Valentia Accordion Translation Project Thread

[VincentASM]

Gosh darn, I thought I was done, but @Kirokan showed me two really cool pages about the secrets of the Thabes Labyrinth.

Annoyingly, the text is small and sometimes really fancy, so it's challenging to transcribe, never mind translate!

I do think once it's done, there will be some very interesting discussions. In particular, there's a very intriguing reference that I'm trying to wrap my head around. Sorry for the vagueness, haha.

[Hawkwing]

56 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

Gosh darn, I thought I was done, but @Kirokan showed me two really cool pages about the secrets of the Thabes Labyrinth.

Annoyingly, the text is small and sometimes really fancy, so it's challenging to transcribe, never mind translate!

I do think once it's done, there will be some very interesting discussions. In particular, there's a very intriguing reference that I'm trying to wrap my head around. Sorry for the vagueness, haha.

I take it it's information not found in the game, although I hope that it also covers what's actually in the game as well. Thabes Labyrinth is optional, difficult, and lengthy, so I can see not everyone attempting it, and they don't want to leave those people in the dark.

Take your time. It's understandable why translating might take a while, and we can be patient. After all, we'll probably forget about the wait as soon as it comes out!

[VincentASM]

I am making better progress than I thought. There are 5 accounts and I've transcribed 2 of the longest ones. Also, I was able to translate perhaps the most interesting one...

The Creation

At last, blood from a divine dragon!
Although it took some time to cross that dangerous bridge,
at least it wasn't a folly. Now I have the real thing.
Even just looking at it, the blood, its power is terrifying.
Beautiful.

After mixing the divine dragon blood with human fluids, certain herbs and nectar,
I sealed the concoction in a vial and observed it for 40 days.
New life had been born. At first, it was a tiny thing, the size of a thumbnail.
Looking at it, it looked no different than a human fetus,
but without a doubt, it was a new life form that had the blood of the gods.
I carefully decided to watch over the growth of this new life form.

I kept it at the temperature of a horse's womb and, each day, I gave it my blood.
On the 80th day, its humanoid shape gradually started to disappear.
Eyes appeared, its neck grew and I could see a tail growing from its behind.

Slowly and slowly, it began to take the shape of a dragon.
However, it was an unusually-shaped dragon, not at all like a divine dragon.
Its six eyes seemed to be smiling at me from inside the vial.
Does it possess consciousness? Is it I that it's smiling at?

I think I have created something truly tremendous.
Even though it is now as big as a puppy,
it shows glimpses of a terrifying power.
I have yet to find a solution to control its rampage when it becomes an adult.

Its voice echoes in my head; I feel like I can see inside of it.
Within it, I can see dark thoughts, Violent thoughts.
It makes me tremble from my heart.
At the same time, I feel like it can look inside me.
As it stares at the trembling me, it smiles re-assuredly.

"That thing has become a dangerous existence that nobody can control.
It pains me, but I have decided to destroy it with my own hands."

(The account comes to an abrupt end.)

[omegaxis1]

7 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

I am making better progress than I thought. There are 5 accounts and I've transcribed 2 of the longest ones. Also, I was able to translate perhaps the most interesting one...

The Creation

At last, blood from a divine dragon!
Although it took some time to cross that dangerous bridge,
at least it wasn't a folly. Now I have the real thing.
Even just looking at it, the blood, its power is terrifying.
Beautiful.

After mixing the divine dragon blood with human fluids, certain herbs and nectar,
I sealed the concoction in a vial and observed it for 40 days.
New life had been born. At first, it was a tiny thing, the size of a thumbnail.
Looking at it, it looked no different than a human fetus,
but without a doubt, it was a new life form that had the blood of the gods.
I carefully decided to watch over the growth of this new life form.

I kept it at the temperature of a horse's womb and, each day, I gave it my blood.
On the 80th day, its humanoid shape gradually started to disappear.
Eyes appeared, its neck grew and I could see a tail growing from its behind.

Slowly and slowly, it began to take the shape of a dragon.
However, it was an unusually-shaped dragon, not at all like a divine dragon.
Its six eyes seemed to be smiling at me from inside the vial.
Does it possess consciousness? Is it I that it's smiling at?

I think I have created something truly tremendous.
Even though it is now as big as a puppy,
it shows glimpses of a terrifying power.
I have yet to find a solution to control its rampage when it becomes an adult.

Its voice echoes in my head; I feel like I can see inside of it.
Within it, I can see dark thoughts, Violent thoughts.
It makes me tremble from my heart.
At the same time, I feel like it can look inside me.
As it stares at the trembling me, it smiles re-assuredly.

"That thing has become a dangerous existence that nobody can control.
It pains me, but I have decided to destroy it with my own hands."

(The account comes to an abrupt end.)

Damn. Still no idea who's Divine Blood it is. However, now we know exactly how Grima was created. 

[r_n]

Hahah yesssss I love this, its great.

Love how at first he's all attached to it and then has to go "yeah...yeah okay i think i messed up". Wonder if Grima really did like anything about Forneus before then, or was just messing with him.

I don't think the divine blood is anyone in particular. Could have even been dried blood from old battles near where the dragons sleep (i think the bridge is an actual chapter in FE3?). You can apparently "feel" the power even in blood, so just keep wandering around until you get a reaction.

[VincentASM]

4 minutes ago, r_n said:

Hahah yesssss I love this, its great.

Love how at first he's all attached to it and then has to go "yeah...yeah okay i think i messed up". Wonder if Grima really did like anything about Forneus before then, or was just messing with him.

I don't think the divine blood is anyone in particular. Could have even been dried blood from old battles near where the dragons sleep (i think the bridge is an actual chapter in FE3?). You can apparently "feel" the power even in blood, so just keep wandering around until you get a reaction.

I thought it was a metaphorical bridge, but I guess it could be an actual bridge as well?

Yeah, I have a feeling the owner of the blood isn't too important. From what we know, there are many divine dragons, not just Naga.

Like Tiki, Mila, Duma, Xane and Gotoh as just the named ones.

[omegaxis1]

3 minutes ago, r_n said:

Hahah yesssss I love this, its great.

Love how at first he's all attached to it and then has to go "yeah...yeah okay i think i messed up". Wonder if Grima really did like anything about Forneus before then, or was just messing with him.

I don't think the divine blood is anyone in particular. Could have even been dried blood from old battles near where the dragons sleep (i think the bridge is an actual chapter in FE3?). You can apparently "feel" the power even in blood, so just keep wandering around until you get a reaction.

Guess even Forneus had some form of moral compass. Or rather Grima is something that's worse than anything he could come up with. But I absolutely love how creepy Forneus made Grima out to be. Like Forneus realized he just created the devil incarnate. 

I don't think that dried blood is something that Forneus would ever use for his experiments. For the blood to have such terrifying power and being mixed as it was, he collected living blood from a Divine Dragon. How he did so is anyone's guess. I'll still say its Naga's because that would be interesting. 

[VincentASM]

Anyway, now that I've had some time to digest what I translated...

Yeah, I think we probably know what happened to Forneus now. Poor guy tried to stop his own creation and probably got killed, eaten or assimilated.

Also, it kinda creeps me out a tiny bit that humans and dragons might not actually be that different. Perhaps they have a common ancestor (similar to the Zunanma in Tellius)?

Edited April 7, 2018 by VincentASM

[r_n]

5 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Guess even Forneus had some form of moral compass. Or rather Grima is something that's worse than anything he could come up with. But I absolutely love how creepy Forneus made Grima out to be. Like Forneus realized he just created the devil incarnate. 

I don't think that dried blood is something that Forneus would ever use for his experiments. For the blood to have such terrifying power and being mixed as it was, he collected living blood from a Divine Dragon. How he did so is anyone's guess. I'll still say its Naga's because that would be interesting. 

Why wouldn't Forneus use dried blood, though. We don't really know enough about him to say he wouldn't settle for *any* divine dragon blood. Blood is blood, I imagine it retains power regardless of age. Especially since it's ~divine dragon blood~

Considering Forneus is doing abomination experiments in secret and rushing back to his secret underground labs I have a hard time seeing him successfully getting live divine dragon blood from...anyone.

 

Just now, VincentASM said:

Anyway, now that I've had some time to digest what I translated...

Yeah, I think we probably know what happened to Forneus now. Poor guy tried to stop his own creation and probably got killed, eaten or assimilated.

Also, it kinda creeps me out a tiny bit that humans and dragons might not actually be that different. Perhaps they have a common ancestor (similar to the Zunanma in Tellius)?

I think it makes sense. Dragons seem to have always been able to take on human form, even before using dragon stones. That always implied some far back relation rather than just general magic usage.

[Acacia Sgt]

I mentioned it before, but I'd say it again, I very much like this FOR SCIENCE angle behind Grima's creation.

5 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

Also, it kinda creeps me out a tiny bit that humans and dragons might not actually be that different. Perhaps they have a common ancestor (similar to the Zunanma in Tellius)?

You mean because of the blood and fluid mixing stuff? Well, who knows. Considering Forneus had other stuff thrown in the mix it's too early to say, I'd think.

[Interdimensional Observer]

6 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

Yeah, I think we probably know what happened to Forneus now. Poor guy tried to stop his own creation and probably got killed, eaten or assimilated.

Ever read Frankenstein? Victor Frankenstein takes 9 months to discover the secret of life and create his new creation (the same as human gestation), and upon completion, finds it a revolting abomination that he must destroy. The "monster" on the other hand is innocent, prodigal, and kind. Hated because people find him hideous, this and his creator's neglect and rejection of him are what make him a "monster".

6 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

Also, it kinda creeps me out a tiny bit that humans and dragons might not actually be that different. Perhaps they have a common ancestor (similar to the Zunanma in Tellius)?

Well that would be interesting, in which case humans are just scaleless dragons from here on out. And Naga has in theory the potential to be powercreeped by a lone surviving dragoman.

1 minute ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I mentioned it before, but I'd say it again, I very much like this FOR SCIENCE angle behind Grima's creation.

Fascinating.

...Sorry, AW fan in me misses Caulder, and the series as a whole.

Forneus is Izuka taken a step further.

[omegaxis1]

7 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

Anyway, now that I've had some time to digest what I translated...

Yeah, I think we probably know what happened to Forneus now. Poor guy tried to stop his own creation and probably got killed, eaten or assimilated.

Also, it kinda creeps me out a tiny bit that humans and dragons might not actually be that different. Perhaps they have a common ancestor (similar to the Zunanma in Tellius)?

Grima is clearly a major mutation. He was probably intended to be born as a human possibly with the blood of dragons. But he became a dragon of monstrosity. 

2 minutes ago, r_n said:

Why wouldn't Forneus use dried blood, though. We don't really know enough about him to say he wouldn't settle for *any* divine dragon blood. Blood is blood, I imagine it retains power regardless of age. Especially since it's ~divine dragon blood~

Considering Forneus is doing abomination experiments in secret and rushing back to his secret underground labs I have a hard time seeing him successfully getting live divine dragon blood from...anyone.

Any scientist that seeks to create perfection desires nothing but the best. Using dried blood that would no doubt lose much of its potency is something that Forneus wouldn't accept. Also, the way its worded, crossing the bridge is very much likely in the metaphorical sense and he took a big risk in trying to acquire it.

4 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

I mentioned it before, but I'd say it again, I very much like this FOR SCIENCE angle behind Grima's creation.

Grima, one of the most powerful entities in the Fire Emblem universe... is a creature of SCIENCE!!!

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Ever read Frankenstein? Victor Frankenstein takes 9 months to discover the secret of life and create his new creation (the same as human gestation), and upon completion, finds it a revolting abomination that he must destroy. The "monster" on the other hand is innocent, prodigal, and kind. Hated because people find him hideous, this and his creator's neglect and rejection of him are what make him a "monster".

Didn't Grima actually say in Heroes that his ugly form is a reflection of humanity's own ugliness? And Forneus trying to kill Grima might have basically been a big showing that his creator, his own father, sought to kill him.  Oh hey, it's Dragon Zephiel. XD

[VincentASM]

By the way, here's the first parts that I skipped over.

Note that some of it may be slightly inaccurate because I had to guess or outright skip some tiny kanji.

"Unexpected Things"

(From a historian's transcripts)

In the dark night, I witnessed fireflies, then thousands upon thousands of death.
In the darkness, there may be the light of dawn.
Darkness has a will of its own, and it mockingly laughs at each life.

****************************************

That fishing village was "unusual".
Everyone seemed to give me a deadly stare.
The shadows from the western sea that I saw, they were "unusual".

I heard the following old stories from those who lived in Furia for a long time.
It is said that a great calamity shall come here from the western seas.
An ancient fell god driven yonder by the divine dragons' ruler,
holding a grudge against the land of Archanea, shall return---
Therefore, they train in combat. To prepare to face the unknown horror.
So that's why the air in Furia Harbour feels so thick and tense.

When the Furians reach adulthood, it is said they test their bravery
by visiting the ancient city ruins in the north of the eastern desert.
The ruins are home to ruffians, and sometimes Terrors appear.
They are taught to travel the desert, where the horizons are naught but sand,
until they suddenly see the abandoned tower.
That tower is the tower of Thabes, the ruins' landmark.

****************************************

That day, it was not the calamity that came from the western seas.
A hero that seemed to be cloaked in azure flames, and a maiden with shining wings.
They were... gods, or dragonkin with dragonstones;
a mysterious group that livened the place with their majestic presence.
But, in other words, they were "unusual"---
My curiosity gave me no choice but to follow them.

****************************************

"It", suddenly was "there";
emotions beyond my knowledge awakened inside of me.
Fear, awe and despair---

Sealed with a Secret

Here are accounts left behind by various people.
These writings were carved on stone tablets retrieved from the depths of the Thabes Labyrinth;
they recounted a madness incomprehensible to common folk.
An abominable darkness within the Archanean continent where man and dragon co-existed.
Perhaps the inevitable outcome is--it is not safe to divulge.
If you are unfortunate to uncover these pages, I would recommend that you keep everything to yourselves.
--At the very least, it no longer has anything to do with me--

Edited April 7, 2018 by VincentASM

[omegaxis1]

4 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

That day, it was not the calamity that came from the western seas.
A hero that seemed to be cloaked in azure flames, and a maiden with shining wings.
They were... gods, or dragonkin with dragonstones;
a mysterious group that livened the place with their awesome presence.
But, in other words, they were "unusual"---
My curiosity gave me no choice but to follow them.

Wait what? Who? Alm and Celica? They aren't dragons. So who are they referring to?

[r_n]

1 minute ago, omegaxis1 said:

Any scientist that seeks to create perfection desires nothing but the best. Using dried blood that would no doubt lose much of its potency is something that Forneus wouldn't accept. Also, the way its worded, crossing the bridge is very much likely in the metaphorical sense and he took a big risk in trying to acquire it.

This is fantasy mad science, though, and divine dragons are at the top of the dragon foodchain besides earth dragons. And also maybe the bulk of them are dead (I need to go find the timeline again). Sometimes you need to settle. I have a hard time seeing Forneus successfully take live blood from a live dragon, is all I'm saying.

Even Victor Frankenstein settled for graverobbing rather than just killing people and taking fresh body parts.

[YingofDarkness]

Is it weird that I started to feel bad for Grima from reading that. Forneus just created him to seemingly control him and his power for his own horrible ends, and when he realized he couldn't control him he decided to get rid of him like some failed experiment. Which he was, but he was obviously alive and sentient at this point so it makes me feel odd. I interpreted Grima smiling at him not as him smilingly sinisterly, but as a baby would smile at its parent so the final line made me sad for him and mad at Forneus. Dude got what was coming for him for messing around with things he knew he shouldn't have...

13 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

Also, it kinda creeps me out a tiny bit that humans and dragons might not actually be that different. Perhaps they have a common ancestor (similar to the Zunanma in Tellius)?

I kind of always assumed they did because dragons look so much like humans in their humanoid forms. Yeah sometimes they have tails, and the ears and eyes can be different but otherwise a human couldn't be blamed for assuming a dragon was just another human in the FE universe. I figured they either evolved from the same ancestor but at different rates (Dragons where faster while the humans lagged behind quite a bit), or the Gods in the FE universe created them in their image at different times. However, the only actual FE God that exists to my knowledge is Ashunera correct? I don't know much about the Jugdral ones, but have heard that some of them might be dragons and I know that the rest of the ones in the FE universe are dragons. Somebody correct me on this though because I have only actually played the 3DS ones and just found the info on the others online.

[Armagon]

4 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Wait what? Who? Alm and Celica? They aren't dragons. So who are they referring to?

Could the "maiden with shining wings" perhaps be Naga?

The writing seems to be from a foreigners perspective. So the "maiden with shining wings' could be Naga but then who is the "hero with azure flames"? The only one ever described like that is Ike but that's Tellius.

 

Ahhh, so many questions.

[Acacia Sgt]

12 minutes ago, VincentASM said:

A hero that seemed to be cloaked in azure flames, and a maiden with shining wings.
They were... gods, or dragonkin with dragonstones;

Azure flames? Makes me think of Ike... Hero of the Blue Flame is his title, after all... Ike is a dragon retcon confirmed! Now we now what eventually lead to Priam. lol

Edited April 7, 2018 by Acacia Sgt

[r_n]

3 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Wait what? Who? Alm and Celica? They aren't dragons. So who are they referring to?

My first thought was referring to the first exalt & naga, but the entire passage is sort of confusingly written (doing a good job of imitating old texts like this)

[omegaxis1]

5 minutes ago, r_n said:

This is fantasy mad science, though, and divine dragons are at the top of the dragon foodchain besides earth dragons. And also maybe the bulk of them are dead (I need to go find the timeline again). Sometimes you need to settle. I have a hard time seeing Forneus successfully take live blood from a live dragon, is all I'm saying.

Even Victor Frankenstein settled for graverobbing rather than just killing people and taking fresh body parts.

Forneus sought to create the "perfect lifeform". There's no such thing as "settle" for anything less than the best. And give by how he remarked that it had been dangerous, I would say that he clearly succeeded. How he got it is a mystery. 

5 minutes ago, YingofDarkness said:

Is it weird that I started to feel bad for Grima from reading that. Forneus just created him to seemingly control him and his power for his own horrible ends, and when he realized he couldn't control him he decided to get rid of him like some failed experiment. Which he was, but he was obviously alive and sentient at this point so it makes me feel odd. I interpreted Grima smiling at him not as him smilingly sinisterly, but as a baby would smile at its parent so the final line made me sad for him and mad at Forneus. Dude got what was coming for him for messing around with things he knew he shouldn't have...

Does this not also reflect in what Grima says in Heroes? How humans ask the gods for help, only to shun them when they got their desires? 

Seriously, add in what we know from Heroes, and everything in this backstory about Grima makes so much sense. 

5 minutes ago, YingofDarkness said:

I kind of always assumed they did because dragons look so much like humans in their humanoid forms. Yeah sometimes they have tails, and the ears and eyes can be different but otherwise a human couldn't be blamed for assuming a dragon was just another human in the FE universe. I figured they either evolved from the same ancestor but at different rates (Dragons where faster while the humans lagged behind quite a bit), or the Gods in the FE universe created them in their image at different times. However, the only actual FE God that exists to my knowledge is Ashunera correct? I don't know much about the Jugdral ones, but have heard that some of them might be dragons and I know that the rest of the ones in the FE universe are dragons. Somebody correct me on this though because I have only actually played the 3DS ones and just found the info on the others online.

Ashunera is indeed the only confirmed goddess, along with her two halves. Duma and Mila were believed to be gods as well, but now they are dragons for real.

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Could the "maiden with shining wings" perhaps be Naga?

The writing seems to be from a foreigners perspective. So the "maiden with shining wings' could be Naga but then who is the "hero with azure flames"? The only one ever described like that is Ike but that's Tellius.

Ahhh, so many questions.

 

2 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Azure flames? Makes me think of Ike... Hero of the Blue Flame is his title, after all... Ike is a dragon retcon confirmed! Now we now what eventually lead to Priam. lol

 

1 minute ago, r_n said:

My first thought was referring to the first exalt & naga, but the entire passage is sort of confusingly written (doing a good job of imitating old texts like this)

I think it actually might be Alm and Celica. This is possibly because the context states that they came from the west, meaning Valentia. And they may have just mistaken Alm and Celica as dragons simply. They know about Manaketes, and the powerful presence that Alm and Celica show might make them believe that they are. They do have Divine Dragon blood in them after all.

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, omegaxis1 said:

I think it actually might be Alm and Celica. This is possibly because the context states that they came from the west, meaning Valentia. And they may have just mistaken Alm and Celica as dragons simply. They know about Manaketes, and the powerful presence that Alm and Celica show might make them believe that they are. They do have Divine Dragon blood in them after all.

But Alm is never depicted with azure flames (or any flames). The only thing that comes close is Scendscale but that's a massive stretch since it's a Monado Buster giant beam of light, not flames. Celica with wings, maybe. Isn't that one of her moves in Warriors?

[YingofDarkness]

2 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

Does this not also reflect in what Grima says in Heroes? How humans ask the gods for help, only to shun them when they got their desires? 

Seriously, add in what we know from Heroes, and everything in this backstory about Grima makes so much sense.

I was actually thinking about those lines when I read through that passage. Grima was never really given much of a chance, and I'm always a sucker for that stuff.

3 minutes ago, omegaxis1 said:

I think it actually might be Alm and Celica. This is possibly because the context states that they came from the west, meaning Valentia. And they may have just mistaken Alm and Celica as dragons simply. They know about Manaketes, and the powerful presence that Alm and Celica show might make them believe that they are. They do have Divine Dragon blood in them after all.

I think it is the First Exalt and Naga actually. The timeline leaves Alm and Celica going into Thabes ambiguous, but we do know that The First Exalt was the one who sealed Grima, and he would have needed Naga's power to do it. There is also no pictures of Celica with wings or of her with a pegusus (which could create the illusion of wings) so the female being her doesn't make much sense.

[SMinairo]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

But Alm is never depicted with azure flames (or any flames). The only thing that comes close is Scendscale but that's a massive stretch since it's a Monado Buster giant beam of light, not flames. Celica with wings, maybe. Isn't that one of her moves in Warriors?

The blue flames, aside from Scendscale, could come from his cape flowing or something like that. I've always asumed that Celica's move was supposed to be seraphim.

[Sock]

"Maiden with wings"

It's Elincia's pegasus that has the wings. Ike and Elincia went world hopping.

/shot

edit: Oh bugger, someone beat me to the pegasus thing...

Edited April 7, 2018 by Sock

[r_n]

1 minute ago, omegaxis1 said:

Forneus sought to create the "perfect lifeform". There's no such thing as "settle" for anything less than the best. And give by how he remarked that it had been dangerous, I would say that he clearly succeeded. How he got it is a mystery. 

If he went into dragon territory he probably snuck past a ton of feral dragons. If that happened there may not even be any divine dragons for him to get the blood.

I don't see this dweeb standing to any divine dragon, much less able to successfully trick them into giving up blood.

 

 

 

Also, I double checked. The rite of awakening requires you to be bathed in Naga's  flames. We never see what color those flames are, but Awakening & Naga in general have a tendency to blues....