Episode Four

9164: Rise of Solaris
9226: Construction of Shevat
9301: Rise of Nimrod
9453: Rise of Nisan religion
9488: Sophia's disappearance
----- Split of Nisan and Nimrod
9495: Sophia's return
9496: The war with Solaris
9500: Death of Sophia
9501: Diablos Invasion
9506: Krelian's betrayal
9510: Rise of Aveh
9511: Founding of the Ethos
9513: Rise of Kislev

* The beginning of Xenogears takes place in the year 9999. Use that as your reference point.
A New Era

Three thousand years after the fall of Zeboim, the world finally began to show signs of civilization again. This resurgence was signaled with the rise of Solaris to the sky, under Cain's guidence, and the beginning of Shevat's construction atop Babel Tower in Aquavy. Nimrod rose up a little bit after that, and set the stage for the real meat of Episode four's storyline. ^.^


The Rise of Nisan

Before Aveh and Kislev, there was the Nimrod Empire. I don't know how far it spanned, but I do know that it covered Nisan and much of Aveh's current territory, and quite possibly part of Kislev. The first mention of this country in the timeline is in 9301, so I'm going to assume that is the year of its founding. Aveh's terrain suggests that it would be inhabited mostly by nomadic tribes, but that's also unconfirmed. Either way - despite its size, it looks like Nimrod ruled a lot of nothing. ^^

But Nimrod's claim to fame is the rise of the Nisan religion. It started here with Ashera and Penel ten years before Krelian's birth, with the approval of the current king, and gained followers rapidly. Krelian grew up and joined the King's Elite guard; Elly was born to Ashera and eventually adopted by Penel, who became her teacher so she might one day be able to lead the new religion. Her friendship with Lacan started in Penel's monastary, but was interrupted by a conflict between Nisan's leaders and the crown.



Nisan Secedes from Nimrod

It isn't clear whether Nisan is responsible for the conflicts that started to crop up or not, but it seems that King Raodikia blamed them anyway - or perhaps he was just tired of Nisan, or wary of their growing power. He sent Krelian to murder Penel and his circle, but while Krelian successfully killed the leading clergymen, he was unable to harm Sophia. He betrayed the king and wisked her away, and Nisan was left to its own devices.

With its leadership gone, the followers of Nisan split from Nimrod and established themselves in the far north, where we see Nisan during the game. Again, it's unclear if Nisan's 'betrayal' of the king is what ultimately caused Nimrod's fall - the book suggests the country was plagued by many civil conflicts, and this eventually led to its demise.



Sophia's Return and the War With Solaris

Seven years after her disappearance, at age twenty, Sophia returned to her people in Nisan and took charge of the sect with Krelian and Lacan (somewhow) by her side. Jikrinde**, who I think was leading Nisan before Sophia's return, became the Mother's aide. A year later, the war with Solaris began.

Shevat joined Sophia's forces early, and brought with them advanced technology and researchers (namely Melchoir) who helped Krelian build the Nisan militia into something worth noticing. Most of this technology probably came from the ruins of Zeboim, since that is also where Melchoir and Krelian found the papers that helped them develop nanotechnology. Krelian became the leader of Sophia's army and the small group of bodyguards that protected her (which he probably was from the beginning, anyway); a year after that, Roni and Rene Fatima joined his command.

We don't really know how Nisan fared in this war. They had the support of every land-dwelling nation, but Solaris had superior technology, and the added advantage of waging war on Nisan's soil, instead of their own.

At this time, aside from his duty as Sophia's general, Krelian was also instrumental in many discoveries in the field of nanotechnology, and Lacan was commissioned to paint Sophia's portrait. This convergence of characters eventually led to the infamous love triangle (Krelian, Lacan, Sophia). ^.^



Death of Sophia

During the last year of the war, Solaris approached Shevat with a deal. It seems that Miang was really getting on the Ministry's nerves with her demands that they do things her way, and they wanted to get rid of her for a while. The terms were simple: Solaris would turn over the woman supposedly responsible for the war (Miang) and in return, Shevat would hand Sophia over to Solaris. I don't think Zephyr was a part of this agreement, or if she was, she must have been against it. But the counsellors in Shevat decided in favor of Solaris, and the deal was struck.

Nisan's forces were lured into a trap, and when they called for Shevat's aid, they received no answer. But rather than surrender or allow her forces to be killed, Sophia commandeered the Excalibur and rammed it into Solaris's flagship, sacrificing her life to save her friends. Lacan and Krelian snapped over this. Miang, who was still in Shevat's custody, convinced Lacan to search for the "legendary power", and Krelian returned to Nisan for the time being, to obey Sophia's wishes and take care of the people.



The Diablos Invasion and Krelian's Betrayal

Lacan found the Zohar and its legendary power, but he didn't like the answers it gave him. Once he realized nothing could be done without Elly, that was it for him - he tried to merge again with Zohar, but failed, and the incomplete contact transformed him into Grahf. As this new persona, he awakened the Diablos (weapons units from the Eldridge) and set them loose on the world, determined to destroy everyone. He was fairly successful. As a result of his actions, 96% of the population was wiped out of existence.

But they didn't go down without a fight! ^.^ Solaris was understandably peeved, and Nisan and Shevat were determined to do what they could to protect the people. In the following battles, the Gazel Ministry was killed (though only four were lost forever), and the Animus (Krelian and Roni being the only ones of note) aligned with their Anima Relics to defend what was left of civilization. Rene died in the conflict, but eventually Grahf was subdued, and Lacan returned to (momentary) sanity.

(Obviously, they weren't aware of Shevat's part in Sophia's death at this time. I can see Krelian leaving them to die over that, and friendship be damned. ^^)

After this, both Krelian and Lacan disappeared. Lacan was probably in contact with Miang, and learned how to transmigrate, so he could obey Sophia's command to live. Krelian wandered for ten years trying to find a way to build God as he had vowed, and somewhere during that decade the answer came in the form of Miang. Her identity was unknown to him at that time, but she led him to Cain, and Solaris and all of its resources were put at his disposal. Krelian resurrected eight of the Gazel Ministers in the SOL-9000 and sustained Cain's life, and with their favor took the reigns of Solaris and used its technology for his own ends. This included releasing the Limiters to the surface-dwelling populations and imprisoning Zephyr and her ministers with eternal life.


Rise of the Surface Nations

Back in Nisan, Izolde, daughter of Rene and Jikrinde, became the second Mother of Nisan, and Roni went off to found the country of Aveh after hiding his omnigear and Fort Jasper away from prying eyes. The Ethos was eventually established in Aquavy as part of Krelian's plans, and Kislev was founded in the north. Eventually the population began to build itself up again, and the events of the Solaris War were steadily buried until they were nothing more than legend.


** 'Jikrinde' (Katakana: Jikurinde) is one of the names I couldn't find a satisfactory equivilent for. 'Raodikia' (Katakana: Raodeikia) is another - although it /is/ a word in another language, I don't have the translation for it.