A Concise History of Fódlan
I. The Ancient Age
— Prior to Known Chronology
Long before the first dated calendars, it is said that the Progenitor God, Sothis, descended upon a barren and desolate Fódlan. The lands were remade through divine will: rivers carved, mountains raised, and life brought forth from dust.
Those who dwelled beside the Goddess—later known as the Nabateans—served as stewards of this world. Their sacred domain lay in Zanado, the Red Canyon, a place revered as the cradle of civilization. The Nabateans guided early mankind, granting knowledge, culture, and the first principles of order.
Though human memory left few clear accounts of this era, Nabatean tradition holds that Sothis eventually withdrew into a deep slumber, leaving her kin to safeguard the continent in her stead.
II. The War of Heroes
— Circa Imperial Year ~–98 to –1 (exact dating uncertain)
As human populations grew, envy and fear took root. A warlord called Nemesis rose to power in the lands beyond Fódlan’s borders, gathering men who coveted the strength of the Nabateans.
Nemesis’s armies descended upon Zanado in what came to be known as the Red Canyon Tragedy. Countless Nabateans perished, their remains desecrated to forge grotesque weapons of unmatched power—later named the Heroes’ Relics. These weapons, together with the Crests carved from Nabatean essence, granted Nemesis’s followers fearsome might.
For nearly a century, the conflict raged across Fódlan. At its end, Seiros, daughter of the Progenitor God and survivor of Zanado, challenged Nemesis at the Battle of Tailtean. There she struck him down, ending the war and reclaiming the stolen Relics.
With the fall of Nemesis, the survivors of the Nabateans and their human allies began to rebuild.
III. The Founding of the Adrestian Empire
— Imperial Year 1
In the first year of the new calendar, Seiros established the Church of Seiros, dedicating it to the teachings and memory of the Progenitor God. The Church became the spiritual heart of the continent and its most influential authority.
At its side rose the Adrestian Empire, the first unified human nation in Fódlan. The Empire embraced the Church’s guidance, and together they shaped the political and cultural order for centuries. Nobility was organized around Crests, hereditary marks of power and prestige bestowed generations prior.
This arrangement stabilized the land for many generations, though dissent and ambition simmered beneath the surface.
IV. The Northern Schism and the Birth of Faerghus
— Imperial Year 747
Tensions between northern lords and imperial authority grew steadily. Harsh climates, differing traditions, and disputes over succession eventually ignited open conflict.
In Imperial Year 747, the northern nobility formally declared independence, and with the blessing of the Church formed the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. Strongly devout, the Kingdom embraced a knightly tradition centered on loyalty, honor, and service to the Church.
This marked the first fracturing of Imperial rule.
V. The Eastern Rebellion and the Rise of the Alliance
— Imperial Year 901
Centuries later, the Empire’s eastern nobles chafed under central authority. Prolonged internal disputes, combined with regional autonomy and mercantile interests, culminated in secession.
In Imperial Year 901, the nobles established the Leicester Alliance, a confederacy governed not by a monarch but by a council of influential houses. The Riegan family served as the primary voice among equals. Though officially aligned with the Church, the Alliance maintained greater independence than the other realms.
Thus Fódlan became divided into the three powers known today: the Empire, the Kingdom, and the Alliance.
VI. Crest Studies and the Shadow in the Deep
— 10th–12th Century
As the centuries passed, interest in the origins of Crests grew. Official research was strictly regulated by the Church, though nobles increasingly pursued private—and sometimes unethical—experiments to enhance their bloodlines.
At the same time, a mysterious people known only in whispers as Those Who Slither in the Dark continued to operate from the shadows.
Once ancient adversaries of the Nabateans, these subterranean remnants nursed their hatred for the Church and manipulated human houses for their own ends.
Their influence over certain noble lineages—particularly the imperial Hresvelg family—would shape the tragedies to come.
VII. The Tragedy of Duscur
— Imperial Year 1176
During a royal journey meant to strengthen relations with the northern region of Duscur, King Lambert of Faerghus and most of his retinue were assassinated. The blame fell wholly upon the people of Duscur, who were massacred or enslaved in retaliation.
The truth of this calamity was obscured by layers of deception and political struggle. Crown Prince Dimitri, one of the few survivors, bore the scars of that day in body and soul.
The Kingdom entered a period of inner conflict, corruption, and mistrust.
VIII. The Captain’s Departure and the Sleeping Child
— Imperial Year 1150–1155 (exact year uncertain)
Years before the present day, Jeralt, captain of the Knights of Seiros, left the Church under suspicious circumstances. His wife Sitri had died mysteriously, and Jeralt grew distrustful of the Church’s intentions.
With his infant child in hand, Jeralt vanished from Garreg Mach and lived quietly as a mercenary for decades. Unknown to him, the Archbishop Rhea had placed within the child a Crest Stone connected to the Goddess Sothis, a secret that would shape Fódlan’s destiny.
IX. The Eve of Conflict
— Imperial Year 1180
The continent stands at a precarious crossroads.
The Adrestian Empire is controlled not by its frail emperor but by a cluster of noble houses. Their machinations set the stage for rebellion and reform.
The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is fractured by internal division, haunted by the unhealed wound of Duscur.
The Leicester Alliance teeters between rival noble factions, struggling to maintain unity.
The Church of Seiros remains the moral and political keystone of the continent, but its authority faces growing doubt.
In secret places, the ancient enemies of the Goddess move once more.
And in this very year, the mercenary leader Jeralt is drawn back to Garreg Mach—changing the fate of his children Byleth and Beylen, and of all Fódlan.
Thus begins the present age, in which the old order strains under the weight of truth long burried.