Ceiling in the Temple of Kiltia; the Rood of Iocus, the tattoo worn by Sydney, the tattoo worn by dancer-priestess Müllenkamp in the opening video, and the Blood-Sin/Rood Inverse are all one and the same pattern, but with profound differences
Which parts of the Ivalice that has become woven into the Final Fantasy series were Matsuno's, which were collaborations, and which were in his mind at the time he created Vagrant Story, perhaps not even he can say. But in order to see the full scope of the world that Yasumi Matsuno envisioned, it is necessary to include works that he later created, and the elaborations on them.
Ivalice (イヴァリース Ivarīsu) is a recurring world in the Final Fantasy Series. Created by Yasumi Matsuno, Ivalice has been the setting of several games, one, Vagrant Story, not even of the series.
Many other Final Fantasy worlds have been unique to one game, and Ivalice has been the setting of more games than any other, albeit Ivalice at different periods in time.
Müllenkamp's tattoo in happier days, before it became steeped in oceans of blood and pain
Vagrant Story[]
Vagrant Story takes place within the kingdom of Valendia, which shares the same name as a continent in Final Fantasy XII. The story spans three locations; the capital city Valnain, The Graylands and the evil city of Leá Monde where most of the gameplay and plot takes place. There are several references to Ivalice within the game. It is also notable that Final Fantasy XII uses the Old Valendian Calendar. The Kiltea religion also features in both.
One of two ingame maps of Ivalice in Final Fantasy XII. Valendia is the name both of the kingdom in which the events of Vagrant Story take place, and the northern continent of Ivalice. Click on the image to show full size
While Vagrant Story is not labeled with a Final Fantasy title, the game was designed by Yasumi Matsuno, the director and story creator for Final Fantasy Tactics and the original director for Final Fantasy XII, so any similarities between these games are not coincidental. Vagrant Story was actually meant to be a series name, with the first game the first episode known as The Phantom Pain.
Game Timeline[]
The historical order:
- Final Fantasy XII
- Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
- Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Main Game)
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Vagrant Story
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Prologue & Epilogue)
Müllenkamp's Leá Monde[]
Gran Grimoire[]
Vagrant Story, the Fandub – 8 – Betrayal Most Foul
Guildenstern deduces that the Gran Grimoire is not a book hidden in a secret crevice, but every wall in shade and sunlight: the entire city of Leá Monde
The carved letters on the walls of Leá Monde is said to be in ancient Kildean, so it is most likely that the original magic was created in Müllenkamp's Leá Monde or before. The Dark as it exists today was not from that time; the magic is corrupted and grown stronger since the souls of the city's entire population were sacrificed by the Neo-Iocans.
The Dark[]
Saint Iocus and the cult he surrounded himself with began preaching against the use of magicks. Amidst this clamor of intolerance, Müllenkamp and the Neo-Kiltians can do nothing but simply practice their religion, but in doing so are damned. The influence of the Iocus priesthood and their cult increases until magic is outlawed and Müllenkamp's religion is branded a cult. A literal witch hunt of her followers by the Inquisition kills and tortures them in a massacre they call the Blood Sin. A Neo-Iocan conjuration ritual strikes the prosperous city of Leá Monde with a great earthquake, to create of the dark energy of its lost souls a "Wellspring" of The Dark, and the followers of Müllenkamp are all but wiped from the face of Ivalice.
Blood Sin[]
Vagrant Story pt15 (of21) The Key
The Rood of Iocus was originally a symbol tattooed on the back of the Kiltia priestess Müllenkamp, and the Blood Sin was originally the Müllenkamp Kiltians' name for the terrible crimes committed against them by the Iocans. The Iocan Inquisition stole the Rood icon, making of it a symbol of how extreme their "faith" was, that they would cut the symbol into the backs of captured Müllenkamp faithful, to torture them. They may have stolen the name Blood Sin as well, attempting to cast aside their guilt by hiding it in plain sight (eg using it ironically), or simply made a Big Lie and called the Kiltians'use of magic the Blood Sin. As the number of victims grew and the number of survivors waned, what Müllenkamp's Kiltians would have known as their holy symbol, became more known as a symbol of what was done to them; a Sin that shed their Blood, slowly and agonizingly, over and over, until they were all dead. Hence, the name "Blood Sin" merges the symbol of the oppressors with the weight of responsibility the Iocans bore for the pain and suffering they had inflicted on Müllenkamp.
While the moral lessons of most fiction is "supposed" to be clearly, evil is bad, there is a decidedly mixed message in making an assumption that evil grants power, eg in the way that sacrificing an entire city creates The Dark. However, Vagrant Story is among a very small minority of fiction that also ascribes power to altruism and self-sacrifice, although it is merely implied and not stated outright. To wit, the "Blood-Sin" is a Sin committed by those who "carved" it into the flesh of those weaker than themselves, that they should have protected and nurtured, but instead tortured and allowed to wither. Yet subsequently it becomes a power to those oppressed (or at least their representatives who fight the oppressors). The Inquisition of Iocus carved it onto the backs of martyrs, followers of Kiltia and Müllenkamp who resisted the Iocans' demands,[1] but Sydney and then Ashley use it to thwart the power-grab of the Iocans' inheritors.
Losstarot's Leá Monde[]
The Manor estate of the Duke, set fire to save Leá Monde's power to use against the Cardinal, and allowed to burn by the Duke to preserve his interests in Parliament
Sydney Losstarot, rallies those downtrodden, disaffected and disgusted with the religious oligarchy and secret police around the name of Müllenkamp.[1] He means to use the powers of Leá Monde to fight the fire of the Cardinal's Dark with the fire of Leá Monde's Dark. He is granted a gift with the arrival of Riskbreaker Ashley Riot. Ashley, he realizes, is an even greater vessel for The Dark than himself. A trusting soul at heart, Ashley requires the cynical Jan Rosencrantz to open his eyes to the threat of Valendia's powers that be: the VKP itself, Parliament, the Cardinal, and his "own hand" - Romeo Guildenstern. But even Rosencrantz cannot imagine the depths to which Guildenstern will stoop to realize his ambition. However much he serves the Cardinal, he serves himself more, and no sooner is the power of the Gran Grimoire visibly within reach than he reveals his plans for using it to purge Valendia just as the Iocans had. Stripping Sydney of his tattoo, he cuts down she who was always his second love, Lady Samantha, to consummate the pact that grasps the reins of the entire city and its Grimoire. Ashley stops Romeo, and in turn holds the dark powers of Leá Monde from those that would a use them. Ashley the Vagrant, alone, drifting, damned, yet a Ronin with no master, eternally saving lost souls who have become the undead.
Physical Connections[]
With so much internal suggestion—as well as official acknowledgment—that the games are connected, fans have tried to piece together the settings of Ivalice in terms of geography.
Some major points of overlap include the Clockwork City of Goug, the regions of Bervenia and Glabados, the continent of Valendia, and the continent of Ordalia.
Direct correlation between countries in different eras can be erroneous, eg Ordalia of Final Fantasy Tactics and Ordalia of Final Fantasy XII. Countries may change their borders over time, and this corresponds to what is seen in Final Fantasy XII’s prologue, where the largest known map of Ivalice shows the Ordalias to be different.
In Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, another example the regions of Bervenia and Glabados are placed next to Dalmasca, putting a large portion of the future kingdom of Ivalice near its borders (this also is different to the fan-made map). It may also be that these regions are related only in name to those of Final Fantasy Tactics, or they may reflect a developmental shortcut taken when creating the maps for Revenant Wings. Revenant Wings was initially an stand-alone game, before Square Enix decided to turn it into a Final Fantasy XII sequel.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, which places Goug in western Ordalia, further west even than the Rozarrian Empire. To place Goug and Bervenia in close proximity, as they were in Final Fantasy Tactics, would require the destruction and shift of vast swathes of Ordalia; it may be that the Cataclysm provides this. In the original "Tactics," Bervenia City was to the east of Lesalia and Goland, while Bervenia Volcano was to the west. Countries have often moved their capital cities, and it is no stretch to imagine them retaining the name and calling the original city something else. But there is the possibility that there could be multiple Bervenias, or that the name is not quite as fixed to one location. The connection depends largely on which, if any, of these three locations (Goug, Bervenia, and Glabados) are intended to closely relate to their counterparts in other games.
Valendia appears first as the name of a continent in Final Fantasy XII and later in the timeline as a nation in Vagrant Story, with similar nomenclature occurring in Ordalia/Ordallia and Ivalice itself, perhaps indicating shrunken empires.
History of Ivalice[]
Now that we have seen Vagrant Story's world and learned what place it holds in the timeline, here is the rest of the history of Ivalice, based on the definitive records in the respective Ultimania of each game and in-game information.
The Age of Myths[]
The Occuria gods worked upon the world of Ivalice. In their efforts they created the twenty four Espers, or Scions, based on zodiacs, with the scions split in half as scions of Light and Dark, tasked with very important purposes. Some believed there is a Thirteenth Scion Zodiark based on discoveries of ancient texts. The scions of Dark, as the tale goes, rose against the gods and were bound to the world, hence why only half the Scions appear as espers. The creation myths of Ivalice are many, but one of the better known ones is as follows:
Before Ivalice was created, there exists two warring tribes of gods, the Fabar and the Danan. The war lasted for thousands of years, until the Prophet Matoya predicts the death of the Danan god-king Xabaam in the hands of his trusted blade. Xabaam fears his trusted General Ahnas to be the death of him, and imprisons him and his loyal followers into the darkest labyrinths. Ahnas implores the death-god Heth to free him in exchange for his own life. Freed along with his followers, Ahnas sought revenge.
Now Ahnas the Holy, he and his followers appeared millenia later upon the Fabar and battled against the Danan triumphantly. The Fabar god We'aka was intrigued with the strength of his vengeance and swore an oath to fight alongside his men. Battles raged on for countless millenia until Ahnas finally confronts Xabaam and defeats him.
While We'aka sought the head of Xabaam, Ahnas wished the Danan god-king pay for his misdeeds and immortalized Xabaam's body, transforming it into a great land and named it Ivalice. Now Ahnas the Shining, he and his followers then withdraw into the heavens, watching as Man lived and thrived upon Xabaam's eternal body.
The Age of Gods[]
Thousands of years before the 'Galtean Alliance' was ever established, the Occuria ruled over all of Ivalice. While Man was just starting to thrive, the Occuria has built imposing structures such as the 'Pharos' at the Ridorana Cataract. However, for reasons unknown, the Occuria withdraw from their command into hiding in their own city Giruvegan, causing mass confusion throughout the world until a new age finally dawned.
Some believed that this happened because of the Thousand Years War incited by the twelve Espers, led by the corrupt Holy Seraph Ultima. Eventually the Espers were defeated, and the Occuria, wanting to ensure that the Espers will not rebel once again, tied their very existence into glyphs and banished them to the dark reaches within Ivalice.
At the same time, the Aegyl, Feolthanos, defied the Occuria and sealed himself and his people on the Purvama of Lemurés to evade their wrath. But in secret, Feolthanos married a Viera, creating a subspecies known as the Feol Viera.
Time of the Glaciers[]
Ivalice is covered in ice, much like the ice ages of earth. During this period many creatures adapted well to a land based way of life. Some creatures, such as the Croakadile, had a hard time surviving through the colder temperatures and their population dwindled. Eventually over all of Ivalice, glaciers begins to melt as the climate's temperature rose, flooding the planet. The sudden change in sea level killed many of landed species, and a number of surviving creatures, such as the Coeurl, were forced to adapt.
Magick enters Ivalice[]
Vague records claim that magick was brought over Ivalice from an unknown continent, and into the hands of the Man. It is unknown if the Occuria had a hand in this or not.
The Galtean Alliance[]
The light of Kiltia is founded. This religion proves relief for some people of Ivalice.
Later, Ivalice is at war. The Occuria, fearing Ivalice will be scarred even more, give the Garif a large piece of Nethicite, a weapon to set everything straight. The Garif are unable to use it however. Angered at the Garif's incompetence, the Occuria came to learn of Dynast-King Raithwall's victory over Belias. Amazed, they gave the Nethicite and the Sword of Kings to him. Taking only three shards off the larger Nethicite, King Raithwall unites all of Ivalice. He would now be known as Ivalice's first 'Dynast King', and the founder of the Galtean Alliance. During this time, the Archadian Empire and Rozarrian Empire rise. Both are great nations, who expand very quickly.
King Raithwall later dies. He is buried with the Dawn Shard, and his tomb is guarded by an Esper he had defeated in life, Belias. The Dusk Shard goes to the Kingdom of Dalmasca, while the Midlight Shard goes to the Kingdom of Nabradia.
In Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, the Ruins of Delgantua are described as dating back to the Galtean era. This is further evidenced by the ancient stone architecture that composes the rooms and halls of the abandoned ruins.
The Age of Technology[]
Promotional image of Ivalice in the Age of Technology of Final Fantasy XII, which occurs before Vagrant Story
Centuries pass, and the Empires of Rozarria and Archadia are at war. Eventually, a truce is signed. The son of Emperor Gramis Solidor, Vayne Carudas Solidor, kills his father and takes over the Archadian Empire. He hopes to start a war with Rozarria and Archadia, and become Ivalice's new Dynast King. It is revealed he is being led by the rogue Occuria, Venat, who suceeded in shattering the control its kind had over Ivalice.
Vayne is eventually stopped, and killed, by Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, along with the Sky Pirates Balthier and Fran, street urchin Vaan and his friend Penelo, and Basch fon Ronsenburg.
A year later, the Purvama of Lemurés is revealed to Ivalice, along with the mysterious Aegyl race. This sparks a great treasure hunting spree among Sky Pirates that a maddened Feolthanos attempted to take advantage of. The party that stopped Vayne Solidor, along with some new friends, manage to defeat Feolthanos and restore peace to Ivalice.
The Age of Ajora[]
At some point, a great catastrophe hits Ivalice, wiping out many landmarks and even taking out the race of the Moogles. The other races disappear in this time. Man starts referring to the previous era as the Golden Era. He starts building again from the ground up.
In an age where airships and robots are commonplace, Pharism became the dominant religion of the Holy Ydoran Empire. At this time, a man called Ajora Glabados is born, and at the age of twenty starts to preach about the coming of Paradise. His influence caused unrest among the Pharist priests, and eventually, Ajora is caught and hanged by the Empire. After the execution, an earthquake happens, wiping out Ydora from the map. Some people take this as a sign from the gods, and start praising Ajora as a child of the gods. Over the next few decades, Ajora's tale would be twisted to make him seem even greater. The Church of Glabados was founded by Ajora's disciples, with Saint Ajora as its main focus. Pharism eventually fades away, with the Church of Glabados now the main religion.
Ivalice is now at war again, between two men after the throne. This war would become known as the War of the Lions. In reality, the War is simply a means for a greater evil. The Espers, now calling themselves Lucavi, have returned, and want to rule all of Ivalice. To this end, they possess people, and use them to do their bidding. Even the great Ajora was being possessed by one, their leader, Ultima. It is unclear why the Espers have changed their name to Lucavi, or what their final ultimate agenda was. Using the War of the Lions, the current leader of the Lucavi, Hashmal, hopes to revive Ultima. In order to do so, they need a lot of bloodshed to revive Ajora, Ultima's last host. They manage to revive Ultima, but a young heretic called Ramza Beoulve stops them. Ramza is considered a heretic, and his old friend, Delita Heiral, is remembered by history as the man who ended the War. The only man who knows the truth, Orran Durai, is found and executed by the church as a heretic. Several decades on, Orran's descendant Arazlam Durai finds his writing and decides to write his story.
While not historically relevant, Luso Clemens appears during this time period but how he gets there is unknown. It may be speculated that he used powers of his Grimoire of the Rift to return to Ivalice in a different era once he is freed from his imprisonment.
Balthier from Final Fantasy XII also appears in this era, claiming to have been brought to Ivalice's future by the Cache of Glabados. It can be speculated that during his time as sky pirate, Balthier found a magical artifact that transported him through time. This is further supported by his own statement at the end of Final Fantasy XII that he was going after the Cache of Glabados.
Neo-Kiltia Age[]
The point in the timeline where Müllenkamp's Leá Monde is founded; the background for the Vagrant Story itself. Science and technology has remained elusive; in military might it is redundant to magic, but not in its contribution to the common lives of the people. The story ends with a powerful countering force to the hegemony of the Church and State and it can be imagined that this, and perhaps the subsequent rise of science, leading to the considerations of a more comfortable, equal and free population being given more weight.
The Most Recent Ivalician History[]
Several centuries later, magic has completely vanished from the world, replaced by technology. Perhaps there was a second Iocan purge, or perhaps magic was pushed out the world by science in some new way, where they had previously coexisted. There exists a small town by the name of St. Ivalice in the cold regions. A young boy called Mewt Randell bought an ancient book, in reality a grimoire called the Gran Grimoire. Looking at it with his friends Marche Radiuju and Ritz Malheur, along with Marche's little brother Doned, the book recreates a dream Ivalice following Mewt's designs, who in turn is inspired by a Final Fantasy game and the grimoire's illustration. Marche eventually reverts the world back to normal, knowing it isn't healthy to live in a dream world.
Ten to twenty years later, a young boy called Luso Clemens finds the Gran Grimoire himself. Unlike Mewt's experience, this time the Gran Grimoire actually sends Luso back in time, to the real Golden Era.
Alternatively it is possible that the presence of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance in Ivalice itself is a retcon, as material related to FFTA noted the existence of a civilization that was destroyed by Noah's flood; this implies that St. Ivalice is of our world.
Notes[]
- In FFTA2, Luso is transported to an Ivalice that is in the timeline after Revenant Wings (when Vaan and Penelo fully become Sky Pirates, and hinted by the discussion they have with Hurdy) and before FFT (or during FFT if his WotL appearance is considered canon, which is possible since Mewt gave the Grimoire he used in FFTA to Luso at the end of FFTA2. This would also explain why Luso was looking for his friends in WotL. If his WotL appearance is canon then it would take place after the events of FFTA2.
- FFTA2's double appearance is due to the fact that the appearances of Luso in both Ivalice and St. Ivalice.
External Links[]
- Full text of this article at the Final Fantasy Wiki. Material has been added here, so it will not all be there.