The Empire's Reach
Game Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Objective Defeat Boss Units Allowed 9 Units Gained Natasha (automatically from start) Joshua (talk with Natasha) Boss Saar

“An ominous wave of dark creatures washes over the continent... Eirika's journey to find her brother, Ephraim, grows ever more perilous. Still, she presses on despite the danger. Her will is strong. The town of Serafew, located on the border of Renais and Grado. The people of both countries have long used the town as a meeting place. It stands as testimony to the friendship the two nations have shared these many years. Now, however, Serafew is teeming with Grado troops.”
—Opening Narration

The Empire's Reach is Chapter 5 of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones and is the one in which you get Joshua (your first Myrmidon) and Natasha. There's also an Arena, and you also meet some future characters when visiting the villages, like Amelia and Tethys, who both give you items. From Tethys you receive a Dragonshield and from Amelia a Torch You also get an Armorslayer and a Secret Book, and if you save all the villages from the bandits that pop up along the east side of the map, you also receive your first promotional item, a Guiding Ring.

• New characters: Natasha (Mend, Vulnerary), Joshua (Killing Edge)
• Joshua WILL NOT attack Natasha as an enemy.

ReinforcementsEdit

• Turn 2: 2 Brigands from the southeast
• Turn 6: 2 Brigands from the east
• Turn 8: 2 Brigands from the northeast

ItemsEdit

VillageEdit

• Dragonshield (village to the southeast)
• Armourslayer (village to the east)
• Secret Book (village to the northwest)
• Torch (village to the north)

After chapter eventsEdit

• Guiding Ring (from after chapter event, if the villages are all safe)

ShopsEdit

Armory

Shop

StrategyEdit

This chapter is not particularly difficult to beat, unless you're trying to go to every village. Many of the items will come in handy, save the Torch, but the Guiding Ring might make the last house worth it. Natasha may be difficult to keep alive, especially when shes going to recruit Joshua, but she will prove to be one of the most useful units in the endgame and Creature Campaign (especially if promoted to a Bishop). Joshua is definitely worth recruiting, even if you don't intend to use him, he's incredibly dangerous as an enemy (especially with his Killing Edge).

This chapter is a common target for Arena Abuse, as it is a prime place with everything necessary to continue at the arena indefinitely. By use of save states in different emulators, players can effectively "undo" any turns where a unit died or even just lost money. Although the over-use of an Arena without save-states is technically not cheating, it is generally frowned upon (even though using it without cheats isn't particularly different from using the Tower of Valni).

The Armorslayer picked up in one of the villages might be useful for the boss, if Eirika needs experience (and you're holding on to her Rapier), or if you want Joshua to catch up with your advanced units.