Fendel

Fendel (フェンデル) is a country in Tales of Graces and home to the valkines cryas Forbrannir (フォルブランニル). Its capital is Zavhert, and its current ruler is Chancellor Eigen.

Geography
In Fendel, there is a harsh winter climate. On a daily basis, the inhabitants are confronted with snowfall and have to collect cryas, with which they heat their furnaces, since they would freeze otherwise. This is due to Forbrannir, which filters the Fire-elemental Eleth from the air and draws it into itself. Fendel is a country full of mountains, and similarly to Strahta, there are no fortified roads, only through mountains-framed paths. Geographically, Fendel lies in the northern hemisphere of Ephinea.

Towns
Apart from the capital, all areas are rather poor in Fendel, as the capital is the only settlement that has been established in direct connection with Forbrannir. Moreover, on the summit of Mt. Zavhert, there is an enclave of the Amarcian people, which according to its designation, does not belong to the territory of Fendel but has only a single land border. Despite being a democracy, the unfavorable conditions of the country have in the past led to upheaval and rebellion. Despite the Amarcian Enclave not falling under the jurisdiction of Fendel, the Amarcians cooperate with Fendelian researchers and often conduct experiments on Forbrannir.


 * Zavhert - The capital of Fendel, where the houses are made of steel and everything seems to function on steampower. It is in direct proximity to Forbrannir.
 * Velanik - A small impoverished settlement in which people have to search for cryas shards every day to warm themselves. Not long ago, it belonged to the neighboring country of Windor.
 * Amarcian Enclave - An enclave on the top of Mt. Zavhert, home to Amarcians, who are believed to be extinct by much of the rest of the world.

Fendel Research Laboratory
The Fendel Research Laboratory is located on Mt. Zavhert, a little below the summit and thus not far from the Amarcian Enclave. It is headed by Fourier, the great sister of Pascal. There, she conducts various research, mainly on Eleth and its extraction from cryas, but also on the breeding of biological weapons. Although she is a biologist, it does not appear to be her main focus because she is employed by Fendelians and collaborates with Kurt Bessel to extract Eleth from the Forbrannir. Therefore, all the research projects are based on Pascal's old research data and are highly explosive.

The heroes search for the Fendel Research Laboratory in order to find Fourier, who is responsible for the dangerous research on Forbrannir. Pascal wants to talk to her and convince her to stop the project because it could mean Zavhert being wiped off the map. Within the lab, they are confronted by various monsters, and Malik Caesar remembers that Fendel has actually invested in biological weapons. It is noticeable that these monsters are grown in tubes, but not in the usual way.

Inside the lab, the heroes meet Fourier, where Pascal demonstrates what happens when the speed at which the Eleth is extracted from Forbrannir is increased too much. Pascal asks Fourier to finish the experiments, but Fourier says she cannot do so, so Pascal states she will talk with her superiors. Fourier reprimands Pascal for her thinking and constantly trying to outdo her, believing that Pascal always imitates her and finds a way to improve effortlessly in spite of Fourier's struggles. Asbel Lhant tells Fourier to find the valkines cryas before the Eleth is absorbed, and Fourier explains that the head of the project, Kurt Bessel, knows where the valkines is. She points the heroes to the Fendel Tower, where government authorities of Fendel are.

Fendel Tower
The Fendel Tower is located in the center of Zavhert. Inside are government authorities of Fendel, including those of Kurt Bessel, who conducts research on the valkines cryas, and Chancellor Eigen, the elected head of Fendel. It is heavily guarded and requires different permission to enter the various levels of the tower. Striking are the many Amarcians who work here. The heroes seek to gain access to Fendel Tower to get valuable documents from Kurt that will allow them to find out more about the research being done on Forbrannir, whose location they also need to know. Even before entering Fendel Tower, Malik admits that he wanted to start a revolution together with Kurt because of the country's state. The revolution, however, was suppressed before it could take off, and Malik had been worried about his life, which is why he had fled from Fendel to Windor. Kurt, however, had remained and continued the revolution under other circumstances.

Through one of Pascal's Amarcian friends, the heroes receive a security card for the first level of the tower. From there, they sneak into the higher levels with the maintenance elevator until they find themselves in Kurt's office. There, they find the desired documents and learn that the valkines is located in a glacier close to Zavhert. They realize that a catastrophe would come when the "wobbly" valkines is extracted to the point that it explodes because the populated area is nearby and would be caught by the flames in the detonation. In the office, the heroes meet for the first time Kurt, who is not convinced by them to drop the project because he has researched the issue himself and believes it to be harmless. This is why he is convinced that he has taken care of all eventualities and assures that there will be no explosion. Kurt then leaves them the opportunity to leave the tower without calling the guards.

Fendel Glacier Ruins
The Fendel Glacier Ruins are located near Zavhert. In the depths of the ruins lies Forbrannir, the valkines cryas of Fendel. However, only a few know this, and only highly-qualified government officials, as well as researchers, are permitted entry. This ensures that the Eleth of Forbrannir does not fall into "low hands" and is mainly used for Zavhert. The heroes seek out the Fendel Glacier Ruins after they learn that the valkines is there. They had previously learned that dangerous experiments were being carried out on the valkines, all based on Pascal's faulty and therefore abandoned researches. In this case, the entire valkines can be detonated and Zavhert wiped from the map.

Near the valkines, the heroes meet Kurt Bessel, the project manager of the valkines, as well as Chancellor Eigen, who wants to examine the results of the project. When Kurt initiates the extraction of the Eleth and nothing happens, Chancellor Eigen calls for an increased speed, which the heroes want to prevent. A fight then ensues against Kurt, in which the valkines, however, erupts into chaos and threatens to detonate. Pascal, who feels responsible for the use of her research data, seeks to destroy the main flow tube to the valkines to prevent an explosion, but Kurt stops it and does it himself. Despite his success in doing so, Kurt still dies and asks Pascal to help his people take advantage of the valkines, while giving his old friend Malik the responsibility of the revolution.

Snowshroud Ruins
The Snowshroud Ruins lie in the unspoiled snowfield of Fendel. Here, as in many other areas of Fendel, the monsters are more or less unfolded and mutated into wild, aggressive beasts. However, the monsters within the ruins are more of an artificial nature, which is due to the Amarcian origin of the ruins. The surrounding monsters have no ventured within the ruins. Inside, there are plenty of typical Amarcian puzzles, in which one must guide Eleth across various signposts into different doors so that they will open. The Snowshroud Ruins were constructed for a hot-air cannon, with which the Amarcians should at some time be able to use to break through the aquasphere of Foselos and return to Fodra.

During the story, the heroes visit the Snowshroud Ruins because the local hot-air cannon is defective. They are thus unable to break through the aquasphere of Ephinea to travel to Fodra by shuttle. They want to do this to heal Sophie, who is left blinded after an attack by Richard. Although the heat-radiation guns can usually be remote-controlled, Pascal has to look at the defect on-site and repair it. They succeed in defeating a powerful guardian of the Amarcians, the "Polycarpus", so that the cannon can be remotely controlled.

Fendel