Bravil and fourth Legion ?

MaisonNaevius

During the Planemeld, army of Daedra and a legion of the undead under Molag Bal razed Bravil, leaving it to be defended by the Fourth Legion.

- uesp (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Bravil)

The uesp uses this source for this claim : https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Improved_Emperor's_Guide_to_Tamriel/Cyrodiil

But I did not find anything to confirm this information.

What is it ?

Aigym_Hlervu

Well, I guess it is another example of the necessity to study lore ourselves like we did it in the past times, rather than believe in everything the UESP, Reddit and other such sites write. I mean they are very good indeed to refresh knowledge, and their teams perform a really formidable work to gather information in one place. But people can make mistakes, miss something, etc. The article you quoted is either a wrong source or a wrong statement.

MaisonNaevius

I had gone to gather information on Bravil. And this statement surprised me. Even more when seeing that the source was leading nowhere.
I don't remember that Bravil was mentioned in this kind of situation.

I rarely trust the uesp. For all that is imperial, I trust that in my research. But when a specific theme year approaches, it is good to collect the information yourself and from "trusted" sites.

Sphinxmoth

@Maki2859
There was a wrong link to the Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel in UESP: information about razing Bravil is in the section Dreams of Cyrodiil, Nightmares of Coldharbour, not in the Cyrodiil section.

MaisonNaevius

Hmm ... That doesn't explain that the Fourth Legion was on Bravil. His cousins were, it is true.

After ... in fact, the dream of Flaccus Terentius is a dream. Not the reality.

Bravil experienced two major events: the massacre by a legion of deserters (led by captain Apinia) and the raid on the temple of Mara under the command of Javad Tharn (Sphinxmoth bandits).
The Aldmeri occupation is anecdotal but it is possible that it is again under imperial control.

ArchMikem

I thought an in-game Lore Book stated during the meld a Legion that was supposed to defend Bravil ended up instead sacking the city and causing a massacre, and they basically turned into Bandits.

ealdwin

From the The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel/Dreams of Cyrodiil

I spend the day (night? permanent dusk?) painting more horrors from the dream. Cyrodiil was overrun by war, and my beloved Bravil was in flames. Straggling survivors gazed dumbfounded at the ruins of A Warlock's Luck in the northern square, now facades of cinders of ruin. My cousins in the Fourth Legion, they were so proud of their Imperial uniforms. I heard the news that Postumianus had made Centurion: What will become of them if this is a true vision?

This passage by the author is where the information comes from. The author discusses a dream in which his "beloved Bravil" was aflame, and then proceeds to talk about his cousins in the fourth legion, specifically about Postumianus making Centurion. He then proceeds to write "What will become of them if this is a true vision?" It can be assumed that since his worry for his cousins' fate was caused by the vision of Bravil, that his cousins (as well as the fourth legion) are in Bravil at the time of the Oblivion Crisis.

ArchMikem wrote: »

I thought an in-game Lore Book stated during the meld a Legion that was supposed to defend Bravil ended up instead sacking the city and causing a massacre, and they basically turned into Bandits.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Butcher_of_Bravil

Captain Jena Apinia is the legion captain in question. According to her journal, her focus was on saving the lives of her soldiers, and so they fled the Imperial City when the chains fell, and made their way to Bravil. When it became apparent that the town did not have the supplies to feed them and her soldiers, and that winter would bring starvation, Captain Apinia opted to kill half the townsfolk so they didn't starve come winter. When the townsfolk tried defending themselves and their neighbors, the legion ended up killing more than half. They then stole valuables from the town and supplies for themselves. Most of the legion was sent back to the Imperial City, and the rest holed up in Garlas Agea in Anvil with the valuables. Ayrenn had sent Razum-Dar after her once word of the massacre at Bravil got out, and that's where the vestige enters the story.

There is little to suggest that the 4th legion was the one under Captain Apinia, so it's either the case that the legion was stationed at Bravil, and then either joined Apinia's legion or fought against them, and most likely perishing. Or, the 4th legion showed up after Apinia left in order to provide aid to the townsfolk left alive and defend it from the Daedra. Either way, we won't know for sure until a likely future Nibenay Basin expansion.