Fire Emblem and The Seal of Memories

Fire Emblem and the Seal of Memories is a fanon narrative spin-off of a Fire Emblem game.

Prologue
_, perhaps the second or third greatest nation in The _ League, sends a "Remediating Force" to _, after a supposed injustice committed there. To perform this act, _ (first nation) has to send an army through the medium-sized town of _, which they do. This is a matter of some consternation itself within that town, but the danger of a military conflict with _ or the _ League cannot be rationally contemplated, and, moreover, the town is assured by the force's general that the nation's grievance is completely with _.

However, it is the army intent to leave a significant component of forces within the town, and a withdrawal date is not given, the best prospects of withdrawal offered to the town being after a three month period of conflict.

About two and a half weeks into the incidental occupation, the aftermath of an incident between _an soldiers and 2 _an residents of the town leads to the town's outrage, and acts of protest and even some acts of disruption occur. The occupying lieutenant general gives the town three days to calm itself, and orders for the army to be circumspect and restrained in this period, which it largely becomes. (Prior, there had been some friendly interaction between some of the town's residents and merchants with the soldiers in positions of relative leave, though this state of leave is removed during this period.) However, at the end of the fourth day of this period, the lieutenant is convinced by his advisers that the town has not successfully met his conditions (based not on the fact that the protests and disruption are truly that dangerous, but on the fact that there has been little change since his warning was issued), and he issues a curfew and some daytime controls on the town's residents.

A day after these controls are issued, a somewhat older man, _, requests permission with the town's mayoral rulers and the occupation's leaders to convene a public meeting. He had previously been an advocate for peaceful cooperation with the occupiers, but he had suffered a bit of a black eye with the initial outrageous act regarding the _an soldier. Because the occupiers view him as a voice of peace, they are willing if the town's regular governance structure will allow it, and the town's mayoral council finally accepts his argumentation after he whispers something to one of the council's more prominent members (a sometimes ally of his on the council whose opinions often determine the outcomes of these proceedings, whether he argues for them or not).

The occupying force has sent envoys to hear the results of the proceeding, as the old man has expected, and with them a few armed guards, of course.

At the town's meeting, the old man reveals that a whole week before the outrage with the _an soldier occurred, he had sent messenger hawks to the _an League, the continent's check of power on the _an League. He had actually requested the willing presence of semi-occupying occupiers to counter-occupy and keep in check the _an occupiers. As he had learned in subsequent correspondence, this request had been affirmed, and, in fact, he expected the arrival of _an forces within a few days. Moreover, he told the town that he was partially responsible for the escape of _, the male _an resident who had wounded the _an soldier in the incident, and that he was in correspondence with him as well. He last advocated continued restraint, stating that, if the _an forces had a true and just complaint with _, they were right to march, and that, as far as occupations go, what he had seen so far (aside from the incident with the lone soldier) had been relatively tame in comparison. If they were any further issues, he expected the _ League's would deal with them.

Following these stunning revelations and the public meeting's conclusions, he is brought to see the very surprised lieutenant. Shocked at the independence and wisdom the man has practiced, the lieutenant asks him who he is, and he reveals that he is _, a famous mage officer who has actually fought with the _an League in time past.

Afterwards, the lieutenant sends a report on these matters back to his home country and also to general. He is issued a policy directive that, going forward, occupying forces are to restrict the use of messenger hawks where they can.

The Dragonspawn
The Dragonsire,, , worshiped everywhere on the surface and in the sky of the planet (though not in the depths or caverns) has "fathered" one son out of almost every species of creature on the surface of the planet. Usually, this spawn is meant to shepherd the rest of the species, unless the species lacks a pack, colony, or sentient nature.

Usually, the spawned creature has a limited ability to give birth, and a shortened life span upon giving birth or siring a child. On occasion though, this has been circumvented through either ignorance or powerful magic. Often, the circumventing of this limited lineage causes a new Dragonspawn elsewhere to be born/"chosen". The forsaken lineage often takes the name of "Draun-edan". (Usually ronounced drah - un ' euh den or  drah'un e dain.)

The Father Dragon is seldom if ever observed, and many doubt his existence; a prophet, who many revere, while some scoff at, goes about in his stead proclaiming his will and doings. This man is most commonly referred to as "The Dragon Sage", but also as "The Voice of _" by those who revere _ and him most.

The Averap
The Averap are a race of avian humanoids. In the cosmology of _ they are often referred to as "They of Sky."

A feature common to all Averap is functioning wings extending to their arms. Different Averap individuals may or may not have dextrous hind-claws. The constraints of flying and carrying and using articles into battle tends to force the Averap to carry lighter weapons, though they sometimes circumvent this by employing flying mounts themselves. In any case, an unarmed Averap can be very frightening itself, and Merval are especially afraid of them.

They tend to have a negative opinion of the Merval.

The Merval
The Merval are a race of humanoids that can venture indefinitely underwater, most in fact living most if not all of their lives underwater. In the cosmology of _ they are often referred to as "They of Sea".

They more closely remember Perrail than do the Averap: the only primary body feature that is common to all Merval and distinct from all Perrail is the functioning, visible gills on their neck.

They are the subjects of much Perrail and Averap bigotry, and they give much back. They claim to be the ancestor species of the Perrail, which most Perrail deny. They are about 80% correct, as events in the game later prove.

The majority of the Merval do not worship the Dragonsire, and in fact worship the Fish God. They claim that the Fish God is superior to the Dragonsire, and in fact defeated it in time past when the two in legend battled, and that this defeat is the reason for the Dragonsire's disappearance since (though they aren't even correct on this point). They meanwhile claim that large storms are proof of the Fish God's continued presence. Some even quote the "Trilogic" as indicating that the Fish God should be trump the Dragonsire as it is the "Lord of Water" while the Dragonsire is extinguishable fire. (In fact, many Perrail Trilogic proponents say that the Dragonsire is the embodiment of Fire and Wind, not just of fire. They suppose the third deity to be the embodiment of Earth and Fire, not just of Earth.)

There is a small contingent of Merval that live on land, just extending past the shore. Communities of such Merval are typically merchant communities. These communities seem to use the coast as a deterring means of defense, as no Perrail forces knows what forces lurk under the waters. (In all reality this seems to be a bluff; while these shore communities do extend into the water, much of that element has no military application whatsoever.)

There are also some Merval individuals and communities that revere the Dragonsire, and there are even some that do so primarily.

The Pri-Merval/Pre-Merval

The Seal of Memories
The Seal of Memories was a once-fabled (now largely forgotten) object that grants access to "Memories Beyond Reach". Those who know the general body of the tales don't know every aspect of the Seal's powers that this phrase supposedly refers to, but many remember the most surprising detail, that the Seal supposedly offers access to the "Memories of the Fathers", and allows its wielder to assume the shape of a previous ancestor - this applies not just to human ancestors, however, but also to any ancestor species and specimens in the users lineage.

The was supposedly sealed away long ago because of _ (X3), a Dragonspawn man who performed great heroic feats with the object (transforming into a dragon against his greatest foes) but who afterward is supposed to have abused use of the object. In reality, the Seal was not actually sealed away, but given to the _ Council, headed by _ (X4). _ (X4) would actually carry the object with the consent of the Council. X4 is actually a close friend of X3, or once was; he convinced the council that if trouble as in the previous days actually befell the land again, it would probably be wisest to return the seal to X3. By stating this, he also subtly (not necessarily intentionally) suggested the use of the object as a ward against danger, and the Council saw fit to practice use of the Seal.

~

~

In the present day, X3 is seen to actually be alive. He explains the nature of the Seal, and primarily its ability to confer its wielder some powers of transformation, and also its power to probe the minds (primarily memories) of others. The wielder can transform into what is encoded in his "biologue" (biological memory), a very powerful ability, but he (thankfully?) cannot combine the use of these two abilities and transform into what is in another's biologue.

He also reveals (or claims) that the supposed incidents of his "abuse" of The Seal of Memories were few and far between, and themselves rather debatable; he avers that he had actually somewhat wanted to give up the Seal, because he had been losing the power (or the will, if there is any difference) to revert to his normal state. He was also becoming subject to "false memories", those in his biologue but not ones he had actually experienced, and he was tempted to explore and indulge in these false memories. Finally, also, he also claims to have acquired the power to transform without the use of the Seal, though what prevents him from doing this is his fear he won't be able to re-revert back, or control what he transforms into once he employs these powers.

Because his name had been sullied, he became a hermit; at the present point in time, no one would believe him if he stated he was who he was without employing his powers, and, besides, the Seal had up to this point not been an issue on C1/A-P. He had not technically stayed out of the know either: he had always gotten the word of the day's happenings from bird-folk, if men had the attention-span of mayflies, well, it was on them. (He asserts that bird-folk actually have great memories, or at least greater application of memory; he cites how they return to the same spot again and again at the same point of every year.)

Progression
After meeting with X3, he tells them that because they had experience, survived, and (unintentionally at the time) participated in the use of the Seal of Memories, they are not as out of luck as they believe. True, if it's a matter of traversing over land or flying through sky, _ seems to be unassailable and out of reach. He proposes that they go to see, and suggests a strange way of accomplishing this...

He had long ago (before he had supposedly gained the power to transform without the Seal) created what he calls Recall Stones, somewhat more-limited replicas of the Seal of Memories. In some ways, the vestiges of the body are in fact a greater source of memory than the biologue, he says, and many a Perrail body actually has vestiges of the Merval ("Fins, and gills!" he claims) that can be "re-activated" with the aid of approximated memory. The user's strict biologue (Memories of the Self, or "true memories") is limitedly used to access the residual memory of the effects of the Seal of Memories.

The protagonist is a bit dubious about this, but slow to speak because of the dire straits the party is in. The party's second-in-command is less mindful of the current situation, and he/she voices his/her disbelief. The party's third in command voices what few option the party has at the present moment, and he/she is the first to use a Recall Stone. And, indeed, he/she slowly turns into a "Mervaloid".

While the potential plan is wrangled out, X3 says that unfortunately _, _, _, and/or _ (whoever the 1 guaranteed "Simmail? Simmail-like?" in the necessary party is, and any additional such character optionally used) won't be able to use a Recall in the same way, because he's either Simmail or Simmail-like. Protesting this, he uses the stone only to indeed become more clearly Simmail.

Having perhaps an odd means to an end, X3 also asks the party if they have heard of the "Fire Emblem", which they of course have at this point.

The Fire Emblem
The Fire Emblem has a long forgotten name in _ (C1-P), that of the "Seal of Unity". Very few have even heard of this object, and almost none of those who have heard of the object (barring those who are themselves very ancient) have an inkling as to the function or powers of this object.

Appearing in the game and even falling into the hands and use of the protagonist, the Emblem's individual powers aren't clarified that much. It is seen to be rather powerful in conjunction with the Seal of Memories, however, giving people who use the powers of the Seal of Memories more control if they are present with friends and allies in true unity.

Trivia
The powers of the Seal of Memories are evocative of the reversion achieved in the movie "Altered States". The powers of the game's iteration of the "Fire Emblem" are evocative of the phenomenon of shared consciousness that is reported in that movie.