Foefire
From Guild Wars 2 Wiki
The Foefire is the event in 1090 AE that decimated the human and charr forces during the final siege of Ascalon City, which finally ended the conflict surrounding the city. When an overwhelming charr force invaded Ascalon, led by the imperator of the Flame Legion, the human soldiers failed to stop the charr advance. Enraged, King Adelbern refused to admit defeat and, standing at the top of his highest tower, unleashed the power of his magical sword, Magdaer. A sword made of white fire consumed the tower and soon spread to the entire city, killing all charr within the city and transforming all human leagues around Ascalon City into enraged ghosts. The only known human inhabitants of Ascalon that survived are those within Ebonhawke, who were outside the reach of the spell's effect.
The only surviving witnesses of the event were the Fireshadows, the warband of Frye Fireburn, who were tied upon the Viewing Hill nearby Ascalon City. It is said that the horrors they saw turned the entire warband's fur white from head to toe, lending credibility to their tale. It was through the Fireshadows that an accurate description of the Foefire reached the living.
There are no human accounts of the event, thus leaving humanity with only misguided rumors. The most prominent of these legends claims that King Adlebern was the final standing human and that the Foefire was caused when Magdaer clashed with the Claw of the Khan-Ur, wielded by the Flame Legion imperator; however, the charr leader never did battle King Adelbern directly.
The light of the Foefire still burns as a white beacon towering over the ruins of Ascalon City. The ghosts of the Ascalon army, still consumed by rage and bloodlust, are stuck in time defending the city against anyone who enters the ruins, be they human or charr. It is said that only when the rightful king, a descendant of King Doric, returns with Magdaer or Sohothin in hand the ghosts will finally be able to rest.
The spirits awakened by the Foefire were not like other ghosts, who are beings with unfinished business left to attend to. These spirits are enraged and view all beings they meet, even other humans, as charr.
Spoiler alert: The hidden text contains spoilers relating to the story of Ghosts of Ascalon.
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| Adelbern's chief courtier, Savione, was killed by the insane king a few moments before the Foefire, and as such kept his sanity after death. His ghost reiterated parts of Fireburn's version of the Foefire to Dougal Keane before being set free. |
[edit] Notes
- The events surrounding the Foefire are detailed in Ghosts of Ascalon.
