Forneus

Forneus (Japanese: フォルネウス Forneus) was an alchemist residing in Thabes an unspecified, though presumably a very large, amount of time before 402 V.C.

Biography

Forneus was an esteemed Alchemist living in Thabes^[2] long ago. After the death of his beloved wife, he became obsessed with raising the dead back to life.^{[citation needed]} He initially conducted his studies with the blessings of the Thabean Senate. Forneus studied the thanatophages, a species of insect,^[3] eventually creating an invention he dubbed a "death mask".^[3] His desire was to create controllable undead as well as a "perfect life form".^[4]

Eventually, however, the Senate became concerned with Forneus's activities, and sent messengers, then later soldiers, to stop him, though none returned. The Senate accepted the people they sent as lost, and sealed Forneus within his workshop with the Sage's Shield.^[5]

At some point Forneus fed his creation his own blood; this caused the Creation to grow rapidly in size, and apparently granted it the ability to invade Forneus's mind.^[6] Judging by the messages left by Forneus after this, it is possible that Forneus had unintentionally made a blood pact with his creation.

Many years later his creation would come to be known by the name "Grima". It is unknown if those in a blood pact with Grima are direct descendants of Forneus or if Grima blood-blonded with another. Forneus's death masks would also come to be known as the "Risen".

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Role

Forneus does not make an in-person appearance in Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, though his workshop and the story surrounding it is the primary focus of Act 6.

In 402 V.C., Alm and Celica, after granting safe passage of an Archanean merchant, decide to explore Thabes Labyrinth. On their exploration down they encounter messages left by the Thabean Senate as well as Forneus himself.

Messages left in Thabes related to Forneus

Personality

Little of Forneus's personality is explicitly known. Forneus's desire to create a perfect life form and an undead army stemmed from the death of his beloved wife, whose face he modeled the death masks after.^{[citation needed]} He was clearly dedicated to his studies. He also considered his proto-Risen to be adorable pets. It is possible he did not initially intend to defy the Thabean Senate, and went rogue under the control of his violently-inclined creation.

Etymology and other languages

References

This article is part of Project Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in the Fire Emblem series.