[FE8] Life of Seiros [COMPLETE]

[Augenis]

Concept

In the beginning, amid the great
cloudless ocean, Fódlan came to be.
At the end of a long journey, Sothis
glimpsed that land and there alighted.
With her blood, she birthed offspring, and
shared her gifts with all of humanity.
Yet, not all of humanity was thankful…

• The Book of Seiros

Even now I cannot forget the sight…of that massive canyon, painted red with blood… I was never able to forgive those who proudly wielded weapons crafted from the corpses of my brethren. I was the only survivor of Zanado, and all I could do was wander across Fódlan clinging to my desperate desire for revenge. I called myself Seiros, fostered the founding of the Empire, and prepared to oppose Nemesis and his followers.

• Rhea

Nemesis, once a mere bandit in northern Fódlan, has pillaged the tomb of the Goddess of the Nabateans, and now, imbued with near endless power, marches on Zanado, where the last survivors of this ancient civilization hold a last stand. In the midst of the slaughter, the Goddess’s youngest daughter attempts to use this havoc to flee and is thrust into an alien, unforgiving world, where she must cling on and avenge the slaughter of her people.

The romhack aims to tell the story of two lords, Rhea and Wilhelm, in the lead-up to the War of Heroes, the ancient conflict in the backstory of FE Three Houses that led to the rise of the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros.

Main characters

(Credit to Vlak for the great Rhea portrait!)

Rhea
Youngest daughter of Sothis, the Goddess of the Nabateans, Rhea feels a deep connection with her mother and sees her will in her life, powers and destiny - moreso than any of her siblings. Witnessing the slaughter of her people and saved by a miracle, she clings onto one purpose - to avenge her mother’s death, no matter how much trial and hardship it takes.

(Credit to Matt_1 for the great Cichol portrait!)

Cichol
Cichol was once a respected wyvern rider in Zanado and considered one of Nabatea’s strongest warriors, but abandoned it all once he realized that he could not tolerate the views of his kin. He settled in the countryside, became a fisherman, got married and raised a daughter. Yet, a chance meeting with another survivor will lead him to pick up his lance once again.

(Credit to RedBean for the original Flayn/Cethleann portrait!)

Cethleann
Cichol’s sole daughter, Cethleann never saw Zanado and grew up among humans - thus forming a completely different worldview than any of the other survivors. She is curious, inquisitive, and desires to experience the world - and though she is only fifteen years old, she has a natural talent in magic that even her strict father has recognized.

Wilhelm
Once heir to the House of Hresvelg, Wilhelm now wanders the continent, expelled from his home when it was seized by the nefarious Duke Maurice. Travelling alongside his two loyal knights, Wilhelm believes he has no purpose in this treacherous world, but finds joy in the simple things - a bandit beaten, a townsman helped, and the land a little more peaceful, one stop at a time.

Content

• 23 chapters + prologue and epilogue chapters
• Skill System patch integrated (with Skills reflavored as Crests!)
• New weapons, item types, enemy types, while still keeping the game fairly close to vanilla in design and gameplay
• A 3H inspired game interface and a soundtrack of 3H music as well as other tracks
• A story that takes you to the distant past of Three Houses, explores ancient Fodlan and tells the beginnings of Rhea’s life as Saint Seiros - and more

This is my first romhack, which I first started working on in early 2024. Back then, it was extremely rough, but even though it is in a better state, I know it can always be even better. I’m always looking to improve and open for impressions, feedback and any other thoughts.

Screenshots

Credits

Sprites and Animations

Rhea, Indech and Ernest’s portraits by Vlak;
Cichol portrait by Matt_1;
Axe Ephraim by Belle, St jack;
Magic Eirika by Lisandra_Brave;
Bowgunner by Epicer;
Sword of the Creator item sprite by Batima;
FE13-style Cleric by BatimaTheBat;
Iron Knuckle item sprite by VelvetKitsune, LordGlenn;
Claw Brawler and Grappler by Dora Drago;
FEDS Thief by DerTheVaporeon;
Cultist 1 and 2 portraits by RandomWizard;
Sword Cavalier map sprite by Leo_Link;
Mercenary portrait by CanDy;
Executioner animation and map sprite by Huichelaar;
Dark Prince Julius by Obsidian Daddy;
Portrait (for Gerth) by JiroPaiPai;
Ranger Hat Repal animation by Orihara_Saki;
Acheron portrait by SaintRubenio;
Male Recruit animation by Waleed;
Brave Uhai portrait by Garytop (for Khosrow);
Joffre portrait based on portrait by Nickt;
Bandit portrait by Sideburns;
Flayn portrait (edited) by RedBean;
Living Doll animation and map sprite by DAtonDemand;
Living Armor animation by Sphealnuke;
Axe Cavalier class card by Leo_Link;
Sword Nomad class card by Pushwall;
Female cleric sprite (for Charlotte) by DAtonDemand;
Ines sprite spliced from Wendy by RedBean;
Female Mercenary animation by TheBlindArcher, map sprite by Flasuban;
Trickster animation by Leo_Link, map sprite by StreetHero;
Axe/Hand Axe Armor Knight animation by The Blind Archer;
Generic Portrait 5 by LaurentLacroix;
Aircalibur animation by Mikey Seregon;
Aircalibur item icon by 2WB;
Priestess T2 animation by HyperGammaSpace, Jono and 7743, map sprites by Leif and L95;
Knight Girl portrait by Sphealnuke (for Irina);
Axe Wyvern Lord animation by Greentea, map sprite by flasuban;
FE7 Long Hair Female Mage animation by SaintRubenio;
Bow Wyvern Knight animation by Itranc, Axe and Handaxe by St Jack, map sprite by Knabepicer and MeatOfJustice;
Flavia portrait spliced from portraits by Laurent, Raymond and Kanna, and Pegasus Knight portrait by Cynon;
N’Tchoréré portrait spliced by Taylor for the GAMERS contest;
Musket icon by Tactics Ogre LUCT, EldritchAbo, serebii01;
Fusilier map sprite edited on Hoshidan Spear Fighter by ArcherBias;
T2 Legendary Hector animation by Apolo15;
Maurice portrait spliced from generic portrait by LaurentLacroix;
Cassius portrait (Cave Bandit) by Caring Carrot;
Gun Cavalry animation by Leo Link, BigMood, Pushwall, sound by VelvetKitsune;
Nomad Trooper Knife map sprite by Leif;
Swordmaster w/Dress by Sealiost;
Female Monk animations by Sirknite, map sprite by N426;
Sieghart portrait spliced from FE14 Anthony portrait by Garytop;
Macha portrait edited from portrait originally by Kanna;
Neamhan portrait edited from portrait originally by amema003;
Maginot portrait spliced from Slim Gheb portrait by Feier;
Gamelin portrait (edited) by Bowgun;
Smite spell animation by Beansy;
Wind spell animation by JeorgeReds and Alice;
Sagittae spell animation by ThatBerkawitz, HGS;
Spell item icons by Ereshkigal, WhydidImakethisaccount, Kyrads, Norikins, SHUYTERz, MeatOfJustice;
Amber Gem item icon by Topazlight, Blutgang icon edited from an icon by Celice;
Generic soldier portraits by Eden (two portraits) and SSHX (one portrait);
Lev and Laerke portraits (edited) by JiroPaiPai;
Magic and Crossbow Sniper animations by Merpin;
Nemesis animation (Fate Berserker Heracles) by Sphealnuke, map animation (Sword Berserker) by ZoramineFae;
Generic Nabatean soldier portraits (edited) by Flasuban;
F Master Knight by St Jack, map sprite by Leo_Link and DerTheVaporeon;
Generic Bandit portraits by RandomWizard and epicer;
Petain portrait edited from Soldier portrait by Nuramon;
Darlan portrait (TearRing Saga Holmes) by Sterling Glovner;
Urban background image by WAve;
Portrait (used for Nivelle) by Vlak;
Dead General map sprite by UltraxBlade;
Foch portrait spliced from Amanda portrait (Cygnus, Nickt, Dolkar) and OC portrait by LaurentLacroix;
Portrait (for Joanne) by Parrhesia;
Portrait (for Raymond) by Cygnus;
Maid class card by Sirknite31; map sprite by Batima, NamelessX, Hanakko; animation by BatimaTheBat (ponytail from edits by by UltraFenix, Puppet, and L95);
Noble class card by ZoramineFae;
Gaulle portrait by Lord of Admiral, touched up by Hatsuru;
Kunai icon by Tactics Ogre LUCT, EldritchAbo, serebii01;
Excalibur magic animation by SHUYTERz, item icon by Ereshkigal;
Earth Dragon animation and class card by L95;
Cursed Sword animation by chhhsfe, map sprite and class card by Der;
Thales portrait built on (Advance Wars - Kanbei) portrait by Garytop;
Arval portrait by Saihua;
Frontier Remake Tileset by flasuban, Wave, ZoramineFae;
Aureola animation rework by SHUYTERz;
Post-timeskip portraits (sources or splicing sources):

• Aubin and Chevalier by Nickt;
• Anna by Nickt, Stitch;
• Noa by Plant_Academy;
• Timotheos by Melia;
• Lycaon by Garytop;
• Blaiddyd by UltraFenix;
• Gautier by Melia and Garytop;
• Daphnel by RedBean;
• Lamine by Garytop;
• Dominic by Plant_Academy, WhatIsAnAubin, Stitch, Garytop;
• Fraldarius by Garytop and Obsidian Daddy;
• Goneril by Eden;
• Gloucester by Vlak;
• Charon by Spoon_Rhythm, MaxTUS, LaurentLacroix;
• Riegan by Cygnus and Garytop;
• Post-Timeskip Fabre by NickT and Stitch;
• Failnaught, Freikugel, Caduceus item icons by Batima, Areadbhar item icon by Beansy, Thunderbrand item icon by Ereshkigal, Trident icon by AtelierLabs;
• Portraits used for splicing post-timeskip portraits: Costigan by Nickt, Armour by SSHX, Berserker by JeyTheCount, Fem Fighter by Glaceo and Mr_Karkino, Fiona by NickT and Stitch, Gregoire by Eden, Hanon by Vlak and UltraFenix, Horace by Blueey and Peerless, Knight by SamirPlayz, Lowen by monk-han, Marisha by Plant_Academy, Fem Paladin by Sphealnuke, UltraFenix, and Devisian_Nights, Sentinel by Nuramon, Siegfried Schtauffen by Garytop, Brave Uhai by Garytop, Viscount Fenja by Garytop;

Patches

FEBuilder by 7743
ModularMinimugBoxV2: catball Style by ZaneAvernarthy
SkillSystem by circleseverywhere and others (see the full credit list on FEU)
Remove Easy Mode by Nintenlord
Convert Chapter Titles to Text by circleseverywhere
Actions After Talk (Contemporary Style) by circleseverywhere
Group AI by Vesly, originally by PhantomeSentine
Switch Portrait images by class, flag by Scraiza
Simple setting of Sacred Weapons by 7743
Fix PlaySoundStepByClass HardCode by 7743
Remove fog from background of the save menu by pikmin
Using 256, 224 color BG(256ColCG) by Huichelaar
256 Color Title Background by Leonarth
Display multiple exit markers on the map by 7743
Call the store from event by 7743
Set Victory BGM By Chapter by 7743
drumfix by circleseverywhere
Remove Enemy Control Glitch by Brendor
ExModularSave by Stan
UnitActionRework by Stan
NarrowFont by Scraiza
Remove fog from background of the save menu by pikmin
Simple setting of Sacred Weapons by 7743
Magic Sword Rework by Sme
Use HandAxs motion as generic motion for throwing axes by 7743
Fix dodge to front glitch by Snakey1
FillAIDangerMap Efficiency Fix by 7743
MeleeAndMagicFix by Hextator, Tequila
Anti-Huffman by Hextator
AddEvent: Get Unit Status by 7743
AddEvent: Set Unit Status by 7743
Add Event: Lose Item(unit) by 7743
Add Event: SilentGiveItem by 7743
Add Event: Send unit’s all items to transporter by 7743
Add Event: Give the unit experience points by 7743, aera, Vesly
Display Escape menu by 7743
Draw attack effect on map animation when battle animation off by Vesly
Limit Weapon Rank Display by jjl2357, Blademaster, Hextator, Tequila
Display 10-Divided CG by 7743
Map Danger Zone by circleseverywhere
CritCap. Fixed critcal from appearing in excess of 100% by Contro
Adjust Mode Coefficient Experience Gain by Vennobennu
Add Event Condition: Item Check(Unit) by 7743
Add Event Condition: Support Check by Kaito
Additional AI: Talk AI by aera
Show Eirika Epilogue , when no branch edtions by 7743
Remove Creature Campaign by aera
Add Event: Autolevel Player Unit by Shuusuke and Vesly
Continue Battle BGM Between Map and Combat by 7743

Music

From Three Houses:

Chasing Daybreak - SurfingKyogre
Fodlan Winds - SurfingKyogre
Indomitable Will - Azula
Life at Garreg Mach Monastery - SurfingKyogre
FE Three Houses Main Theme - Pikmin1211
Paths That Will Never Cross - Azula
Respite and Sunlight - Mikey Séregon
Somewhere to Belong - Sme
The Long Road - Azula
A Funeral of Flowers - SurfingKyogre
As Swift as Wind - Tak
Roar of Dominion - SurfingKyogre
Between Heaven and Earth - SurfingKyogre
Dwellings of the Ancient Gods - Bloop
Tearing Through Heaven - SurfingKyogre
God-Shattering Star - SurfingKyogre, MrGreen3339
Guardian of Starlight - Maelstrom

From Star Wars:

Droid Army March - SurfingKyogre
General Grievous - SurfingKyogre
Forest Battle - SurfingKyogre

Other:

Together, We Ride (FE7) - SurfingKyogre
Beneath a New Light (FE6) - SurfingKyogre
Red Sun (MGRR) - SurfingKyogre

Feedback and advice is always welcome! I’m still learning and I appreciate all feedback.

Download link:

FE8 - Life of Seiros.ups

Previous versions

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_6HJkDAFphjZwLvQDYnQTzuBt_IZu4oB/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HYd3lK9FGTwC-zD1ndQ0I1j7t1Kj_u76/view?usp=sharing

Support conversations

Most of the support conversations are not yet written. If you start a support and see a vanilla conversation begin, simply skip it. I hope to update the hack over time with more support conversations. Until then, these conversations are currently finished:

Rhea/Wilhelm
Rhea/Cethleann
Wilhelm/Ludovica
Wilhelm/Johanna
Paul/Erich
Erich/Ludovica
Macuil/Avreliya
Emerie/Ines
Cichol/Indech
Cethleann/Sieghart

Known issues

• There was a known issue in previous versions with the Preach mechanic (i.e. Dragon Veins) triggering the wrong vein on different turns, which can sometimes cause a crash if green units spawn outside of bounds. I have implemented a workaround to prevent it, but I have not yet gotten reports whether it was successful, so do report me if Preaching causes units to spawn in the wrong places.
• Talking to Indech in verse 6 does not immediately end the chapter, you need to Wait with the talking character for the end cutscene to trigger. Caused by Action After Talk.

[LewynCollins]

@Augenis

At the moment, I am uncertain how many chapters this romhack will have, but definitely less than 30 - depends on where I decide to cut it off, as the entire period between Rhea/Seiros’s appearance and the defeat of Nemesis took 70 years in the story and that’s infeasible to depict with a single story/romhack.

Currently, I have finished the Prologue and Chapter 1.

Screenshots

It’s an interesting premise. However, can’t you make timeskips in your game? I mean, Wilheim appeared at some point in those 70 years, probably around the middle of it or even the end of it. You can start the story from Wilheim’s perspective, then he finds Seiros. Then, you could implement the years previous to Wilheim’s appereance in side chapters (the most important stuff, at least) or with some heavy yet interesting texting, like Deity Device did (may it rest in peace).

Of course you’d have to skip a lot of time anyway until the dawn of the Adestrian Empire, but there had to be some moments of respite during a war as long as that (the calm before the tempest, we could say), and in a conflict this long those periods could easily take some years of stalemate with barely anything happening, you can skip those too.

In other words, I believe this project is feasible. I hope my words can help you in some way.

Edit: also, at some point you could do your own customized Rhea, Seteth and others’ designs in order to fit 3H’s characters design a little more. That is, if you have the skill to do so, this is not so important.

[Augenis]

Thank you for the answer. It’s feasible to make timeskips, but the issue, as I see it, is that the extreme length of the war (even after the foundation of the Adrestian Empire, which is the latest possible point when Rhea and Wilhelm could have met - I personally believe that they did much earlier and Wilhelm was maybe even one of the first to meet Rhea, given how fondly she remembers him) means that the characters who aren’t ageless like the Nabateans will grow old, die, be replaced by new characters and so on.

Not that FE games haven’t done this, but I’m not sure how well I could handle a generational conflict like this in a way that is actually fun for the player, and isn’t simply wiping your party every handful of chapters for a completely new one. At least, with my current level of knowledge, which is rather little.

I can’t say I am good enough to do entirely new Rhea/Seteth/Flayn designs, at least for now anyway. I’ve tried to remake them as best as I can with existing material though.

[LewynCollins]

@Augenis

I personally believe that they did much earlier and Wilhelm was maybe even one of the first to meet Rhea, given how fondly she remembers him

Mmmm well, maybe not. Remember that the Hresvelg house bears the Crest of Seiros. That could mean either of 2 things:

1- Seiros gave Wilhelm a sip of her blood, like the elite soldiers of the church do in 3H, Jerald himself as an example.

2- Seiros falls in love in with Wilhelm, or at least she is fond enough to bear his children.

If you were to choose the second option, it would be feasible to make them meet by the latest part of the war.

[Augenis]

@LewynCollins

Mmmm well, maybe not. Remember that the Hresvelg house bears the Crest of Seiros. That could mean either of 2 things:

1- Seiros gave Wilhelm a sip of her blood, like the elite soldiers of the church do in 3H, Jerald himself as an example.

2- Seiros falls in love in with Wilhelm, or at least she is fond enough to bear his children.

If you were to choose the second option, it would be feasible to make them meet by the latest part of the war.

This is basically all headcanon territory, but I personally assumed it was the first. After all, the other noble families explicitly received the blood of the corresponding Saint/Nabatean rather than married into them - Flayn points it out herself when she says that Saint Cethleann (i.e. herself) did not have any children, yet the Crest of Cethleann was passed down regardless.

That’s probably another thing, this romhack will require a lot of headcanon’ing

[LewynCollins]

@Augenis

Flayn points it out herself when she says that Saint Cethleann (i.e. herself) did not have any children, yet the Crest of Cethleann was passed down regardless.

It is true that she didn’t, and same with Seteth. However, none of the two seem to remember the people they offered their blood to fondly (or remember them at all, for that matter). Meanwhile, as you said, Seiros does remember Wilheim fondly. This could solve a big part of the time gap problem, forcing it into the final part of the conflict. Besides, we know crests do pass from parents to children most of the time, so it’s not far fetched to assume that they could be together for a time. In any casem you should still do whatever you see fit.

[Augenis]

Working on Chapter 2 right now, with two familiar faces…

[Augenis]

I have updated the download link with Chapter 2 of the hack.

Plus a few other additions: Wilhelm now starts with a prf axe (Nothung) and has a Talk conversation with Rhea during Chapter 1.

Looking forward to any feedback, as always!

[sirsherbo]

This looks really cool! Gonna check it out now

[sirsherbo]

Prologue worked fine but I am on chapter one and the game freezes as soon as I select any of my units. Not sure if this is just on my end or an issue with the hack

[Augenis]

@sirsherbo

Prologue worked fine but I am on chapter one and the game freezes as soon as I select any of my units. Not sure if this is just on my end or an issue with the hack

Thank you for giving it a go! I don’t seem to run to this issue

I assume you are patching a clean vanilla FE8 rom, right?

[sirsherbo]

Yeah, I patched a clean FE8 rom. Might be an emulator issue on my end, I’ll fiddle with it later. The prologue and what I saw of chapter 1 looked very promising though!

[Augenis]

Thank you for the kind words! If you figure it out, I hope you’ll try the rest as well! I will look into it from my end as well, see if there is some unexpected behavior with Chapter 1.

[Augenis]

Working on Chapter 3 right now, the map itself has been designed, all that’s left is all the bells and whistles around it, plus obviously the storyline…

[Augenis]

The download link in the OP has been updated.

What’s new?

Chapter 3

Set in the poor, dinky town of Enbarr, with 1 more recruited character.

Skills

I’ve integrated the Skill System patch into the hack. This includes skills, a str/mag split (this will be relevant for Rhea, who will be a mixed sword/magic class!) and all the other QoL features.

Skills will be treated differently in this hack. Rather than having all characters have unique skills, Skills will instead be used to represent Crests. The Nabatean characters start with Crest traits, and, in the future, you will be able to choose which human characters to give Crests to (changing history, in a way, even if you win )

Also, as you can see, a new Rhea portrait, done by Vlak!

[Telos]

As some notes also from me:

Indech and Macuil could be interesting to see if theyre not already in there. While Indech is less hateful of humans, I can definitely see Macuil being easily someone who only very reluctantly passed his crest to someone else.

He even as a human form that’s a statue- so he definitely didnt always hate them.

If I had to guess specifically what it was that made him lose respect for all humans, it’s finding out about what the Sword of the Creator is made from.

Using the blood of the dragons to gain power is one thing. But the bones being used to make weapons to kill said dragons I feel like was what made him lose all faith in humanity.

He’s also fairly prominent- he was Seiros’s chief tactician after all, and also a mage.

I could go on and on but I think this is a good place to stop for now.

[Augenis]

I indeed have plans for both Indech and Macuil! They will certainly show up during the hack.

[Telos]

Oh good!
Honestly, I hope some of the darker stuff really makes it in- because I can easily imagine Seiros only with absolute reluctance having to praise someone like Nemesis despite what he did, all in order to maintain appearances.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. Though I have to ask- why call Seiros ‘Rhea’ and not well… Seiros?

(And personally, I imagine Wilheim and Seiros’s relationship being that there definitely was something between them- but its probably the fact that humans were responsible for what happened to her people that keep her from truly being able to get close to him… and also because when you think about it, it’d be a lot harder for her to vanish if she was the Empress).

[Augenis]

@Telos

Oh good!
Honestly, I hope some of the darker stuff really makes it in- because I can easily imagine Seiros only with absolute reluctance having to praise someone like Nemesis despite what he did, all in order to maintain appearances.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. Though I have to ask- why call Seiros ‘Rhea’ and not well… Seiros?

I chose to use Rhea, because unlike Cichol, Cethleann, Indech and Macuil (who all follow the same naming style of being taken from Irish mythology), Seiros is explicitly an invented alias which she assumed during the War of Heroes. She does refer to herself as Seiros in cutscenes but since the story also depicts the end of her time in Zanado, before she becomes “Seiros”, I figured that it wouldn’t make sense to use it as her in-game name.

Granted, Rhea is probably also invented (it’s Greek, not Irish, after all), but it’s not been explicitly confirmed that it was, and I was not comfortable with inventing a new “original” name for her t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ i̶f̶ I̶ d̶i̶d̶, i̶t̶ w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ b̶e̶e̶n̶ s̶o̶ f̶u̶n̶n̶y̶ t̶o̶ c̶a̶l̶l̶ h̶e̶r̶ M̶o̶r̶r̶i̶g̶a̶n̶, so i settled on using Rhea.

Thank you very much for the kind words! I’m always eager to hear any feedback on the content I have made so far as well.

[Augenis]

The download link in the OP has been updated.

Chapter 4

Set on the border of the Duchy of South Fódlan, on the road towards the great city of Merceus.

With two new playable characters.

Music

To further get into the Fódlan mood, I’ve integrated several GBA Three Houses music tracks into the hack to replace vanilla FE8 music. You may still spot some vanilla tracks here and there, but for the most part, battle music, cutscene music and field music should be familiar 3H tunes. Credits for all tracks used are in the OP.

Other changes

After testing feedback, I’ve altered some growth rates and nerfed Cichol to prevent him from being completely dominant (he still is, but at least now he should be a little less so). I’ve gone through the previous chapters’ text to clean up some dialogue, added a portrait to a prologue boss which previously used a generic FE8 portrait.