Cauldron War

The Cauldron War was a major event occurring in the early stages of the story-line of Odin Sphere. It was a battle between the Aesir of Ragnanival and the Vanir of Ringford over possession of the Crystallization Cauldron following the Fall of Valentine. It took place at the Ruins of Valentine and resulted in a short-lived victory for the Vanir.

First Battle of the Cauldron War

Odin's first attempt to retake the Cauldron from the Vanir in the game was a general offensive with Berserker forces while using a battalion of Valkyrie to attack the Vanir in a sneak attack. Princesses Griselda and Gwendolyn were present in this attack. The Vanir expected this strategy however, as Shadow Knight Oswald had overheard General Brigan complaining about it during his recon mission in Ragnanival. Due to the poor timing of Brigan, the Valkyrie were left without support and were mostly destroyed by the Vanir, including Griselda. Before she died, she passed on her Spear to her younger sister Gwendolyn, who then took command of the battle.

Gwendolyn attempted to hold the line against the Vanir, but her forces were badly outnumbered and the presence of Oswald and the Dragon Belial in the battle further turned the tide against the Aesir. Eventually Gwendolyn was forced to call for a retreat, ending the battle in victory for the Vanir.

Second Battle of the Cauldron War

After learning of his armies defeat, Odin called for another attack against the Vanir, and decided to personally enter this second battle. Despite having taken losses during the first battle, the Aesir performed better this time around. Gwendolyn's forces managed to penetrate into the Vanir's forward headquarters, where she did battle against Belial, and managed to defeat him.

Meanwhile, Odin managed to invade Queen Elfaria's command post and killed the fairy queen, ending the battle in defeat for the Vanir. Oswald was unable to make as much impact in this battle as the previous one, as he was ambushed by a pair of Halja who were seeking to collect his soul, and managed to keep him occupied during the majority of the battle. Following this encounter his body began to stiffen and weaken, as Queen Odette was preparing to take him, as part of her end of her deal with Melvin.

Also involved in the battle were Velvet, Mercedes, King Valentine and Cornelius, the first three of which were attempting to take control of the Ring Titrel for their own purposes.

Velvet, hoping to de-activate the cauldron, encountered Brigan, who was once again holding his forces back in an attempt to make a dramatic and heroic entry at a later time. She incapacitated the Aesir general, earning her his hatred, and was ambushed by Mercedes, who wanted to re-take the Ring from Velvet, who had stolen it earlier on. Cornelius, who was looking for Velvet to protect her, arrived afterward and knocked Mercedes unconscious. King Valentine arrived following this and attempted to take the ring so as to use the cauldron to devastate Erion. Cornelius managed to fend Valentine off, though the effort left him drained. Velvet then took the ring and deactivated the Cauldron just as Odin managed to secure it.

Despite Gwendolyn's efforts, Velvet managed to escape the battlefield with the unconscious Cornelius. The battle was a major loss for the Vanir, who lost the Cauldron and their queen. While it was a technical victory for the Aesir, they failed to achieve any advantage at it's outcome, as while they did possess the cauldron, it was at the time useless to them.

Fairy Counter-attack

This was the final battle of the Cauldron war, occurring much later in the storyline. The Vanir, now under the command of Queen Mercedes went to battle with the Aesir once again to retake the cauldron one last time. At this point most of the combatants in the previous battle were not present, as Brigan and Belial were dead, Cornelius, Velvet and Valentine were elsewhere, and Gwendolyn and Oswald were both discharged from either army.

Mercedes began the battle by inspiring her troops with a stirring speech and then engaging Odin's forces. The Vanir forces managed to penetrate into the Aesir forward headquarters, where Mercedes engaged Odin personally in a battle. She managed to destroy the Demon Lord's mighty Psypher Balor with her Riblam but spared Odin. She made him swear first however to never bring war upon the Fairies again, and to give her the ring, else she would invade Ragnanival next. Odin agreed to her terms, and retreated back northward with what forces he had left.

This was a major victory for the Vanir, and ended the Cauldron War with their victory.

Aftermath

The Vanir did not have long to celebrate their victory, as Gwendolyn traveled to Ringford shortly afterward to reclaim the ring to prove her love for Oswald. She managed to retake the ring after defeating Mercedes in battle, leaving the Vanir without a way to use the cauldron they had won. Even worse, shortly after that, Ringford was destroyed by the Darkova and the Fire Kingdom forces under Inferno King Onyx. In addition, the destruction of Ragnanival at the hands of King Gallon brought the war completely to its end, regardless of what intentions either side had to continue.

Trivia

• In Norse mythology, the Aesir and Vanir fight a war with each other, long before the end of the world. The Aesir defeat the Vanir and the two groups decide to unite into a single tribe of gods.