The heart of the Imperial City isn't the waterfront or the messy markets. It is a graveyard. Specifically, it is the Green Emperor Way, a circular district surrounding the White-Gold Tower that serves as the final resting place for the Cyrodiilic elite. If you’ve spent any time playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you know the vibe. It is hauntingly quiet. It feels heavy.
Most players treat it as a shortcut. You’re running from the Talos Plaza to the Arcane University, and the Green Emperor Way is just that big grassy circle in the middle you have to hop over. But honestly? You’re missing the best environmental storytelling in the game if you just sprint through it. This place is dense with history, weird AI behaviors, and some of the most famous (and infamous) quests in RPG history.
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The Layout of the Imperial Heart
The district is essentially a massive cemetery. It’s the inner sanctum. Bethesda designed it to be the "prestige" zone of the capital. You’ll find the tombs of legendary figures like Prince Camarril and even the final resting places of some Septim emperors.
It’s physically dominated by the White-Gold Tower. That thing is huge. No matter where you are in the district, the tower looms over you, reminding you of the Ayleid architecture that predates the human empire. The grass is well-manicured, the statues are pristine, and the guards are everywhere. Seriously, the Palace Guard presence here is tighter than anywhere else in Cyrodiil.
You’ve got the Elder Council Chambers right there. You’ve got the private quarters for the high-ranking officials. It’s meant to look like the peak of civilization, but underneath, it’s all bones and secret tunnels.
Why the Green Emperor Way Cemetery Matters
The gravestones aren't just decorative assets. Many of them refer to actual lore figures or developers who worked on the game. It’s a classic Bethesda move. But in the context of the world, this is the most sacred ground in the Empire.
If you poke around the tombs, you start to see the cracks in the Imperial facade. There are entrances to the sewers—the "Old Way"—which play a massive role later in the game. It’s a weird contrast. Above ground, you have the holy, sun-drenched gardens. Five feet below your boots, you have the damp, rat-infested tunnels that eventually lead to the bowels of the city.
Most people don't realize that the gravestones actually have readable inscriptions. They aren't generic. "Here lies the body of..." It adds a layer of "lived-in" feeling that Skyrim often lacked in its capital city, Solitude. The Green Emperor Way feels like it has been there for eras. It feels old.
The "Greatest Heist" and the Palace Guard
You can't talk about the Green Emperor Way without talking about the Thieves Guild. The final quest, "The Ultimate Heist," is basically the peak of Oblivion. You have to sneak through the literal center of the Empire.
The guards here are different. They wear the Palace Guard armor, which is distinct from the standard Imperial City Watch. They don't mess around. If they catch you in the restricted areas of the palace—accessible only through the Green Emperor Way—it's usually an instant fight or a high bounty.
Think about the logic of that heist for a second. You’re breaking into a tower that is visible from the borders of Skyrim and Elsweyr. The entrance is smack in the middle of a graveyard guarded by the most elite soldiers in the world. It’s ridiculous. It’s brilliant.
- The Blind Moth Priests live nearby.
- The Elder Scrolls are kept in the tower.
- The guards have specific patrol paths that rely on the (at the time) revolutionary Radiant AI.
Sometimes the AI breaks. You’ll see a guard get stuck on a tombstone, or two guards will have a looping conversation about mudcrabs while standing over the grave of a dead king. It’s peak Oblivion charm. It’s what makes the game feel human despite being a digital simulation.
The Prince Camarril Mystery
There’s a specific tomb in the Green Emperor Way that every player remembers: the Tomb of Prince Camarril. During the "Path of Dawn" quest, you have to find this specific grave at midday.
It’s a cool moment. At noon, the sunlight hits the tomb, and a glowing map of Cyrodiil appears on the stone. It’s one of those "Indiana Jones" moments that Bethesda used to do so well. It points you toward Lake Canulus and the hidden shrine of Mehrunes Dagon.
The interesting thing is that Prince Camarril isn't just a random name. The Camarril family has roots in the lore that go back to the early eras. Putting his tomb here suggests he was of immense importance to the Septim lineage, yet in the game, he's just a waypoint for the Mythic Dawn.
The Politics of the Elder Council
The district isn't just for the dead. It’s for the bureaucrats too. The Elder Council meets here. During the main quest, after Martin Septim arrives, this becomes the hub of the Empire’s crumbling political power.
Chancellor Ocato is usually found hanging around here. He’s basically running the whole show because there’s no Emperor. If you talk to him, you get a sense of the sheer stress the Empire is under. The gates are opening, the provinces are seceding, and he’s stuck in a garden surrounded by graves.
The symbolism is pretty heavy-handed if you think about it. The leadership of the world is literally sitting in a cemetery, trying to keep a dying empire alive.
How to Actually Navigate the District
If you're jumping back into the game in 2026—maybe with some of those massive "Skyblivion" style mods or just the vanilla GOG version—there are a few things you should actually do in the Green Emperor Way instead of just running through it.
Don't fast travel into the palace. Walk through the gates from the Market District. Watch how the lighting changes. The Imperial City uses a specific "bloom" effect that makes the white marble of the district almost blinding at noon. It’s nostalgic in a way that modern 4K textures sometimes struggle to replicate.
Check the bushes. There are rare alchemical ingredients tucked away in the corners of the gardens that are harder to find in the wild. Flax and nightshade are common, but the sheer density of flora in such a small urban space is useful for early-game mages.
The Final Battle
The game ends here. Mostly. After the chaos in the rest of the city, the final confrontation with the avatar of Mehrunes Dagon happens right on the doorstep of the White-Gold Tower.
Seeing the Green Emperor Way—this place of quiet, orderly death—turned into a literal warzone is a great subversion. The statues shatter. The pristine grass gets trampled. When Martin Septim smashes the Amulet of Kings, the resulting explosion of light and the transformation into the Avatar of Akatosh happens in the center of this district.
It turns the graveyard into a place of rebirth. Or at least, a place of sacrifice. The statue of the dragon that remains there afterward (in the endgame) is a permanent fixture. It changes the map forever. It’s a rare example of "permanent world change" in an era of gaming where most things reset after a quest ends.
Surprising Details You Probably Missed
The "Old Way" entrance isn't the only secret. If you have the Battlehorn Castle or Thieves Den DLCs, you start to realize the entire Imperial City is honeycombed.
There are specific NPCs, like the groundskeepers, who have schedules that involve cleaning the graves. If you follow them, you’ll see they actually have "jobs." They aren't just standing there. They pull weeds. They check the stones. It’s a level of detail that makes the Green Emperor Way feel like a functioning part of a city, not just a level in a video game.
Also, the ambient music changes. The Imperial City theme has a few different tracks, but the one that plays in the garden district is notably more somber. It’s meant to be respectful. It’s a "no-run" zone for the NPCs, which is why you never see them sprinting like they do in the Waterfront.
Making the Most of the District
To get the full experience of the heart of the Empire, you need to engage with it outside of the main quest.
- Visit at Night: The ghosts of the past feel more present. The lighting from the windows of the White-Gold Tower casts long, eerie shadows across the tombs.
- Read the Stones: Take ten minutes. Actually read what Bethesda wrote on those markers. It’s some of the best world-building in the game.
- Test the Guards: Try to pickpocket a Palace Guard. It’s a death sentence, but it shows you just how much higher their combat stats are compared to the standard city watch.
- The View from Above: If you can use a high-level acrobatics skill or a paint brush glitch (classic Oblivion), get to a high vantage point. The circular layout of the district is a geometric masterpiece for 2006.
The Green Emperor Way remains a masterclass in how to build a "hub" that feels important. It’s not just a menu or a place to sell loot. It’s the historical, political, and literal center of the world of Tamriel. Whether you’re there to rob the Elder Scrolls or just to watch the sun set over the White-Gold Tower, it’s a location that stays with you long after you’ve closed the game.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough
- Wait until noon at Prince Camarril’s tomb even if you aren't on the quest; the map effect is a great piece of visual design that still holds up.
- Invest in Sneak and Invisibility before attempting any late-game quests here; the Palace Guard have high Responsibility and Aggression stats, making them very difficult to bribe or bypass.
- Complete the "Ultimate Heist" to see the restricted interior areas of the palace that connect directly to the district’s layout.
- Check the base of the White-Gold Tower after the main quest is over to see the statue of Akatosh, which serves as a permanent memorial to the end of the Septim bloodline.