Pherae's ruling marquess Eliwood, is forced to return home when Bern begins its invasion. As Eliwood is unable to battle due to illness, Roy is assigned command of Lycia's army. Roy leads his forces to Ostia, another region of Lycia ruled by Eliwood's friend Hector and his daughter Lilina. He is unable to save Hector from death, but rescues Lilina from Bern's occupation and sees to the protection of Guinivere, Zephiel's sister who opposes his war and has fled Bern with its royal treasure, the Fire Emblem. They also discover a small cave on the outskirts of Ostia where they obtain a Divine Weapon Durandal. Over the course of the journey, Roy and the Lycian Army locate the other Divine Weapons. The kingdom of Etruria contacts Roy and assigns his army to travel to the Western Isles, where heavy bandit activity is being reported. Though the Lycian Army repels the bandits, they discover from either a royal-in-hiding named Elffin or a dancer Larum that Etruria's nobility have allied with Bern and are enslaving the people on the Western Isles to work the mines. They also learn that Bern has recruited Manaketes, powerful dragons who hide their might in human forms. To learn more about them, the Lycian Army travels to Arcadia, a hidden city in the vast desert where humans and dragons live in peace, and gain stronger insight from the elders. A child Manakete named Fae also befriends Roy during his stay and tags along with him. Roy and his forces later returns to Etruria and removes the corrupt nobility, allowing the kingdom's rightful rulers to restore order and the Lycian Army to merge with Etruria's. Depending on the player's actions, the newly reformed Etrurian Army then continues through either the snowy tundras of Ilia and its many mercenary groups on Bern's contract, or through the plains of Sacae where nomad tribes have allied with Bern. Both paths ultimately take the Etrurian Army to Bern's borders, where Roy discovers a shrine housing the Binding Blade, a powerful weapon that rules over the other eight Divine Weapons. Combined with the Fire Emblem, Roy is granted its incredible power and wields the Binding Blade in the final assault on Bern's capital. Zephiel is eventually killed by the Etrurian Army and his Divine Weapon is taken from him. If the player has not collected the eight Divine Weapons, the game ends prematurely