After trapping Emperor Uriel Septim
VII in an alternate plane, Imperial Battlemage Jagar Tharn
assumes the Emperor's identity, and rules without care
as the provinces wage war. The ghost of Ria Silmane frees
a hero from the depths of the Empire's dungeons and guides
his search for the Staff of Chaos, a potent artifact which
Jagar Tharn has broken in eight parts and hidden. The
hero journeys to eight well-defended citadels in eight
different provinces, recovering the Staff's pieces. Then,
armed with the reforged Staff, the hero confronts and
defeats Jagar Tharn in the labyrinths beneath the Imperial
Palace, and the Emperor is returned to the throne.
"During the 10-year rule of the
Impostor Jagar Tharn, the provinces were shattered by
four devastating wars, and the political policies of
the Imperial administration fell into shambles. But
for the Restoration, there would be no Empire today."
- from Niso's LIVES OF THE EMPERORS"