Valen’s Great War

(1250's C.E.)

 The last recorded "chess match" between the Shadows and Vorlons occurred in the 1250's C.E. Awakening from hibernation, the Shadows gather their forces together quickly, hoping to catch the Vorlons off guard. Unfortunately, the Minbari and Vorlons discovered the activity on the Rim and caught the Shadows unprepared for the onslaught.

The Minbari were also unprepared. While most Minbari were taught that service to society was most desired, “society” was often defined as one’s clan or family group. Fractious to the point of warring with each other over who should attack the Shadows, the Minbari had no central leadership. The Warrior Clans led the battle (although differences in battle philosophy led to uneven performance).  Bases were established far outside Minbari Space in order to halt the Shadow’s advance from Z’ha’dum. One by one, the Minbari strongholds were destroyed. With the destruction of the final starbase, resources were at an all time low, the Minbari fleet was damaged and almost all the warleaders were dead. The Shadow’s influence reached to all the worlds that could grant the Minbari refuge.  Finding no safe haven, the Minbari fleet wandered; unwilling to surrender, unwilling to return home should the evil follow them.

Expanding their influence, the Shadows began to establish bases of their own. Like the Centauri centuries later, the Shadows found Narn a strategic loction.  Once the indigenous telepaths were destroyed, a supply depot was established. The Markab also had encounters with the Shadows.

Hope for the Minbari was not long in coming. Babylon 4, along with Valen, appeared to the fleet in a flash of temporal distortion. The Narns drove the Shadows from their world with the guidance of G’Quan. With the creation of the Anla-shok, the Shadows were eventually driven back into hibernation.

 In victory, the Minbari suffered defeat. The data records of the war were entrusted to a few who kept the past. These keepers were very jurisdictional and possesive of the important data. Minions of the Shadows destroyed them and their data center, giving future generations no information to counter the next Shadow awakening.

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