Radiant Historia

*Warning: Spoilers* On the continent of Vainqueur, a land of man and beasts, the holy nation of the East, Alistel is in a state of war with Granorg, a massive country to the West that is ruled harshly by Queen Protea. Alistel's land is slowly turning to desert while a strange disease, known as the "Sand Plague", is turning its people into sand. The ruler of Alistel, the Prophet Noah, insists this worldwide disease is the result of Protea's evil government. The people of Alistel thus believe they are fighting a holy war against Granorg. One day, Stocke and his subordinates, agents with the intelligence agency of Alistel, are sent into Granorg territory to rescue a secret agent who was captured by the government of Granorg. After saving the agent, the group find themselves surrounded by the Granorg army, and Stocke is severely wounded. He awakens in Historia, a world where time and space are warped. There, two mysterious children, Teo and Lippti, give him the ability to travel through time and space using the power of a book his employer Heiss gave him, the White Chronicle. After using this new power to travel through time to avoid defeat, Stocke is given a choice: continue working under Heiss in the intelligence division, or join his friend Rosch's unit within the military. Each choice creates a timeline and each timeline has its own separate story, which nonetheless relates to the other one. Stocke is often forced to move between timelines to acquire skills and information he would not otherwise have access to, in order to avoid disasters, ambushes or simply to position himself properly to take advantage of his enemies or friends. Under Heiss, Stocke is sent to Granorg to assassinate Princess Eruca. He only manages to enter the city by pretending to be part of a group of traveling entertainers, most of whom are Satyros, one of the native beastmen races of the continent. Among them are Aht, a nine-year-old shaman who, for better or worse, begins idolizing Stocke and using her abilities to protect him. Once he arrives in Granorg, he discovers that the princess knew he would be coming, and moreover, had not informed anyone else. Stocke learns that Eruca is the de facto leader of the resistance against her stepmother's reign, and is therefore more an asset to Alistel's war on Granorg than an enemy. Eruca also reveals that she is the only living descendant of the empire's rulers, and thus the only person who can perform the ritual to prevent desertification. However, as Queen Protea refuses to allow her to perform the ritual, the world could turn to sand in less than a decade unless Protea is removed from power. Stocke refrains from carrying out the assassination, thus securing her support. Oddly enough, he is also aided in this regard by his appearance, which is similar to Eruca's late older brother, Ernst, who was executed by her father for treason. Despite his best intentions, his failure to complete his mission brands him a traitor in Alistel, and General Hugo orders his execution. In the other timeline, Stocke is assigned to Rosch's unit and deployed to protect Alistel's mines from enemy sabotage, as well as protect a cavern which is the only route connecting the two mountainous territories of Granorg and Alistel, other than a slim valley protected by the oft-traded Sand Fortress. After successfully defending the mines, Stocke and Rosch are rewarded by General Hugo with promotions, but he also assigns them to the Sand Fortress with a platoon of new recruits. Alistel's second-in-command, Lt. General Raul, assumes this is to remove any possible future political opponents from the city, as Field Marshal Viola, who also was gaining popularity against Hugo's will, was also assigned there. After defeating the Granorg army in two battles, Rosch's entire brigade is killed. Stocke then discovers a piece of paper proving that the Granorgites were being leaked information from within Alistel. Stocke returns with the critically woun