The night burns red as twin titans clash. Dressed in flame, they vie for dominance—one a beacon of hope, the other an aberration, an affront to the very laws of nature. There is no room in this world for both, for there can be only one Eikon of Fire.
As dawn breaks over the Nysa Defile in the 873rd year of the Valisthean calendar, the armies of Dhalmekia and the Iron Kingdom gather, and their Eikons—Titan of the republic and Shiva of the orthodoxy—make ready to take the field. Meanwhile, high above it all, a small party of Branded assassins survey the battlefield like hawks in search of prey.
It is the year 860, and with the coming of spring does green once again return to the Grand Duchy of Rosaria. In the baileys of Rosalith Castle, men who have sworn their swords to their country train in anticipation of coming conflict—and it is here that one young man in particular endeavors to prove himself worthy to the ones he loves.
As the duchy readies itself for war with the Iron Kingdom, its most bitter and longstanding of rivals, so too does Clive prepare to do his duty as First Shield of Rosaria—to protect and serve his brother Joshua, Dominant of the Phoenix.
Bade by his father, the archduke, to address reports of the ever-spreading Blight having driven a horde of goblins into Rosarian territory, Clive journeys to the swamps of Stillwind accompanied by a pair of loyal Shields of the duchy.
The Shields of Rosaria have marched to Phoenix Gate that the duchy's Dominant and heir to the throne, Joshua, might hear the Words of their Ancestors, as is custom before any great battle. However, the night before the ceremony, the young prince is stirred from his slumber by the sounds of battle. The fortress is under attack, and Joshua must fight his way to his father with the aid of but a single brave Shield.
The year is once again 873 and Clive has returned from his reverie to the chaos that smolders in the wake of Shiva and Titan's terrible encounter. Tiamat reminds Wyvern of their mission and that there is no escaping the inexorable fate of the Branded.
Promising succor, Cid welcomes Clive into his deadlands sanctuary hidden deep within the ruins of a lost civilization. There, Clive discovers something that had eluded him for nigh thirteen years—freedom.
Word of a Dominant of Fire spotted in a nearby village convinces Clive to set aside any misgivings he might have surrounding Cid and his motives and join the man—though only for as long as his desire for revenge demands it.
While traveling through the Greatwood, Clive and Cid happen apon a small party of Waloeder intelligencers captained by a woman from Cid's past—Benedikta Harman. Left with more questions than answers, the pair continue on to Lostwing.
The Dominant of Fire has fallen into the hands of Benedikta's intelligencers and Clive, Cid, and Gav must scramble to gather information on their quarry's whereabouts.
In their pursuit of the missing Dominant and Lostwing's Bearers, Clive and Cid must infiltrate a nearby Sanbrequois fortress now teeming with Waloeder soldiers. Fortunately for both of them, Clive knows of a secret entrance.
Clive's spar with the Dominant of Wind not only ends in victory, but sees him wrest away her Eikon's very essence and claim it for his own. But before he or Cid can make heads or tails of this curious turn of events, an explosion rocks the caer, prompting a hurried evacuation.
A familiar voice beckons Clive into the heart of a raging storm. Clive follows, hoping there he might find the source of his deep-seated anguish and quell it once and for all.
Clive discovers that the second Dominant of Fire, the one who slew his brother thirteen years before, was none other than he himself. His resolve to see Joshua's murderer put to the sword undiminished, he begs for Cid to grant him death—but Cid has other plans for his tortured ward.
Gav has been tracking the one the citizens of Lostwing believed to be a Dominant of Fire—the same man who reduced Caer Norvent to cinders—and sends word to Cid that he has picked up the scent of their quarry. However, it seems the forces of Sanbreque are also on Gav's trail, as en route to rendezvous with him at the Kingsfall, Cid and Clive hear the unmistakable sound of an imperial hunting whistle. They split up and race to his rescue.
Clive and Jill make for Phoenix Gate to ascertain the truth of the tragedy that occurred there thirteen years before—a tragedy that led to them both being abducted from Rosaria and enslaved by their enemies. They are soon to find that the intervening years have been no kinder to the land in which they were raised than they were to them.
In order to continue on their way to Phoenix Gate, Clive and Jill must see the bridge to Eastpool rebuilt. They make their way down into the marshes in search of Martha's wayward carpenter.
After Clive and Jill save the carpenter from certain death at the claws of maddened monsters, he thanks them by getting to work on a new bridge.
Clive and Jill are shocked to hear how Bearers are treated in their former homeland. Martha ushers them to the nearby Glaidemond Abbey, that they might learn the full truth.
At the abbey, Clive and Jill come face to face with the horrific fate awaiting most Bearers—to slowly and painfully turn to stone over a lifetime of servitude. It is all Martha and her allies can do to soothe their suffering in their final hours.
At Martha's Rest, Clive and Jill cross paths with Cid, and say their final farewells before continuing their journey. The road ahead leads north through Rhiannon's Ride to Eastpool, then on to Phoenix Gate.
The Mayor of Eastpool asks Clive to meet with an elderly Bearer who resides in his village—a former loyal servant of Clive's father, Archduke Elwin.
Clive meets with the elderly Bearer, who mistakes him for his father. Rather than dispelling his fantasy, Clive plays along with it, that the Bearer might be granted a little of the happiness he had long been denied.
The ruins of Phoenix Gate are still and silent, much as they were on the day after the disaster thirteen years before. Yet amidst the shattered stonework and blackened beams that Clive recognizes only too well, he catches sight of something entirely unexpected—the hooded man he has long been chasing. Desperate to uncover the truth, Clive and Jill pursue the figure into the catacombs.
Clive finally accepts the truth: that he is the Dominant of Ifrit, the second Eikon of Fire. Along with this knowledge¸ he finds a new purpose—to unravel the mystery of why he was chosen to bear this burden, and to live not for revenge, but to atone for the crimes he committed thirteen years before.
Still reeling from the atrocity they witnessed at Eastpool—one ordered by none other than Clive's own mother, the Empress Anabella—Clive and Jill return to the hideaway to consult with Cid as to what might be done.
With the Dame at his side, Clive safely navigates the gates of Northreach and is one step closer to the imperial capital. However, before he can continue his journey, he must first assist the Veil's proprietress locate an associate recently gone missing.
Clive's investigation leads him to a grassy knoll outside the village of Moore where he finds the body of the courtesan Tatienne. Having delivered the ill tidings to Isabelle, he heads to the abandoned church above Moore to meet Jill and Cid.
The Mothercrystals are a curse, and curses are meant to be broken. Committed to the path that lies before them, Clive, Jill, and Cid make for the Holy Capital of Oriflamme where they seek to take their first step to true freedom.
Five years have come and gone since the fall of Drake's Head and the tragic death of Cid, the man who saved Clive and Jill from slavery and changed their lives forever. In that time, Clive has taken up his mentor's name and the mantle of outlaw that he might continue Cid's legacy and see the chains struck from the realm's downtrodden.
Amidst the fallen dreams of a people long faded, Clive and his friends strive to realize a new dream—a dream wherein people of all backgrounds, be they man, Bearer, or Dominant, can live on terms of their own choosing.
With all eyes focused on the Crystalline Dominion, the fringes have begun to slowly fall into disarray as rumors of unspeakable atrocities abound. To make matters worse, trusty ally and friend to man and Bearer alike, Martha, has gone missing from her inn.
Martha has been arrested by the provincial garrison—most likely for her dealings with Bearers—and taken west in the direction of Sorrowise. Clive and Jill rush to follow.
After finding Martha and seeing her safely back to the Rest, Clive and Jill continue on to Glaidemond Abbey. There, they find it occupied by imperial soldiers calling themselves the Black Shields, bent on cleansing the land of Bearers at the order of Her Imperial Majesty, Anabella Lesage.
Having dealt with the immediate threat posed by the Black Shields, Clive and Jill turn their attention to searching the abbey for any who might still be alive. There, admist the slaughter, Jill discovers a lone surviving Bearer who, with his final breath, warns them of the Black Shields' reach.
Clive collects the remains of the fallen Bearers and takes them to a nearby river where they can be consigned to the tides, as is custom.
Before Clive and Jill might claim their second Mothercrystal, they must first secure passage to the distant Iron Kingdom—something Clive believes his long-lost uncle in Port Isolde might be able to provide them…assuming they can get there first.
The taint of Empress Anabella's cruelty spreads without cease across the land Clive and Jill once called home, but there are those who would stand against the dark ride. Those such as the Guardians of the Flame.
The Black Shields' main host is on the march and Sir Wade's Guardians of the Flame plan to make a final stand…with or without Clive and Jill's help.
Fighting side-by-side for the first time in almost twenty years, Clive and Wade succeed in routing the Black Shields at Bewit Bridge. Upon returning to the Lazarus district, Clive learns that the Guardians of the Flame are being funded by coin provided by none other than Clive's own uncle, Byron.
The ship Clive secured from his Uncle Byron is moored safely in the harbor of Port Isolde, waiting to ferry him and Jill to the isle of Drustanus, where Drake's Breath rises from the Boiling Sea. The two return to the hideaway to complete their final preparations to bring down not only the Mothercrystal, but the Patriarch who saw Jill enslaved and forced to kill for his kingdom.
Clive and Jill land their dinghy upon the stony shores of Drustanus. They make for the mountain and the Oratory that lies within, where both the Mothercrystal and the Patriarch shall taste their blades.
Drake's Breath is destroyed, and Imreann slain. Clive and Jill return to the hideaway to rest, relax, and celebrate a job well done.
Hugo Kupka learns of Cid's true identity, and marshals his loyal minions to march on Rosalith—the city in which Clive was born and raised. Though full aware that this is naught but another of Kupka's traps, Clive jumps at the chance to put the hideaway's longtime nemesis to the sword. With Jill and Gav in support, he infiltrates the former ducal capital, where battle between Kupka's Men of the Rock and its imperial occupiers still rages, and together, they make their way to the castle, where Kupka awaits.
Kupka is defeated—but before Clive can land the finishing blow, the downed Dominant is spirited away by a mysterious man from Waloed. Our heroes return to the hideaway to try to make sense of these strange developments.
Midadol Telamon—daughter of the late Cidolfus and engineering prodigy—has lately returned from her studies at the University of Kanver and is keen to put her learning to use.
Clive assists Mid in gathering the necessary materials, tools, and personnel to establish a workshop in the hideaway. His work is done—now Mid's begins.
Vivian succeeds in piecing together the puzzle of Hugo's disappearance—his Waloeder allies carried him across the Velkroy Desert to his home in the heart of Drake's Fang, where he remains to this day. Clive and Byron waste no time in giving chase.
Clive and Byron learn that the enigmatic Ruzena Dalimil is in fact a young man by the name of L'ubor, who demands they prove themselves by "putting an end to the trouble in Dalimil." Only then will he aid them in securing passage through the south gate.
Clive and his uncle root out the ne'er-do-wells expropriating Dalimil's crystal shipments, and L'ubor makes good on his word. The gate now open, they press on to Drake's Fang.
Clive enters the crystal mines of Drake's Fang without encountering a single republican guard—or at least, none that has survived the incursion of orcs ferried over from Waloed, who have slain and sated their hunger for flesh upon the nation's erstwhile allies. Clive sticks to the shaodws as he presses on to Castle Dazbog in pursuit of Hugo Kupka.
Clive returns to the hideaway and sets about spreading the glad tidings that Hugo Kupka—the man who crushed their former home and saw many of their friends slaughtered—is no more. Those who lost their lives that fateful night are avenged, and those lucky enough to survive can now live without fear that he might one day return.
Mid's Enterprise wants for a thermal displacement stack, but she is struggling to realize the designs. She asks for Clive's assistance in crafting the plating that will channel heat away from the mythril engine.
With a little help from Blackthorne, Otto, and Gav, Clive succeeds in sourcing the materials from which the thermal plating can be forged.
Mid's Enterprise wants for a thermal displacement stack, but she is struggling to realize the designs. She asks for Clive's assistance in obtaining a section of Fallen ceramics to repurpose as the apparatus's helm.
With a little help from Mid's long-suffering assistant Helena, Clive succeeds in securing the site of the Fallen ruin from which the thermal helm might be salvaged.
Mid's Enterprise wants for a thermal displacement stack, but she is struggling to realize the designs. She asks for Clive's assistance in sourcing a material resistant yet light enough to serve as the shielding.
With a little help from Harpocrates, Jill, and Tarja, Clive succeeds in formulating a flame-resistant balm, as well as a plan to see it used to craft the thermal shielding.
Only a single Mothercrystal remains in Storm—Drake's Tail, in the Crystalline Dominion. Clive and Jill set out to breach the borders of the Dominion and infiltrate its capital, Twinside—now the besieged seat of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque.
The trader's pass that Goetz was relying on to secure his friends' passage to the Crystalline Dominion has been stolen by street children. Clive and Jill set out to recover it.
Clive corners the culprit, who tells him that the pass is now in possession of the Cast Stones—the band of thugs that forced him into his life of crime. Theodore, younger brother of Goetz's friend Eloise, agrees to help Clive and Jill take it back.
Clive, Jill and Theodore set out in pursuit of the Cast Stones, aiming to put an end to the brigands' villainy—and recover Goetz's stolen trader's pass in the process.
The band find and rout the Cast Stones, and retrieve the missing pass from their ill-gotten gains. But as Clive and Jill are about to bid the Crimson Caravans farewell, Eloise reveals that not only does she know that Clive is Cid the Outlaw, but that she and her brother share his cause. They pledge to work together again—not just for the good of Boklad, but for Bearers the realm over.
Clive and Jill are ensconced in a Twinside tavern, busily plotting their attack on Drake's Tail, when the night air rings out with the sound of explosions in the city. They spring into action, setting out to rescue Goetz from the spreading flames and learn the cause of this chaos.
Upon the Phoenix's wings, Joshua flies his allies away from the still smoldering ruins of the Crystalline Dominion and home to the hideaway. Alas, what should have been his happy reunion with Clive and Jill is overshadowed by the roiling clouds that have spread across the realm, driving all who wallow beneath them to desperation and despair.
A recent raid on Dalimil by desert bandits has the town's residents at odds with how they should deal with future threats. Tensions are hot and L'ubor's patience is wearing thin, so he taps Clive for a solution.
The people of Dalimil put aside their differences and come together to repel a second raid by the desert bandits—the newly-formed town guard fending off invaders from the south, while Clive and Jill handle those from the north—their victory further strengthening the town.
A horde of Akashic beasts has descended upon Martha's Rest, and it is all Martha's hired steel can do to stand against the tide. Clive and Jill enlist to join those fighting at the Fallen Gate before the hill is overrun.
The horde has been driven back, thanks in part to the efforts of the Guardians of the Flame who, realizing they fight for a similar cause as Martha, agree to remain at the Rest for the foreseeable future.
Strange, blue-eyed demons have descended upon the Royal Meadows, decimating a party of local soldiers dispatched to investigate the unwanted guests. With their captain dead, the Northreach garrison is now in disarray and the city has turned to the Dame for guidance.
Morale restored to their ranks, the garrison—aided by Clive and Jill—succeeds in vanquishing the thralls and restoring peace to Northreach…for the time being.
An army of Akashic have gathered at the walls of Kanver, trapping Mid, Byron, and Gav in the Free Cities where they scramble frantically to complete work on Mid's ship, the Enterprise. Fearing the worst, Clive makes his friends' rescue his top priority.
Reunited with his companions, Clive learns of the peril the Free Cities face. Enlisting the help of Jill and his brother, they set out into the sprawling metropolis to locate and rescue survivors.
The Enterprise is but a final piece from completion. Unfortunately, not even Mid knows what that piece might be—though she hazards her father did. Clive returns to the hideaway to trace the footsteps of a friend.
According to Otto, those personal effects of Cid salvaged from the old hideaway are kept in Mid's dungeon. If anything remains that might be of use, it will be there.
Following clues left in a cryptic message from Cid to his daughter, Clive discovers a mysterious item hidden within the Tub & Crown's orchestrion. "Final piece" in hand, he sets off on the return journey to Kanver.
The vessel complete and her mythril engines humming, Mid makes to pursue the Einherjar that they might rescue Jill from the King of Waloed's clutches. However, before Clive and the others can board, the Ironworks's hidden cove is overtaken by a company of Akashic knights bent on violence.
Mid's claim of the Enterprise's unmatchable speed proves true as the ship soon takes over the Black Galleon and rams it, providing Clive with the opportunity to board the royalists' flagship and find Jill while Joshua deals with Odin.
But one Mothercrystal remains in all of Valisthea. To see balance restored to the realm and ensure humanity's place within it secured, the final heart must be destroyed.
Having made land once again on Ash's treacherous Shadow Coast, Clive, Joshua, and Gav begin their lonely march northeast to Stonhyrr, royal capital of Waloed.
Torgal at his side, Clive sets out for the ancient spire of Reverie where the ageless king of Ash, Barnabas Tharmr, awaits atop its crown.
The mural at Gjallarhorn has revealed that it is not only Ifrit that Ultima covets for his vessel, but both Ifrit and the Phoenix. Their resolve renewed, the brothers Rosfield begin the final leg of their journey from Eistla to the capital.
Clive and Joshua arrive in Stonhyrr to find it abandoned of royalists…but teeming with something far worse. They must fight their way through the city if they are to gain the inner sanctum and bring an end to mankind's cruel fate.
The final Mothercrystal has fallen, but a new one has risen in its place. A stain on the horizon, filling the hearts of all who look upon it with dread—Origin. There, deep inside, a reckoning awaits.