Lydian

Lydian (1st CTR - 118 TR) was a superhero warrior, considered to be the most consequential and destructive in the history of the Continent, having single-handedly ended the Western Dantrian civilization. His armies have devastated whole countries and reduced the population of the Continent by an estimated 10-20%. His conquests are also responsible for wiping out most of the cultural artifacts of Dantria and its neighboring regions, including the Great Dantrian Libraries.

Lydian
Superhero warrior
Powers	Effortless animation and control of the dead
Personal details
Born	1st CTR
Died	118 TR

He had the ability to effortlessly animate and control the dead, creating hordes of warriors that would overrun any army. His abilities are thought to have eventually evolved into an even more powerful variant, with undead becoming truly resurrected and no longer dependent on Lydian, to the point that he effectively lost control over the majority of his own army and was in hiding.

Having defeated all superhero warriors in his path, Lydian was eventually killed by Kornad Dvon Trimian in 118 TR. It took many more years to completely destroy the undead armies he had spawned.

Research

The ratio of what we actually know about Lydian to the amount of research done on him is very poor. This is due to several factors.

First of all, it is suspected that the true extent of his powers is insufficiently understood. Specifically, a number of historians believe that he was much older and that his abilities provided him with extraordinary longevity. This makes it difficult to place the date of his birth into a narrow range, and scientists are forced to consider a very wide time period to search for data.

Second, Lydian's conquests have wiped out such an enormous amount of people and destroyed so many artifacts and historical records, that information about the Western Dantrian Civilization is scarce to begin with, let alone information about this one individual. Most records come from Zamborana Zambonia, which was mostly untouched by Lydian's conquest due to pure luck and geography, as well as Land.

Third, one of the mysteries about Lydian is that he emerged as a superhero late in his life - definitely when he was an adult - and pretty much out of nowhere. Which meant that his whereabouts would have been of little significance to the public. And when he did become known, as he appeared in the middle of Western Dantria with his armies, the only thing that was left of the country he allegedly came from were charred lands, which meant that any traces of his early life had probably been erased.

Finally, due to the nature of his abilities, Lydian required no help. For the majority of his conquests he operated alone. The only time when he seemed to have a team was at the end of his Central Dantria conquest, when several generals known as the Death Bunch helped him command his undead armies, but none of them survived. Thus, we have little to no insight into Lydian's motivations, thought processes or daily routine.

Early life

It is currently a consensus that Lydian was born in the beginning of the 1st century, with estimates placing his date of birth between 10-30 TR. He lived in a province which was referred to as either Wunnah or Duntilla, located in modern-day Narindal.

There are several possible candidates whose names were Lydian and who seemed to match his general description, although each one of them presents a unique challenge, making all of them equally likely (or equally unlikely) to actually be Lydian, the superhero warrior.

A record of a boy called Lydian who had been born to a family of a city mayor, but was then declared as having died from an illness and with no funeral held, seems to hint at the existing and relatively common practice of families deciding to conceal the fact that a superhero warrior was born. This is done for various reasons, including the personal safety of the family and the child. However, as child mortality was quite high at the time, the parents might have also been telling the truth.

One of the difficulties stems from the fact that there exist no historical record that confirms that the superhero warrior's name in question was actually Lydian. That name begins to consistently appear in scout reports and Dantrian documents, but there exists no account of how that name came to be known. However, based on the surviving records of the Western Dantrian culture, the name "Lydian" seemed to be a relatively common name with no immediate cultural connotations, so it seems more probable to assume that this was the actual name of the superhero warrior leading the undead.

Conquests

Information on the conquests is limited and mostly based on the recovered scout messages, official paperwork and scarce survivor accounts of Western and Central Dantria. As the latter is wiped out, most information begins to come from records of Zamborana Zambonia, modern-day Zombon, Land and Gantolia.

[{{ :wiki:dantria_prelydian.png?nolink&600 |Continent, end of 1st century}}]

[{{ :wiki:dantria_postlydian.png?nolink&600 |Continent, post-Lydian}}]

Walneer

Lydian's armies appear in Western Dantria in the fall of 114. First attacks are documented by December. By mid-December, several cities have fallen. Matel Tvardn, a superhero warrior from Walneer, is sent against Lydian, but news quickly comes back that he has perished. Surviving messages show that Matel's defeat is completely unexpected and this signals alarm for the whole of Western Dantria.

By about March 115 undead armies reach major cities. The invasion is dubbed "Hordes of the Dead". As the battle for the city of Walneer begins, several messages mention the "King of the Dead" for the first time. The name "Lydian" begins to come up as well.

The Council of Dantria makes a decision to not assume a defense-only strategy, but to mount an attack as early as possible. They hope to squash the invasion, which rapidly grows by enlisting the population it kills.

Several superhero warriors gather their troops and march towards Walneer in May. Same month Walneer falls.

Kalchinge

In August of 115 both armies collide under the walls of the fortified city of Kalchinge. Dantrian army suffers heavy casualties and retreats from the ever growing hordes of the undead into the city. The siege of Kalchinge lasts for two months, but only thanks to the strong abilities of the superhero warriors involved. The city falls in December, a year after Lydian invades Western Dantria, with all the known superhero warriors of the region dead.

Lydian's conquest unexpectedly stops and the undead stay in the ruins of Kalchinge for six months. It is unclear what was happening at Kalchinge at the time or why Lydian chose to stop, since his armies required no rest.

According to the available records, the Council seems to be in complete disarray. Although excessive communication is held with Central Dantria, there are no traces of the Council attempting to seek help from other countries, nor does there seem to be a solid plan. They bet on Lydian attacking the capital city of Tavoe next. Throughout this time Cental Dantria diverts significant forces towards Tavoe, including its superhero warriors.

In around February of 116 Lydian resumes the conquest, but continues to marches west. It would soon become clear that Lydian does not have a plan and probably does not know the region too well. His gargantuan army would frequently break up into several armies, which would cover large areas and decimate any town or village in their way.

Gungon

In March one of the undead armies stumbles upon Gungon, another major dantrian city, which housed the Great Dantrian Libraries and the Western Dantrian University, as well as some of the most impressive architecture of the era. Lydian then turns all his armies towards Gungon, which reach the city in April.

Due to Gungon's heavy fortification and high-rise stone buildings, its siege lasts for over 4 months, even in light of the Council being completely unprepared for such a turn of events and assigning only a minimal defense force to the city. Gungon falls in the beginning of August.

Meanwhile, leaders of both regions begin to demonstrate a significant amount of panic in both their communications and actions. The Council allegedly sacrifices Gungon to buy time to prepare for the battle of Tavoe. However, their strategic bet is weakened by a significant setback: in June, Central Dantria fears that Lydian is not going to attack Tavoe, but will instead go further west or even north. At least two armies led by two superhero warriors seem to be recalled from Tavoe, although no documents have been found that confirm the arrival of said two armies in Central Dantria.

During the summer of 116 Central Dantria and Land begin working together to strengthen the border between Central Dantria and Western Dantria. Diplomatic communication between the two countries shows their hope that Lydian will proceed westward and into the Nari Wastelands. For the first time documents speak of sending scouts to Yammoe as both a warning and a plea for help. However, there are no documents on either side that would confirm that such an order was ever given or that any scouts from Dantria made their way to Gantolia or Yammoe.

Tavoe

As Gungon falls, Lydian immediately proceeds further to the west, but again one of his armies, which branches out into the south, reaches Tavoe in the end of September. Lydian then immediately turns all of his armies towards Tavoe. But while his forces march, the first army is already wreaking havoc. Almost all superhero warriors perish in the first battle and dantrian forces retreat into the city, hoping for a siege as a way to buy time, meanwhile sending scouts to Central Dantria.

However, the undead army, having doubled in size, overruns city defenses by sheer numbers, using each other as bridges and ladders, and Tavoe falls in one day. By the time Lydian reaches Tavoe by mid October, all that is left of the city are charred ruins.

Tavoe's abrupt destruction sends shock waves throughout Dantria. There are still hopes that Lydian will resume his westwards march and lose time in the Nari Wastelands, but instead Lydian proceeds directly to the north towards Land. This was unexpected and again showed that Lydian was likely making decisions randomly.

The already well fortified south border of Central Dantria is especially strong near the Nari Wastelands, but the reaction is quick and the forces are relocated to stand between Lydian and Land, several hundred kilometers north of Kalchinge.

Central Dantria

First undead armies reach the Dantrian army by December of 116, but they are relatively small and are decisively thrown back by the concerted operation involving Land's and Central Dantria's superhero warriors. However, this success is short lived and proves to be the last and only known victorious battle of the Dantrian forces.

Already by mid-December 116 more undead armies focus on the area and Dantrian forces begin to retreat into Central Dantria, behind the fortified south border, which probably saves Land from what would be imminent destruction. The undead follow Dantrian forces and several large battles are documented along the south border, but all of them ending with Dantrian forces retreating with significant losses.

The Central Dantrian document trail ends abruptly by January 117. It is not entirely clear exactly which battles occurred and where, but by February 117 Lydian's armies are deep in Central Dantria, although proceeding slowly and stopping often.

It is at that time that there are first signs of undead which seem to have a mind of their own. Several armies of the undead cross Central Dantria and walk into the Great Desert, reaching Duls Settlements and devastating dozens of towns and cities in June of 117. These stray armies are defeated by July, as they no longer seem to have Lydian's resurrecting abilities. There are also no fires, which decreases the amount of destruction. In fact, the attacked cities have many people killed, but the buildings and infrastructure are left almost intact.

In Central Dantria, however, the fires continue and Gun Den falls in March, although Lydian is probably not present and the city does not burn. The Death Bunch is seen at about this time, comprised of generals from Central Dantria and Land.

As the population of Central Dantria is slaughtered and its cities are burned to the ground, several large armies enter the Great Desert and proceed westwards. These armies will reach Gantolia, one after the other in quick succession in July of 117, resulting in a series of battles which are known as The Last Stand. While marching towards Gantolia, the undead destroy the famous city-state of Tuntan, also known as the Oasis of Tuntan. There are no survivors and the exact date of Tuntan's destruction is unknown, but estimated to be the end of April or beginning of May 117. In fact, Tuntan's fate goes unnoticed for decades and becomes a complete shock when its ruins are discovered by Gantolian and Leykaryan travelers in the 150s.

Endgame

The whereabouts of Lydian in 117 are not well documented. His armies seem to wander within Central and even Western Dantria, decimating cities, towns and villages, as well as natural ecosystems, such as lakes, moors and forests and anything which is alive. Some of them wander into the Nari Wastelands and would later emerge in southern Gantolia months later. Lydian is not seen often, although starting summer 117 Gantolian scout parties try to hunt him down and eventually locate him in the northern parts of Central Dantria by December 117.

In April 118 Kornad Dvon Trimian kills Lydian and his conquests are considered to be officially over, although no significant territorial gains have been made since he invaded and effectively destroyed Central Dantria in the beginning of 117.

Aftermath

Lydian's conquests have changed the history of the Continent by reducing the Western Dantrian Civilization which controlled the world for over three centuries into charred ruins in just under three years. Hundreds of years worth of science, history, literature and art has been lost. The world's population was reduced by an estimated 10-20%, and scientific progress is believed to have been set back by centuries.

The destruction of Dantria has basically left the region west of the Great Desert incapacitated and disconnected. This shifted all focus to the east of the Great Desert and set the foundation for the Loodon Empire, which would dominate the eastern part of the Continent for several centuries.

In the immediate aftermath of the conquests, Land recognized the power vacuum left by Dantria and began to eat into the territory of former Central Dantria, rebuilding Gun Den and becoming a regional power by the end of the 2nd century.

Abilities

The extent of Lydian's abilities is poorly understood.

He definitely had the ability to effortlessly animate and control the dead. His abilities are thought to have eventually evolved into an even more powerful variant, with the undead getting a mind of their own and no longer dependent on Lydian for direction, to the point that he effectively lost control over the majority of his own army and was in hiding for the last several weeks of his life.

Additionally, he seemed to constantly and involuntarily provide additional support to all the undead in the radius of several kilometers, so that once killed, they would get reanimated again, as well as increasing their speed and excitability. There were no accounts of resurrected superhero warriors retaining their abilities in zombie form.

Finally, it is speculated that Lydian was very old and that he might have been a legendary.

The fire problem

One of the greatest mysteries surrounding Lydian's conquests was that all of them were always accompanied by blazing fires. Nothing in our current understanding of Lydian's abilities hints at why that would be the case, and none of the documented descriptions of battles, massacres and marches contain any indication as to what would be producing them. Lydian's posture was always passive and his abilities seemed to be either involuntary or completely mind-based, in which case setting fire was, perhaps, part of the package.

That Lydian is the key to this mystery is evident in the fact that as the undead began ravaging Dantria on their own, the fires stopped. The Last Stand, for instance, featured no fires.