Ostia (Japanese:オスティアOstia) is a state of theLycian League; it is the westernmost of the Lycian territories, close to the border ofEtruria to the west, and bordered to the south and east by the territories ofThria andWorde.^[1] As the largest and most powerful of the states of Lycia, Ostia and its marquess are the traditional leaders of the Lycian League as a whole.

Known rulers of Ostia are Roland, afterThe Scouring;Uther, duringThe Blazing Blade;Hector, afterThe Blazing Blade, andLilina, after the events ofThe Binding Blade.

History

In the era ofThe Scouring, Ostia was a humble village and the birthplace and home of the warriorRoland, who went on to become one of theEight Legends and the wielder of the Blazing BladeDurandal. At the Scouring's conclusion, Roland returned to Ostia and used Durandal's power to restore life to the ravaged land.^[2] From the town, Roland founded the modern state of Ostia and Lycia as a whole, reigning as the first Marquess Ostia.

Throughout the intervening years, Ostia remained the powerhouse of the Lycian League, economically and politically, and its marquesses consistently ruled as the leader of the Lycian League for a thousand years. Its military, the largest in Lycia, came to be primarily comprised ofheavily armored knights, for which it became famous. Between its military might and its own structure, Castle Ostia has long held a reptuation as an impregnable fortress.^[3] Ostia also became renowned as a center of education among the Lycian states, with the nobility of Lycia's other houses frequently coming to Ostia to study in their youth.^[4][5]

During the year 981, in the midst of the mysterious disappearance of LordElbert ofPherae, Ostia's LordUther refused to directly involve Ostia in the search for Elbert or in the subsequent conflict withNergal, instead leaving the task to his younger brotherHector, a friend of Elbert's sonEliwood; Uther died of illness late in the conflict, and following it rule of Ostia was succeeded by Hector. At some point later, following the death of LordHausen ofCaelin, Hausen's granddaughterLyndis abdicated from Caelin's rule and ceded the territory to Ostia, and Caelin was assimilated into Ostia's territorial holdings and placed under the administration of the Caelin knightKent.

In the onset of theDisturbance of Bern in 999, Lord Hector was killed by theBern army atAraphen, destabilizing the Lycian League. Two Ostian knights—Legance andDebias—initiated a rebellion and, with the support of the vast majority of Ostia's army, seized control of Ostia, took Hector's daughterLilina as a hostage, and declared an alliance with Bern. A small number of Ostian knights mercenaries loyal to Hector continued to resist the Ostian rebellion with little success. However, the Lycian League army—lead byRoy of Pherae following Hector's demise—travelled to Ostia and defeated the coup. Following the battle, after driving off an attempt by Bern's GeneralNarcian to capture Ostia, the city and Lycia as a whole was placed under the protection of GeneralCecilia ofEtruria.

Following Hector's death, Pherae becomes the dominant Lycian power.^[6]

The fate of Ostia depends onLilina's survival in the war. If Lilina survived the war, she assumes the throne of Ostia and unites Lycia in a single kingdom.^[7] However, if Lilina was killed in battle, Pherae remains the greatest power of Lycia and therefore,Roy becomes the new marquess and leader of the entire Lycian League.^{[citation needed]}

Notable locations in Ostia

Castle Ostia

The capital of the Ostian territory, Castle Ostia is renowned as an impregnable fortress, a reputation proven wrong twice: first in 980 whenNergal warped amorph army in to killEliwood,Hector andLyn, and again in 999 whenRoy led the Lycian League's army on an assault of the castle to reclaim it from the traitorsLegance andDebias. Surrounding the castle is a major city and hub of commerce.

Durandal cave

At some point after the Scouring,Roland erected a small shrine deep within a cave at the foot of a volcano in Ostia's outskirts, and enshrinedDurandal within it. The cave's lava pools and fiery terrain provided natural defenses against invaders, in addition to the magical seal placed upon it byBramimond and the lingering spirits of Roland's former Scouring allies, led byGeorg.

In the year 980, underAthos's direction and following Bramimond undoing the seal,Eliwood fought Georg's spirits to obtain Durandal for use againstNergal, after which Durandal was left unguarded. Twenty years later, a bandit group led byHenning occupied the cave as a hideout, and was driven out byRoy andLilina in their quest to obtain Durandal for use againstBern's army.

Characters from Ostia

Character	Description	Appears in
Roland	One of theEight Legends. Hailing from the then-village of Ostia, he went on to found Lycia.	The Blazing Blade
Uther	The marquess of Ostia as of the year 980.	The Blazing Blade
Hector	Uther's brother, and successor as Marquess Ostia until his death in theDisturbance of Bern.	The Binding Blade,The Blazing Blade
Lilina	Hector's daughter.	The Binding Blade,The Blazing Blade
Oswin	A knight of Ostia, assigned as the young Hector's aide.	The Blazing Blade
Matthew	A spy in Ostia's service.	The Blazing Blade
Leila	A spy in Ostia's service.	The Blazing Blade
Serra	AnElimine Church cleric in Ostia's service.	The Blazing Blade
Bors	A knight of Ostia.	The Binding Blade
Barthe	A knight of Ostia.	The Binding Blade
Gwendolyn	A knight of Ostia.	The Binding Blade
Astolfo	A spy in Ostia's service.	The Binding Blade
Debias	A former lieutenant of the Ostia knights, who assisted a coup against Lilina.	The Binding Blade
Legance	A former general of the Ostia knights, who led a coup against Lilina.	The Binding Blade
Georg	The spirit of one of Roland's warriors, guarding the Durandal cave.	The Blazing Blade

Gameplay

Ostia is the subject of a small few chapters ofFire Emblem: The Binding Blade andThe Blazing Blade. InThe Binding Blade,Chapter 7 depicts Roy's battle in the city of Ostia to recapture it from Debias,Chapter 8 has Roy invade Castle Ostia itself to defeat Legance and rescue Lilina, andChapter 8x has Roy challenge bandits in the Durandal cave to obtain Durandal for himself. InThe Blazing Blade,Chapter 11 of Hector's Tale has Hector confront a smallBlack Fang squad while trying to sneak out of Castle Ostia's back door,Chapter 28 of Eliwood's Tale has Eliwood challenge phantom soldiers in the Durandal cave to obtain Durandal,Chapter 29E/31H has Eliwood, Hector and Lyn work to defend Ostia from amorph invasion sent byNergal, andChapter 29xE/31xH gives the three lords a relaxed opportunity to stock up on supplies before the final confrontation with Nergal.

Trivia

• Ostia is the only region that is seen to go through a longest state of anarchy than others in all Elibe, as upon Hector's death, Ostia has no ruler until Lilina takes this position after the events inThe Binding Blade. (Bearing in mind that Eliwood is only a provisional marquess of Lycia being from Pherae).

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 
  Map of Ostia's location fromThe Binding Blade.
• 
  The exterior of Castle Ostia inThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  The city of Ostia inChapter 7 ofThe Binding Blade.
• 
  Castle Ostia inChapter 8 ofThe Binding Blade.
• 
  The Durandal cave inChapter 8x ofThe Binding Blade.
• 
  The rooms just inside Castle Ostia's rear entrance inChapter 11H ofThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  Castle Ostia's rear entrance inChapter 11H ofThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  The Durandal cave inChapter 28E ofThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  A chamber in Castle Ostia inChapter 29E/31H ofThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  Castle Ostia inChapter 29E/31H ofThe Blazing Blade.
• 
  The Ostian city market inChapter 29xE/31xH ofThe Blazing Blade.

References