Part 2: Prologue: The Verge of History

Older female, brown hair (that picture that keeps being copied), Aesthetic won by an overwhelming majority

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Watch this!



What do you propose we do?

I...I dunno...

Music: Waking up



Hey there!

There're better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Give me your hand.



A little close there, Chrom.

Music: Id Serenity



Y-yes...Thank you, Chrom.

Ah, then you know who I am?



Double-digit dots, jeez

...Hmm, how curious. Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?

My name is...it's...

Hmm?

...You don't know your own name?

I'm not sure if...I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?

Hey, I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!

Amnesic tactician laying on the fields...hmm, where have I seen that before.



We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?

B-but it's the truth!

...What if it IS true, Frederick? We can't just leave her here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?

Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock.

Oh come on, it's not like she's going to stab him with a magic shiv...again...

Right then-we'll take her back to town and sort this out there.

Wait just one moment. Do I have a say in this?

Peace, friend-I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come.

*scene transition to walking along the road*



Hah! You'll be free to go once we establish you're no enemy of Ylisse.

Is that where we are? Ylisse?

You've never heard of the halidom? Ha! Someone pay this actress. She plays quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing....

Frederick, please. This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt. I suppose proper introductions are in order. My name is Chrom-but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa.



Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!

Shepherds? You tend sheep? ...In full armor?

Heh, it's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here.

A title I shall wear with pride. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise.

I understand, sir. I would do no less myself. My name is Robin...I just remembered that. How odd. I suppose that's one mystery solved.

Robin? Is that foreign? ...Ah, well. We can discuss it later. We're almost to town. Once we-

Chrom, look! The town!

Music: Gods, have the....





Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!

What about her?

Unless she's on fire as well, it can wait!

Aptly put, milord.

Let's go already!

But what about-hmm....



*cut to the town*



Grab anything shiny, and put the rest tot he torch! We gots an example to set for these Ylissean types! Ain't that right, lass?

S-stay away from me! Please! Someone! HEEEEEELP!



*Trio arrives at the scene*



Don't worry-after today, these bandits won't be bothering anyone ever again....

*Robin suddenly arrives*



Robin! You followed us! Why?

I...I'm not certain myself. But I'm armed, and I know my way around a fight, if you'll have me.

Of course-strength in numbers. Just stay close!



Player turn Music: Prelude

They will grant us no quarter. It's kill or be killed.



Alright, we finally start our first real battle. We're in control of four units: Chrom, Frederick, Lissa, and our creation Robin.



Chrom is a Lord, a staple archetype of Fire Emblem games. He is a prince, and has his custom class Lord which gives certain benefits like being able to wield Rapiers.

The Falchion is a unique weapon usable only by Chrom. Weapons when used enough times decay and disappear forever (I.E. the Rapier will be gone after 35 strikes). However, Falchion has unlimited uses so he will never be left weaponless.

Rapiers are lord-use only, and have the same Might as the Falchion. It's 10 Hit more accurate with 10 Crit, but its special properties won't come into play this mission.

A Vulnerary is a 3-use healing item that soothes for 10 HP.



Robin is a Tactician, which gives her access to Swords and Tomes.

Thunder is only 3 Might, but has the advantage of 1-2 range which lets her hit safely from a distance.

The Bronze Sword is a weak 3 Might, but very accurate.



Lissa is our Cleric, or healer. She can't fight or counterattack, and she's very fragile compared to Chrom and Robin. Her main use is to keep our squad healthy with her Heal staff.



Fred is a big boy. Despite his much bigger stats than the others at the same level, he's actually considered level 21 for Fire Emblem. We'll get to advanced class and such much later. Right now, Fred can basically solo the map but the game heavily restricts how much experience points he can gain from slaughtering the bandits.

Fred is what Fire Emblem fans calls an Oifey. These archetypes are units that are vastly superior to your starting characters, but have extremely slow EXP gain thanks to being much higher in level. It's much better for the others to gain the non-scaled EXP as they will have superior stats at the same level. Fred can keep up later, so don't worry.

(Side note: A Jeigan is like Oifey except he will never really grow past his original stats).

The Silver Lance is a monstrous weapon with 13 Might made even better with Fred's B rank in Lances.



Our first order of business is to plug up the upper-right so enemies are funneled into Chrom (The AI won't attack Fred because he's too strong a target compared to his lord).



I may not be able to attack like Chrom, but when you get injured? I'LL be the one stitching your bones back together, care of my trusty staff! You just tell me where to go, Robin.



There, you crazy person.



A nice overview of the entire map, controlled by the right shoulder button.



Now we turned on Enemy Range with the X button. This function shows which squares will be attacked by the enemy. The pink you see has Lissa safe from harm, thanks to the blockade up front.



Hovering over an enemy unit and pressing A shows individual attack ranges. You can do this with or without the other Enemy Range mode on. Extremely useful.



Wait, is that a tome? ...You know magic?

I...believe so? I suppose I should check.

You believe so? Perhaps I'll just keep a few paces behind you for the time being...

No, I can control it, I'm sure. Now, how did this work again? Ah, yes...

Enemy Phase music: Assault



Alright, more mechanic introduction! The enemy attacked Chrom who was surrounded by 3 characters. A new mechanic was introduced in Awakening called the Dual System. When a character is adjacent and/or paired up with a character, bonus Hit/Avoid/Crit/Crit Avoid is given depending on the quantity of Support levels. Chrom is given 3 levels of Support, which grants him the bonus of +10 Hit/Avo/Crit Dodge.



For one slash, Chrom gains 10 EXP. Characters gain levels in Fire Emblem by fighting, killing, healing, dancing, etc. If Fred was attacked and killed the enemy, he would get slightly more EXP than Chrom slashing it at once. 100 EXP is needed for every level-up, though it's scaled eventually as you gain more levels



Robin gets hit from the left, but came out fine. Thunder is certainly a downgrade from the Thoron we used last mission.



Indeed. Timely use of a staff or a vulnerary shuld prevent the worst.



Lissa heals all of Robin's wounds and gains a generous 20 EXP for her efforts.



Chrom finishes off the axe mook and gains 30 EXP. Robin repeats the performance on the sword mook.



Our party gets in a bit of trouble as Chrom gets sniped by a Mage and Robin eats an axe to the face. This calls for drastic measures.



Lissa initiates Pair-Up. Characters can combine into a single two-party unit, giving certain bonuses to stats depending on their class and own stats. The Cleric class gives Robin a needed boost in Magic power, while also hiding her in the back so enemies can't attack her (character that initiates the pair-up start at the back and end their turn).



The boost edges over enough for Robin to kill the axe mook, and her EXP gain skyrocketed. This is thanks to Robin's ability, Veteran, which lets her gain 1.5 EXP whenever she's paired-up.



Characters can gain abilities and equip up to 5 of them learned from different classes at various set levels. This will be explained later, but a short summary is that these along with pair-ups are the biggest advantages you have over the enemy forces. The rest of the character's abilities will be discussed after this mission.

Still with us, Robin?

Hmm...it's strange. Here on the battlefield, I can...well, I can "see" things.

See things? Like what?

The enemy's strength, their weaponry, the flow of battle...I must have studied this somewhere.

So, you're saying you can size up the enemy at a glance?

Yes, it would seem so. And perhaps more, if I apply myself...

I already explained all this, Robin. Sheesh.



Fred pairs up with Chrom to give him the extra movement needed to retreat safely and chug a Vulnerary.



The Mage's Wind Tome does a piddling amount thanks to Lissa's Res boost. The attack pushes our EXP high enough for our first level gain!



Stats in Fire Emblem are gained at random percentages. Some are higher, some are lower depending on a character's Growth Rates. Extra Skill/Spd is always nice, but we did roll a +Mag build so I'm a bit disappointed.

Are you all right, Robin? Don't rush into danger.

I'm fine, Chrom. Don't worry.

You've lent us your strength, and that makes you a friend. Having an ally by my side gives me courage.

Thank you, but...I think there's more to it than that.

What do you mean?

I believe there's a tactical advantage to fighting side by side...It's fuzzy...Wait, yes: working pairs improves strength, defense, speed...Yes, yes, I'm sure of it!

The game really loves telling you new mechanics via conversation, which is kinda overkill when Normal forces you into tutorial and actually disables Pair-Up (really sucks, because the Avatar is sapped of extra EXP for 3 maps).



Robin finishes off the Mage for another 45 EXP, then Chrom lands in a suspicious shiny spot.



The shiny spots are called Event Tiles, which almost every map has two. The events that happen range from EXP, Weapon EXP, powerful items, boosting Supports, and showing special conversations otherwise not seen.



We mark the Mage and notice a gap in the enemy range. Chrom occupies the sliver of space that the Mage can't attack but the closer Sword enemy can.



Robin Separates Lissa from her as I think we'll need a Healer pretty soon and I need Robin on standby sniping.



Or maybe not. Chrom has beefy defense thanks to Fred's Support bonus as he blocks the flipping swordsman (block animation is new to FE, usually characters stay stoic to any attacks).



Here's another major reason to keep your characters close: Dual Strikes. When two characters are adjacent or paired-up, there's a certain chance of the back-up character also attacking once per attack. It'll be explained more in-depth, but Dual Strikes should be a staple of future battles. Dual Strikers gain a small EXP after every battle that they did damage.



The circled number is the percentage chance of a Dual Strike. The Shield Icon is the chance for a Dual Guard, which blocks all damage.

Chrom decides to strike on the Sword Ruffian for one-sided damage. Lissa re-pairs with Robin as she finishes the job.



This is an LP curse isn't it.



Another Dual Strike takes out the Mage. Ooh, Chrom's first level up! What do we get?



Oh for fuck's sake



All that's left is the boss. If an enemy's range is small like that, it means he won't move so we can start our kill formation.



Chrom will Transfer Fred to Robin, putting Fred's good bonuses to use.



Lissa can then use Transfer to take away a character's back-up and use them as her support. There's other methods I'll show next chapter, but we'll keep Fred with Robin for now and step on that 2nd Event Tile.



You mean when I'm not serving the Shepherds? I gather rare mushrooms.



Also murders really well.



Robin tries her first assault the bandit leader Garrick, but notice that he has a 9 percent change of dealing triple damage to us. That's not good.



That's better.

Boss music: Menace (Intro)



Damnit Fred, I was planning on farming some extra EXP!

Bwaaargh!

Garrick gave a nice gift of 75 EXP. Bosses usually give far more EXP than their minions.



Lucky for the town, we were close by. But holy wow, Robin! You were incredible! Swords, sorcery, AND tactics! Is there anything you can't do?

Gain Magic apparently.

You're certainly no helpless victim, that much is for sure.

Indeed. Perhaps you might even be capable of an explanation for how you came here?

I understand your skepticism, Sir Frederick. And I cannot explain why only some knowledge has returned to me.

But please, believe me. I have shared all that I know.

You fought to save Ylissean lives. My heart says that's enough.

And your mind, milord? Will you not heed its counsel as well?

Frederick, the Shepherds could use someone with Robin's talents. We've brigands and unruly neighbors, all looking to bloody our soil. Would you really have us lose such an able tactician? Besides, I believe her story, odd as it might be.

Th-thank you, Chrom.

So how about it? Will you join us, Robin?

I would be honored.



Plegian? What's that?

Plegia is Ylisse's westerly neighbor. They send small bands into our territory, hoping to instigate a war.

And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer! Totally innocent, and totally helpless...

They do have us, milady: Shepherds to protect the sheep. Do not be swept up in your anger. It will cloud your judgment.

I know, I know...

Don't worry. I'll get used to all this.

Milord, please! You must stay the night! We are simple folk of simple means, but we would gladly toast your valor with a feast!

A most generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand...But I'm afraid we must hurry back to Ylisstol.



Music: But, Frederick, it's nearly dark

Wait, what?! We're not staying?! But, Frederick, it's nearly dark!

When night falls, we'll camp. Eat off the land, make our bed of twigs and the like...I believe you mentioned you would be "getting used to this"?

Frederick? Sometimes I hate you.

You've quite the stern lieutenant there.

Yeah, well, "stern" is one name for it. I can think of a few others!

Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe.

Duly noted.

*Ahem* You do realize I AM still present?

Oh, we realize.

Heh heh.

Milord remains as amusing as ever. Now then, shall we be going?

All right, all right. Ready to go, Robin? The capital isn't far.

Next time: An Unwelcome Change

extras


Chrom
Starting Class: Lord
Weapon Ranks: Swords (E)
Abilities:
-Dual Strike+: Increases the trigger rate of Dual Strikes by 10%

Base stats (Growth rates)

HP-20 (85%) Spd-8 (60%)
Str-7 (60%) Lck-5 (70%)
Mag-1 (10%) Def-7 (45%)
Skill-8 (60%) Res-1 (25%)

Chrom starts out decent and has good enough growths to stay in the frontlines, which is still risky considering the game is over if he ever falls in combat.

Official Bio: The prince of Ylisse and descendant of the Hero-King (Marth). While of noble blood, he also leads a militia known as the Shepherds. His strong conviction makes him a fine captain. The most likely to break things.


Frederick
Starting Class: Great Knight
Weapon Ranks: Sword (D), Lance (B), Axe (D)
Abilities:
-Discipline: Gain 2x Weapon Experience
-Outdoor Fighter: Grant +10 Hit/Avo while fighting outdoors

Base stats (Growth Rates)

HP-28 (110%) Spd-10 (50%)
Str-13 (65%) Lck-6 (45%)
Mag-2 (10%) Def-14 (55%)
Skill-12 (55%) Res-3 (25%)

Frederick is a loyal knight of Chrom's family, and is so hardcore he wears a tuxedo under that heavy armor. Great defense, excellent movement, and his class is one of the few that gives extra movement along with the other stat boosts. A useful character in a pinch when the current weaker characters get in trouble.

Official Bio: Chrom's lieutenant, an Ylissean knight who is sincere to a fault. He tends to demand tremendous amount for seemingly trivial things, and prefaces such experiences with a grin. The fondest of starting fires.


Lissa
Starting Class: Cleric
Weapon ranks: Staff (E)
Abilities:
-Miracle: Character survives with 1 HP after receiving an attack that would otherwise KO them (must have over 1 HP, Lck%)

Base stats (Growth Rates)

HP-17 (70%) Spd-4 (50%)
Str-1 (30%) Lck-8 (65%)
Mag-5 (50%) Def-3 (20%)
Skill-4 (45%) Res-4 (50%)

Lissa's the typical frail healer with a twist: Miracle will on occasion save her from a fatal blow, though you're better off just positioning or hiding her via pair-up until it's healing time.

Official Bio: Chrom's tomboyish little sister, the princess of Ylisse. With nary an once of nobility in her personality, she is among the most likable and approachable of the Shepherds. The girl most likely to snort.


Robin
Starting Class: Tactician
Weapon ranks: Tome (E), Swords (E)
Abilities:
-Veteran: Gain 1.5 EXP when paired-up

Base stats (Growth Rates)

HP-19 (80%) Spd-6 (55%)
Str-6 (55%) Lck-4 (50%)
Mag-7 (60%) Def-5 (30%)
Skill-5 (50%) Res-4 (30%)

Robin will very likely be one of your best characters thanks to accelerated EXP gain from her skill. She's a very durable Mage while also having Swords to fend off Axe users in a tight spot. Tacticians also have many other advantages later when promotion options open up, and can be molded into whatever the player wants their role to be.

Official Bio: A traveler who remembers nothing prior to being found by the wayside. Chrom realized your tactical genius and enlisted you in the Shepherds, where you are well liked. The biggest mystery of the group.