#lythos

[larachelledrawsfe]

...I've drawn them all!!

Successeur | Tireur d'élite | Picket | Cupido | Avenir | Vidame | Lindwurm | Sleipnir Rider | Divine Dragon

[ally-notebook]

Clanne

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You can find close ups and better quality pictures on the wiki!

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[ID: Five screenshots of Clanne from Fire Emblem: Engage from his pages in the ally notebook. In the first screenshot, the left page is a polaroid of Clanne, glancing to his let with his fist clenched in front of his chest, his body turned slightly to the right. He wears his steward clothes, a mix of greens, blacks, and tans, and there's a jar of pickles hanging from his belt. The page on the right reads:

'Clanne. Initial Class: Mage. Birthday: March 10th. Basic Info: Framme's twin. 33rd Steward of the Dragon, following in Vander's footsteps. Was present when Divine Dragon Krym (Alear) awoke.'

The second screenshot is of the next few pages of the ally notebook. On the left page, there is a polaroid of Clanne in battle, his left arm out in the middle of casting a spell. There is a concentrated look in his eyes. The page to the right of it reads:

'Likes: The Divine Dragon, cleaning, studying, cooking, reading, pickles, philosophy. Dislikes: Bugs, exercise, scary stories, riding in vehicles, himself when he's in a bad mood.'

In the third screenshot, there's a polaroid of Clanne in the Frost set on the left page, a set of silver robes with dark gray triangle details and a white collar. He is reaching out towards the Divine Dragon, the picture having been taken from their point of view. The page on the right reads:

'Hobbies: Aiding the Divine Dragon. Talents: Making pickles, memorizing poetry. Background: Born to a family of holy workers. Earned his position through his devotion to the Divine Dragon.'

In the fourth screenshot, there is a polaroid of Clanne standing in front of a table, the picture being taken of his front. A basket and a few jars lay in the foreground. Clanne is holding a pickle in his left hand, holding it up to his face with a smile. The page on the right reads:

'Height: 5'3. Ring Size: 5 | J 1/2. Personality: Thoughtful and passionate. A quick, clever worker. With Framme, he formed a fab club for the Divine Dragon. Best board game player in the army.

In the fifth screenshot, there's a polaroid of Clanne on the left page. He is standing before the Divine Dragon, the picture having been taken from their point of view. His hands are cupped together in front of him, an excited yet calm look on his face. The Pact Ring sits on his left ring finger, sparkling blue. The page next to it reads:

'Life with Clanne: He wears the Pact Ring when he's alone, gazing at it and imagining a day when he will feel tall enough to stand by the Divine Dragon's side and offer his protection in battle.'

End ID.]

[emblematicemblazer]

Worldbuilding and Theories of Engage

Lythos and The universe.

If you look at the map of Elyso you can see that the kingdoms of Firene, Brodia, Elusia and Solm form a circle around Lythos and Gradlon.  The four kingdoms each represent a season.

Firene - spring

Brodia - autumn

Elusia - winter 

Solm - summer

Each kingdom also represents one of the five 'godia' or elements in Buddhist traditions.

Firene - spring - air - represents growth, open-mindedness, wisdom and freedom

Brodia - autumn - earth - represents foundation, being acted upon, stability and stubbornness.

Elusia - water - represents flow, change, emotion and adaptability.

Solm - fire - represents creativity, motivation, passion, intensity and desire.

Gradlon/Lythos - the void - represents the source of the human spirit, everything, nothing, absence and death.

Lythos and Gradlon form a solar eclipse in the centre of the universe. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon covers the Sun's center, leaving the Sun's visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” or annulus around the Moon. Lythos is a crescent shape and is the moon in the solar eclipse. Gradlon is the sun forming a 'ring of fire' around Lythos. In Tibetan Buddhism it is believed that during a solar and lunar eclipse that one's good and bad deeds are multiplied by 10,000. The good deeds of The Divine Dragon and the bad deeds of Sombron are multiplied.

A solar eclipse always coincides with the new moon. It is a sign of change and new beginnings. Gradlon rising to form the eclipse signifies new beginnings for Alear and Veyle. Veyle had a new beginning as her true self, a Dragon that helps people and saves the world. Alear has a new beginning as an Emblem. A new family is formed between Alear and Veyle. Each leader has a new beginning in a world of peace and mutual understanding with greater communication between the kingdoms. 

It is important to note that despite Lythos being the shape of a moon, the country's symbol is the sun. It is the same situation with Gradlon, the country is the shape of the sun and their symbol is the moon. This represents yin-yang. Ying and yang are not in conflict, they compliment each other to create balance. The fell and divine in Alear create a perfect balance. Alear and Veyle working together create balance. Yin-yang represents the uniting of opposites to create balance. 

Gradlon and Lythos also represent as above, so below. There is harmony, agreement and correspondence between each plane. What happens in life is reflected in death, what happens in heaven is reflected in earth. The ideal Elyso is one where yin-yang is in perfect harmony and where as above, so below is in agreement. The Xenologue demonstrates what happens without the Divine Dragon and humanity working together in perfect harmony, heaven falls (the Somniel has literally fallen from the sky,) and humanity falls to ruin (all the leaders are dead and the corrupted act like the living). Without the complimentary divine to work with the fell the world cannot be saved. It is only when the Divine Dragon is summoned to the fallen Elyso are they then able to save those who are left. 

Lythos and Gradlon as shadow and light.

Within you is light and shadow, both need to be recognized to understand who you really are.

The shadow is the part of you that you do not want to see, not others to witness. Gradlon as the shadow at the start of the game is hidden under water, hidden from view. The shadow is feared, hated, in denial and projected elsewhere. Sombron's inability to connect with others is projected onto the bonds of others, because his connections are weak and easy to break, which means that everyone else is the same. He loathes his enemies inability to admit failure, weakness and defeat because he cannot admit the same. 

The shadow is not evil but without facing it and recognizing it as evil you allow yourself to do evil deeds without recognising it as evil. Sombron believes he is justified in his actions because of his experience of isolation. People are not people, they are props to be used. His children are manufactured goods made to serve his ego. No one matters except his ego. 

 "Take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:4-5)

Sombron is never able to face the shadow side of himself. Veyle and Alear are able to. 

Veyle sees the shadow side of herself, she does not identify with the cloaked figure who delights in harming people, however she understands that it only represents part of who she is. Completely identifying as cloaked Veyle would lead to much evil. She brings light to the shadow part of herself by believing in Alear, believing she can make connections and help people and by learning that Sombron is only a shadow of a father figure who wants to use her for his own ends. If the cloaked figure won she would have lived and been driven by fear and malice. Veyle pours light into the shadow side of herself by breaking the helmet from her head. When she first learns of her shadow side she confronts it with anger, surprise and fear. When she stands up for herself and faces her shadow with determination and sadness she sees how broken and needy her shadow self was. Veyle knows she has sinned and is saddened by what she has done and seeks redemption. The final desperate plea for a father that never loved her by her shadow self represents that broken and needy self. Most importantly to move on from her shadow she needs to forgive that part of her. She forgives Zephia and says she will remember her and she says goodbye to her father and holds no malice towards him. With her dark side recognised and faced up to, she is ready to open her heart up to the light of the Divine Dragon Alear. She still has a little way to go to accept her fell dragon side.

Alear faced up to their dark side when they discovered the truth of their identity. At first they were shocked and humiliated, their ego took a knock. The ego does not like the truth about the shadow self being revealed. Alear believed they could not be a good dragon if they were a fell dragon. By recognising and facing the fell part of themselves they are able to embrace the light and transcend to an emblem. 

Alear's shadow self projects their feeling of impurity upon the corrupted, that is why they fear them, they see the unholy fell energy within them that is within themselves. Alear faces their shadow self by becoming one of the corrupted and continuing to fight for peace. The shadow self is also demonstrated when Alear loses Marth. Alear can only embrace the light when they start to believe in themself and their self worth. Throughout the game Alear grows into the role of divinity, they are able to project confidence and give hope to their allies. They believe in their power to summon emblems even after Sombron has drained them of power. Defeating Dungeon is a symbol for defeating the shadow self. Importantly Alear does not show malice, instead they try to summon emblem X in hope that Sombron could, one day, find the light. 

[yanderefairyangel]

Duality in Engage

Part 3 I guess.

Alright, so it's probably more me getting far fetched elements but the whole deal between Divine dragon and Fell dragon seems to be giving into the duality I mentionned. So the question is : does Engage uses abrahamic religions references/symbolism ?

So I know Engage didn't came up with either of those but Fell dragons/ 邪竜 were introduced in the serie with Awakening, however Grima is the only Fell dragon due to Fell dragon being an artificial life created from Naga's blood, whereas in Engage for some reason they are a whole tribe whose sole representant is Sombron in the main verse. Divine dragons/神竜 exist ever since Fe 1. However, in Engage there is a real relationship of rivalry and duality between them that Eirika herself seems to infer in her bond with Veyle where she says that Divine dragon are holy being/good one and Fell one are wicked/bad ones even if she comments it might be more then simply that. Which lead me to replay once again and to notice that most of the direction choice for Divine vs Fell dragon is a lot alike Angel vs demon in others game, however it's more in character design/coding then actual subtext in the game.

Divine dragons are often dragons who are revered as deities due to their power, which is the case in Engage, probably because japanese shintoism have worship dragons too or have temples dedicate to them, however if you look up traditional japanese depcition of the Shinto parthenon, it doesn't have much common point with Engage's or with dragon in general due to FE relying more on westernian familiar design/lore compared to japanese one. Anyway..

Divine dragons' have royals color.

I know we all made fun of Lulu's design, however when you look closely, the colors that are used are : blue, red, golden and white which are colors used in religious paintings/icon in christianism. Those are notably colors used in portraits supposed to depicts prophets, saints or other religious figures and are overly used in medieval paintings in general, and other then the fact that those were colors easily obtained through pigments, the symbolism behind them albeit changing with time : blue for royalty, red for power, white for innocence, golden for glory. (for example, les Très riches heures du Duc de Berry uses those colors a lot)

Their divine dragon form uses the same color, however some pattern were changed as feathers were added, and if you are familiar with depictions of Angels; they are often imagined as having bird wings, often white even though it's changing depending on the period throughout history. Other then religious sources describing them as possesing such (even though they don't precise what kind of wings they have) their depiction have been retraced to be inspired by how Greek/Latin culture used to depicts some of their deities such as Eros, Nike or Iris among others. But that's also because Angel comes from the greek word angelos which means "messanger", and that birds were often used to communicate messages, and also because christianism in particular have associated the dove as a religious symbol of peace and love.

Lumera's dragon form uses that too

Compared to Sombron's dragon form who is more alike to a snake (we'll come back on this later), Lumera's design is closer to traditional depiction of dragons as giant lizard... even though dragon means snake in greek... anyway.. but if you look, her wings ressembles more birds one in the part colored in pink compared to traditional dragon wings being similar to bat ones.

Her human forms appears to have the same colors schemes as Alear, but in a pastel palette (red/pink, bright blue/light blue), however her accesories seems similar with the halo that are used in religious depictions to signfies the holiness of the depicted character, since in greek it means "disk" in particular, a disk of light. They can aslo be refered to as aureole, which comes from the latin words for aurus. Other then that Lumera's palette scheme making it sweeter to the eyes is here to illustrate her kind, motherly and warm nature, hence making the bright color scheme less bright and agressive to the eyes.

Meanwhile, Fell dragon design such as Sombron's seems more inspired by representation of demon/Devil.

Like Lumera he has a halo, however it's more similar to horns. If you have ever seens how demons and devil are imagined, they are more alike to satyrs with their horns and goat feets, or any other kind of cursed scary beast. Compared to the other dragon's character with their human form, I wouldn't even be able to call Sombron "human" seeing how he has greyish purple skin, big ears, red eyes, sharp teeth, literal wings, I won't mentions his arms and feets... Seeing how their depcitions is always taking after things that scares humans or seems scary, Sombron's design looking devilish is not only showing his hearltess and ruthless nature but also reflective of the trauma and fear he inflicted upon his children. His design isn't appealing but scary and impressive. Compared to Lumera's warm and pastel palette, Sombron' has dark and monotone colors, with black and dark crimson. However, crimson/purple is also a noble color linked with royalty.

Other than that, they choosed to use gothic architecture for Destinea chathedral

Gothic architecture is an architecture style mostly used to built cathedral and probably the most famous case being the catheral of Notre Dame de Paris and it wouldn't surprise me if the main reason it was that kind of architecture that was choosen over others weren't because the dev were absurdely obsessed with French/European references for that game, and by that, I mean even more then usual. It's peculiarity compared to others is it's focus in trying to let light pour in the inside of the cathedral, especially throught the use of stainted glass.

For example, the cathedral of Destinea's facade shares a lot of similiarities with that of Notre de Dame de Chartres.

The contrast between the light and the rest of the builiding creates a mysterious atsmophere that inspired a whole literary movement as gothic cathedral are gothic author's favorite setting ever. Morover they also have the particularity to have gargoyle, tons of gargoyle. More then the others architecture style, roman have that too, but gothic in particular uses this a lot. Sources consider that those are supposed to represent the evacution of sins from the cathedral, others that they are made this ugly and scary to scare off demons and protect the place, and for others, it was just sculptors wanting to have funs since they began to appear a the same moment were grotesque were developping. And gargoyle are very often demonic figures. So compare them to Sombron's design :

There's a lot of similiarities. As for Sombron's third eye, idk if it's a buddhist reference because usually the sharkra is supposed to be a postive reference whereas here, this add to the demonic aspects of his design.

Now, his dragon form. To begin though, I'll just mention that West and East don't have the same conception of dragons, in the East, dragons are seens a powerful being but are being revered and honored as protective spirit and worshipped, which is the side they took for Divine dragons. However, in the West, dragon are seen as monster to be slain and that's because of their connections to snake. δράκων/drakon means "snake, serpent" often use to describe a "sea snake" in religious text where they are negative and feared figure since they are linked to Levianthan and the Beast of Apocalypse due to the serpentine apparence, and as you know, in the Bible, snakes are considered to be cursed animals due to the Devil take this form to trick Adam in Eve in Genesis book.

Hence Sombron's dragon form takes more serpentine traits compared to the other dragons in the game. If you compare for example his appearance to that of the transformed Fell Twins, they look more familiar to frilled-neck lizard. Sombron's form is definetely inspired by that negative image of the snake that they have had for quite a long time. It's inspired by royal cobra, one of the most venemous snake, and most likely to signify Sombron's dangerosity. He isn't the only one who got that treatement though

(Sombron is a Disney villain)

Anyway, the snake form also signifies his own toxicity as his influence is what corrupts others, and i think Veyle and then Rafal are literal proof of that, other then Zephia and speaking of her.

I hate her design soooooooooo muuuucch

But yeah, I checked and despite Mage dragon already existing in Fire Emblem none of them had a similar design with those horns. Her horns also seems to be inspired by a devilish kind of style (and why is she the only dragon to have pointy ears?). Plus if you are familiar with Mage dragon, then you also know that they are called Demon dragon because of thir jpn appealation 魔竜/Maryu since 魔/Ma refers to either a demonic/evil being, eithet to magic/witchcraft. Seeing how she clearly has a demonic design that matches with that of Sombron, it's remniscent of the Devil and his demons.

You can also sees this in Lythos being described by Vander as a holy land whereas Gradlon is described as a wicked land, echoing the opposition Paradise/Hell. Lythos is a land with a blue sky, plains, vegetations etc, the same as the traditional iconography for the Paradise, due to the word paradeisos translating the hebrew word eden "garden" (paradeisos isn't really a garden, but more of a closed park keeping animals) whereas Gradlon is an hostile land with a dark sky, volcanic and ruguous background, with an unbearble heat.

Elyos and Lythos both end in -os and this means it's inspired by greek words since the terminaison -os is a trace of the first declinension in greek. According to the wiki, Elyos may come from Helios meaning the "Sun" in greek, Eleos, meaning "Mercy, compassion", Elyon, one of the Epithets of God translating to "God the highest", coined on Elysion, the Paradise in Greek, the place here viruous people will end up. All the reported etymology are linked to light and to the idea of a peacful place, an idealized place where benevolance is the most determinant trait and that is yearned as the place for the eternal rest. Lythos seems to be a corruption of the word lithos meaning "united" or referencing a polished and shining stone. The idyllic landscape of Lythos and the immaculate theme makes it represent what Elyos is supposed to be as a whole : a light and idylic place, making Sombron's arrival in it even much more of a dark event and emphazing Sombron's presence as being what plunged the world into darkness.

Gradlon is inspired by the story of the city of Ys. King Gradlon Meur was the ruler of Ys but his daughter Dahut caused Ys to drowned into the deeps of the sea. Sombron's name is a corruption of Sombre meaning dark, however this word comes from the latin submbrare, under the shade and gave not only the word "sombre" but also "sombrer" which means to sink when it used to mean "casting a shadow upon something". In French and latin language, Hell is said "Enfer" and "inferno" which means "underworld" so the sinking of Gradlon makes it the underworld of Elyos. Gradlon's raising again towards the end of the game symbolizes Sombron's rise and fits with the drastic and dramatic tension of the last chapter as Sombron is close to his goal. Whereas the Somniel/Soranel's fall in the Xenologue's world symbolise the decadence of the XenElyos world, who became a literal underworld without Rafal even needing to bring back Gradlon.

Veyle's design is a bit particular because her regular design have a feather patter reminiscent of swan whereas her dark personailty is cloaded in black and the helmet she wears with the horns ressembles that of a demon, moreover her dress also features dragonic/bat wings, reinforcing the sentiment.

Veyle's usual design made her looks like an angel, whereas thsi design made her looks like a female demon.

Now, the Four Hounds and Winds. In japanese, four is written 四/shi and is homonymous to 死 /shi meaning death which gives the number a bad reputation to be linked to death (our equivalent of number 13). In the jpn version, the Four Hounds are called 四狗/Four dog. Dog are largely seens as psychopompe animals in many folklore, and are sometimes seens as dangerous beats. Meanwhile, the jpn names for the Four winds is 四翼/four wings, which does confirm this duality.

Also, recall Rafal's design ?

While his collar is shaper then Nel's, his... belt ? thing he wears around the waist ? how do you call that ? ressembles bat/devil's wing.

And now the funny thing about Nel and Nil's original name. The FEwiki indicates into the trivia for Nel and Rafal/Nil that their japanese name, El/エル/eru and Il/イル/iru are actually the japanese spelling for the french prounons Elle and Il. However, in other japanese media, there are others character working in pair who are named like that and often duet inspire by Angel/Devil duo such as Eru and Iru from Shugo chara, whose name comes from "Angel" and "Devil" so i think it's also likely inspired by that.

Also funfact but all the dragons name in japanese ends in ル/ru, which is the japanese pronociation of the L/R letter and while I don't think it was done on purpose seeing how in french those name have nothing in common, in semitic language, the root L is the root for the word "god". In fact, in the Bible all Angel's name ends with "el" because of this. So like I said, it's unlikely for this; But for El and Il, they are actually different prounociation of the word "god". אל/el is derivated from the root l and means god*, hence the Angel's name in the Bible are all to designed that each Angel belongs to God. For instance, while Rafal's name is actually based on Dassault Rafale, the first half of his name, Rafa, in hebrew means healer. Hence, angel Raphael in the Bible's name mean Healer/rafa/ of God/el. However, Il is the arabic prononication of the same word إِلٰه/ deity .

Finally, to keep up on track, Alear's hair. While it's obviously based on the UI system as a form of fanservice, seeing the concept design for some character, I think it's also a symbolic of duality between blue/red other then the obvious light and black, and it seems to be something popular in japanese media even if after some research I still didn't find what kind of reference it might be. However, if you recall, Lumera's hair is paler then Alear's hair, even blue whereas Alear's red hair is a lighter scheme then Sombron's hair, closer to purplish. And to keep with the theme, i think the color blue is linked to the sky, whereas the red is linked to fire and ... guess what ? the jpn lyrics of Engage's opening does back this up to some extent.

And here it's over, I didn't had to do as much of a mental stretch as I though I might have. Those are only speculation, I don't think the writers went as far as that, but it's interesting to see the link you can make. Seeing how every religions, monotheistic or polytheistic have a concept of paradise/hell, God/devil, angel/demon, it's likely that the dev took their own but there's still a lot of the game's aesthetic that linked with the abramaich one. But I think that this imagery does help with the whole telling of Alear overcoming their trauma seeing how the story is still largely told from their pov, and therefore the idylic vision of Lumera and everything in her suronding vs the demonic aspect of Sombron and everything surrounding him does gives an idea of how traumatic Alear's experience as a fell child was, seeing Sombron as a demon that kill his own kids, Gradlon not as a home but as a hell where you can be killied at any moment, and Lumera as an angelic mother figure, Lythos not only as a new home but as a paradise.

[martyrette]

⊹˙⋆Lythos Curseborne⋆˙⊹

An OC of mine I didn’t get to RP too much, but I adore their art and story!

Their mother got possessed by a Highborne banshee while pregnant with Lythos, leading to them becoming cursed.

Unable to be healed by Elune’s grace and more connected with the dead, Lythos joined the Wardens in order to better understand their abilities and use them for good.

That is until they got kicked out for accidentally deafening one of their comrades via unwilling Banshee Shriek. Now they’re trying to prove their worth and questing about.

More Enbie characters more Enbie characters More Enbie characters more Enbie characters More Enbie characters more Enbie characters

[crapmagak]

Engage Drip Marketing: Lythos, Lumiere, and Vail

They just won’t stop coming.

First, get an official intro for Lythos. I kind of dig the disney castle esc look of the place, honestly.

The tweet…

The Holy Land of Lythos is ruled by Alear's mother Lumiere, the Divine Dragon King. At the center of Elyos, it's a peaceful area, where refreshing winds blow in the plateaus, and light and grass interweave. Alear has spent a thousand years sleeping on a floating island on Lithos.

Lythos gives me Path of Radiance Crimea designs. We start out there, and have our tutorial fun. Then it gets invaded and the party has to travel across the world and junk. Then during the final act of the came, our heroes reconquer their home land with a big final battle in the castle. Part of why I think this is the big cutscene of our heroes fighting through the pillar bridge, and where Alear and Marth dramatically open that door.

In regards to the floating island part, I think they’re talking about that stone pillar we can’t see the bottom of, connected to the castle by a bridge. We see similar structures in Somniel, so maybe they’re just a part of Lythos. It’d be cool if we got like a floating island map like in Fates, but with bridges instead of weird gimmicks.

Also, I feel like we’ll get some more characters from Lythos besides the dragon guardians. Such as the blue haired armor knight, and those two white guys we saw in Solm.

We get another look at Lumiere, this time actually giving her a profile, and another intro tweet…

Lumiere is the King of Divine Dragons who rules the Holy Land Lithos, and is Alear's mother. She is a hero of Elyos, who helped humans in the war against the Fell Dragon a thousand years ago.

Again, they really went that hard on a design for a character that dies so early. They’re really gonna design a beautiful woman like that then make her your mom. Speaking of design, though, this portrait made me realize something. Lumiere’s hair isn’t silver, it’s blue. This squarely puts my “The token dragon loli is her diminished form” theory to rest. However, her hair is blue and she has blue eyes… and Sombron’s hair is kind of red, and he has red eyes… Oh shit, the plot twist is gonna be that Sombron is Alear’s dad, making them half fell dragon, isn’t it.

Assuming this is true, that would be an interesting twist to make, certainly. It’d also explain the whole evil Alear thing a bit. Makes me wonder why she presumably banged Sombrom at some point. Considering this is Fire Emblem, I assume it’s gonna be that he was a good guy until he got possessed by some ancient evil force. If so, perhaps said evil force will be the true final boss of the game. Again, assuming this theory is true.

Also, I know I said a lack of a portrait was a smoking gun on this character not being playable. However, the fact that her background is pale white and gray instead of gold, and her class isn’t listed still make me think she won’t be. Besides, as Fates and Rhea proved, Intsys isn’t gonna let you recruit a character you can’t marry unless they’re a dad. And despite the incest ouroboros that is Rhea, those details a buried in lore. I doubt Intsys will really let you go full on Oedipus Complex in this game. And if they did… honestly, after throwing up, a part of me would respect the sheer balls that would take, if nothing else. 

Finally, it says Lumiere fought in the back story war a thousand years ago. Considering the possibility of Alear going apeshit and evil in the back story war, I’m curious what her role in all of that was. My best guess is she somehow snapped Alear of out of it, or maybe was the one who put them to sleep for so long they’d calm down.

We then get a cutscene tweet, shedding light on clips we’ve seen in past trailers…

Lumiere has waited for Alear to wake up for a thousand long years. To defend Alear from the strange soldiers, she defeats them in her Divine Dragon form.

Alear: "There's still so many?

Now there's a dragon too?!"

Lumiere: "Finally, you're awake..."

Seems to take place after chapter 1, and this is how we’re first introduced to the character. A solid intro, for sure. Also nice to get a full look at the design. Considering all the effort put into the dragon forms design, and it being on the box art, I’m curious. Either Lumiere doesn’t die, is a surprise villain, or this design is used for the Dragon form of Alear or Vail. The earlier two would explain why so much work was put into Lumiere’s design, and why she’s on the special edition box art (And possibly normal box art). Considering how plot important these details are, though, we definitely arne’t knowing until the game comes out. And by that, I mean a week before the game comes out and all the details are leaked. I’m not strong enough to ignore them, but fear not, I don’t plan to post on them either.

Next up, we finally get a name for our mysterious token dragon loli character…

Vail is a mysterious girl who suddenly appeared when Alear was assaulted by strange soldiers, saving them. It seems she's traveling to find someone.

Well, looks like she finally has a name. Also, now that we have a good look at her, Vail doesn’t quite seem to be a toddler, and instead around the same age Celine and Etie are. You know, a decent half a foot above the bar. It’s… something…

I think her hair looks neat, with the monochrome stripes and all. The outfit also has a very pretty swan lake vibe. The faded out strips of red and blue also indicate a clear connection to Alear. I’d guess long lost siblings, but let's be real, Intsys 100% designed this character knowing certain people would s support her. Cousin maybe, since in Japan marrying cousins is legal. I don't know how normal it’s considered there, but in most anime I’ve seen, the kind Fire Emblem takes inspiration from, it seems to be considered normal. Yeah, I think it’s gonna turn out she’s somewhere on the divine dragon family tree.

As for what she’s looking for… Maybe the one person who knows how to purify Sombron, if my theory’s right? Maybe she’s a secret antagonist. I can’t think of who else the little cloaked girl was, and they can both use magic. Having the token dragon loli be the main villain would be a neat twist, but honestly, I don’t think that’ll happen. If you’ve seen enough anime, you know exactly why this character exists after all.

If her dragon form isn’t the same as Lumieres, then I wonder what it’ll look like. Hopefully it’ll share her unique color scheme. Speaking of which, all this monochrome makes me positive she’ll have some connection to Corrin’s emblem ring in some way, maybe being its original holder.

Next, we have the cutscene tweet…

Vail used magic to easily send the strange soldier packing. Why did she appear on the battlefield?

Vail: "...That was close. Are you okay?"

So, I’m confident she’ll be a playable unit late in the game. In fact, I think she’ll have her own special version of the dragon child class that can also use tomes, and maybe staves. Guessing they want to make her dragon form some kind of surprise after all. 

This is probably the first time we see her too. Back when the first trailer came out, and we saw the shot of Vail next to the tree, Alear said “She asked us to find the rings”. This made me think Vail was the one sending the heroes out on their questions. Instead, I think she’s a character we’ll bump into from time to time, giving cryptic foreshadowing until she’s actually important to the plot.

All in all, this week has been a pretty busy press cycle, all things considered. I’m curious how fast it’ll stay, considering what’s left to show. We’ve got all the remaining emblem rings, the Brodian characters, and the Solmian characters, who I feel have good shots at getting full bios. At the same time, I think some Elusian characters, along with the Four Hounds, and other major characters like the Brodian king, along with the other countries will also get small profiles in batches like we got today. If we go back to one profile a week, it won’t nearly be enough. But I can’t see them increasing the amount they show so much all of a sudden. We got a new trailer, so I feel like this week was special, after all. Likewise, I think we’ll get two days of news a week if we’re lucky. Maybe we’ll get extra batches of characters if another trailer or two comes out. Still, I doubt there's enough time for the marketing to show us every playable like in Three Houses this time around. 

Again, we’ll find out next week just how much things will slow down. Either way, I’m fairly confident we’ll get to see Diamante and maybe Alcryst next week. As long as we get a decent look at characters from each country, and those on the special edition box art, I’ll be satisfied.

[frogintheair]

tried coming up with how the full design for alear's divine dragon king outfit would look like since his differs from lumera's outfit by quite a lot... and one without all the extra embellishments as well for fun :)

[imagine-darksiders]

Señor.

[crownconstellation]

ch1 of the engage manga got posted and i can't stop thinking about sommie punting alear off a cliff

[rafent]

7. A memory they want to forget

7. a memory they want to forget

Humans would be humans wherever Rafal went. Loud. Delusional. Over-friendly. Over-sharing. Every period of his independent travel peeled back another layer to the sweet-sour rind that was humanity. Always killing and bickering amongst themselves, always loving and multiplying in the same continuous way. Rafal witnessed their flaws and virtues alike and he was thankful to return to Lythos at the terminus of every year where his siblings waited. Dragons, not humans.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes."

"A shame. You helped to defend our village. That means you've earned a place in it."

He stiffened at the remark, the buildup ever familiar- you helped us, how kind you are, how heroic, you're not as scary as you look. No matter how many times he explained that his helpful actions were whim or coincidence they never learned. He adjusted the rest of his knapsack across his shoulder and prepared to leave.

"I am thankful for your shelter, but know that I have no place here. I am not human." That was beyond important, it was fact, and where another Fell Dragon might have hesitated to say it- to unveil their ugly natures and risk persecution- Rafal said so with clarity, expectation even; acceptance of the causality before it even occurred. But—

His host reacted as if those words weren't worth a blink. "I knew that." He followed Rafal out, leaning against the door. Haloed in light with such harsh contrast against the darkness that it enveloped his face in shadow. Rafal was glad for that. He was never one for goodbyes, for meeting eyes when he said them. Especially with the short-lived humans who he knew would never be seen again in his lifetime.

"I knew that. And you're still welcome here."

Rafal looked at him strangely then like something had clicked. The perpetual kindness he wielded for a stranger, the mysterious brush of their hands on the passing of every plate at supper, the sideways-leaning posture against the door bordering on playful- all of these cues and signs that he'd labeled as mere kindness now whispered of deeper meaning. Rafal, however, would be Rafal; as timeless and eternal as the humans themselves, and humans were so—

". . .Foolish," he muttered brusquely, stepping out into the night. Ignoring that silent invitation, swearing to forget it though he knew he wouldn't. Another worthless and insignificant memory to dog the Fell Dragon who never forgot a thing.

[ally-notebook]

Framme

-

You can find close ups and better quality pictures on the wiki!

-

[ID: Five screenshots of Framme from Fire Emblem: Engage from her pages in the ally notebook. In the first screenshot, there is a polaroid of Framme on the left page, her eyes to her left with her hands planted confidently on her hips, her body turned to the right. She wears her steward clothes, a sleeveless pink shirt with gray details, a tan scarf with black and white stripes, a matching hat with a pink bow, and brown gauntlets strapped to her wrists. The page to the right reads:

'Framme. Initial Class: Martial Monk. Birthday: Marth 10th. Basic Info: Clanne's twin. 33rd Steward of the Dragon, following in Vander's footsteps. Was present when Divine Dragon Krym (Alear) awoke.'

The second screenshot is of the next few pages of the ally notebook. On the left page, there is a polaroid of Framme in battle, ready to fight. She has a determined look on her face, unwilling to stand down. Her left hand reaches forward, fingers open, and her right hand pulls back. The page on the right reads:

'Likes: The Divine Dragon, flowers, fashion, exercise, cheering for people. Dislikes: Cleaning, studying, scary stories, difficult books, lectures, the awkwardness of falling down while all alone.'

In the third screenshot, there's a polaroid of Framme in the Lake Cassok on the left page, a set of white robes with a deep blue accent, complete with gold vine detailing. She reaches out towards the Divine Dragon with her left hand, the picture having been taken from their point of view. With her right arm, she angles her hand just above her face, two fingers pointing out in the peace sign. The page on the right reads:

'Hobbies: Divine Dragon viewing. Talents: Back handsprings, judging beets. Background: Distant relation to Vander. Earned her position through her devotion to the Divine Dragon.'

In the fourth screenshot, there is a polaroid of Framme leaning against the counter, her chin resting on the backs of her hands. She sits in front of a few jars of beets, and a basket in the edge of the picture. She smiles, mouth open and eyes wide. The page on the right reads:

'Height: 5'3. Ring Size: H 1/2. Personality: Spirited and energetic. Attentive steward but absent minded. Founded Divine Dragon Fan Club with Clanne. Best back handsprings in the entire army.'

In the fifth screenshot, there's a polaroid of Framme on the left page. She is standing before the Divine Dragon, the picture having been taken from their point of view. Her hands are cupped together in front of her, the Pact Ring sparkling blue on her ring finger. Excited tears are rolling down her cheeks as she smiles, the Divine Dragon reaching out to wipe them away for her. The page next to it reads:

'Life with Framme: Always overjoyed to see the Divine Dragon, she still cheers loudly when the time is right. She keeps the Pact Ring in her treasure box so she won't lose it, but plans to wear it when she's more responsible.'

End ID.]

[emblematicemblazer]

Worldbuilding and Theories of Engage

The architecture of Lythos.

Lythos castle was built in a precipitous location, some areas are fortified by strong white stone walls, other areas rely on The criticality of the cliff face for protection. The towers could be used for observation, ranged attacks and refuge. 

There are features of both Roman and Byzantine architecture. The external use of Roman style arch and domes, and internally vaulted ceilings, and the segmentation of the domes with recessed arches to provide more light and space inside. 

The battle map for 'chapter 3 Hostilities' shows a cross design plan. The intersection of two arms of the church results in a square floor space in the centre with a crowning done overhead. This plan allocates three areas inside the main castle building . The most important area is The vault where The Emblem rings are stored. There is symbolic meaning behind this lay out plan. The done represents God in heaven overseeing the imperfect earth represented by the square / rectangular shape of the castle. 

The ring chamber in the Somniel and the ring vault in Lythos Castle are domed building. The Byzantine style of the done is supported by triangular operative infill that sit above and between the arches. Once aside the roof is designed to increase light and space. The use of frescoes and murals also demonstrate the Byzantine influence.

Throughout the Somniel there are also nods to Gothic and Baroque designs such as ornate decoration, intricate details and sculptural elements. 

The buildings are constructed from local stone and are designed to blend in with the natural landscape. This is evidence from the pictures of the white cliffs. The local white stone, where Lythos gets its name, also serves a practical purpose because stone is a durable and sturdy material. 

[saint-cichol-is-watching]

NEL

A brave woman fighting alongside her twin brother, Nil. She is praying for a savior lord while fighting against an unidentified enemy inside the Divine Dragon’s castle in Lythos.

Along with Alear and her brother she engages in a journey to collect seven bravelets in order to save the world.

[fourspiceblend]

It's funny cause for the most part of the game, I didn't really care about people's criticisms of Engage's writing and thought they were just mad the story was straightforward and didn't try to be overly complex... But now that I'm (finally) reaching the endgame, there's a loooot of weird plotholes that 3H would be jealous of lol.

[bananabraiined]

Making a good profit.