Battle of Carteneau

The Battle of Carteneau is a conflict in Final Fantasy XIV. It is fought between the Allied Forces of Eorzea, comprising of the Grand Companies of Ul'dah, Gridania and Limsa Lominsa against the forces of the VIIth Imperial Legion of the Garlean Empire.

The Allied Forces were led by General Raubahn Aldynn of the Immortal Flames, Elder Seedseer Kan-E-Senna of the Twin Adders and Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn of the Maelstrom. On the other side, the remnants of the VIIth Imperial Legion fought following the will of their late general, Nael Van Darnus.

This was the final battle of the Sixth Astral Era, and the result of this battle plunged Eorzea into the Seventh Umbral Era.

Prelude
Because of the maniacal schemes of Nael Van Darnus, the crimson moon of Dalamud was set to crash into Eorzea. Through the valiant efforts of the adventurers, Nael was defeated. However, Dalamud could no longer be stopped.

The Archon, Louisoix, sought to summon the The Twelve, deities of great power, in order to stop Dalamud's descent. He has the adventurers pray at the Deity Stones scattered across the land to prepare for the upcoming effort and battle, but the deities can only truly be summoned in a place with high aetherial concentration.

Battlefield
The Battle of Carteneau starts in the near center of Eorzea, in the area known as Mor Dhona.

Battle
The battle officially began when the main host of the Eorzean Alliance clashed with the main host of the VIIth Imperial legion. Prior to and during this conflict, the adventurers of Eorzea were tasked with hindering remnants of the legion that hadn't yet joined the main Imperial host.

The Empire made liberal use of their advanced technology, and attacked the Allied Forces with gunfire and magitek armor. The Allies however, responded with a barrage of elemental spells cast by their Black Mages and Thaumaturges. In response to the Garleans ranged firearms, Bards and Archers took to ranged battle.

In melee combat, the Alliance met the Empire head on with Warriors, Paladins, Gladiators, Marauders, Lancers, Dragoons, Pugilists and Monks. All the while, the crimson moon of Dalamud plummeted towards Eorzea.

Dalamud's Ominous Descent
As the battle raged on, Dalamud drew closer and closer to the planet. Mid-battle, the satellite fractured, dropping a spire-like object from its surface. Looking on in awe and terror, both sides watched helplessly as Dalamud, the moon they had been observing for years, broke apart before their very eyes, revealing something nobody, save Nael Van Darnus, could have foreseen.

The Wyrmking Enraged
As if bursting forth from a cocoon, Bahamut rises from Dalamud. With an almighty roar, he shatters his crimson prison, sending debris all over the continent. Enraged after aeons of duress, Bahamut unleashes his wrath upon the realm, spewing forth endless fire and destruction. Louisoix quickly conjures a barrier to protect what remains of the Eorzean Alliance, and then begins the arcane rite that will channel the power of the Twelve and focus it into rebinding Bahamut.

Summoning of the Twelve
Bahamut roars at Louisoix in fury. At this moment, a pillar of light erupts from Gridania. Then another from Ul'dah, then Limsa Lominsa. All over Eorzea, the Deity Stones are sending up enormous pillars of blue light, forming a circle around Mor Dhona, and Bahamut.

Rekindled with the hope of sealing Bahamut, Louisoix summons a similar pillar of light from the Deity stone beneath him. These lights become giant magical spikes which briefly float around Bahamut before shooting into the sky and back down towards the dragon. With a roar of anger, Bahamut shields himself with his wings. The spires connect, and begin enveloping Bahamut in a new Dalamud-like prison. All of Eorzea becomes a huge sealing spell, with glyphs of the Twelve appearing in a circle around the newly-forming prison.The symbols of the Twelve begin to rise, indicating the summoning of the Deities and the near completion of the sealing spell.

Fighting back against another eternity of imprisonment, Bahamut collects his power into his ultimate attack - Megaflare.

The prison shatters and the summoning of the Twelve fails. All hope for the battle is now lost. Louisoix, knowing of the scope of the attack Bahamut is about to make, channels the power of Althyk, the Keeper, god of space and time, to send those surviving heroes into the Rift, where they are to remain untouched by the passing of the seasons until it is once again safe to emerge and continue their struggle to forge Eorzea's future.

Aftermath
Little is known about the condition of Eorzea after this battle. The Final Fantasy XIV servers were officially temporarily shutdown at the conclusion of the battle. Version 2.0, A Realm Reborn, will see the adventurers of the battle return from the Void they were placed in by Louisoix, into Eorzea once more.

Trivia

 * This battle runs concurrently with the final minutes of the Final Fantasy XIV servers. 5 minutes before the servers were shut down, players received a message informing they had lost contact with the main host.
 * Much of the 1.0 storyline focuses on Nael Van Darnus and his desire to bring Dalamud down upon Eorzea. As the players progress through the storyline, it is revealed that Darnus is slowly losing his grip on sanity and that Dalamud, or rather Bahamut, is influencing him from afar. Darnus begins referring to Dalamud as "Him" although the players do not know that this is Bahamut.