Aed Desert

The landscape of the Aed Desert.

The Aed Desert (Japanese: イード砂漠 Yied Desert) is a desert covering the center-east of Jugdral. It is bordered by Grannvale to the east, Isaach and Silesse to the north, and the Munster District and Miletos to the south. Largely inhospitable and harboring only a small few settlements, for centuries it was the primary haunt of the exiled Loptr Church, making it exceptionally dangerous to travel through.

History

Following the Loptrian Empire's downfall, the Loptr Church and other prominent former members of the Empire retreated into hiding within the Aed Shrine, living there for centuries to avoid persecution; Lewyn theorized that this trapped experience came to corrupt their descendants who would otherwise have been normal people.^[1]. For most of their existince in hiding in the Shrine, the Loptrians kept their presence a secret.

In Grann 760, the Aed Desert experienced two prominent skirmishes. The armies of Grannvale marched on the western region of the desert and occupied the city of Phinora in their efforts to close in on Silesse to arrest the fugitive Sigurd; while the armies of Lombard and Andrey set up in Silesse's Lubeck Castle, a Velthomer army led by Vaja occupied Phinora as a base of operations, with Meteor wielding Velthomer mages posted atop the desert's cliffs to bombard Sigurd's army as they passed. Sigurd's army successfully defeated Vaja's forces, liberated Phinora and continued on to Grannvale itself. Meanwhile, in the desert's south, Prince Quan of Leonster, his wife Ethlyn, daughter Altena and a group of Leonster's Lanceritter knights marched toward the north, seeking to reinforce Sigurd; however on their way through the desert, they were ambushed by a detachment of Thracia's army led by Travant and assaulted, an event known as the Aed Massacre. Hindered by the desert sands, Quan's group was quickly slaughtered, leaving behind only Altena, who was adopted and taken away by Travant.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Belhalla and the ascension of Arvis to the Grannvale throne, the Loptrian inhabitants of the Aed Shrine began to emerge and unofficially had full rein of the entire desert itself. Loptrian mages took to wandering the desert, preying on innocent travellers, leading to numerous disappearances;^[2] One of their presumed victims was Lachesis of Nordion, who disappeared after departing the Munster District to find her son Diarmuid in Isaach; her route would have taken her through the Aed Desert, making this her most likely fate according to Diarmuid.^[3]

In Grann 777, the Isaach liberation army led by Seliph crossed the eastern region of the Aed Desert en route to the Munster District to provide reinforcements for Seliph's cousin Leif; at the same time, Isaach's Prince Shannan and the thief Patty/Daisy were fighting at the Aed Shrine after stealing the Balmung, Shannan's birthright, back from it. Seliph's group joined up with Shannan and cleared out the Loptrian occupation of the Aed Shrine, then moved on to fighting at Dahna and Fort Melgen.

Notable locations in the Aed Desert

Dahna

Main article: Dahna

Dahna is a fortress city, considered a sacred site to the people of Grannvale as the place where the Miracle of Dahna occurred during the era of the Loptrian Empire.

Aed Shrine

The Aed Shrine is a temple in the desert's north-east which has long housed the Loptr Church in hiding from the downfall of the Loptrian Empire; every known Loptrian active in Jugdral presumably grew up in the Shrine. In the aftermath of the Grannvale-Isaach war, the divine blade of Isaach, Balmung, was hidden in the treasury of the Aed Shrine as a trophy. It is theorized by August that the Aed Shrine is also used to house the petrified victims of Veld and other Loptrians wielding the Stone spell, and that these captives may include survivors from the Battle of Belhalla.^[4]

Phinora

A city located in the north-west of the Aed Desert. It was used by the Velthomer army under Vaja as a staging point in their fight against Sigurd.

Characters from the Aed Desert

Character	Description	Appears in
Kutuzov	A Loptrian bishop administrating the Aed Desert from the Aed Shrine.	Genealogy of the Holy War

Gameplay

The Aed Desert is present in two chapters of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War: its western half is part of Chapter 5 as Sigurd's army crosses it to return to Grannvale, and the eastern half comprises the bulk of Chapter 7, depicting Seliph's army's liberation of the Aed Shrine and quest to reach Leonster.

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

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  Artwork of the Aed Desert from the Fire Emblem Trading Card Game.

• 

  The western Aed Desert, plus parts of Silesse and Grannvale, as depicted in Chapter 5 of Genealogy of the Holy War.

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  The eastern Aed Desert, plus parts of the Munster District, as depicted in Chapter 7 of Genealogy of the Holy War.

References