This lore breakdown is a helpful resource for understanding the Kindred’s Curse Saga! This lore guide includes spoilers, so please read AFTER you’ve finished Spark, Glow, and Heat of the Everflame.

Includes info from Spark, Glow, and Heat of the Everflame, so this guide is spoiler in nature.

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What is the Blood War?

The Blood War was a devastating and pivotal war in Emarion history, waged between rebel mortals and the Descended, with thousands and thousands of casualties on both sides and lasting effects on this world. The mortals were tired of the oppression from the Descended and wanted to fight for their autonomy.

The war was so violent and far-reaching that it left a permanent mark on the political, magical, and social fabric of Emarion. It’s remembered not just for its brutality, but for the ideological war over blood and power itself.

We asked Penn Cole how long ago this war occurred, because all we know is that it happened centuries ago. Here’s what she said:

“I don’t think I ever give a specific date, but I would just say it was many centuries ago. To the point where most descended alive today, except the very very very oldest, wouldn’t have been alive for that war. Just a very small percentage of people, and certainly the mortals have had several generations. So I would say to kind of put it in perspective of our world, to the Descended this would be like WW2 or so. Only the very oldest people alive today would really remember it. And they would have been very young when it happened.”

Two of the nine Crowns at the start of this series had been the Crowns during the blood war. Yrselle of Umbros, who is now described as on the mature side for a Descended, but not old like the Montios King, who was an elderly man at the start of Spark of the Everflame and the only other Crown alive during the blood war.

The Guardians of the Everflame was the mortal rebel group who took up arms against the Descended to fight for their homeland. They collected weapons to use against the Descended and their gryverns, like godstone bolts. And they became a formidable enemy against the Descended.

Coeurîle was the central battleground of the blood war, offering a rare equality in combat for the mortals and Descended. It was a highly sought after prize. Since no magic or gryverns are allowed on the island due to the Forging Spell, the Descended had to fight like the mortals and no longer had magic as an upperhand. But the Descended Crowns still had to go to Coeurîle for Forging rituals, so they needed the island for the heartstone and source of their magic.

A blood sun appeared on the eve of the war, which according to the mortals, gave the war its name. But we know from Yrselle that the old Lumnos King was the one who coined the name “blood war.” The war was about blood: whose would triumph, whose would survive.

Ignois tried to stay neutral as long as they could, but eventually they were forced to side with the Descended to save their own realm from the poisoned oasis. As a whole, the Crowns were certain they would prevail, because they believed the blood of the nine Kindred would always win out in war and in life.

But this thinking cost them dearly. They underestimated the mortals because of their hubris. The Descended ended up losing two gryverns, the Fortos and Montios ones, as well as thousands of lives; it almost cost them the war.

Ophiucae

Very little is known about Ophiucae during the blood war. All Sophos has found is one clue: a map of Coeurîle marking the hidden door with a note that it should never be opened for any reason. It’s dated just after the blood war, so it’s assumed he must have been imprisoned around then.

The Aftermath

In the aftermath, realms enacted brutal purity laws. Especially Umbros with their ability to control and/or read minds.

The Umbros Queen executed all but the most powerful 100 of her own Descended. Then in Lumnos, the progeny laws passed to ban mortal-and-Descended children to avoid further “diluting” Descended magic.

Most realms also placed extra restrictions on mortals, which vary in severity depending on the realm. A few realms even banned mortals outright, like Ignios. These harsh laws were passed to punish the mortals and keep them in permanent subjugation. Mortal exile or execution became a more common policy in several realms.

While mention of the old gods had previously been removed from history, it wasn’t until after the blood war that mention of the Everflame was also banned, because it had been the rallying cry for the mortals. Thus, the Descended attempted to remove it from existence, too. Since the blood war, any and all references to old mortal religions are forbidden.

Even with these restrictions in place, and the rebellion mostly crushed, the Guardians survived in small cells across Emarion and have continued to fight for their cause in secret.

Political changes and consequences from the blood war include:

Fortos gained control of the joint military, with a new rule that action required a vote of six Crowns instead of unanimous consent. Since it was nearly impossible for all nine of them to come to any unanimous agreement, they needed to enact this new rule DURING the blood war to get anything done. The new rule meant the army could act on a vote of six crowns, instead of all nine.
After the blood war in Lumnos, the Challenging system was introduced to curb assassination attempts on Crowns. Previously, the 20 houses were continually killing the Crown in hopes of being the next one selected. After the blood war where the Descended realized they needed to come together stronger, they eliminated this pattern with the Challenging.
Use of godstone became heavily restricted to prevent it from falling into rebel hands (again). The Crowns agreed to confiscate and destroy the caches of godstone weapons that the Kindred left behind to their first Descended Crowns. But even the Crowns couldn’t destroy them, so the godstone weapons were locked away in Fortos. Though illicit pieces can still be found for outrageous prices on the black market, sightings of it are rare – even for the Descended.