Battle of Belhalla

Battle of Belhalla File:FE776 Battle of Barhara.jpg Artwork of the Battle of Barhara from the Thracia 776 Illustrated Works.

World Jugdral Location(s) Barhara, Grandbell Date(s) Gran Year 761 Combatants Sigurd's army Rot Ritter Commanders Sigurd Alvis Aida Outcome Rot Ritter victory Sigurd's army branded traitors and executed Contemporary events Yied Massacre Appearance(s) Seisen no Keifu

“	Grandbell's disturbance, stemming from the campaign in Isaac, led one young man into a disasterous fate.	”	— Closing of Chapter 5

The Battle of Barhara was a conflict which occurred in the Grandbell capital of Barhara in the year 761. It was one of the final acts of the period of unrest which commence with Grandbell's war with Isaac, and was the culmination of Alvis' rise to power and of the formation of the powerful Grandbell Empire. In the battle, Sigurd of Chalphy and his army was executed for acts of treason against Grandbell, having been framed as co-conspirators in the demise of Prince Kurth.

Background

The ambitious Duke Reptor of Freege and avaricious Langobalt of Dozel felt threatened by the influence on King Azmur and Prince Kurth wielded by Vylon, the Duke of Chalphy. In the closing days of the war with Isaac in 759, working seemingly in cooperation with Alvis of Velthomer, the duo had Kurth assassinated and framed Vylon and his son Sigurd for the crime. Vylon was defeated and imprisoned, and the two led their armies to Agustria to arrest Sigurd; instead, Mahnya of Silezha arrived and escorted Sigurd's army to refuge in Silezha. Sigurd spent the next year in hiding there, but was eventually forced to leave due to sudden aggression against the otherwise innocent nation from Grandbell.

After quelling a civil war against Silezha's Queen Rahna, Sigurd's army set out on a march back to Grandbell through the Yied Desert, intending to clear his name from the crimes attributed to him. On the way, he tasked Oifey and Shanan with taking his infant son Seliph to Isaac as a precaution, and learned of Cuan and Ethlin's demise in the nearby Yied Massacre. Langobalt and Reptor led their forces against Sigurd in defense of Grandbell, seemingly with the support of Alvis and his lieutenant Aida, but at the last moment Aida turned on Reptor on Alvis' orders, ordering the Velthomer forces to attack Reptor's army. Langobalt and Reptor both fell in this battle, and Aida informed Sigurd that Alvis was aware of his innocence all along and had arranged a royal procession in Barhara in honor of Sigurd's return.

The battle

Following Aida's instructions, Sigurd led his troops to Barhara, where Alvis, the Rot Ritter and the Weiss Ritter were awaiting him. Alvis initially acted welcoming to Sigurd, but turned on him as soon as Sigurd mentioned his intent to seek an audience with Azmur. Alvis declared that Sigurd and his army were to be executed for treason, then summoned his wife Diadora - formerly Sigurd's wife - to confront "the son of the man who murdered [her] father". The amnesiac Diadora showed faint signs of recognition of Sigurd, while Sigurd himself reacted with shock at finding Diadora again, prompting Alvis to have Diadora taken back to the castle. Alvis then ordered his army to seize and execute Sigurd's.

Trapped in by the surrounding army, Sigurd's forces had nowhere to go. The Rot Ritter bombarded Sigurd's army with Meteor spells, while Alvis used Falaflame to execute Sigurd himself. In the midst of the confusion of the battle, Levn was confronted and killed by Manfroy of the Lopt Sect. Sigurd's army was quickly overwhelmed and wiped out; the fates of most of its members are unknown, and those who survived were hunted as traitors to Grandbell.

Aftermath

Alvis had successfully orchestrated the deaths of Langobalt, Reptor and Sigurd, eliminating all of the obstacles to his plans. When King Azmur died some time later, Alvis succeeded him as king, and reformed Grandbell into an empire. The territories subdued by Sigurd - Verdane and Agustria - were claimed as territories of Grandbell, as was Isaac in the war's aftermath, and the Manster District, Miletos and Silezha soon also were conquered by Grandbell. For a time the Empire was benevolent and peaceful.

At some point afterward, Alvis and Diadora had twin children, Yurius and Yuria. In accordance with the plans of Manfroy, Yurius possessed full Loptous Holy Blood, and so was able to be a vessel for the resurrection of Loptous. When this commenced with Manfroy presenting the Loptous tome to Yurius, Yurius killed Diadora and quickly wrested control of Grandbell from Alvis, twisting it into an oppressive and malevolent regime, paving the way for the return of the Lopt Empire.

Seventeen years after the Battle of Barhara, Sigurd's son Seliph formed a revolution army in the northern reaches of Isaac and marched on the holdings of the Empire, liberating the oppressed nations before defeating Emperor Alvis and marching on Grandbell itself, overthrowing Yurius's hold on the continent.

Survivors and casualties

Known deceased

• Claud: Claud foresaw his own imminent demise in the battle and resigned himself to this fate.
• Levn: Levn was killed by Manfroy. Shortly thereafter, he was resurrected and possessed by Holsety.
• Sigurd: Alvis personally executed Sigurd using Falaflame.

Known survivors

• Adean: Adean fled to Tilnanogue, where she gave birth to Lester and Lana, and helped Oifey and Shanan raise Seliph, Lakche, Skasaher and Delmud.
• Briggid: Briggid sustained amnesia and eventually turned up in the Manster District, adopting the name Eyvel and settling in Fiana.
• Ferry: Ferry returned to Silezha, where she ruled as its queen in lieu of Levn's absence. She eventually died of illness, prompting her son Sety to search for Levn.
• Lachesis: Fled to Lenster, where she resided with Finn until Thracia came to conquer the Manster District. She fled with Finn, Leaf and Nanna and went into hiding in several locations with them, before heading north to try and find her son Delmud and disappearing in the Yied Desert.
• Sylvia: At some point after the battle, Sylvia travelled to Darna, where she surrendered her children Corpul and Leen to an orphanage before disappearing.
• Tailto: Tailto fled to Silezha, where she lived for a few years with her children Arthur and Teeny. She and Teeny were later abducted by her brother Bloom, and she died years later after relentless abuse from Bloom's wife Hilda.

Unknown

According to August, there are rumors that the Lopt Sect had custody of the petrified victims of the Battle of Barhara, which they kept in the Yied Shrine.

• Alec
• Arden
• Azel: It is rumored that Azel survived and was taken into Alvis' custody, dying years later.
• Beowolf
• Dew
• Holyn
• Ira: Seventeen years later, her daughter Lakche believed that Ira survived the battle.
• Jamka
• Lex
• Midayle
• Noish

Not present

• Cuan: Killed in the Yied Massacre.
• Diadora: She was present in Barhara at the time, now Alvis' wife, and was brought out to see the captive Sigurd mere moments before the execution.
• Ethlin: Killed in the Yied Massacre.
• Finn: Stationed in Lenster at the time, protecting the infant Prince Leaf. When the Manster District fell to Thracia, he fled with Leaf and Lachesis, and over a decade later served in Seliph' liberation army.
• Oifey: Fled to Isaac with Seliph, and over a decade later served in Seliph' liberation army.
• Shanan: Fled to Isaac with Seliph, and over a decade later served in Seliph' liberation army.

Trivia

• The Battle of Barhara is one of two occasions in the Fire Emblem series where a lord character dies, and the only one where the character in question is the lord character at the time (the other is Hector's death in Fuuin no Tsurugi, where he was a minor character).