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History of the Emblem "Megathread"


Lhyonnaes
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Alright. As I said in the previous thread, I want to post all these up on SF as I write them but I don't want to spam up the boards, so from now on they will all live in this thread.

If this should be moved to Written Works, let me know. I figured because it's supposed to be, well, general FE history, it makes sense for it to be here. But I could be wrong.

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The Dragon War:

The 25th Anniversary of the Fire Emblem series is rapidly approaching. To commemorate this momentous occasion, I have decided to write a series of pieces which analyze or speculate about the series lore.

I have a few topics in mind that I'm sure I want to write about - if there are topics that you all want addressed, let me know and I will see what I can do.

I can't promise any sort of consistent schedule for these - as you can see, I tend to be a bit... verbose, and I've got other things on my plate. But I will try to have one every couple of days for the next three weeks. Maybe less, if I'm feeling really excited (for example, when I get to more speculation).


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Before we start with the rampant lore speculation, though, we need to review several important lore events, because we'll be referencing them and speculating on them later. It's likely that for many of you, I won't be presenting any information here that you're not already aware of, but it's important to get the basics out of the way. And perhaps the best starting point is the chronologically earliest major event in the Archanea/Jugdral/Valentian timeline - The Dragon War.

There is, sadly, no official name for this conflict. I have previously sometimes referred to it as the Divine Dragon / Earth Dragon War, but that's a mouthful, not entirely accurate, and honestly there aren't any other wars fought between dragons. So we'll abbreviate things for now, and call it the Dragon War.

The war ended around 1,100 years before the birth of Marth of Altea, and began at a nebulous point perhaps a couple centuries before its end. At the time, humans were not a large presence on the Archanean continent. They existed in scattered and disunited tribes, without a great deal of technological sophistication. They probably were not entirely ignorant of magic (after all, it was hardly an unknown quantity in Jugdral at the same time), but there was certainly no formalized instruction in the arcane arts that could be found. No, Archanea was dominated by the dragon "tribes,"1 whose civilization was approaching the close of a long golden age.

For centuries, even millennia, the dragons had flourished in Archanea. They built great temples and cities, and gained a mastery over all sorts of magic. Yet, for all of their power and majesty, they avoided contact with humanity. Why? We cannot say without resorting to speculation. But there was an unspoken agreement amongst the dragons not to interfere with the humans. Certainly, the scattered human clans knew of the dragons of Archanea, but they did not have any sort of understanding of who these godly beings were.

Alas, this golden age of draconic rule over Archanea came to a slow end from perhaps an unlikely source. You see, dragons, not unsurprisingly, are creatures with a very intimate relationship with the forces of magic. Not only are they able to breath elemental energy and the discover and manipulate the secrets of even life and time itself, but they also passively require magical energy to sustain their grand and powerful forms. Dragons need magic somewhat like humans need air - they do not consciously interact with it, their utilizing of it does not have an effect on its supply, but if there isn't enough of it in the environment, there are dire consequences. Lack of magic does not kill dragons, though. It drives them mad.

What precisely caused the innate background magic in the world to fall in strength is not known (And it will be speculated on further in subsequent posts). Perhaps it was some great catastrophe elsewhere, or perhaps it was something that the dragons inadvertently brought upon themselves. But the effects quickly became clear, and the first signs of mental and physical degradation began to be seen. As a result, the elders among the dragon races assembled together and deliberated. They were faced with a grim paradox - by continuing to live as they were, they faced the seemingly unavoidable doom for their people. In the end, a sobering conclusion was reached - the dragons could survive, if they discarded their draconic identity. The essence of their innate elemental power, the part of them that drew upon the fading magic and empowered them, that power could be expelled from their bodies, externalized as dragonstones. In doing so, the dragons would change form, become akin to the humans. They would become manaketes, only able to tap into their dragonstones and transform into draconic form for short periods at a time.

Though it represented their salvation, support for casting off their draconic bodies and living and something similar to humans was mixed among the dragons. Certainly, it was a decision made in full knowledge of the stakes and the challenges. Yet, the dragons of Archanea had achieved incredible advancement in magic. No doubt some of the dragons trusted that some other solution would be found, that through magic they could avoid the degradation without casting off their draconic identity. They were, sadly, mistaken.

Of the dragon tribes, only the Divine Dragons, who were lead by the Dragon Queen Naga herself, were unanimous in support for this plan. Many of the other dragon tribes were divided, with some members becoming manaketes and some remaining dragons. The Earth Dragons, though, who primarily lived in the southern areas of the continent, were adamantly opposed to forsaking their draconic identity. Only a single Earth Dragon became a manakete - Medeus, Prince of the Earth Dragons. Undoubtedly, Medeus had been one of the dragons who met to discuss the crisis, and who had agreed upon the solution. Undoubtedly, his kinsmen saw him as a traitor.

One wonders what the days were like on Archanea as the degradation continued to set it. For Naga, the Divine Dragons, and the rest of the Manaketes, it must have seemed a tragedy played in slow motion, to see former friends and allies slowly lose themselves. Perhaps Medeus suffered worse than they, looking at his people, whom me might have thought himself unable to save. One wonders what desperation the stubborn dragons felt, seeing their numbers dwindle every day from the madness, watching their friends degrade into something akin to beasts, trying incessantly to find some way to put a halt to the curse and failing at every turn, feeling the ever-present darkness slowly creep in at the edges of their mind. When they ultimately began to attack the scattered humans of Archanea, one wonders if it was because of bestial madness, or because they believed that it could be their salvation.

Regardless, reckless violence towards the humans of Archanea put an end to the tearful peace between the Manaketes and the Dragons, and truly spelled the end of draconic rule over the continent. Seeking to prevent further slaughters, the Manaketes went to war with their cousins and former friends. It was a war that would rage on for several hundred years.

We know little of the precise events of the war. We know of no specific battles, no great acts of heroism or stirring acts of sacrifice. The Manaketes learned to fight in their new forms, though, crafting weapons such as those which would one day become known by humans as the Regalia of Archanea. But if anything other than tools of war were crafted by the manaketes during this period, record of such is lost to time. When the dust of battle cleared after centuries of war, draconic civilization in Archanea was a shadow of its former self.

Though the manakete armies were victorious, they had triumphed over an enemy who could no longer negotiate, could no longer surrender. Reluctant or unable to eradicate the Earth Dragons, Naga instead crafted a powerful artifact of sealing. With her power, she created - or acquired - the Five Orbs, draconic artifacts of significant power. Though each had its own abilities, when combined, they could be used as a powerful force that could effect the very spirits, the very souls, of the dragonkin. Naga crafted from a fang a pedestal for these five orbs, their combined power forming a powerful seal that imprisoned the Earth Dragons. They were locked away at the Dragon's Altar, an ancient Earth Dragon structure that laid at the heart of their territory. Perhaps the location was chosen for its significance, or perhaps the Earth Dragons had retreated to the Altar and were still resisting when they were sealed. Regardless, the sealing of the Earth Dragons ended the Dragon War, the remaining degenerated dragons scattered in the wild places of the continent.

Peace was returned to Archanea, but the cost was dire. The glories of draconic civilization were forever lost. The Earth Dragons, too, were gone from the world. With them went the tribe of winged dragons who, fully lost to war and degeneration, became the famed and ferocious wyverns of Macedon. Many Fire Dragons and Ice Dragons came to dwell in the far wilderness, terrorizing or being subjugated by the barbarian clansmen who came to live in the same places. The manaketes dwindled in number, and other dragon tribes, if they existed, faded from the world, and into myth and legend.

The Dragon War spelled the end of the age of the dragons. The humans, who had looked to the conflict in wonderment and awe, seeing the manaketes and the dragons as gods and demons that they scarcely understood, would slowly begin to grow and expand and develop, taming the wild continent of Archanea and learning its mysteries, piece by piece.

Naga, for her part, enshrined the five orbs and their pedestal - together known as the Shield of Seals or the Pedestal of Flames - within the Fane of Raman. Along with them were placed some of the remaining treasure of the Dragon Tribe, and Naga's daughter Tiki, ensorcelled under an enchanted sleep so that she would not wake until of an age when her power could be controlled and the threat of degradation avoided. Alongside with the leaders of the remaining Manakete, Naga also ventured across the sea of Jugdral, where humanity was more advanced, and gave up her dragonstone in an event that would forever change the future of humanity and their relation with the dragonkin (we'll be hearing more about that soon). Then, her work done, Naga discarded her physical body. Like many of the dragonkin with her power, she would live on as a spirit, or something slightly more, with a limited ability to interact with the physical world, and even the ability to give of her blood and perhaps her fangs without a persistent physical form. Some of the other leading manakete followed her into the death of the body, but some remained, and would continue to live their lives or to carry out her wishes, and safeguard both humans and manaketes throughout the future.

Medeus, Prince of the Earth Dragons, traitor to his people and last of his kind, remained in solitude in the ruins of their glory. In time, in his despair and his solitude, he would look upon the humans as they came to dominate the land, he would look upon how they mistreated the manaketes who fought a terrible war for their protection, how they plundered their treasures, and how, in their ignorance, they risked even ruining the peace that had been won for them. He would grow to hate the humans, and long for the past glory of the dragonkin. But that, as they say, is a story for another time. The tale of the Dragon War ends here.

1: A side note - this is an interesting quirk of translation. The "-zoku" suffix is commonly used in Japanese fantasy works to connote race/species and such, but due to real-world connotations of the same word it's often translated as "clan" or "tribe". Also, I'm basing this on something I saw on the Dark Souls 2 subreddit a good while ago, so if this is incorrect I apologize, I myself know basically nothing about Japanese.

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If you've read this whole thing, well, thanks for reading. I hope it was entertaining or educational or both. Of course, I'm not perfect, so feel free to call me out on any factual mistakes, presenting speculative material as absolute truth, or general poor writing. Also, feel free to ask questions, though I reserve the right to say "Hrmmm, interesting, wait and see". And finally, if you do have any bits of lore that you'd like me to write about, please let me know. Feedback is always appreciated.

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The Loptyrian Empire

This time, we're dealing with some of the most disturbing material that the Fire Emblem series has to offer, especially when we talk about the Child Hunts. Yes, it's the Loptyrian Empire, a necessary leadup to discussing the Miracle of Darna, which is a necessary leadup to... a whole lot of other stuff.

I realize that the actual two hundred years of the Empire's rule doesn't get that much attention, but there's only so much you can say about terrible oppression. In a future installment we will cover Saint Maira, the Mairists, and talk a bit more about Jugdralian theology, but that's a topic for another time.

Also, in general, keep in mind that this more or less a work of history, albeit videogame history. And as with all history, it is not and cannot be perfectly objective. I should probably be citing my sources like a proper academic paper, but honestly I can't really be bothered, but if you have questions about where I'm getting a specific point, ask and I can provide. Regardless, there is and will always be some interpretation on my part, interpretation that others might not agree with. And, you know, that's just how history is. I'll note when I get into the more speculative side of things.


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Last time, we discussed the causes and the immediate aftermath of the Dragon War on Archanea, a conflict that brought low the once-glorious draconic civilization on the continent and laid the framework for humanity’s eventual dominance. But Archanea was not the only place where humans lived – in fact, compared to the continent of Jugdral across the sea, the Archanean humans were positively primitive. And neither was Archanea the only continent that was profoundly touched by the degradation that afflicted the dragons.

The recorded timeline of early Archanea seems to be based more on ballpark estimates of the years of events rather than precise recordings. However, by aligning the timelines of Archanea and Jugdral on a known shared event (The Miracle of Darna in Jugdral 632, which we will cover tomorrow), we can conclude that recorded human history on Jugdral began almost 400 years before the start of the Dragon War, with the foundation of the Kingdom of Gran in the year 1.

Little is known about the Kingdom of Gran, other than the fact that 230 years after its founding the monarchy collapsed and it became a republic. Certainly, for around the last 100 years of its existence, it enjoyed great prosperity, advancing in magical knowledge and technology. There were likely formalized systems of magical instruction that arose alongside more sophisticated trade1, and even the construction of boats that could sail across the sea. But that final innovation would prove more problematic than expected.

As far as we know, there were no great Jugdrali explorers that set off into the great unknown. Doubtless the boats that were constructed were primarily intended to be merchant ships, and were content to ply their trade along the coastlines. Records only tell of one man from Jugdral who set sail away from the continent and returned. His name was Galle.

That Galle’s voyage across the open sea in the year 440 was a success is either astoundingly lucky or a testament to the skill of the shipbuilders and sailors of the Gran Republic. No doubt he was already quite the charismatic individual, to gather a crew for what would seem to be an insane mission into the unknown.

We know at least a fragment of Galle's motivation - he seemingly was chasing a legend that drinking the blood of an ancient dragon granted one tremendous power and eternal life. How this legend came to Jugdral, or indeed how the Jugdrali came to know of the dragons (and from whence came the wyverns of Jugdral) might be later topics that we speculate on. But regardless, for whatever reason, Galle believed that beyond the great ocean, there was a land where he could find what he sought. Perhaps he had the unique combination of an inquisitive nature and the ardent belief that there was something to find. Perhaps, if the world on which Archanea and Jugdral and Valentia lie is indeed round, the mathematicians and philosophers of the Gran Republic had discerned this fact, and estimated its size in ways similar to the classical scholars of our world, adding to Galle's belief that there was indeed something out there to find. But regardless, Galle left on an unprecedented voyage, which was a terrible success.

The histories record Galle as a bishop, though if he held that office before he left Jugdral we cannot know. Certainly, we have no records of there being any particularly organized religious structure in Jugdral at the time, only later references to heathens or pagans. But if Galle was truly a priest of one of these early faiths, he was not a particularly zealous one, for across the sea in Archanea he found a new god to serve.

We cannot say for sure what Galle saw when he arrived on the shores of Archanea, whether he saw clear signs of the Dragon War which had erupted in the last fifty years or so, or even where he landed. Presumably, Jugdral lies somewhere to the east of Archanea, but in the absence of maps we cannot guess how far away they are or how the continents are oriented relative to one another. *(It could even be that “northern” parts of Jugdral occupy the opposite polar region as the “northern” parts of Archanea and the maps are effectively reversed… though admittedly if magnetism functions like it does in the real world, such an outcome is unlikely.)* Nor do we know how long Galle wandered Archanea before he was approached by the Earth Dragon known as Loptyr.

Loptyr's precise motives are unknown, but we can perhaps guess on why he, of all dragons, approached Galle. As an Earth Dragon, no doubt he had seen the degradation begin to set in amidst his friends and cousins. In all likelihood, it had already begun to affect him, twisting his mind in subtle and terrible ways - though it is of course possible that Loptyr was always at heart the immeasurably cruel monster that he is known as. Regardless, Loptyr saw the doom that awaited his kind, if not from the war, from the seemingly inescapable degradation. And, uniquely, he saw in Galle not a human to terrorize and attack, but an opportunity. In coming to seek power and immortality from a dragon's blood, Galle's ambition had delivered to Loptyr the ideal that had long been sought unsuccessfully by the Earth Dragons. Galle was a way to escape the Divine Dragons. Galle was a way to escape the degradation. And perhaps, to the twisted, evil mind of Loptyr, Galle was also a way to rule over the lesser humans, to torture and subjugate them, and to revel in his unassailable supremacy. Galle would be his vengeance against the humans *(though what precisely he was avenging, be it a true event or an imagined slight, we know not2).

Galle wished to drink the blood of a dragon, and Loptyr granted him his wish. Galle took in the blood, the physical essence, of a dragon. And, in an ironic way, he gained the power and the immortality that he had sought.

Loptyr was nothing if not wise and cunning, and he knew that, just like the Manaketes, he could separate himself from his draconic power. And he did so, imbuing it in a dark tome, creating not only a weapon of great and terrible power, but also a vessel for his spirit, should he require it. But he did not, at that time, for there was a better vessel now in front of him.

We do not know whether Galle willingly let Loptyr's spirit into him, or whether the dragon forcibly took control of the body. But by taking in Loptyr's blood, Galle had made himself into a human vessel for the dragon's immortal spirit. Without a draconic body, Loptyr would not suffer the degradation. As a "human" on Jugdral, he would be free from the Divine Dragons, at least for a time. And as seemingly one of them, but blessed with incredible power, Loptyr would do what no simple manakete could do. He could rule the lesser creatures, and he could subjugate them.

Thus empowered, "Galle" returned to Jugdral. He had previously been charismatic, yes, but that was nothing compared to him now. As Loptyr's host, he was now possessed of a dark and almost hypnotic force, that drew men to his side, more as worshipers than followers. In secrecy and solitude, Loptyr built up a cult of followers, teaching them the darkest of magics and twisting their minds. Together, they took twelve deceased warriors of great skill and power, and, using Loptyr's teachings, raised them as unstoppable undead monstrosities known as the Deadlords.

Galle unleashed his armies upon Jugdral in the year 447, and none could stand before him. The republic fell within the year. In 448, Galle proclaimed himself Emperor of the Loptyrian Empire, with his loyal priests forming the center of his new administrative power structure. All of Jugdrali civilization quickly fell underneath his dominion.

Of course, Loptyr would accept no potential challenge to his power. The year 449 was year of the Great Purge, a massive cull of the population throughout Jugdral to ensure their loyalty and obedience. 100,000 were killed. Sacrifices, the Loptyrians said, to the god Loptyr, who shone down his mighty blessings upon Emperor Galle.

But even Loptyr could not rule a continent by himself, and his loyal Loptyrians would live forever. Thus, to ensure the continued subjugation of the populace, and to replenish the ranks of his followers, Loptyr began the most notorious and insidious policy of the Loptyrian Empire, the feared "child hunts". The first such hunt took place in the year 452 in the southern Miletos District. The "Sorrow of Miletos" saw the forcible seizure of many young children from their parents - but not those that were too young. Young enough that they were vulnerable, that they could be shaped and remade. Old enough that they could fight, that the travel back to the capital at Belhalla would not kill them. The Loptyrians did not take all the children that fit their standards, but they took a great many. They preferred siblings and close friends, when they could find them. Such children were kept together.

The children were not slaughtered on the spot, nor forced to match to death. Loptyr had more insidious and terrible plans for them. They were taken back to the capital with care, for it was only there that they could be sacrificed to their god. But these sacrifices would not be committed by the Loptyrians. Instead, the children were given weapons, and sent into a great arena, and forced to fight to the death. Close friend fought close friend. Sibling fought sibling.3 The weak were the sacrifices to Loptyr. The strong would be his next generation of servants. Loptyr, no doubt, took special pleasure in watching each and every one of the hideous battles.

By all accounts, the first child hunt was a great success for the Loptyrians, though it was an atrocity almost beyond measure. The subjugated populace, of course, did not agree. Centered in the religious hub of Edda, rebellion began to brew, before the Imperial Army descended upon the city. The streets ran red, tens of thousands died, and the uprising did not manifest itself. The child hunts became standard procedure for the Loptyrians, whenever they were in need of more initiates into their order. It was perhaps the most terrible irony of the whole empire, that the children horribly torn from their families, forced to kill their friends, traumatized and twisted into servants for their abusers, would one day be those who gleefully lead the hunts that had turned them into nothing but living tools for Loptyr's hideous hatred.

Of course, Galle I could not live forever, and Loptyr, in his arrogance and pride, was never satisfied with an aging host. Galle's son (also named Galle, as was every subsequent Loptyrian Emperor4) inherited the dragon blood from his father, and, when he came of age, was presented with the Book of Loptyr, as the dragon withdrew his spirit from his previous host and forced himself into the new vessel. This process would repeat itself fifteen more times over the course of the Loptyrian Empire, for it was the death of Galle XVII in the year 648 that would spell the end of the empire.

But as the Dragon War raged on for over two centuries in Archanea, the Loptyrians maintained their absolute power over Jugdral, spreading their evil doctrine throughout the land. Resistance, when it arose, was brutally subjugated, though sometimes the lingering embers remained. In 611, a great liberation army arose throughout the continent, promising to lay low the Loptyrians and reclaim the past glory of Gran. As years of war passed by, they seemed to even threaten to live up to those promises. But at the crucial battle, the Emperor took the field, and the great and terrible power of Loptyr was seen in battle once again. The rebellion crumbled, Loptyrians and Deadlords sweeping over the land and returning all of Jugdral to Loptyrian oppression. By 632, the last remnants of the rebellion were under heavy siege in a fortress at the edge of the Yied Desert. With no hope of relief, and at an end to their supplies, they knew that they had mere days left to live, if that. So it was that the twelve remaining leaders of the rebellion came together for one last time at the fortress of Darna.

1: This is ultimately more speculative. Certainly there was no great magical sophistication in Jugral at the time, but several of the Crusaders were mages, and it seems hard to imagine that the Loptyrians would have permitted the dissemination of magical knowledge throughout Jugdral if it was not already known.

2: We'll touch upon this in later speculation, to be sure.

3: I'm dramatizing a bit here, I will admit. The whole pairing siblings and friends deal isn't explicitly mentioned in any sources, I don't think, but it seems entirely in character.

4: One assumes that Loptyr really liked the name, or at least got used to it and didn't want to adapt to be being called anything else.


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Once again, thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments or questions or concerns or general feedback - I know that the precise nature of Loptyr's possession of Galle might be a little hazy, and I might be glossing a bit over the specifics of Loptyrian theology (as best we know them, anyways), because it's really something that's best discussed when we have a whole post devoted to Mairism and Loptyrianism.

Edited by Lhyonnaes
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Oooh. I love worldbuilding. I have one or two pet theories related to all this stuff, that i might as well share. The first one concerns the origin of the dragons. where did they come from? why are they apperently only on one continent? and (perhaps most relevantly), why does elibe's dragon gate look suspiciously like the out-realm gate in awakening? Perhaps the dragon's gate IS an out-realm gate, and the world to which the dragons of elibe fled is an archania of the distant past. This begs the question of why the dragons did not go through the gate again when the world began to change, but perhaps it was only two-way at the time (magic can change in 2000 years and restrictions can erode, so that using the gate is much easier by the era of ylise than it was originally designed to be). This ties into another theory of mine, but i will save it until it becomes relevant in an update or so.

Edited by sirmola
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Oooh. I love worldbuilding. I have one or two pet theories related to all this stuff, that i might as well share. The first one concerns the origin of the dragons. where did they come from? why are they apperently only on one continent? and (perhaps most relevantly), why does elibe's dragon gate look suspiciously like the out-realm gate in awakening? Perhaps the dragon's gate IS an out-realm gate, and the world to which the dragons of elibe fled is an archania of the distant past. This begs the question of why the dragons did not go through the gate again when the world began to change, but perhaps it was only two-way at the time (magic can change in 2000 years and restrictions can erode, so that using the gate is much easier by the era of ylise than it was originally designed to be). This ties into another theory of mine, but i will save it until it becomes relevant in an update or so.

We'll get to this in some further posts. I would suggest, though, that I think that the Ruins of Time, deep within the historic homelands of the Divine Dragons and where Naga's Tear can be found, is a much more likely endpoint to the Dragon's Gate than the Outrealm Gate.

Edited by Lhyonnaes
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We'll get to this in some further posts. I would suggest, though, that I think that the Ruins of Time, deep within the historic homelands of the Divine Dragons and where Naga's Tear can be found, is a much more likely endpoint to the Dragon's Gate than the Outrealm Gate.

Granted. This actualy makes a lot of sense, and explaines why the two gates appear to work in two different ways (fixed route only verses selectable time/ destination of arrival). This also explains one or two other things that you haven't gotten to yet, and that i will bring up when you get to awakening or blazing sword.

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Interesting, I was not aware of this adaptation.

Sickness and blight could certainly be a side effect of the degeneration. Was it presented as anything other than that?

However, I'm curious how they explain Loptyr's blood pact with Galle. If Loptyr was killed after the pact, that's not an issue - it could even be interpreted as part of his plan, to ensure that nobody would be looking for him. If he was killed before the pact, then it's obviously a bit more complicated.

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The Miracle of Darna

Thanks for coming to read the next installment of History of the Emblem. Today, we're discussing the Miracle of Darna. Honestly, if you're going to read any one entry in this series, you should read this one. The Miracle is not only an important event in its own right, but it sets an incredibly important precedent. I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up referring to the Miracle at some point in every subsequent post about events or speculation taking place in the larger Archanea/Valentia/Jugdral world. Hopefully I've made its importance sufficiently clear here.

Also, in general, keep in mind that this more or less a work of history, albeit videogame history. And as with all history, it is not and cannot be perfectly objective. I should probably be citing my sources like a proper academic paper, but honestly I can't really be bothered, but if you have questions about where I'm getting a specific point, ask and I can provide. Regardless, there is and will always be some interpretation on my part, interpretation that others might not agree with. And, you know, that's just how history is. I'll note when I get into the more speculative side of things.

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Having covered the Dragon War and the Loptyrian Empire, we have laid all the necessary groundwork to discussing the Miracle of Darna, which is certainly one of the more important events in the history of Jugdral and Archanea – indeed, I would argue that it is the most important event. The Miracle of Darna not only directly lead to the overthrow of the Loptyrian Empire, it also represented a massive shift in relations between the humans and the dragonkin, which would set a long-lasting and enduring precedent. It was the first occasion in Jugdral and Archanea where humanity was no longer subject to the whims of powers greater than themselves, and it was a symbolic event that placed the power to chart the course of the world and the responsibility to do it well in the hands of humans. The precedent set by the Miracle, of manaketes entrusting in humans the power to triumph over the great evils of the world rather than confronting it themselves, would continue to be dominant for over three thousand years, and counting.

At the end of the previous entry, we left the last resistance to the Loptyrian Empire in dire straits, huddled in the fortress of Darna at the end of a long siege at the close of the Jugdrali year 632. Their armies had been smashed, their allies once against subjugated by the fist of the Loptyrian Empire. But, despite what they thought, they were not alone.

632 had already been a momentous year in the world, for not long before the Miracle of Darna, the dragon queen Naga had crafted the Shield of Seals and ended the Dragon War. With peace have returned to Archanea, the manakete could finally survey the destruction to the continent, and turn their eyes to the rest of the world. Cloaked in a series of human bodies on a different continent, Loptyr had been so far unmolested by the followers of Naga. That anonymity would not last.

A continent ruled by a god-emperor and the cult built around him which extolled the evident power and might of a god named Loptyr could not long escape manakete attention once the Dragon War was over. With the plight of humanity clear, an Ice Dragon1 by the name of Forseti began to advocate for intervention on their behalf. Once again, an Earth Dragon was clearly causing immeasurable harm to an effectively defenseless human population. The desire to protect the humans of Archeanea had been the beginning of the Dragon War, after all, so a call for a similar response was understandable. But Jugdral presented more complications.

The humans of Jugdral were, after all, more advanced that the humans of Archanea. They were not powerless – quite the opposite, in fact, especially against the war-weary manaketes. Furthermore, Loptyr had a large quantity of loyal followers, and a larger pool of soldiers that had no choice but to serve him. A war against Loptyr would mean a war against the very humans that the manaketes wished to save.

Furthermore, simply because the manaketes were interested in protecting the humans in the abstract did not mean that they were interested in actively engaging with them. Indeed, it is clear throughout the Dragon War that the manaketes of Archanea actively avoided all contact with humanity, if they could get away with it. The reasons for this are open to speculation,2 but it provided another obstacle to manakete intervention on Jugdral.

Despite these challenges, Forseti persisted in advocating for manakete intervention to save the humans of Jugdral. His motives for taking such a stance are not clear – however, what we do know is that, among the most powerful manakete of the time, he was clearly the youngest, and had somehow developed a profound sympathy for the plight of humankind.3

If anyone else shared Forseti’s concern for the humans of Jugdral, it was Naga. But for the previously mentioned reasons, she was unwilling to lead the manakete for war. And more than just those concerns, Archanea had just reached the end of two and a half centuries of violence. Naga herself was planning to give up her physical body, and no doubt some of the other manakete elders thought the same.

In light of all these factors, a new plan was devised, that would limit the problematic manakete interaction with the human world, while still enabling the downfall of Loptyr. In many respects, we can say with a good deal of certainty that the plan was primarily devised by Forseti, as he was the manakete most passionate about helping the humans and the one with the least reservations about interacting with them. The plan was still a concerning one to most the manaketes, yes, but Forseti managed to convince Naga of its wisdom, and Naga succeeded in convincing ten others to accompany them.

So it was that, on that last night in Darna fortress, where the twelve young men and women who had found themselves the leaders of the last remnants of the resistance met for what was surely to be their last meeting, a miracle occurred. Naga, Forseti, a fire dragon by the name of Salamand, and the other nine manakete whose names we do not know, appeared suddenly in front of the twelve humans. The humans, somewhat unsurprisingly, saw them as gods. The manaketes disclosed their names, but remained in their untransformed form, and did not disclose their true nature.

After a brief introduction, each of the Twelve4 approached one of the humans, and bestowed upon them two gifts. The first and most significant gift was a portion of their blood, transfused into the new host by quasi-magical means.5 These gifts of Major Holy Blood bestowed significant power upon its recipients, making them faster, stronger, more magically powerful, and so on. It did not, however, affect their lifespan. Though blessed with superhuman power, the bearers of this Holy Blood were still largely mortal humans.

With the gift of the Holy Blood, the twelve humans – who would shortly be known as the Crusaders – gained physical manifestations of the non-human power within them, intricate brands that surfaced on their skin, much like those which were also borne by the Loptyrian emperors. And indeed, just like their enemy, the sacred blood that ran within their veins would be passed down to their descendants. As it eventually became clear, the brand would usually only be passed down to one child per generation, from a parent who also bore the brand – and those who were so marked inherited the full might of the sacred power bestowed upon the Crusaders. Unbranded children seemingly were lesser carriers of this divine might, and over generations some of their descendants would seem to lose the power entirely.6

But the Holy Blood was not the only blessing the Twelve bestowed upon the Crusaders. The Twelve bestowed one weapon upon each of the Crusaders. These arms were finely crafted weapons in their own right, but the Twelve each placed their dragonstones in their respective weapons, creating artifacts of immense power. For a common man, these dragonstones would do nothing, but for the Crusaders and their descendants who possessed sufficient quantities of the appropriate Holy Blood for them to bear that blood’s brand, the powers of the dragonstone would activate. The full draconic energy of one of the Twelve, the most powerful of the manakete alive, would empower the user and their weapon, giving them powers that seemed, to the humans, almost godlike.

For the majority of the Twelve, such boons were enough. All of the Twelve imparted words of wisdom unto their chosen champions, and then departed Jugdral, hoping and believing that they had acted with wisdom, and that the humans could be trusted to use such power well, to defeat Loptyr and to rule justly. Naga and Forseti, however, did not simply imbue their Holy Weapons with their dragonstones. Much like Loptyr had done, they put a part of their very essence into the tomes that they bestowed, creating not only powerful magical spells but also receptacles for their very spirits. This did not mean that their spirits were bound inside those tomes, but rather that they provided a way that they could more closely interact with their associated Crusaders, and indeed a way that they could exert a sort of limited control or possession over the bearers of their Holy Weapons, should they chose to do so.

Having thus accomplished their purpose, the Twelve returned to Archaea, and went their separate ways. Naga discarded her body to live on as a spirit, and likely provided direct guidance from the Book of Naga to Saint Heim, the leader of the Crusaders who bore her tome and her blood. Forseti, too, did not remain long in his mortal body, and continued to watch over Jugdral, where his spirit would later directly intervene to help mortals once again. As for the rest of the Twelve, we cannot say for certain. The manakete who bestowed the holy Yewfelle upon the crusader Ulir, perhaps swayed by the success of the Miracle or by Naga and Forseti’s arguments, was also to play a minor role in future events on the continent. Perhaps others among the Twelve, powerful manaketes who were now without their dragonstones, would play future roles in the world, but if that is the case, the truth of it is unknown to us.

The Crusaders, for their part, ventured forth with their Holy Weapons and their Holy Blood, and broke the Loptyrian armies laying siege to Darna. Even so empowered, the odds arrayed against them were immense. Even for they who became known essentially as demigods throughout the continent, the Deadlords were a fearsome foe, and behind them was the military might of a unified continent. But the Crusaders were powerful, and with every victory, subjugated peoples of Jugdral broke free from Loptyrian control, and raised their banners for the Crusaders, for liberation.

That great campaign against the Loptyrian Empire became known as the Holy War. From its beginnings in early 633, it stretched on fifteen long years, until Saint Heim, wielding Naga’s power, struck down Emperor Galle XVII on the very steps of Belhalla. From the shattered Loptyrian Empire, new kingdoms arose. The land was slowly rebuilt, and peace returned to Jugdral.

But even though Loptyr’s vessels were destroyed and his descendants hunted down and killed, the dragon’s legacy lived on. His followers were cunning and resilient, and went into hiding. There they plotted their ultimate return to power, and the revival of their dark god. It would be more than a hundred years before their dreams began to come to fruition. A hundred years of peace in Jugdral before, in the year 757, war broke out between Granvalle and Issach. As the greatest knights in the kingdom rode to battle, the barbarians of Verdane launched an audacious raid on southern Granvalle. And Sigurd Chalphy, son of Duke Vylon and inheritor of the Holy Blood of the Crusader Baldur, would ride out against them, and into the pages of history.


1: The lore never explicitly states what type of dragon Forseti is. However, he has a very strong connection to wind magic, and the elements of wind and ice are consistently closely related throughout the Fire Emblem series (see such wind spells as Blizzard and Rexcalibur). Thus, it’s pretty safe to assume that Forseti is indeed an Ice Dragon.

2: Speculation that we will certainly get to, in time.

3: Just something to keep in mind for future speculation, but a comparatively young Ice Dragon who is uncommonly sympathetic towards humanity and has a thing against dark mages abusing children might seem a little bit familiar.

4: The Twelve is a shorthand term that I coined to refer to the “gods” at Darna, from the imagined perspective of Jugdrali theologians. It’s not a canonical term, but I find it useful to use in the absence of one.

5: Forseti recounts that the Twelve cut their fingers, and thus offered their Holy Blood to the Crusaders. He doesn’t go into any more detail than that, sadly.

6: We must assume that even the Major Holy Blood would die out eventually, but FE4 begins only around 120 years after the Mirale of Darna, presumably before we could see this outcome. Similarly, it’s unclear whether the fact that a descendant of two carriers of the same Minor Holy Blood could produce an offspring with Major Holy Blood became widely known throughout Jugdral (a certain old man in chapter 4 of FE4 implies that it became known at some point), though the Loptyrians were clearly aware of this functionality. And finally, we don’t know if the restriction of a maximum of two types of holy blood per individual is canonical or a limitation of the system in FE4 (and there were never enough potential crosses in the game to tell for sure), though it’s more clear that no person can have two different types of Major Holy Blood.

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Once again, thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments or questions or concerns or general feedback. I am currently not planning to discuss the events actually taking place within the main storylines of any FE game, which means that the next entry will be back on Archanea. We'll be talking about the rise of the Kingdom of Archanea, the formation of Dohlr, and, if we get that far, Anri and the Falchion. We'll come back to Jugdral later to talk about Mairism, other topic if people are curious about them, and of course, for speculation.

Also, while I'm happy to keep making these, they're pretty long, and I don't have all the time in the world to write them. As a result, you shouldn't expect the next one tomorrow, but in two days.

Edited by Lhyonnaes
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Re: the transfusion of holy blood, Forseti says the Crusaders ingested the blood. Tear Ring Saga supports this, as the final boss of that game explicitly swallowed the blood of some being and underwent a not-dissimilar alteration.

Tear Ring Saga could probably do with an entry or two, it's also made by Kaga, and legal issues aside, contains several links to Archanea/Jugdral.

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Tear Ring Saga could probably do with an entry or two, it's also made by Kaga, and legal issues aside, contains several links to Archanea/Jugdral.

It might be worth talking about later, after the 20th. I'm not well-versed in it, and I don't know if I can reasonably do the research and write it up while still covering what I want to cover and staying generally sane.

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Archanea and Dolhr

First of all, sorry for the delay, it's taken me a day longer to get this one out that I planned. What with the new information about FE14 and all on top of other things that I've had to do, I've been a little bit tied up.

Last time, on History of the Emblem, we talked about the Miracle of Darna. But for now, we're leaving Jugdral behind with the start of the events of FE4, and returning to Archanea, to discuss the foundation of the Kingdom of Archanea and the Empire of Dolhr, and the first war between them. Perhaps most important part here is Medeus’s motive for founding Dolhr, which I have tried to contextualize in light of the concerns he might have had. We, of course, do not know for sure how the other Earth Dragons viewed Medeus during the Dragon War, or what his opinions were on the Miracle of Darna (though I think it is hard to imagine that he did not know of it), but I have tried to fill in what seem to be as the logical thought processes in light of what we do know for sure.

Also, in general, keep in mind that this more or less a work of history, albeit videogame history. And as with all history, it is not and cannot be perfectly objective. I should probably be citing my sources like a proper academic paper, but honestly I can't really be bothered, but if you have questions about where I'm getting a specific point, ask and I can provide. Regardless, there is and will always be some interpretation on my part, interpretation that others might not agree with. And, you know, that's just how history is. I'll note when I get into the more speculative side of things.


And once again, unmarked spoilers ahead. This time, mostly for FE1/3.

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While the Twelve were blessing the Crusaders and Darna, the scattered human tribes of Archanea were still recovering from the impact of the Dragon War. Though they understood that they were rescued by powers far beyond their ken - and in fact, at some point, they picked up the name "Naga" as the leader of their saviors - the truth of events was lost to them. Still, they began to worship Naga as a god, ascribing the dragon queen with the appearance and characteristics one might expect from the military savior of a tribal people. They worshipped Naga as a male warrior diety and the vanquisher of the dragons.

This might partly explain why, upon encountering the hidden and sacred Fane of Raman in western Archeanea nearly 500 years after the end of the Dragon War, humanity did not recognize its importance. While we do not know if he was the first to find the Fane, the first man to enter it was a thief by the name of Adrah. No doubt Adrah could not believe his luck when he beheld the wealth of the Fane of Raman - indeed, it seems as though it was almost unnerving, as Adrah hardly plundered the temple of all its riches. No, it seems Adrah grabbed the most valuable-looking items he could find and then made a run for it, leaving much lesser loot behind in the temple. But the damage was done. Adrah took from the Fane of Raman four items of note. Three were weapons of great power, forged by the Manakete in their war. The last was the Shield of Seals itself, which no doubt occupied a prominent place in the temple, and contained what looked to be five invaluable gemstones.

Though a thief - or at least an adventurer who engaged in one extremely significant act of thievery - Adrah was also an ambitious man, and saw in his winnings a chance to take his place in the world. Even five hundred years after the Dragon War concluded, the humans of Archanea were still divided and contentious. Some of the more prosperous tribes had begun to establish permanent centers of power, but these emergent city-states were unable to exert any large-scale territorial control. No one power was able to exert sufficient influence to change this situation, especially given how underdeveloped the continent still was. Adrah sought to change that.

From the Fane of Raman, Adrah had acquired both mystical weapons and treasure of unmistakable value. He would have been hardly able to sell his treasure in Archanea's early markets, but he did not need to. With his ability to give rich gifts and a growing credence behind future promises of further wealth and power, Adrah began to raise himself an army. By bartering, trading, or gifting away the five orbs he took from the Shield of Seals, as well as any more mundane treasure he took, Adrah was able to amass a force of unprecedented size. And with his champions armed with the pilfered weapons that became known as Mercurius, Gradivus, and Parthia, Adrah's army was unstoppable. After a short campaign, the former thief unified a large swathe of the more populous southeastern region of the continent, and declared himself first king of the Holy Kingdom of Archanea on the first day of the first year of a new royal calendar. And indeed, such was the kingdom's prominence as the sole and universal bastion of significance, that the entire continent soon became also known as Archanea, itself.

As for the Shield of Seals, with Adrah separating the orbs from their pedastal, the magic sealing the Earth Dragons at the Dragon's Altar began to unravel. However, the spell had been very carefully and thoroughly crafted, and would not break so easily. Over the course of centuries it would begin to weaken and fray, but at the time none realized the magnitude of what Adrah had done. For his part, the new king kept the pedestal itself, and declared it, the ultimate source of his rise to power, as the eternal symbol of Archanean kingship. It would become known as the Fire Emblem.

However, as the Holy Kingdom of Archanea rose to prominence as the first truly unified human state on the continent, the fortunes of the manakete continued on their decline. The Dragon War had been the downfall of much of their civilization, but not of their people - that was much longer and much slower. But it became clear, as humanity began to prosper and grow, that the earlier manakete fear of involvement with humanity seemed to be justified, even despite the Miracle of Darna on Jugdral. Where humans and manakete met, more often than not, humans and manakete fought. It is unclear why this is, but there are a few factors that were no doubt of importance. It is important to remember that the human perception of the Dragon War was one where the god Naga and his warriors saved humanity from the onslaught of the dragons, and that the humans made no connection between their imagined Naga and the manaketes of the world. Indeed, in a tragic irony the humans probably saw the scattered manaketes as the enemy from which Naga saved them, and not the saviors themselves. Furthermore, the seal cast by the Shield of Seals only effected the Earth Dragons, not the other scattered Fire Dragons and Ice Dragons and the like who had refused to become manaketes. They still lived throughout the wilds as little more than mindless and violent beasts, and no doubt the humans had ample cause to fear them. In light of those factors, it is perhaps not surprising that humanity acted with hostility towards the manaketes throughout this time period. Even on Jugdral, the manaketes had sought to conceal their true nature from the humans as they granted them the power to save themselves. And while we know that throughout the period of human expansion in Archanea there were indeed humans from Jugdral who settled in the new land across the sea,1 they would have not known of the debt that they owned to the dragonkin.

From the founding of the Kingdom of Archanea, 490 years passed before the manaketes fought back. No doubt that there had been isolated conflicts, but the dragonkin, dispersed and outnumbered as they were, could not and would not stand against the humans. After all, they had followed Naga into a war that was directly aimed at preventing more violence towards humanity. Why would they now inflict violence of those they had sought to safeguard?

Yet, centuries passed and the reach of humanity began to grow as their people prospered. And with this expansion and prosperity, the manaketes found themselves pushed back and marginalized further. Dissent began to build. Indeed, even Gotoh, a trusted confidant of Naga charged with the protection of the humans, gave up his hope in their ability to do good, hope that perhaps has been kindled in the years after the success of the Miracle of Darna.2 And in 490, this dissent came to a head when Medeus, last of the Earth Dragons, proclaimed the formation of the Empire of Dolhr.

To have betrayed the rest of his kind by standing with Naga, and seeming to remain neutral or even to side against the Earth Dragons in the Dragon War, it is clear that Medeus had been a dragon of no mean conviction. But nearly a thousand years living amongst the remnants of his people and looking out at the abuse heaped upon the manaketes of the world caused him to change his mind. He had betrayed his people, abandoned them to die or be sealed away, and for what? The manaketes had saved humanity on Archanea, and they not only suffered the ravages of the war instead of the humans, but now they faced extinction at the callous and uncaring hands of the ones they had saved. On Jugdral, the Twelve had even made the ultimate sacrifice of their very draconic essences, so that humanity could free itself from the rule of a mad Earth Dragon. And for what?

Medeus looked upon a human world that did not only ignore the grand gifts the manaketes had given them, but seemed to actively spurn them. He saw the glory of manakete civilization, the very being of its leaders, and the entirety of his people, destroyed in an effort to preserve those who would only bring further destruction upon them. And in his grief and sorrow, Medeus decided that the Earth Dragons had been correct all along. Humanity should not have ever been preserved. It needed to be dominated and suppressed if not eliminated entirely.

And that was the founding principle of Medeus's Empire of Dolhr. He called out to all the manakete of the continent, to unify and to create a new home for themselves in the mountainous region which had once been the homeland of the Earth Dragons. It was a land largely free from humans, a rugged land isolated by straits from the human-dominated lands of Archanea. It would be the land where a new beginning could be forged for the dragon tribes, and where they could build up their forces in preparation for an attack against humanity.

Before three years had passed, Medeus had his army. Sick of oppression by humans, seeking revenge for past injuries, or simply in search a home for themselves amongst others of their people, the dragonkin flocked to the banner of Dolhr. And from there, war was a simple next step. The Manakete armies marched against an unsuspected Archanea in the year 493. Perhaps the humans had fought scattered Manaketes or feral dragons before, but they could offer no meaningful resistance to an army. Dolhr's enemies were killed or taken back to the homeland as slaves. The Archanean capital of Palles fell within the year, and Adrah's descendants, the royal family, were summarily executed wherever they were found.

But though they may have disliked humanity, there were many among the dragon tribes who balked at the methods of the Empire of Dolhr. Foremost among these manakete was the sage Gotoh himself. He had earlier abandoned his faith in humanity, yes, but he did not wish ruin upon them. At the Miracle of Darna, the Twelve had believed in them and their ability to save themselves and walk the right and just course. And perhaps in the face of such adversity, they could once again be guided on to the right path. So Gotoh looked to the plains north of Archanea, were Duke Cartas of Archanea had fled with a ragged resistance army. He knew that the humans needed a sign of hope. They needed power that could overcome Dolhr, but power that could not be used to further oppress the manakete.

And just as the Crusaders at Jugdral had carried the weapons of the Twelve and the wisdom imparted into them, Gotoh needed a champion. A warrior of stalwart heart and great skill, who could be a hero, if he was given the opportunity. That warrior was Anri of Altea.


1: We will discuss the implications of this in a later entry, but Awakening effectively confirms the long-standing fan theory that the Altean royal family is descended from the Chalphys of Jugdral, and thus we know for certain that there was at least one case of migration between the continents, and I believe it is safe to assume that this was not an entirely isolated incident.

2: Gotoh, as a dragonstone-less manakete who is apparently very high in Naga's confidence and is clearly very powerful, is a prime candidate for having been one of the Twelve, himself. If so, he was likely, given his strong association with light magic, the dragon that gave blood to the Crusader of Light: Baldur, ancestor of Sigurd. We will talk more about Gotoh, his influence in history, and how he lost his faith in humanity, when we discuss the history of the Khadein Academy.


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Next time, we will be discussing Anri, the Falchion, and Medeus’s first defeat. We will end by talking about his eventual resurgence, which leads in to the events of FE1 (which I currently do not plan to discuss in detail).

Again, sorry for the delay here. I will do my best to stick to a more consistent schedule in the future, but I am doing what I can to provide an exhaustive look at the subjects, and that mandates a rather large expenditure of time.

And, of course, please feel free to once again leave questions or comments or bring up any errors I may have made. Admittedly I wrote must of this one rather late at night, so I think the chances of me saying something really boneheaded is probably a bit higher, as are the chances of me failing to clarify important points. And though I have a decent idea of what all I'm going to write about in the next two weeks or so, suggestions are indeed welcome and appreciated.

Edited by Lhyonnaes
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I love the job that you are doing. I actualy have a lot of notes and questions, but i don't want to jump the gun again. As such,i will confine myself to one one question and one observation. First, the question: If naga no longer has a dragonstone or a physical form, then how is it possible for her to potentialy join the party in fe11 (fe12 implies that the event is noncanon, but it COULD have happened) My personal theory to explain this is that a dragonstone is the result of a manakete's dragon energies coelesing over hundreds of years. It they lose their dragonstone, they will eventualy naturaly form a new one, but eventualy is the key word. (as a side note, one wonders what happens to holsety after fe4.) Additionaly, i note for the benefit of anyone reading this that there is no good information regarding the corespondence between the archania and jugdral timelines (save that the miricle of darna happend close ish to the divine dragon-earth dragon war), although this is an exelent interpretation. FYI, information about the fe4 novels (there were several) is currently being unearthed on the following thread, following a forumite obtaining copies: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=52706(fyi, the cancer thing is a little suspect IMO, as the OP is said that his japanese is not exelent.)

EDIT: in order to give context to discussion about holsety, i dug up the conversation from the epilog that discusses it. It is part of the untranslated ending (to be specific, the last bit of dialog before we fade out to naration for the last time) There is actually a ton of info packed in here:

Levin : ...Well, Celice, I hate to say goodbye, but it’s time for me to go on my journey, too.

Celice : Levin...thank you...you’ve always watched over us young people. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Levin : I only did the duty that was expected out of me. I am the wind, a wind whose breath is meant to guide the warm radiance of light. And that light is there in the heart of each and every one of you.

Celice : Yes, I understand now. I’ve always heard that Dragonkind fears involvement in the world of Man...but you’re different. You broke that rule. You guided us. I, everyone, everything in this earth, will never forget the debt we owe you, Levin...no...warrior of a distant land, Holsety of the Wind...

Source: http://acenoctali.free.fr/f-fe4/texte_fin_FE4.htm

Edited by sirmola
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Speculative Interlude - Nagi

Thanks once again for checking out another installment of History of the Emblem. The entry on Anri and the Falchion will be coming later today – but first, I wanted to release this line of argument and speculation as a different post. It was originally part of the larger post on the Falchion, but it broke up the narrative flow and added excessive length. It works better on its own.

Also, in general, keep in mind that this more or less a work of history, albeit videogame history. And as with all history, it is not and cannot be perfectly objective. I should probably be citing my sources like a proper academic paper, but honestly I can't really be bothered, but if you have questions about where I'm getting a specific point, ask and I can provide. Regardless, there is and will always be some interpretation on my part, interpretation that others might not agree with. And, you know, that's just how history is. I'll note when I get into the more speculative side of things.

And once again, unmarked spoilers ahead. This time, mostly for FE11/12.

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Before we talk about the Falchion or the First Awakening, it is prudent to mull over one important lore consideration. Previously, we have mentioned how Naga “died” after the Miracle of Darna, giving up her physical body in the ancient city of Thabes. And we have discussed several things about dragon spirits, most namely their ability to possess human hosts. But we have talked little about if they can affect the physical world, and if so, in what way. The most notable of these cases is that of the most mysterious newcomer in FE11/12, Nagi.

Nagi is a bit of a difficult case, and one that we must approach with care. She appears as a distinct entity from Naga, but one that is closely tied to her. Medeus recognizes her as a revived dragon,1 and her ending title implies that she is some sort of reincarnation of Naga. She also comes bearing a second replica Falchion, albeit a much less powerful weapon than the original blade.

There can be little doubt that Nagi is some sort of projection of Naga’s spiritual power upon the physical realm. There can also be little doubt that her body was created through magic – after all, Medeus seems to recognize her as returned to life in a manner similar to he, and we know that, through Darksphere-inspired magic,2 a new body was constructed for Medeus’s spirit after his first defeat. But unlike Medeus, Nagi is not a proper physical reincarnation of Naga, something that is evidenced by her lack of memories and comparatively lower power– it’s more proper to compare her to a Morph, created by Naga’s spirit in imitation of her own former body.3 There is some precedent for looking at Nagi as a magically fabricated Manakete, if we compare her to the “soulless” War Dragons of FE6 – we’ll talk about those more in a couple days. But essentially, Nagi’s creation as an artificial manakete is not without precedent in the series.

Of course, this raises the question of where on the scale of “complete” or “soulless” Nagi falls. Most interesting in viewing her is the general lack of memories that she has – she knows that she has a task to complete, that she must defeat Medeus, but little else. This is not seen otherwise in the series in “complete” reincarnations of dragon spirits into new bodies. Medeus certainly does not seem to lose memories or significant amounts of power when he is brought back to life repeatedly, and later on in Awakening, Future!Grima looks just a-okay.

Nagi also makes a quick disappearance after the events of the games (both FE11 and FE12, though FE12 implies that she was not canonically recruited in FE11), never to be seen again. And furthermore, in FE11 she is found asleep in an alternate dimension. How can we interpret this odd appearance and disappearance? First of all, the fact that the Alterspire does not appear in FE12 implies that it is not a requirement for Nagi’s appearance. Rather, I think it’s more accurately more of a test for Marth, to see that if he has overcome the failures that made Nagi’s appearance a necessity. And furthermore, the fact that Nagi makes such a quick disappearance implies to me that she is largely an “empty” construct made by Naga and heavily controlled by her magic. This may be a sort of magical influence, or just a stringent set of inborn commands (think, for example, of Denning for FE7). Regardless, it seems likely that Naga dissipates Nagi’s body once she no longer needs to directly intervene with mortal events.

Furthermore, in FE11 she also carries with her a replica Falchion which – while notably less powerful – is still seemingly forged from one of Naga’s fangs, as it is likewise unbreakable and effective against Earth Dragons. Therefore, it seems that Naga, even as a bodyless spirit, is still able to interact directly with the physical world, and indeed with some conception of her physical body. Naga is seemingly able to create a sword wholesale, using her own fang as a blade, without the presence of her body. Perhaps she can generate new physical fangs via utilization of sufficient magical energy? This would be in line with the observed powers of other dragon spirits to, with the appropriate rituals and/or disgusting amounts of quintessence, generate for themselves entirely new physical forms, matching the ones that they discarded.

Therefore, as we move forward, we should keep in mind that, even though Naga is a bodyless spirit, this does not mean that she cannot interact with the mortal world. In fact, at the bare minimum, we will see her impart her blood into another mortal, this time with a magical connection to it that makes it in some ways more similar to the blood of Lehran that is carried consistently by every Apostle, then to the more random distribution of inheritance found in the Holy Blood of the Miracle of Darna.

1: From Medeus’s words, it’s pretty reasonable to conclude that he believes that Nagi is a full reincarnation of Naga. I think this is a misconception on his part, but a very understandable one.

2: It’s important to remember that most of Gharnef’s unique power is largely derived from a powerful dragon-wrought magic artifact.

3: We more fully discuss Quintessence and the manipulation thereof sometime next week.

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The next full installment of the History of the Emblem will be up tonight/tomorrow morning, depending on where you live.

On a larger scale, I'm thinking that I want to aim for a total of 13 installments (same as the number of games), before the 20th. This one might or might not count as the fifth one. I also plan to address the following historical topics: Anri and the Falchion (today/tomorrow), The First Exalt (day after that), the Scouring, and the Foundation of Begnion (focusing mainly on Lehran). Beyond that, we're more in the realm of speculation - I want to discuss the War of the Stones and how to contextualize Magvel within the larger series timeline, The Dragon's Gate, and Forseti (other things, too, but we're on a limited time frame). I know that leading into the anniversary, the last two posts that I want to make are one looking at Quintessence throughout the series, and finally, one looking at that central theme of Fire Emblem, the relation between gods and men.

It's a bit ambitious, and I would like to talk about some other stuff, but I'm only one person with other things to do. I would love to put out one of these per day, but it's not really practical for me to do so. But now that I've built up all the groundwork here, I'll probably still write new ones after the Anniversary, just at a more relaxed schedule - maybe once per week? We'll see.

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The GotHW novelization says Forseti was a Divine Dragon even with his link to the wind. Actually, it has all of the Darna Dragons as Divine Dragons.

Does that novelization count as cannon? The fire emblem adaptations tend to change a ton of stuff, in order to have the story fit better in their respective medium. The fe4 manga, for example, includes changes like the characters having to rescue brigid from castle orgahil. The OVA adds two countries to archania's world map, and the events are generally MUCH more dramatic. (don't even get me started on the FE6 manga) I suspect that the creators of FE licensed media at that time were just given the general plot and told to go crazy and do whatever resulted in a good story, unlike latter licensed products (like the fe8 comic and awakening manga), which do their best to stay true to the cannon. (I'd still totally love to read the novelization, though, because it sounds good in it's own right.)

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The GotHW novelization says Forseti was a Divine Dragon even with his link to the wind. Actually, it has all of the Darna Dragons as Divine Dragons.

I believe that Salamander is explicitly said to be a Fire Dragon in the script. I am happy to see the novelization as a supplemental source, but I am less inclined to believe it as an authority that supercedes that of the script itself.

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The Sword of Heroes

Hello again, and welcome to another History of the Emblem. As promised, this time we're talking about the origins of the Falchion and about Anri, who might just be the most badass human in the whole Fire Emblem canon.

Also, in general, keep in mind that this more or less a work of history, albeit videogame history. And as with all history, it is not and cannot be perfectly objective. I should probably be citing my sources like a proper academic paper, but honestly I can't really be bothered, but if you have questions about where I'm getting a specific point, ask and I can provide. Regardless, there is and will always be some interpretation on my part, interpretation that others might not agree with. And, you know, that's just how history is. I'll note when I get into the more speculative side of things.

And once again, unmarked spoilers ahead. This time, mostly for FE11/12.

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Let us set the scene. It is, most likely, the year 497, by the knowledge of anyone who particularly cares to keep track. Nigh on three years since the dragonkin marched from their realm of Dolhr and brought the Holy Kingdom of Archanea to its knees. On the edge of the coast northwest of was once the kingdom’s border, before such things ceased to matter, an army camp squats nervously. It lacks the sprawl and the general easy dominance of a traditional army camp, which impose themselves on the land like some great beast laying down for a long nap. It huddles, practically crouches. Even at night, there is a sort of nervous energy about the place, and it scuttles from valley to valley, from river to river, living off the land and trying its very hardest not to be found. For it is the last significant armed resistance to the manaketes of Dolhr, the last true army that remains arrayed for battle against them. It is lead by Cartas, one of the few remaining nobles of Archanea, but more importantly, staying with the army is the Princess Artemis. Last of the Royal Family. Carrier of the Fire Emblem, though she has entrusted the shield to Duke Cartas, to legitimize his leadership. The dragon king Medeus may control the palace, hold the land under his sway and the people under his dominion. But Artemis is Archanea, and he cannot truly win so long as she and the Emblem remain free from his grasp. The resistance army can only take heart in the knowledge that, though the populace has been subjugated, they are not docile, even after three long years. Medeus himself may have taken the field against them on several disastrous occasions, but he cannot bring his full army to bear against the would-be liberators, so long as they skirt the borders of the kingdom. Not yet.

But the northern parts of the continent have always been more the domain of dragons than of men, and those that do make their home past the boundaries of civilization are feral and wild tribes. Duke Cartas’s army has no friends nearby, no allies that he can send to for help. To the north lie only enemies, either barbarians, wild dragons, or manaketes loyal to Medeus, who know the terrain as well or better than Cartas’s men. To the south lies Altea, a small backwater from which the liberation army has been forced to retreat – and across the strait beyond it, Dolhr itself. Sometimes, fugitives or idealists will make their way to the army’s camps, inspired by the Fire Emblem and willing to fight against Dolhr. But there are too infrequent, too few, and there is always the threat of spies, whether from disguised manaketes or other traitorous humans.

In the dark of night, a single man leaves the camp, riding further north, into a great desert. From the tents, a regal woman watches him go with a heavy heart. He does not look back, for he knows what he must do. He will return with the means to win the war, or he will not return at all.

That man, with shaggy blue hair and a stony face, was a warrior named Anri. He hailed from Altea, formerly a tiny backwater lucky to have been included on any maps at all. Ironically, its irrelevance proved the key to its importance, as, after the fall of Palles, Princess Artemis fled there to escape Medeus and his agents. Anri met her there, fought to protect her alongside the other Alteans when Medeus finally discovered his presence and marshalled his forces against her. And when Artemis fled to unite with Duke Cartas’s liberation army any thus evade Medeus, Anri came with her. Perhaps he could not forgive Dolr for what they had done to his home. Perhaps there was some sense of destiny that he felt inexorably drawn to. Perhaps Artemis needed an accomplished and heroic escort, to protect her from Medeus’s minions. All of these fit with what we know of Anri of Altea – but more than anything else, we know that he was a truly indomitable young man. No doubt the seemingly bleak odds faced by the liberation army were of no consequence to Anri. He left his home intending to see Dolhr defeated, and intended to see it done, by any means necessary.

Similarly, we do not know for how long Anri stayed with Duke Cartas’s army before he left it on his fateful journey north, though some sources imply that it was not a long time. The two things that we can suspect is that he had already made something of a name for himself before he left, and that he had already become quite familiar with Princess Artemis before his departure.

The White Sage, Gotoh, also quickly caught notice of Anri. Clearly, there was something unique about the young man from the distant backwater of Archanea, for him to gather such nothing. Regardless, Gotoh saw in him a man who would shrink from no challenge, and would have the ability and the resilience to complete it. Gotoh saw in him a man that would be humble, would show restraint. A man who did not wish for power but would use it wisely and well, should it be entrusted to him. He was the man that Gotoh believed he had been looking for.

We do not know for certain whether Gotoh had been spreading word of a great treasure – a blade that could vanquish the Earth Dragons and win the war - at the Ice Dragon Temple in the far northeast of the continent of Archanea, before he first spoke to Anri. Details are scarce about that time. But the Altean was the first man that we know of who embarked upon the long and dangerous journey into the uncharted northlands of the continent. No other had the courage, the skill, and the determination to make such a journey.

The journey to the Ice Dragon Temple crossed deserts and mountains, fields of snow and the molten veins of the earth, blazing a trail that would become later known as Anri’s Way. Though Gotoh likely provided the necessary directions, the Altean still traversed half the continent by himself in search of what was ultimately just a legend. He fought barbarians and feral dragons as he crossed the wild and untamed north, but eventually he reached his goal. And Anri of Altea received the legendary Falchion at the Ice Dragon’s Temple in the year 498.

The origins of Falchion are, sadly, hardly clear. As with many events in Archeanean history, it is narrated primarily by Xane, who is hardly the most reliable even when speaking about subjects on which he can be expected to know much about.

The most inarguable detail, however, is that the Falchion is crafted from a single one of Naga’s fangs, and it is that construction that gives the blade its fabled power and resilience. But that is all that is known for certain.

Xane claims that the Falchion was created by Naga before her physical death, and enshrined alongside the Shield of Seals from the Fane of Raman, for she took pity on humans and sought to give them a weapon with which they could defend themselves in the future. However, Xane’s statement is problematic for several reasons – the first and most practical is that, in Adrah’s robbery of the Fane, he somehow managed to miss the beautiful blade specifically intended for humanity, while taking and dismantling the one thing that they were supposed to leave untouched. Furthermore, the Miracle of Darna, which is not mentioned by Xane,1 is clear evidence that Naga had given other weapons directly to humans, for that same purpose of defending themselves. Why would the Falchion be any different? And even if the Falchion was enshrined at the Fane, and it was untouched by Adrah, then we must suspect that Gotoh took it from the Fane and moved it to the Ice Dragon Temple, which was a monumental more remote and difficult-to-access location. Indeed, Gotoh seemed to specifically view the sword’s location as a test, which would seem to go against what Xane stated as Naga’s motives.

No, from the location of the Falchion, and from Gotoh’s words, we can clearly surmise that it was at the Ice Dragon Temple because it awaited a worthy wielder, a wielder who would be able to venture through the untamed mountains and deserts and lava veins to arrive at the Temple. In all probability, it was never at the Fane of Raman at all. This, however, raises the question of when the blade was forged.

As we have previously discussed, even as a bodyless spirit, Naga was still able to interact directly with the physical world, and indeed perhaps with some conception of her physical body. This is important because it casts further confusion over the exact creation date of Falchion, confusion that we are ultimately unable to resolve. Naga almost certainly did not create the blade as Xane described, but beyond that, we cannot say when Falchion was “forged.” It might have been created and put in the Ice Dragon Temple before Naga’s death. Naga might have carefully shaped and wrought it after her death. Or Naga might have even created the blade specifically for Anri.

The final option may, perhaps, be more likely than expected – after all, there are some (albeit vague) indications that the Falchion may be selective in its wielders in a way that is not entirely unlike the Holy Weapons of Jugdral, and can be used only by the royal family of Altea. However, there are also statements that seem to contradict that – after all, Gharnef seemed to believe that he could use the Falchion to overthrow Medeus during the events of FE1, though it could also have been that Gharnef was unaware of the particularities of the sword. Certainly, the Alteans often refer to Marth as the sole remaining heir to the Falchion.

But regardless, Anri did indeed obtain the Falchion and survive to return to Duke Cartas’s beleaguered liberation army in their hour of need. When all hope seemed lost, using the Falchion and his own travel-hardened abilities, Anri slew Medeus. Between the death of their leader, the re-inspired Archanean army, and Anri and his sword, the manaketes of Dolhr were put to rout. Their empire crumbled, the remaining manaketes once again dispersed to the far corners of the world, and humans retook dominion over Archanea. For his part, Anri returned home to Altea as a great hero, and, indeed, eventually became their first king in the year 500.

However, despite his victory and ascendance to the throne, Anri did not ultimately find the happiness he had sought. In his time in the liberation army, and upon his return, in the aftermath of Medeus’s defeat, Anri and Princess Artemis of Archanea had fallen in love with one another. However, their romance was not to be. Anri , not yet the king of Altea, was still a commoner in the eyes of the remaining Archanean nobles. To them, Duke Cartas, who had borne the Fire Emblem and lead the army that held out against the Dragon King, was the obvious candidate for the throne. So it was that Princess Artemis and Duke Cartas were married in late 498, despite Artemis’s wishes to the contrary. Anri would never marry. As a result, the Kingdom of Altea split into two realms, Altea and Gra, upon his death in 537.

The Falchion, and the kingship of Altea, would pass to Anri’s younger brother, Marcelus. Over the next sixty years of peace, they would pass twice more – first to Marcelus’s son Marius, and then to Marius’s son, Cornelius. Cornelius’s son Marth was only around ten years old in the year 597, when in the ruins of Dolhr, the Dragon King Medeus was returned to life. And five years after that, war would come once again to Archanea…

1: Of course, this raises the question of whether Xane would have mentioned the Miracle if the game script was written after the release of FE4. Were he a less shifty individual, I might be inclined to say yes, but Xane is clear in his general distaste for humanity, and I don’t particularly see him as being forthcoming with information that’s not immediately relevant to Marth’s quest.

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I could have sworn there was a source that was more explicit about how the Falchion was tied to the Altean kings, but I can't find anything 100% explicit at present. I'll update this if I do locate the information, though if anyone else remembers it, please let me know where I can find it. Regardless, as per usual, please feel free to leave questions, comments, or concerns. The precise history of Cartas's liberation army and how Anri joined it is not the most well fleshed-out, so I had to do what I could with the information available.

Next time, we will be finishing off our discussion of background history for the "main" Jugdral/Archanean plotline by talking about Grima's rise and the First Exalt. I'll try to have it up sometime on Friday, but we'll see how the timing works out.

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In Shadow Dragon, Prologue II, Elice says "If something befalls Father, Marth will become the last person in the entire world worthy of wielding the Falchion"

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In Shadow Dragon, Prologue II, Elice says "If something befalls Father, Marth will become the last person in the entire world worthy of wielding the Falchion"

Worthy, yes. But this is the type of vague reference I'm referring to. Worthy and Able are not necessarily the same thing.

Edited by Lhyonnaes
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The ending of chapter 7 of FE12, when Jagen tells Marth of "The Legend of Naga", it is quite clear that both the Falchion and the Binding Shield were in Naga's possession during the war against the earth dragons. Meaning that the two items were forged before the Miracle of Darna occurred.

Also, on a more speculative note, Baldur didn't really have much of an association with light other than his title. Frankly, if one were to subscribe to the theory that not all of the twelve manaketes to appear at Darna were divine dragons, I find it much more sensible to say that, given what the Tyrfing does, the manakete to bestow holy blood upon Baldur was a mage dragon.

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The ending of chapter 7 of FE12, when Jagen tells Marth of "The Legend of Naga", it is quite clear that both the Falchion and the Binding Shield were in Naga's possession during the war against the earth dragons. Meaning that the two items were forged before the Miracle of Darna occurred.

Also, on a more speculative note, Baldur didn't really have much of an association with light other than his title. Frankly, if one were to subscribe to the theory that not all of the twelve manaketes to appear at Darna were divine dragons, I find it much more sensible to say that, given what the Tyrfing does, the manakete to bestow holy blood upon Baldur was a mage dragon.

I wasn't going to say this until latter, but given that you brought the topic up, i have always suspected that the tyrfang is the falchion (narga simply having retrieved it when anri needed it). The main evidence for this is the fact that their designes are similar in both awakening and fe4, despite redesigns. The obvious issue here is the fact that the tyrfang and falchion appear in awakening, but this is easaly exlained by this being an alternate tyrfang (after all, two alternate versions of the falchion already appear in the game.)

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Tyrfing and Falchion simply cannot be the same.

Falchion has been sealed in the Ice Dragon Shrine ever since it was first used. From the timelines, the Tyrfing was used by Sigurd/Seliph while the Falchion is supposed to have been sealed. They're not the same weapon, similar designs be damned. Let's not forget that there is a second Falchion and a second Gradivus in Valentia for some reason. Merely an inconsistency and/or coincidence for both Tyrfing/Falchion and these two second versions.

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Honestly, the Valentian weapons would have probably had different names if the game was released today. Gaiden was the second game in a frachise that IS probably didn't expect to last as long as it did at the time, so those names were used as mere allusions to the first game.

Edited by RedEyedDrake
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