The bombing of Geil is the first recorded instance in Mersian history of the use of nuclear weapons. The bombing took place during the Adenian-Tethish War.

Aden dropped flyers in Tethish over the city for weeks beforehand, demanding the evacuation of civilians from the city and promising the destruction by “All-consuming Fire Hitherto Unseen” of anyone who remained in the city. The city was gradually evacuated over the following weeks, and was nearly empty at the time of the bombing, save for those who did not take the warning seriously, and for members of the armed forces who were called in to defend the city from the bomber. The bomber, a Lerontz B-26 Aircastle bomber christened “Cerulean Sunset”, was a new design which flew at an altitude of 7 miles, far outside the known range of anti-aircraft magic.

The night of the bombing was cloudy, and an escort of fighter planes flew alongside the bomber as an extra security measure. Two fighter planes dropped below cloud cover about five miles north of Geil in order to verify the location of the target. One of these planes was flown by then-pilot Vincent Thompson, who was originally intended to fly the bomber, and had one of its engines shot out by Geil's defensive mages. Vincent could not climb back to the cruising altitude with the subsequently reduced engine power, and was forced to make an emergency crash landing two dozen miles south of Geil, taking heavy fire from Geil's mages all the while. The other plane verified the coordinates of the city and climbed back above cloud cover, radioing these coordinates to the bomber and allowing it to drop the nuclear weapon, which was code-named “midnight sun”.

The nuclear weapon deployed a parachute immediately after it was deployed, in order to reduce its falling speed by as much as possible and enable the bomber and its escort to put as much distance between them and the weapon as possible before detonation. The mages defending the city attempted to shoot the bomb out of the air, succeeding only in destroying the parachute and causing the bomb to fall faster than anticipated. By this time, Vincent had already passed over a hill and begun his descent on the other side, but the fighter plane and bomber were still quite close. The pilot of that fighter plane, and the crew of that bomber, were killed instantly upon the detonation of the weapon. Vincent was the only survivor of this mission, and this was entirely due to the hill shielding his plane from the direct impact of the shockwave.

The city was destroyed in its entirety, even the impregnable walls of the city were levelled entirely, with the center of the city entirely vaporized. Prior to the evacuations, Geil was a major, well-developed city with a population of over one million people. With the vast majority of the population having evacuated, and with no home for them to return to, the city of New Geil was founded in the aftermath of the bombing, with the King of Teth overseeing the construction of this new city personally.

Total Casualties:

• Tethish Civilians: 2,170.
• Tethish Military: 13,711.
• Adenian Military: 5.