Duke Blackwood contributed greatly to the empire's rise and was awarded the Medal of Eternal Valor. Duchess Blackwood died giving birth to twins just as Godfrey returned victorious. To comfort him, Emperor Roland IV, at the Empress's suggestion, invited the Archmage to bless the infant girls. However, the Archmage prophesied that the twins embodied good and evil—one would bring boundless prosperity to the empire, while the other would unleash endless doom.