Renvall is a location from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. First appearing in Chapter 5x, it is also the setting for Chapter 7 and Chapter 8. Eirika and Ephraim fight Zonta, Murray, and Tirado of Grado before reuniting here. This is the last location visited before the route split. Monsters never spawn at Renvall during either the Creature Campaign or the main story.
Geography
Belonging to Grado, Renvall is a well-fortified castle built in the middle of a lake, making it difficult to attack and easy to defend. While Chapter 7 depicts Castle Renvall as situated on a forested island, Chapters 5x and 8 show at least the eastern parts of the castle as being in the middle of the water. It is possible that the fortress was built on a small lake on the island within a larger lake, which explains why Seth describes it as surrounded by lakes, plural.
Located in central northern Grado, Castle Renvall is surrounded by mountains to the north, east, and south. According to the world map, Renvall is near two rivers, one flowing west through the Adlas Plains and another flowing south to Za'albul Marsh. The latter river can be seen during Chapter 7 generating inflow for the larger lake surrounding Castle Renvall. The outflow creates a strait between this lake and a plunge pool lake to the south. Given the cliffs surrounding this larger lake, it seems this river dissolved the rock and created a cavity which became the lake basin. This is supported by the presence of a small lake within the island, which could be from a sinkhole. This is an example of karst geography. The relatively unstable ground created by this topography is also associated with earthquakes.
Story
Tirado, current steward of Castle Renvall, meets with Valter, who instructs him to capture Ephraim. Meanwhile, Ephraim makes plans to beseige Renvall, hoping to draw Grado's attention away from his father, King Fado, and his sister, Eirika. Kyle and Forde agree that they have nothing left to lose, leading the charge with Ephraim while Orson, still injured from another battle, takes up the rear. Together, they defeat Zonta and take Castle Renvall, though when reinforcements close in, they decide they have no chance of holding the fortress and make their escape. Valter attempts to stop them, but after exchanging barbs, Ephraim breaks east with Kyle and Forde, successfully slipping through Grado's grasp once more.
Following intel that Ephraim is being held prisoner at Renvall, Eirika leads her group to the castle in order to rescue her brother. Given Castle Renvall's position in the middle of a lake, she has no choice but to stage a frontal assault on Murray's Brigade. Neimi is able to take control of one of Grado's ballistae, giving Eirika's main force cover as they march across the sole bridge to the fortress. Defeating Murray and seizing the gate, the group successfully enters Castle Renvall, where they run into Orson. He says that Ephraim is imprisoned deep in the dungeons and that they must hurry before reinforcements arrive.
However, Ephraim had never been captured. Tirado spread false rumors that he was at Castle Renvall in order to lure Eirika in. Turning traitor, Orson joined him, leading Eirika deeper into the castle and asking for her bracelet. Sensing deception, Seth confronts Orson, wondering how he knows about the bracelets and how a loyal knight could leave his prince in a cell. When he asks Orson to disarm himself, the man becomes frustrated that Seth is interfering with his plan to join with his deceased wife once more. Shocked and confused, there is little Eirika can do as Tirado appears, confirming that Orson has betrayed Renais. Destroying the bridge to Castle Renvall, he traps her group inside and orders his soldiers to kill the princess.
Luckily, Ephraim, Forde, and Kyle learned of the trap set for Eirika and rushed to Renvall to rescue her. As they make it to the castle before the bridge is destroyed, Tirado's tactic ultimately leads to his own defeat. Eirika and Franz reunite with their brothers and together, they overcome Grado's army, seizing Renvall for Renais. Yet Myrrh senses a darkness approaching, prompting them to retreat to Castle Frelia.
Etymology
Renvall is a last name most common in Finland, though it has no meaning in Finnish. It may be of Swedish origin. Meanwhile, Rendall is an anglicized version of Old Norse Rǫndólfr, akin to Randolf in both Swedish and Finnish, all meaning "wolf's shield": in Swedish, rand is a poetic word for "shield" and ulf is a poetic world for "wolf". See also Randolph, Rudolf, and Randal.
Trivia
- Renvall is the location of the only Gaiden chapter in The Sacred Stones.
Gallery
