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Pelleass Blood Pact

Lekain holding up a blood pact

“No matter how you struggle, you have no choice but to follow the orders given to you by the empire. No matter how noble your motives, defiance against us will result in the death of your nation. This you must never forget.”
Lekain

The Blood Pact (血の誓約, Chi no Seiyaku lit. Blood Oath), also known as a Blood Contract, is a device key to events in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. The signing of such a pact binds one party into absolute obedience to another, with a lethal curse being the punishment for failure to obey the command of their master. The Begnion Senate and Daein's King Ashnard are two parties known to have employed Blood Pacts to various ends.

Characteristics[]

The Blood Pact is a contract signed by two different parties. The first party, responsible for writing the contract, authors it at the expense of the intended second party. The second party is usually tricked or forced into signing. So long as the contract is in their possession, the first party can invoke a curse on the second party's nation if the second party does not comply with the Pact. As a symbol of the agreement, a special sigil marks the second party on their wrist. It is likely that the signers must have some level of political influence to evoke the curse effectively as all three known Blood Pacts had a King sign the documents as the second party.

The curse that the Blood Pact invokes on its target nation is simple. On the first day after the pact's curse is invoked, one random citizen of the targeted country will die from its effects, and each following day, the curse will continue to claim lives, with the number of lives lost equating the number of days the curse has been in effect. Once the curse is invoked, it remains in continuous effect until either the curse is stopped by the first party or the entire target nation perishes. It is unknown if the curse resets the victim count for each day after the effect is halted. The specific method that the curse uses to kill its victims is unknown, though there seems to have some sort of biological aspect to them since the curse on Daein was halted due to Ashera's Judgement. To ensure as much fallout from the Pact's curse, should any of the signing parties fall under the category of the Blood Pact's target nation, they are the last to be affected.

Radiant Dawn shows the fail-safes to ensure the full provisions of the Pact is enacted. The pacts do not require either of the original signers to be alive to remain in effect. The first party duties can be delegated to a successor, though it is unknown if this is done knowingly or simply delegated by the nature of the Pact itself. The second party seems to be designated to the most applicable target even after the original signer's death as numerous kings of Kilvas inherited the responsibility upon their ascension and Micaiah inherited the responsibility from Pelleas if he dies in his desperate attempt to stop the Pact. It is strongly hinted that the current first party representative must die and the Blood Pact document itself must be destroyed in order to permanently end the Pact. Simply tearing the document in half voids the Pact, but as an added measure, it seems the document self-immolates upon its destruction. Alternatively, the first party may end the pact by destroying the document themselves.

The Blood Pact is not all encompassing and like any legal document, loopholes can be discovered that more-or-less allow the second party to defy the first party's conditions while technically abiding by it. This is shown by Naesala being able to defy Lekain by "fighting for Begnion" by fighting under the decree of Empress Sanaki, who as apostle holds the most powerful title in the Begnion government. It is also implied that the first party must carry the Pact document to continuously evoke the effects, as Lekain held both the Daein and Kilvas Blood Pacts on his person during the fight in the Tower of Guidance, allowing both Micaiah and Naesala to recover the documents after his death and destroy both.

Blood Pacts[]

Three incidents involving Blood Pacts are involved in the story of Radiant Dawn:

Ashnard's Blood Pact[]

Ashnard used a Blood Pact to become the King of Daein before the events of Path of Radiance. This is revealed by Almedha, the late Ashnard's former wife in Radiant Dawn.

Ashnard tricked his father, the twelfth King of Daein, into signing a Blood Pact with a traveling wise man as a contract for his services. Once the Blood Pact was signed by his father, Ashnard immediately invoked the curse.

The citizens of Daein began to mysteriously die off. At the time, the deaths were considered part of some unknown plague that swept across the country. The count of its victims grew more and more with each passing day.

At the time of the pact's signing, Ashnard was considered highly unlikely to inherit the throne due to the number of relatives ahead of him in the line of succession. He waited until the curse killed all of those ahead of him to ensure that he would become the next king. He then personally killed his own father and tore apart the contract to end the curse. Not long afterward, Ashnard was crowned the thirteenth King of Daein.

The Kilvas Blood Pact[]

It is revealed near the end of Radiant Dawn that, a very long time ago, the king of the Raven Laguz country Kilvas had once signed a Blood Pact. This pact then passed down through the rulers of Kilvas, resulting in Naesala inheriting it when he became king.

Lekain, the current bearer of the Kilvas Blood Pact, tells Pelleas the story of how it came to be. The Kilvas Blood Pact had been signed by a king of Kilvas long ago, who vowed complete obedience to the empire of Begnion in exchange for his lost country to be returned. However, he soon began to disobey Begnion, presumably not understanding the full power of the pact. Lekain recounts how King Kilvas realized his error after 30 days and begged to be forgiven, but the empire allowed the curse to continue for 100 days in total before deciding to 'forgive' him, after which the King's own wife and child were dead alongside half of Kilvas's population. (Based on the math, a total of 5050 Kilvas citizens died due to its effects.)

When the Laguz Alliance declared war on Begnion, Lekain used the Kilvas Blood Pact to force Naesala to betray the alliance. Naesala was made to inform Duke Gaddos of the plans of the Laguz Alliance, which eventually lead to a massacre of Laguz soldiers.

After the end of Part 3, when Ashera turns most of Tellius's population to stone, the Blood Pact is considered useless (as people who are turned to stone cannot die). Naesala then joins the Apostle's Army, with his explanation and apology.

Naesala then follows the group to the Tower of Guidance in the hopes of finding Duke Gaddos and the Blood Pact. It is noted that the contents the Blood Pact are vital for its effects, as Naesala discovered a loophole: he started working for Begnion's Empress Sanaki, which freed him from Lekain's will. The pact was thus rendered useless since Sanaki has higher authority and rank than Lekain. By working for her, Naesala was still working for Begnion, and therefore not breaking the pact. 

At the end of Part 4's Endgame Part 1, Naesala finds the Blood Pact in the possession of Lekain, who had been killed in the battle. He then destroys it so that it can not be used again. If he is not in the endgame party, Sanaki will keep the contract for Naesala to destroy when they return.

Pelleas's Blood Pact[]

Pelleas is the supposed son of the late King Ashnard and thus the apparent heir to the Daein throne. Because he is a kind man much unlike his dead father, the Daein Liberation Army helps him win back Daein in Part 1 of Radiant Dawn.

At the beginning of Part 3 of Radiant Dawn, Pelleas unexpectedly orders his forces to march against the Laguz Alliance with no real reason. It is later revealed that he was tricked into signing a Blood Pact by the Begnion Senate. After he had become Daein's fourteenth king, Pelleas was approached by Lekain, Begnion's Duke of Gaddos. Lekain asked Pelleas to sign a treaty that would confirm a peace agreement between Daein and Begnion. Advised by Izuka, who in secret conspired with Lekain, Pelleas signed the document.

The supposed treaty turned out to be a Blood Pact. As a result, Pelleas is marked. Lekain then uses the Blood Pact to coerce Pelleas into sending the Daein army to fight against the Laguz Alliance in aid of Begnion. While searching for a means to end the pact, Pelleas reads something that suggests that if he, the signer, were to die, its effects would be nulled. Pelleas then comes to the conclusion that the pact will end if he is killed.

In a player's first playthrough of Radiant Dawn, Pelleas dies, with his life ended either by Micaiah at his request, or by Tauroneo if Micaiah refuses. After Pelleas's death, Micaiah inherits the mark of the Blood Pact, signifying that it remains in effect. From the second playthrough onwards, the player can deny the request altogether, and Pelleas will remain alive. It is later revealed by Kurthnaga that if the other party, Lekain, is killed in addition to destroying the pact, then its effects will be lifted.

At the end of Part 3, when the majority of Tellius's population is turned to stone, the contract ceases to be a danger and the Daein forces (including Pelleas if he is alive) will join the Apostle's Army in their march on the Tower of Guidance. After the battle in Part 4 Endgame Part 1, the Blood Pact document is taken from Lekain's corpse and Micaiah destroys it, freeing Daein from its effects.

Gallery[]

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