Firstly, many thanks to @littlepanduh on Twitter for helping me to take a look at this fic and guiding me towards Some Revision of this fic before I recklessly yeet this into the void. (And thank you for being firm about fixing the dialogue. I wrote all the dialogue in italics at first...) You're a gem. She mainly writes for the LOONA fandom (handles for AO3/AFF are also littlepanduh).

Next, the first part of the fic is set in their time at the monastery slightly before the start of the game's events.This fic will also generally assume some canon events from the Black Eagles/Crimson Flower route, which also means that there are spoilers(!!!) for the game.

ON SETTING:

TLDR, just assume that there is a strong fantasy/medieval culture and there is ~conflict~ that is going to be happening soon, though that's not within the scope of this chapter.

Here's an explanation of the setting:
• The game is set in the continent of Fódlan, which is divided into 3 territories. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus to the northwest, the Leicester Alliance in the northeast, and the Adrestian Empire in the south. At the center of these 3 territories is the Garreg Mach Monastery, which is the seat of the Church of Seiros (the dominant religion of Fódlan), and also where Fódlan's nobility (and some commoners) may be educated at the Officers' Academy.

• At the Officers Academy, students from the Kingdom join the Blue Lions, the Empire join the Black Eagles, and the Alliance join the Golden Deer. They can switch houses.

• The leaders of these factions are Emperor Edelgard von Hresvelg (Adrestian Empire), King Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Holy Kingdom of Faerghus), and Claude von Riegan (Leicester Alliance). The Church is/was headed by Archbishop Rhea.

• As a minor detail - "Crests" are mentioned in this fic. People are generally born with their Crests, and these Crests empower an individual, makes them stronger etc., allowing them to use mythical weapons (Holy Relics). Crests are uber important in Fódlan (power!), but especially so to people in Faerghus, because it is generally accepted that Crests are the only way they can defend their territory from Sreng (to the north) and from the rest of the continent.

• The 3 territories have their own pretty distinct culture/political tradition. The main thing about this fic will be the emphasis on knighthood/chivalry from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

• Pretty importantly, the three nations do go to war at some point.

I've also written... 6k words for part ii so far. am hoping that I'll be done with that soon. I am perfectly aware I didn't write Yeri into this chapter, my bad, but my HC for this fic retained their age differences. Enrolling her into the Academy with the others felt weird to me.