Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is the 4th installment of the Fire Emblem series and contains a very thorough story. This synopsis will assume that all children were born, without substitutes.
Beware of spoilers, for they will not be marked here.
Jugdral was a continent neighboring the continent of Archanea. At first it looked like a normal continent, with nothing special in particular. In fact, unlike other regions, involvement with the race known as Dragons was kept at a minimum. However, the era was very peaceful and full of prosperity under the Gran Kingdom, later Republic.
Everything changed when Bishop Gair returned from his travels to Archanea, and made a deal with the Earth Dragon Loptous to obtain enormous power for his own purposes, effectively becoming Loptous' first host. When he returned to Jugdral, he amassed a large army on his own, including the Twelve Deadlords, and overthrew the Gran Kingdom that ruled Jugdral for decades.
Renaming it the Loptr Empire, Gair and his descendants ruled the continent with an iron fist and conducted many horrific actions in order to appease Loptous, who continued to possess every Emperor of the Loptr Empire. Many atrocities were committed, such as the 'Great Purge', 'Sorrow of Miletos', 'Massacre of Edda', amongst others, but the results were clear: thousands of people were brutally killed, and children were subjected to Child Hunts, sacrificed to be consumed by Loptous.
It was the beginning of the dark age of Jugdral.
Not all Loptr were evil, however. Gair XVII's younger brother Maera opposed the cruel practices of the empire, and eventually he rebelled against his brother in an attempt to unite Loptous with the pantheon of the old Gods, which the Loptr were against. Unfortunately for Maera, this failed and his descendants went into hiding.
However, the actions of Maera inspired rebellions throughout the land and many stood against the tyranny of the Loptr Empire. However, the Empire proved to be too mighty and one by one, the rebellions were crushed. The last of the resistance force, twelve warriors named Heim, Baldr, Hoðr, Od, Njörun, Dáinn, Nál, Ullr, Fjalar, Thrud, Ced, and Bragi, holed themselves in the town of Dahna, and noted that at this point, it would take a miracle to save them.
However, a miracle was what they got; the Dragon clan decided that they could not leave Loptous' actions unanswered. The Divine Dragon, Naga, descended along with 11 other dragons, including Salamander and Forseti. They bestowed their powers and holy weapons upon the twelve fighters; the Book of Naga, the swords Tyrfing, Mystletainn, and Balmung, the lances Gáe Bolg and Gungnir, the axe Helswath, the bow Yewfelle, the fire tome Valflame, the thunder tome Mjölnir, the wind tome Forseti, and the resurrective Valkyrie Staff; and their powers tremendously increased. Thus the Twelve Crusaders were born, and this meeting would go down in history as the 'Miracle of Dahna'.
Empowered by the Gods, the Twelve Crusaders raised another rebellion against the Loptr Empire, culminating in a Holy War, and after years of fighting, this time they succeeded. The people rejoiced at the liberation of Jugdral and formed the Grannvale Kingdom atop of it. Heim became the de facto leader of Grannvale, delegating his vast kingdom into dukedoms for his companions: Chalphy for Baldr, Yngvi for Ullr, Velthomer for Fjalar, Friege for Thrud, Dozel for Nál and Edda for Bragi, with him at the center capital Belhalla. Dáinn and Njörun traveled east and formed their own Kingdoms, Thracia and the Munster District, although they would be involved in another tragedy together. Ced moved northwest and formed the Kingdom of Silesse amongst the snowy lands, while Od moved northeast, founding the Kingdom of Isaach in the plains. Hoðr traveled west and united the region there, where it would be known as Agustria. For areas not visited by the Crusaders, like Verdane and Miletos, they grew into their own kingdoms.
However, remembering the atrocities of Loptr Empire, the Grannvale Kingdom persecuted anything that had Loptous' essence in it; to be revealed to have descended from the Loptr Empire, in particular Gair's bloodline, would warrant a death sentence. Although they hoped to ensure the dark age would never come to pass again, this would ultimately come to haunt the kingdom many years down the line. The Loptr descending from Maera took refugee in the Spirit Forest and generally were more content holing themselves up there and since Maera did not possess a major Loptous blood, the people considered them overall harmless or forgot they had Loptous blood, generally reduced to superstitions like "Terrible things will happen if people here make contact with the outside world", as well as their way to remember Maera's deeds in rebelling against Gair and inspiring the rebellion that saved them in the first place, to the point that he was considered a Saint on the same level of the Crusaders. Those descending from Gair hid within the Aed Shrine, and with only their faith to Loptous as the only thing they had, these people were driven into insanity, plotting their vengeance against the world that rejected them.
For years Grannvale prospered. Around the year 757, Grannvale was ruled by Heim's descendant Azmur, but since he was old and sick, the Wise Prince Kurth ruled in his stead and was beloved by his people. At his side were the descendants of Baldr and Ulir, the virtuous Lords Byron and Ring. However, Thrud and Nál's descendants, Lords Reptor and Lombard, weren't as virtuous and felt that Kurth was playing favorites unlike the Twelve Crusaders where everyone was treated as equals. Thus, they teamed up to scheme behind the scenes. Fjalar's descendant, Arvis, continued to command the Royal Guard without involvement with the governmental issues while all these were taken by Bragi's descendant, Father Claud, as a sign of an upcoming chaos.
And at the year 757, news of calamity arrive. The town of Dahna became a subject of massacre by barbarians from Rivough of Isaach. The people of Grannvale were outraged at how the holy place was desecrated and demanded payback, leading to Kurth deciding to invade Isaach. Kurth set forth to battle along with Byron and Ring, taking up many of Grannvale's soldiers, leaving the Kingdom short-handed in troops, but since they were in an alliance with both Agustria and Verdane, they thought they could rest easy.
They were wrong.
Prince Munnir of Verdane suddenly launched an assault on the short-handed Yngvi, intending it to be the first stop for the invasion of the weakened Grannvale. The only one guarding Yngvi was Ring's younger daughter Princess Edain along with her loyal knight Midir. They were outnumbered and proved no match for Munnir's force. Midir was severely wounded and Edain was taken as a hostage and trophy for Munnir.
News of the attack of Yngvi eventually reached Chalphy. Byron's son, Sigurd, quickly organized a reinforcement force consisting of himself and the knights Naoise and Alec, leaving the knight Arden to defend Chalphy. He also brought in a young squire, Oifey, to act as his confidant. The news of Verdane's attack quickly reached others. Prince Azelle of Velthomer, Arvis' younger brother who had a crush on Edain, used this as an excuse to go help Sigurd, dragging along his best friend, Prince Lex of Dozel. And from Leonster, Sigurd's best friend Quan and his wife, Sigurd's younger sister Ethlyn, came to reinforce him, taking along Quan's finest knight Finn.
Sigurd managed to recover Castle Yngvi and recovered Midir, who joined him. En route to Evans, however, Arvis suddenly came to Sigurd's aid for a certain reason. He gave Sigurd a Silver Sword and told him to take care of Azelle, as despite being only half brothers, Arvis really treasured his younger brother. After taking Evans Castle, Sigurd was still unable to locate Edain, but Filat, a messenger from the Grannvale Empire, suddenly arrived. Sigurd was informed that the Grannvale nobility had bestowed the title "Holy Knight of Grannvale" upon him and his first order was to venture deeper to Verdane and investigate why Verdane broke the treaty and invaded.
The attack of Verdane was a major shock. Before the Kingdom was formed, the area was a nightmarish and chaotic land. However, King Batou pacified and brought peace and order to the land, and the Kingdom of Verdane looked peaceful under the rule of Batou and its princes Cimbaeth, Munnir and Jamke. However, everything went to hell when Batou was influenced by a mysterious magician named Sandima, in truth a member of the Loptr Church. Sandima's influence caused Batou to become more aggressive and eventually order the invasion, and Cimbaeth and Munnir went along with this madness, leaving only Jamke to question the sanity of his family.
As he prepared for the assault on Genoa Castle, Sigurd was visited by his other best friend, the Lionheart Eldigan of Nordion, part of the Agustria Kingdom. After Sigurd explained his situation and his desire to save Edain, his friend, Eldigan decided to help Sigurd by watching his back, in case any of Agustria's dukes got any naughty ideas.
Meanwhile, Cimbaeth was shocked at the sight of Grannvale's army. He prepared for battle, but luckily for him, he had an ace in the hole. After the Grannvalians battled the Isaachians, Prince Mariccle ordered his sister, Ayra to take his son Shannan to exile in Verdane, so the lineage of Isaachian throne would remain intact in case he perished. Shannan fell into Cimbaeth's captivity and Ayra was forced to fight for him with the promise that he wouldn't hurt Shannan if she complied. Ayra made it clear that if Cimbaeth went back on his word, she'd personally hunt him down and claim his head even if it took her to Hell.
On the other hand, Jamke decided to go against his brother and released Edain from captivity and assigned Dew, a thief he caught for thieving, as her bodyguard until she reached safety as Munnir was in pursuit. Jamke stayed behind, believing that he could convince his father one last time to stop this madness. After reuniting with Sigurd, Edain decided to stick with him, as she thought it might bring her closer to her missing sister who was lost during their travel on sea.
In the meantime, Sigurd's army managed to stall Ayra's assault while he took over Genoa and destroyed Cimbaeth. He found Shannan who urged him to stop Ayra from fighting. Oifey warned Sigurd that storing a crown prince of an enemy nation might bring trouble, but at that point Sigurd only saw Shannan as a scared little boy in need of protection and granted him one, impressing Oifey with his kindness. Sigurd ultimately convinced Ayra to stand down, and despite their nations being at war, she joined his company to repay the debt she owed.
Quan managed to inquire Ayra about what might have happened in the Grannvale-Isaach battle. According to Ayra, her father Manannan found out about the Rivough incident and pacified the barbarians and attempted to explain things to Grannvale, but before he could do it, he was assassinated by the Grannvale army, so the Isaachians also demanded vengeance. Shortly after, he warned Finn that things would get even harder at this point and offered to train him. Meanwhile, back in Agustria, Elliot of Heirhein saw an opportunity to strike at Grannvale, but Eldigan kept his word and drove Elliot away, securing the safety of Evans Castle.
With his army formed, Sigurd assaulted Marpha Castle guarded by Munnir. After taking over it, while walking throughout the city, Sigurd found a beautiful girl being harassed and he stepped in to drive away the harasser. The girl introduced herself as Deirdre and recognized Sigurd since she was also being held hostage by Munnir along with Edain. Before Sigurd could inquire further, Deirdre ran off and a village elder warned Sigurd that she's actually a resident of the Spirit Forest and anyone not from the forest that came in contact with any of its residents would be cursed. Unfortunately for the elder, Sigurd has already fallen in Love at First Sight and dismissed the warning as superstition.
Meanwhile, Jamke failed to convince his father to form a truce. Batou, influenced by Sandima, instead ordered Jamke to launch one final assault to Sigurd's army. He reluctantly accepted, but warned that once he was done, he would thoroughly investigate Sandima. But once he left, Batou eventually showed that he had been growing suspicious of Sandima, but he was quickly assassinated before he could act further. Sandima's master, Archbishop Manfroy, showed up and ordered Sandima to clean up the mess in Verdane and investigate about the daughter of Cigyun, who would be important in resurrecting Loptous. The other element has already been found, Cigyun's son Arvis. Manfroy emphasized how important this task was for them, as the persecution of the Loptr faith has brought untold suffering to them, and now would be the chance to lash out against the world.
Thankfully for Sigurd, he didn't need to slay Jamke as Edain convinced him to join Sigurd's cause and convince Batou again. At the same time, Lex dropped his combat axe to the sea and due to his honesty he was rewarded with the stronger Brave Axe. As the army passed the Spirit Forest, Sigurd encountered Deirdre again, who offered him the Silence Staff and expressed that regardless of the troubles that might come, she couldn't get Sigurd out of her mind, she has fallen for him as well. Sigurd assured her that they shouldn't let such troubles cloud their mind and they should travel together.
With Deirdre's Silence Staff, Sandima's deadly Fenrir spell was disabled and the army slew him. Unfortunately for him, Batou was beyond help and as he lay dying, he warned Sigurd to beware of the Loptr Church as they planned to engulf Jugdral in darkness and apologized for what he put Grannvale and Verdane through.
As the troubles at Verdane was over, Sigurd was given the order from Grannvale to maintain order in Verdane with Evans as his headquarters. During this time, he married Deirdre.
However, the Dominion of Agustria was distressed with Grannvale's invasion at Verdane, and started to form a resistance against it. And unfortunately, its peace-loving King Imuka was assassinated by his own son and successor Chagall. Eldigan was distressed by this and Chagall making preparations for invasion, but he was honor-bound by his knight's oath. He decided to persuade Chagall to avoid war, but Chagall, jealous of Eldigan for being favored by his father, threw Eldigan in jail for daring to speak up against his ideas. With Eldigan out of the way, Chagall allowed Heirhein, led by Bordeaux and Elliot, to attack Nordion, all while Manfroy kept encouraging his ambitions.
Nordion was guarded by Eldigan's adoring little sister, Princess Lachesis, and her three knights Eve, Eva and Alva. But even her force wouldn't be enough to keep the castle, so Lachesis sent a distress call to Sigurd, who complied in order to investigate why Eldigan would be jailed. On her insistence, Deirdre accompanied Sigurd, after being acquainted with her new family. In the meantime, as he spent time in the arena of Evans, Sigurd encountered and bested a gladiator named Chulainn. Impressed with his zeal, Chulainn decided to fight for Sigurd's cause instead of cash. What he didn't tell Sigurd was that he was a lost prince of the region of Sophara in Isaach.
Heirhein's assault on Nordion was seen by the avaricious Lord of Anphony, Macbeth, as a chance to rob from the neighboring villages as Chagall's reign allowed him to do so. When Sigurd finally reached and secured Lachesis, he told her that he also received orders from Grannvale to stop Chagall's ambition, condemning his assassination of Imuka. Sigurd then mobilized his army to take down Heirhein, slaying Bordeaux and Elliot on the way. After noticing the villages being razed, Sigurd decided to intervene and help the people. At the same time, Quan granted Finn the Brave Lance in order to give him more power in combat.
Even Chagall was cross at Macbeth's greed and told him to concentrate on the battle. Macbeth sent out his hired mercenary squads led by Voltz and his friend Beowolf. While Voltz considered it nothing but a job, Beowolf expressed distaste at Macbeth's actions. Voltz informed him that since he's technically a mercenary, he could just ditch the job in case he found a better payroll, but Beowolf downplayed himself since he wouldn't stand a chance against Voltz.
In the meantime, the villages had their own defenders: the wandering bard Lewyn and the dancer Sylvia. When Sigurd reached them, he thanked Lewyn for saving the villages, but Lewyn informed him that he's just making people suffer by just invading and made the suggestion to leave. Sigurd was very close to agreeing, but suddenly Lewyn took back his words and stated Chagall wouldn't listen and if he left, the people who helped him would be put in jail, so he decided to join Sigurd. Sylvia, on the other hand, was dismissed as a mere child, but she decided to stick with him anyway.
Far away at Agusty castle, a group of Pegasus Knights from Silesse, led by the knight Erinys, decided to take a break from their journey in the castle. Meanwhile, Beowolf offered himself to Sigurd's army for 10000 gold, and he was hired. With that, he conquered Anphony and saved the people from Macbeth. However, at that point, Filat returned to tell Sigurd about a nasty rumor circulating amongst the Royal Court; the rumors went by that Sigurd, Quan and Eldigan were conspiring against the Grannvale Kingdom by hiding Prince Shannan of Isaach with him. The ones who spread the rumor were Lombard and Reptor, which came as no surprise to Sigurd since they made their hatred towards his house well known.
Before he left, Filat also shared one piece gossip with Sigurd about Arvis' father Victor and his mistress Cigyun. Victor was a womanizer and abused Cigyun. Kurth, a gentlemanly prince, took pity on Cigyun and they ended up having an affair. When Victor found out, he scorned them and committed suicide, leaving Arvis to rule over his house since childhood and forcing him to be the father figure of his bastard brother from yet another of Victor's mistresses, Azelle. Cigyun herself fled to parts unknown, taking her unborn child with her, with the Kingdom looking for her as she has the rightful successor of Grannvale, Kurth's child.
Having observed Sigurd's conquest of Anphony and Heirhein, the lord of Mackily, Clement, deduced that Sigurd was trying to conquer the whole of Agusty, and rallied his soldiers in response to the perceived threat. At the same time, Alec met up with Sylvia and admired her dance, while Beowolf became acquainted with Lachesis by noting that he used to know Eldigan and was told to look over Lachesis in any case (but after he faked trying to tell her to Stay in the Kitchen, infuriating her). Meanwhile, at Agusty, Chagall tricked Erinys into believing the Prince she's looking for, Lewyn, was captured by Grannvale and was scheduled for execution shortly after.
Lewyn managed to stop Erinys' squad by revealing Chagall's trickery, but despite Erinys' pleas for him to return to Silesse and solve the civil war within, Lewyn refused, knowing that any screw ups he made would bring suffering upon the people. He only promised to come back once he sorted things out with Sigurd after he saw Erinys genuinely sobbing and begging for him to return. However, Erinys instead offered to stay with Lewyn and eventually revealed his heritage to Sigurd, surprising him, but regardless, he welcomed her to his ranks.
When Clement fell, Chagall panicked and sent his general Zyne into battle to defend Agusty, and blamed Manfroy for his failings. Manfroy, however, told him that he still had one ace in the hole: he pardoned Eldigan and used his friendship with Sigurd to save his own hide. A Loptr mage then informed Manfroy that the plot to assassinate Kurth was underway.
In the end, Eldigan secured Chagall and had him retreat to the northern part of Agustria, and Sigurd was called out for the annexation of Agustria. Sigurd tried to reason with Eldigan and claimed that he would sort things out with the Grannvale Kingdom about this, and Eldigan decided to give him a chance.
Unfortunately for Sigurd, the order from Grannvale never changed, and Sigurd was forced to maintain the occupation of Augustria. Further complicating matters were the corrupt Grannvale nobles who abused their power in Augustria, furthering tension in the region.
In the meantime, Deirdre gave birth to Sigurd's son, Seliph. In the wake of this, the resistance of Agustria grew stronger and Chagall formed up an army in Silvail and Madino to retake Agustria. Not only that, the notorious Orgahil Pirates were setting their sights towards Agustria amidst the chaos despite the warning of its leader Brigid to be honorable pirates. Sigurd prepared himself to face these ongoing threats, leaving Deirdre under the protection of Shannan. Meanwhile, either Chulainn or Lex tried to build a rapport with Ayra by offering her a powerful Brave Sword.
After taking over Madino, Sigurd received a visit from Father Claud, who informed him that Kurth and Ring were assassinated en route home to Grannvale and Byron was considered the prime suspect. To assess this situation further, he planned to pray at the tower of Bragi north of Madino. Accompanying him much to his frustration was Princess Tailtiu of Friege, who noted that pirates swarm the area around the tower so he would need a bodyguard, and she couldn't care less what her father, Reptor, was planning.
Upon hearing of Sigurd's victory, Deirdre felt the urge to visit Sigurd. Unfortunately, on the way to Madino, she was ambushed by Manfroy, mind-wiped and spirited away. In Silvail, Chagall forced Eldigan to take up arms and lead his Cross Knights to battle against Sigurd. Sigurd's pleas was ignored by Eldigan, who was sickened by how Sigurd did nothing to stop the Grannvale officials from ruining Agustria. However, Lachesis managed to convince Eldigan to stop his assault. Eldigan decided to convince Chagall one last time and gave the Earth Sword to her as a memento in case something happened.
Eldigan then returned to Silvail, once again convincing Chagall to stop the battle. However, Chagall ran out of patience with Eldigan and had him beheaded on the spot, and relayed the order to strike at Sigurd's army to the Thracian Wyvern Knights led by King Travant and his general Papilon. Sigurd's army drove them out, causing Travant to bail from the battle, leaving Chagall's fate to both Sigurd and Lachesis, angered over Eldigan's death. Sigurd also learned from Shannan about Deirdre's disappearance.
With Chagall's death, Agustria was effectively obliterated. The Orgahil Pirates saw this as an omen that Grannvale would come after them, only to be reprimanded by Brigid that it was their fault for going against her orders and razing villages. The pirates led by Duvall then revealed that Brigid wasn't their leader; she was just a girl picked up by the previous leader and they've had enough taking orders from her and decided to pull a mutiny. Brigid fled as Duvall had his men form up to strike at Agustria.
Meanwhile, Claud finished his prayer and discovered the Valkyrie Staff. His lecture about quintessence and the usage of the Valkyrie Staff to bring back someone to life was interrupted by Tailtiu who noted that pirates were closing on them and they had to move on. She managed to use her thunder magic to protect Claud long enough that he reached Sigurd to inform that his suspicions were true, the assassins of Kurth were Lombard and Reptor. The latter also had a hand in killing Mannanan, but there was another unseen hand driving events, which Sigurd suspected as the Loptr Church. Claud promised to reveal this to Azmur and clear Byron's name, as the man seemed to be at death's door.
Sigurd also saved Brigid and allowed her to join his army. Edain then revealed that Brigid was actually her missing sister and to prove it, she gave the House Yngvi's heirloom, Yewfelle. Merely pulling its bowstring restored Brigid's memory and they caught up on their missing past. At the same time, Ethlyn handed down the Gáe Bolg to Quan, but became increasingly worried about the tragedy that would come between them thanks to a certain curse from the past and saddened over the missing Deirdre.
After defeating the Orgahill Pirates, Sigurd was in for surprise. The Grannvale army surrounded Agustria, with Lombard and Reptor issuing the orders to apprehend Sigurd who was now branded as a traitor. Cornered, it seemed that Sigurd had nowhere to run, but fortunately for him, a squad of Pegasus Knights led by Erinys' sister Annand came to his rescue, stating that Queen Lahna of Silesse would like to give him shelter...
Queen Lahna treated Sigurd well, believing him to be innocent and also informed that the bloodline of Heim would continue, as the daughter of Kurth has shown up and was wed with Arvis. He had no time to rest, however, as the civil war of Silesse led by her avaricious brothers like Myos and Daccar threatened the region. Also she was still hurt that Lewyn left the kingdom, considering him irresponsible. With this, Quan, Ethlyn and Finn bid their leave, as they had to protect Leonster.
Claud regrettably informed that his efforts to inform the king proved fruitless, as Reptor's men caught up to him and he's branded a traitor as well. The fact that everything was plotted by her father Reptor distressed Tailtiu that she felt insecure that people would look at her funny due to her father, but she was consoled by her childhood friend Azelle. And in the same time, Sylvia attempted to compete with Erinys to win Lewyn's heart, with Erinys not even having a clue. She later approached Claud and learned about his missing sister.
Sigurd then marched his army towards Myos who holed up at Tófa Castle, defeating his Pegasus Knight leader Díthorba on the way. With Myos defeated, Daccar sent out his Pegasus Knight Pamela to strike at Silesse and take Queen Lahna as a hostage, but Annand intercepted with her Pegasus Knight Squad. However, Daccar has also made contact with the youngest son of House Yngvi, Brigid and Edain's little brother Andrey. Taking his cavalry bowmen squad the Beige Ritter, Andrey reinforced Pamela and slaughtered Annand's squad and herself. Upon hearing the news, both Lewyn and Erinys were devastated.
Daccar's army successfully took Silesse while Pamela's squadron headed to Tófa, where they would meet their end against Sigurd's army. Sigurd then successfully took back Silesse and rescued Lahna. At this point, Lewyn hurried to his mother's side and finally learned his lessons not to run away from his responsibility. With that, Lewyn was granted the sacred tome Forseti. After confessing with Erinys about his true feelings, Lewyn went along with Sigurd to attack Daccar and slew him in his castle Zaxon, freeing Silesse from its avaricious rulers.
Despite having a good time in Silesse, Sigurd knew that he must return to Grannvale and settle the score with Lombard and Reptor...
As Sigurd prepared to march back to Grannvale via the Aed Desert, he saw a lone horseman trying to reach him from Castle Lubeck to Castle Zaxon. He marches his army forward only to find out that it was his father Byron, gravely wounded. With his dying breath, he entrusted the holy sword Tyrfing to Sigurd and told the truth: The real killers of Kurth were Lombard and Reptor. In the meantime, Claud's prayer revealed an ominous vision where he and Sigurd's army will be defeated. Rather than troubling the whole army about it, Claud kept it as a secret and chose to face the upcoming defeat with a brave face.
Meanwhile, as it turned out, Kurth's daughter was Deirdre and due to Manfroy's actions, she lost her memories, was found and nursed back by Arvis and they fell in love genuinely. Arvis still decided to not take direct actions towards Sigurd, preferring to leave it to Lombard and Reptor.
Lombard was in charge of Lubeck Castle, and his avarice did not sit well with his son Lex. However, as he sent Andrey to assist him, he remarked that even he was disgusted that Andrey committed patricide against his father Ring, Lombard hoped that Ring would find peace in the afterlife. As Sigurd's army marched, Brigid and Edain discussed at how they saw Andrey during the campaign at Silesse and were shocked at how much he transformed from a timid boy into a ruthless man he was at that day, the same man who'd kill his own father.
Brigid managed to avenge her father by slaying Andrey, who urged his son Scipio to avenge him. And in the meantime, Sigurd, assisted with Lex, struck down Lombard, taking down his mighty axe Helswath with him. Sensing that things would get rougher, Sigurd then sent Oifey with Seliph to retreat to Isaach, with Shannan offering to come along to protect Seliph to make up for him not protecting Deirdre. To Sigurd's surprise, Ayra did not go along with Shannan, choosing to stick with Sigurd.
Meanwhile, on hearing news of Lombard's death, Arvis assured Reptor that everything was going according to plan. However, it turned out that Arvis collaborated with Manfroy to manipulate the events, pressured with the fact that he actually had Loptous blood within him, but he had a strong conviction to create a peaceful world where there would be no oppression, inspired with heroic figures he descended from like Maera and Fjalar, and he had no intention to bring back the reign of Emperor Gair and the Loptr Empire. Of course, at this point, he considered Sigurd to be a sacrifice for the greater good, though Manfroy insinuated that he was just afraid Deirdre's memory would come back and she'd leave him.
In the same time, Quan and Ethlyn has gathered a group of Leonster's Lance Ritter to cross the Aed Desert and assist Sigurd. However, Ethlyn brought along her daughter Altenna who grew uneasy at her parents leaving and she couldn't say no. Quan reluctantly took them along. Unfortunately, this is where tragedy struck in form of the event known as 'Aed Massacre'. In the middle of the desert, Thracian Wyvern Knights led by Travant ambushed them and with the desert as the background, the Lance Ritter was at a disadvantage. The Wyvern Knights massacred every last one of the Leonster knights, and Ethlyn died protecting her daughter. Quan could have stood a chance with Gáe Bolg at his hand, but the sight of Altena being held hostage caused him to give up and drop his Gáe Bolg for his daughter's safety, and he perished as well. Travant then decided to raise Altena as his own daughter, so he could have someone to use the Gáe Bolg in the future in conjunction with his own spear from Dáinn, the Gungnir.
When Sigurd managed to cross the desert and conquered Castle Phinora while taking out the remaining Wyvern Knights that Travant ordered to defeat him, he heard the news of the Aed Massacre and mourned for the deaths of his best friend and little sister.
Only the Friege and Velthomer army stood between Sigurd and home. Most of Sigurd's army began expressing on how the battle was coming to close and their plans for the future, and also attempting to send their wives away from the dangerous battle. Unlike Lex, however, Tailtiu still held feelings for her father that she insisted to stay anyway despite being told to go. As the army marched, they faced off Reptor. While at first visibly crushed that his daughter turned against him, cursing Claud's influence, Reptor decided that the prestige of House Friege comes first so he'd have Tailtiu killed as a traitor. Thankfully for her, Sigurd and his army managed to protect her as they continued to battle, but Reptor's condemnation on Tailtiu as one who shamed her house for turning against him would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life.
And all of the sudden, the Velthomer army led by Arvis' adjutant Aida turned their backs against Reptor and directed their fire magic against the Friege army instead. Surrounded on two sides, Reptor perished, wondering if Arvis was scheming about something. When Sigurd approached Aida, she stated that Arvis knew that Sigurd was actually innocent and he welcomed the army warmly for their long journey back to home...
Sigurd suspected nothing. When he attempted to meet Azmur to report about the truth of Byron, Arvis suddenly declared that he's still scheduled for an execution for betraying the Kingdom. Just before he commenced with the execution, he summoned Deirdre, his wife. Her memory nearly returned as Sigurd pleaded Deirdre to remember, but Arvis dismissed her quickly.
And so commenced the Battle of Belhalla, where Arvis' Rot Ritter, surrounding Sigurd's army, rained down meteors to slaughter the latter while Sigurd was incinerated with Arvis' Valflame tome. The door to Sigurd's destiny closed as he perished in that battle, along with many of his compatriots. However, some of them fled, but were in no condition to fight further...
Arvis then decided to check on Deirdre's origins, visiting the Spirit Forest at Verdane. He discovered that he was actually siblings with Deirdre, but his feelings prevailed over it, and he decided to keep this a secret. He then began a campaign to subdue the rest of Jugdral to fulfill his vision of a peaceful world.
In the same time, Manfroy decided that Lewyn would pose an extreme threat for the Loptr Church, and ambushed and killed him. Unknown to Manfroy, however, the Dragon Forseti intervened and resurrected Lewyn, at cost of erasing some of his memories. He once again resumed being a wandering bard.
Canonically according to Thracia 776, Lewyn's wife was Erinys. After Belhalla, she retreated back to Silesse. As Arvis' army approached Silesse, Lahna entrusted Silesse to her as its new Queen and eventually she perished in battle. She managed to keep the people of Silesse safe in spite of the Grannvale's take over, but Lewyn never returned to her for some reason, and she fell ill and died waiting for him. Her children, Ced and later Fee, decided to travel the world looking for him.
Tailtiu went along with Erinys to Silesse and took refugee there, hiding from the people to raise her son Arthur and then gave birth to her daughter Tine, while suffering post-war trauma. When the Grannvale army came, she ended up captured along with her infant daughter and taken back to Friege, leaving Arthur alone. Tailtiu was imprisoned in her own home by her own brother Bloom, treated like a traitor by her people much like how her father marked her as in his last moments and eventually her sister-in-law Hilda relished in torturing and abusing her for both fun and her own anger for the death of her father-in-law. Tailtiu tried her best to protect Tine from said abuses, but her mental health took toll that she degenerated from a very cheery girl into a constantly sorrowful woman. She died an ill, depressed woman, and Tine's depressing upbringing continued, although Hilda's own children, Ishtar and Ishtore, provided her relief.
When Sigurd sent Oifey and Shannan to Isaach, Lachesis already sent her son Diarmuid to come along with them. She went to Leonster as instructed before the massacre at Belhalla, and together with Finn, she raised her daughter Nanna there, with her becoming friends with Quan and Ethlyn's younger son Leif. As time passed, however, Lachesis became worried for what became of Diarmuid and decided to cross the Aed Desert to pay a visit. She was never heard from again. As was Sylvia, who suffered the same fate after leaving her children Lene and Coirpre in an orphanage.
Brigid already had her children Febail and Patty born. She managed to survive the Battle of Belhalla, being thrown into the sea, and suffered amnesia as a result. She was found in the shores of Iz at Leonster and assumed the identity of the swordswoman Eyvel, and eventually as the Grannvale army invaded Leonster, she formed the Fiana Braves along with local warriors like Dagdar, and helped Leif to retake his home. This will be chronicled in the events of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.
Ayra's fate remained unknown even amongst the casualties of Belhalla. However, she already sent her own children, Scáthach and Larcei, to go with Oifey and Shannan to Isaach. However, both of them grew up believing that Ayra did not perish in Battle of Belhalla and she would one day return... but she never did. Edain was the only one who survived the battle wholly, and went along to Isaach along with her children Lester and Lana. There, she retired from the battlefield to become an abbess, raising the children of her army like her own children.
Once Jugdral was wholly unified, Arvis fulfilled his vision, changing the Grannvale Kingdom into Grannvale Empire, and ruled Jugdral kindly, ushering another era of peace with the people welcoming and cheering for him. However, everything changed when he was blessed with twin children, Julius and Julia. Manfroy offered the Tome of Loptous to the sickly Julius and thanks to the boy having major Loptous blood, he was possessed by the dragon and became a devilish figure that killed his mother and took over his father's empire, turning it from a benevolent empire into a tyrannical empire, with Arvis unable to do a thing about it as he was bound with the oath he made with Azmur that his son would be the undisputed ruler of the empire...
With Grannvale turning from benevolent to tyrannical, the practices of the old Loptr Empire, in particular the Child Hunts, continued widespread throughout Jugdral and people started losing hope... except for the rumors about a Child of Light staying at Isaach where the strongest Liberation Army led by Prince Shannan resided. Shannan was not that child, however, it was in fact Sigurd's son Seliph. After Grannvale's turn towards tyranny, Sigurd's name went from a traitor into a tragic folk hero and Seliph was given the expectation to become Grannvale's savior due to being born from Empress Deirdre.
Seliph himself didn't seem to flaunt his status and decided that the treatment to the people of Isaach by Duke Dannan of Dozel, Lombard's son, was too atrocious that he had to save the people from suffering from being treated as lower than slaves and overall oppressed. Bringing along friends like Scáthach, Larcei and Lana, and shortly after joined by Oifey, Lester and Diarmuid, Seliph marched from Tirnanog and took the castle Ganeishire. In there, he met up with Lewyn, who entrusted to him the care for an amnesiac Julia that he found. At this point, Seliph was unaware that she was his half-sister, but nevertheless, he formed up a bond with Julia quickly.
Angered with the fall of Ganeishire, Dannan sent his sons Johan and Johalvier to deal with the rebel army. However, they loved the same woman that happened to be a part of Seliph's army; Larcei. She managed to convince one of them to join the rebel army as both of them weren't too pleased with their father's methods. But only one of them. The other would harden their heart and perish in battle. Around the same time, Fee arrived Isaach, bringing along Arthur, in order to join the liberation army and hoping to find their missing siblings (Ced and Tine respectively). With new allies, Seliph took on the castle Sophara and Isaach and eventually defeated Dannan in the castle Rivough.
Lewyn returned from his journey to Seliph, informing him about the situation of Jugdral and how people hoped for a savior after the sudden turn of the Grannvale Empire. Seliph hoped to live up to the people's expectation, and as his first stop, he was to rendezvous with his cousin, Leif of Leonster, who was fighting a nearly losing battle against the Friege Army at Leonster led by Duke Bloom of Friege, who was stationed at Ulster.
While Seliph was liberating Isaach, Shannan traveled to Aed Shrine to recover the Isaachian heirloom, the sword Balmung. However, the shrine was infested with the Loptr members. Luckily for him, Patty, a thief, was there and stole Balmung for him. After demanding the sword, Shannan unlocked the sword's potential to help Patty survive and then reunited with Seliph to help him take help Leif, who was defending Leonster with only Finn and Nanna as his ally. Patty also attempted to pass as Shannan's girlfriend, but Seliph was not fooled. Regardless, she gave him one of her loots, a Brave Sword.
In the meantime, in the town of Dahna, ruled by Bramsel, Lene became acquainted with the son of Eldigan, Ares, who worked as a mercenary for Javarro. Ares desired to seek vengeance against Seliph, where he believed that Sigurd killed his father dishonorably. When the Aed shrine fell, Bramsel let the liberation army pass, hoping to ambush them later, but also made a move on Lene, which failed because Ares was there to protect her. Seliph's army marched on to Melgen, guarded by Ishtore and his lover Liza, and they both fell in battle. However, seeing how the soldiers and people looked up to Ishtore, he began to doubt if his battle was really just. Lewyn assured him that such is the nature of war, two sides fighting each other.
On the news of Melgen's fall and Ishtore's death, Bloom was furious and sent out his mage trio, Banba, Eriu and Fotla; as well as Tine, demanding that she marches as a payback for the kindness he has shown to her as opposed to Hilda's cruelty. Unlike the other Friege army members, Tine inherited Tailtiu's compassion and had been helping the innocents behind Bloom's back. She also heard about the more virtuous liberation army from them but wondered how that had been the case if they had killed Ishtore. Confused, Tine could only hope that her mother was there to advise her.
Bramsel realized he was too late to mobilize and sent out Javarro's mercenaries to ambush Seliph's army. With Ares away, Bramsel then got a free reign against Lene and threw her to prison for standing up against them. When Javarro made light of Ares' affection to Lene, he realized that Lene was in danger and suddenly betrayed his squad to catch up with Seliph, defeating Javarro. However, he was still bitter at Seliph about his family's honor, but he was also shocked when he heard that according to Seliph, Sigurd and Eldigan were supposedly best friends. He decided to bury his feelings for awhile, but promised that he'd strike Seliph down if it turned out that he was lying. With that, Seliph took over Dahna and Ares rescued Lene, allowing her to join Seliph's army.
When approaching the Ulster army, Arthur managed to catch up with Tine and showed her an amulet he got from Tailtiu, identical with Tine's, making her realize that they were actually siblings. Tine went to apologize to Seliph for causing trouble, where he assured her that he felt for her to strike against the family that raised her. After finally reuniting with Leif, Seliph struck on Bloom at Ulster. However, the Duke managed to retreat...
Retreating to Conote, Bloom prepared for an attack to retake Ulster. Seliph sent out Leif, Nanna and Finn to take position in Leonster to defend against Bloom's army, including a return of the Mage sisters Banba, Eriu and Fotla. In addition of this, Bloom hired the services of Brigid's son, Febail, to become his hitman in exchange for money to fund his orphanage. Patty confronted him about this and called out his lapse of judgment, causing Febail to join Seliph's army instead.
As Seliph's army marched closer to Conote, Bloom called out his last trump card, his daughter Ishtar, nicknamed 'Goddess of Thunder'. She was given the sacred tome of Mjolnir and set out to face Seliph's army. But before she could make a dent, she was suddenly whisked away by her lover, Prince Julius himself. With no other men to guard him, Bloom faced the wrath of Seliph, who wanted him to pay for the people's suffering, Febail, who got tricked by him, and Tine, who called him out for letting her mother die, and perished in the ensuing battle.
With the death of Bloom, the Thracian Wyvern Knights that were watching in the southeast decided to make a move to claim the Munster District, despite the orders of the vice leader, Altena, the same child that was taken from her parents during the Aed Massacre. Thankfully for Munster, they already had a hero who defended the place; Ced. After rendezvousing with Seliph, Ced joined the liberation army and reunited with Fee, wondering where their father went... only for Ced to find out that he was right in front of him. Shockingly for Ced, Lewyn acted cold and uncaring about the news on Erinys' death, telling him to just concentrate about the war. In the same time, Nanna personally confronted Ares to reveal the whole truth about the relations of Sigurd and Eldigan via a letter from her mother Lachesis, Eldigan's sister, finally clearing Ares' doubts about Sigurd.
Regardless of that, Seliph's army continued to march forward to take over the castle at the border of Thracia, Meath. However, Seliph did notify the eeriness of Ishtar's lover, Julius, as well as a glimpse of sorrow he caught on Altena from afar.
Altena retreated back to the capital of Thracia, where she got a scolding for not taking the initiative of attacking Munster by Travant, with his son Arion trying to mediate things in between. After ordering Altena to retake Meath, Travant made preparations by forcing General Hannibal, the Shield of Thracia, into battle by putting his adoptive son, Coirpre, as a hostage.
Meanwhile, Seliph became even more confused that they were fighting the Thracia army instead of the Grannvale Empire, and also noting Altena's sadness, similar to his pondering about Ishtore. Lewyn suddenly bursted out in harshness saying that if Seliph continued to doubt like that, he might as well go back to Tirnanog. Oifey objected at this harshness at first, but Lewyn reasoned that it was all of Jugdral that was at stake, with Loptous' resurrection looming. Seliph decided that Lewyn has a point and that he wouldn't waver again. Meanwhile, Finn recognized Altena and told Leif about the story on how she was taken away from her family by Travant. While at first Leif thought Travant might have a heart, the mention that he could have been raising Altena just so he could use the Gáe Bolg made him take back his thoughts. On the other hand, Febail reprimanded Patty for thieving again, but then got reminded about their mother who used to be a pirate but turned out to be a noble of Yngvi.
As Hannibal marched to Meath, Seliph's army took down his soldiers, leaving him to return to his castle Kapathogia to bring reinforcements. In addition, Thracian Wyvern Knights led by Altena also launched their attack. Thankfully, Leif managed to convince Altena about their relations, and she returned to Thracia to demand the truth from Travant. When Travant decided to let her know the truth, Altena attempted to kill him, only to be seemingly killed by Arion. Travant then decided to end all this by leading his own squad of Wyvern Knights and left the Gungnir to Arion for him to decide Thracia's path. Travant then marched to attack Seliph, only to have Leif and Finn waiting to kill him to avenge Quan and Ethlyn. With Travant dead, it was revealed that Arion only faked killing Altena, and allowed her to go to Leif, joining the liberation army.
Knowing something odd with Hannibal's actions, Seliph decided not to conquer Kapathogia, but Luthecia first. There, he freed Coirpre, who in turn convinced Hannibal to fight for Seliph.
With Travant slain, Kapathogia and Luthecia taken, the resident Loptr Church took defense in Grutia while summoning reinforcements from Grannvale from the Northwest. Seliph swept through them as well. However, he noted that Julia has been acting scared, feeling like they would be separated forever. Seliph once again assured her that everything would be all right. He wanted to end things peacefully with Arion, but Arion, even with Altena's convincing, remained steadfast that he would oppose Seliph and stand for Thracia. Seliph's army defeated him, but Arion would be whisked away by Julius.
With Thracia subdued, Seliph managed to step into the Miletos District, making the castle of Peruluke his base, where the activities of the Loptr Church run rampart, but also being the quickest pathway back to Grannvale. Ishtar, who was hanging around there, felt incredibly uneasy about the Child Hunts, but couldn't turn her back against Julius, her lover. Making matters worse, when Seliph was not looking, Manfroy appeared and kidnapped Julia.
While looking for Julia and saving children hunted for the Child Hunts, Seliph's army fought against troops led by Ishtar's mother, Hilda, who demanded vengeance for Bloom and Ishtore. However, her true colors were shown when it was said that she happily subjected the people around her castle Chronos with hideous Child Hunts, killing their parents, with people wondering if she was actually a devil in human skin. Furthermore, when Tine confronted her, she began to gloat about how she drove Tailtiu to death and enjoyed every second of it, angering Tine.
Upon being defeated, Hilda retreated, but Seliph was still unable to find Julia throughout the Miletos District. And as it stood, they were now approaching Grannvale...
As it turned out, Arvis had been helping stave off the efforts of Child Hunts, but even Julius showed that he had more authority and sent Arvis away, while taking Ishtar out for a fun 'game' of 'who can score the first blood against the rebel army'. Seliph managed to overcome the game and took over Miletos.
Arvis still did his best to reduce the casualties and trying to protect his daughter Julia, but Julius instead sent Arvis to guard Chalphy where Seliph would come with vengeance to avenge Sigurd. Arvis sternly accepted his fate, but he had already sent out a bishop named Palmarch to carry something. As he suspected, Seliph came to Palmarch's rescue and the latter handed down, to Seliph's surprise, his father's sword, Tyrfing. With Tyrfing at hand, he confronted Arvis for Sigurd's death and killed him in combat. While at first feeling like avenging his father was good, Seliph ended up meeting the ghosts of Sigurd and Deirdre, who then lectured him that the true meaning of the war wasn't vengeance and wished him good luck. With that, Seliph felt a bit more empty on enacting vengeance against Arvis, which was a good thing, because the battle for peace did not end with retaking his home, he must now take it to the heart of Grannvale itself...
With the Holy War coming to an end, Seliph gathered the best of his armies and proceeded to take on the dukedoms of Grannvale one by one, starting from House Edda and later Dozel. In particular, Brian of Dozel, son of Dannan, wished to restore his family's honor, but even he fell, making him wonder if his side was just.
Meanwhile, Julia, now remembering her past, made Julius finally reveal himself as nothing but Loptous' vessel. He prepared to kill Julia, but Manfroy had other ideas and wanted her spared...
As Seliph took on castles one by one, he began to learn about the vital role that Julia played in the war and that she might be an important key to their victory, as well as his actual relations with Julia, with them being half-siblings.
After retreating from Chronos, Hilda went home to Friege, where she mounted a defense and working together with Andrey's son Scipio to ambush Seliph's army. The sons of Brigid and Edain, Febail and Lester, defeated Scipio and quashed his ambush, and eventually Tine, assisted with Arthur, avenged her mother by killing Hilda in combat. On reaching Friege after that, Seliph learned that Ishtar herself had been hiding children and saving them from Child Hunts.
Unfortunately, at this point, Ishtar had made up her mind to give one last attack against the rebel army regardless if she would die. Julius then decided to go all out by summoning Arion's Wyvern Knights to strike at Chalphy, while he summoned the Twelve Deadlords to his side. And as it turned out, Manfroy brainwashed Julia and sent her to attack Seliph's army.
Seliph managed to sent Altena back to Chalphy, where she finally convinced Arion to stop fighting them and fight for her instead, although Tine sadly failed to convince Ishtar. After noticing what was wrong with Julia, Seliph made a detour to Velthomer where he confronted Manfroy and struck him down for all the griefs he caused to the world. With Manfroy defeated, Julia woke up and visited Velthomer where she unlocked the Book of Naga, one of the tools that could effectively shut down Julius and Loptous.
Seliph's army took down the Deadlords before going after Julius. With Julia at their side using the Book of Naga, Julius was defeated, and Loptous subsequently banished from Jugdral. in the aftermath, Seliph was crowned the Emperor of Grannvale, and his allies went to their homes to claim the land. Lewyn himself claimed to be traveling again, but Seliph discovered that it was actually Forseti all along that guided him using Lewyn's body. With Julia at his side, Seliph ensured a long-lasting era of peace in Jugdral.
