Writing Athena Plays Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - Playthrough Complete! Stay tuned for the next one...

I'll say to wait on getting me. Because of how skills are passed down, if we wait until late game, Asugi can be a monster with Replicate, Flamboyant, and Lethality. If we do it now, I won't be as good as if we do it in 10 chapters, or so.
There's only 8 chapters left in the main game, though...
 
There's only 8 chapters left in the main game, though...

10 including Endgame and 4 additional chapters worth of leveling to get all the kids. I guess I could also EXP grind with DLC or something too, though I'd feel incredibly silly doing so given the difficulty level of the game (low).

That said, if we want Lethality and Replicate on Asugi/Quaking, we can always just promote him into a mechanist and he can get them himself. :U (Though I think Quixotic is kind of meh myself and I'd be more prone to passing on Seal Defense or Rend Heaven from Palutena).
 
Not abandoned, just been busy. :p Had a vacation for a couple weeks and now I'm in an awkward state while my bathroom is under construction. I'm also working on getting ready for my upcoming surgery. Hopefully I'll get a chapter off before then, but no promise.
 
Chapter 19: Playthrough: RESURRECTION

<Athena> Hey everyone, welcome to Fire Emblem: Birthright, the hit "strategy" game where one pair-up can decimate an entire enemy's army and the points don't matter.
<Palutena> But I like points... :<
<Athena> I'm your host Athena and... okay, it's been a while, I admit it. So, for my own sanity and yours, let's do a little recap, shall we?
<Everyone> Wooo! \o/
<Athena> So, it turns out that the family I knew and love that raised me from birth and smothered me with love and occasionally breasts is actually ruled by a kidnapping scum king that killed my father and took me hostage.
<PMJ> Can confirm, King Keeper is kind of a dick.
<Athena> As much as my siblings were pretty cool and all, I couldn't really just sit around while they waged war on the country of my birth, especially after Keeper used a nasty trick to assassinate my REAL mom, the Queen of Hoshido. So I basically flipped a double bird at Nohr while yelling "&$(& all y'all &!%(#*$" and defected over to Hoshido and my birth family, where I've been living happily ever since, mostly trying to figure out WTF to do with this war so that Hoshido can win but I don't kill too many dudes because washing blood out of this white armor really sucks.
<Aura> Why are you complaining? I never see you get laundry duty!
<Athena> *cough* Anyway, that's my story. Now let me introduce you to my partners in crime! This here is Xerneas, my younger brother from Hoshido and also my true love and husband.
<Xerneas> Hello! :3
<Athena> Yeah, yeah, I know that sounds weird, but it turns out he's not actually related to me by blood, so technically it's not incest. Also he was kind of a jerk at first, but I still <3 him.
<Xerneas> <3
<Athena> Also chilling out with us are my younger sister Skyleaf... ... ... Skyleaf?
<Skyleaf> Oh, you want me to say something? Um, hi... *blush*
<Athena> And my older brother, Jabber.
<Jabber> Greetings valiant readers!
<Athena> I have another Hoshidan sister, but, uh, she's kind of lame, so we didn't bother bringing her along. Instead, meet my weird, maybe-adopted, I'm-not-really-sure-what-our-relationship-is songtress, PMJ. She doesn't say much, but she sure hints a lot.
<PMJ> *bows*
<Athena> Aside from that, we're kind of a ragged collection of misfits, like Vom and Jesi--
<Vom & Jesi> Hey!
<Athena> ... who are ninja retainers of Jabber and just kind of hang around because they want to make sure he's doing alright. Also because they don't have anything better to do.
<Vom & Jesi> >:|
<Athena> Likewise Robin is a retainer for Skyleaf, though he doesn't really seem to care about her much...
<Robin> *startles awake* What? Are you talking about me?
<Athena> And Palutena is a retainer for Xerneas. I'm pretty sure she had the hots for him at some point, too.
<Palutena> *blushes*
<Athena> Aura is a Dread Fighter suffering from PTSD that we rescued from a village being slaughtered by monsters. I'm pretty sure she'll be completely insane by the time the war is over, but in the meantime, she's a valuable ally.
<Aura> Especially when it comes time to making dinner and washing clothes, apparently. >.<
<Athena> Last but not least are TGK (shota mage) and Celever (foxboy), and to be honest I don't really quite remember how they ended up here, I think they just kind of followed us home.
<Celever> That's certainly true for me at least.
<TGK> I am not a shota. >_<
<Athena> The tales of our past exploits are rather long and boring, but here's a tl;dr - We were kind of halfassedly fighting the Nohrians when we heard Jabber was missing, so we went on a quest to find him and eventually found in the middle of a revolt in Cheve. In the process of running away from a huge Nohrian army, we somehow ended up on the border of Nohr and decided to sneak inside, but we ended up in a trap laid by my old maid Flora who was in turn tricked into betraying us by Keeper and some asshole named Iago. We decide to keep going but we get cornered by my Nohrian brother DoS, who ends up being a pretty nice guy despite the "other side of a deadly conflict" thing. He gives us a magic spellbook that will teleported us to, and back from, the home of some wise old wizard guy who's supposed to help us.
<Vom> Dude, you totally forgot the part where we rescued Jesi and I avenged the death of my father!
<Xerneas> And what about the whole subplot about how I was all pissy and emo before PMJ sang to me?
<TGK> And the Wind Tribe!
<Athena> I did say tl;dr didn't I?
<Jesi> I guess our explots are a bit too long for a simple paragraph to contain.
<Celever> And much too boring, too. *yawn*
<Athena> Well, that's about it. Oh, aside from the fact that most of our non-fighting time is actually spent hooking up with each other. Not only Xerneas and I, but Vom and Palutena also tied the knot, and if my support log looks correct, it won't be long until a few other couples are getting ready to make some commitments as well...
<Skyleaf> *blushes even more*
<Athena> So, why don't we give them a bit of space, shall we guys?
<Everyone but Sakura and TGK> *walks about 20 feet away and then hides behind a bush to eavesdrop*
<TGK> So, uh, Skyleaf...
<Skyleaf> Please tell me this is about donuts, or mochi, or honey dumplings...
<TGK> Actually it's about all those things.
<Skyleaf> Oh, thank goodness, I was afraid you were going to ask you to marry me.
<TGK> Well, er, I am! Skyleaf... there's no one else in the entire worls I would ever want to snack with.
<Skyleaf> *blushes ferociously*
<TGK> Please tell me you'll spend the rest of your sticky sweet life with me?
<Skyleaf> Oh, of course I will! <3
<TGK> <3
Skyleaf and TGK attained S support!
<Everyone but Sakura and TGK> *pops back out from the bushes*
<Skyleaf> Ohgod, they were all watching the whole time... *faints*
<Athena> Well, now that that's done, anyone else have any special words they'd like to say?
<Robin> *ahem* Aura?
<Aura> Yes?
<Robin> We're both imperfect people in an imperfect world, destined to live the remainder of our short lives plagued with the horrors of the never ending war all around us. So... wanna do it?
<Aura> Sure, okay.
Robin and Aura attained S support!
<Celever> That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. T_T
<PMJ> *too busy petting Celever's tail to realize anything is even going on*
<Eveyone> *stares at PMJ*
<PMJ> Oh, um, sorry, it was just so fluffy I couldn't help it... ~_~;
<Celever> That's ok! You can pet my tail any time! :D
<PMJ> OMG, thank you. <3
PMJ and Celever attained B support!
<Athena> Alright, I guess that's that then. I don't really remember anything else important that's going on, so shall we move on with the plot?
<Everyone> Hurray! \o/
<Athena> I think I just need to open this spellbook from DoS and...​


Instantly, our entire party was teleported out of the Outrealms and to the city of Notre Sagasse, home of the Rainbow Sage. It was a pretty generic fantasy city alright, complete with lots of villages, cute little houses, and no soldiers in sight.


<Jabber> Yeah, I don't think the Nohrians have made it here yet, so we should be relatively safe.
<Jesi> Hell, they're probably still looking for us back in that forest in Nohr.
<TGK> So that gives us a perfect opportunity to find the Sage! Uh, wherever he is anyway.
<Athena> I guess we'll just have to ask around... hey, old dude, do you have any idea where we might find someone who calls himself the Rainbow Sage?
<Old Man> *rolls eyes* Oh great, just what we need, another group of heroes trying to claim the power of the Rainbow Sage.
<Xerneas> Er, what?
<Old Man> Everyone and their grandmother thinks they can just show up here and gain unlimited power or somesuch, but it's not that easy I tell you! Almost everyone who has tried to visit the Rainbow Sage has perished horribly along the way.
<Athena> Yeah, well, my brother made it and I can too!
<Old Man> *raises eyebrow* Based on your age then, I'm guessing your brother is Prince BV of Nohr. After all, you don't look quite old enough to be a sibling to either Sumeragi or Keeper, and the only other person aside from those three to ever survive the journey is some mysterious other guy that no one knows about and this probably sounds like it's some kind of deep foreshadowing but it's not, he was just some nobody that will never be mentioned again. Though I guess he could be your brother, too.
<Athena> No, you were right the first time. BV is my brother. So, how do we get there?
<Old Man> *sigh* The folly of youth... go climb that mountain over there.
<Vom> Go climb a mountain? That's it?
<Celever> *pout* That doesn't sound particularly majestic at all!
<Old Man> *siiiiigh* Upon the summit of the tallest peak of Mount Sagasse rests the majestic Sevenfold Sanctuary. Within its lofty halls, the Rainbow Sage is said to reside on the very top floor, seated on a balcony that overlooks the world. Is that better?
<Robin> Oh, yes, that sounds much more majestic. Thank you.
<Old Man> Majestic but deadly! The way to the summit is filled with all manners of deadly traps. You probably won't even make it halfway.
<Athena> Well, thank you very much for your advice, kind sir. Good day!
<Old Man> You too, young miss!​


And so my band and I made the perilous trek up to the top of Mount Sagasse. Thankfully, ninjas are experts as defusing traps, and we had TWO of them, so we made it to the top just fine, but our troubles weren't over yet. We still have to make it to the top floor of the Sevenfold Sanctuary. As the cut scene ended and the battle music began, I knew it was time for a fight.


<Athena> Alright everyone, weapons out! I hope you all remember how to fight!


There were two paths up into the sanctuary, so I split our group into two: Aura, Robin, Jesi, Jabber, Xerneas, and I would take the western path while Vom, Palutena, TGK, Skyleaf, Celever, and PMJ took the east. We wished each other luck, then proceeded into the stairs leading inside.

The enemies had strange defenses and once they took enough damage, they simply disappeared like smoke. It was not very difficult to proceed, but we did need to make sure that we were using the right weapons for each enemy in inflict maximum damage. Eventually the paths converged and we met up together for the final room containing the boss. Celever went all out to kill an enemy Great Master, and then I stepped up to crit-kill the boss to cover his ass and make sure he wouldn't take a bad hit during enemy phase.


<Boss> You have proven yourselves... worthy. *disappears*
<Athena> I guess that must be the end then. Let's just open this door here and...​


Instantly a bright white light enveloped our party and we found ourselves... back in the town of Notre Sagasse where we started. And sure enough, there was the same old man, too!

<Athena> WTF? >_<
<Old Man> Bwahahahaha!! Ohman, you should see the looks on your faces...
<Jabber> Explain yourself!
<Xerneas> Yeah, old man, how did we end up back here?
<Old Man> Oh dearie me, it's been a good time since I've had a laugh like that. Sorry to disappoint you fellows, but I live right here in town. After all, can you imagine walking up and down that mountain every week to buy groceries? Hoo boy.
<PMJ> You mean... you're the Rainbow Sage?
<Old Man> That I am! Finally found something you don't know, eh little missy?
<Athena> But... why didn't you just tell us before? ._.;
<Old Man> Well, it seems like you guys were expecting some quest to find a wise old wizard chap and I just didn't want to disappoint you.
<Athena> Well, um, can you get around to bestowing your power upon us, then?
<Old Man> Nope.
<Everyone> WHAT?!
<Palutena> Don't tell me there's another challenge... ._.;
<Old Man> Don't you see? The journey itself was what gave you power! After all, you guys gained a fair few levels in that fight, didn't you?
<Vom> ... everyone stand back, I'm going to kill him and it's going to be messy.
<Palutena> Don't murder the Rainbow Sage, dear. -_-;
<Old Man> However, I do actually have something I can do for you, Athena.
<Athena> Oh?
<Old Man> Can I see that sword of yours there?
<Athena> You mean the Yato? Oh, sure.
<Old Man> Hold it up like you're posing for a photoshoot, there, that's just right. Now, you young man, with the outrageously long ponytail.
<Xerneas> Yes sir?
<Old Man> Same thing, hold that magic bow of yours high in the air, let it catch the sun just right...
<Athena> Ohshi- is this about the Seal of Flames?
<Old Man> Maybe. Now both of you, close your eyes and think really hard....
I, who forged the sacred blade...
I, who committed the great sin...
I, who wove the divine colours...
I call on you now, Seal of Flames!


With a flash of light, a poof of glitter, and the very majestic sound of a unicorn neighing in the distance, my Yato... it transformed!


<Athena> What happened to Yato? It's got a weird handle guard now and shit.
<Old Man> That's no longer any plain Yato you have there my girl, it's the Fancy Yato! Enjoy a +2 Might, +5% Crit, and +10 Avoid bonus, plus an extra +2 Str and +2 Spd so long as it's in your inventory!
<Athena> Not bad. *nods*
<Old Man> And now, I think you guys ought to teleport back to Nohr. It's getting pretty late, after all.
<Athena> Yeah, I suppose it's time to move on with our quest. Thanks for all your help!​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 5 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 3 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 25 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 4 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 23 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 3 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 23 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 3 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 5 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 5 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 24 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 4 Swordmaster

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Nohr Princess (Heart), Archer (Partner) DLC classes (DLC) - Promotions: Adventurer, Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)


Paralogues!: Now that we've finished Chapter 18, we've unlocked Offspring Seals for the kiddies which means I'm opening up the option to vote for Pralogues to play and kids to recruit. We'll only be playing the Paralogues for the kids we're recruiting, so I'll list them here if they become available. If you want to see one, say so, and we'll do it before the next plot chapter. Also make sure to vote for which promotion option the kid should get when they use their seal!

Asugi/Quaking - Master Ninja or Mechanist
Rhajat/DNA - Onmyoji or Basara

NOTE: Kids will be fully listed as regular classes for reclassing, etc. once they have been recruited and used their Offspring Seal to promote. So, you can suggest reclasses for them if you'd like, but they still need to promote first.


DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths which will not be written at all, as noted above.

More DLC chapters will become available over the next few weeks (yay Europe), so I will add them here as they become available, and note in the player notes when I do so.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited

Witch (females only) - 1 in hand reserved for Rhajat (unlimited)


Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

Hey, welcome back to the run!

It's been quite a while, but now that my life is getting back to normal, I thought it would be good to restart this up again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to commit to daily updates again quite yet, but a journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step, etc. and so forth.

The update at the beginning of the chapter was for my benefit as much as yours. I wanted to get familiar again with the characters I'm playing with (and their PokéBeach personas) and refresh myself on where the story left off.

We also got another 2 S Supports under our belt with both Skyleaf/TGK and Robin/Aura tying the knot. Jabber and Jesi got enough support points in this last chapter to unlock their S Support as well, so then we'll just be waiting on PMJ and Celever... who are still stuck at B. It's hard to support with a dancer. Since we need their S Support for our last two kids too, I'll probably buy a bunch of crappy skirmishes to just boost up their supports faster.

And speaking of kids, we unlocked DNA today as well! Both she and quaking are available for recruit now.

Since we're up to 14 characters available each chapter now, I would like to recruit both of them before moving on with the plot, so do please vote for which class you'd like! DNA has already been confirmed for Witch, but still looking for opinions on quaking. I think support so far has been for Mechanist, but I'm open to discussion.

For now, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the run's continuation! It's very nice for me to be getting back into playthroughs again, and I'm already planning my next one... :)
 
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Paralogue 14: Why did they awkwardly shove kids into this game...

Before teleporting back to Nohr, we decided to take some time for some rest and relaxation back in the Outrealms. And it was a good thing, too, because our whole party was extremely exhausted after climbing up that mountain and then climbing up those stairs at the end, too.

<Celever> Yeah, seriously, I've never seen PMJ so tired. You doing okay there, buddy?
<PMJ> Oh, yes, I'm fine, I just need a... *yawn* a bit of a break.
<Celever> Sounds to me like you need a bit of a nap! Care to use my tail as a pillow?
<PMJ> Ohman, that sounds amazing, thank you. <3
<Celever> Happy to help! :D
<PMJ> *snuggles up on Celever's tail* This is the weirdest support chain.
<Celever> Yeah, tell me about it. >_>
PMJ and Celever attained Support Level A!
<Jabber> Jesi, please, come sit down and get a bit of rest.
<Jesi> Oh, it's okay, you don't need to worry about me.
<Jabber> I think I do! I mean, hell, I was paired up to you all throughout that last battle, so I know how much work you're putting in. You'll wear yourself out if you don't get some rest.
<Jesi> Yeah, well, um... I love you.
<Jabber> Oh, well, uh, that came out of nowhere.
<Jesi> Sorry, I know it's weird, but I also know that nothing could ever happen between us with, you know, you being king some day and all. So I toss myself into fighting to make myself forget.
<Jabber> Well, you don't have to worry about that you know. Because I love you too!
<Jesi> Wait, really? o_o;
<Jabber> Yeah. I would have told you sooner, but, well, I didn't know how you'd react. So, uh, shall we do this?
<Jesi> S supporting? Sure, why not. <3
<Jabber> <3
PMJ and Celever attained Support Level S!


We were about ready to start heading on with the plot when TGK and Skyleaf came up to me. They both had guilty looks plastered all over their faces and Skyleaf had turned such an alarming shade of red I almost thought she was a tomato.


<Skyleaf> So, um, we might have a little, tiny problem... >_>
<Athena> Yes? What is it?
<TGK> Well, uh, you see, it's like this... I mean... you know how time is kind of different here in the Outrealms, right?
<Athena> Yes...?
<TGK> So Skyleaf and I were kind of kissing the other day and, well, you know, a baby just kind of happened.
<Athena> Something tells me you're skipping at least one step here...
<TGK> Anyway, the point is that we had this baby and we didn't know what to do, so we talked to Lilith and she said that we could just toss the baby in another Outrealm so we wouldn't have to worry about taking it into battle with us or whatever.
<Athena> Alright, so, you had a baby, and you tossed it in a portal to another world so it wouldn't be a hassle. Excellent parenting!
<Skyleaf? Um, thank you?
<Athena> So, what exactly is the problem?
<TGK> Well, you see, we got this letter from that Outrealm that said that little DNA--
<Athena> You named your baby DNA? o_o;
<Skyleaf> Oh, yes, after my grandmother.
<TGK> Anyway, TGK's been getting into trouble summoning monsters and stuff.
<Athena> How does a baby summon monsters?!
<TGK> Time is different in the Outrealms, remember? DNA is at least as old as me now.
<Athena> So she's like 10, that's old enough to summon monsters, I guess.
<TGK> Hey! >_<
<Skyleaf> Anyway, we thought it would be best if, you know, we went to go visit that Outrealm and help out with things since it's, you know, kind of our fault and all.
<Athena> Alright, fine, we'll go discipline your weird, monster-summoning, artificially aged daughter.​


We jumped through the Outrealms portal and landed in a rather dark, depressing, forest-y world.


<Xerneas> Ugh, this place reminds me of that weird forest where we fought all those faceless.
<Skyleaf> It wasn't nearly this creepy when we brought DNA here... I wonder what happened?
<Athena> Think it might have something to do with those monsters she summoned?
<Jesi> You mean like those faceless over there?
<Vom> *sigh*
<Jabber> And that must be my little niece right there, with the bright pink hair and the demonic smile on her face.
<TGK> Alright, let's take care of these monsters. I'll see if I can talk some sense into DNA while you guys do the fighting.​


Grimly, we all paired up and started beating our way through the monsters. They were certainly tougher than the ones DoS had summoned, and it took multiple people attacking to take down just one of the beasts. Our main goal was to break a path through for TGK to talk to his daughter, and he made a beeline towards her himself, taking out a couple of the faceless along the way.


<TGK> DNA, WTF are you doing?!
<DNA> Don't you think they're beautiful, father? They're your grandchildren! :D
<TGK> Stop this all at once, I mean it! Monsters are not cute and they're not family and they're hurting your REAL family so cut it out! >_<
<DNA> But but but... :<
<TGK> >:|
<DNA> Fiiiine~ *sigh*​


While father and daughter were bonding, the rest of us finished taking out the rest of the faceless, and then we were introduced to DNA.


<Everyone> Hi, DNA!
<DNA> 'Sup?
<TGK> So, will you promise to stop summoning faceless after we leave?
<DNA> No.
<Skyleaf> Pretty please? With sugar on top?
<DNA> Hmm... let me think about it... no.
<TGK> Oh for Naga's Sake! >_<
<DNA> It's not like you can make me doing anything. You may be my dad, but once you're gone from this Outrealm, I can do whatever I want again.
<TGK> In that case, I suppose we'll have to take you with us.
<DNA> What?
<Athena> Yeah, what?
<TGK> I'll teach you about magic myself so you can do it properly, too.
<DNA> Well, fine, but under one condition: I want to fight too. All the wonderful blood and gore and death and misery of the battlefield... I wouldn't want to pass that up!
<Athena> *sigh* Alright, fine.
<DNA> I'm glad I have your approval, cutie. *wink*​


With that done and over with, we quickly went through the portal back to our own Outrealms. We'd hardly been back 5 minutes before I found DNA digging through the convoy to find herself a bunch of spellbooks, and she'd also nabbed the Witch's Mark we'd been saving. DNA reclassed into Witch!


<Athena> Hey! Who said you could have that?
<DNA> What's the big deal? I like the hat. You guys need some more magical offense in this party anyway.
<Athena> *sigh* Fine, whatever. Any of the rest of you guys have babies that you tossed into Outrealms so you wouldn't have to deal with them?
<Vom and Palutena> *sheepishly look at each other and raise hands*
<Athena> *facepalm* Alright, fine, we'll deal with it later. For now... anyone seen Celever and PMJ? I don't even recall seeing them during the battle...​


Indeed, they hadn't joined us at all. Celever was sitting off in a grove of trees while PMJ was snoozing on his tail. They'd been there since the previous battle.


<Celever> Awww... humans are so cute when they're asleep. :3
<PMJ> Zzzz... *snort* Huh? Wuzzut?
<Celever> Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. You were sleeping so peacefully! :D
<PMJ> Ohgeez, how long have I been asleep. x.x;
<Celever> Well, uh, we kinda missed a battle, and TGK and Skyleaf's daughter is hanging out with us now, but that's okay, it's not a big deal.
<PMJ> I missed so much?! Argh, it's all because of your stupid excellent fluffy tail. I'll never be able to sleep on a normal pillow ever again.
<Celever> Well, you could sleep with me all the time if you want, I wouldn't mind. :3
<PMJ> Huh?
<Celever> Don't you get it, PMJ? I'm in love with you! I'd do anything and everything to ease your burdens, including providing my tail for sleeping support whenever you'd like. <3
<PMJ> Oh, yay! I love you too Celever. <3
PMJ and Celever attained Support Level S!

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 7 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 3 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 25 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 4 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 24 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 4 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 24 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 4 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 5 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 5 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 25 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 4 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 24 Witch

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)


Paralogues!: Now that we've finished Chapter 18, we've unlocked Offspring Seals for the kiddies which means I'm opening up the option to vote for Pralogues to play and kids to recruit. We'll only be playing the Paralogues for the kids we're recruiting, so I'll list them here if they become available. If you want to see one, say so, and we'll do it before the next plot chapter. Also make sure to vote for which promotion option the kid should get when they use their seal!

Asugi/Quaking - Master Ninja or Mechanist
Shigure/WPM - Falcon Knight or Kinshi Knight
Selkie/Miyami - Ninetales

NOTE: Kids will be fully listed as regular classes for reclassing, etc. once they have been recruited and used their Offspring Seal to promote. So, you can suggest reclasses for them if you'd like, but they still need to promote first.


DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths which will not be written at all, as noted above.

More DLC chapters will become available over the next few weeks (yay Europe), so I will add them here as they become available, and note in the player notes when I do so.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

As I mentioned last chapter, I'm starting to pick up the kids now, hurray! \o/ I decided to start with DNA, since we knew what we had planned for her (Witch, Witch, and more Witch). She looks pretty good if you ask me!

DPt3wsO.jpg

7IBbOpo.jpg

She brings some strongly needed magical nuking power to the table. TGK's Mag is okay, but his main usefulness is his high defenses that mean you can toss him in the middle of a bunch of enemies without wincing. Our only other real magic user is Skyleaf who has practically no defenses to speak of, so she mostly functions as a staffer and pair-up to TGK to give him more of a Mag boost. DNA on the other hand has a whopping 31 mag, and her defenses aren't the best, but they're better than her mom's.

I also ran through a couple skirmishes to get Celever and PMJ up to S support so we don't have to worry about them lagging as much. As such, we've got WPM and Miyami also unlocked now. I'm going to grab WPM first since he's DNA's partner, and then we'll grab the other two, and then we'll finally move on with the plot. But now is the perfect time to grab the kids since they end up at the perfect level with Outrealms Seals, and I don't want to wait too long since the chapters themselves scale.

Speaking of the chapter difficulty, this one wasn't bad at all. The faceless were indeed pretty bulky (and decently fast!) so only Athena, Xerneas, Jabber, and TGK could one round them without crits or shenanigans. However, there weren't many of them, and it was a simple matter to kill off a few during PP and then let them attack Jesi, Vom, and Aura during the rest EP for shuriken debuff magic.

I wasn't really sure how I was going to present the children mechanic for this game, but this seems silly enough. The whole mechanic is so rashly introduced and poorly explained in the game itself, but then, they don't have much to work with.

In any event, Fire Emblem Direct in just ~7 hours time, woo! I hope you all are as excited as I am. :3

In the meantime, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and see you soon!
 
Paralogue 3: WPM splashes his way into battle

We had finished preparing for our journey back to Nohr and were about to leave the Outrealms when Celever and PMJ came up to me happily.


<PMJ> Oh Athena, can we please have another day before we go back to the plot?
<Celever> After all, we're obviously not in a rush or anything.
<Athena> *sigh* What is it you guys want to do? Play around in the hot springs?
<Celever> Nah, that was yesterday.
<PMJ> We want to go visit our son WPM!
<Athena> Wait, what?! You guys have a kid, too? Why didn't you tell me sooner?
<Celever> Not just one kid, we have two! :D
<Athena> *facepalm.jpg*
<PMJ> Our son, WPM, has invited us to visit him on a ship in his home Outrealm. Apparently the seas there are very beautiful.
<Celever> And we haven't seen him since he was a baby, anyway.
<Athena> And how long ago was that?
<PMJ> Oh, yesterday I think.
<Celever? Come on Athena, can we go? Please? It'll be fun! :D
<Athena> Alright, fine. It can't be any more of a disaster than when we went to see DNA, after all.
<DNA> Hey! >:|​


Celever and PMJ led us to the portal to their son's Outrealm and we landed on the deck of a ship in the middle of the sea. It was indeed pretty beautiful and relaxing... for the first few hours at least.


<Takumi> Didn't you say this WPM was going to meet us here?
<PMJ> This is the right time, too, I'm pretty sure anyway... Outrealm time can be confusing...
<Robin> *glancing out at sea* I don't suppose this WPM is a Pegasus Knight, is he?
<Celever> I think so, yeah. Why?
<Palutena> Because there's a Pegasus Knight flying here at breakneck speed!
<Skyleaf> Ohmy, that pegasus looks injured, too!
<Vom> Look out! He's coming in for a rough landing. >_<​


Sure enough, the pegasus and its rider crashed onto our ship only moments later, sliding across the deck. Skyleaf met them with her assortment of staves, eager to patch up their wounds.


<WPM> Mother! Father! Everyone else! My home village is under attack! Come help, plz? :<
<Athena> *sigh* I should have known this would be an issue.
<Jabber> But we are going to help them, right?
<Athena> Of course we are. So, what are these enemies like?
<WPM> Well, it's kind of hard to see them, they sort of flicker in and out of view.
<PMJ> *swallows nervously*
<WPM> But it's very clear they're after me!
<Jesi> That must certainly be true, because they seem to have followed you here.
<WPM> Eep!
<PMJ> This is all my fault. >_<
<TGK> Huh? How can this be your fault? :\
<Athena> Don't bother asking you, she'll just ask you for money to play the other path. For now, I suppose we have an enemy on our hands right here and now. Everyone grab your weapons!
<WPM> I'll fight too!
<PMJ> lolno, you will sit your ass down on the box in the corner over there.
<WPM> But moooom~
<PMJ> >:|
<WPM> Fiiiiine~​


WPM's shimmery enemies had apparently commandeered two ships and decided to take turns ramming us. I sent Aura, Robin, TGK, Skyleaf, Jabber, and Jesi to the southern ship that was full of Sorcerers (I think? Hard to tell classes when you can hardly see the enemies themselves), while PMJ, Celever, Palutena, Vom, Xerneas, and I went towards the northern ship with the axemen and the boss. I probably could have ended the battle sooner, but I figured I may as well let everyone get all the battle experience they wanted. It wasn't long before they were all killed and everything seemed in order.


<Athena> Alright, that's one battle done. Now, let's get back to the village and--
<PMJ> Don't bother; there's no one left there alive.
<TGK> Wait, how do you know that?
<PMJ> *shrugs* Plot shenanigans.
<WPM> So the people who raised me... they're all dead?
<DNA> Looks like it. Suck to be them.
<WPM> Nooooooo....!!
<Athena> There, there.... *awkward pats*
<Robin> Awww... you broke the three letter name chain. :<
<Celever> I guess we'll have to find a new village for you to live in, then. At least there are plenty of outrealms!
<WPM> No way! I want to come back with you guys and fight.
<PMJ> But but but...
<WPM> You let HER join.
<DNA> *waves*
<Athena> You can come, WPM.
<WPM> Yippee!
<Jabber> Just know that you'll be expected to pull your weight. After all, we ARE in a war.
<WPM> No need to worry about that. I'll be happy to help out!​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 7 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 4 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 25 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 5 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 24 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 4 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 25 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 4 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 6 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 5 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 26 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 6 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 24 Witch
WPM - Lv. 4 Falcon Knight

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)


Paralogues!: Now that we've finished Chapter 18, we've unlocked Offspring Seals for the kiddies which means I'm opening up the option to vote for Pralogues to play and kids to recruit. We'll only be playing the Paralogues for the kids we're recruiting, so I'll list them here if they become available. If you want to see one, say so, and we'll do it before the next plot chapter. Also make sure to vote for which promotion option the kid should get when they use their seal!

Asugi/Quaking - Master Ninja or Mechanist
Selkie/Miyami - Ninetales

NOTE: Kids will be fully listed as regular classes for reclassing, etc. once they have been recruited and used their Offspring Seal to promote. So, you can suggest reclasses for them if you'd like, but they still need to promote first.


DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

Second kid get! Since we recruited DNA last time, I figured we'd get her partner next, so we snagged up WPM.

We haven't actually gotten a chance to use WPM yet, but we will starting next (real) chapter. I opted to Falcon Knight instead of Kinshi Knight to start off since I figured flying staff utility is a bit more useful than another bow user at this point, and his stat gains are better as a Falco, but of course we can still reclass him, and his full options are listed above. He's not particularly strong or bulky, but he's fast and has good Res, so he'll make a nice mage killer... or at least useful for ferrying DNA around.

Chapter is a real easy one. I could have ended it T1 by dancing Athena to take out the boss, but I ended up dragging out the kills to pass around exp, because everyone likes exp. :U No one really posed much of a threat.

I'll probably do the next chapter tonight since I'm going to have a bunch of free time while my husband has a party, so if you have a preference on whether we should grab Selkie or Asugi first, feel free to speak up. :p
 
'ey, WPM should 100% be a Ninetails. I'm fighting with a sword for some reason, and someone needs to keep the Kitsune way of life alive! :(

Also I feel like Gaius first and then Selkie, just because getting all my kids in a row seems a little selfish. "Hey you've just picked up my son... can we get my daughter too? ^w^"
 
'ey, WPM should 100% be a Ninetails. I'm fighting with a sword for some reason, and someone needs to keep the Kitsune way of life alive! :(

Also I feel like Gaius first and then Selkie, just because getting all my kids in a row seems a little selfish. "Hey you've just picked up my son... can we get my daughter too? ^w^"

Well, Selkie will start as a Ninetails too, but we can totally make WPM one as well. :U
 
Paralogue 9: Vom vs. Vom

<Athena> Alright, so, any other troublesome kids we need to go straighten out before we get back to the plot?
<Vom> *mumble grumble*
<Athena> What was that, Vom?
<Vom> *argleblargle*
<Athena> o_o?
<Palutena> Vom is... kind of upset at how our son has been behaving in his outrealm lately.
<Vom> If you think those two were troublesome, then I can't imagine what you'd think of my son... -_-;
<Athena> That bad? >_>
<Vom> At the rate he's going, he's never going to be worthy enough to be another Vom.
<TGK> Another... Vom?
<Robin> Ah, yes, I see, the desire of a father to see his children follow in his footsteps.
<BB> No, in this case, it's pretty literal. You see, in our family, the oldest son is always expected to take the name Vom. Our Vom here is actually the 5th, so his son should be the 6th.
<Vom> He will be a disgrace to our whole legacy. -_-;;;
<Xerneas> Surely it can't be THAT bad...
<Palutena> Well, he's kind of run away and turned into a thief-for-hire.
<Skyleaf> Okay, that is bad. >_>
<Athena> Well, we've gotten ourselves sidetracked this badly, I guess it can't hurt if we take a bit of time to go talk to him, see if we can help work stuff out.
<Palutena> Oh, really? Thank you! <3​


And so we entered into a portal and traveled to Vom's personal dimension. Er, the kid Vom, not OUR Vom. In fact, let's just call him Vom6 for now to keep things straight. After a bit of wandering, we came across a blue-haired ninja arguing with a rather flowery-looking adventurer.


<Adventurer> What do you mean you're out? You agreed to this job, Quaking; signed a contract and everything!
<Quaking> Yeah, well, I don't give a crap about your contract. Smell ya later!
<Palutena> Vom! What are you doing with that cretin?
<Vom> And why is he calling you Quaking? Your name is Vom! >_<
<Quaking> Vom this, Vom that. I don't care one whit about your stupid family and it's stupid naming conventions. You love that stupid name more than you love me. In fact, you know what? Screw all y'all. I'm out of here. *leaves*
<Vom> Vom! Ge your ass back here! >_<
<Adventurer> You know what, I don't know who you people are or what you're doing here, but apparently you're related to that scoundrel and he's costing me a lot of profit by backing out of this thieving job, so I'mma kill you all now, kay?
<Palutena> Scoundrel?! That's my son you're talking about! >:| *shakes lance angrily*
<Athena> *sigh* I should have known things would turn out this way...
<Vom> Let's just grab Vom and get out of here.
<Palutena> Oh, you are not stopping me from kicking that asshole's face in.
<Athena> Fine, fine, kick the asshole, grab the kid. Then we're out of here.​


It looked like the adventurer's gang was robbing some kind of manor house, so we ran inside to take care of business. Our goal was only to kick the main guy's butt, so we beelined towards him, making use of various dragon veins along the way to tear down walls, because that's a thing that totally makes sense. I wanted to let Palutena get the kill, but DNA was a bit too overzealous and managed to take him out with a single crit.


<DNA> Whoops! Ehehehehehe... >:3​


Afterward, the rest of the gang fled, and we were able to catch up to Vom6/Quaking/blue-haired ninja guy.


<Quaking> Ugh, will you stop following me. -_-;
<Vom> No. I want you to tell me what's going on here.
<Quaking> *sigh* This jackass hired me as a thief but it wasn't until we got here that he told me I was also supposed to kill the guy who owns the house. No way in hell am I going to get involved in murdering dudes, so I said "nope, &^%$ this shit" and was skipping out of the job when you showed up. There, happy?
<Vom> That's... surprisingly noble of you.
<Quaking> Wait, what?
<Vom> I'm glad you have honour, even if it's... well, not exactly what I'd hoped. Keep your fancy "Quaking" name and your freedom.
<Quaking> Freedom, you say?
<Vom> It's pretty clear you don't give a crap about living up to my standards or the family name, but as long as you're not a complete asshole, I guess I'll just have to be okay with it, won't I? Besides, your mom wouldn't forgive me if I kicked your ass.
<Quaking> So... if I'm free... then I want to come with you!
<Palutena> No way! We're fighting a war here.
<Quaking> And I can help. Besides, dear old dad here just gave me permission to do what I want, right?
<Athena> I had a feeling this would happen. Fine, you're in.
<Quaking> Woohoo! \o/​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 8 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 4 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 25 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 4 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 25 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 7 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 5 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 26 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 6 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 25 Witch
WPM - Lv. 4 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 4 Master Ninja

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

Third kid get! Celever was the only one who voted, but that was enough to make a decision. :p

I've been stuck with a cold for the past few days, and I can tell it's affecting me mentally. Forgot to give WPM any other weapons aside from his starting Naginata before going, and forgot to reassign skills so Quaking is stuck with Swap and Golembane. OH WELL. I ended up making him a Master Ninja, mostly for the speed boost, though feel free to suggest reclasses.

This was actually probably the most difficult of the chapters we've played so far, though that doesn't say much. The enemy units are pretty strong, and ninjas/adventurers (which made up most of the enemies) are fast. Some of our weaker units were having difficulties doubling, so it ended up mostly being our stronger units doing the bulk of the fighting and the others picking up damage here and there. The enemies also rush you, and the DV breaks make big holes, so it wasn't really feasible to milk exp either. Regardless, we made it through on the first try, so yay us.

In other news, I forgot that Witches get Shadowgift, which makes it extra fitting for DNA... not that there are any dark tomes we have access to, though.

Next chapter will be grabbing our final kid, Selkie/Miyami, and then moving on with the plot. I may end up doing that chapter this afternoon (the kid chapters are very low plot so easy to write), though of course last time I planned to do an update out of order it didn't end up going through, so take that with a grain of salt. :p

Either way, looking like 9-10 chapters left, depending on if I write the last 2 chapters together or not. On one hand, it would be a crazy long chapter, but there's no saving in the middle so it might be a pain to split up. I guess we'll see. Feel free to comment if you have a preference.

I hope you all enjoy!
 
Paralogue 10: Miyami would like to play a little game... >:3

<Athena> So, last call for anymore kids before we--
<Celever> Ohno! It's my daughter, Miyami! She's gone!
<Athena> Wait, I thought we already got your kid?
<PMJ> Oh, yeah, well, we, um, we kind of had two kids.
<WPM> You mean I have a sister? :3
<PMJ> Yeah, she takes a bit more after your father...
<Celever> She's got some super cute ears! :D
<Aura> And you said she's in trouble?
<PMJ> We just got a notice from her caretakers in her outrealm that she somehow found an exit into a different outrealm...
<Athena> facepalm.jpg
<Celever> Please, Athena, we have to go make sure she's safe!
<Athena> Alright, alright, let's go. But I hope you both will think a bit more next time before having any more kids, because this is kind of riduculous. >_<​


Celever and PMJ led us through the portal to the Outrealm where Miyami had apparently ran into. The portal led into a dense wooden area filled with bandits and other unsavory folk. Through the trees, we spotted a kitsune that could only be Miyami, battling her way through a bunch of Snipers. We quickly grabbed our weapons and prepared to battle our way through the hordes of enemies.

The bandits were stronger than I might have hoped, and I urged everyone to stay together and exercise caution in our approach, but neither Celever not PMJ seemed to care. They rushed headlong through the enemies trying to reach their daughter as soon as possible, and leaving the rest of us to follow along behind them, working to take out as many enemies as we could to keep their path relatively clear.

Bandits were closing in on us from all sides, forcing us to split up and take care of the threat. I sent Jabber and Jesi north to keep an eye on Celever and PMJ while the rest of us covered the east and west sides before we were flanked and ambushed.

Unfortunately, Miyami herself seemed not to notice our appearance at all. She was attacking the bandits herself with reckless abandon, moving further and further away from us and deeper into the fray. Thankfully, finally, Celever and PMJ managed to catch up with her.


<Celever> Miyami! Hold on! I'm here to rescue you!
<Miyami> Rescue me? What do you mean? I'm playing with these nice fellows here. :3
<Celever> These men aren't playing with you, they're bandits! And by the looks of things, they're probably after your pelt.
<Miyami> My fur? But I'm wearing it! So how can they... ohhh... they want to hurt me, don't they, daddy?
<Celever> I'm sad to say it, but it's true. So, how about you join up with us quick and we'll hunt down some humans to show them who's boss? >:3
<Miyami> This sounds like fun! :3
<PMJ> That's not quite what I had in mind...​


Celever, PMJ, and Miyami went to work on the rest of the bandits to the north while the rest of us hurried to catch up. Miyami had started tackling the boss on her own, but WPM swooped in and managed to secure the kill with a lucky crit.


<Miyami> Hey, that was my kill! :<
<WPM> Sorry... ^^;
<Miyami> It's okay, I can't blame you for wanting to have fun, too! Wow, this was great! Are all your battles like this, daddy? :3
<Celever> Basically, yeah.
<Miyami> In that case, I'm coming back with you! This is much too fun to pass up. :3
<Celever> No, it's not fun! It's very sad and you could die!
<Miyami> Oh, well, um, what if I didn't think it was fun and I was just coming along because I want to help you guys and stuff? :3
<Celever> That would be perfectly fine! :D We're happy to have you! :3
<Miyami> Yippee! :3
<Athena> Somehow, I don't quite think she was being genuine when she said she just wanted to help us...
<Jabber> On the other hand, that girl can fight, wow. She'd be a great asset for our army.
<Athena> I didn't say I wasn't going to let her come... >_>​


With the bandits all cleared up, we went back to the portal and went to our own Outrealm for some long-deserved rest. Hopefully no other weird outrealms children would come crying for help. In the meantime, some of the others were starting to get closer...

<WPM> ♫ You are the ocean's grey waves... ♫
<DNA> What, did you learn that song from your mom?
<WPM> Er, yeah.
<DNA> She sounds a lot happier than you when she sings it, though. You sound downright depressing.
<WPM> I guess I am kind of down right now, sorry.
<DNA> No need to apologize, I love it!
<WPM> Err...
<DNA> Though, I suppose you're probably not as accepting of dark moods and foul humours as I am. In that case, just give me four teeth and a thumb and I'll have a cure for you in a jiffy,
<WPM> Umm, I don't think I'd care much for a magical solution, thank you. I was singing to the spirits of my caretakers.
<DNA> Oh, yeah, the villagers who all died during that attack that we were a part of. That was a real bummer. Kinda surprised you care so much about them, though.
<WPM> Of course I care about them! They were my only friends and family for basically my whole life. Wouldn't you feel sad if yours died?
<DNA> Nah, they didn't really care about me much. My magical studies scared them off.
<WPM> Oh, dear, that's not very nice of them.
<DNA> Oh, don't go blaming them. I scared them off on purpose, see? That way I'd be free to work in peace. I didn't really care about having other humans around.
<WPM> Oh, er, I see...
<DNA> And speaking of which, this conversation is turning boring to me, so I'll see you later. *leaves*
<WPM> Er, um, bye, I guess...
WPM and DNA attained support level C!

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 8 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 5 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 26 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 5 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 26 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 7 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 6 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 25 Witch
WPM - Lv. 5 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 4 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 4 Ninetails

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Miyami - Basara, Onmyoji, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

And there we go, last kid down. Everyone say hi to Miyami! Since she starts as a Kitsune, she only has one promotion option available (Ninetails), but now that she's used her Offspring Seal, we can reclass her if we wish. She's actually a pretty great unit as is, beaststone bonuses are nice, and she was holding her own even without a partner, against the boss (though it helps that she has amazing Res).

Chapter was fairly easily difficulty-wise, just had to be careful of ambushing enemies. The most difficult thing was getting to Miyami before she went too far on her own; we ended up chasing her throughout most of the map before Celever was able to talk to her and recruit her.

Now that I've recruited everyone, I'll probably do a Unit Recap at the end of the next chapter.

And speaking of the next chapter, we'll be back to the main plot finally. I don't even really remember where it's going at this point, so I guess we'll find out soon. We don't have all too many chapters left, though.

WPM and DNA got their first support, though I don't really know if there's enough chapters left for the kids to all get S Supports before the end. I suppose it doesn't matter all too much, since I'll be writing the endings myself anyway. :U

As usual, hope you all enjoy, and see you next chapter! As tempted as I am to do another one today, I think I'll wait for tomorrow.
 
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Chapter 20: Back to the Plot, woo~ \o/

<Athena> Alright, we're all rested, got plenty of weapons, everyone's doing fine, there are no more troublesome kids hiding behind rocks--
<Quaking>Hey! >:|
<Athena> So, we should be ready to get back to the plot. Any final objections? None? Good. Let's go!
<DNA> So, uh, where is it we're going exactly?
<TGK> Don't ask me! It's been so long, I hardly remember what was going on. >_>
<Athena> Well, let's see if we can figure something out... oh, yes, I still have this magic book from DoS! This will take us back to Nohr so we can continue our infiltration of Nohr.
<Xerneas> Not that our little detour did us any good. Your sword is a bit shinier now, big whoop. That Rainbow Sage was more like a rainbow sack of crap if you ask me.
<Skyleaf> I thought he was nice... ._.;
<Palutena> I'm just anxious to be getting back to killing some Nohrian scum, so let's go!​


I opened the book and we teleported back to the swampy forest where we had previous fought with DoS. There was no sign of the battle, just the unending stink of bog. How wonderful it is to be back in my home country... *sigh*


<WPM> Well, here we are in... er, lovely Nohr. Now what?
<Jesi> We've been gone so long that we've probably lost our initial pursuers...
<Vom> *snort* Though we can't expect that to last for long. The Nohrians probably have wards all over the place.
<Jabber> We should press our advantage while we still have it and head northeast, directly to the capital.
<PMJ> Hmmm, that direction should take us right to Fort Dragonfall.​


And, sure enough, a short movement on the map away was the mysterious Fort Dragonfall.


<Aura> Fort Dragonfall... I wonder why they called it that?
<Robin> Don't you see it? A dragon fell here! It's really not a very clever name at all.
<Celever> Wait, what? A dragon? o_o;
<PMJ> Yes, Robin is correct. The fort is built into the remains of a dragon that died here. How did you know that, anyway?
<Robin> *shrugs* I was googling things to do with a spare dragon carcass.
<Jabber> It's actually a pretty good idea. Dragon bones are strong and will last for millennia, so it's not a bad base for a fort.
<Quaking> Looks pretty deserted, too. Want me to go scope it out?
<Miyami> No fair! I want to go first. :<
<Athena> Let's all just go. No point in splitting up. Whether there's a battle or not, we'll probably want to stick together.​


We all progressed quietly and carefully into the dragon's throat. Totally no symbolism there, nope, none whatsoever. It was, indeed, pretty dead all things considered; no enemies in site.


<Vom> This smells wrong.
<Celever> *sniff sniff* I think this is actually rather pleasant compared to the bog stink.
<Jesi> He means it's too quiet.
<Xerneas> But that's a good thing, right? It's not like we WANT to fight.
<Vom> No, but I would expect at least a token group of guards or something. The Nohrians wouldn't leave this fort completed undefended, but it seems... abandoned.​


Suddenly, we all felt and heard a large rumbling all around us.


<PMJ> That's not good. >_>
<DNA> Nice observation, Princess Obvious. *rolls eyes*
<Skyleaf> Eeek! The entrance! It's gone! D:
<TGK> Ohshi-
<Iago> Awwww, that little dragon burp gave away my surprise entrance...
<Athena> *sigh* Tell us what you want and run away, Iago. I'm not in the mood to deal with your crap today.
<Iago> Awwww.. that's no fun. :< And here I was going to taunt you for a few minutes before revealing my secret....
<Miyami> Ugh, I just stepped in something disgusting. >.<
<Athena> Is that... acid?
<PMJ> Ohshi- it's stomach acid. Iago is reviving the dragon somehow!
<Iago> Why yes indeed! I'm rather proud you've figured it out on your own so quickly.
<Athena> Garon must be behind it. No way this punk would have enough power to do something like this on his own.
<Iago> Ouch, right in the feelings, Athena. :< Oh well, no matter, I can live with a bruised ego knowing you all will be meeting your demise soon.
<Palutena> Oh, come on, we got this. We just need to break through these walls and escape!
<Iago> No can do, sweetheart. Indestructible dragon bones, remember?
<Xerneas> Ohgeez. What are we going to do?
<Iago> You're going to die slowly and painfully, of course, but I suppose I could give you some toys to play with while you wait....
<Faceless> *RAWR!*
<Iago> Anyway, peace out! *teleports*
<Athena> There's got to be SOMETHING I can do...
<PMJ> Perhaps if I sing...?
<Athena> I don't want you to hurt yourself. *whisper* I mean, what happened last time...
<PMJ> Oh, for crying out loud Athena, a bit of pain is better than a lot of dead.
<Athena> Okay, fair.
<PMJ> I'll need you to defeat the Faceless first, though. I don't want them distracting me.
<Athena> Alright then. Everyone, to battle!​


The Faceless were weak, but numerous; they roamed all about the corridors of the dragon's belly, and continued popping up when we least expected it. Those of us with dragon's blood were able to somewhat slow the course of the rising stomach acid, while Vom, Jesi, Quaking, and I raided the Nohrian treasure chests for gold and useful items.

Once we took down the boss, I nodded to PMJ and she got to singing...


<PMJ> ♫ You are the ocean's grey waves... ♫
<Skyleaf> Look, the doors are open again!
<Jabber> Quick, everyone, let's get out of here!
<PMJ> Yes... let's go... quickly...​


We all ran for our lives, fleeing the dragon trap before Iago could realize what happened. It wasn't until we'd gotten a decent way that I noticed that PMJ was sorely lagging behind. I went back to see how she was doing, and...


g9UfGMP.png

<Athena> Oh gods, PMJ!?
<PMJ> Uh, everything's under control. Situation normal.
<Athena> What happened?
<PMJ> Uh, we had a slight singing malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?
<Athena> Don't try and distract with Star Wars quotes. >:| This is way worse than last time. What's going on, seriously?
<PMJ> *sigh* Look, it's really not important. It's just... the stronger magic I need to counter, the more power I need to use from the amulet. And more power equals more damage.
<Athena> So, what's the worst case scenario, then?
<PMJ> Welllll... I suppose if I used too much power I'd probably disintegrate or something.
<Athena> So you really COULD die from it.
<PMJ> Well, yeah, but...
<Athena> That settles it. No more singing from you; I don't care HOW dire the situation is.
<PMJ> Now, see, this is why I told you before that I wouldn't die. Don't get all bullshit saviour on me here. The fact is, we need my singing if we want a fart's change in the wind. I want to bring peace to this world, even if... even if it means I die. Not to say that I HAVE to die or anything, but I'm willing to if necessary. I'm sure everyone else feels the same.
<Athena> *sigh* Fiiiine~ It's not as if I could stop you singing anyway. Not without gagging you anyway. Just promise me you won't die unless it's absolutely necessary, kay?
<PMJ> Kay! ^_^​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 8 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 5 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 26 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 5 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 26 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 7 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 6 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 25 Witch
WPM - Lv. 5 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 4 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 4 Ninetails

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Miyami - Basara, Onmyoji, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

Hey, look who's actually progressing through the game! :U

This chapter is a breeze. The Faceless are all really super weak, so there is no danger at all.

In fact, it's too easy. I accidentally ended it too early by going into range of the boss and he suicided on Athena. I hadn't gotten the last chest yet, so I went to the Wikia to see if I could just skip it... and it's Boots. Goddamnit. So, I restarted and played the level again and got the Boots because if there's one thing I'm not going to leave behind it's Boots.

So, we have Boots to hand out. Feel free to suggest uses for them!

If no one suggests anything I'm probably just going to give them to Athena for lolz because she already has 10 Movement (11 if paired up to Xerneas) and it's hilarious and I love it.

Now that we're getting closer to the end, I'm being a lot less obsessive about using everyone and everyone getting equal levels. Athena, Miyami, Robin, DNA, and Jabber were MVPs this chapter in terms of killing the most dudes. Due to unit cap, I temporarily didn't field Vom/Palutena so the kids could have fun and build up some support points.

7~8 chapters left depending on how shit goes, though no promises as to when they'll be up. I've been very busy lately with lots of stuff, but I do plan to continue as I have the time.

Hope you all enjoyed!
 
Chapter 21: The cave filled with lukewarm lava

After our harrowing ordeal at Fort Dragonfall, we were all anxious to escape back into the Outrealms and soak in the hot tub and pet each other's faces a bit before going back to the grueling business of winning a war. Of course, we still needed to be careful, too, just in case those weird transparent guys came back. As such, everyone drew straws for guard duty and Quaking was the lucky "winner".


<Quaking> Stupid guard duty, could be hanging out the pool now... *mumble grumble*
<Miyami> Hi Quaking!
<Quaking> Ohgod, you gave me a heart attack. x.x;
<Miyami> What are you doing? :3 :3 :3
<Quaking> I'm watching out to make sure none of those weird clear dudes comes back. In fact... ohshi- I see one now.
<Miyami> You do? :O
<Quaking> Yes, I do, now be quiet, I'm going to see if I can sneak up on him. *sneaks over*
<Miyami> *rushes after* EEEEEE! He's ducking behind that bush! Soooooo exciting! :D
<Quaking> I told you to be quiet. You're blowing my cover! >_<
<Miyami> Oh, come on, I'm a kitsune right? You see this fluffy tail? I'm an excellent hunter, and super stealthy!
<Quaking> Yeah, sure, if only you could be quiet for five seconds. *grumble*
<Miyami> Oh, I can be quiet. Just watch!
<Miyami> ...
<Miyami> See? :D
<Quaking> Fine, you came come along, just, uh, keep it for longer than five seconds this time... -_-;
Quaking and Miyami attained support level C!
<Athena> Alright, everyone, let's get back on track. Only a few chapters left until the final boss! Let's get back to the real world!​


Meanwhile, in Nohr...


<Pidove> *eavesdropping while King Keeper laughs maniacally and talks to himself in vague terms about his own plans*
<BV> Hey Pidove, 'sup?
<Pidove> Eep! You scared the crap out of me. x.x;
<BV> Come on, sis, you know you shouldn't be eavesdropping on dad.
<Pidove> But, but... I don't know what to do! *sobs*
<BV> Oh, er... *pat pat*
<Pidove> Athena and DoS are both gone, Camo has locked herself in her room eating ice cream and crying... our whole family is falling apart!
<BV> There, there, it'll be okay. Once the war is over, everything will be all happy again.
<Pidove> Really?
<BV> Sure, why not, I'm pretty optimistic.
<Pidove> Yay! \o/​


Meanwhile, somewhere else, on a boat...


<Athena> Er, why are we on a boat again?
<Jabber> We had to take the long way around, but this ferry will take us the rest of the way to the capital.
<Athena> That is a perfect explanation that answers all of my questions, yes.
<Vom> We should take this time to prepare for the coming battles while we still can.
<Jabber> Before that, though, I have some bad news to share. Yukimura sent word from Hoshido. Basically, Mokushu has entered in the war on Nohr's side. By now, they're practically knocking on the doors of Castle Shirasagi. We still have lots of faceless soldiers willing to die for us before they take over, but...
<Athena> I guess we'll have to kill Keeper quickly and hope that ends things. How much further do we have to go?
<Jabber> The captain says we still have another day or two of sailing before we'll reach the port...
<Xerneas> Wait a minute, this map from the Rainbow Sage says our destination is right across the river from here! Why do we have to keep going?
<Palutena> *glances at the map* There's even a port marked there... Demon's Falls...
<Robin> Oh, that's totally not suspicious sounding at all.
<Jesi> The Demon's Falls are a place of legend, a waterfall made of fire. Can they really exist?
<TGK> Well, it's on the map, and the Sage was a pretty cool dude...
<Athena> Screw it, let's give it a try.​


A few quick words with the boat's captain, and the boat was pulled towards the area indicated on the map. We disembarked and made our way into the caverns that lead towards our destination...


<DNA> Huh, the waterfall really is on fire, what do you know.
<Celever> It's so pretty! :3
<WPM> How did this happen? o_o;
<PMJ> *shrugs* Probably magic.
<Aura> So, uh, how are we supposed to get through here anyway?
<Jabber> I sense the presence of some Dragon Veins... perhaps they'll help us.
<DNA> "Perhaps"? You don't sound very sure.
<Athena> No, he's right, I'm looking at the battle prep screen now and the Veins might either open a path or flood the area with lava.
<Skyleaf> Wait... battle prep screen? >.>
<Athena> Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention, there are a bunch of enemies for some reason.
<Skyleaf> ._.;
<Athena> Everyone, prepare for battle! And, uh, wish us luck with the Veins. >_>​


We rushed forward, taking out the opening group of enemies to secure our footing. In her excitement, Miyami rushed forward to try the first Dragon Vein.... immediately flooding our surrounding area with lava.


<Miyami> Whoopsies! Sorry... >.>
<Xerneas> Now what. x.x;
<Athena> I guess we just keep killing dudes and hope for the best...​


Thankfully this was magical video game lava and not real lava, so it just gave us a bit of damage before the next round and slowed us down. Rather than, you know, burning and scarring us horribly into a slow fiery death.

Eventually, another Dragon Vein formed and we were able to use that one to create a path through the level. Xerneas and I took the lead to kill the huge rock-throwing monsters that were our biggest threat, then everyone else followed as soon as they could pull themselves out of the lukewarm lava. We rushed the next swarm of enemies, then approached the next set of Dragon Veins with caution.


<Jabber> Right or left, right of left... which justice is the most just?
<Athena> Oh, just pick one already.
<Jabber> ... Right!​


Thankfully, Jabber picked the "right" Vein this time, opening up a new pathway to the west. We wuickly worked our way forward and WPM flew his way onward to the next Dragon Vein... once again summoning a huge, sticky puddle of lava.


<DNA> Good job, flyboy.
<WPM> *groan* Maybe I should have let mom do it...​


The rising lava seemed to attract even more swarms of enemies. Jabber, Jesi, Xerneas, and I grimly fought our way back east to deal with the new reinforcements while the others worked together to hold the area near the vein location. Sure enough, once we'd beaten everyone back, another vein formed and PMJ tapped it to open the final bridge north.

As soon as I broke through the lava, Xerneas and I rushed to the boss and took him out... triggering a trap of some kind. A huge earthquake shook the cavern to its very foundations, splitting the lava flow to reveal... a secret passage?


<PMJ> This must be the rumoured passage to Windmire.
<Quaking> Huh, that's not on the map.
<Skyleaf> The sage must have known it was here, and that's why he marked the Falls on our map!
<Palutena> Pfft, if that's the case, why didn't he just tell us?
<Xerneas> Probably didn't want the spy to know our route. So he just marked it and hoped we'd see.
<Athena> So, you still think there's a spy among us, Xerneas?
<Xerneas> It's not like I WANT there to be a spy, but it seems pretty obvious...
<Jabber> Well, regardless of your fears, we do need to work together as we move into the capital.
<Xerneas> I know, I know. Why else do you think I'm always watching Athena's back? :U
<Athena> Here I always thought it was so you could give me that extra +1 mov.
<Xerneas> ... ouch. >.>​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 11 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 7 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 28 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 7 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 27 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 8 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 9 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 26 Witch
WPM - Lv. 6 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 5 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 5 Ninetails

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Miyami - Basara, Onmyoji, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

The original Quaking/Miyami support lines had him sneaking out to spy on some guy, but that doesn't actually make any sense. Who would he be spying on anyway?

Then again, considering the overall "quality" of Fates supports, this is pretty nitpicky.

Also, there really is an explanation in-game as to why the water in the cave is on fire, and it more or less makes sense, but in a world filled with crazy-ass unexplained magic, I wonder why they bothered.

This is a kind of weird level to play through. There are 3 pairs of Dragon Veins, each one with one good trigger and one bad. If you choose the right vein, a bridge appears letting you move on; if you pick the wrong one, the current area you're on floods with lava, harming and slowing your units, and waves of reinforcements appear, including the rock-throwing Stoneborn that can hit up to 5 spaces away.

The funny thing, there's actually a trick that you can use to figure out which Vein is correct... and I completely forgot about it until after I'd finished playing. Whoops! That's why we had 2 failed veins and one success.

The waves of reinforcements do suck, especially because the Stoneborn can hit to far away and are so tanky. Athena, Jabber, and DNA can kill them in one round, but DNA is too squishy to survive in a huge bunch of enemies, so normally Stoneborn killing was left to the other 2. Athena's extra move really came in handy. We also spent a fair amount of time healing as we went.

In the end, we got a bunch of leveling out of the deal, so I can't complain too much.

We're down to 6-7 chapters left to go, so certainly getting nice and close, especially if I can keep up a decent update pace. Hope you enjoy!
 
Chapter 22: Hidden Thieves, Secret Cities

No way were we about to simply move on with the plot without relaxing in our alternate dimension secret castle first, so we all hopped back to rest up, grab some food, and restock our gear before heading on. WPM decided to spend his free time on artistic pursuits...


<DNA> What's that?
<WPM> Oh, it's just a painting of all of the people I knew and loved in my personal deeprealm. These people were more parents to me than PMJ or Kaden could ever be, and now they're dead and gone.
<DNA> Ohwow, throwing a pity party, are we? Lah-di-dah.
<WPM> Oh, yes, that's right, you weren't close to your own caretakers at all, so you probably don't know how I feel. But still, I suppose you must have been lonely, like how I feel now.
<DNA> *shrugs* I've never had a problem being by myself. I guess we're just not anything alike.
<WPM> Well, I don't mind being by myself sometimes either, but still...
<DNA> Besides, that's in the past. Everything is different now.
<WPM> Oh?
<DNA> Oh, indeed. You're boring me again, so I'mma peace out. *flees*
<WPM> Such a strange girl... o_o;
WPM and DNA attained Support Level B!
<Athena> Alright, pack up the paints WPM, it's time to head out!​


We teleport back to the tunnel and exit out into Windmire, the capital of Nohr where there is... literally no one. At all. Anywhere. The whole city is bleak and empty.


<Xerneas> Wow, uh, really nice home city you have here, Athena. >_>
<Athena> Hey, don't look at me, I've been locked in a tower my whole life. I had no idea it was like this either!
<Silas> Yeah, it's just how it is in Nohr. *shrugs*
<Athena> ... who are you again?
<Silas> I'm Silas! Your best friend, remember? I joined the Nohrian army to be with you again, and then you stabbed me in the face and I joined you?
<Athena> Oh, yeah, I guess that vaguely rings a bell. I guess you're our leading aspect of Nohrian culture anyway. So why is everything is bleak?
<Silas> Well, this probably didn't affect you in the palace much, but Nohr doesn't really have a lot of resources. We lack food and even light. Everything is just pretty awful. That's why we're always fighting wars to conquer other places, to try and get enough resources to keep our people alive.
<Jabber> Ohman, I had no idea. We've got plenty of food and shit in Hoshido. Once this is all done, I'll make sure to help you guys out.
<Athena> Yay, best big bro. <3
<Shura> Hey, what's a cutie like you doing out on a night like this?
<Xerneas> She's taken, I'll have you know. >:|
<Shura> Oh, it's not your lady's looks I'm interested in, just her purse. Come on out, boys!
<Vom> We appear to be suddenly surrounded by a bunch of thieves. :|
<Palutena> Couldn't you have told us sooner! >_<
<Shura> Come on now, no one needs to get hurt, just give us all your valuables and you can go on your way.
<Athena> Hah, fat chance. Everyone, to battle!​


We quickly spread out to deal with the advancing thieves. I let Jabber and Jesi hold the southeast and TGK and Skyleaf the southwest, watching for any reinforcements. Quaking, Miyami, Xerneas, and I headed to the alleys in the west to draw out the enemies there, while everyone else did the same in the east.

Eventually we worked together to converge towards the center. The boss himself ran out to meet me, but his bow shot missed, and I took him out in a single round. As the reinforcements slowed, we were able to sweep up and finally the battle was over.


<Jabber> You're the scruffy little leader, aren't you?
<Shura> Come on man, just kill me already. You don't need to drag it out.
<Jabber> Well, if you say so... *grabs sword*
<PMJ> Wait, I want to ask him about the secret passage into the castle.
<Athena> Uh, what secret passage into the castle? o_o;
<PMJ> I know it's there. The kidnappers used it when they took me, but I don't think any of the royals know about it.
<Shura> Oh, yeah, I know all about that passage. But you're going to need to bribe me and set me free in order for me to tell you anything.
<Robin> At least he's open about it.
<Jabber> Sure, whatever, we'll pay what you want. After all, I'm the High Prince of Hoshido; money is nothing to me. As soon as the war is over, I'll shower you in coins.
<Shura> Wait, you're the prince of Hoshido?
<Jabber> Yeah, so what? You got a problem?
<Shura> No, I wanted to apologize to you, actually, milord.
<Everyone> o____o;
<Shura> Well, you see, my family used to serve the royal family of Hoshido. We're from Kohga.
<Jabber> Oh, wow, I haven't heard that name in ages. Not since your village was burned to the ground and annexed by Mokushu anyway. How did you escape that massacre?
<Shura> I was an orphan kid, and kicked out of Hoshido, so of course I ran into Nohr turned into a thief. *shrugs*
<Jabber> Well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for all of your troubles. I'll make sure that we help any other survivors once this bloody war is finished. What do you think, feel like joining us?
<Shura> Sure, why not. And I can help you find that tunnel, too.
<Everyone> Hurray! \o/
<Shura> First thing first, we head to the underground...​


WIthout another word of explanation, Shura turned and less us down an alleyway. After a few twists and turns, and a couple of narrow staircases, we entered into a vast underground area filled with shops and market stalls and people everywhere!


<Athena> Now THIS is more like it.
<Shura> Indeed, this is the real Nohr. Ordinary people come here to do their thing, and those fancypants royals don't know anything about it. Everyone feels a lot more free away from all the spies and soldiers.
<Jabber> It's nice to see everyone being so peaceful. Our kingdoms have more in common than I mgiht have thought, it seems.
<???> Hey, want to buy a flower? :3
<Shura> Piss off.
<???> Awww, come on, you didn't even take a look! Wait... OMG!
1eH3YUh.jpg

<Pidove> It's really you! What are you doing here?
<Athena> I was just going to ask you the same thing!
<Pidove> Oh, yeah, I guess this is kind of weird. Come over here and we can talk. I have a room I keep down here when I need to escape from daddy for a bit.​


Pidove led us down the water to a small house built against a wall. Inside was a woman I vaguely remembered, a maid of Pidove's, and she ran off to make us tea while Pidove sat down at the table.


<Pidove> I've been spending a lot of time down here lately. Everything's been so awful since you left; I just can't stand it back at home. BV is gone all the time, DoS just... left for somewhere, and Camo stays crying in her room. She was the one who told me how to get down here, and so... this is where I come to get away.
<Athena> I'm so sorry, Pidove, but I must admit, it's nice to see you happy, even if you are selling flowers. You looked so strange and upset when we saw you with Keeper in Cyrkensia...
<Pidove> Yeah, well, I was with Daddy, wasn't I? He's been so weird lately. Even more violent and scary than usual. Even BV is beginning to question him... he says Daddy is a whole different person than he used to be.
<Athena> BV said that?
<Pidove> Yeah, apparently everything starting going downhill when Queen Arete died. I never got to meet her, but she must have been nice.
<Athena> Hell, I've never even heard of her. Just, uh, BV's mom, Queen Katerina.
<Pidove> Oh, my nanny knows all about them! Cassita!
<Cassita> Yes, dear?
<Pidove> What was Queen Arete like? :3
<Cassita> Well, you see, King Garon swore he would never marry again after Katerina died, but he really fell hard for Arete. She was a beautiful singer and... hey, she looked quite a lot like your blue-haired friend over there; what a coincidence!
<PMJ> Yeah, she was my mum.
<Everyone> :O!
<Pidove> Yay, I have another sister! \o/
<Cassita> This calls for cookies! :3
<PMJ> Actually, uh, we really ought to get going, pressing business to attend to and all.
<Pidove> Alright, let's go!​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 11 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 7 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 29 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 7 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 27 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 8 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 10 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 27 Witch
WPM - Lv. 6 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 6 Ninetails

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Miyami - Basara, Onmyoji, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

Nothing says fun times in Fire Emblem like a giant open rout map filled with enemies... *sigh*

Wasn't too hard, though, Tactics were basically what I outlined above, with heavy focus on Athena just tanking and retaliating, especially since there were so many Axe users. The most annoying thing was the reinforcements that kind of teleported in, but even they didn't give us too much trouble.

I really wish more time and attention was given to this secret underground world of Nohr, since the whole thing is pretty cool.

Anyway, short notes today since I need to do some vacuuming still before dinner. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! <3
 
Chapter 23: Fireballs in the Sewers

Eager to escape discussion of her past, PMJ quickly made some excuses and our team fled back into the Outrealms for some rest and relaxation before moving on to the castle. Miyami was eager to take the opportunity to seek out Quaking.


<Miyami> Hey Quaking, what's up? :3
<Quaking> Ugh, leave me alone... -_-;
<Miyami> What's wrong? o.o;
<Quaking> I don't want to talk to you or see or or anything, so just go away.
<Miyami> Ohgeez, you're not still upset about that weird guy we found, are you?
<Quaking> Of course I am! It's your fault he got away. What if something happens now?
<Miyami> Oh, come on, it doesn't even matter. *pout*
<Quaking> It does too! They might be planning to attack us here or something. So, please, jsu8t stay out of my way and let me work alone, okay?
<Miyami> *sigh* Fiiiine~~
<Quaking> Good. *walks off*
<Miyami> Heheheheh, as if I would give up that easily. Time to show Quaking how talented I am... >:3
Quaking and Miyami attained support level B!


All geared up and ready to move on, I activated the portal and we returned back to the Nohrian underground where Pidove was dutifully waiting for us. She and Shura led us to the place where the secret passageway led up into the castle.


<TGK> Wow, these passageways are actually very large and expansive!
<Skyleaf> And also rather scary... ~_~;;;
<Pidove> Oh, yeah, it's definitely pretty spooky! But you get use to it.
<Athena> Um, Pidove, it's nice to see you and all, but you should probably head back to your little house with Cassita. We're going to be heading into the castle to face Keeper, and, well...
<Pidove> You're going to kill BV and Daddy, aren't you? ._.;
<Athena> Well... we'll to do whatever we have to in order to end this war, yes. If that means killing Keeper, or even BV if he tries to stop us... then that's what we'll do.
<Pidove> In that case, I'm definitely coming with you!
<Everyone> ... o_o;
<Athena> Pidove, I'm not going to let you fight your family...
<Pidove> I don't plan to. And I'm not going to let you do it either! I want to see an end to this war as much as you do, so I'm going to see that we find a way to end things without fighting. Daddy and BV basically hate your guts, but they'll still listen to me.
<Athena> Well, I suppose you won't be in danger from either side, so, I guess we'll let you come along. Just don't do anything reckless, okay?
<Pidove> Of course! ^^
<Aura> We're coming up to a dead-end; which way should we take?
<Pidove> The passage on the right is the one I usually take. It goes right near my room! :D Camo said the other one head's towards the throne room area, but it's all maze-y and stuff so I've never been there.
<Athena> Well, we'll have to go that way to do what we need to do, so I guess we'll work our way through it.
<Pidove> You're so grown up now Athena! It's like I have a brand new big sister. :D


And so we veered left, making our way towards the throne room and the confrontation with King Keeper. Along the way, we saw signs of many traps that had been sprung, likely killing or severely injuring the people who had set them off.


<Xerneas> Ouch, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to walk into that one. >_>
<Robin> Yes, there certainly are a lot of bodies down here, aren't there?
<Skyleaf> B-B-B-Bodies? I thought those were decorations to scare people x.x;;;
<TGK> Just close your eyes, Skyleaf; I'll help you through.
<Jesi> Quiet! Someone's coming.
<Camo> *enters* Oh, there's my sweet Pidove. I've been looking for you!
<Pidove> Big sister! What are you doing here? o_o;
<Camo> I've been looking for you, silly. Of course, I hadn't known you'd been kidnapped by Hoshidan scum. >:|
<Pidove> What? No, they didn't kidnap me--
<Camo> How dare you all bother my baby sister! >:|
<Athena> Look, Camo, it's me, Athena. I didn't kidnap Pidove--
<Camo> Oh, sweet Athena, you've returned to us at last! How I've awaited this day.
<Athena> Camo, look, I'm here, not I'm not rejoining Nohr. I'm here to end the war, and that means taking out Keeper.
<Camo> Awww, my sweet little sister wants to come back home but the nasty little Hoshidans are poisoning her mind.
<Robin> (Is there something wrong with her head or what? >_>)
<Aura> (Shush, it's not a good idea to badmouth royalty!)
<Pidove> Sister, please, will you just listen to us...
<Camo> Don't worry, Pidove, once I've killed all of Athena's friends, I'm sure she'll remember her true family... >:3
<Athena> Oh geez. Everyone, prepare for battle!​


Nohrian soldiers began pouring out at us from all sides; so much for no one knowing about this "secret" passageway. I sent Jabber and Jesi to hold the north while the rest of us crept west, working quickly to find and take out Camo. She had camped herself near some Dragon Veins in the northwest that sent out periodic fireballs to blast through the passages and injure us.

Thankfully, the enemies weren't particularly challenging, and we managed to beat our way through them. We even found both of Pidove's retainers, and after convincing them that we were helping Pidove and meant her no harm, they joined us in battle to help keep her safe.

Eventually, we got near Camo and she sent her own retainers our after us. I finished off Selena after a brief stand-off, while Miyami tore about Beruka. When Camo herself flew in, I like Xerneas take the finishing blow, OHKOing her with his Fujin Yumi. After that, it was just a matter of clearing out stragglers and catching our breath.


<Camo> *sigh* First Athena, and now Pidove... I'm going to lose both of my sisters...
<Athena> Dude, drama queen, chill out for a moment and hear us out, will you?
<Pidove> I'm going with Athena to persuade Daddy and BV to end the war! Then we can all be a happy family again!
<Athena> And when the war is over, we're going to establish a peaceful alliance between Nohr and Hoshido.
<Camo> Can this really be true? Do we have a hope of being a family again? I'm... I'm swooning.... *faints*
<Selena> She's still pretty injured from the battle, but don't worry, we'll take care of her. You guys go do what you need to do.
<Athena> You mean you're not going to kill us?
<Selena> Well, it's clear this is what Camo wants, so you're good to go.
<Beruka> Apparently we don't stand a chance against your army anyway.
<Selena> You didn't have to say it so bluntly, you know. >_>​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 11 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 7 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 30 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 8 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 29 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 9 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 10 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 28 Witch
WPM - Lv. 7 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 7 Ninetails

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Miyami - Basara, Onmyoji, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

A pretty simple map to play, all said and done. You need to watch out for Camo's fireballs, but, like ballistae and other such far-range weapons in this game, they can't actually KO, so you just need to be a bit careful if you're in enemy range, is all.

Like most maps these days, this one mostly just involved rushing forward with our strongest EP pairs and letting the others pick stuff off when they can. Jabber and Jesi took out the north parts and early reinforcements all by themselves, while Athena/Xerneas and TGK/Skyleaf were our main scouts forging west. We did manage to "recruit" both Arthur and Effie and keep them alive, for which I am proud, even if it doesn't mean hardly anything.

Camo really does come across as... mentally unhinged during these segments. She's definitely one of the most disappointing characters in Fates.

And... okay, I'm going to spoiler this bit just in case you're reading along with this and haven't actually played BR and don't want to be spoilered...

All of the dialogue with Pidove and how happy she is and how they're going to be a family again and how she's not in danger... it's all really, really ham-handed foreshadowing of her upcoming death. Playing through PB the first time and I definitely called that she was going to die after playing this chapter, because all these happy dialogue bits just feel so forced and it definitely feels like a last-minute way to try and build up an emotional connection to Pidove before her demise.

Anyway, kind of a short and easy chapter, so I might play some more later today. We'll definitely building up to the conclusion!
 
Chapter 24: A not-very-important sacrifice was made

Eager to move on, we spent only a cursory amount of time in the outrealms castle, just to restock our gear and continue on our way to the castle.


<Athena> Alright, I see the stairs heading up just ahead. This should bring us through to the throne room. Let me just pop my head and check the coast and... argh! >_<
<Xerneas> What's wrong!?
<Athena> This isn't the throne room at all! It's a training hall, and it's filled with Nohrian soldiers. -_-;
<Robin> Wow, they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find stuff for us to fight before the end of the game.
<Vom> Quiet, someone's coming.
<DNA> You mean someone else in addition to the dozens of soldiers that are already here? -_-;
<Palutena> Oh, quit bickering, this isn't going to help.
<Athena> *peeks further* Ohshi- it's Hans.
<Soldier> Captain Hans! Intruders!
<Everyone> Ohfu--
<Hans> Oh hey, if it isn't little Athena... >:3
<Athena> Stop with the banter and draw your axe you little ^&*%Ô*&%^&*%^&$^.
<Hans> Ohmy, I never expected such language coming from you. Threatening me in front of my own battalion? Everyone, kill the intruders! I'll take care of Athena myself... >:3 *swings axe*
<Lilith> Noooo!! *jumps in front*
<Athena> Lilith? Oh, yeah, fish dragon chick. I kind of forgot she was around. You do realize that I have a sweet sword and could have totally taken him on my own, right? Why did you do that?
<Lilith> *too busy being dead to hear* x_x;
<Athena> Oh, well, that was a waste. Everyone to battle! You guys take care of the soldiers; I want to take out Hans myself. >:|​


True to my word, I rushed forward with Xerneas. PMJ sang a bit to help me on my way as I dashed around the statue and up north, getting as close to Hans as I could. Meanwhile, everyone else formed a protective shield around PMJ and prepared to hold off the soldiers as I rushed. With two swings of my Fancy-Ass Yato, Hans's head was rolling on the ground. Jabber spotted the exchange and immediately ran to an open spot and shouted around the grounds.


<Jabber> Your captain is down! Everyone drop your weapons and you will be spared!
<Soldiers> *shrug and surrender*
<Athena> Ohhey, it worked.
<Skyleaf> Athena! Hurray back! Dragonfish isn't quite dead yet!
<Athena> Oh, well, I guess I ought to give her a proper goodbye at least... what was her name again?
<Lilith> Oh, Lady Athena, it's so good to see you... one last time...
<Athena> Oh, yeah, Lilith, right. Um, good to see you too?
<Lilith> Please don't cry, Athena. I decided to give my life for you, and I'm happy I succeeded.
<Athena> (okay, good, because I wasn't crying anyway >_>)
<Lilith> I know you will succeed in creating a peaceful world, and now I can die happy, knowing I helped to bring it about.
<Jabber> Be strong, Athena, your friend died well. We are all counting on you.
<Athena> I'm fine, really. <_<
<Pidove> Come on, father's room is this way!​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 14 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 7 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 30 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 9 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 29 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 9 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 6 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 12 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 28 Witch
WPM - Lv. 8 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 7 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 7 Ninetails

Decisions:
Two separate users posting the same suggestion or a single user with 3 (non-me) Likes is the minimum for any chosen decisions to go through. Unless it's something I really like in which case screw the requirement and I'll do it anyway for lolz.

Reclassing: Everyone's favourite part! Outlined below are the characters we have available and their available reclasses. The later DLC Reclassing section talks more about the DLC reclassing options that we have. Gold grinding levels will be played to earn up funds to buy reclassing items if necessary.

Athena - Great Lord, Hoshido Noble, Adventurer (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), Falcon Knight (Friendship), DLC classes (DLC)
Skyleaf - Priestess, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart/Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
PMJ - Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Friendship), Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Vom - Master Ninja, Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Heart), Spear Master, Basara (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Aura - Merchant, Master of Arms, Sniper, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Onmyoji, Priestess (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Robin - Onmyoji, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Kinshi Knight, Sniper (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
TGK - Onmyoji, Basara, Oni Chieftan, Blacksmith (Heart), Great Master (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Palutena - Spear Master, Mechanist, Merchant (Heart), Master Ninja (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Xerneas - Sniper, Kinshi Knight, Spear Master, Basara (Heart), Bow Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jesi - Mechanist, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Swordmaster, Master of Arms (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Celever - Ninetails, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), Falcon Knight, Knishi Knight (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
Jabber - Master of Arms, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), Master Ninja, Mechanist (Partner), DLC classes (DLC)
DNA - Oni Chieftain, Blacksmith, Basara, Onmyoji (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
WPM - Kinshi Knight, Strategist, Butler, Ninetails (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Quaking - Swordmaster, Master of Arms, Spear Master, Basara, Mechanist (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)
Miyami - Basara, Onmyoji, Falcon Knight, Kinshi Knight (Heart), DLC classes (DLC)

DLC: I have access to a few DLC chapters that unlock some things. A few of them I will not be offering because they kind of piss me off (Beach/Royal maps), but the others I will. Here's a run-down of what's available.

Before Awakening - Random kind of chapter with Chrom, Lissa, and Freddy as NPCs. Reward is one each of Exalt’s Brand (Great Lord reclass item) and Hero’s Brand (Lodestar reclass item). Played and rewards got, so no reason to do this one again.
Boo Camp - Standard EXP grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Ghostly Gold - Standard gold grinding chapter with silly narrative justification.
Museum Melee - Everyone is suddenly on a ship participating in a contest to win cool weapons. Reward is basically whatever weapons you luck into getting from chests/drops.
Hidden Truths - As this chapter is a plot chapter that spoils some plot stuff and uses non-in-game characters, I will not be writing this chapter up if you have me play it, however I would be happy to do so if you want to use the reclass reward, which is a Fell Brand (Grandmaster reclass item, unlimited).
Vanguard Dawn - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Vanguard Brand (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Anna on the Run - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is recruiting Anna, but she wasn't voted in, so we won't be using her anyway.
Ballistician Blitz - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Sighting Lens (Ballistician reclass item, unlimited).
Witches' Trial - ??? Haven't actually played this one yet, so I dunno. Reward is a Witches Mark (Vanguard reclass item, unlimited).
Heirs of Fates - Stories about the kids units with some spoilery stuff, so like Hidden Truths, I won't be writing these out, but we'll get some cool skills. I'm actually planning on playing these myself for fun anyway, so I don't even know why I'm listing it here...

Chapters can be played multiple times to unlock multiple rewards, but I will only write out a chapter for the level the first time it is played. The only exception is Hidden Truths/Heirs of Fates which will not be written at all, as noted above.


DLC Reclassing: Italics indicate reclass options that are not currently available but can be gained with DLC as written above.

Dread Fighter - 1 available
Dark Flyer - 2 available
Grandmaster (males only) - unlimited
Vanguard (males only) - unlimited
Ballistician (males only) - unlimited
Witch (females only) - (unlimited)



Skills: I've got a Paragon skill to give out (doubles exp gains), a Warp skill (allows units to warp to be next to another unit, requires promoted lv. 15 or lv. 35), and both Skilltaker, Lucktaker, Strengthtaker, and Defenstaker skills (unit gains 2 of the indicated stat temporarily for the rest of the chapter for each unit they kill during PP, max of +10) and I'll probably gain some more over the next coming chapters, so feel free to suggest units to get them!


Player Notes:

Another boring, open map, but with one important difference: It's "Defeat Boss" instead of "Rout All Enemies". :U

And so, we employed a boss rush method to complete the chapter, finishing up in 2 turns. The idea is to get Athena/Xerneas as close to the boss T1 as possible to draw out Hans's guard and to get the kill on him T2. The most difficult part of this is keeping PMJ alive, since she needs to dance Athena T1 and reaches pretty far out to do so. After a few tests, I ended up finding a spot where PMJ could dance and still be protected well enough during EP. Then it was just a matter of killing Hans T2 and we were good to go.

MVP points go to WPM. He was intended to be a meatshield to protect PMJ, but ended up scoring four crits during EP and racking up some kills for himself.

Oh, and Lilith's death is just... horribly done. She hasn't appeared in the plot in ages and yet she suddenly appears and jumps in front of Hans for no reason. It's treated as this long, drawn out, emotional affair, but really I never cared in the slightest, even the first time I played. Lilith has been completely irrelevant and forgotten this whole game (which is really disappointing if you actually know the full origin of her character), so I'm certainly not going to care about her now, just because she committed suicide by Hans, especially since there was absolutely no reason for her to do so.

RIP Lilith; her death was as meaningless as her life.... unless you pay to play the DLC to learn her backstory.

Since today's map was so short, and I don't have much else to do this afternoon, I'll probably do another chapter later. >_> But for now, enjoy this one!
 
Chapter 25: Another mini-boss villain swept under the rug

Once again, we headed back to the outrealms castle for some rest and relaxation before moving on. While most of us were soaking it up in the hot spring, WPM was searching out DNA.


<WPM> Hey, DNA, can I talk to you?
<DNA> Sure, 'sup?
<WPM> When we were talking earlier about you preferring to be alone... I thought you were hiding something.
<DNA> You calling me a liar?
<WPM> No, it's just... well, I went to talk to TGK, and he told me that you shut yourself off from people to avoid cursing them because you couldn't control your magic.
<DNA> Bwahahahahaha, that's ridiculous. Does that sound like me at all? Besides, my dad doesn't know jack about me.
<WPM> Well, regardless, even if you do still proclaim to want to be alone all the time... you're always hanging out in a group here with us, and you seem to like that just fine, rather than going back to somewhere where you can be alone.
<DNA> Hmph, well, I guess I can't argue with you there. I have been beginning to find camaraderie... tolerable.
<WPM> And what about... friendship?
<DNA> Don't push it.
WPM and DNA attained support level A!


Meanwhile, elsewhere in the outrealm castle....


<Miyami> Hey, Quaking, I brought you a present! *drops*
<Quaking> It's... it's the body of that transparent guy I was hunting the other day! How did you...
<Miyami> I told you I'm a great huntress. :3
<Quaking> Okay, yeah, fine, I'll give you that much. But literally, HOW did you do it?
<Miyami> It's a secret! :3
<Quaking> >.>
<Miyami> Buuuut, if you let me tag along with you, I'll help teach you my tricks!
<Quaking> Fine, you have a deal. But you still need to learn to start jabbering a bit less.
<Miyami> Alright, it's a deal. :3
Miyami and Quaking attained support level A!


All ready and geared up, we teleported back to the castle where Elise led us onward towards the throne room. We were almost there when someone appeared to meet us...


<Iago> Ohmy! I certainly didn't expect you to still be alive.
<Athena> *sigh* Cut with the crap Iago and let's just fight already.
<Iago> But talking is my favourite thing! I think I'll talk a bit more.
<Everyone> *sigh*
<Iago> Why, hello Lady Pidove. How are you doing? Why don't you come join me and stay out of the clutches of those pesky Hoshidans...
<Pidove> Oh, come on, I may look young but I'm no dumb, and no way am I trusting your evil ass. You tried to make all of us fight each other!
<Athena> Don't waste words on him, Pidove, you'll just encourage him to talk more... -_-;
<Iago> I don't need anyone to encourage me to do what I want to do. I always get my way, because I'm willing to do what's necessary. Like... this.
<PMJ> Ahhh!
9YJB2N3.jpg

<Athena> Xerneas! What are you doing? o_o;
<PMJ> Yeah, srsly dude, this kind of hurts. >_>
<Xerneas> DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE o_o
<Athena> lolwut
<Iago> *sigh* I thought you'd be too stupid to understand. You see, Xerneas has been on my side all along! Thanks to him, I've been able to follow your every move. And I mean every move; I must say, you're a kinky little princess in the private quarters.
<Athena> o_____o; *blush*
<Iago> Yes, I admit, it was extra delicious watching you two fall in love, not knowing that you were being stabbed in the back by your lover over and over.
<Athena> But, Xerneas would never... he must still be possessed!
<Iago> Oh, yes, of course, I thought that would be obvious. All I needed to worm my way and stay there was a kernel of dissatisfaction within his soul. And wouldn't you know it, but Xerneas has quite the inferiority complex when he compares himself to his siblings. Now look, he's going to kill more PMJ there. I guess you'll have to kill him first! Mwahahahahaha~~
<Athena> Come on Xerneas, snap out of it, speak to me...
<Xerneas> Nnngh... o_o
<PMJ> Maybe if I sing...
<Xerneas> *tighens grip*
<PMJ> Ugh x.x;
<Athena> Xerneas, please....
<Iago> Oh, come on, now I'm the one bored with all the talk... aren't you going to kill your lover boy to save PMJ? Or are you really just going to stand there and watch him kill her?
<Athena> You, shut up. Xerneas, listen to me, please, I know you're still in there...
<Xerneas> A... Athena... o_o *lessens grip*
<PMJ> *clears throat* ♫ You are the ocean's grey waves... ♫
<Iago> Hey, come on, that's not fai--
<Skyleaf> *smacks Iago with her staff*
<Iago> Ouchie. :<
<Xerneas> *cough* Uh, thanks, PMJ, and sorry everyone. I think I'm back to normal now. Thank you for believing in me, Athena. <3
<Athena> Of course dear. <3
<Iago> Wait, what? You're all better now?
<Xerneas> That little kernel of disappointment you needed? Well, it's gone now. So %$^# you. >:|
<Athena> Does that mean we can stab Iago now?
<Xerneas> Yes, please, let's do.
<Athena> Woohoo! Everyone to battle stations. \o/​

I knew we only needed to take out Iago, but there were some treasure chests calling my name. I sent Ryoma and Jesi to guard the eastern reinforcement passage and TGK and Skyleaf to do the same on the west, while the rest of us baited guards near the northwestern chest passage.

Eventually, TGK/Skyleaf and Jabber/Jesi ran out of enemies to kill and they rejoined us up towards the north. Jabber and Jesi decided to tackle the eastern's rooms chests on their own, while TGK and Skyleaf decided to join the main party... which is good, because as soon as we start moving up the passageway, Xerneas and I happened to get teleported back to the main room by an enemy's entrap staff!

While the others killed off reinforcements and looted chests, Xerneas and I defended ourselves against swarms of enemies while Iago laughed. Just as we finished taking them down, the others, missions accomplished, joined us in the central room. As soon as a path was clear, I run towards Iago and put my blade to his throat, ending the battle.


<Iago> Oh, please don't kill me, I don't want to die. ~_~;;;
<Athena> >:|
<Iago> I mean, uh, I've been under a spell the whole time It's all Keeper's fault!
<Athena> >:|
<Iago> Oh, come on, please, won't someone have mercy!
<DoS> *rides in on his horse* God, Iago, you're such an asshole, just shut up already.
<Iago> Milord! You're here to save me! ... Right? *grovels*
<Athena> Oh, hey DoS, 'sup?
<DoS> Oh, not much, just here to take out some trash. *glares at Iago*
<Iago> *whimpers*
<DoS> *Brynhildrs*
<Iago> x_x;
<Athena> So, uh, we're about to go confront Keeper, care to join us? :3
<DoS> Look, Athena, I do believe you're doing the right thing, but... as a prince of Nohr, I cannot help you, not in this. I won't stop you, but that's as good as you'll get from me.
<Athena> Oh well, I guess I'll have to take what I can get.
<Pidove> Yay, we're all going to be a happy family again! \o/
<DoS> Pidove? What are you doing here?
<Pidove> I'm here to help BV and Daddy listen to Athena. :3 Once everyone talks things over, I'm sure it'll be okay!
<DoS> Well, I'm not much sure that either BV or father are much in the mood for chatting... you really should sit this out. There's this secret passage you can hide in; I'll show you.
<Athena> (Geez, did everyone but me know about this stupid passage? >_>)
<Pidove> I'm not hiding! This is something I can legit help with and I'm going to do it. No way will BV and daddy listen to Athena without me. I'm staying, and that's final. >.<
<DoS> Alright, well, good luck, and do be careful.
<Athena> Thank you, DoS.
<DoS> You're welcome, I guess, though I don't envy you. BV is hella strong, and father is... well, even stronger. You've got some powerful boss battles coming up ahead of you.
<Athena> Well, hopefully it won't come to that, but I'll take your words to heart. I'll die if I need to in order to see this war ended.​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 16 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 7 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 31 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 10 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 31 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 10 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 7 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 15 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 32 Witch
WPM - Lv. 8 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 7 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 10 Ninetails


Player Notes:

Well, hot diggity damn, we might manage to sneak in some S supports for the kids after all! We're getting closer than I thought we would, anyway. :U

This ended up being a much longer map to play through than the previous, specifically because I wanted the items. Especially our last pair of BOOTS, which are of course incredibly important. As a result, we ended up killing a lot more dudes and spending a lot more time than the previous chapter, which was literally done in two turns.

For the most part, things basically went as I described them. TGK and Jabber are great for working along since they both have good 1-2 range weapons and are pretty durable, TGK thanks to tanking and Jabber thanks to dodging. Everyone else worked together to bait and mow down the larger batches of enemies from the main part of the map... until Athena/Xerneas got entrapped to the center, and then they were on their own for a bit. They held out just fine, Athena is a beast after all, but being locked to either 1 or 2 range means it was very slow going to take out all of the enemies.

As a result, we got a lot of levels, as you can see. Athena and Jabber have both hit their final class skill, and a few others are close.

We also got our last pair of BOOTS, but sadly Athena's movement is maxed, so we gave them to TGK instead.

We're definitely getting close to the end of the game now. We technically have 3 chapters left, but the last two chapters don't even let you save in between, so I'll be doing those at once. As such, this is how the remaining update schedule looks:

Chapter 26
Final Unit Recap
Chapter 27 + Endgame

C26 and Recap might be done on the same day if I have a lot of free time, like today. However, I don't think I'll have the time for C27+Endgame on Friday (hubby has the afternoon off for my hopefully last boob-related medical appointment), so we'll likely still finish up sometime next week regardless.

I hope you all enjoy, and are looking forward to the conclusion!

PS: I've gotten rid of the "decisions" section since it's probably not a good idea to swap everything around right before endgame, and no one's been suggesting stuff anyway. I did pass out a few of our remaining skills just for fun; I guess you'll be able to see those in the coming recap. :p
 
Chapter 26: Wake that slugabed up!

After a break for some rest and relaxation, we progressed onward closer to the throne room.


<Athena> This sure is a lot of walking.
<Skyleaf> And a lot of stairs. x.x;
<Pidove> Daddy's room is at the top of the tower, so we still have a ways to go!
<Robin> So, who thinks we're actually going to face him this time and who thinks we're going to get stuck in at least one other battle first?
<PMJ> Well, considering that I can spot BV waiting for us at the top of the staircase with his sword drawn, I think it's a pretty safe bet to think that we'll have at least one more battle first.
<BV> Hello, Athena.
<Athena> Maaaan. I guess it wasn't all that likely, but I was still hoping we could get this done without facing you. ._.;
<BV> You really think I'd just stand by while you kill our father?
<Athena> Actually, yeah, I was pretty much hoping for that exact thing. >_>
<BV> Sorry to disappoint you then, sis, you'll have to kill me first.
<Pidove> Stop it, please, BV! You guys don't have to fight each other! All Athena wants is peace.
<BV> So, you've abandoned Nohr too, have you Elise?
<Pidove> No, that's not it, I just... I just want us to be a family again.
<BV> Child's logic; I should have expected that. I assume DoS and Camo believe the same and that's why they're cowering in their rooms instead of standing up against this like I am? As the Crown Prince of Nohr, I don't have the luxury of being so naive. I will stop Athena right here and now!
<Pidove> Brother, no... :<
<BV> Alright, Athena, are you prepared to duel with me for the sake of your claims?
<Athena> I guess I don't have much of a choice. I'm not going to back down.
<BV> *nods* Alright then. Let's go over to the great hall; we'll have more space there. Pidove, stay here. I don't want you seeing this. *leaves*
<Pidove> ._.;
<Athena> I'm so sorry, Pidove. I tried my best. :<
<Pidove> No, it's not just your fault... I'm sorry I couldn't convince him, either...
<Athena> No matter what happens, I'm glad you joined us. You're a great sister. <3
<Pidove> <3
<Athena> *leaves*
<Pidove> Sorry big brother, but I'm not going to listen to you this time... *sneaks away*​


I met up with BV in the great hall, my fellow Hoshidans arrayed around us as they watched.BVe had Siegfried in hand, while I wielded the Fancy Yato. After a short and formal conversation, our duel began in earnest. I was faster than he was, but no matter how much effort I put into my swings, they just plinked off his armor, and his own attacks bit into me like fire. I was outmatched, but I wasn't about to give up so easily.


<Athena> You know, BV, you've really grown in power. Think of how much you could do for the world and your people if you used it for good instead of blindly serving that shitty father of yours. Join the side of justice!
<BV> Justice is an illusion.
<Athena> Pfft, come on, that's all you've got? Sure, nothing is completely black and white, but that doesn't mean people can't do good in the world. Open your eyes, dammit!
<BV> If you believe in your cause so much to die for it, than go right ahead.​


Just as BV brought his sword down in a heavy arc, Pidove darted out from nowhere and ran straight in between us. BV's eyes went wide as his sword sliced into his youngest sister right before his eyes. She collapsed to the ground, blood pooling beneath her. BV dropped his sword and gathered her up in his arms.


<BV> Pidove, speak to me, it's going to be okay.
<Pidove> BV... brother... please, lay down your sword... for me.
<BV> o_o?
<Pidove> Nohr needs... more from you than just... strength. She needs... warmth... a kind heart... and tears... be at peace, brother... x_x;
<Athena> Pidove, no!
<BV> *glares* You stay away from her. Get up, let's end this.
<Athena> Really? You're really just going to pick up your sword again and go back to fighting me like nothing happened? Didn't you just listen to her?! She died so we would stop fighting, you asshole!
<BV> Don't make me say it again. Get up and draw your sword. Now.
<Athena> *sighs and stands up* You're definitely not the brother I remember, BV. I'm sorry, Pidove. But I will end this war.
<PMJ> Everyone, look out! It's Laslow and Peri, and they've brought a bunch of Nohrian soldiers!
<Jabber> So much for a duel, you cowards.
<Laslow> You'll not harm Lord BV!
<BV> *grumbles* Goddammit, this isn't what I wanted. >_<
<Jabber> Alright everyone, let Athena and BV finish their duel, but prepare to battle everyone else!
<Everyone> Woo \o/​


While everyone else spread out to take care of the Nohrian reinforcements coming around the edges of the hall, BV and I resumed our battle in the middle. However, it only took a couple sword swing before I had BV on his knees. It was like he wasn't even trying.


<BV> Good job, Athena, I knew you could do it.
<Athena> o_o?
<BV> Such flawless technique... you've finally stopped holding yourself back... and now you're becoming the leader I always knew you could be...
<Athena> Bullshit, you let me win. What the hell is going on?
<BV> Do you know what my favorite memory is? Sharing a laugh with you, Pidove,Camo , and DoS around the dinner table. I think DoS had his boots on the wrong feet that day... In my heart I have so many memories of us siblings laughing together... Those were the happiest days of my life.
<Athena> Ohgod, you're going to die too, aren't you. This is a pre-death speech. Goddamnit, BV, you didn't have to die. None of this had to happen. >_<
<BV> Yeah, well, not all of us have the freedom to make those kinds of choices, Athena. If you really wanted me to live, you should have played Conquest instead.
<Athena> *sigh*
<BV> It'll be okay, though. You can lead Nohr into peace, I can see it. I'm counting on you. Keeper's... well, he's not what he used to be. But you got this.
<Athena> Thank you brother. <3
<BV> x_x;
<Athena> *sigh* Alright, guess it's time to take out Keeper. Everyone, prepare yourselves.​

Current Team:

Athena - Lv. 17 Bow Knight
Skyleaf - Lv. 7 Onmyoji
PMJ - Lv. 31 Songstress
Vom - Lv. 6 Mechanist
Aura - Lv. 26 Dread Fighter
Robin - Lv. 10 Great Master
TGK - Lv. 31 Grandmaster
Palutena - Lv. 5 Basara
Xerneas - Lv. 10 Adventurer
Jesi - Lv. 7 Master Ninja
Celever - Lv. 28 Lodestar
Jabber - Lv. 15 Swordmaster
DNA - Lv. 33 Witch
WPM - Lv. 8 Falcon Knight
Quaking - Lv. 7 Master Ninja
Miyami - Lv. 10 Ninetails


Player Notes:

And with that, we're one step closer to endgame.

Gameplay-wise, this is a stupidly easy chapter for how late in the game it is. It's a defeat boss again, and BV is so stupidly easy to defeat that the other guys might as well not even be there. There aren't even any secondary objectives or anything to make them worth fighting. In the event that you've neglected training your avatar well, there's only one general and one locked in between you and the rest of your party, so you can easily get help if you need it.

So, yeah, kind of disappointing for a penultimate chapter (consider that I have a hard time thinking of C27 and Endgame as separate chapters since you can't even save in between). OH WELL.

Story-wise, it's... a toss-up.

Pidove's death is kind of dumb but meaningful. If they hadn't been telegraphing her death for the past several chapters, it would really come as a shock, and regardless it sucks to see such a pure, sweet, cinnamon roll die like that. She really gives up her life for a cause that she believes in, which makes her death probably the most poignant out of all of the random Fates deaths.

The problem is that BV completely shits all over it.

There is really no reason at all for him to force Athena to kill him. It's stupid. It's really really stupid. They try to prop him up as this noble Camus archetype and they just completely and utterly fail miserably. And then he dies. And it's just exasperating. And dumb. And I want to punch him in the face.

So, next up is a final unit recap, which I'll probably have done later this afternoon. Like I said, I don't think I'll have time to complete C27+Endgame tomorrow, so that will likely go up on Monday.

In the meantime, I'm already beginning plans for my next playthrough, so I hope you all will look forward to it! :3

PS: In case you don't get it, the title of this chapter is a reference to an action that can take place in the private quarters of the game and is used in a somewhat popular joke image regarding Pidove's death. :U
 
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