Fire Emblem: Skyfall

I’m ironing out the idea for a game idea I’ve been working on and off for the last 5 years…

(Names are all subject to change)

Fire Emblem: Skyfall (FESF) takes place in Aethera, a land made up of 4 continents and 5 countries.

Zaphon: The Radiant Realm (Yellow)
Bountiful Kingdom
Contains the Holy Capitol of the church worshipping the Sky Mother.
Terrain: Rolling meadows, ancient forests, and light desert to the North.
Culture: More culturally diverse than Ogath; values honor and trade, The Church and Monarchy work together, but the Church sometimes oversteps its boundaries.

Ogath: The Iron Peak (Orange)
Strengthened Kingdom
Terrain: Harsh mountains, steep cliffs, mineral-rich caverns.
Culture: Militarized, fortress-like; known for powerful warriors and iron law.
Border: Skirmishes with Zaphon are common over the desert borderlands.

Tirzah: Isles of Wisdom (Red)
Research and Study Kingdom
Produces a lot of mages and scholars, they invented the airship used by all the continents.
Culture: Values intelligence, their capitol contains a massive library and education is provided to all citizens.
Terrain: An archipelago, outer islands are often covered with jungles and ancient ruins from the surface, with small cities for Airships to dock at as they pass through. The larger central island contains the capitol city and a few smaller cities surrounded by open fields.

Keturah: The Frozen Mire (Blue)
Honor Bound Kingdom
Culture: Cold weather and colder people. Prefers isolation and are generally suspicious of outsiders, fiercely loyal to their home.
Quiet in global politics, but they were manipulated into attacking Irad by the Seekers of the Fall.
Terrain: Chilly swamplands to the South, frozen mountains to the North, makes them nearly impossible to invade.

Irad: The Humble Realm (Green)
Small Farming Kingdom
Terrain: Rolling hills, calm rivers, and farmland.
Culture: Peaceful, hearty, known for humility and work ethic.
Most of Aethera’s produce comes from Irad.
Political Note: Ruled by the late King Althain; now led by the Royal Council after the Seekers assassinated the King in an attempt to get Lucile.

LORE

In time long forgotten, the world was swallowed by a great and terrible darkness.
Mountains crumbled, the seas burned, and the skies themselves seemed to die.
To protect her flock, a Goddess raised the lands into the heavens.
Sealing herself deep in the tree of life, she dreams eternally to keep the darkness at bay.
She sent with the land twin children, newborn spirits of hope. Carried aloft with the rising isles.
Their fates were lost to time, scattered amongst the stars in the heavens…
We children of the sky lived on, cradled by a dream, eternally thankful to the Goddess’ sacrifice.
Over the centuries the Goddess became known as the Sky Mother, and the people of the… (a young Roan (protagonist) starts to snore and this is revealed to be a history lesson in the church)

TRUE LORE

Humans polluted the lands and nearly wiped themselves out as a result.
The Sky Mother was an advanced AI created by the humans to come up with a solution to save humanity.
Sky Mother OS came to the conclusion that humanity must be lifted into the sky, until the surface can be lived on again.
The land is kept aloft by advanced electromagnetics and various other devices, all kept running and stable by the Sky Mother OS perpetually running down below.
Twin Children are Advanced Cyborg Bionic beings that are designed to initiate the Return to Surface Protocol, both must be used to override Sky Mother OS.
Twin’s memories are sealed, only able to come back under extreme stress (such as near death). They were uploaded and born to humans, unable to access their true power. Despite the land being raised centuries ago the Twins never uploaded into a body until very recently).
Due to Sky Mother OS’ waning power, the twins ended up separated. Lucile ended up born to nobility, while Caelum ended up born in the slums of the Underlands (seedy slums on the bottom of all the floating lands)

MAIN CAST (PROLGUE TO CHAPTER 5)
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Roan, Rising Hero (Main Protagonist) Class: Hero (M) (old Hero class is renamed Veteran)
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Lucile, Rising Hope (Main Protagonist) Class: Saint (F)

Halric, Retired Legend, Class: Paladin (M)

Kael, Village Hunter, Class: Archer (F)

Sylven, Rescued Pickpocket, Class: Thief (M)

Gavriel, Starstruck Soldier, Class: Cavalier (M)

Brannic, Grounded Shield, Class: Knight (F)

Thorne, Forest Vanguard, Class: Axe Fighter (M)

Aeris,Savage Healer, Class: Cleric (F)

MAIN ENEMY

Seekers of the Fall (Called Seekers for short)

Cult Motto: “To fall is to wake”.

Leader:
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Caelum, The Fallen Star, Class: Dark Prophet

A man raised in hatred, his heart scorned upon learning he was destined for greatness. Growing up among the worst of humanity, he seeks the conduit, needing its power to enact his plan to kill mankind by dropping the land from the sky.

Generals of the Fall:

Selune, the Extinguished Flame, Mage Knight (F)
Ex Noblewoman falsely accused of treason and cast from her noble house, forced into hiding to survive, despises the noble class and seeks revenge.

Varkos, the Drowned Hound, Warrior (M)
Lost his family to a sky island collapse (due to mining) where the elites left the lower class to perish while saving themselves. Hates seeing people as disposable.

Thessala, the Silenced Seer, Bishop (F)
Former priestess who was silenced by the church when she prophesized the sky islands falling. Being cast out turned her vengeful and she wishes to tear down the establishment.

Dregan, the Unbroken Chain, Great Knight (M)
Child soldier who clawed his way to the top. Power is everything and the Might make Right. Served with Halric in the past.

The Generals and Seekers do not know the full extent of Caelum’s plan, they think they will usher a new order upon Aethera, with them enforcing the new world order.

War Tech

Machines recovered from the surface, the Seekers have restored them to a working order and will occasionally deploy them alongside their soldiers.
Shardwing
Small recon drones, fragile but fast, weak weaponry.
Hollowsoul
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Golem like being that can walk around and has been modified to use weapons (Sword, Lance, Axe, Bow)
Iron Watch
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Large armored units with poor mobility, has a melee attack as well as a ranged attack.

PLANNED CHAPTERS SO FAR

Prologue: ABOVE GENTLE SKIES
(6 years in the past) Young Roan and Lucile are ambushed by wolves. Halric is far away so the two must fend for themselves until he can get to them. After the battle a member of the Seekers who happened to be nearby takes not of Lucile and the Seekers keep an eye on the region in case Lucile is the person they seek.

Chapter 1: ASH ON THE WIND
Present day, the Seekers attack Roan and Lucile’s village, Roan, Lucile, Halric, Kael, and Thorne fight them off. The Seekers claim to be searching for the Conduit. The General Selune arrives after the battle, but opts to back down after seeing Halric there. She sends a message by firing a massive energy blast from the Seeker’s Airship Base in the clouds as she exits (destroying the farm the player grew up on). A cloaked figure (Caelum) watches the party leave, and speaks to himself, confirming Lucile is the conduit he needs to enact Project Skyfall.

Chapter 2: FOX IN THE FOG
Halric must get Lucile to the Iradian King after the Seeker attack. Along the way they stumble into a bandit camp and save a thief named Sylven the bandits were holding prisoner. Sylven was stealing from the bandits and captured, he tags along with the party after they save him, hoping they lead him to more thrills.

Chapter 3: SCUFFLE AT THE MARKET
Stopping in a large port town to resupply, Lucile gets separated from the group and ends up stumbling upon pirates accosting a cleric. Aeris the Cleric is having none of their nonsense and when they spot a witness they decide to kill the lot instead, Sylven had been following Lucile and steps in to assist her until the rest of the party can get to them.

Chapter 4: DREAMLESS NIGHT
The party stops for the evening at the fort outside the Irad Capitol. A cavalier named Gavriel notices Sir Halirc and is a major fan of the retired knight. Their companion, a Knight named Briannic, keeps her partner in check around his idol. An attack at night by the Seekers sees the party facing the first War Mech (A scrappy Hollowsoul) as they fight off the cultists.

Chapter 5: CROWN UNRAVELLED
Halric and Lucile meet with the King, the King knows some of Lucile’s true destiny (he had Halric shelter her away in a remote farm village). Before the King can reveal all he knows the castle is under attack from an enemy nation. After driving off the invaders, the King is assassinated by a hooded man (Caelum) right before he tells Lucile everything he knows.

The council takes over to handle secession after the King’s death. The invading force seems to have come from Keturah, which puzzles everyone as there’s no ill blood between Irad and Keturah. Keturah is rather isolationist in nature so an attack from them is extremely unexpected.

Halric must take Lucile to the Holy Capitol in Zaphon now as it is the only place left that can help Lucile now that the Iradian King is dead.

Unfortunately, due to conflict between Zaphon and Ogath the only way to get to Zaphon is by sailing to Keturah, the nation that just attacked the Irad capitol, and entering Zaphon from the West…

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in Alucard voice I’m interested in this.

1 Like

It could be interesting if a few Tirzahn scholars knew enough about the truth of the past for the antagonist’s “I’m Going To Drop You All Out Of The Sky” plan to prompt them to begin searching for a way to clean up the surface pollution- if even in a small, isolated pocket- or double down on any existing endeavors in such a direction.

The reveal that the surface wasn’t destroyed by some dark force but instead humanity’s hubris is intended to be secret until late in the game (outside of niche cases likebthe cult using machines.) Not even the leader of the Church knows. The Seekers who have been to the surface brush it off as dark magics, they cant even comprehend that its tech. The church advices against meddling with the tech, not because they know it could repeat the past and lead to the sky land getting polluted, but because they believe that tampering with things “tainted” with the “dark energy” from the surface could bring that darkness up there, and now theres no Goddess to save them.

People are so distanced from the tech of the past that it seems like magic to them (the entire Magic system is actually tech. Light Magic pulls energy from below to make hard light holograms, Dark Magic siphons pollution from the surface, Anima is channeling energy from the sources Sky Mither OS uses to keep the floating land fertile, etc. Spell Tomes are actually tablets and their “uses” are essentially how much battery theu have. Theoretically “magic” could run out in the world but millions of tablets were brought up with the land, their abundance means that people dont realize how finite it is.

The ending even involves the party opting to leave the people believing the Sky Mother is a Goddess because the “lie” isnt hurting anyone and the “truth” doesnt save anyone. Letting the people continue to believe what they do will be better for humanity in the long run until they can return.

mnyeh. all right, that’s about my interest gone. Best of luck to you.

And this just kind of goes directly against my ethos, so um, again, no thank you. People deserve to know the truth, whether they need to or not. “White lies” have never saved anyone, they just mask the danger until it’s too late.

This comment is rude and unnecessary. If you lost interest, you don’t need to announce it. Just stop replying.

And it’s just a story, not a manual on ethics or morality. Don’t take it seriously.

4 Likes

Let the author cook

I was already in a discussion, and felt the need to conclude it. I’m fairly happy moving on, so long as nobody tries to pull me back into it.

I will not be posting to this thread any further unless somebody gives me a notification. Please do not do that.

You should just not have posted it in the first place, don’t pretend that you were actually meaningfully adding to the discussion.

Listen. I have ADHD. That is a Disability, and one that means I do not have control of where my focus goes. I need to do something to give some form of closure or my brain Will not let it go. It’s literally out of my control, and that was what I had to say in order get my brain to let it go.

Okay? Can we all just agree to move on? Please? This doesn’t even have anything to do with you…

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I found the game’s premise fascinating at first, especially the idea that ‘magic’ is really tech, but the ending…

Choosing to preserve the lie rather than share the truth feels defeatist.

Persona 3 didn’t come to the conclusion that “It’s better not to think about the certainty of Death or let the knowledge of it influence you in any way”. It didn’t argue for pretending we’ve got all the time in the world and we’ll all live forever. It argued for empathy and growth and understanding. It argued that all life has value and life should be lived to the fullest in spite of its inevitable end.

I get that the story argues the lie is harmless, maybe even helpful to people who can’t handle the truth, but that clashes hard with how I see the world. I’m someone who believes that knowledge, even uncomfortable knowledge, is always worth pursuing. I fundamentally disagree with the idea that ignorance is bliss. If “magic” is tech, good. Tech can be reverse-engineered, optimized, improved, and solutions can be found.

Think of someone like Senku from Dr. Stone in this setting. Magic-as-tech would be a starting point, not a mystery to protect. There’s potential for innovation, understanding, maybe even salvation… and the party just walks away from it?

I’m not saying every story has to agree with my values, but this one left me feeling like the message was: “Don’t rock the boat, even if it’s sinking.”

That’s not a message of hope. I would want to repair that boat even if I have to make people uncomfortable by scrapping less important parts of the ship into material for repairs or a lifeboat.

I’d love to hear if others saw it differently. And of course, the developer is free to develop this story however they want.

What if this was a choice at the end of the story? What if the player was asked whether they want to struggle and fight against the dying of the light, or keep the incoming end of the world a secret and let people happily sleepwalk over a cliff? Characters could have their own perspectives on the issue, players could have their own perspectives on the issue and discuss it after playing the game, it could be fascinating.

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The idea I was aiming for is that it doesnt change anything for the people. (Was drawing from the Holy Grail in Persona 5 where society, even with the truth, didnt want to change)

Humans cant return to the surface regardless if the entity keeping them in the sky until the surface is habitable again is a Goddess or just a super advanced AI.

Especially since, outside the Twin children, nobody can even comprehend what tech or a computer is, as far as they perceive, the Goddess is just a strange glowing box.

The Ending is already planned to change depending on Roan’s support level with Lucile (if not maxed, she sacrifices herself to keep the Sky Mother OS running after Caelum’s attack, and remains gone. Maxing their support would add a bonus scene where an older Roan looks over the fields he farms only to have a “reborn” Lucile approach him from behind (after stabilizing the Sky Mother she was reborn to be with Roan for her sacrifice).

But it does change something.

Let’s put aside the AI detail for the time being- magic, “science”, source ultimately isn’t actually important, mages are at their best when they’re fantasy scientists applying the same methods of understanding towards a totally different set of rules anyway have you heard of final fantasy XIV the critically acclaimed- *EXPLOSION*. If the Goddess is revealed to be a creation of ancient humans, doesn’t that change the implications of what humanity is capable of? Unless an active degeneration has happened on a more genetic level, then surely they’d be able to do it again if they redeveloped the knowledge of it and acquired the material resources, right?

This is, of course, assuming that the populace doesn’t believe they can manufacture magic tomes and the like already, which doesn’t appear to be something that’s explicitly stated or not.

The fact that the goddess is actually just an advanced AI doesn’t change anything, that much is true- what changes things is their origin. If a Christian found out that God was made by Egyptians even if God Was Still God, that’d change a couple things, wouldn’t it?