#saronia

Japanese text (via Google lens):

あまご きとう ぎしき 魔法の成立はそもそもが宗教的 であった。雨乞いや祈祷の儀式に おいて使用されたのに始まり、や がて病気の治療に使用される程度 で、白、黒といった分類は存在し なかった。

魔法がその歴史において二極化 を見るのは2つの大国間において 起こった戦争に起因する。時のサ きいん

スーン王が攻撃手段の1つとして まどうし 魔法に着目し、国内の魔道師を配 さっしょう 下に置き、殺傷の手段として産み 出されたのが黒魔法の始まりであ る。だが、一部の魔道師は魔法を 殺傷の道具として使うべきではな 「いと考え、サスーンを脱出、サロ ※ニアへと移り住み、新たなる魔法 S の体系を確立した。これが白魔法 の始まりである。やがて黒魔法の せんきょう 発達とともに、戦況はサスーンに 有利となり、多くのサロニアの兵 士たちが黒魔法によって傷つき、 倒れていった。事態を重く見たサ ロニア王は白魔道師たちに救いの 手を求める。ここで初めて白魔道 しろまどうし 師は黒魔法から人々を守るという たいめいぶん 大義名分のもとに戦争の渦へその

さつりく そして遂には究極の殺戮魔法とし て白はホーリー、黒はフレアの完 成をみる。だが、その時誰一人と してこの魔法の本当の恐ろしさに 気がついた者はいなかった。そし て悲劇が起こった。その互いの究 極魔法の巨大なエネルギーがぶつ かりあった瞬間、両軍の数万人の 兵士が一瞬にして消滅してしまっ たのだ。この戦いを機に戦乱は一 気に終結へと向かう。そして戦争 の終結とともに大きすぎる魔法の 力は禁断の地「エウレカ」へ封印 されたのである。 ふういん 身を投じることになるのである。

When it comes to royal iconography, there is a sort of science behind it known as heraldry. There is a surprising amount of thought that goes into the various symbols and creatures depicted on, say, a coat of arms. It's not specific to royalty: Stuff like governments, academies, religions etc all use it. It's something to keep in mind also keep in mind that I'm not at all an expert in this stuff, I just think it's neat.

Famicom FF3

Final Fantasy III was the first game in the series to give the nations emblems with charges on them. It would be far from the last, as later games would toy around with the concept, such as Final Fantasy 4 giving each of the regions their own emblem (with the 3D remake redesigning them).

As that last sentence implies, the nations of Final Fantasy III all shared the same emblem: That of a bird (possibly an eagle, one of the two most common charges) in the Displayed attitude (although it lacks legs).

The practical answer would be something such as time constraints, or simplicity for the sprite artists.

But what if we overthink it?

That brings us to two possibilities:

There is a mythological creature that all three kingdoms based their sigils on. This is possible, although we don't have much to go off of in III itself

The Ancients, between their airships and the Floating Continent, seemed to be interested in living in the sky. Thus, the emblems are remnants of the Ancients' era.

But, those are just theories.

GAME THEO-

Remake FF3

In the 3D remake of Final Fantasy III, a lot of elements were retooled or reinterpreted. When it came to the kingdoms' sigils, an interesting thing happened: Sasune and Argus kept the original "bird" charge (now with gold for Sasune and bronze for Argus)

But Saronia got a new lion charge.

The beast is in a tradition "rampant" attitude, with the front legs up and the tail pointed upwards.

Lions are not new to charges in Final Fantasy. Most notably, Final Fantasy Tactics had the War of the Lions, with both the Northern and Southern sky Orders having lions of their own (it's implied via Gafgarion's description that each of the cardinal directions have their own order, as a Western Sky order is mentioned). As Wikipedia explains:

It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts".

The 3D remake alludes to Saronia's history as a military power a bit more than the Famicom version via quotes.

(This was back when SE broke the text of the Steam version, my apologies)

So it's not too surprising that they went that route for the 3D remake.

Another change of interest are the carpets around the kingdoms. In the original FFIII, Castle Argus has a table with a unique sun-like pattern on it.

In the remake (as you're probably already noticed) the patterns can be seen on the carpets on each castle as well.

The remake places heightened emphasis on the sun compared to the original: Xande's flood of darkness is said to have severed the link between the earth and the sun, Desch says that the continent would be flung away from the sun if the reactor fails, in unused text Doga states that the sun used to revolve around the earth but now the earth revolves around the sun...

(Does this mean that castles in the World of Darkness would have either the Moon or the Earth for their logos)?

Pixel Remaster FF3

While the Pixel Remaster borrows from the remake in some places, it sticks to the original in others.

However, sometimes, it diverges even against the original. In the castle of the three kingdoms, the big change is to their charges: All of them now use the bird charge, but they are now differentiated in different ways:

Sasune keeps the traditional Displayed attitude, in both the original colors and white thanks to the new red banners all about (matching the colors of the Red Mage)

However Argus now has the Bird in the Volant attitude, as it is now flying sideways. There are also banners that seemingly depict a crown and a moon.

Meanwhile, Saronia has a variant similar to the Sasune one, but with some differences. You can just make out the bird's feet underneath the body and the wings, rather than being spread out to the sides, are now pointed upward. This appears to be more of an Issuant attitude. I don't remember think Saronia has banners like Sasune and Argus do.

1. The Great Sasune-Saronia War

I’ve talked about this in the past, so I’ll just give a summary of it. Per the NTT Publishing guides:

- In the past, Black and White magic, as distinctions, did not exist. Magic was just magic.

- One day, Sasune and Saronia went to war.

- Sasune refined its magic to create Black Magic and gain an edge in the war.

- Some Sasune mages who disagreed jumped ship to Saronia, where they would eventually be put to work and create White Magic.

- Magical arms race escalates until Sasune creates Flare while Saronia creates Holy.

-  The two magical nukes collide, creating devastation to the battlefield.

- Sasune and Saronia mutually end the war and the offending spells are locked up within Eureka.

- Red Mage are later born, using the original set of magic before specialization kicked in.

As far as I’m aware, this story has never been referenced in-game, outside of the implication of Saronia being a military superpower. Final Fantasy Tactics does allude to Saronia being a magical kingdom to the point of creating magicite though; While that proves nothing, it says a bit. The concept of two kingdoms going to war leading to the creation/advancement of White Magic was also used for XIV’s Amdapor, during an event known as the War of the Magi. Again, it is unclear, though likely a coincidence.

2: A Tale of Two Cities

Saronia differs from other Final Fantasy cities as it is not so much a single city as four cities; Each district counting as a separate city. It especially dwarfs Sasune and Argus, whose settlements are either not as heavily connected to the castle (Sasune: Ur, Kazus and Canaan) or are unclear (Argus: Tokkul?).

In-game, the cities exist primarily as a part of the whole “Megalopolis” deal, with no information as to how they were formed. Once again, the NTT Publishing guides spill some details:

The Southwestern and Northeastern districts are said to have been founded by two clans who both wielded swords: Knights who used positive energy and Dark Knights who used negative energy. Both of these clans served the royal family.

However, the king grew to fear the negative energies of the Dark Blade that the Dark Knights used and eventually banished one of them, Leonhart, with the others following suit, eventually establishing the village of Falgabard; The Knight clan eventually overtook the other city.

(For added irony, the remake has a line where someone states that Saronia was trying to take the secrets of the Dark Blade from Falgabard in their more militaristic days.) 

The Southwestern District, at the time III itself takes place, holds the tavern and a Chocobo researcher. The NTT guide says that it is the industrial sector and the tavern is for the workers, but the remake keeps it ambiguous (though Alus’ words about the tavern seeing better business in older days imply it might’ve been more of an entertainment district?).

The Northeastern District, at the time III itself takes place, holds numerous shops. In the remake, Alus specifically calls it the economic center of the city.

3. Legend of the Dragoon

Early on Saronia had three cities. The fourth, and therefore newest, is the Southeastern District, which holds the Dragon Spire; The symbol of the Dragoons.

(Pardon the shoddy work on this restructuring)

NTT Publishing gave a backstory for this district: In the past, Saronia was under attack by winged monsters, but were saved by a Dragoon, who rode on a dragon and defeated him. Said Dragoon and his followers settled in the Southeastern sector, which eventually grew into the district that it is in-game.

The interesting, if not completely unexpected aspect of this particular story is that the remake actually has text supporting this to an extent.

In the final release of the remake, Alus merely explains that the tower was created by Dragoons. In the unused text for the district, he goes further in explaining: In the past, Saronia was attacked by Garuda a giant bird monster, only for it to be defeated by a knight riding on the back of a dragon, the knight leaping onto the monster. Alus also notes that said dragon’s weapons are the ones that await at the top.

Those statements taken together suggest a backstory similar to the NTT one. Whether it is coincidence or intentional, and what that says for the other stuff, is up to you.

BONUS: The Final District

By process of elimination, it can be inferred that the Northwestern District is the “first” city of Saronia, or at least the only one not settled by a clan of knights. Perhaps because of this, NTT does not give it any particular background details (that I know of).

Now, I should make this clear before we begin: Arc’s negative attributes were toned down heavily in the final game. In general, while not nearly as dysfunctional as, say, the 4 Heroes of Light cast, the Final Fantasy III remake cast were portrayed as flawed, or at least, had their flaws more pronounced: Luneth comes across as more arrogant or “careless” with what he says or does (traces of this still remain; such as during one of the convos where he makes a crack about Arc being inspired by somebody shorter than him.), Ingus at one point questions the niceness of his colleagues (though the four old men get him to change that perspective) and Refia is more stern, especially towards Luneth and Desch’s tomfoolery.

Following on that trend, Arc’s significant negative trait was that he could be stubborn or prone to frustration, to the point of acting out as a result. Remember at the beginning of the game how he got fed up with being bullied over Kazus’ ghost problem and stormed off? That’s actually a bit toned down in the final version.

Got that? Good. Let’s begin.

Saronia has a lot of unused text, for being such a small place. There’s some stuff like Alus witnessing the battle in front of the castle and expressing concern, but the most notable standalone(ish) thing is an extension of the rather brief scene describing the Dragon Spire: Alus describes how a knight on a Dragon slayed the giant bird (Garuda) that terrorized the town and how it led to the creation of the Dragon Spire and the Dragon Knights/Dragoons. Alus muses that the treasure of the Dragoons is probably still in the tower and it will be helpful, but the Tower is locked (a key difference from the other versions of the game: The Dragon Spire is open and doesn’t need to be unlocked with a key). The mention of treasure peaks Luneth’s interest and the plan is made to aim for the tower.

But, the real meat of the scenario begins at a point where the group speaks with an old man who admonishes them for trying to climb the Dragon Spire, and teases Arc by calling him a little boy. Arc seems to get agitated by this, and not helping is Ingus and Refia telling Arc not to be rash in front of royalty (Alus). Arc promptly flips out at Ingus and Refia (His “I’m trying as hard as I can, and yet..!!” makes him sound kinda stressed?), shoots down Ingus’ apology to the point of telling him the equivalent of “You’re not my dad”, and leaves the group to find the Dragoon gear by himself. Alus is obviously apprehensive about this, but goes with Arc and both of them leave the party.

Ingus and Refia are naturally concerned. Luneth is surprisingly less concerned as he knows that Arc tends to be this way sometimes. Ingus decides that apologies are in order regardless, and the team searches the city.

Arc and Alus head for the Northwestern district to get some clues as to where the key to the Dragon Spire is. They wind up finding a maiden who mistakes Arc for Alus (a dropped plot point seems to be that the party was going to hide Alus from the public, for one reason or another), but gives him the key to the tower. Arc tries to play along (Luneth is particularly unimpressed by his “Thank you, my people”) and apologizes to Alus as soon as possible, but Alus takes it in stride. The subject of weapons comes up and Alus mentions the rumors of a weapon shop that’s still open (and indeed, there is in both versions of the game). Arc and Alus decide to look for it. Arc is, of course, wary of soldiers, but Alus is convinced that the two of them will be fine.

Eventually, they manage to hunt down the weapons shop and Arc asks for the best Dragoon weapons. The shopkeeper promptly asks for 10,000 gil, money that Arc does not have, prompting Alus to spot the bill. Then, the rest of the party shows up and Ingus spots Arc the money as an apology. Arc, needless to say, is actually upset at himself for having gotten into that situation and takes responsibility for the situation. Alus, however, decides that “it is nobody’s fault” and the two rejoin the party.

Cut to after Garuda’s death. Alus thanks the Warriors of Light for freeing his father’s soul, but is haunted by the fact that he doubted his father’s intentions. Arc reassures him, saying that it was clear that Alus loved his father. Alus continues by saying that he wants to be a good king to Saronia. Ingus supports him and Alus offers Ingus a position as a treasurer/minister after the adventure is done, which Ingus declines, mentioning his loyalty to Sasune. Refia says that she feels Alus will be just fine regardless and Alus offers her a job: Specifically, to become the royal nanny when he gets married and has kids.

Refia is... less than thrilled.

Alus tells the party that he’s thankful beyond words and to come down to the lab later to get something and the party leaves. Luneth points out that Arc wasn’t offered anything but Arc is okay with that because...

This one is tricky because most online translators trip up heavily at this point. Thanks to Romajidesu and some close looks at the text though, I think I found the meaning: Throughout the Saronia plotline (in the unused Japanese, not sure about the final version Japanese) Alus refers to Arc with the “さん“ or “san” honorific - basically the equivalent of “Mr.” or “Ms.”. When Alus thanks Arc for the last time directly, he does not use the honorific and instead simply calls him Arc. And that, is enough for the bookworm. Arc then leads the party in heading out, now more determined due to Alus counting on them. Refia concludes that Arc has grown up, though Arc himself feels that he’s the same size...

There’s a few more scenes, like Alus presenting the Nautilus to the party or the party noticing how Saronia is at peace now thanks to Alus and Arc, but this writeup is long enough as is. The bottom line is that Saronia had a shocking amount cut from it, considering how the scenario plays out in both the final version of the remake and the original game. It’s just fascinating.

Alus appears in the middle of the third chapter, rescuing the Warriors of the Light (or Warriors of the Wind, according to the wiki) from monsters on the surface. He makes his entrance by literally descending from the heavens with a group of ministrals.

Later, he and the warriors make camp amongst the many ruins where he relays the backstory of the place to them: He's the prince of Saronia Solrados, the kingdom whomst ruins the heroes are currently traveling through. Turns out, the flood of darkness didn't stop time in this version of III. Also, said flood is harsh apparently, because Solrados literally crumbles from it: Buildings collapse, the ground rumbles, people fall into the abyss... it's not pretty. All of this is capped off by a page showing Alus watching as his family is taken by the waves.

Yeah.

Alus accompanies the heroes on their way to find a crystal containing Unei (Desch told them maybe?), with his minstrals floating in the air nearby.

He also saves Melfi from falling off a cliff, only for the cliffside in general to collapse because the darkness is angry. The heroes are close to the spot where the crystals are, however, and Alus' Entourage promptly spins and spins and spins until they make a cyclone.

Seriously.

In any case, the Crystal is recovered and Unei appears with an unconscious Alus and does... something, which results in him vanishing.

(Yes, that’s Unei. Don’t ask.)

The JPFFWiki helps clear things: As it turns out, that Alus was killed by Xande, but  Unei binded herself to him in some fashion, turning him into a Dream Child. Thus, when Unei is freed from the crystal, Alus goes back to sleep. I probably messed up some meanings here or there, but the point is that Alus and Unei are connected in the manga.

Overall, Alus' role heavily differs from the games. In fact, Alus' role seems closer to that of Aria's with some shades of the game elements. That probably makes him the furthest a game character gets since even Desch gets to act like his counterpart after being freed. Though, he has some stiff competition...