Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (ファイアーエムブレム 聖魔の光石, Faiā Emuburemu Seima no Kōseki, literally "Fire Emblem: Shining Stones of Holiness and Evil") is the eighth game in the Fire Emblem series. It is the third and last game released on the Game Boy Advance, and the second game released outside of Japan, preceded by Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword. The game takes place on the continent of Magvel, which has not featured in any other titles. The Sacred Stones features Eirika and Ephraim's quest.

Plot

The fall of Renais

In the castle of Renais, troops from Grado have breached the walls. Fearing the safety of his daughter Eirika, King Fado sends Seth, one of his subjects, to take Eirika and escape. On his way out, Seth is attacked by Valter, a Grado soldier. They manage to get past several bandits and meet Franz and Gilliam at Mulan, a border town, and rescue Princess Tana of Frelia. They reach Frelia and meet King Hayden, who advises them to stay and be safe from the war; however, Eirika decides to go find Ephraim in Grado. Hayden worries about her, but he cannot spare many troops; he sends his vassals Gilliam, Vanessa, and Moulder to help.

As Eirika makes her journey towards Grado, she observes the deplorable condition of Renais under Grado, who has no real interest in maintaining order. Bandits and thieves have overrun most of Renais. As they travel past the village of Ide, where they meet retired war General Garcia and his ambitious son Ross, Eirika's bracelet is stolen, and Seth insists that they recover it. She retrieves it from Colm, a young thief, at the stronghold of bandits led by Bazba. They are lead there by a tearful archer named Neimi.

Meanwhile, Generals Duessel, Selena, and Glen of Grado converse about the recent strange behavior of Vigarde, the king of Grado. They note that normally, he would never do such a thing as attack Renais, a longtime ally. They are called to the king's court, where Vigarde introduces three new generals to help in the conquest of the continent: Riev, Caellach, and Valter. The king orders Selena and Caellach to take Frelia, Duessel and Riev to defend the empire, and Glen and Valter to find Eirika and Ephraim. Throughout this scene, the older generals seem to be at odds with the newer generals.

As they reach the Za'ha Woods, they find that the monsters of old legends have appeared in the woods. Artur, a monk, warns them to escape, but Eirika decides to help. Along the way they meet his friend Lute, an intelligent young mage. Additionally, they meet a group of three strangers, led by a lively young woman named L'Arachel, along with a snide rogue Rennac and boisterous warrior Dozla. She appears with the intention of conquering the monsters, but of course she is too late. They exit, leaving Eirika quite confused.

Eirika's army approaches Serafew, the border town of Renais and Grado. They meet a man who asks if they have seen a girl with indigo-colored hair. Next, they meet the cleric Natasha, who has been branded a traitor by Grado troops. The group also recruits a mercenary named Joshua, a gambling-loving myrmidon. After the battle, Natasha tells Eirika and Seth that the emperor of Grado plans to destroy the Sacred Stones for unknown reasons. According to her, the emperor has changed, and the holders of the Sacred Stones must be warned.

Eirika and Ephraim reunite

Meanwhile, the player is given a glimpse of Ephraim and his troops in Fort Renvall. With his two loyal knights, Forde and Kyle, along with the paladin Orson, he manages to take control of the fort, but his group is forced to escape when they find that enemy troops have surrounded the castle. Valter confronts the group and mockingly praises Ephraim, but Ephraim manages to escape.

Eirika continues on, meeting a Grado leader who threatens to leave a family of Renais citizens to be eaten by monsters. He claims he will release the family if she gives him her bracelet, but Seth refuses to let her do so. After Eirika rescues the family (or not, depending on what the player does), Seth tells her of the bracelet's significance: it is half of a key to the chamber that holds Renais's Sacred Stone; Ephraim's bracelet is the other half of the key.

At last, Eirika reaches Renvall to help her brother. After a long battle involving ballistae, they manage to reach the fort. As they arrive, Orson meets them and tells them that he has just escaped from imprisonment and that Ephraim is still held captive, if he is alive. Orson leads the group into the castle, and encourages Eirika to entrust the bracelet to him or Seth. However, Seth stops him, and confronts him asking how he knows the bracelet's significance, and reveals that Orson is hiding a blade. Orson reveals that he has betrayed Renais to be with his wife. Enemies interrupt them and destroy the bridge out of the castle, and a fight ensues.

During the battle, Ephraim, Forde, and Kyle arrive to help Eirika. They defeat the Grado forces and meet up to explain what has happened. Ephraim introduces Myrrh, a small girl with indigo hair, who says that a great darkness is approaching. The army makes the journey up back to Frelia.

At Serafew, Eirika and Ephraim reminisce about Lyon, their friend and prince of Grado, son of Vigarde. Afterwards, they arrive in Frelia, where Tana happily greets them. At the same time, her brother Innes, prince of Frelia, has returned from the war front.

Eirika and Ephraim then meet in a war counsel with Hayden, where Ephraim introduces Myrrh to Hayden. He reveals that she is a Manakete, part of an ancient race of dragon folk. Although she appears to be just a shy little girl, she has large wings upon her back and can transform into a large dragon at will with her dragonstone. Myrrh explains that she and the other manakete had felt something ominous from the direction of Grado and went to investigate. However, she got lost and was captured until Ephraim came to rescue her.

Suddenly, a messenger arrives saying the Sacred Stone of Frelia has been destroyed. Led by the two generals Caellach and Selena of Grado, enemy troops have managed to get past the Frelian troops in less than half of a day. Caellach is shown destroying the stone, as Selena scolds him not to mercilessly attack those who are not powerless to resist.

The group decides to split up - Innes to Jehanna, Eirika to Rausten, and Ephraim directly into Grado. Here, the player chooses to go with Eirika or Ephraim. Either way, the whole army will go with the character the player picks, except for the other lord. That is, if the player picks Eirika, the rest of the army will go with her except for Ephraim, and vice versa for Ephraim.

Eirika's journey

Back in Grado Keep, Vigarde is giving new orders. He orders Glen to find Eirika and Valter to find Ephraim, Caellach to take Jehanna's Sacred Stone, Riev to take the Stone of Rausten, Duessel to find Ephraim also, and for Selena to wait in the capital for new orders.

Eirika goes to Port Kiris to try to find a ship to Rausten. When she arrives, Tana flies over to join Eirika, saying that she will not be left out in the war. In the port, Eirika takes the guise of a mercenary named Erina, traveling to Rausten for a commission. They meet L'Arachel and her companions again. L'Arachel informs Eirika that no ships are leaving port; she advises them to take the overland route. Quickly, she and her two companions head off to Rausten, although they are going in the wrong direction.

However, there is a sudden conflict as mercenaries hired by Grado appear to fight Eirika. As they fight, an inexperienced soldier of Grado named Amelia joins Eirika's army. After the battle, Seth and Eirika learn that the mercenaries are from Carcino, meaning that the former alliance between Carcino and Frelia has been broken. Since Innes is going through Carcino to Rausten, she realizes he is deep in enemy territory and hurries to save him.

Again in Grado, Glen is ordered to kill Eirika. He speaks with his brother Cormag and confesses that he had met Eirika before, and she seemed a kindhearted, gentle woman. Valter comes along and rudely insults Glen, who refuses to react with violence.

In Carcino, where Eirika is heading, Innes is trapped with the mercenaries Gerik and Tethys, surrounded by Carcinan (?) troops. Innes urges them to leave and save their lives, but Gerik chooses to stay with Innes. Tethys spots another group from the north, which is Eirika's army. Eirika helps to save Innes; along the way, the myrmidon Marisa goes to Eirika's side. She routs the troops of Pablo and forces him to retreat. Afterwards, Eirika meets Klimt, a member of Carcino's Council of Elders who states that only part of the council has sided with Grado; the rest has chosen to stay with Frelia.

However, Eirika and Innes are now faced with the problem of traveling to Jehanna and Rausten. Ewan, the younger brother of Tethys, interrupts, and informs them of a mountain pass that goes directly to Jehanna, where his teacher Saleh lives. Eirika decides to take this route.

At Caer Pelyn, the army passes through an empty fort. Although Ewan claims that nobody has been there, monsters appear from the fog. Meanwhile, the feisty L'Arachel and Dozla appear again, without Rennac, the sarcastic thief. They join Eirika's team and help defeat the monsters. Afterwards, Ewan finds his teacher, Saleh, who was the man looking for a girl back in Serafew. He agrees to lead them through the mountains, but advises them to take a night's rest before crossing.

After the battle, General Glen appears to kill Eirika. He tells her that she has been murdering innocents in Port Kiris; Innes appears and calls him blind for not being able to see his emperor's plan. When he tries to fly back to Grado, Valter stops him and kills him ruthlessly, laughing madly.

Eirika continues on in the mountains, starting to suffer from the lack of oxygen. More monsters appear, and Eirika's army fights. Additionally, Ewan begins to fight as a novice mage. After a rather shorter than normal summary -- I mean battle, Saleh talks to the elder of Caer Pelyn. She informs Eirika that it was the Great Dragon helped to seal away the Demon King, instead of just the hero Grado with the Sacred Stones. According to the elder, the Great Dragon watches the bones of the Demon King and ensures that it does not revive; however, the Great Dragon has disappeared. When Eirika says she has seen Myrrh, the elder reveals that Myrrh is the current form of the Great Dragon. She urges Saleh to leave for Grado at once, but he decides to go with Eirika, as the quickest route goes through Jehanna. They leave the mountains and say their farewells.

Valter tells Cormag of Glen's death, even bringing his corpse. He tells Cormag that it was Eirika who killed him; he angrily decides to avenge his brother and flies off to find Eirika.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Gameplay

The Sacred Stones shares many game concepts with Fire Emblem Gaiden, such as the ability to travel across a world map and the appearance of monsters. Otherwise, most of its gameplay is the same as Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword.