The Hyrulian Wars

The Hyrulian Wars take place in the years from 525 to 575 Hyrulian Reckoning
(H.R.), when the five races of Hyrule (minus the Kokiri) declare war on one
another and battle. They are described in a number of episodes, this being
the first.

Episode One: Genesis

Chapter One--The Beginnings

In the year 504 H.R., Kaepora Gaebora, the Hyrulian owl, delivered a message
to the King of Hyrule at Hyrule Castle. It informed him that a boy had been
born of one of the Gerudo in Gerudo Valley, to the west of Hyrule. Now, the
Gerudo were a race of females, with one male born once every 100 years.
Hyrulian Legend states that that one male, once he reaches the age of twenty,
shall be ruler of the Gerudo until his death. The king acknowledges this and
issues a decree making this known to all Hyrule.
Twenty years passed. It was the year 524 H.R., and Gannondorf Dragmire (as he
was named) took the Gerudo throne. Immediately he began to impose harsh
penalties on the Gerudo, because he believed in male superiority. It appeared
that he would do anything to gain more power. The Gerudo began to work
incredibly hard for little pay to serve Gannondorf. They were not allowed to
leave the Valley, or they would be put to death for fear that other Hyrulian
races would discover the tragedies that were occurring. And the saddest thing
is that most of the Gerudo had been tricked into thinking that he was not all
that bad, that he was a great and powerful ruler who would eventually be able
to take over Hyrule.

Chapter Two--Escape to the Lake

Now Navuoo, the female queen of the Gerudo until 524 H.R., was not pleased
with this at all. She devised a plan to escape from the Valley. At nightfall,
she exited the Spirit Temple and made her way cautiously through the desert.
By snapping the necks of her fellow Gerudo guards, she was not caught as she
passed the Gerudo Fortress. As she came close to the guarded bridge that
connected Gerudo Valley to Hyrule Field, she stayed close to the rock wall
and jumped the cliff into the water below.
Following the current down many treacherous waterfalls, Navuoo finally made
it to Lake Hylia, where she could safely enter Hyrule Field without being
caught. By this time, it was daylight, and Navuoo needed rest. She saw a hut
overlooking the lake, and entered to seek hospitality.
She was greeted by an very interesting-looking scientist.
“Greetings, young lady. And who may you be?”
Navuoo thought for a moment, not wanting to reveal her true identity to this
stranger, for fear that he might report her to Gannondorf.
“I am Sulari, a Hylian woman,” she replied. “I have travelled across the
plains of Hyrule Field to explore and am weary. I seek a few hours rest here,
if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, no, I mind not at all,” replied the scientist, smiling. “You may stay as
long as you want, but I have one requirement.”
“What is that?” Navuoo asked.
“My requirement is that you not touch any of my experiments, because they are
both highly toxic and highly dangerous. A single drop of one fluid into
another could cause an explosion destroying half of Hyrule.”
“I have no problem with that. I am only here to rest until nightfall.”
“Very well,” answered the scientist.
And so it was, that Navuoo slept for seven hours. She awoke at 15:00,
Hyrulian Time of a knock at the door. The scientist answered.
“We are looking for an escaped Gerudo woman,” said the person at the door.
“She has escaped from Gerudo Valley; she should be considered very dangerous.
Have you seen her at all?”
Navuoo’s heart began to pound faster and faster, hoping that the scientist
didn’t recognize her as a Gerudo when she introduced herself.
“I have not seen any Gerudo women since last year,” the scientist replied. “I
assure you, if I see her, I will immediately report her to you.”
The door closed, and Navuoo breathed a sigh of relief. She fell back to sleep
and woke up again at 20:00, Hyrulian Time. The scientist was asleep by this
time, and she silently slid out the door and into Hyrule Field.

Chapter Three--Hyrule Castle

After eight hours of journeying across Hyrule Field, Navuoo reached the gates
of Hyrule Castle Town, the entrance to Hyrule Castle. It was 4:00, Hyrulian
Time, so she had to wait a dangerous three hours before the town gates
opened. While she was waiting, she saw many zombie-like creatures spring from
the ground and sway around, looking for food. She was crouched down behind a
stone wall, so they could not see her.
At 7:00 the drawbridge came down and Navuoo entered Hyrule Castle Town. She
had never seen this town before, so she took a little time to explore. Along
the way to Hyrule Castle, she overheard many conversations:
“But that’s impossible! Hyrule is far too big a land to cross in…”
“…that’ll be twenty rupees, plus another ten for…”
“Then go buy another dog! For heaven’s sake, it’s not as if…”
As she came closer to Hyrule Castle, the number of people diminished. She
finally found the guard at the gates, and asked to be admitted in.
“I’m a Gerudo,” she explained. “I’ve come to ask something of the King.”
“Is that so? Do you have an appointment?”
Noticing that the guard had no way of knowing whether or not the King had an
appointment, she said, “Yes, I do.”
The guard opened the gate and led her into Hyrule Castle. What an idiot,
Navuoo thought. It’s as if he’d believe anything anyone told him.
She finally made her way to the King, who was sitting on his throne.
“I’ve come to ask of you a favor, your Highness,” she began.
“That’s very respectable. What is your favor, young Gerudo?”
“There has been a grave problem in the Gerudo Valley, your Highness. The new
king, Gannondorf Dragmire, has been a cruel and evil ruler. He has taken
absolutely no interest in the feelings of the Gerudo at all. And he has
created friends in the Gerudo who believe that he is a good ruler. He must be
stopped, or he will destroy us all!”
The king was greatly troubled at this, so he answered:
“This is quite a dilemma we have here. I, as king of Hyrule, must see the
issue from all sides in order to make a decision. And even if I decide that
Gannondorf must be stopped, it is impossible, because Hyrulian Legend states
that he must be ruler of the Gerudo until his death or until his resignation..”
The king, concerned with the safety of Navuoo, let her stay in custody of the
castle, within its well-guarded walls. He summoned his messenger owl, Kaepora
Gaebora, and told him to deliver the following message to Gannondorf:
“It has been brought to my attention that Gerudo Valley is under harsh rule
by you, your Highness. I, the King of Hyrule, ask of you that you soften your
iron fist and give the Gerudos some kind of freedom, or you will suffer harsh
penalties.”
Three days later, Kaepora came back with Gannondorf’s reply:
“Your Highness, you have been misinformed. There is no harsh rule in the
Gerudo Valley by me. We are under a stressful time, as we are reforming our
government. If there is a problem, we will fix it immediately.”
Navuoo was told this, and she immediately retorted that Gannondorf was a
liar. He created a false reply in order to keep his power, she explained.
The king thought long and hard about this, and finally, in the year 525 H.R.,
he issued this decree to the Hyrulians:
“The Gerudo king, Gannondorf Dragmire, has created intolerable circumstances
within the land of Hyrule. He has gripped the Gerudo people in such a way
that diplomacy cannot resolve. Our only option is to declare war on the
Gerudo.”
Three days later, the Hyrulian Army marched into the Gerudo Valley.
The End of Episode One
To Be Continued...