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Those Who Slither in the Dark are a mysterious faction led by Thales. They are an enemy of the Church of Seiros. The Flame Emperor and their army allied with them to achieve its goals, but those goals are seemingly at odds with Thales' own.

Profile

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Long ago, when Agarthan civilization prospered in Fódlan, the hubris of humanity caused its people to aspire to godhood and turn against their benefactor, the Goddess herself. The war that ensued caused the majority of that civilization to collapse and left the land devastated. Some of the survivors retreated beneath the ground during that time, harboring a lasting hatred against the Goddess, her children, and the surface-dwelling humans who worshiped them. Those survivors quietly recovered caches of Agarthan technology to rebuild, and became Those Who Slither in the Dark.

"End of spoilers. It's a pleasure doing business with you!"

History

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"Just a minute! The following section contains spoilers. Viewing it will cost a lot. Are you prepared to pay for it?"

Those Who Slither in the Dark's first attempt at revenge occurred sometime after the Goddess had entered a long slumber due to the exhaustion of using her power to heal war-torn Fódlan. While the Goddess slept at Zanado, guarded by her children, Fódlan was invaded by a foreign army. A bandit named Nemesis sought to liberate his people from the invaders, and was persuaded by agents of Those Who Slither in the Dark that he could attain the strength to do so by taking it from the Goddess. Nemesis and his allies, the Ten Elites, killed the Goddess and most of her children, and Those Who Slither in the Dark fashioned weapons from their corpses and the Crests from their blood. Nemesis banished the invaders and was crowned the King of Liberation, but he became corrupt, and the atrocity he and his allies had committed to gain their victory would come back to haunt them. Seiros, the last daughter of the Goddess and one of the few survivors of the massacre at Zanado, lured one of Nemesis' allies, Wilhelm Paul Hresvelg, to her side and used her blood to imbue him with the Crest of Seiros. Wilhelm founded the Adrestian Empire and, together with Seiros and the Four Saints, warred against Nemesis and the Ten Elites, eventually overthrowing them and conquering Fódlan.

As Seiros used the Church of Seiros to revise history for her benefit and secretly prevented the people of Fódlan from ever again developing advanced technology or threatening her, Those Who Slither in the Dark turned to other plans. Over the following centuries, they conducted extensive experiments on the Crests and created the Crest Stones. They also manipulated Fódlan's leaders from the shadows, promising power to them and using them to subtly undermine the Church as well as sow chaos. Over a thousand years after the defeat of Nemesis, the final stage of their revenge against the surface neared its fruition. They gained lofty connections among the nobles of the Adrestian Empire at a time when a rift had formed in its relations with the Church, and after the Insurrection of the Seven in Imperial Year 1171, they experimented on the children of Emperor Ionius IX to create an ideal ruler whom they could control. Meanwhile, Fódlan was beset by tragedies and uprisings, weakening the Church, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and the Leicester Alliance.

Crimson Flower

In the Black Eagles route, though Edelgard joins forces with them, she makes it clear that she has every intention of defeating them if they continue to be a threat. After Edelgard captures Arianrhod, killing Those Who Slither in the Dark's agent, Cornelia, in the process, Thales threatens Edelgard by destroying Arianrhod with "javelins of light." After reuniting Fódlan under the rule of the Adrestian Empire, Those Who Slither in the Dark remain at large, Edelgard devotes herself to hunting them down during her reign.

Silver Snow

In the Church of Seiros route, after Edelgard and the Adrestian Empire are defeated, Rhea and Byleth receive a posthumous message from Hubert, who explains the need to destroy Those Who Slither in the Dark and provides a map to their underground stronghold, Shambhala. There, the forces of the Church confront and defeat Thales, who then attempts to kill everyone with him by activating powerful Agarthan weapons to destroy Shambhala. Rhea destroys many of the weapons and is wounded in the process, but survives.

Azure Moon

In the Blue Lions route, though Dimitri suspects a conspiracy was behind the massacre at Duscur, he never learns their role in it. Edelgard allies with Those Who Slither in the Dark to bolster her forces as the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus advance on the Adrestian capital of Enbarr. However, Thales is killed in his guise as Lord Arundel when the Kingdom liberates Derdriu, leaving Those Who Slither in the Dark leaderless.

Verdant Wind

In the Golden Deer route, Those Who Slither in the Dark succeed in their grand plan and revive the Fell King Nemesis and his army in order to destroy the Church of Seiros and all of the people of Fódlan. The army marches to Garreg Mach Monastery, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake, but Claude and Byleth manage to defeat Nemesis before he can begin his reign of terror.

"End of spoilers. It's a pleasure doing business with you!"

Known members



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