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Tragedy of Duscur
“ | Avenge us! Those who killed us... Tear them apart! Destroy them all! | ” | — King Lambert's dying outcry to Dimitri in the Tragedy. |
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The Tragedy of Duscur was the regicidal assassination of the Faerghus royal family and guard while they on a diplomatic mission to Duscur, and also the retaliatory massacre of the Duscur people, the alleged perpetrators of the initial incident.
Overview
Background
When the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus suffered from a terrible plague in Imperial Year 1165, claiming a number of lives, including the a scholar from the Adrestian Empire named Cornelia Arnim cured the Kingdom's populace. As a reward, King Lambert appointed her the position of Court mage. Sometime before 1168 when she kidnapped Hapi, she suffered a sharp change in personality, likely due to the fact she was killed and replaced by an imposter from those who slither in the dark.
Cornelia gave shelter to Imperial Queen Consort Anselma von Arundel in the Kingdom during the Insurrection of the Seven in 1171, at the same time as her brother, Volkhard von Arundel took Imperial Princess Edelgard von Hresvelg to live in Fhirdiad, the Kingdom Capital, for a short time. Soon, Cornelia introduced Anselma to King Lambert, who quickly fell in love with her. Anselma was privately wed to King Lambert, took up the name Patricia, and became the stepmother of Crown Prince Dimitri. Cornelia manipulated Anselma while she was married, for she told Anselma that her daughter Edelgard was staying in Fhirdiad, but Cornelia explained that Lambert was preventing her from seeing Edelgard. She also was a wedge in her marriage, for Anselma and Lambert were almost never allowed to see each other. Dimitri notes that his stepmother was caring, yet distant, for the only memory he has left of her is her staring longingly into the distance. In 1176, Cornelia convinced her to take part in the Tragedy, in exchange to be with Edelgard once again. Anselma's life in the Kingdom had become one of confinement, she would have done anything to see her daughter again. After the Tragedy, Anselma's whereabouts are unknown.
Additionally, several lords of the Kingdom, most notably those of House Kleiman, took part in the Tragedy, seeing the regicide and follow-up massacre as an act of justice instead of an act of cruelty.
The Incident
The Faerghus royal family, notably King Lambert, Queen Consort Patricia, Crown Prince Dimitri, along with the royal guard, including scion of House Fraldarius, Glenn, were attacked in their carriages while on a diplomatic trip to the Duscur Peninsula in Imperial Year 1176. Nearly everyone was killed in the incident, the sole survivor being Prince Dimitri. In the Azure Moon route, Duke Rodrigue Fraldarius explains that Lady Patricia's carriage was unharmed as well, and one of Viscount Kleiman's men explains that they were given direct orders to not harm it.
Following the incident, the people of Duscur were unquestionably blamed and slaughtered, with only a few survivors. One of them, Dedue, was personally saved by Prince Dimitri. The Prince attempted to prove that the Duscur people were innocent, for he witnessed the event himself, but he was simply ignored.
Aftermath
The Tragedy of Duscur is the primary catalyst for Dimitri's insanity seen in all routes except for Crimson Flower. The whispers of his lost family begging him to avenge them with the death of their killers, which drives him to kill anyone he thinks was a part of the incident, including his stepsister Edelgard.
However, contrary to his beliefs, Edelgard was not involved with the Tragedy in any form. Edelgard, as the Flame Emperor, tells Thales and Kronya that the Agarthans will never see their goals through because of both the Tragedy and the Insurrection of the Seven. Edelgard, in Crimson Flower, reveals that her uncle Volkhard von Arundel was behind the entire attack, and since he is secretly the leader of those who slither in the dark, Thales, the Tragedy of Duscur was likely committed in order to give Cornelia higher power within the Kingdom, to the point where she is becomes their ruler, as we see within the Faerghus Dukedom in Part II.
Trivia
Gallery
The Tragedy of Duscur from the perspective of Dimitri's memory in Three Houses.