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Gralea is the capital of the Empire of Niflheim in Final Fantasy XV. It is located deep in the imperial heartland, inside a crater, accessed by tunnels and (presumably) airships. Prince Noctis's mission is to infiltrate it to take back the Crystal of Lucis. Gralea is the imperial seat of power and where the magitek laboratory Zegnautus Keep is also located, floating above the center of the city.

Gralea is also a major location in Aranea Highwind's chapter in Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future-, where it is revealed that Gralea's high-rises are equipped with a "fall-preventing antigravity safety net" for maintenance and evacuation purposes.[1]

Story[]

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Nothing but daemons in the capital. Meanwhile, the Crystal's just sitting there. No one in the army signed up for this!

Biggs Callux on the state of the affairs in Gralea
Aranea in Gralea in FFXV Dawn of the Future

Aranea in chaotic Gralea.

As told in Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future-, Aranea and her Airborne Unit return to Gralea from recovery and clean-up mission in Altissia. They find the city under attack by Diamond Weapon, a massive magitek armor the empire had previously deployed during the fall of Insomnia. While her soldiers evacuate citizens, she heads to the Zegnautus Keep. Chancellor Izunia announces over the public speaker system that the empire falls on this day, as Emperor Aldercapt is dying and has no heir due to his fruitless pursuit of immortality under delusion of becoming the world's eternal sovereign. Aranea scales the Keep and finds the emperor dead in the throne room. She heads to the roof where she spots the Diamond Weapon being transported toward Tenebrae with Chancellor Izunia gloating over the carnage he has caused. Aranea realizes he is responsible for letting the Diamond Weapon and rogue MTs loose in the city, and declares her resignation as commodore, leaping off the roof after an unsuccessful attack on the chancellor.

Aranea runs into Brigadier General Loqi Tummelt in his magitek armor, who has an eight-year-old girl with him as per special orders from the late emperor himself. He entrusts the girl to Aranea's care and sacrifices himself to hold back a horde of daemons as Aranea makes her way to the train that her subordinates have prepared for the refugees, bound for Tenebrae. Aranea decides to make her unit's last mission to protect Tenebrae, and after the transport ship carrying the Diamond Weapon is downed, she destroys the monstrosity herself by taking out its magitek cores.

As told in Final Fantasy XV, Prince Noctis is on a mission to recover Lucis's stolen Crystal, which he believes has been taken to the imperial capital. Daylight is vanishing and increasing numbers of daemons appear all around the world. Noctis hopes he can save Eos with the light of the Crystal, as he now has the Ring of the Lucii needed to command the Crystal's power.

FINAL FANTASY XV Gralea

The party abandons the Regalia in Gralea.

Noctis and his friends ride a train into Gralea driven by Aranea's subordinates, Biggs and Wedge, whom they had met in Tenebrae. The train is halted by daemons[note 1] and Noctis drives the Regalia into the city until it is damaged and they abandon the wrecked car on the train tracks. Noctis becomes separated from his friends and must look for a way into Zegnautus Keep alone. The city streets are empty and the only inhabitants he finds are daemons, many also circling the dark skies above.

Gralea has been ravaged by a "vanishing sickness" and its citizens have turned into daemons. A state of emergency has been called with radio broadcasts asking everyone to stay indoors or evacuate to designated stations until it has been resolved. When Noctis makes his way to Zegnautus Keep he finds its magitek troopers have gone rogue and Emperor Aldercapt has turned into a daemon. A radio transmission Ignis Scientia and Gladiolus Amicitia can listen to on their way to reunite with Noctis implies everyone in the city has already become daemons.

Gralea with airborne daemons in FFXV

Daemons in the sky.

According to the reports discovered in Zegnautus Keep, daemons had at first emerged in West Gralea, a majority of them confirmed escaped from military facilities. The rest were ordinary citizens who were being turned, as was later discovered. West Gralea was quarantined as the mass disappearances of people were attributed to an infectious disease connected to the daemon outbreak while other sections remained infection free. North Gralea was quarantined soon after, as the infection had manifested in five adjacent sectors, and the quarantine was expanded to encompass all areas in which daemons were found. Following the outbreaks in the north and west, daemons swept through Zegnautus Keep and control was lost over unprogrammed magitek troopers. By 28th of June more than half the Keep's researchers have turned and the city of Gralea is swarming with daemons—former citizens.

After Noctis finds the Crystal and disappears inside it, his friends escape Gralea back to Lucis, and the world is overtaken by daemons.

Spoilers end here.

Items[]

Noctis's route
Gladiolus's route

Locations[]

Dormitorium Militum[]

Dormitorium Militum in Gralea from FFXV

The player can sleep in the military dorms for free, but there is no EXP bonus.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. Niflheim has weaponized gargoyles to attack those who approach Gralea.

References[]

  1. (n.d.) . Dawn of the Future Page 115, Lancer on a Hot Tin Roof. Tumblr. Archived from the original on 20 August, 2019.
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