as Emperor. This will also involve the restructuring of the Royal Council into a Grand Council, which would have appointed representatives from each kingdom in Tamriel.




Before looking into the broader supranational aspects of the Covenant, the governance frameworks of each member state should be analyzed in order to produce a more comprehensive and precise idea of the political mechanisms at work within the Covenant.

• The Kingdoms of High Rock

• The Kingdom of Sentinel

• The Orcs of Orsinium

Looking at the structure of the independent member-states, it can be seen how such an alliance is contentious as best. It appears that the structures that hold the Covenant together appear to be formulated in the way of a confederation. This is due to the inherent independence of each member state within the union, as the union is primarily for the purpose of military integration for logistical and tactical purposes. The general government body of this particular union appears to be focused within the realm of High King Emeric of Wayrest, with supporting and advisory roles for remaining delegates of other member states. In essence, the general government structure of the Covenant could be a smaller-scale replica of that in which is hoped to be implemented should the Covenant be capable of conquering the Heartlands and claiming the Ruby Throne.

Despite the independence of each member state politically, military power appears to be heavily concentrated at the level of the general government of the Covenant, as well as economic power, as was the case during the brief but destruction invasion of Camlorn by a werewolf army. Camlorn, devastated by this event, was granted additional men and resources through High King Emeric in the capacity of his role as High King. This indicates a level of informal integration that has not been codified in legislature or any other treaties documents that have been seen publicly. Therefore, the Daggerfall Covenant can be characterized as a confederation of states, leaning towards further federalized integration structures by delegated additional power and responsibilities to the general government.

The Aldmeri Dominion came into being in 2E 580, eight years after the Ebonheart Pact was birthed from the Second Akaviri Invasion, and thirteen years after the signing of the Greater Daggerfall Covenant. The Aldmeri Dominion consists of the Summerset Isles, Valenwood, and the Confederacy of Elsweyr. While the Bosmer of Valenwood faced incredible conflict, both internal and external, the Khajiit were still reeling from the Knahaten Flu.

The purported goal of the Dominion is to establish elven rule over Tamriel once again, as the younger races do not have the wisdom or patience to properly rule. This involves the autocratic rulership of the Queen of the Summerset Isles, with the territories of Valenwood and Elsewyr being absorbed into the existing territory of the Isles, to form the Dominion. The Queen is then advised by the Thalmor Inner Council, involving such members as King Aeradan Camoran of Valenwood and Lord Gharesh-ri, the Speaker for the Mane.




As done in the last part of this document, we will be looking into the broader interngovernmental aspects of the Dominion, the governance frameworks of each member state. These should be analyzed in order to produce a more comprehensive and precise idea of the political mechanisms at work within the Dominion.

• The Summerset Isles




• Valenwood





• The Confederacy of Elsweyr








As can be seen from the structure of these particular member-states, aside from Elsweyr, all of the Dominion is either conformed, or slowly conformed to a unitary central government, with smaller, semi-autonomous territories with the ability to govern themselves, as granted by the Queen. This would bring it much more in line with a tradition, contiguous unitary country. In more simplistic terms, more of an expansion of the Summerset Isles, than that of incorporating areas into an Empire. The military of the Dominion appears to be fully under the control of the central government, allowing for these territories to have their own domestic enforcement divisions.

From what is seen throughout the Dominion, it appears very much so that the overwhelming lions share of the power is concentrated in the hands of the Altmer, and not without good reason. The Bosmers security is beholden to that of the Altmeri Navy, and the resources of the Altmer are keeping the Khajiit going through an otherwise devastating epidemic rocking their homeland. With these caveats in place, it seems that the Bosmer and Khajiit have forfeited sovereignty for the protection, resources, and logistical power of the Altmeri peoples. Therefore, the Aldmeri Dominion can be characterized as a unitary state, opting to provide the recently integrated territories of Valenwood and Elsweyr some levels of independence, while maintaining the sovereignty of the Queen, and the Thalmor government over them. If the Dominion continues, you may eventually see the abolishment of many of the things that make these places unique, instead conforming to the structure seen throughout the Summerset Isles that appears to already be taking root in the Green.

The Ebonheart Pact, the most unlikely and statistically improbable alliances to ever exist in the history of Tamriel. A military alliance of the Kingdom of Eastern Skyrim, the Tribunal of the Dunmer, four of the Great Houses, those being the Indoril, and the Argonian tribes of Murkmire, Shadowfen, and Thornmarsh, it has become one of the great powers during in modern times. In 2E 572, a large army of Akaviri, under the Command of Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, King of the Akaviri nation of Kamal. His army landed north of Windhelm, taking the unprepared nords by surprise. The city was sacked, and Queen Mabjaaran, along with her heir, Nurnhilde, were slain in its defence. Joruun, her younger son, rallied a desperate defence, but the Akaviri simply bypassed him, marching around Riften and into Morrowind. There, they met by the forces of Almalexia and an army of Dunmer. For some reason, Joruun and Almalexia seemingly banded together, encircling the Akaviri forces just east of Ebonheart. Despite the help of the “god” Almalexia, it still took a phalanx of Argonians, arriving from seemingly nowhere, and a tidal wave from Vivec, to finally crush the Akaviri. From there, an alliance was forged between the three groups. The terms of the alliance allow for mutual defence of each other’s lands, as well as the manumission of Argonians enslaved by the Dunmer as thanks for their crucial intervention. Slavery was then outlawed nominally, but House Dres (and supposedly other Houses), were granted the right to keep non-Argonian Slaves.

The Ebonheart Pact wishes to remove the idea of an Empire, and replace it with their joint leadership, expanding their individual territories. They also plan on heavily regulating “dangerous magical pursuits”.






Once again, before analyzing the overall structure and framework of the alliance-level relations and governance, the individual member-states governance frameworks need to be analyzed, to provide the groundwork and surrounding structure that the alliance is built upon.

• The Kingdom of Eastern Skyrim

The Kingdom of Eastern Skyrim is a smaller version of the traditional Nordic government, with a High King, and the underlying Jarls paying tribute to the High King. However, Eastern Skyrim only has within its boundaries the holds of Windhelm, and Riften. Therefore granting it little in the means of a complex government, with only two territories with direct governance over them, one of which is ruled directly by the High King.

• The Great Houses of Morrowind

The Great Houses of Morrowind control varying territories across the polity, and jointly governor the territory through the Grand Council of Morrowind, with the dunmeri Tribunal acting as joint rulers of these council. Governors of each house appear to control towns within the territories, occasionally switching hands throughout the ages as alliances, skirmishes and deals form. However, House Telvanni did not sign onto the Pact, and have became estranged from the domestic Grand Council in some ways due to this.

• The Tribes of Argonia

Argonia is a place shrouded in mystery, so much of the discussion here will be simply conjecture, as the role the Hist play in this particular system is an argued, and frankly, ignored, topic, by many. However, we do know that the Argonian Tribes of Murkmire, Shadowfen, and Thornmarsh are all signatories and members of the Pact. They appear to act of their own accord, but then follow the will of their Hists, when appropriate or given some unknown instructions. It appears however, that territory within the tribes that have joined the Pact has had a shift in governance, moving to a joint governance by Vicecanons in order to bring about stability and alleviate racial tensions in the former Dunmer foothold.





The Ebonheart Pact is ruled by a Great Moot, which is overseen by the High King of Eastern Skyrim, Jorunn the Skald-King, and the Tribunal. It appears to consist of whatever representative the individual factions wish to send at the time, sometimes consisting of leaders, other times simply appointed representatives. These representatives appear to be act as the voice of their respective members, with only one nord, representing Eastern Skyrim, one Dunmer representing the Grand Council of Morrowind and the Tribinual, and one Argonian, representing the tribes of Murkmire, Shadowfen and Thornmarsh. While maintaining the outlawing of slavery in the Pact, and a joint military venture, the alliance itself appears to be only the result of several unilateral policies, with governance, for the most part, remaining firmly in the hands of its individual members. This would mean that the Ebonheart Pact is the least integrated of the three major alliances in Tamriel. This would mean that the Ebonheart Pact, seemingly, is a very loose confederation based solely on military cooperation for a common goal. However, it would seem that certain parties, such as that of the Tribunal, carry more informal weight than granted them in statute, or in theory, as in practice they were the ones who brought the Pact into the Alliance war. As well, while High King Jorunn is also the High King of the Great Moot, decisions must still be made multilaterally.