As this story occurs in a world with fundamental changes from canon, this prologue exists to detail those changes.
[Timeline - Continents]
Fire Emblem Awakening (elapsed time from prologue to "present": approximately 4 years). Awakening will be considered the 'current' timeline.
Events of: FE Akanea (Shadow Dragon, Mystery of the Emblem, Shadows of Valentia): 3000 years ago.
Events of: FE Jugdral (Genealogy of the Holy War, Thraki 776): Occurred roughly 1000 years in the past.
Events of: FE Elibe (Sword of Seals, Blazing Sword): Blazing Sword's event on pause 2 years ago.
Events of: FE Magvel (Sacred Stones): Occurred roughly 2000 years in the past.
Events of: FE Tellius (Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn): Will occur in the near future.
Events of: FE ? (Fates): Will occur in the near future (technically the focus of this story).
…
[National Conditions]
{The Phoenix Empire}
Leaders: Ash (Emperor), Tiki (Empress), Robin (Empress)
Established: Immediately following the end of the Awakening War (versus Grima)
The focus of the story, kinda, sorta. I am Ash, and Ash art I…or something. The Phoenix Empire is technologically superior compared to the rest of the Fire Emblem universe, and makes ample use of magic, technology, and a generally…different, outlook on the world than the rest of their peers. Within the empire's employment includes the Future cast children and Outrealmers (people from outside the Fire Emblem universe) who help contribute to the budding empire's strength.
It's on the western end of Akanea, in the form of a two-town trading state of sorts. The capital is based in Magvel, though at the point of this prologue said capital hasn't even been built yet.
...
{Halidom of Ylisse}
Leaders: Emmeryn (Eminence), Chrom (Top General), Lissa (Top Diplomat)
Following the Awakening war, Ylisse becomes an economically powerful player in the Akanea world stage. It is the most stable nation of the ones within the Akanea/Valentia continent pairs, and acts as the figurehead of international relations…not that there is one to worry about, given that every nation is allied with each other at the moment.
…
{Regna Ferox}
Leaders: Flavia (Great Khan), Basilio (Khan)
Ferox's big and strong, but its size and the damage it took during the Awakening war make it internally unstable. Apart from Plegia, Ferox's the nation that was most heavily wounded by the damage of the war. Ylisse contributes military aid to the nation in the form of horseman to help control the situation.
…
{Theocracy of Plegia}
Leaders: Hawk (King)
Hawk is Male!Robin. Just go with it. Plegia suffered through a civil war during the middle of Awakening and Hawk got the situation under control, but since the immediate threat of the Grimleal is gone the nation is starting to fragment along preexisting difficulties again. Ylisse and the Phoenix Empire provide air support to help Plegia whenever it's in need of some eyes in the sky.
…
{Island Nations}
The islands in the middle of Valentia and Akanea. They act as a neutral territory for the nations in regards to diplomacy. They are a footnote as far as our history is concerned.
…
{Nation-State of Rosanne, Nation-State of Chon'Sin}
Lead by Virion and Say'ri respectively. The two nations are on the tumultuous continent of Previously-Valm. Not major players from an international standpoint, but still good friends of our major parties.
…
{Ex-Empire of Valm}
Currently a province under the Phoenix Empire but otherwise still led by Walhart (bit of a long story), Valm has abandoned all of its territorial conquests besides its cores and…it's not in a good state, to be honest. The existence of the Phoenix Empire is kind of why Valm is even still around in the first place, and they act as the Phoenix's port of call on Valentia, as well as a military foothold to deploy assistance to Chon'Sin as needed.
…
{Nations of Valentia}
After Valm disintegrated, the territories that used to be parts of Valm split into their own nations. Since their problems were never really resolved, they're basically in a state of constant war.
From this point onwards, the information being provided is not privy to Ash, and thus the first person narrator.
I am, by the way, the little voice in Ash's head (the internal dialogue during his internal dialogues). I provide information that he would otherwise not notice (or else notice but fail to take into account) during the moments where we're walking around in his head.
And I'm a walking spoiler.
That he is. Pay him no mind.
I do think I may be insane. Anyways!
…
[Other Continents]
{Elibe}
Elibe is currently in a period of peace, but Bern is building up militarily. The Lycian League and Etruria are wary of the budding problem and are building up on their own.
In particular, the Lycian League (lead by Ostia) is in a process of militarizing, per their mutual defense pact. The Lycian League, as the name suggests, is an alliance of nations sworn to protect each other, but that protection is certainly not bound by blood.
Also: The heads of Ostia, Pharae, and Caelin (Hector, Eliwood, Lyn) are still worried about their resident evil archnemesis Nergal, because that particular problem was postponed by the virtue of Nino being forcibly removed from their party via a massive dose of magic.
Basically, Nino's Homecoming happens within the chapter after this one. No points for guessing precisely when it happens.
…
{Jugdral}
Jugdral has more or less devolved into full-on tribal warfare. Rampant use of magical power and very little insistence on local infrastructure development (because people keep setting it on fire) means that life in Jugdral is pretty rough. They do, however, have a pretty sturdy shipbuilding industry, and have ships that are strong and fire-resistant.
…
{Tellius}
There exists bad blood between the Kingdoms of Crimea and Daein. Though not entirely at war, the two nations are eyeballing each other with occasional skirmishes on the border here and there.
…
{Fates}
For the purposes of this story, the two major players in Fates (Nohr, Hoshido) are considered to be in a state of "frosty politeness" to begin with. They're rivals, but not so spiteful of each other that they'd go to war at the drop of a hat.
.
.
.
…Oh, before I forget. Fates is the focus of this story, technically, but since we're working at an international stage they're not going to be the only one.
So how long do you think it'll take before everything comes apart narratively?
It hasn't already?
{ === + === }
Author Notes: That should do it for the initial framing of the political situation at hand. As this is spiritually a sequel (in the sense that I'm telling the story from a pre-existing character with a lot of backstory) it will help if you guys chip in on what I need to expand upon, what need to be clarified, and so on.
