In the most recent installment of the series proper, 2006's Final Fantasy XII for the PlayStation 2 console, the player follows the story of Vaan, a young street urchin from the Royal City of Rabanastre. Through a series of scenes, we learn that the city itself and the country it resides in, the kingdom of Dalmasca, has been subjugated by the powerful Archadian Empire for the past two years as a result of a well-executed coup put into motion by one of the Empire's princes, Vayne.
Vaan, feeling a bitterness toward the Empire for its occupation, decides to sneak into the palace with the idea of "reclaiming what's ours," in other words, stealing from the Royal Treasury. After managing to infiltrate the Palace and locating the treasure store, he comes upon a piece of powerful magicite, a special ore used in the world of Ivalice for the purposes of magic and technological advancement. His stealing of the object leads him down a winding path of politics, treachery and dealings with many of Ivalice's own mythology to create a tale that in itself can be considered legendary.
During the course of the game, Vaan also meets up with his dethroned princess, Ashe, who is currently part of the Resistance movement to get Archadia out of Dalmasca. During an attack on the castle, she, Vaan and two Sky Pirates Vaan meets in the treasury, Balthier and Fran, all meet in the Waterways, but are subsequently captured by Archadian forces upon their exit. At that time, her status and true identity are hidden from them, but later, when the group comes together again on a warship, they all decide that since they are largely after the same prize (and with a promise to the Pirates of treasure from an ancient tomb), they decide to work together and help Ashe reclaim her throne.
The group then heads to the Tomb of Raithwall, the legendary Dynast-King that brought about the Galtean Alliance. Several generations prior to the start of the game, The Dynast-King, King Raithwall of House Galtea, forged a peace treaty between three feuding factions, known as the Galtean Alliance, with the help of three treasures—The Dawn Shard, the Dusk Shard and the Midlight Shard, along with a special sword received from the Heavens dubbed the Treaty-Blade. This treaty lead to 700 years of peace throughout the kingdoms, until the fall of House Galtea. The subsequent rulers (and decedents of the line), House Dalamasca, managed to keep peace in the land until the Archadian invasion.
During their crawl through the tomb, they discover Belias, an ancient spirit (called Espers in this world) that actually helped Raithwall forge the alliance with its terrible strength. The group fights and defeats it, gaining its allegiance, but more importantly, they gain access to the Dawn Shard, a magicite relic that can prove Ashe's birthright as princess of Dalmasca and would let her reclaim the throne.
During the course of the journey, Vaan also meets back up with his childhood friend Penelo and the former master of the Royal Guard, Basch. As they travel throughout Ivalice, the group faces many obstacles, not the least of which betrayal, as they are constantly stopped by allies who turn them back over the Archadian Empire (though their reasoning ranges greatly from seemingly moral aims to mere profit). What most of the party fails to realize, however, is that Ashe is forcing them to travel around based on the will of her dead husband, whose ghost appears at important moments during the quest. Eventually, they acquire the items they need to prove to the proper authorities of Ashe's birthright (with the odd assistance of the Second Crown Prince of Archadia, Larsa), but are blind-sided when Archadia assassinates the Grand Anastasis (the only person that can recognize Ashe as the true heir of Dalmasca) and Vayne, the First Crown Prince of Archadia, assassinates his own father to take the throne.
