War of Shadows

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War of Shadows Storming Dolhr Keep in the final battle of the war, as depicted in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.

World Archanea Date(s) Archanean years 600 - 605 Combatants Archanean League • Dolhr • Gra • Grust • Khadein • Macedon Commanders • Marth • Nyna • Medeus • Gharnef • Camus • Michalis • Jiol† Outcome Archanean victory and destruction of the Dolhrian Empire Rise of Archanea as the dominant power as other nations struggled to recover Appearance(s) Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem Book I Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem bonus content

The War of Shadows was a war that lasted 6 years on the continent of Archanea depicted by Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, Mystery of the Emblem Book I, and Shadow Dragon, as well as Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga and the bonus chapters of New Mystery of the Emblem.

The War of Shadows would be followed by the War of Heroes three years after its end.

Overview

Early stages

Gharnef studied alongside Miloah at Khadein under Gotoh for some time before the revival of Medeus. When Gotoh appointed Miloah as heir for pontifex of Khadein, Gharnef, driven by jealousy, stole the Darksphere and fled the city. Using the Darksphere's power, Gharnef created the tome Imhullu, sealing his soul within the Darksphere in the process.

In the year 597, Gharnef revived Medeus, who reestablished the empire of Dolhr and begins amassing an army. Soon after, Gharnef killed Miloah in battle and seized control of Khadein, appointing himself its new pontifex. He then captured and hypnotized Tiki, the daughter of the divine dragon king Naga, and placed her in the Fane of Raman to prevent anyone from gathering the materials required to make Starlight.

In order to increase Dolhr's might, Gharnef began to manipulate the leaders of various nations. Gharnef captured the twin heirs of Grust, Yumina and Yubello, and imprisoned them in Khadein in order to blackmail King Ludwick into forming an alliance between Grust and Dolhr. King Osmond of Macedon and his son Michalis disagreed on the country's course for the coming war, between an alliance with Archanea or Dolhr; Gharnef managed to persuade Michalis into killing his father, becoming King of Macedon, and forging an alliance with Dolhr, to the chagrin of his sister Princess Minerva who objected to Dolhr's actions. At some point, through some method, Gharnef convinced King Jiol of Gra to ally with Dolhr and betray Altea.

War breaks out

In the year 600, war had begun. Dolhr had grown strong and bold enough to wage war, and the combined armies of Dolhr, Grust, and Macedon made much progress on their respective By 602, Dolhr had reached Millenium Court, the capital of Archanea and began a siege on the castle which, along with an intervention from Camus of Grust's Sable Order, resulted in it's occupation and the capture of Princess Nyna and a group of Archanean Knights. Camus is placed in control of occupied Archanea and Nyna is considered to be in his custody. The Archanean royal family begins to be exterminated, but Camus' protection saves Nyna from execution. Soon after the fall of Millenium Court, a group of "thieves" attempt to steal a large sum of gold from the capital treasury and give it to the poor and suffering of the country. Camus attempts to apprehend the group, but Nyna convinces him to let them go.

Also in 602, King Cornelius of Altea took the Falchion and marched to confront Grust alongside the armies of Altea and Gra, leaving at home his family and a garrison of Gra soldiers. Upon confronting Grust, the Gra army attacked the Altean force, and the Altean army was annihilated and the Falchion taken. At the same time, the Gra garrison began to attack those within the castle. Princess Elice stays within the castle to buy time for Marth to escape alongside a retinue of knights and a court advisor. They were pursued by Jiol and manage to escape by boat to Talys when Frey, one of the Altean knights, served as a decoy. The King of Talys, Mostyn, offers Marth refuge in the country's east fortress, which he accepts. While on the island nation, Marth meets the king's daughter Caeda.

Continued subjugation

Over time, the Dolhr Empire grew to control most of the rest of the continent, facing continued resistance from Archanea and Aurelis, though Pyrathi and Talys remain free from Dolhr's grasp. In order to ensure Minerva's compliance with Dolhr, Princess Maria, the youngest sister of the Macedonian royal family, was held prisoner in Castle Deil. Prince Hardin of Aurelis began to engage the Macedonians in guerrilla tactics, and while he manages to slow their progress, he cannot stop them from taking much of Aurelis.

When Camus' authority became no longer enough to guarantee Nyna's safety, he decided to take her to Aurelis, where Prince Hardin could protect her; though Nyna objects, Camus and three knights of the Sable Order deserted said order and escorted her to Hardin. On the way to Aurelis, they were attacked by General Brzak of the Dolhr army; the knights managed to hold off Dolhr long enough for Hardin to arrive and take Nyna into his care. For his betrayal, Camus was taken back to Dolhr Keep where he was tortured and imprisoned at Medeus' behest.

The Archanean League

In 604, a group of pirates attacked Talys. Caeda rode out to the east fort to petition Marth for aid, to which he complies. After clearing out the pirates, Marth decided, with the advice of King Mostyn, that it is time to revolt against Dolhr, and so Marth and the Altean army, along with Caeda, left Talys for the mainland and Aurelis. They were interrupted by bandits on the way, and managed to rescue the Macedonian cleric Lena. When Marth first arrived in Aurelis, he had to oust the Macedonian occupying force, meeting Hardin and Nyna at Aruelis Castle, as well as Marth's old friend Merric. Upon removing the remaining Macedonians from the castle, Nyna gave Marth the Fire Emblem, hoping that with it, he might save the world from Dolhr. Nyna appointed Marth as the leader of the newly formed union of the Archanean, Altean, and Aurelian armies, dubbed the Archanean League.

With Aurelis liberated, Marth set out for Archanea, diverting to free Princess Maria at the behest of Minerva, resulting in the support of the Macedonian royal women. On the way to Millenium Court, Marth rescued Linde, the daughter of Miloah, at Nyna's request. The league drove the Grustian army out of Archanea, and then decided to head for Altea to liberate it from Grust and rescue Marth's family. On the way to Altea, Marth stoped in Gra to retrieve the Falchion, though after defeating Jiol and forcing Gra's surrender, he was unable to find the blade; Malledus informed him that Gharnef was in possession of the sword, so Marth opted to travel to Khadein in an attempt to obtain it. Once there, however, Archsage Gotoh used magic to tell Marth that Gharnef was protected by the spell Imhullu and was thus invulnerable to damage, forcing Marth to return to Altea without the Falchion.

Upon reaching Altea, the league confronted Grust defending the land and Dolhr within the castle, eventually defeating both armies. In battle, however, it was found that the commander of the Dolhr forces, Morzas had killed Marth's mother and sent his sister to Gharnef. The league next set out for the Fane of Raman in order to obtain the materials required for Gotoh to forge Starlight, the Starsphere and Lightsphere. Once there, they encountered the young manakete Tiki, and her trance was broken the by manakete Bantu. With the materials to make Starlight and the aid of the manakete princess, the league made preparations to end the war.

The war's close

The Archanean League traveled to Grust to put an end to the fighting of another major power. The defense of the country was lead by the recently released General Camus of the Sable Order. Marth and Nyna's attempts to convince Camus to join them failed, as unbeknownst to them, his betrayal would spell the deaths of the Grustian royal children, and he fell in battle. The league then moved on to Macedon, confronting Minerva's brother King Michalis. Michalis, too, fell in battle, and Marth located Gotoh and gave him the Starsphere and Lightsphere in order to make Starlight and defeat Gharnef.

Gotoh transported Marth and the league to the City of Thabes to confront Gharnef. Through the use of Starlight, Gharnef was defeated, and Marth retrieved the Falchion and found his sister Elice. The league then fought through the Dolhr army to storm Dolhr Keep, where Medeus laid in wait. The league stormed the fort, and, after much fighting, managed to defeat Medeus through the power of the united armies as well as the Falchion and the divine dragon Tiki.

The war ended in the year 605.

Aftermath

Following the defeat of Medeus, the Dolhr empire quickly lost power and dissolved. The war, however, had devastated the continent, requiring great efforts from each nation towards their own restoration. Princess Nyna, as the last living member of the Archanean royal family, would be forced by circumstance to choose a husband, eventually choosing Hardin. Hardin quickly managed to restore Archanea to power, reinstated it as the Holy Empire of Archanea, and became its emperor. Were other countries would struggle to restore themselves, Archanea became the single most dominant nation on the continent.

Marth, himself, returned to Altea in order to restore it, and he would eventually become engaged to Princess Caeda of Talys. Minerva and Sheena would come to lead Macedon and Gra respectively. Prince Yubello was rescued by Wendell and was placed on the Grustian throne, though Grust was occupied by Archanea. Wendell would become pontifex of Khadein, and Merric would return to Khadein to further study magic.

Camus, Michalis, and Gharnef all managed to survive their encounters with the Archanean League. Camus survived the battle, but was found ashore on Valentia without memory. Michalis was mortally injured, but was restored to health by his youngest sister, Maria, and managed to survive his wounds. Gharnef's physical body was destroyed, but his soul survived within the Darksphere.

Etymology and other languages

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