Writing Athena Plays Fire Emblem: Binding Blade - Next Playthrough Starting Soon!

Chapter 8x: Bandits again? Really?​

<Green> So, Athena, it's good to have you here and all...
<Athena> Thanks <3
<Green> ... but before we get down to business with smashing Bern and all, I need your help with something.
<Athena> Yes? o.o
<Green> Before your dad died, he told me that Bern has been summoning dragons or something and that there was some kind of legendary weapon hidden in Ostia that could help defeat them.
<Athena> Oh, he must have been talking about Durandal.
<Green> Do you know where we could find it?
<Athena> Yeah, it's kept in this cave inside a volcano. Follow me, I'll lead you there!​


And so Green and his companions went on a quest to locate Durandal which was hidden in a volcanic cave for some reason. I obviously knew the way and I led them to the southern edge of Ostia to a dark and spooky cave full of lava and... bandits. *sigh*


<Green> Wait, really, bandits? You're sure?
<Athena> Sure looks like bandits. Kind of raggedy ugly fellows with torn clothes and sour demeanors.
<BB> *sigh* At least it'll be easy exp.
<Athena> Anyway, before the battle starts, let me tell you a bit about Durandal.
<Celever> Yay, history lesson! \o/
<Athena> The sword was first wielded by Roland of the Eight Heroes of the Scouring back a thousand years or so ago. He was actually the first Marquess of Ostia and my ancestor. He named the sword Durandal, but it was also called the Blazing Blade for some reason that no one ever really understood.
<Vom> Sounds like a sweet sword!
<Athena> Yeah, it was indeed pretty sweet. Not only could it slaughter dragons like nothing, but I guess Roland always used it to heal the land damaged by the war with some kind of legendary sword magic.
<TGK> Hey, do you think maybe the bandits came in here to steal the sword?
<Athena> Hah, they can try all they want, but the sword can only be wielded by a descendant of Roland. They won't even be able to pick it up from the alter!
<Jabber> Well, we should probably fight them anyway. You know. For science.
<Green> Sounds good to me. Everyone prepare for battle!​


Meanwhile, with the bandits...


<Bandit> I'm a bandit, herpderp.
<BanditBoss> Ohshi- there are guys coming. Hey everyone, let's fight these dudes!
<Bandit> lolkay​


The path to the alter where Durandal was kept was long, winding, and treacherous. The floor, such as it was, appeared to be some kind of rough cobbled stone, and every so often jets of fire would emerge from the floors and damage the people above them. Thankfully, these spots were a bright orange and relatively easy to avoid. I led the way, with BB and Celever close behind me. DNA and Jabber acted as rear-guard, and the others stayed in the middle. We were still focusing on giving my plenty of exp so I could catch up to the others, so I took down the majority of the enemies along our path. It was slow-going, though, and boring for most other people, so DNA and Jabber found some nice time to chat.


<DNA> So, what do you think of working for House Pherae?
<Jabber> It's okay, I guess. People have been pretty nice to me and all. I suppose it would be better if there weren't this war with Bern, but... *shrugs*
<DNA> Well, keep training and working hard, and let me know if I can help you out with anything. You're very important to this war effort, you know.
<Jabber> Really? I am? What makes you say so?
<DNA> Well, you happen to have something the other knights don't. And that will make you very useful to Lord Green in the future.
<Jabber> Do you plan to elaborate at all on that?
<DNA> *shrugs* Maybe in our next support convo. *rides off*
<Jabber> Well, that was... enlightening.​


Eventually we made it all the way to the altar. Jabber, DNA, Green, and I all worked together to take down the boss, and then I brought Green over to see the sword for himself.


<Athena> So, here it is, Durandal, the legendary sword.
<Green> It's enormous! :O
<Athena> That's what she said!
<Green> Huh?
<Athena> My mom. Dad brought her here once to show her this sword and she thought it was really big, too.
<Green> Well, she was right. I don't even know if I can swing it.
<Athena> Well, the legends say that Roland was a small man and he was able to wield it perfectly. It's more about the skill of the fighter than the size of the sword.
<DNA> Yes, that's very true. It's not about how big it us but how you use it that matters.
<Green> So, do you think even I could wield this sword someday if I become skilled enough?
<Athena> Well, keep practicing and maybe you'll get there someday. You're the main character of the game, after all.
<Green> Well, let's keep it with Merlinus for now.
<BB> Uh, guys, don't mean to spoil the sword party, but we've just received urgent news. Bern's forces are moving on Castle Ostia!
<Green> So soon? Crap. Come on everyone, let's hustle up and get back.​


We quickly tossed the legendary sword into Merlinus's wagon and hightailed it back to the castle. Since I knew we weren't going to be having another battle this chapter, I was kind of interested to see what was going to happen. It turns out the creepazoid General Narcian just wanted to have a quick chat with us. Silly villains and their gloating.


<Narcian> Hello, Green! How are you doing?
<Green> ... ... ... >:|
<Narcian> Now, now, no need to be so angry. I wanted to thank you for getting rid of that stupid General Leygance for me. I'm so grateful to not have to deal with him anymore. Grateful enough to give you and your men their lives if you leave now and surrender Ostia to me.
<Athena> Never! >:|
<Green> Athena's right! I would never surrender Ostia to the likes of you.
<Narcian> Oho, you think you can fight me, little man? You and that little ragtag band of wannabe soldiers? You'd need a whole army to stop me and my wyvern riders!
<???> *rides up* Oh, you mean, like this army?​


Suddenly a whole platoon of green NPCs appeared out of nowhere! The popped out from behind buildings and entered from the edges of the screen. They were led by two prepromoted: a Paladin and a Valkyrie. The Paladin was the one who spoke to Narcian, and he introduced himself once the Bern soldiers got over the shock of the appearing enemy forces.


<Percy> Greetings! I am Percival, Knight General of Etruria. :3
<Narcian> You... what... how...
<Percy> Mage General Cecilia here...
<Cecilia> *curtsies on top of her horse*
<Percy> She told me that the Lycian Army formally requested Etruria's aid. I just couldn't say no to our wonderful allies like that, so I decided we'd ride down, see what was going on.
<Cecilia> You may have noticed that our army is fully ready for battle... and we have quite a few magic users, too. Tell me, Narcian, how are your wyvern rider's Res stats?
<Narcian> Why you...
<Cecilia> Ostia is now fully under Etrurian protection. I suggest you leave if you don't feel like tangling with forces beyond your control.
<Narcian> Fine, we'll go. But you'll see who gets the last laugh! >:| *flies off*
<Percy> So, you're General Roy of the Lycian Army?
<Green> Uh, yes, sir! I took over from Lord Hector when he... know you.
<Percy> Yes, indeed, well, it is a pleasure to meet you. You have my sympathies for all of Lycia's troubles, and the King extends his condolences over the death of Lord hector.
<Green> Thanks, really. If you guys hadn't shown up just now...
<Percy> No thanks necessary, really. I'll leave this issue in your hands, Cecilia. *rides off*
<Green> It's good to see you again. I'm sorry to put you through so much trouble.
<Cecilia> Nah, this is for the best anyway, not only for you, but for Etruria.
<Green> Huh?
<Cecilia> Well, it gives us an excuse to declare war on Bern. We've been worried about them, but have had no justifiable reason to join the fray previously. Now we do.
<Green> Oh, well, good then. Alright. Well, uh, I guess this is where we end the chapter then.​

​
Current Team!

Lord Green - Lv. 14 Lord
DNA - Lv. 2 Paladin
Jabber - Lv. 1 Paladin
TGK - Lv. 14 Mage
Vom - Lv. 14 Myrmidon
Celever - Lv. 16 Priest
BB - Lv. 14 Thief
Athena - Lv. 13 Mage


Player Notes

Alternate chapter title: ITC: Athena makes bad innuendo jokes about swords.

Kind of a boring chapter, honestly. The enemies are scrubs so they were very easy to kill, but since I'm focusing on giving Athena as much exp as I can (and some for BB, too), it was pretty slow moving. On the bright side, it was enough to basically get her in line with everyone's else level-wise... though in 12 level-ups she hasn't gained a single point of Skl. Now I'm wondering if I should really save that Secret Book for BV or give it to my poor Skl-screwed Athena...

Celever's also coming along nicely. He should definitely hit 20 by the time we hit Ch. 11 and Lightning tomes. And BB's coming along well, too, gaining lots of Spd which is the only thing he needs for ++ stealing.

Despite the stupid bandits in the main part of the chapter, the plot begins to pick up a bit with the arrival of Etrurian forces. In previous chapters, Green's mostly just been an errand boy playing catch up but now Ostia is safe and so the plot can move on to... something, I guess? I hardly remember this game so I have no idea where things are going. I guess we'll find out tomorrow!
 
Miyami~~ said:
if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is this?
Click to expand...

Basically what I'm doing is playing a particular video game (in this case, Fire Emblem 6: Binding Blade) under a certain set of restrictions (PokéBeach members chose the characters I'm using and I can only use those characters) and writing it the story up as I go (in a semi-comical format). We call these types of things "playthroughs" here; I've also seen the term "Let's Play" used on other sites. For this particular playthrough for this game series, the dialogue sections are re-written text from the game, and the descriptive sections either give background/narrative information, or explain how I'm actually playing each chapter in order to beat.
 
Athena said:
Basically what I'm doing is playing a particular video game (in this case, Fire Emblem 6: Binding Blade) under a certain set of restrictions (PokéBeach members chose the characters I'm using and I can only use those characters) and writing it the story up as I go (in a semi-comical format). We call these types of things "playthroughs" here; I've also seen the term "Let's Play" used on other sites. For this particular playthrough for this game series, the dialogue sections are re-written text from the game, and the descriptive sections either give background/narrative information, or explain how I'm actually playing each chapter in order to beat.
Click to expand...
wow, fun! I'veo nly ever seen fire emblem once, and that was watching TGK lose all his units in play Sacred Stones. To you have plans to do that game eventually? Also, is it too late to claim a character?
 
Miyami~~ said:
wow, fun! I'veo nly ever seen fire emblem once, and that was watching TGK lose all his units in play Sacred Stones. To you have plans to do that game eventually? Also, is it too late to claim a character?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it is indeed to claim a character for this run.

I definitely do plan on doing a playthrough of Sacred Stones at some point. I might do it right after this run (if I have enough time before Fates is released here), or perhaps later this year. :)
 
Aww can't you let her be a side character like Idenn? She's a pretty important and she doesn't have a member name yet :3
 
Robin Aisaga said:
Aww can't you let her be a side character like Idenn? She's a pretty important and she doesn't have a member name yet :3
Click to expand...

Idoun has already been introduced as Idoun. But even aside from that, I mostly really don't want to start introducing new named characters after I've already closed submissions because it'll just be confusing for me and it sets a bad precedent since I certainly don't want more people jumping in mid-game and asking to be named. There will be plenty more playthroughs in the future.
 
Chapter 9: I'm tired of all these ^*#$@(&ing bandits in this ^*#$@(&ing game​

With Narcian driven away from Ostia, Green and the Etrurian forces brace themselves for a counterattack from Bern... but nothing happened! In fact, Bern pulled away from Lycia entirely and left them alone, giving the Lycians a nice respite. Life slowly returned to normal as the remaining Lycian Marquesses cleaned up the messes and began to restore order. With Princess Lilina much too young to take over the theone of Ostia, Marquess Pherae took over as the head of the Lycian League and new plans for the Lycian army were established. It was decided that Green would take control over the army for his astounding victories in combat, but the army would remain defensive in nature, staying close to home and not provoking Bern.

With normalcy's return and Bern's silence, things were almost starting to get boring. During this period of calm, Etruria formally requested the Lycian Army to help them out with a bandit problem in the Western Isles.


<Green> *groan* More bandits? You've got to be kidding me...
<Athena> Well, at least you have plenty of practice at defeating them. Besides, we can't really refuse to help after Etruria saved our butts in Ostia.
<TGK> Why does Etruria care about the Western Isles anyway?
<BB> Although the Isles aren't technically part of the Etrurian Kingdom, they have a lot of colonies and such there to take advantage of the good mining. However, that same mining also tends to attract bandits looking to make a cheap buck.
<Green> Well, I guess we don't have much choice but to go help them, then.
<Cecilia> I'm sorry to have to send you out like this. It's unfortunate, but the High Chancellor doesn't see the Lycian Army as anything but pawns to move around at his whim.
<Green> Wait, so you mean this order didn't come from the King?
<Cecilia> Nope. Good old HC Roartz is the man that has the closest connections to Lord Arcard, the gentleman in charge of the mining operations here. Together they made the decision to bring you here without involving the king.
<Green> You mean they just went behind the king's back like that? How is that kind of crap even allowed?
<Cecilia> Well... it's a bit more involved than that. I'm sure you heard about Prince Mildain's sudden death last year.
<Athena> Yes, we were all sorry to receive the news.
<Cecilia> King Mordred is still grieving the loss of his son and he pays little attention to his kingdom. As a result, Roartz has mostly taken control of the day-to-day running of Etruria...
<Jabber> And he's exploiting that power to benefit himself personally as much as he can, isn't he?
<Cecilia> Well, to be blunt, yes.
<Green> I'm just grateful that we have you looking out for Lycia, Cecilia.
<Cecilia> And I'm definitely happy to be here. Don't worry, my troops and I will take good care of Lycia and Princess Mora while you're gone.
<Mora> I wish I could go with you...
<Cecilia> It's more important that you stay in hiding here while we keep working to reach a truce with Bern.
<Mora> I suppose so... Well, good luck to you, Green.​


We made our way to the Western Isles and stormed a beach near the bandits' main headquarters. The area was very damp and foggy making it difficult to see, so we proceeded cautiously, Jabber and DNA leading the way on horseback to clear a path. BB also had an easy time seeing through the fog, so he helped lead us through difficult paths. Bandits sprang out at us frequently along the path, but they were taken out rather easily.

Eventually we reached a fork in the road. DNA, BB, Vom, and I all took the northern path, and there were happened to recruit two more soldiers to our cause: a myrmidon named Fir who happened to be friends with Noah, one of the Ilian mercenaries that helped us out in Ostia; and Shin, a Sacaen Nomad who had been sent to find and look after Sue, whom we rescued from Thria a few chapters ago. BB visited one of the villages and learned a bit about the deplorable conditions under the bandits, and Marcus stopped at a nearby shop to grab supplies.

Green, Jabber, TGK, and Celever all headed south instead, a longer path, but with fewer enemies. Jabber rode around to check out a local village while Green, TGK, and Celever went ahead and were beset upon by a large number of reinforcements coming from local sea forts. Eventually they met back up with us near the bandit stronghold and Vom, TGK, and I worked together to take out the bandit leader and Green capped the point to halt the endless flow of reinforcements and move on with things.


<Green> You know... I'm pretty sure these bandits were trying to ambush us. DNA, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
<DNA> I... don't think so, milord.
<Green> I think they knew we were coming and were planning for it.
<Everyone> :O!
<Celever> There's definitely more here than meets the eye, that's for sure.
<Jabber> So, where do we go from here?
<BB> I vote we heard north towards the mines. I heard from some of the villagers that people are being forced into slave labour up there.
<Athena> Ohnoes! That's awful. :<
<Green> Yes, I definitely think we should head up that way to investigate those claims and save those people if they really are in such a bad situation.
<TGK> And we might new some new info up at the mines too about what's going on!
<Green> Good point. Come on everyone, let's go!​

​
Current Team!

Lord Green - Lv. 15 Lord
DNA - Lv. 3 Paladin
Jabber - Lv. 2 Paladin
TGK - Lv. 15 Mage
Vom - Lv. 16 Myrmidon
Celever - Lv. 18 Priest
BB - Lv. 16 Thief
Athena - Lv. 15 Mage


Player Notes

Yes, another bandit chapter. I'm beginning to remember why I wasn't very fond of the plot of this game...

As alluded to in the narrative, this was a Fog of War map, the first one we've encountered so far. It follows a pretty straightforward path BUT:

1) There are 2 recruitable enemies, so you have to be super careful.
2) I don't have any flyers, so it's very long to get around.
3) We don't have any actual torches and the Torch staff in FE6 suuuuucks because you can't pick a location for it to light up it just lights up around you and it's lame and useless.

So mostly we had to do things the slow and painful way. I did restart thrice, once because I accidentally killed one of the recruits, and twice because I didn't bring the right units to recruit them (Noah and Sue, both of which we're not using). I used Jabber and DNA to forge paths through the fog because they're tough enough that that can take a barrage of hits from enemies.

This chapter actually leads to a small fork in the plot. There are two villages in the upper right corner, and you can only visit one. Depending on which one you visit, you may end up taking the northern path to free the slaves in the mine (like we're doing) or, uh, some other path that I dunno because this path is the one I did last time too. I knew we'd be taking this path since this is the path you need to recruit Lalum/Keeper. It also has the benefit of letting us recruit Gonzales/BV a bit earlier. He'll be joining us next chapter!

Hope you all enjoyed, see you on Monday~ <3
 
Chapter 10: Brave smashes his way to victory​

Although the entire Western Isles are filled with various mining operations, the largest by far was located near Eburacum to the north, where people were hopefully better at mining than they are at naming cities. Lord Green decided to head there to inspect local working conditions, and on the way, he approached a small castle guarding the path. Since he was on an official mission from Etruria, Green foresaw no problems and sent a messenger to the lord of the castle, Sir Nord. Unfortunately for Green, Nord happens to be another shady-looking Shaman dude...


<Nord> I am a Druid, not a Shaman. Get your narrating straight and give me credit for my promotion, you wench.
<Athena> Sorry, Mr. chapter boss sir.​


Anyway, we don't seem to have a good track record with those evil-looking dark magic guys, so I have a feeling that things are going to be a bit more difficult than we had hoped.


<Nord> You there, soldier peon, what can you tell me about that spy from the resistance?
<Soldier> You mean that dancer named Keeper that you told us to throw in the dungeons? She still insists that she's not involved with the resistance at all.
<Nord> Hmmm... perhaps I shall have to interrogate her myself... >:3
<Soldier> Oh, um, also, you have a message from the Lycian Army. They want permission to pass through your lands on their way to to Eburacum.
<Nord> Excellent! Lord Arcardo asked us to get rid of them during their stay here if we could. Call the troops and prepare for battle!​


Meanwhile, with our boy...


<Green> Heeeeey, why does it look like the castle up ahead is mustering their soldiers?
<Jabber> Are there anymore bandits around?!
<Athena> I really hope not. >_<
<DNA> Doesn't look like there's any bandits anywhere... in fact, they're actually headed this way. >_>
<Green> Welp, I guess we ought to prepare for battle, then. Gear up everyone!​


We began our trek south towards the castle and the enemy forces rushed up to meet us. TGK got a bit ahead of himself and recklessly barged forward, but he managed to scrap by long enough for Celever to get over to heal him. Jabber ran off to the west to take care of a ballista targeting us while BB ran east to check out a local village. Green chatted up a pirate that happened to be attacking the castle's forces as well and convinced him to join our side. The others are maintained a steady progression towards the castle, though I broke off when I happened to see a rather interesting fellow sneaking north of the castle...


<Athena> Excuse me! You there!
<Brave> Hey, uh, you better watch out, you know, because I'm, uh, an enemy! Right!
<Athena> Yes, I can tell by the fact that you're red. You looked pretty sad, though, so I thought I'd come see what was up.
<Brave> Yes, well... you see that village up there?
<Athena> Yeah, BB went up there to talk to some of the locals...
<Brave> Maybe you should go warm them, or something. Because, um, I'm supposed to go up there, and, uh, you know... *mumbles* destroy the village.
<Athena> But that's horrible! Why would you do such a thing? It's pretty obvious that you don't actually want to do it.
<Brave> Well, um, I was ordered to, you see...
<Athena> Well, it sounds like the person who ordered you to do that is a $#&*ing asshole.
<Brave> :O!
<Athena> You should quit working for him and join up with us.
<Brave> I... I don't think that's a good idea. I mean... people don't like me... they call me names like "monster"... throw stones at me... ._.;
<Athena> That's so awful! :< You don't need to be afraid of us, though; the people I'm with are very kind, and they will see your kindness, too. What do you say... want to take a chance with me?
<Brave> Well... okay, I guess. You're pretty nice, after all, and it would be nice to be with nice people.
<Athena> Excellent! :D My name is Athena, what's you?
<Brave> Oh, me? Well... most people just call me "hey you" but my mum named me... *mumbles and blushes*
<Athena> What was that? I didn't quite here you.
<Brave> She named me Brave of Vesperia. That was the name of our town, you know.
<Athena> Brave! Such a fitting name. Yes, I would be happy to call you Brave.​


With Brave in tow, I went back to our vanguard forces and introduced him to everyone. He immediately took to the front lines and start killing all the enemies in sight. He missed almost as often as he hit, but gained some nice exp. Once we were all together, we moved on the castle where Vom and Brave worked together to take down the boss, Nord. While Green headed forward to cap the gate and win the level, Celever ran around healing everyone and was finally a high enough level to use that Guiding Ring he'd been holding onto. Celever is now a Bishop!


<DNA> I've gone through all the papers, but I can't find any documents explaining why this Lord Nord guy decided to attack us. :\
<Vom> Well, even if we don't know the "whys" behind it, their intention was clearly obvious.
<TGK> Maybe we should get in touch with Etruria. After all, we're here at their stead.
<Green> Yes, I was thinking the same. I'll send a message to General Cecilia.
<BB> Before you head off, I thought you might like to know that I did some snooping around of my own and I found a girl locked in the dungeons. She wishes to speak with you.
<Keeper> *runs forward* Please, you have to help my friends!
<Green> Whoa, whoa, slow down and tell me what's going on.
<Keeper> My name is Keeper, and I'm part of the resistance force on the Isles.
<Green> Resistance force? What are you resisting, the bandits?
<Keeper> Well, that's part of it, but our main enemy is Etruria.
<Everyone> :O!
<Keeper> They're working in cahoots with the bandits and forcing the people here into slave work at the mines, it's just awful. :<
<Athena> That's so horrible. :\
<Keeper> So, yeah, we're fighting against them. Our next plan was to stage an attack on the mines at Eburacum and free the slaves they're keeping there. Unfortunately, one of our members was caught and tortured and spilled the plan, so we need to make sure to get to the mines quickly to warm the other resistance members!
<Green> In that case, I'll be happy to help you. We'll move out immediately towards the mines to backup your fighters and save the enslaved peoples.
<Keeper> Oh, truly? You're so awesome! *kiss*
<Green> H-Hey now! *blush*​

​
Current Team!

Lord Green - Lv. 16 Lord
DNA - Lv. 3 Paladin
Jabber - Lv. 2 Paladin
TGK - Lv. 16 Mage
Vom - Lv. 18 Myrmidon
Celever - Lv. 1 Bishop
BB - Lv. 17 Thief
Athena - Lv. 15 Mage
Brave - Lv. 11 Brigand


Player Notes

Yay, we were fighting something other than brigands! \o/

Two recruits in this chapter, including 1 we're actually using: Brave. Brave is interesting in that he has very high Str, Spd, and HP but... very bad Skl. 5 base and 15% growth rate bad. Combined with the natural low hit rate of Axes, he has a very difficult time hitting things. I saved a Secret Book for him and he actually did get 1 Skl level up during the chapter (he joined at Lv. 5), but it's going to be slow going with him since he has a 60~70% hit chance against most enemies with an Iron Axe right now. I'll probably rig him some level ups.

This is a fairly straightforward map. Move south, kill reinforcements, recruit, get to boss. Mostly I focused on moving forward rather quickly to snap up the recruits and then fed as much exp as possible to Brave. I also fed as much healing exp to Celever as I could to get him promoted, since he'll be able to buy Lightning magic starting next level.

Speaking of next level... it should be a fun one. Keeper will join our ranks at the start of the chapter, but we're going to have a lot of work to do. There's some tricky recruiting, plus some hidden objectives to get free loot (one of which we really want), and a whole bunch of villages to visit too. Should be fun! The only thing I remember about this level from when I played it before was that it's something of a cluster&^$%. Good times. :U

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
 
Chapter 11: Swordmaster Vom is back! \o/​

Shocked and dismayed by Keeper's accounts of the forced labour at the mines, Green is eager to move forward to save the slaves as soon as possible and help Keeper's resistance friends. He writes a quick missive to General Cecilia to let her know what's going on then prepares to move forward. The appointed Etrurian leader of the mines was Bishop Oro of the St. Elimine Church.


<Green> A bishop, huh? He can't be all that bad, then.
<Athena> *mumbles* Clearly you haven't played Radiant Dawn...
<Keeper> No, he's definitely involved. Trust me, the man is scum.
<DNA> Well, we'll be finding out the truth soon, anyway, I suppose, once we get to the mines.​


Inside the castle overseeing the mines....


<Skyleaf> So, you haven't seen any signs of Princess Mora, Bishop Oro?
<Oro> Sadly, no. We've combed all the Western Isles but have found no signs of her, either with the Lycian Army or elsewhere.
<Skyleaf> Damn. >.<
<Oro> Sorry we could be of so little help. I will pray for you to find her quickly.
<Skyleaf> It's alright. Bern thanks you for your help, Father. *leaves*
<Soldier> So, uh, I take it we're not going to tell Bern that Mora is hiding out in the capital of Etruria?
<Oro> Of course not! Mora is a valuable hostage, and I'm not going to just give her location away like that. You should have seen how happy Chancellor Roartz was when he learned of her arrival. I haven't see the man so pleased since the assassination of the prince was completed.
<Soldier> You probably shouldn't talk about that...
<Oro> Bah, it's not like some faceless narrator is watching us talk and transcribing our dialogue or something. Anyway, what brings you here?
<Soldier> I just wanted to let you know that we've discovered the house Resistance Leader is hiding and we're prepared to attack as soon as you give the order. We've got the whole village surrounded.
<Oro> Alright, go ahead and start moving in.
<Soldier> Yes sir!​


Meanwhile back with our heroes....


<Jabber> Troops from the castle are moving in the village. It looks like they're preparing to attack!
<Keeper> No, my friends! And the innocent villagers, too! We have to save them.
<Green> I would have preferred to wait for word from Cecelia, but I guess we have no choice. Everyone, let's go!
<Keeper> I want to help out, too! I can't fight but I can dance for people and stuff and it's hella useful, trust me.
<Green> Sure, you're in, just take care.​


Double meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, two Wyvern Riders meet...


<Gale> So, still no luck on finding Mora?
<Skyleaf> Sadly, no. It doesn't seem like she's still with the Lycian Army. *sigh* This is proving to be a much more difficult problem than I had ever imagined. I'm sorry to have gotten you involved in all this.
<Gale> Nah, don't worry about it. General Murdock is cool with me helping you out.
<Skyleaf> Of, good, I'd hate for you to get in trouble. I guess we'll resume our search on the mainland, then.
<Gale> Sure, sounds like a plan. I'll ask Narcian to help out, too.
<Skyleaf> Wow, I'm surprised you're even willing to talk to him after how crappily he treated you in order to steal the position of Wyvern General out from under you.
<Gale> *shrug* Eh, all he did was share the truth, that I'm not a Bern native. I can't really hold a grudge for that. Besides, he's competent enough in the position, and I'm happy where I am. After all, both the King and Murdock himself trust me, despite my origins.
<Skyleaf> Awww, Gale. <3 *fly off together*​


We knew there were a lot of houses to visit and potential recruits in trouble, so Green sent DNA and Jabber running ahead, with DNA taking a slightly longer path around the walls to visit the outskirts while Jabber led the main charge through the inner part of the village. The rest of us followed behind as close as possible, visiting villages along the way. A group of reinforcements appeared in the southeast, but they happened to be Etrurians and join up with our band when they hear that we're protecting the villagers and fighting against the bandits. Their leader, Klein, ran to the northwest to speak to another group of Ilian mercenaries that will be coming, while the rest of us continued the trek to the boss.

Shortly thereafter, Bandits started appearing from the mountains to take advantage of the chaos. Another group of reinforcements also appeared in the northwest, decimated the Ilian forces that had recently joined up with us. Celever (who finally was able to purchase some Light magic from the local shop) and Jabber helped them out as best as possible by flinging ranged attacks over the village walls, while DNA ran around south to confront them in person. Only the mercenaries' leader, Tate, was left alive to join us, but she was happy to team up with us.

While all this crazyness was going on, a group of soldiers from the castle surrounded one of the houses, demanding that Echnidna, the leader of the resistance forces, come out and surrender. She came out alright, but no surrendering took place since Vom, Green, and TGK took out the soldiers and Lalum recruited her to our cause.

The enemies were starting to dwindle and Green breathed a sigh of relief. He sent Brave up to the local arena to train and earn up some funds for the army, and Celever and Keeper went along with him to help him out. Meanwhile, Vom and I moved in to take out the boss, the despicable Bishop Oro. Vom even gained enough exp to use that Hero Crest he's been lugging around and promo. Vom is now a Swordmaster! When Gonzales got enough money to keep us well-funded and the reinforcements were all gone, Green gave the signal and we all stormed forward to cap the point. We were greeted there by a young man that was also a part of the resistance and had been held captive by Oro.


<Elphin> You must be Lord Green. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elphin of the Resistance.
<Green> The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. We were more than happy to help save the people of the Isles from being forced into slave labour. Such despicable practices...
<Elphin> And yet, in doing so you acted against Etruria, even going so far as to remove some of their appointed leaders.
<Green> Yes, well... I guess the things we did here could be seen as a rebellion of sorts, but once the truth comes out about what happened here, I'm sure Etruria will understand. I happen to be friends with the Mage General, you see.
<Elphin> Heh. I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you.
<Green> o.o?
<Elphin> Don't you find it strange that you were chosen in particular to stop the bandits?
<Green> Well...
<Elphin> Let me guess, it was Chancellor Roartz who sent you, wasn't it?
<Green> How did you know? :O
<Elphin> Well, there are rumours that Roartz and another Lord Arcardo are actually working with Bern.
<Everyone> :O!!!!!
<Green> If they're working with Bern, then they probably just sent us here to get rid of us... which means Lycia could be in danger.
<DNA> In that case, sire, we must leave at once.
<Green> No, we stay here. It's possible that this conjecture is true, but it's also just conjecture. If Lycia is in trouble, then they have General Cecelia and my father to help protect them. But the people of the Isles don't have anyone but us. We must finish our mission here before we do anything else.
<Elphin> Heh, you're pretty wise for a kid. I'm glad you're willing to stay and help us out. If you want my advice, the best way to nip this in the bud would be to head to Jutes, the capital city, and cut out the corruption at its head.
<Green> Alright, sounds like a good plan to me!​

​
Current Team!

Lord Green - Lv. 16 Lord
DNA - Lv. 4 Paladin
Jabber - Lv. 3 Paladin
TGK - Lv. 16 Mage
Vom - Lv. 1 Swordmaster
Celever - Lv. 2 Bishop
BB - Lv. 17 Thief
Athena - Lv. 16 Mage
Brave - Lv. 15 Brigand
Keeper - Lv. 2 Dancer


Player Notes

Woooo... a nice, long, fun, complicated level! It was pretty amusing to play through, and just as much of a cluster&*(%$ as I remember. Here's the rundown:

There are 2 recruitable enemies, and each one is the leader of a group of 4 other enemies. When you recruit the leader, their soldiers become green NPCs. The first one you get in Klein (a Sniper) and he comes in at the bottom right corner. You can recruit him with Clarine or Green. Then 2 turns later, the second group appears from the upper left corner (opposite side of the map) and that recruit Tate (a PK) needs to be recruited with Klein, who you just recruited. 3 turns later, a bunch of real enemy reinforcements appear from that corner. So basically I had to beeline to the southeast to recruit Klein, then beeline Klein up to recruit Tate.

Now, on top of that, you also get extra bonus items if you manage to keep all of the green NPCs alive. You get 4 NPC Archers when you recruit Klein and 4 NPC PKs when you recruit Tate. But the NPCs are dumb as hell and will suicide. It's certainly doable... but not with the small team I'm using. In the end, only 2 NPCs survived. That said, we don't need those items anyway (they're superfluous promotion items that aren't useful to us), so it wasn't a big deal.

On top of that, there's the 3rd recruit, Echidna, who gets recruited with Keeper. Thankfully, she's fairly easy, as she starts as an NPC and she's a decently strong prepromote.

Aside from recruits, there are 8 (!!!) different villages you can visit that give you a number of useful items and also gold. If you manage to save/visit all the villages before the brigands can destroy them, you can a bonus item, a Hero Crest. I wanted that for Brave, and I wanted all the village items anyway, so visiting the villages and killing the bandits were top priority aside from recruiting. We did indeed manage to get them all! \o/

Once again, we had an arena so I asked NotJim and he told me to arena Brave, hence why he's at Lv. 20 now. We'll use the Hero Crest we got at the end of the chapter from saving all the villages to promote Brave ASAP next chapter. We did already have a Hero Crest, but we let Vom use that this chapter for his Swordmaster promotion.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll see you again tomorrow~
 
No chapter today guys, sorry. Spent too much time this morning helping with the XY10 stuff and now I have cleaning to do the rest of the afternoon. :p

To make this post less of a waste, however, I would like to introduce you to one of my newest acquisitions, which happens to be rather appropriate to this thread: Our Boy Roy Green!
 
Chapter 12: Our first DRAGON BATTLE WOOO​

Once we finished cleaning up near the mines, we began the trek towards Jutes, the capital city of the Western Isles. Along the way, we got to hear more from Keeper and Elphin about the situation on the islands, and the head honcho in charge of the whole fiasco: Lord Arcardo, an Etrurian noble. Although still concerned about how Etruria will react to his actions, Green was determined to take this guy out and put an end to the rampant slavery and corruption on the Isles.

Speaking of Lord Arcardo, he's kind of flipping out right about now...


<Arcardo> Ohgod, ohgod, the Lycian Army is coming for me! x.x;;
<Flaer> Calm your tits, man. Sure, it's kind of annoying, but everything is all going just according to keikaku. Bern knew it would be trouble if the kid got too friendly with Etruria which is why we had you and Roartz work together to get them sent here in the first place.
<Arcardo> I think you're underestimating them a bit too much.
<Flaer> Well, true, their little band does fight better than we originally anticipated...
<Arcardo> Do you realize how much money I've lost thanks to your stupid keikaku? Everything! And now they're going to come here and kill me!
<Flaer> Look, if you're that worried, then why don't you just head back to Etruria?
<Arcardo> Wait... I could do that? :O
<Flaer> Sure, why not. Bern can handle the rest from here. We've even brought one of our... sekrit weapons with us. With it, we can destroy the Lycian Army once and for all. >:3
<Arcardo> But...
<Flaer> Once Bern and Etruria formally join forces, we'll have nothing to fear.
<Arcardo> I suppose you're right... thank you for your assistance. I guess I'll be going then. *flees*
<Flaer> *short* Cowardly git. Let him run away with his tail between his legs. Once the Lycians are taken care of, the Isles will belong to Bern...​


Meanwhile, with the fearsome Lycian Army...


<Green> Do you really think we're fearsome?
<Athena> Only to bad guys! *pose*
<Green> Fair enough. I guess we're almost there.
<Keeper> So, uh, not to startle you or anything boss, but I've heard some weird rumours from the locals. Apparently there's a guy around here who can shapeshift into a dragon.
<Roy> lolwut?
<Keeper> Hey, it's not like I made it up or anything. This is some legit info, yo.
<TGK> *groan* That's going to be the boss for this chapter, isn't it.
<Athena> Huh, I had figured the boss would be that Flaer guy from earlier, but maybe the dragon guy is the "sekrit weapon" they were talking about.
<Green> Well, I guess we'll find out soon. Come on, everyone, let's storm the castle!​


There were actually two main entrances into the castle, so we split up into two groups. I went to the east entrance with Vom, Brave, and Jabber, while the others all headed for the west entrance. Brave led the charge, clutching onto a Hero Crest he had picked up at the end of the previous chapter, using it to promote. Brave is now a Berserker! We made slow progress at first, however, as Brave was quickly targeted by a Sleep Staff and we ended up spending some time taking out the priests and waiting around for him to wake up, since the only one who could remove the Sleep spell was Celever... who happened to be on the other side.

Speaking of the other side, they progressed pretty smoothly. TGK and DNA led the charge to wipe out the first smattering of soldiers while BB snuck into a side room to pilfer some chests. TGK and DNA then both took care of some archers holed up in the walls while Green ran ahead forward to take care of a bunch of axe users with Celever as back up. They met up with a Shaman who happened to be TGK's twin brother, and he teamed up with us.

Shortly thereafter, we were able to meet back together in the center of the castle by the throne room. BB picked the lock and we rushed in... at least most of us. There he was, in the flesh, the strange dragon-transforming figure that Keeper and the townspeople had warned us about. However, while Celever, Brave, and I worked on taking out the Dragon guy, Green had ran off to the other side of the castle where the Thief Chick snuck in. Green finally managed to convince her to join our ranks and then hustled back to the throne room, though he was too late, the boss was already dead.


<Green> Man, did you guys really fight the dragon dude? I'm so pissed off that I missed it.
<Athena> Yeah, it was pretty cool. A very difficult fight, though; his armored skin is super tough!
<Brave> Yeah, it took Celever, Athena, and I a couple rounds to take it down.
<Green> And Bern supposedly has a whole army full of these guys? Yeesh! How are we supposed to beat so many? >_<
<Keeper> Well, at least now we have proof that Arcardo was working in cahoots with Bern.
<Jabber> So Lycia really is in danger...
<Green> We'll have to head back at once. Hopefully I'll be able to get a hold of Cecelia...
<Elphin> Before you leave, there's one other thing you may wish to do while you're here.
<Green> *groan* It's not more bandits, is it?
<Elphin> Thankfully, no, but there IS a legendary weapon hidden in a cave near here. An axe, I believe.
<Green> Sweet! Let's go grab it.​

​
Current Team!

Lord Green - Lv. 17 Lord
DNA - Lv. 4 Paladin
Jabber - Lv. 4 Paladin
TGK - Lv. 18 Mage
Vom - Lv. 1 Swordmaster
Celever - Lv. 4 Bishop
BB - Lv. 18 Thief
Athena - Lv. 12 Mage
Brave - Lv. 2 Berserker
Keeper - Lv. 4 Dancer


Player Notes

A fairly lightweight, easy chapter. Not a lot of enemies and few reinforcements; we actually capped the throne before the reinforcements made it into the castle. I guess I could have stalled for exp, but we don't really need it. In fact, everyone that we have so far that can be promoted is, except for the 2 Mages who are waiting for more Guiding Rings.

Brave as a Berserker is wonderful. The promotion gave him a much needed +5 Skl and he gets the same passive crit boosts as a Swordmaster. So, with an Iron Axe he has, like, 36% crit. He is suddenly much more consistent and useful.

I guess I haven't really talked much about Keeper, either. As a dancer, she functions the same as Ninian and Nils (SM and Celever) from last game, except that she can't boost people's stats, just refresh them. I'm using her as much as possible to boost her up. She'll probably be getting the first set of Boots, too, so she can move around better and help out more.

Next chapter is another Gaiden, and just like the first, we'll be getting another legendary weapon in it. It'll probably be fairly short, so I think I'll do a Unit Recap then. In the meantime, hope you enjoy!
 
Athena said:
<Elphin> Thankfully, no, but there IS a legendary weapon hidden in a cave near here. An axe, I believe.
<Green> Sweet! Let's go grab it.
Click to expand...
First you kidnap Spada, and now you want to steal from Escanor.
Next you're gonna find a Master Ball with Red's Mewtwo inside. :p
 
After getting caught up in all of this again (woo) I forgot how long it takes for you to get to Sophia... well at least you're only two story chapters away. But who cares! Sophia is best Shaman/Sorcerer in game!
 
Chapter 12x: Fancy Axe, get!​

<Green> So, this is the cave where the legendary weapon awaits us, huh?
<Elphin> Yep! It's Armads, a huge cool axe, once wielded by the Berserker Durbin during the Scouring.
<BB> Wow, you seem to really know your mythology.
<Elphin> Well, I am a bard. Scouring this, dragons that... it's basically all the old songs are about.
<Keeper> Ohgeez, this cave is full of bandits.
<TGK> How can you tell; it's so dark in here. x.x;
<Keeper> I can smell them, duh.
<Athena> *sigh* Not more bandits...
<Green> Well, we'll just have to make quick work of them. Come on, everyone!​


We dove into the fog and quickly went to work dispatching bandits and looting the random chests that happened to be lying around. Vom was originally assigned as rearguard, but it wasn't long before he got sidetracked mowing down enemies and ended up heading the exact opposite way on his own. Eventually we made our way through the winding paths, making sure to open all the chests along the way, and Lord Green single-handedly took out the boss on his own before collapsing into the throne.


<Green> Well, that was a spectacularly boring chapter.
<BB> At least we got plenty of loot!
<Green> And speaking of loot... where's that fancy axe at, anyway?
<BB> Right over here.
<Green> Wow, it's s--
<Athena> Yes, we know, it's big. No, we're not going to have this conversation again.
<Brave> Ooooh, can I have the fancy axe? Pretty please?
<Green> Sure, but not yet. I'll set it aside for you until we get closer to endgame to make sure we don't use it all up.
<DNA> Sir, dire news from Etruria. It appears Arcardo and Roartz have started a revolution and captured King Mordred!
<Everyone> :O!!!!!
<DNA> Apparently they've made their collusion with Bern known and they plan to work together to split the whole continent between them.
<Green> Is there any word from Cecilia and Princess Mora?
<DNA> Sadly, no. It appears the Etrurian Generals have split ways. General Cecelia has fled to the Missur Peninsula in the south, but we've had no direct contact from here. And we don't know anything about Mora at all, but it's possible she's Lady Cecelia.
<Green> What about the other generals?
<DNA> It seems they're working for Arcardo and Roartz against their will, hoping to protect the King.
<Green> *sigh* What a mess. I guess it's a good thing we didn't head back to Lycia after all. Let's head south inside and see if we can team up with Cecelia and figure out what the hell to do...​

​
Current Team!

Lord Green - Lv. 19 Lord
DNA - Lv. 4 Paladin
Jabber - Lv. 4 Paladin
TGK - Lv. 18 Mage
Vom - Lv. 2 Swordmaster
Celever - Lv. 4 Bishop
Athena - Lv. 19 Mage
Brave - Lv. 2 Berserker

BB - Lv. 19 Thief
Keeper - Lv. 5 Dancer


Player Notes

Yes, more bandits. You'd think they'd have thought up something more interesting for these little side chapters by now, but no. But, like BB said, at least we picked up a lot of loot. Need to make sure to work up plenty of funds for the C21 secret shop, after all. Honestly, nothing really much else to say about this chapter at all. Quick, boring, but we have a fancy axe.

However, like I mentioned yesterday, I do have a Unit Recap for you to make up for the lack of other things in this chapter.

Unit Recap!

Lord Green -

yBMgmhg.png

Green really is our boy. He's gotten some amazing level ups (including 1 of literally every stat and a few of everything but 1) and has already capped his Str and Spd. Unfortunately, he's only got 1 more level up until he becomes dead weight since he won't promote until right before C22, almost the end of the game, which means this is about as good as it gets. As soon as he hits 20, he'll be permanently attached to Keeper to build their support up.

DNA -

Fk0DAkh.png

DNA has sadly begun his decline. Although his nice bases are amazing in the beginning of the game, his low stats compared to a growth character in the same position (ie., Jabber) are beginning to show. The only stat he excels in compared to the younger Paladin is Res, which does make him useful for taking out Mages. I've decided to train him up in Axes in addition to Lances, mostly for lols and to give him a bit more oomph to make up for that low Str. He's still holding his own, at least.

Jabber -

iEVrMQX.png

Compared to DNA, Jabber is a beast, and he's proven himself to be a good unit. Without any flyers, Jabber is primarily our main go-to for rushing to areas to get stuff done, as exemplified a couple chapters ago when he basically single-handedly rushed through Jutes to stop bandits from attacking a bunch of villages. With his high mov and good weapon triangle usage, he's a force to be reckoned with and very dependable. He does have this really annoying habit of missing a lot of 70-80% disp. hits, though.

TGK -

ahDAzwZ.png

TGK is actually a very different Mage from Athena, and they each have their niche. TGK has very well rounded stats, with excellent Skl and Spd, so he has no troubles hitting and doubles enemies often, though his hits lack the punch of Athena's. His Res is a bit low, so I have to be sure to keep him out of the range of Shamans, but he does a bang up job, especially since most enemies have poor Res themselves. He's close to promotion, but sadly we're still short on Guiding Rings. Either he or Athena will get the next one in Ch. 15.

Vom -

HO2NWf6.png

Vom is beast with a Killing Edge and my best unit for pure offense. He's super fast and SM bonuses mean that he has ~36% crit chances with normal weapons and ~70% crits with a KE. Of course, his stupidly low Str means that he needs those crits in order to actually kill anything, but that's what Myrms/SMs are for. He's also decently good at dodging, but he has surprisingly good Def too, so I don't have to worry about him too much. Sure, he'll never tank like Jabber, but that's not his job. Overall, very pleased.

Celever -

O88bfWz.png

Celever is definitely glad to be promoted and able to help directly in battle. His Mag, Skl, and Spd are all pretty good, so even with his only available tome being Lightning, he's kicking ass and taking names. Of course, he doesn't actually get to do much offensively yet since he's currently our only staff user, too, so he still spends a decently amount of time running around and healing people. But as soon as one of the Mages get promoted, he'll have a chance to Shine. (Get it? Oh, I kill myself sometimes)

Athena -

ByOPRPt.png

Hey look, it's me! With Athena's super high Mag, you'd think she'd be super awesome offensively... but she's gotten badly Skl-screwed (only 1 +Skl level up the whole game ._.). When she hits, she hits hard, but she still mostly use Fire tomes as my main damage potential to make sure that she can actually hit things. Funnily enough, although she's hardly gotten any Skl, she's actually getting much more Spd than average, so that's kind of interesting and makes using her a different experience than I expected compared to how she performed my last run.

Brave -

dtmvFAA.png

Brave is pretty amazing and is actually proving to be a much better unit than I expected. He was very difficult to use at first thanks to his super low Skl (and the low hit rate of Axes), so I had to baby him along a lot, culminating in a rather long afternoon spent grinding him up in the Arena in Jutes. However, promoted he became godly. Promotion bonus gave him an extra +5 Skl (on top of the higher-than-average Skl gains he got leveling up), and Berserkers also get a crit bonus like SMs, so he's running with a 30-60% crit. He still has some problems hitting things, but overall he's doing very well.

BB -

Q1XvFRU.png

As a utility unit, BB is doing very well. He's almost capped level, and he has in fact capped his Spd, which is his most important stat (since it determines his stealing capabilities). His offense is obviously pretty low, and will continue to get worse as enemies get stronger (since he can't promote), but he dodges well and his defenses aren't completely horrible, so he's more than capable of doing his job: stealing crap and opening doors/chests.

Keeper -

d6XKDGq.png

For the most part, Keeper's stats really don't matter. If I do my job right, she shouldn't be in danger much at all, and she should dodge the majority of hits that come her way. With her pretty high Spd and Lck, she mostly does. I won't be grinding her like I did Ninian/Nils in FE7, so I doubt she'll level cap, but she's getting along just fine. Also her dancing animation is the cutest. :3

lalum_no_bg_by_ravenmac.gif



Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! See you next week. :3
 
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