I think if cyrodiil played its cards right, they could do it by themselves.
1) mass production of food and other goods
2) use economic power to win over elsweyr. The khajiit are tradesmen, and they love making money. Undercut Prices of aldmeri goods.
3) insight a civil war in valenwood, support your side with supplies, out producing and supplying the aldmeri supporters
4) once it is clear that Imperial valenwood will win, send in imperial legions, pushing the aldmeri to their Island.
5) let them stay in summerset
This discussion has been done countless times, stormcloak fanboys will support you, dominion fanboys will say the empire stands no chance either way and staunch, rational imperial supporters like myself will say it is pointless to have human infighting when there already is a common enemy. I could care less if the Stormcloaks are happy with who they worship, even if they are wrong since Sithis is the one true god, but they should stop their tantrum and be patient, soon the empire will be ready for another war and if they can get the support of the other human provinces, and not have the argonians decide it is their time for conquest (believe me, we are kinda fucked if they do decide that after the next great war they will fall upon everyone) then it is probable that the empire will prosper once more.
It depends on where the Dominion attacks from and when. Given sufficient time, the Empire will build back up its legions and infrastructure. They might even be able to forge an alliance of necessity with Hammerfell and Skyrim (which I imagine would be easier for them to do if the Dominion send significant numbers of troops to those provinces).
Hey, I am not a Stormcloak fanboy, and I agree. As much as I hate to admit it, the Stormcloaks and all Nords will be the driving force in conquering and defeating the Dominion. The Empire has failed too many times. They abandoned Morrowind, they left Hammerfell to its own vices in the Great War, and it can no longer protect Skyrim from the influence of the Thalmor. What good is the Empire anymore?
The Septim Line has ended. The Empire is dead.
I wouldn't just leave them in the Summerset Isle to plan another counterattack. There would need to be a change of leadership. Either negotiate politically and place a new Altmer government in place (with Imperial ambassadors present at every major government meeting) or, if that doesn't work, take them over and put a system of governors in place.
As Shor said above it is possible, what I meant by stormcloak fanboys is the following:
first of all he over values skyrim, he clearly says that the empire is doomed without skyrim or its nord warriors, but the nords themselves could stand alone against the Dominion.
second, I did not place you in that category, since you would have to completely agree with him for that to happen, and if you read the question again and come back to my previous point, I'm sure you will not.
thirdly, both you and Shor had excellent points, Cyrodiil could find allies elsewhere, there are imperial supporters in valenwood, even if IMO the argonians would not be very likely allies (and maybe not the dunmer either) if the imperials could get their support then it would look better to them.
my point is, no, cyrodiil is not completely doomed just because half of the nords in skyrim are throwing a tantrum
What I am saying is that if you don't keep a close eye on them they will eventually amass a force to attack again. They could, perhaps in 50 years, perhaps 500, attack again. It is best not to ignore the possibility.
You would be well-advised to keep them on a short leash.
Well yeah. But I would really not advise invading that island. As long as they can't gain a foothold on the mainland, they can't do much but talk. It would be a good idea to watch them, and undermine their efforts. Afterward, the only way to gain summer set would be with politics and economics. Have some crazy cost for them to trade in Empire ports, making their journey not profitable. Eventually, they will get tiered of it and question the Thalmor, after that, revolution and they will be more willing to join. When they get to that point, use the hammer of politics.
Yeah, that makes sense. I wasn't accusing you of calling me a Stormcloak fanboy. I was just saying that you don't have to be a Stormcloak fanboy to put a high value on Skyrim when it comes to fighting the Dominion.
As for convincing the Dunmer to aid them, I have an idea.
Morrowind is mostly destroyed, especially to the south. There aren't many good places to live, and the population can't really grow, just sustain itself.
So, suppose the Nords come to the Dunmer (probably House Redoran, which has a standing army of considerable size) and say this:
"We're tired of this Empire, and of the Dominion. We need to get rid of both of them."
The Dunmer would probably agree:
"Yes, you are right. The Empire has not done anything good for us since the early Third Era."
And so the Nords say this:
"We are going to invade them. Take over Cyrodiil, eliminate the stain of Tamriel that is the Empire, and drive the Dominion out of Valenwood, out of Elsweyr, and back to their blasted island. If you help us, we will give you a large portion of what is now Cyrodiil to rebuild your Dunmer society, in light of what happened with the Red Mountain. Also, we will give your people and Morrowind the governing authority over the lands of Elsweyr that we conquer. We Nords shall take the rest of it, and authority over Valenwood."
And the Dunmer:
"That is a very interesting proposition. One that I think we can accept. If you honor your promise, you have an agreement. Your people have done us good in the past, offering us Solstheim for refuge. We will help you fight."
It's a mutually exclusive thing that benefits both parties. Skyrim and Morrowind would both gain new lands in the process. And from there, they could create a blended society and perhaps finally bury the painful memories of the past.
Have you ever seen a contingent of Altmer battlemages? These people are not to be messed with. That's sort of my point. Altmer are freaking impressive, powerful, and most importantly, intelligent and devious. Just "letting them be" is not a good idea. They will find some way to ruin your day.
I'm pretty sure that when the guards kicked those Alik'r out out Whiterun, the Alik'r implied that he would come back and kill them all.
"We will be back. This is not over!"
So they don't completely not give a shit.
And I have, unfortunately, dealt with people who called me a racist for not liking to play as a Redguard.