ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
[X] Plan: Get Accredited While We Still Can
Boosting this plan.
Boosting this plan.
Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete
- Thread starter SoaringHawk218
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Hire both
[X] Plan To The Hall
[X] Plan To The Hall
TaliesinSkye
Occasional Editor
- Location
- Northeast Ohio, United States
The tallying software breaks if the plan doesn't start with the word plan. I was here for at least a couple years before someone told me. >.>
Haha, really? I actually looked at it for a bit before and went, "Could it be...? No way, that's just crazy" over that exact thing. Well, I'll try to keep that in mind from now on!
[X] Plan Safeguard the Manakete Legacy
[X] Plan To The Hall
Vote closed
Better Version:
Yep, pretty clear win for StML. Bit disappointed neither of the dreams won, I had some fun ideas for those, but what will be will be.
It might take me a while to write this one, or it might not, depending on how this week goes.
Last edited:
- Location
- Florida
Eeeew why is it posted by line instead of by like... block or something.
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think Plan Safeguard the Manakete Legacy won. Which I find disappointing, for reasons I don't really want to hash out again, but...it is what it is.
TaliesinSkye
Occasional Editor
- Location
- Northeast Ohio, United States
Barring the unexpected it might be one or two posts, but then again this is a quest, so we should probably expect the unexpected. Maybe Ryza will find people in her home already when she arrives.
That aside, I'm hoping to recover as much as we can, possibly including Ryza's mother's stone. If we can't carry everything then we can at least hide the rest somewhere really safe before leaving. A buried chest or something would probably be safer than even a secret room, now that the enemy may well know about the mountain.
With further work on Awakening we might get to meet Ryza's dragon half, finally. That could be fun.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Honestly, I halfway expect we're going to find out that Ryza's Mother was used to make Mjolinir. The coincidence involved with the Legendary Tome being Lightning based seems too powerful.
TaliesinSkye
Occasional Editor
- Location
- Northeast Ohio, United States
Perhaps, although I'm sure there were probably stronger manakete. Ryza's parents were skilled and strong, but I'm not sure they were elders.
Chapter 0x: Promise Day
"My precious children, do you despair when my sun sinks below the horizon? No, for you know that it will return with the coming dawn. So it is with your Mother above: though there may come times when I seem distant, I love you and I shall always be with you."
-A Mother's Wisdom: Words from the First Mother
The gentle light tickling your eyes draws you from your slumber. Rolling yourself back and forwards a few times to bundle yourself completely in your blankets like a caterpillar in a cocoon, you hum as the faint chill of the winter morning is blocked out. Even this deep in the mountain, so deep that it's only by carefully-placed mirrors that you're getting sunlight at all, sometimes the short days can get a little chilly. At least they'll be getting longer now-
Wait…
Gasping, your body tries to bolt upright, only to get hopelessly tangled up in your blanket. It takes you a few seconds to extricate yourself. When you finally do, you hop out of bed, only to yelp as your bare feet hit the stone floor between the thick center rug of your room and the edge of the bed. Spreading your wings, you hover your way over to where the nice bed-robe you'd gotten last year was hanging. If it was cold in your room, it'd be even colder in the halls leading upstairs. Beside, Mother had spent a lot of this year telling you about how important it was for big girls to wear something appropriate when they left their room.
Bundling yourself up in your robe, you then ducked into your closet and find the box you'd cunningly hidden there. With prize in hand, giggling, you leave your room and make your way towards Mother and Father's room. You don't even take the stairs, simply flying your way up to the next floor. Finally, you open their door and peek in.
A mischievous smirk crosses your face as you realize they're both still asleep. Carefully setting your box down on the table next to the door, you tiptoe over before taking a flying leap into the bed. "Morning Father! Morning Mother!" you cry happily, snuggling yourself between your parents as they jerk awake.
"Ryza…" Father sighs, but you can hear his smile as he untangles an arm to hug you. "Aren't you a little old to be jumping into bed like this?"
"Father, I'm only seventy," you say, wiggling in deeper to the warmth of both your parents' bodies. "Besides, it's Promise Day. You're supposed to spend time with family on Promise Day."
Mother scoots back so that you can slip down between them, embracing you and pulling you to her body. "Usually one waits until a more civilized hour," she says, kissing you on the top of the head.
"But it's Promise Day…" you whine, craning your neck to look up at Mother. "Besides, I brought gifts."
Father and Mother share a glance, both smiling ruefully. "Very well, Ryza," Father says, kissing your forehead before shifting to get up. Mother cuddles you for a long moment longer before rising herself. Carefully distracting yourself from your parents getting dressed, you return to your box and check to make sure that everything's there. Once you're satisfied, you peek over your shoulder and suppress a huff.
It's like they're being slow on purpose!
Finally, however, everyone's ready and your parents have convinced you to adjourn to the dining room. As you start sorting out the contents of your box, Father puts a gentle hand on yours. "I know you're excited, my child, but don't forget why we're here."
You suppress your urge to rush ahead and accept that Father's right: it does no good to do something without understanding why. "Today is Promise Day," you say. "It's the day manakete prepare ourselves for the new year, as the days begin to lengthen. We reaffirm our commitment to each other, as the Mother reaffirmed her love for us. To do this, we exchange gifts and promises to family and tribe."
Your parents glance around the large table, flashes of emotion crossing their face before being smoothed away. "Very good, Ryza," Mother says. "Do you want to begin?"
You grin. "Yes please!" you say, digging in your box. "Father, here, this is for you," you say, holding out a stone tablet with a picture of a pair of dragon-forms in flight painted and carved into it. "I made it myself, using the lessons you taught me," you say proudly, flickering a bit of magic into it to cause the dragons to light up. "That's you, and that's Mother!"
Father smiles widely. "Thank you, Ryza," he says, tracing a finger along the runes you'd carved. They were clumsy, you knew that, and runes that made light were the simplest of runes, but you'd made them. True, it'd taken many tries, but you'd done it! "It's beautiful."
"And I promise that I'll keep working on getting better," you say. "And one day, I'll be as good a Runewright as you are!"
"I know you will be, Ryza," Father says, leaning over and pulling you into a hug. "And I have something for you as well." Reaching behind his back, he pulls out…
"Goaty!" you cry happily as your father offers you the stuffed goat doll. "Thank you, Father!"
He smiles. "I promise that I will continue to teach you all I know, Ryza." He smiles dryly. "And I promise I'll let you read more of my scrolls, so you don't have to try and peek at them."
You puff your cheeks up as you hug Goaty. "That was one time, Father!" you whine.
He reaches out and ruffles your hair. "I know, my child," he says. "But I'm getting ahead of myself, I made an addition to Goaty. Do you see the bit of stone on the back of his neck?"
Looking down, you see what Father's talking about. Poking it, you add a bit of magic to the rune.
"Baa."
You gasp. "You made Goaty talk!" you squeal, making Goaty bleat again. "Thank you, Father!"
"You're welcome, Ryza," Father says.
Mother, meanwhile, had quietly slipped away from the table. She returns a moment later with a bundle of cloth. "Here, Ryza, this is for you too," she says, draping a cloak around your shoulders. "You've been wanting to get out and about more, so you need to be able to stay warm." She grins. "Besides, you've been asking to go with me when I hunt, and I promise I'll take you soon."
"Mother!" you say, tugging the cloak tighter around you. It's so warm. "Thank you!" You revel in the warmth for a moment before you finally reach a hand out and pull another object out of your box. "I got you something as well too, Mother, and I promise I won't leave Goaty out in a rainstorm again. And I'll keep all my other toys clean and neatly stored as well."
Mother smiles happily as she unrolls the scroll on which you'd written a story for her. "I'm very glad to hear it, Ryza," she says, hugging you. "And thank you for your gift: I love it."
You and your parents continue to share gifts and promises, laughing, hugging, and reveling in your love for each other. A part of you feels disappointed that there aren't more family members here: from some of the scrolls that Promise Day celebrations for bigger tribes could go on for hours. However, you remind yourself to be happy with what you have: you have Father, you have Mother. They love you, you love them, and nothing's going to change that.
About thirty minutes later, you're returning from finding a present Father forgot that he was going to give to Mother. As you approach the door, you hear your parents faintly talking, and the curious, mischievous side of you makes you pause to listen at the door.
"-I promise I'll have the shrine done in a month or two," Father is saying in the quiet, serious tone he only seems to use when he's talking to Mother and they don't know you're listening. "I finished the last of the binding runes, now it's just a matter of casting the ritual and fixing any kinks."
"Thank you, dear," Mother says, a note of pained relief in her voice as you faintly hear her kiss Father. Not the wet, soppy kisses that make you scrunch up your face and fake-gag, but the light, gentle one that's as much gratitude as affection. "Mother willing, we'll never need it, but I heard that the Iceshield nest was attacked by monsters last month. They lost three, including a child, and they're furious that the neighboring tribes didn't warn them or come to help." A hint of anger slips into her voice. "The neighbors insist they didn't see any monster hordes, but Mashinlo is roaring to the heavens that they're getting revenge for some imagined slight and he's demanding justice! It stinks of a setup-"
"Aith, you don't have any proof and you know it," Father says tiredly.
"There's no other explanation!" Mother's voice cuts in coldly, and even through the door you swear you feel a hint of static. "All over the continent, anyone even remotely connected to someone who voted against him is getting hit hard, or getting blamed for others' problems! Arbiter Vokunfron's been doing her best, but the conflicts've been getting worse for a century! We lost our High Lady twenty-"
"I'm not saying you're wrong, dear, but-"
Not wanting to listen to your parents fight, you quietly back up down the corridor and, after a moment, approach more loudly, making sure your shoes clomp against the stone as you return. As you enter, your parents are no longer speaking, but you can tell that Mother is carefully controlling her breathing, as she'd taught you to do when your emotions started getting the better of you. "I found it," you say, holding up the replacement for the Fire tablet Mother'd burnt out a few months ago.
"Thank you, Ryza," Father says, clearly pretending nothing had happened. "Why don't you give it to your mother?"
You frown. "But you made it, Father," you say. "And I didn't really help like I did with the scarf. You should give it to her."
Father's lips twitch into a smile as he gives you a slightly knowing glance, but he accepts it and offers it to Mother. "A replacement, so that if… if it should be called for, you have the tools you need," he says softly. "And I promise I will stand beside you, whatever comes."
Mother's breathing becomes more natural as she accepts the tablet. "Thank you, dearest," she says, stepping forward and giving Father a hug. You almost don't hear her whisper in his ear. "I promise I will protect you. You and our daughter both."
The pair stand there for a few moments. Carefully, you step up and wrap your arms around both of them. They rest hands on your back in turn, and the three of you silently reaffirm your love for each other.
Silently, you promise both of them that you'll never disappoint them. That you'll do everything you can to be strong and brave like they are, and no outside trouble will ever change that.
AN: Happy holidays all. I'd originally planned to post this tomorrow, but I'm probably going to be busy so I put it up now.
-A Mother's Wisdom: Words from the First Mother
The gentle light tickling your eyes draws you from your slumber. Rolling yourself back and forwards a few times to bundle yourself completely in your blankets like a caterpillar in a cocoon, you hum as the faint chill of the winter morning is blocked out. Even this deep in the mountain, so deep that it's only by carefully-placed mirrors that you're getting sunlight at all, sometimes the short days can get a little chilly. At least they'll be getting longer now-
Wait…
Gasping, your body tries to bolt upright, only to get hopelessly tangled up in your blanket. It takes you a few seconds to extricate yourself. When you finally do, you hop out of bed, only to yelp as your bare feet hit the stone floor between the thick center rug of your room and the edge of the bed. Spreading your wings, you hover your way over to where the nice bed-robe you'd gotten last year was hanging. If it was cold in your room, it'd be even colder in the halls leading upstairs. Beside, Mother had spent a lot of this year telling you about how important it was for big girls to wear something appropriate when they left their room.
Bundling yourself up in your robe, you then ducked into your closet and find the box you'd cunningly hidden there. With prize in hand, giggling, you leave your room and make your way towards Mother and Father's room. You don't even take the stairs, simply flying your way up to the next floor. Finally, you open their door and peek in.
A mischievous smirk crosses your face as you realize they're both still asleep. Carefully setting your box down on the table next to the door, you tiptoe over before taking a flying leap into the bed. "Morning Father! Morning Mother!" you cry happily, snuggling yourself between your parents as they jerk awake.
"Ryza…" Father sighs, but you can hear his smile as he untangles an arm to hug you. "Aren't you a little old to be jumping into bed like this?"
"Father, I'm only seventy," you say, wiggling in deeper to the warmth of both your parents' bodies. "Besides, it's Promise Day. You're supposed to spend time with family on Promise Day."
Mother scoots back so that you can slip down between them, embracing you and pulling you to her body. "Usually one waits until a more civilized hour," she says, kissing you on the top of the head.
"But it's Promise Day…" you whine, craning your neck to look up at Mother. "Besides, I brought gifts."
Father and Mother share a glance, both smiling ruefully. "Very well, Ryza," Father says, kissing your forehead before shifting to get up. Mother cuddles you for a long moment longer before rising herself. Carefully distracting yourself from your parents getting dressed, you return to your box and check to make sure that everything's there. Once you're satisfied, you peek over your shoulder and suppress a huff.
It's like they're being slow on purpose!
Finally, however, everyone's ready and your parents have convinced you to adjourn to the dining room. As you start sorting out the contents of your box, Father puts a gentle hand on yours. "I know you're excited, my child, but don't forget why we're here."
You suppress your urge to rush ahead and accept that Father's right: it does no good to do something without understanding why. "Today is Promise Day," you say. "It's the day manakete prepare ourselves for the new year, as the days begin to lengthen. We reaffirm our commitment to each other, as the Mother reaffirmed her love for us. To do this, we exchange gifts and promises to family and tribe."
Your parents glance around the large table, flashes of emotion crossing their face before being smoothed away. "Very good, Ryza," Mother says. "Do you want to begin?"
You grin. "Yes please!" you say, digging in your box. "Father, here, this is for you," you say, holding out a stone tablet with a picture of a pair of dragon-forms in flight painted and carved into it. "I made it myself, using the lessons you taught me," you say proudly, flickering a bit of magic into it to cause the dragons to light up. "That's you, and that's Mother!"
Father smiles widely. "Thank you, Ryza," he says, tracing a finger along the runes you'd carved. They were clumsy, you knew that, and runes that made light were the simplest of runes, but you'd made them. True, it'd taken many tries, but you'd done it! "It's beautiful."
"And I promise that I'll keep working on getting better," you say. "And one day, I'll be as good a Runewright as you are!"
"I know you will be, Ryza," Father says, leaning over and pulling you into a hug. "And I have something for you as well." Reaching behind his back, he pulls out…
"Goaty!" you cry happily as your father offers you the stuffed goat doll. "Thank you, Father!"
He smiles. "I promise that I will continue to teach you all I know, Ryza." He smiles dryly. "And I promise I'll let you read more of my scrolls, so you don't have to try and peek at them."
You puff your cheeks up as you hug Goaty. "That was one time, Father!" you whine.
He reaches out and ruffles your hair. "I know, my child," he says. "But I'm getting ahead of myself, I made an addition to Goaty. Do you see the bit of stone on the back of his neck?"
Looking down, you see what Father's talking about. Poking it, you add a bit of magic to the rune.
"Baa."
You gasp. "You made Goaty talk!" you squeal, making Goaty bleat again. "Thank you, Father!"
"You're welcome, Ryza," Father says.
Mother, meanwhile, had quietly slipped away from the table. She returns a moment later with a bundle of cloth. "Here, Ryza, this is for you too," she says, draping a cloak around your shoulders. "You've been wanting to get out and about more, so you need to be able to stay warm." She grins. "Besides, you've been asking to go with me when I hunt, and I promise I'll take you soon."
"Mother!" you say, tugging the cloak tighter around you. It's so warm. "Thank you!" You revel in the warmth for a moment before you finally reach a hand out and pull another object out of your box. "I got you something as well too, Mother, and I promise I won't leave Goaty out in a rainstorm again. And I'll keep all my other toys clean and neatly stored as well."
Mother smiles happily as she unrolls the scroll on which you'd written a story for her. "I'm very glad to hear it, Ryza," she says, hugging you. "And thank you for your gift: I love it."
You and your parents continue to share gifts and promises, laughing, hugging, and reveling in your love for each other. A part of you feels disappointed that there aren't more family members here: from some of the scrolls that Promise Day celebrations for bigger tribes could go on for hours. However, you remind yourself to be happy with what you have: you have Father, you have Mother. They love you, you love them, and nothing's going to change that.
About thirty minutes later, you're returning from finding a present Father forgot that he was going to give to Mother. As you approach the door, you hear your parents faintly talking, and the curious, mischievous side of you makes you pause to listen at the door.
"-I promise I'll have the shrine done in a month or two," Father is saying in the quiet, serious tone he only seems to use when he's talking to Mother and they don't know you're listening. "I finished the last of the binding runes, now it's just a matter of casting the ritual and fixing any kinks."
"Thank you, dear," Mother says, a note of pained relief in her voice as you faintly hear her kiss Father. Not the wet, soppy kisses that make you scrunch up your face and fake-gag, but the light, gentle one that's as much gratitude as affection. "Mother willing, we'll never need it, but I heard that the Iceshield nest was attacked by monsters last month. They lost three, including a child, and they're furious that the neighboring tribes didn't warn them or come to help." A hint of anger slips into her voice. "The neighbors insist they didn't see any monster hordes, but Mashinlo is roaring to the heavens that they're getting revenge for some imagined slight and he's demanding justice! It stinks of a setup-"
"Aith, you don't have any proof and you know it," Father says tiredly.
"There's no other explanation!" Mother's voice cuts in coldly, and even through the door you swear you feel a hint of static. "All over the continent, anyone even remotely connected to someone who voted against him is getting hit hard, or getting blamed for others' problems! Arbiter Vokunfron's been doing her best, but the conflicts've been getting worse for a century! We lost our High Lady twenty-"
"I'm not saying you're wrong, dear, but-"
Not wanting to listen to your parents fight, you quietly back up down the corridor and, after a moment, approach more loudly, making sure your shoes clomp against the stone as you return. As you enter, your parents are no longer speaking, but you can tell that Mother is carefully controlling her breathing, as she'd taught you to do when your emotions started getting the better of you. "I found it," you say, holding up the replacement for the Fire tablet Mother'd burnt out a few months ago.
"Thank you, Ryza," Father says, clearly pretending nothing had happened. "Why don't you give it to your mother?"
You frown. "But you made it, Father," you say. "And I didn't really help like I did with the scarf. You should give it to her."
Father's lips twitch into a smile as he gives you a slightly knowing glance, but he accepts it and offers it to Mother. "A replacement, so that if… if it should be called for, you have the tools you need," he says softly. "And I promise I will stand beside you, whatever comes."
Mother's breathing becomes more natural as she accepts the tablet. "Thank you, dearest," she says, stepping forward and giving Father a hug. You almost don't hear her whisper in his ear. "I promise I will protect you. You and our daughter both."
The pair stand there for a few moments. Carefully, you step up and wrap your arms around both of them. They rest hands on your back in turn, and the three of you silently reaffirm your love for each other.
Silently, you promise both of them that you'll never disappoint them. That you'll do everything you can to be strong and brave like they are, and no outside trouble will ever change that.
AN: Happy holidays all. I'd originally planned to post this tomorrow, but I'm probably going to be busy so I put it up now.
Last edited:
"make"
"and"
Should be "others's" or "others'". "another's" might also work, but I'm not sure.
I mean, it's not impossible, and anyone who wants to throw out an omake is welcome to. and who says it would be non-canon ; P
TaliesinSkye
Occasional Editor
- Location
- Northeast Ohio, United States
There was at least one point where hidden text indicated that Ryza's parents (and maybe other spirits) were real and still watching over her. Someone could do something with that.
It's the plural possessive, so it would be others'.
Thank you for the story, SoaringHawk. We promise to appreciate and continue to take joy in all your hard work.
Last edited:
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
From what we've heard, they were almost certainly exceptional. (If nothing else, the dearth of surviving manakete means most manakete parents couldn't make time stasis chambers for their kids.) Beyond the little we've heard and seen of their magic, they have the vibe of mystic hermits, or a sage-hermit and his guardian. Powerful people who keep themselves cloistered from the world.
One thing I feel confident saying: If the humans didn't make an exceptionally powerful tone out of Ryza's mom, they wasted the desecration of her corpse.
A second thing I'm confident about: The Christmas special was good. Thank you, Soaringhawk.
- Pronouns
- He
I remember at some point one of us theorized that the 'Mjolnir' tome that some human legend had was our mom.
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You're probably thinking of an earlier time, but...
Not to promote my own theory, but maybe this?
FWIW, while I didn't elaborate further there (maybe I did later idk), I figured legendary weapons = made from High Lords so Ryza's mom wouldn't be the basis for Mjolnir, but obviously the personal stakes if that were the case is a meta argument in favor of it being a possibility. OTOH, the simplest explanation is that somehow Ryza instinctively realized the construction was blasphemous in nature as was confirmed not two minutes later in the conversation. Maybe the illustration had something that looked like a dragonstone because the relics used them in a more complete form than how they're used to empower tomes?
This coming after Sypha told us the story of the First Emperor back a few updates (Agrithian Downtime 2) but it's overshadowed because immediately following the story is when Sypha tells Ryza about how Dragonstones are used in modern times which obviously took most of the discussion space among everyone.
FWIW, while I didn't elaborate further there (maybe I did later idk), I figured legendary weapons = made from High Lords so Ryza's mom wouldn't be the basis for Mjolnir, but obviously the personal stakes if that were the case is a meta argument in favor of it being a possibility. OTOH, the simplest explanation is that somehow Ryza instinctively realized the construction was blasphemous in nature as was confirmed not two minutes later in the conversation. Maybe the illustration had something that looked like a dragonstone because the relics used them in a more complete form than how they're used to empower tomes?
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Honestly? I'm starting to come around to the idea that the Old Master was a surviving True Manakete as opposed to a Fellsworn, and him training the future Emperor and his companions while arming them accordingly was an attempt to spite the Fellsworn faction, which was probably a "Hey, we've got these pests, we're massively more powerful than them, why don't we just... Make them work for us?" Or something. It was pointed out after all that the Human magical doctrine is exactly the same as the one Ryza learned, differing only in focus and not in material.
Probably also found some way of severing the bond between the Heart and the Dragon too, and used those who didn't get in line as shock troopers. Forcing them into a state of permanent Draconic Feedback and then getting to dictate what their priorities are. If their Stones were broken, they wouldn't be controllable, nor would there be anything left for the heroes to take and turn into Magic stuff--after all, there were apparently a lot of Dragonstones left over afterwards, so they weren't turned feral by smashing them. Seems to me that they found some way to forcibly cancel the ancient contract with the Mother that gave the Dragons hearts in the first place? Or usurp it somehow? Which is questionable to begin with and implies that it would require the Arbiter to do it, since they're the only one with the authority to tamper with it that way.
We might have gotten clues to this if we took the scroll about humans, but we didn't. That's at least going to change soon I think.
Probably also found some way of severing the bond between the Heart and the Dragon too, and used those who didn't get in line as shock troopers. Forcing them into a state of permanent Draconic Feedback and then getting to dictate what their priorities are. If their Stones were broken, they wouldn't be controllable, nor would there be anything left for the heroes to take and turn into Magic stuff--after all, there were apparently a lot of Dragonstones left over afterwards, so they weren't turned feral by smashing them. Seems to me that they found some way to forcibly cancel the ancient contract with the Mother that gave the Dragons hearts in the first place? Or usurp it somehow? Which is questionable to begin with and implies that it would require the Arbiter to do it, since they're the only one with the authority to tamper with it that way.
We might have gotten clues to this if we took the scroll about humans, but we didn't. That's at least going to change soon I think.
Last edited:
That all seems quite likely, but it still leaves open why the Imperial Manakete would take to pulling strings from behind the curtain instead of ruling openly. Shyrlonay seems like the most likely candidate, and it sounds like he had gathered most of the Manakete behind him by the time Ryza's parents made their final stand. His faction should have had enough numbers to establish themselves as the uppermost elite of the Empire, while empowering human subordinates with magic training and items to fill out the rest of the ruling class.
What happened between Shyrlonay's triumph and the founding of the Empire or the genesis of the present-day Empire's mythos, where Manakete are not even half-remembered tales?