#Early Adrestia stuff

[randomnameless]

Since I'm neck-deep in this nonsensical mess of the half-lizard Lycaon AU :

In VW's infodumps, Rhea says this :

I was never able to forgive those who proudly wielded weapons crafted from the corpses of my brethren.

Which might explain her, uh, drive to hunt the Elites, even after Nemesis kicked the bucket.

From this we can have a sort of timeline : Nemesis dies, then Daphnel joins him and "zealots" aka, the Empire soldiers, are after the head of the Elite writing this (Maurice?). The author wonders why Seiros despises them so much.

And we know Rhea stopped hunting Maurice - when her drive for revenge was all that, supposedly, motivated her, when she will "never be able to forgive" those who wielded weapons crafted from dead nabateans who were in Zanado -

Not when Cethleann fell in a coma (that's heavily inferred to have happened post Tailtean), not when Cichol left, not when Macuil "died" during Tailtean, even without her relatives (brothers?) Rhea still pushed on to avenge her dead family members and kill the Elites -

The War of Heroes - thus Seiros's hunt for the Elites - stops when Lycaon dies.

We can suppose Rhea, who had no allies left anymore (the Saints left, the Empire is in turmoil) couldn't pursue the Elites... but they also had no one left with them, their clans already joined the Empire so they're just 10ish dudes running away from a very long lived, and furious, dragon : if revenge was the only thing on her mind, Rhea would have finished the job and killed Maurice.

And yet, even if the job was unfinished... Rhea stopped, and built Garreg Mach.

We went from a "revenge for dead family members" Seiros to a "only Sothis can guide and lead the world" Rhea.

Rhea could have switched and realised Adrestia would never be able to guide the people of Fodlan when Lycaon "was k-died" - if Adrestia becomes a viper's nest the second Wilhelm leaves the throne, then it cannot guide the people of Fodlan.

Yes, but what about Muriel, the Nabatean turned into Blutgang? Who gives a crap about what humans are doing or what will be the "state of the world" when one of Rhea's precious kin is still held by a bastard she will "never be able to forgive" ? Why should she bother about Fodlan now when one of her siblings is still missing?

If revenge was everything on her mind, why the frick did she stop and let Maurice run away?

But if Lycaon was her own kid - when he dies it's not only Adrestia's possibility to be something else than a viper's nest and to guide Fodlan who dies, but also the current possibility of having Nabateans live with humans -

There's no point in continuing to hunt Maurice, since whatever she does, there will still be a human out for Nabatean bones, willing to kill to gain power and that is something Seiros cannot prevent - Seiros + humans cannot build a world where Humans and Nabateans can coexist.

Who is the only person who can?

I also like this theory because it's a perfect parallel to FE16!Dimitri, with even more "crueler" result : being blinded with revenge doesn't kill her and all of her friends, but it has her survive everyone again - by wanting and focusing on the past, Seiros loses her present and her future (a future Adrestia where people would be able to live happily, a Fodlan where "might makes right" isn't the iron rule?). But instead of learning the "live for the present" lesson Dimitri ultimately does, Rhea... believes she is not the one able to protect the present+future, but Sothis is.

Sure, it'd feel kind of meh that Rhea doesn't turn to Sothis when Cethleann sleeps, Cichol leaves and, in general, 10k random humans die in the war, but when it's her kid who dies, she wants to bring back Sothis -

But in a way, Lycaon kicking the bucket after the War - after everyone fought and died to attain peace - is more impactful : they were in the "and they live happily ever after" part of the book, and he dies, meaning there is no "happily ever after" at all, rather, it never existed and will never exist !

Seiros the Warrior can warrior her way to get rid of Nemesis, but she cannot create a world where people - humans and nabateans alike - can live "happily ever after".

This realisation makes her break from "Seiros the Warrior" to become "The Archbishop" whose only goal is to bring back the Creator, so the Land can finally know peace.

----

Granted, this realisation could also happen if Lycaon wasn't a half-lizard but 100% human : if he was the golden heir picked by Willy, I suppose she supported his choice to inherit the Adrestia they both created, his "accidental death" could really have hit her like a truck, in the sense that she might have thought this human - just like Willy - was a human able to steer Fodlan in the right direction and it was alright to trust humanity again...

Only for him to be "accidently dead" 7 years after his investiture, and his successor pulling the "might makes right" rule to ensure the throne is still hers after a stupid "duel".

Humanity is fucked -> even if she recovers Muriel's bones Fodlan will still stuck because no one can guide it humans just proved it -> Sothis has to return.

[randomnameless]

What is even more "funny" is how, in the Nopes timeline, Rhea's human ally, "Great Emperor" Wilhelm abandonned Adrestia and "retreated in the background" when his son and heir "died at a young age" due to, per FE16, a "sudden illness".

So we have

91 : Nemesis dies - Adrestia rules over Fodlan, Wilhelm gives his throne to his son, but still assists him in battle - we know some Elites escaped, maybe Seiros was hunting them even if she had already recovered Sothis, by this point.

98 : Wilhelm's son, Lycaon, dies, Wilhelm ditches Adrestia - the War of Heroes ends (even if Rhea didn't kill all Elites, given how Maurice is still around!).

100 : An Aegir, Derrick, challenges the Empress of that time (most likely Lycaon's successor) to gain control of Adrestia, but loses the duel.

185 : Garreg Mach's monastery is completed - iirc a NPC in Nopes mentions how it took around 100 years to be built ?

---

Adrestia's own history shows how, without Rhea's input or anything else, the nobility - the Emperor, being the most important noble of them all encompassed - that was supposed to be something measured by knowledge and want to help/guide/protect the people was swapped by "winning a duel".

In 2 years, we came from an Adrestia that opposed and fought Nemesis, to an Adrestia that borrowed his "the strong must rule that's the natural order" motto - if betting the Imperial Throne, aka Adrestia's leadership on a duel, is any indication.

Now, we don't know what happened between 98 and 100, if Rhea told humans to kill each other for funsies or to pick the strongest human to rule over other humans, but we know her "favored" human was still around and bailed out from that nonsense (not even taking back the throne when his son died!) and they returned Seteth's the Ochain Shield to Indech's hamlet at one point, so it might very well mean that neither Rhea nor Wilhelm were around when Derrick von Aegir challenged Lycaon's successor for the throne, nor when that successor agreed to that duel.

Tl;Dr : Nopes gives us enough clues to understand that in this timeline at least, Adrestia became the hellhole we know without any Nabatean/Agarthan influence, but just through humans being, well, humans.

(unless we're supposing that young Lycaon's "sudden illness" was a lie Rhea made up to cover Agarthan assassination - even if I prefer the "he was killed by his peers who wanted his throne" theory).

One thing that grinds my gears a little regarding Rhea and the FE3H lore is that people assume that she's the only one who has built Fodlan's society the way it is post War of Heroes

As if humans had no agency at all and just blindly followed her every words

As if humanity hasn't shown that it is willing to do a lot for power, again and again, and turning against itself if needs be for it, and against others too

As if everything falls on her shoulders

(as if the Agarthans aren't also running interferences but also why the fuck did the dlc make Pan an Agarthan that part is still baffling to me what was the PLAN here)

[berglietz]

anemone : how does your muse view the world ; as a cruel & unforgiving place , a land full of wonders , or something in - between ? where does that world view come from ( what experiences , life lessons , etc . ) ?

botanical headcanons | accepting

I'm gonna end up repeating some of the stuff I said in that "what makes a personality" template here but y'know what! That was 5 months ago! And I can expand on it a little more!

The world is driven by power that is largely out of reach

Caspar is the crestless second son of a noble who wasn't even intended to take a Ministry seat. His father is a notoriously strong warrior and a bearer of a Major Crest to boot, but it's still circumstance that led Leopold von Bergliez to be the Minister of Military Affairs. (...As long as we're assuming there was no foul play involved in the previous minister's early retirement. I'm assuming it was genuinely just an unexpected illness due to not remembering any heavy hints to the contrary.)

Point being: even a man as commanding and strong as Caspar's father was at the whims of the structural powers that be in Adrestia and in Fodlan at large. Caspar himself has had even less agency than that—at age 5 he was suddenly the son of one of the Imperial Ministers, but nothing much about Caspar's life path changed. His brother already had claim to the spot as next head of the family, and that throne's only going to be guarded more intensely now that it's more decorated than before. Caspar says as such in his support with Edelgard:

"Our grandfather was really obsessed with his second wife. She has a son who she really wanted to become the heir. In the end though, my grandfather had to step down sooner than expected, so everything went to my father instead. My brother is still really worried about having his future taken from him."

From what Caspar has witnessed just within his own immediate family, birthright isn't necessarily a guaranteed thing. Individual ability doesn't automatically get you anything either—while many of his father's military feats and accolades came after his ascension as Minister of Military Affairs and participation in the war against Brigid and Dagda, according to 3hopes the man was killing bears bare-handed as an Academy student. The major difference between these two factors is that Caspar has agency over one of them: he can't change his birth order, nor can he obtain a Crest, (Agarthans do not interact pls. Crests seem less culturally important in Adrestia anyhow. Back! Stay back!) BUT!! He can work to become stronger and more skilled.

This leads us to his second opinion on the world, and the one he presents more readily and optimistically:

2. The world is full of opportunity and adventure!

We're making lemonade out of these lemons, man! Not being guaranteed a secure position in his own house means that he's free to go wherever he wants! And unless he's appointed as Minister of Military Affairs in a Crimson Flower timeline or following behind Catherine to protect Rhea, his first choice seems to be to travel wherever his heart takes him. Which is lots of places!

[EDIT: HE ALSO STAYS PUT FOR BERNADETTA. I HAD ALL THE ENDINGS IN FRONT OF ME AT ONCE AND MY EYES GLAZED OVER LMAO. I suppose traveling the world is a big ask if his wife is the head of the Varley house and also has Bernie-level anxieties asjdhdja]

He genuinely and imo deeply enjoys being around other people and learning new things about the world. There's a freedom to his situation in that he's allowed to essentially follow his impulses, which I think leads him to an attitude in those endings where he travels where he can decide what to do as he goes along. And with how big the world is, that's pretty freakin' sick, actually?! The world is so vast and there is so much that's beyond his influence, but that also means that there's so much out there to explore, you know?

[star-arcana]

Why the Fire Emblem Three Houses/Hopes discourse surrounding Almyra is unfairly biased against them!

I expect everyone to know about Almyra and Fódlan, so I will not go over in great detail as to the history and mention all the bad points right away to be debunked, but first a little intro:

The continent of Fódlan is attacked from time to time by Almyra, a persian-coded empire that once tried to conquer Fódlan and was beaten only marginally by the combined effort of Adrestia, Fearghus, Leicester and the Church. Afterward a large fortification called Fódlan’s medallion was placed between the border of Leicester and Almyra. Then the Church of Seiros established the Officer's Academy and attempt to prepare the young nobles for a future of conflict. To the present day, we see small attacks from Almyrans on the border and that might make one think that they are pure evil and pretty much the bad guys from 300...wrong for following reasons:

1. We only get Fódlans view of things and never that of Almyra. Cyril doesn’t count because he himself admits to not know why Almyra attacks in his support with Hilda and would have been 5 years old when he was orphaned and as many of us know, our me memories of these early years is not clear, so he cannot be seen as completely reliable narrator on such matters, especially when he is wrong about some of Almyra’s stuff as I am mentioning now.

2. Almyra has no real incentive to conquer Fódlan. After a century, no real invasion took place with the exeption of some border raids that counts as nothing, since such small scale conflicts happened a lot in history, and they still persist even in Fódlan as Jeralt mentions battles taking place. Coming back to the Cyril point, the Almyrans have a powerful navy, more advanced than Fódlan (which casts doubts about Cyril mentioning how inferior Alymran tech is, because they appearently can’t build a structure as grand as the Bridge of Myrrdin). With that, they should have taken easily the Alliance capital, the Fraldarious territory as well as the Kingdom capital and debilitate the Empire, allowing them full control over most of Fódlan this way. One might say the hero relics, but how much good will it do against high advanced tech?

3. Another problem is that the King of Almyra has no interest in a invasion and many of his officers as well as many others do also not think of invading Fódlan. This led to Shahid being betrayed by Nader and before that having his soldiers fight with low morale to the point where the GD conclude that had the Almyrans been serious, they would have been in big trouble and presumably lost.

4. If really Almyra was such a big threat, why are there no long-term consequences for missing out on the paralouges in Three houses where you battle them. If we are meant to think that they are this dangerous, why is there no punishment? It makes no sense.

5. Finally, saying that all can be blamed on Almyra is also against the GD’s theme of Isolationism and ignorance clouding our senses as we see how aggressive Fódlan is to outsiders and even if Almyra is as bad as people say, not wanting peace with them is what would lead to more death and more hate and this is pretty much what the story criticizes; The Nabateans and Agarthans are unwillingly to let their past go and because of this, they burend the continent asunder and nearly wiped out all life on it. So for the sake of future generations, Almyra and Fódlan have to put aside their differences and work together for a new dawn.

If you have disagreements with me, tell me and I’ll answer gladly.

[pen-of-roses]

Prompt 4-Oliver

WHG Tag List: @concealeddarkness13 @maple-writes @ratracechronicler @childrenoflight-darkness-nothing @knmartinshouldbewriting

The motion of the train was forgein, too faint to truly feel, but not faint enough to not notice all together as they slipped into the room designated as theirs. An altogether too perfect of a room. The bed was all neatly made in light and sleek colors, the walls empty of any decoration, but a small clock and a vase with a single too unnaturally perfect flower. Too familiar, cold, and impersonal in a way they hadn’t truly seen since—well, since.

What they wouldn’t give for their own little home again. Or even the tents they’d grown used to over that year. Even the unending motion of the ships with their cramped little hammocks would be better than this.

Sheryl had been a nightmare to shake with her incessant questions. Much more pointed and sharp than the ones Maria and Amber used to try and trick answers out of them with.

Amber never came to say goodbye.

They stifled the pain of that down with memories of Maria’s kind smile. It was a kind last memory to have of her.

Everything moved too fast outside of the window for them to pinpoint where exactly they were now. Hopefully, they still had hours to the Capitol. Hours they could spend hidden away in here.

They frowned.

That didn’t seem much better either.

Their leg ached, and it would only get worse the longer they stood here, but the only other place was the bed. They’d have to spend a whole week in a Capitol bed, too big and soft. 

As if the past years hadn’t happened.

They turned back to the window.

Clouds had appeared now, the rain seemingly conjured by their early imaginings. That had been ages ago now, belonging to the time when they were still hidden. 

The last glimpses of freedom flashing by in a dizzying blur of color. 

Footfalls warned them someone was coming even before the door opened, but it was only Adrestia, seemingly a little out of breath as she closed the door and sighed, before turning towards them. “Is it okay if I hide in here for a while?”

“Be my guest. Bit early to be fighting for our lives right?”

She sighed again as she sat on the floor—their lip twitching at the sight—and some more of her tension slipped away. “Thanks. My mentor won’t leave me alone. He keeps saying that it would be so much more entertaining if I just gave in and let the destructive magic take over. It’s getting on my nerves.” 

Charming. At least whoever their supposed mentor was had gotten the hint not to seek them out. Or maybe the Capitol assumed they didn’t need one now, or was happy to let whatever happened, happen. Fine by them, the less people they had looking at them like a hero, the better.

It was nice that Adrestia knew and didn’t seem to care.

Well, she knew as much as the rest did anyway.

If they all knew, the looks would probably be very different.

“I would never wish what we went through on anyone, but maybe the Capitol could use an actual shock sometimes,” they offered, sitting down next to her. The cane rested against the wall next to them as they leaned against her slightly, wary of crossing too much of a line. They’d always been hesitant with their physical affection after everything, partially to keep their frame hidden but that was useless now. 

She seemed to relax into it however, and some of that tension bled out of them as well.

This was nice.

Like what they’d had before, but different.

“Yeah, I’d love to punch all those bastards who think this is okay.”

“Love to watch that, I think.” The natural greens and browns turned into more sleek gray, like that of a city. “Were you ever there during all your stuff? Capitol I mean?”

She made a face in the corner of their eye. “Yeah. My brother and I actually grew up on the streets. Because people were scared of my natural magic.” They tensed slightly, but stifled it down. What was the possibility they were a threat to her as well? “But then one day, a person from the Capitol found my brother and decided he was brilliant enough to work at a research institute in the Capitol, but he insisted that I go with him. So, we lived in the Capitol for years before this whole prophecy thing. I hated all those snobs.”

That startled a genuine laugh from them. Snobs was probably the most apt description of them if memory served. “I’ll try to keep that in mind and not let it show too much then.”

Surprise flickered over her face as she studied them. “You lived in the Capitol too? Well I guess I can hear the accent now that I think about it.” The one thing they’d never been able to fully shake despite their best efforts, but the Coven was a fucking proud lot in every way. She just smiled and shrugged however. “At least you’re not annoying like the others.”

“Had my distance for some time now. Easy to lose a few things, and never really fit in, even among the Coven, let alone the Capitol.”

“We can’t keep sneaking out like this, we’ll get in trouble!”

“Only if they catch us!”

They blinked away the memory and tried to match her smile, “Don’t know if you’d know anything ‘bout them, that crystal tower set a bit apart.”

The one time home they could never imagine permanently leaving.

The walls that had seemed like a prison in that last night.

She hummed in response. “My brother studied magic, and tried to get some kind of meeting with them, but they never responded to his requests.”

“Sounds like ‘em. Very picky about their students and magic.” Wanted to study everything but anyone who wanted to study them could fall right into the Abyss. Once upon a time, it had been everything. “Doesn’t seem like such an honor now, though.” The words slipped out, but fatigue settled over them too heavily to care as their head dropped onto her shoulder. “Can’t say I’m happy to be dragged back after everything.”

“I’ll protect you.”

She sounded so sure, so confident. Their heart beat a little faster.

The abyssal damned thing had always gotten attached so easily. “Do my best to return the favor.” 

They felt more than saw her smile. “I appreciate it. Were you hiding from anyone when I barged in?”

“Escort.” Abyssal damned woman was worse than a hexie infestation with her persistence. “Just wouldn’t stop with her questions about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing, why I left. ‘Pologize for the glitter.” A trail of it showed how little of the room they’d actually dared to touch.

She snorted, “I’ve got it all over me too. No worries. We’ll both have to get showers to get all that shit off.” There was a pause. “I could punch the escort for you. They can’t be mad at that. It would be entertaining enough. All her glitter would explode off her like a mushroom cloud.”

The visual was too much as they doubled over from laughter. “Fear that’d get even more on us, but Abyss, definitely entertaining. And think the showers might have some in them already.” Memories of the Capitol had been all lights and shine, hard to imagine there was a square of it not covered in the abyssal damned stuff.

She hummed in thought for a moment, “If that’s the case, we should probably just clog one drain. Maybe together to make sure all the glitter’s gone.” 

They choked. 

It was said so seriously, not even a hint of teasing or suggestion in it, but that just made it all the better as they laughed harder.

Which in turn made her blink. “What…?” They could pinpoint the moment it clicked in her eyes. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think…Not what I meant! Even though, maybe possibly wouldn’t mind it, but I’m sorry!”

“No, no it’s fine. But,” the teasing tone they’d only ever reserved for close friends in the past easily slipped into their voice, “maybe take me to dinner first.”

Her face flushed as she nodded, “Well, if we’re going to hide, I could gallantly get food from the dinner car for both of us.”

“That quickly, hm? I’m flattered, but careful, habit of falling rather quickly too.” They were still teasing, but there was a raw honesty in the words that they hoped she didn’t catch. 

Or maybe that she did.

Stop beating so fast, you abyssal damned thing.

“Well…I don’t know if I am, honestly. I do like being around you though. But the mention of dinner made me hungry, so that’s why I mentioned it.” That Cheshire grin returned, and they laughed again.

“Teasing, mostly, but gon on, I’ll be here still.”

They watched her leave, still grinning like an idiot after her. If this was how the week would go, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

[randomnameless]

Ooh !

We know from Azure Moon that the Agarthans won't stay around if their pawn is in danger, they leave hegemon after all.

In Nopes, while Larva/Epimenides helped the Elites, when he was blasted away he was with his Agarthan masked fellows... So from this I had the feeling Agarthans don't really help themselves, when they do they remain in small groups and run away at this first sign of things turning sour.

Given how Adrestia started to push the "might makes right" agenda as early as 100 when the emperor who succeeded Lycaon 1 dueled for the throne against Aegir, either the Agarthans suddenly popped up after Lycaon's death, or worse, were "influencing" Adrestian politics from an earlier point, maybe when Rhea, Wilhelm and Lycaon were still fighting.

From then, Adrestia isn't Seiros's legacy anymore (regardless of Lycaon being her kid ! ) since they want to wage the throne on strength, Seiros herself retreats and they're free to slither around. Nemesis might have died, but the Nabateans don't have any ally/legacy, since Adrestia immediately forgot what the nabateans (+ Willy ?) preached about might not being the alpha and omega.

So while I'd think it's kind of annoying how, again, Agarthans are the reason why everything goes wrong (and not, humans being humans), I'd still find it thematically interesting, because it's the first (but not the last!) time Rhea lets them wreck the present Fodlan because she's too busy/focused on righting past wrongs.

Had a thought, what if the Agarthans engineered the moral decline of the Empire? Thales and his cronies have been around for centuries, jumping from one body to the next, is it not possible that some of their past identities helped change the Empire from valuing knowledge to coveting strength in Rhea's absence following the War of Heroes and later keeping out of the Empire's affairs?

[author-morgan]

prompt: post-deimos! Alexios trying to fit in in sparta? and how he deals with the stuff he’s done? non-romantic if possible? ^^ love love love your stuff

Here you are nonny! I hope you like it. :D

DEIMOS DOESN’T BELONG here and deep down, he knows it. Given the things he’s down he doubts he’ll ever truly belong anywhere. Myrrine tells him this is his home —it does not feel like one. The people in Sparta are as cold and judging of him as Kosmos had been. Despite his prowess in battle, the Spartan army will not take him. In their eyes, he is no true Spartan. He’d never faced the trials of the agoge. No, he thinks my trials were much worse. Deimos struggles to find a place in a society that does not want him —does not trust him. There is no warmth in Sparta aside from the four stone walls that are supposed to be home. 

The Eagle Bearer leaves Sparta to continue on her quest to eliminate the remaining members of the Cult but feels her little brother is not ready to join her on the Adrestia. He needs time to heal —to come to terms and move on from the past, else he will always be Deimos —not Alexios. 

There’s a small farm nestled on the outskirts of the city. He passes by it on morning runs. It’s one of the better-looking homesteads in the countryside —well-tended and bountiful given its size. Sometimes Deimos sees the farm’s keeper early in the fields, pulling weeds and trimming back certain crops to make room for new growth. 

Drought has taken hold of the land, though, and he notices the trenches that once took water through the fields have gone dry. Despite the drought, the crops and flowers have not withered. He reaches the Eurotas and stops at the river’s bank, kneeling to splash the cool water on his face. 

Deimos hears a string of curses come from upstream. There’s a woman —knee-deep in the river— chasing after a large basket now floating toward him. Deimos steps into the water and snatches the basket before it can go any farther. “Thank you, Alexios,” she smiles, recognizing him from the agroa —he’d purchased nearly all her nectarine harvest at once. He nods and watches as she takes the basket and steps back into the river, sinking it into the water. With a great heave, she lifts it back onto the bank. This must be how she keeps the fields from withering he thinks. 

“Let me,” he offers, motioning toward the basket —it’s woven so tightly nary a drop of water escapes. She’s quick to object, insisting she doesn’t need help. Deimos shakes his head and takes the filled basket anyway, following her on a worn trail cutting through the woods. 

There’s a clearing up ahead —a small house nestled in the center of three fields and a line of fruit trees. “You work this land alone?” He asks having never seen another in the fields. 

The woman nods. “My pater left it to me.” The Battle of Pylos had taken him from her —five long years have already passed since then, but she managed on her own having been taught well by her mother and father. Deimos feels her gaze settle upon him. “I could use an extra set of hands every now and then, though,” she remarks offhandedly. His muscles were not from farming, but could easily be put to use. Despite himself, Deimos offers a small smile. This is the first place he feels welcome —wanted even.   

It becomes part of his routine to stop by the small farm every morning. He’s there to help complete even the simplest of tasks. Deimos never asks to be paid to his work —he’s only glad there is someone in Sparta other than his sister and mother who can look past the things he’d done. 

Eventually, the season comes for planting síkyons. She shows him how to mound the dirt properly, how many seeds to plant, and how deep. Every time he covers a seed with dark soil, he buries a piece of his past too. The shift in his character is gradual but noticeable. Myrrine can tell her son is calmer and gentler, now. He regains his humanity bit-by-bit, something the Cult had stripped him of. 

Midsummer comes and with it the harvest. He knows almost immediately what to do when the farmer places a scythe in his hands and cuts the wheat and barley while she threshes the grain by hand. It’s a hard day’s work, rewarded by a meal of roast lamb Myrrine prepares and brings to the farm. 

After supper, Alexios leans back against the stone wall and thinks about the past year. The faintest of smiles tug at his lips as he listens to his mother and the kind farmer speak about the harvest. He bites into a ripe nectarine and finally feels he has found a place where he belongs —even if of all places it’s on a small farm in the Spartan countryside. 

[kendrixtermina]

Common Edelgard-related misconceptions

It has come to my attention that some people (chiefly people who have never played CF) have been throwing out some assumptions as fact which are directly contradicted in the actual text. 

“Edelgard stayed with Lambert and Patricia at some point”

Actually even Dimitri himself says that he had no idea she was related to Patricia until much later, and that he met her when his father was visiting Arundel on an errand. Indeed he specifies that Patricia never even mentioned having another kid (which in hindsight should’ve been a red flag concerning Patricia)

Edelgard was staying with Arundel/Thales the whole time which can’t have been pleasant. having one (1) friend probably helped make things more bearable (as she herself acknowledges) and she’s somewhat sad that they ended up fighting, but that’s it.

Edelgard and everyone close to her never refer to her time in Faerghus as anything other than a traumatic kidnapping. 

Notable examples:

Edelgard’s C support with Manuela

Edelgard’s B support with Hubert

Hubert’s B support with Byleth

The coronation scene

None of these suggest Family Funtime Vacation with your divorced mom. (which is why it lowkey irks me that all those fluffy modern AUs completely ignore her half of the family / her complete personality beyond ‘vaguely bossy yuppy’ really)

Obviously, this would get somewhat overshadowed by the more dramatic horrific stuff that happened later, but I think this tends to be overlooked as a formative experience of its own / yet another experience where she was basically helpless with zero control over anything and hence yet another reason why she consistently choses death over capture.

As per her goddess tower scene she has zero memory of her mother. 

She definitely never once considered Dimitri any sort of brother, just some guy she was friends with long ago when she had no responsibilities or fully formed opinions and would probably been starved for any sort of contact, by the time part I happens she finds what based on what she knows is an overly familiar attitude/ inexplicable fixation rather off-putting.

Depending on what dialogue options you pick you could play through CF without ever finding out that they met before the academy at all. And I mean how often do you think about some dude you had a crush on when you were 12? 

(Of course from his PoV it looks like he’s being coldly snubbed  and then betrayed by one of his last remaining relatives especially since he seems wholly oblivious about the kidnapping part, likely because Arundel fed Lambert some sobstory to get asylum)

This is probably part of why she goes out of her way to be nice to Petra; She used to be in the same situation.  

“Edelgard got her information about the church’s supposed misdeeds from the Agarthans”

Besides witnessing what anyone with eyes could conclude from the church’s actions during part I, she says multiple times that she gets her info from what has been passed down in her family, which used to be complicit. 

She knows what Rhea did cause until the Southern Church was expelled from Adrestia roughly a 100 years before, the Hresvelgs were helping her do it. 

Why would she want to believe that her ancestors were all bad people and her family’s legacy based on selling out humanity for power? 

She doesn’t just accept it and run with it either. Early on in part 2 you can spot a troupe of imperial sholars in the library whom she marched into the monastery to try to reconstruct the truth from the purged records - that’s where she gets the bits of information from that she discusses with Byleth throughout CF. 

Nothing of what she finds out is outright incorrect, just missing some key context (chiefly, what  the “dispute” between Nemesis and Seiros was about/ what Nemesis DID. There’s certainly the very human bias to assume that if someone lied to you often enough then everything the say must be lies, but given her disgust at similar Agarthan murderfests in the present, I highly doubt she’d approve if she knew). It’s kinda Rhea’s lies coming back to bite her/ karma exploding in her face, because, why would Edelgard think that Seiros killing the 10 Elites was a bad thing if she hadn’t made them out to be heroes?

At one point in part I she scoffs at Thales referring to Nemesis as a ‘thief’ and basically ignores what he said / draws a different conclusion later. 

It should also be noted that she’s not fighting Rhea because of anything to do with the past but because she is a tyrant in the present and has been for the last 1000 years or so, no matter what her backstory is. 

I mean Edelgard’s is basically the same (almost her whole clan murdered by Agarthans and the corrupt humans who cooperated with them) but say what you will about her, at least she understands that her classmates are not to blame for what their fathers did, and she was eventually gonna step down from power willingly and let the people rule themselves as soon as she’d made sure that commoners would also get a say. Those two things alone put her miles above Rhea. 

[bowbowis]

I noticed it early by playing Tru Piss but, basically, if Seteth's wrong when he suggests she deposed her dad from the throne to become Emperor, the scene when she talks to Best Dad is actually a coup! Not against Best Dad himself, but against Ludwig!

No more of a coup than Dimitri marching into Fhirdiad to depose Cornelia in AM or Rufus in AG. Edelgard is a lot nicer about it though.

We know she already has, during the coronation scene, access to the Military because Leopold is even more fickle than Asheron. So when she politely asks Ionius to give her the crown, and explains to Ludwig that she is now the Emperor, she is accompanied by Billy, and several soldiers :

There's a soldier standing next to Ionius too. It's almost like there are guards stationed in Imperial Palace to protect the Emperor and his heir.

The way the scene plays, she, Billy, Best Dad and the soldiers are on the same side, against Ludwig who just popped up, and well, when she dismisses him, a loldier is in the shot. Same when Best Dad tells her he leaves Fodlan in her hands, she agrees... with a soldier in the plan, not Billy, but a loldier :

Cool. No continuity errors with them just disappearing between shots then.

Seriously what's your point with this?

It's not a bloody one (not yet!), but it's a coup against Ludwig, where she takes back authority/power from his hands, and jails him.

What do you mean "yet". Edelgard is coronated and has Ludwig arrested. That's the coup. The war is something that happens after Edelgard has seized power.

(I wonder what the "she BaD bcs no fair TrIaL" crowd has to say about this scene lol, especially as Hopes!Ferdie notes there's no proof Ludwig is guilty of what he is accused of!)

Edelgard saw Ludwig participating in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her siblings. That's probable cause to make an arrest and Hopes is explicit that the plan is to give him a fair trial. Edelgard's treatment of Ludwig is pretty well in line with how modern first-world justice systems are supposed operate. It is in no way comparable to Rhea skipping straight from arraignment to execution.

Back to your post, yep, it's a purge!

A purge of the corrupt and criminal elements in her government, not of ideological opponents. Big difference.

*Hopes retconned a lot of stuff, but imo Grégoire is notable as in, in Houses, Supreme Leader gets rid of him but in Hopes, he is used as a pawn. What warranted this difference? Is Grégoire less morally corrupt in Houses, or Supreme Leader gets rid of him because of his ties to Ludwig (after all, they were on good enough terms if Ludwig wanted to arrange a wedding between his precious heir and Grégoire's daughter!) without asking him to side with her, or she asked and he refused?

The difference is whether Edelgard has a use for him. In Hopes she revives the Southern Church to challenge the Central Church's monopoly on religious authority and build support for her cause among the populace in the two years leading up to the war. In Houses Edelgard has only a month between taking power and making her move, so there isn't time to use Varley to drive that wedge between Adrestia and the Church and thus no reason not to arrest him for his crimes.

But in Hopes, he accepts to betray Ludwig because, why not, and being the Leader of the Imperial Information Campaign, I mean, Southern Church, is more attractive than the ties he used to have with Ludwig?

Yes? Varley is a cowardly, dishonorable piece of shit who cares more about his wealth and status than his own daughter. What on Earth makes you think he'd stick his neck out for Ludwig, who has been arrested and stripped of power, instead of trying to ingratiate himself with Edelgard?

(or because KT new some players wanted to meet Bernie's dad, but since the fanbase never gaf about Vestra Sr, dude was off-screened in both games?)

Pretty much, yeah. People wanted to see Gregoire suffer for what he did to Bernie and Hopes delivered.

why the hate boner against the dude? Is it because she really believes he led the experiments? . . . #or is it something else? #Best Dad also blames Ludwig for the experiments #do they hate Ludwig because he dared to lead an insurrection against House Hresvelg? #idk but it'd make more sense than #the fog we have #10k years of lore

Edelgard and Ionius KNOW Ludwig was involved in the experiments. Neither game presents us with any reason to doubt the fact that he was collaborating with Those Who Slither in the Dark, Hopes even has two routes which flat out show him doing it. Even if he somehow wasn't involved, treason is also a pretty good reason to hate the guy. Not to mention Ferdinand and Lysithea independently confirming that he was corrupt and treated the people of Hyrm cruelly.

Ludwig is scum. Scum who is personally responsible for ruining Edelgard's life, and she still treats him with more decency than the other lords treat their prisoners. There's no ambiguity here, you seemingly just can't accept a scenario in which Edelgard isn't either the bad guy or a fool.

#and yet she works with Thales!

Edelgard hates Thales too, but like Varley in Hopes, he's useful to her for the time being, plus getting rid of him is much harder and much riskier than getting rid of Ludwig.

I think you should think long and hard when you start to reach the point where you sympathize with convicted childkiller Ludwig von Aegir and child abuser Gregoire von Varley @randomnameless

Also isn't Fantasyinvader kinda fascist? All I see posted from him in social media through screens is arguments ranting against modernity and being all pro-feudalism.

[randomnameless]

I happened on a YouTube video about the cenatio rotunda and like, all that engineering for something that "useless" had to be inserted in the Adrestian headcanons.

Archbishop Rheo, on a visit to Enbarr in 196 :

"Emperor why are you sending your troops to Dagda ? I thought Adrestia wanted peace for Fodlan !"

"Look Great great grandmother, we recently built this wonderful rotating dining room ! Truly it is a testament of our superiority over the rest of the world."

"What are you even talking about ?"

"And I listened to you ! It doesn't need to use northern brutes to work, I had Vestra redirect the water from your canal to use it to make the room turn with a water wheel !"

"But this water was supposed to be used for irrigation and give fresh water to the remote areas of the city !"

"So when I eat, I can see all the corners of my empire. But there is the sea and it isn't part of Adrestia."

"Of course it's not, it's the sea !"

"And I thought, what if all those lands beyond the sea became Adrestian too ? This way, the sea will belong to me !"

"... Are you telling me you started your war on Dagda because of your stupid dining room ?"

"It's not a mere dining room, it's a rotating dining room ! Even your people never came up with something as ingenious !"

Thus Archbishop Rheo left Enbarr and introduced a fellow named Baal to her cardinals.

[lady-byleth]

I’ve always appreciated the thought that goes into world building in fe3h, like the characters from the north talking about their dislike of heat, etc and it got me thinking about other climates and environment stuff - like birds and insect variations between region But then, randomly, I thought of just like, this Giant Swarm of Mosquitos coming up from Brigid or Adrestia for some reason and just,, absolutely eating their way through garreg Mach before heading east the absolute itchy carnage lol

Yeah, Fearghus being colder than the other two realms is a red string that pulls through the entire story, which is great. The Blue Lions all wear heavy, fur lined clothes, Sylvain - who is from one of the coldest regions - is absolutely hilariously furious the month you head to Ailell, I love it

And that the entire climate of Fódlan is more moderate, bordering on cool is commented on in one of Petra's very first conversations, where she complains that it's still cool even in spring.

So, mosquitoes actually coming this far into a place that's technically not their climate zone, across the ocean no less, cuz Adrestia is more western European in climate and lemme tell ya, we don't get that many mosquitoes, is unlikely but what if the people use that as justification to be like "they won't be here long, they'll die early, it's fine, everything's fine" and then those fucking things just. won't. leave!

Petra is the only one not suffering constantly because she has tricks and the Lions are suffering less because LAYERS but everyone else is losing their goddamn minds

Claude is working on a powder that itches just as bad because inspiration strikes at the most interesting times.

He develops one of the most beloved prank items our world has ever seen because of goddamn mosquitoes and Petra loses her goddamn mind because why would you willingly do that to people?!

"For science"

[agoddamn]

iirc on top of what you said, there's other parallels like the nabateans' history or their usage of magically(/crest-based) animated golems, while the adrestian empire takes cues from imperial germany in the late 1800s/early 1900s in language, government, names (esp. wilhelm I), their flag (even though people pick up on BE not matching the other classes'), even certain events, etc. el's strike force and final class are even called "schwarzer adler wehr" and "kaiserin" in jp respectively. ½

²/² there's other real-life inspirations in 3h, but the adrestia/edelgard stuff is pretty blatant, yet a lot of people don't seem to pick up on even the more obvious aspects of it. maybe if more people catch on to the parallels, we'll see more people be wary about the imperialistic/antisemitism-like reasoning instead of unironically agreeing with it, but i'm not getting my hopes up.

Thinking about it, the people who call Edelgard fascist are probably picking up on those parallels on a gut level, huh? They recognize all the symbolism even if it's not the best descriptor for how the game tries to portray her.

Kind of crazy how "Edelgard is a fascist is the world's spiciest take" is so widespread. You'd think "a German-inspired country picking a religious and racial scapegoat to exterminate and use to justify starting an expansionist war is not neutral symbolism" wouldn't be that controversial, but! Someone on Twitter said "lmao spicy" so that totally invalidates it all I guess!

Man, I hadn't even actively registered it but you're totally right about how so many people remark on Black Eagles not fitting the color pattern and then just kinda...stopping there. Do they seriously just not know? I thought everyone knew the black eagle was a German symbol. Isn't this image pretty fucking famous?

[randomnameless]

I'm not judging lol, I'm like you, at least in this ending we see Rhea post time skip when she isn't on the verge of death or fulfilling the role of a mc guffin to infodump us before she passes away!

About Fodlan splitting...

Yeah, it's supposed to be seen as a BaD thing (from the Empire's POV it totally is) but then, no matter what led to the birth of those two nations, they've been around for more than several centuries, so then what, are we supposed to believe they'd be super duper happy to be united again, after having spent at least 300 years apart?

There's a book in the DLC Library - a novel set in the early Empire where, for an Emperor's wedding, people were watching "northeners" being eaten/torn apart by wild beasts as a distraction, and I'm like, sure, this is said to be a novel so it might no be historically accurate! And yet, given all the plausible details (dishes named after the Saints, Flayn's fish has a lot of fish, and Seteth's dish has iirc lot of breads because he is an earth dragon so harvest etc etc is his domain or what not?) this novel has, I don't know if the "northerners being executed by animals in a coliseum" detail was pure invention, especially as, if you zoom on Enbarr's map, you can see a coliseum...

Nopes has a diary of an Adrestian commander who calls Brigid islanders "savages", so this + the novel where "northerners" are eaten alive, made some people believe Adrestia, at least the Empire, did not regard that well the people who weren't from Enbarr, the Empire or the former "northeners".

So, taking this into account, sure, Loog led to Faerghus' independance from Adrestia thanks to Agarthan meddling, but is the game telling us that it's a "bad" thing because it was "tainted" by Agarthan influence, and the northerners should have continued being eaten alive?

That's an issue with the Fodlan games in general, they try to play a bit too hard on the "both sides" rhetoric, and to compare two things that... aren't comparable at all. Sure, Agarthans most likely wanted to weaken Adrestia and helped Loog win his rebellion... but when Loog was going to be fed to a giant Wolf, was he supposed to accept his fate and die?

Some people would say this is a case of "grey morality" but imo that's not the case, first because we only and always hear about the Adrestian POV and never about anyone in the Kingdom's POV about Loog's rebellion, second because the devs try too hard to fit Agarthans everywhere to explain why "things" happen in Fodlan, effectively removing any agency humans can have when this had been a staple of the series (look at FE5, it started because Reidric wanted to get a promotion!), third, why should events from 800 years ago matter now and be used as a justification to "defend" the annexion of a sovereign state?

I like Fodlan and its setting, but really, at times, you feel like there were several writers on the board, and they never talked to each other, ultimately leaving the player with more questions than answers, until say players takes a backstep and realises that why the eff are they even thinking that much about a game when the devs themselves confessed they had no continuity guy?

As for Claude's version of the unification...

Well, given how FE16 and especially 3 Hopes depicted Almyra, I don't know if Claude's ending with one "nation" who will finally be able to talk/open itself to Almyra is supposed to be a good thing - we have a lot of off-screen stuff happening where Claude ultimately changes Almyra so it's not a racist caricature anymore, but with what we see and hear and deduct in the game...

yeah I'm not buying it at all.

SS is done.

The most standout part: I got the Rhea S rank. It was good. I support it, but I wish there was a gen version and also that it was available on VW. My general impression is that VW actually gives you more chances to ask after and worry for Rhea (plus Claude is a rather meh romance option), so it would be great if I could get with her there too.

In general, I wish VW and SS were just one route. Both have some nice small details, but given how similar they are, I feel like you'd get a better experience if they were just combined.

Checking my VW endgame notes, it seems VW gives you info dump about Agartha, which definitely feels missing in SS, and SS gives you a bit more detail about Byleth's deal from Rhea, which adds some nice details on the Rhea relationship front. Seriously, they should have just combined them.

(Hilariously, Catherine's endcard outright contradicts the paired Rhea one. They are incompatible, but I got both. Additionally, Ingrid's card seems to be written for Crimson Flower, since it mentions Galatea being "seized" and Ingrid needing to push strongly to be allowed to govern it, which comes across weirdly as a post-war in the Byleth-led United Kingdom, especially since the other Lions kids I recruited all got their lord positions without any apparent fuss.)

Overall, not much else to say about SS. Final take: SS and VW are really obviously the same route, but even though SS was supposedly written first, VW feels marginally better in its focus and I enjoyed it more. However, the Rhea stuff specifically is good, and I wish I could get it on VW. Yup.

Final save file time: 95:19. Minus the VW playthrough, it's 44:07, so a bit faster. Specifically post-route split, it's 20:16, so it seems like the part that I finished faster was actually just Academy phase, possibly because I just didn't care much for the BE kids.

Liveblogging notes:

Looking closely at the battle selection screen, it seems Shambhala is at the very eastern tip of the Empire. There's a bit of mountain that stretches down from the Throat across Airmid River, and it seems to be there.

Narration calls it a "sprawling underground city."

Thales was kind of a chump!

Ah, I just realized I forgot to check his X description blurbs. They probably weren't too interesting tho.

The Agarthans are super mad about living underground and not having "light." Thales also name drops Agartha in his battle line vs Seteth and in the cutscene afterwards. Aside from their ability description, I think this is probably the first time their proper name is mentioned. But we uh, don't seem to discuss this much?

Small scene with Nemesis's coffin is missing, I think. Well, obviously because he's not the final boss now. iirc the scene immediately after the month change, with everyone freaking out over Rhea is new instead. It's a little weird because iirc VW gives you more opportunities to express concern for her. Here, the Rhea focus feels a bit less supported.

Seteth didn't realize you already knew that Rhea is the Immaculate One (which you did, btw).

Seteth "long ago" lost the power to change form, but "it seems" Rhea has not. My dude, did you not know... He does confirm that he's also a child of the goddess, which Rhea keeps hidden in VW. Flayn is also counted as one of the children of the goddess, even though she's more like a grandchild. It's a general term for dragons.

Seteth and Flayn press Byleth about taking over as the leader of Fodlan in some capacity, now that Rhea's future is uncertain.

We find the Sword and Bow of Zoltan in Shambhala. I was wondering about whether these things existed, since Zoltan is a dude that got namedropped in a small quest item description a while back. I also have an Axe of Zoltan though I can't remember exactly where I picked it up. No spear?

Just noting that you use Arcane Crystals to repair magical weapons like the Bolt Axe, Mythril to repair sacred weapons like Cichol's Spear of Assal, and Umbral Steel for relics. Mythril is also used on forging the rusted weapons that require A+ professor rank. iirc they're legendary weapons from other games or something like that. Smithing Stones are for normal weapons of all rarities.

On VW, this month was about Nemesis appearing and us going to fight him, but here on SS, that doesn't happen, so the explore dialogue is all about Seteth telling us that we should become the new Ruler of Fodlan and us taking the month to think about it. Everyone around the monastery comments on this, how we should think about it carefully, how they believe in us, how they're thinking about the future, etc. It's... hm. I think it's okay, but it really highlights how much Byleth has not been setup for this role At All.

They're a mercenary who became a teacher via nepotism and while we do things in the story that you could probably read as proof of Byleth's ability to lead, they don't really feel that way, especially since Seteth can end up spending half the war refusing what we suggest. Byleth is also just... not a real character. So them becoming the big deal leader is kinda... yeah.

Anyway, I accidentally ended the month early. But whatever.

Before you tell Rhea your "decision," she gives you exposition about how she made you and Sothis's crest stone is in you. She wanted to see Sothis again and thought she could regain everything she had lost.

Sitri was Rhea's 12th attempt. She "grew up" without Sothis's consciousness and fell in love with Jeralt. But when she gave birth, the child was not breathing and she herself was also "in grave danger." Sitri told Rhea to take the crest stone from her and put it into her baby. Otherwise, both would have died.

Byleth is suggested to be able to house Sothis's consciousness because they have both the crest stone and a body born from a parent with Rhea's blood.

Rhea is aware that Sothis gave you her power and disappeared, which means Rhea's dearest wish did not come true, but she's accepting of that. She basically entrusts Fodlan and the future to you.

And she just flips out in the middle of that.

"White Beasts" appear all over the monastery. They are from priests and knights that Rhea shared her blood and "stones" with. Tho given how JP plurals work, it's impossible to tell if Rhea is meant to have one crest stone or several. Demonic Beasts also run in??

Enemies are Frenzied Church Soldiers with minor crests of Seiros, Altered Golems, White Beasts (cardinal that has transformed and gone mad due to the rage of the Immaculate One) with Blest Crest Stone Shards (bestowed by a saint and wielded as a weapon), and the Immaculate One herself. She has a crest stone of Serios, can recover HP when near a White Beast and is described as having been driven to an uncontrollable anger due to the power of the goddess.

This battle was annoying because of the Classic setting. The whole business with Rhea having a private army of people whom she shared blood with is, hm. But I get the feeling this was done purely to explain her battle having the same mechanics as with Nemesis and the 10 Elites. It's... an interesting tidbit that these cardinals and such exist, but kinda weird that the crest of Seiros is actually this common, especially since they can ALL presumably pass it down to their kids, and I would expect Rhea had done this for more than just one generation.

(funny concept: after a thousand years of Rhea just sharing her blood all over, a good three quarters of Fodlan has some Seiros crest blood and it manifests pretty much at random in people all over.)

Anyway, final blow by Flayn.

OK, enough screwing around. tbh I do like Rhea, so there's some emotional resonance in everyone being very worried about her and having little voicelines about how they want to pay back the debts they owe to her, and her sadness and suffering and all that. It's not the worst.

She mistakes Byleth for Sothis when collapsing in the cathedral.

They did make a mistake: Rhea transforms in her dressing gown without the mantle or headpiece, but she changes back in full archbishop regalia.

The post-battle exposition exposition is kinda... ah yes, all nations in Fodlan are gone, but you see the Church is leading people toward a new... nation? How does this work. Sorry, but I don't see a religious government (??) as a good thing.

Rhea says she had a vision of flying free and speaking with Sothis while near death. She's happy she survived... so am I.

Rhea's wish was for peace, but she admits fault in propagating a false history and deceiving the faithful. And she did a bit of forbidden experimentation on the side, obvs. We forgive her tho.

I wish there was a gen way to save her, without the romance. It's such a good coda, honestly, without the marriage.

I wish Byleth was a more concrete character. Not necessarily a super detailed one, but with at least some grounding traits.

Still, Rhea romance scene is pretty good. WAY better than Flayn. Why can't I do this on VW..........

Endings: Ashe takes over Gaspard as the new lord. Galatea was "seized" what the heck, though Ingrid did rule it. Felix still ended up Duke Fraldarius. Sylvain talked his way into peace with Sreng, good on him. Lindhart "escaped the Empire" but went missing. Dorothea fled with her troupe to a secret location. Petra went to Brigit. Caspar fell on a battlefield. Bernadetta because seriously ill and lived as a recluse. Ferdinand returned to his territory but went missing. Catherine became Guardian of Zanado, but why was she shaking up with MY wife in solitude? Because in the ending card with Byleth, Rhea is still archbishop and assists the leader of the new "United Kingdom of Fodlan." Shamir became Robin Hood. Alois became captain of the knights. Seteth became very tolerant lol

[gascon-en-exil]

@agoddamn said

I’ve been wondering, what makes you say the blue guys are French? They seem really Irish to me

Oh, lots of little things.

Their main color is blue, our traditional (pre-Revolutionary) heraldric color.

They’re known for their knights, and chevalrie is a fundamentally French concept born of our real life paladins and medieval knightly romances. They’re also the “holy kingdom,” putting me in mind of one of France’s traditional epithets, the “first daughter of the Church,” in reference to it being the first Christian kingdom founded following the fall of the Roman Empire. Whether this bears out at all in Fódlan’s extensively constructed timeline I’ve yet to determine, although I know Adrestia is the oldest of the three nations - you know, an empire that broke apart.

Earlier leaks about a pre-timeskip rebellion against the church in Faerghus led me to think of Gallicanism and Revolutionary anti-clericalism, two early modern French movements that opposed the power of the Catholic Church without positing Protestantism as a viable alternative, and that eventually paved the way for our nominally Catholic, functionally atheist culture of today (in France and Québec anyway - Louisiana still needs the Church to resist the cultural pressures of the Bible Belt). Reading that the Lions post-timeskip are favorable to the church even if not direct allies confirms this interpretation.

@anutos came up with the idea that Faerghus may also be pulling from Tsarist Russia, a frozen wasteland that adopted our language and culture to a degree that’s either absurd or kind of adorable. Fittingly, the house leader has a Russian first name and French second name.

There’s some Celtic stuff in there too, but there is a Celtic presence in France - the Breton people from Bretagne/Brittany are an actual Celtic subgroup, and French displays the most Celtic influence of any Romance language. I still hate the name Faerghus, but at least my initial fear that Dimitri was going to be a Richard Cœur de Lion figure and/or the house was going to pull from England in other ways (it’s bad enough they use England’s heraldric animal rather than something as understated but still noble as le coq gaulois) seemed to have been unfounded.

[fantasyinvader]

A while back I made a post, joking about a death battle encounter between Edelgard (Leader of the Black Eagles and the Flame Emperor of Adrestia) and Elric (Eternal Champion and the last of the Bright Emperors of Melnibone). I’ve been running this through my head a for a bit, and here’s my take on who would win between these two.

Weapons

Edelgard wield the Amyr, a Crest Stone weapon axe created by TWSITD. This allows Edelgard to use the attack Raging Storm, which allows her to act again if her attack hits, and is effective against dragons. However, going by game mechaninc Amyr can only be used 20 times before being repaired, and Raging Storm uses up 3 charges. Edelgard is also shown to have the Sword of Seiros on her person in non-CF routes, which if equipped would restore her vitality especially since it matches her Crest. She stops using throwing axes post-timeskip, instead using the counterattack ability to magically strike back at foes that try to attack from a distance.

Elric has Stormbringer, a semi-sentient black runesword that drinks the souls of those it kills. This funnels strength back into Elric. If an attack hits, Elric does gain some strength from it (aside from some mentions that being cut by the sword is enough to kill a la tyrfing, though Yrrkoon was cut by it and lived) but nothing compared to what happens if they are slain. Stormbringer has also been shown to use additional soul energy to pierce spell-strengthened armor. The sword is also shown to control Elric to some degree, guiding his movements in addition sending him into a battle high once it has eaten enough, be it in quantity or quality. Stormbringer is powerful enough to slay gods, though it does tend to be less effective when facing enemies without souls such as the undead. Stormbringer can only be used by the dragon lords of Melnibone, and will devour the soul of anyone else who tries to wield it. Finally, Elric has been shown to be given strength equal to Conan the Barbarian in a crossover from his black runesword.

Armor

Edelgard prefers heavy armor, as seen by her Emperor class. This includes a large shield...though swapping it out for an iron shield increases her defenses. Game mechanics, am I right? The Emperor class does give her the Flickering Flower combat ability, which prevents her enemies from moving.

As a travelling sell-sword, Elric goes about in the garb of one albeit in extremely gaudy colors due to his Melnibonean upbringing. When he equips the Imperial armor, it’s black heavy armor that has been strengthened by ancient spells. While he is shown wearing a dragon-shaped helm, in the final battle he went out with a circlet instead. Elric also has the Chaos shield in his possession during the final stories, a magic shield that can ward off the effects being exposed to chaos can inflict (such as being mutated into an abomination pleading for death). It’s also been shown to take a beating when Elric fought Xiombarg, Queen of the Swords and stronger then Elrics (then former) patron god Arioch.

Magic

While Edelgard can be an magical powerhouse if the player chooses, with some of the best spells in the game at her disposal, without that input she defaults back to using brute strength and skills to synergize with it. As such, the only time when she does go for magic is when she throws away her humanity and becomes the Hegemon Husk. This form makes her a lot more dangerous due to her vantage, wraith and desperation abilities in addition to larger attack range. She’s also not bound by weapon uses. Her Crest of Flames can also restore her vitality at points.

Elric is a powerful sorcerer, but not the type to sling fireballs willy-nilly. His spells instead focus on summoning elemenatals, demons, and the like to aid him in battle. These chants require him to focus on their runes, and as a result he usually does this before a battle, from a safe distance or when someone is drawing aggro. He can go into a trance to make this easier, but this causes him to lose awareness of his surroundings so he never does it. And he needs to maintain control over his summons, lest they decide to turn on him. The exception is him invoking Arioch, his patron evil god, which Elric just needs to call for him but that is no guarantee Arioch will show (especially if Elric is acting against his wishes). Elric also learned a rune which allowed him to summon every black sword in the multiverse, and act that powered up Stormbringer by allowing it to defeat the earthly bodies of Chaos gods.

Potions,

Edelgard is shown to keep some healing potions on her.

Elric can use potions to give him vitality, and even make him invulnerable though this last one requires rare ingredients from a specific place. They can give him strength to fight, but it’s nothing compared to Stormbringer’s life-steal. As such, he keeps some potions on him in case of emergencies but more often then not relies on Stormbringer to travel (much to his distaste).

Other notes.

Edelgard does have her own personal battalion, which combined with her high charisma creates a devastating gambit (if it doesn’t fizzle out).

Elric’s main drawback is his inherit weaknesses. While he uses potions and Stormbringer to give him strength, using magic or prolonged combat without restoring his vitality can result in him being in the enemy’s power. He also travels with Moonglum, but as time went on Moonglum would fight with Elric but not beside him due to Elric striking down allies when in a combat high. Elric also rides a dragon, but they are not readily available.

Outcome?

Magic is not going to be a deciding factor early in this fight, due to Edelgard not employing it herself and Elric needing to do so from a point of safety. Considering I’m taking this from the end of Elric’s journey, Arioch is off the table. Edelgard’s counterattack ability is a non-issue due to Elric being a swordsman.

Edelgard’s best bet would be to try and wear Elric down. 1v1 lest her troops end up feeding Stormbringer and empowering the Melnibonean. Using Raging Storm for hit and run tactics could work due to her axe focus, thought the Sword of Seiros constantly restoring her health would be a lot more beneficial because it can prolong the fight. But Edelgard leans more into being the juggernaut who smashes through her foes while the subtle stuff is best left to Hubert or TWSITD so she’s unlikely to act in such a manner.

If Edelgard did have to retreat, sending more bodies Elric’s way, then Hegemon Husk does become a possibility. However, Elric’s Chaos shield would likely be able to tank the attack. But the whole point is Edelgard wearing Elric down since while he can recover strength he doesn’t heal. And of course, if she were to grab Stormbringer and try to use it against Elric it’s game over for her.

Retreating though would give Elric a chance to summon something. While he can be single-minded when it comes to seeking revenge, Elric is not afraid to summon. The only exception to this is if Edelgard feeds him enough that he gets the aforementioned combat high, at which point he’s extremely dangerous but not prone to thinking. Just theatrics.

But in the end, there is a clear difference in strength. Remember how I mentioned Elric has a crossover with Conan the Barbarian (...which would make Elric canon to Marvel comics. Elric in the MCU WHEN?)? Conan has some impressive feats for a mortal, including soloing “gods” and wrestling Death itself into submission. Elric himself is referred to as God Slayer during his final battle. While this strength is fleeting, Elric would have the means to overwhelm Edelgard in early combat.

Way it plays out would be like this, Elric would overwhelm Edelgard in terms of raw power early on. Edelgard would likely try to smash through Elric with Amyr’s Raging Storm ability, but the durability issue would leave it quickly broken. While she would equip the Sword of Seiros out of necessity, she would still attempt to flee the battle while calling for men to cover her escape. This allows Elric to regain some of his strength, and if enough are sent enter a theatrical berserker state. Going with option B, he pursues Edelgard only to come up against her Hegemon Husk form. Elric takes some ranged damage and comes back to his senses.

By now, the Imperial army is in fear of the White wolf and his soul eating sword so they would be less likely to stay and fight him. After all, how many battalions flee once their leader is killed even against a solo unit? This would cut off Elric from being able to keep his strength up. Hiding behind the Chaos Shield, Elric would attempt a summoning. Arioch is out of the question due to Elric siding with Law in the war. Elric’s best bet would be attempting to summon Stormbringer’s brothers, which would then swarm Edelgard and devour her soul.

Elric would be left extremely weak after this, enough to be captured (not uncommon after using magic) likely using one of his potions to restore his strength before departing. Maybe not enough strength to travel to another world, but enough to continue searching for a purpose in life.

KO

[crafteroftheforesthearth]

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