Ontheon (Total War)

Ontheon is the capital city of the Darknut Legion and one of the oldest settlements in Hyrule, home of the Ontheon Cathedral and its ancient archives. It is located roughly 35 miles northwest of Ashinon.

Etymology
The name Ontheon is likely a corruption of the Darknut phrase Onth Arkeon meaning house of lords.

History
Ontheon is an immeasurably ancient city, with some of the historical records in the Ontheon Cathedral dating back to the age of the Kovalians circa 8500 BG. almost 5000 years later, circa 3000 BG, the Darknut people established a civilization in the Gerudo Cliffs, and nearly exterminated themselves in a series of bloody civil wars. With the aid of a mysterious Minish sorcerer, four Darknut heroes, Zalunbar, Baral, and the couple Senturon and Yaraxonal, united their people under the Darknut Legion, and established Ontheon as its capital. However, tempted by promises of immortality and power from Vaati, Zalunbar and Senturon assassinated Baral and imprisoned Yaraxonal within stone, stealing her powers as Sage of Spirits for themselves.

In 2998 BG, the Legion, spurred on by Vaati, began a Crusade against the Wind Tribe in the far east, to take their legendary power over the winds. The Crusade devastated the Wind Tribe kingdom of Holodrum, and only intervention by Akkala and the Kingdom of Ikana allowed Queen Siroc and her people to escape to the Heavens. Senturon, commander of the Crusde, was consumed by guilt over betraying his wife and rejected Vaati, being seemingly killed by the Minish sorcerer.

With Senturon seemingly dead, Zalunbar became sole ruler of the Legion, with Vaati as his puppetmaster. Over time he became deified as the unquestioned immortal God of Flesh, ruling the Legion with an iron fist and conquering the Fokka and Mazura and making the Zuna a vassal state.

In 102 AG, reeling from the massacre of their garrison occupying Gundrumether by the Kingdom of Hyrule, Zalunbar and Vaati ordered a full retreat of their forces back to the Gerudo Cliffs, taking the captured Princess Oraiya Nohansen Zelda IV as a bargaining chip, and abandoning their Gerudo allies. The Kingdom of Hyrule, in retaliation, invaded the Gerudo Desert, taking the Gerudo capital of Ashinon and marching on Ontheon an year later in 103 AG. Zalunbar believed the fortress city would be invulnerable to a prolonged siege, but the arrival of a Goron army allied to the Hylians turned the tide. At the same time, Senturon, with the aid of Nabooru, and two hylian children, managed to free Yaraxonal, who immediately rallied many Darknuts to her cause, killing Vaati's Minish host and storming the Ontheon Cathedral, killing the Druthulidi itself. She hurtled Zalunbar to his doom from the top of the Cathedral and took control of the Legion, banning the cult of Zalunbar and reforming the Legion to be more diplomatic.

Ontheon is a fortress as much as a city, an imposing crown of buttresses and towers soaring from the Gerudo Cliffs, topped by its legendary Cathedral, a domed tower of stained glass windows depicting the founding of the Legion. Its fortified, compact structure is as much to resist the sandstorms ravaging the Gerudo Cliffs as invaders. As the capital of one of the most diverse empires in Hyrule, it is a hub of activity, with Darknuts, Zuna, Fokka, Mazura, Lynel, and foreign visitors thronging its streets. As the arguable martial capital of Hyrule, the city sees mercenaries from across the land, and his home to many armories, gymnasiums, and coliseums, as well as some of the finest jewelers and glassmakers in Hyrule. The city is given life by hanging gardens watered by aqueducts from the Moruge Mountains. Deep below the city are ancient systems of aqueducts and dungeons, some dating back to the Kovalians.