Thechild hunts are an infamous practice of theLoptrian Empire. They are primarily depicted during the events ofFire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War andThracia 776. It is an action in which members of the Loptr Church gather non-Loptrian children to be used in sacrificial rituals for their patron god,Loptous.

Overview

Selection

To qualify as a child eligible for sacrifice, they must be of any age between seven and thirteen.^[1] There appear to be no other real requirements; both boys and girls are shown being taken away as sacrifices. It appears that not only commoner children are abducted, as even the child of the renownedThracian generalHannibal,Coirpre, ended up taken.^[2] The number of sacrifices sent toGrannvale at one point ballooned to the point of overrunningChalphy castle with child prisoners;^[3] suggesting a lax and wide ranging selection process. It is also said that hundreds of victims are sent off daily in just the Thracian peninsula;^[4] further supporting the selection methods favoring increasing the numbers of sacrifices.

The victims were primarily abducted by the military forces of the noble houses ofGrannvale; for example, theFriege noble house was responsible for numerous abductions occurring in theMunster District. Once the children are gathered, and generally stored in various prisons and dungeons, they would be received by Loptrian priests to be delivered to the Empire's capital.^[5]

Fate of the victims

Common belief among the commoners ofJugdral is that the children taken in the child hunts were ritualistically killed; though the exact process appears to be a bit more involved. Nonetheless, it still results in the death of most victims.

According toJulius's explanation toIshtar inChapter 4 ofThracia 776, the children are rounded up from the non-Loptrian populace to determine their worthiness of becoming nobles in the newLoptrian Empire.^[6] After the children are gathered, Julius and other Loptrian priest begin the grooming process to destroy familial ties and friendships. Once their mental demolishing is complete, the victims are put into numerous rounds of combat against one another to the death; the survivors are then deemed worthy of living in the Loptrian Empire.^[7]

While Julius tells Ishtar that those deemed worthy become nobles if they survive,^[6] he later uses the term "slave" when discussing the victims.^[8] Considering Ishtar is his fiancée and already participates in the hunting for him reluctantly, he may have twisted his words to make it sound more appealing in his initial explanation.

History

Origins

The first known report of major child sacrifice in the name ofLoptous occurred four years after the initial founding of the Loptrian Empire. InMiletos during theyear Grann 452 an event, known as the "Sorrow of Miletos", occurred in which numerous children were offered as sacrifices.

During the revival of the Loptrian Empire

WhenJulius rose to power by suppressing his father,Arvis, he began reinstating many practices of theLoptrian Empire; the practice of child hunting included. News of the child hunts spread over Jugdral, though some initially thought these were nothing but rumors.^[9]

The hunts were, of course, met with much opposition in many regions; regardless, several noble houses complied with the practice due to the alleged approval of Emperor Arvis.^[10] Arvis himself opposed them, however, and covertly delivered children away from the Empire when he had the opportunity; he was generally prevented from doing so by Julius and the other Loptrians. The hunts were often the sparks causing rebellions in many regions, though until the rise ofSeliph's andLeif's liberation armies they were generally successfully suppressed by the Empire.^[11] In some cases nobles mostly cowed by the empire would refuse to enforce the practice while managing to stay subservient to the Empire.^[12]

Groups, like theMagi andFiana Freeblades, sprung up aroundJugdral with the goal of opposing theGrannvale Empire and rescuing abducted children. The two before-mentioned groups were primarily active in theMunster District of the Thracian Peninsula. Soldiers of the empire, such asOlwen andAmalda, also worked against the child hunts by not reporting remote villages to the Empire^[13] and by defecting to rebel groups.

The hunts ended with the death of Julius and the fall of the new Loptrian Empire at the hands ofSeliph's liberation army inGrann 778.

In gameplay

InGenealogy of the Holy War andThracia 776, manyCivilians that can be protected by the player are victims of child hunts. Like with other Civilians, protecting these NPCs grants rewards to the player: inGenealogy of the Holy War, the unit that rescues a Civilian gains 100 experience; inThracia 776, the rewards for protecting Civilians vary by chapter and by Civilian.

Chapters that feature victims of child hunts are:

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 
  Artwork ofIshtar participating in the child hunts, fromFire Emblem Cipher.

References