Part 78: Paralogue 14: Shadow in the Sands (Laurent)

Paralogue 14: Shadow in the Sands



Chapter 16 is probably the biggest game-changer for story store wares, with buyable Second Seals. There's a few paralogues that also have Seals, but they're based on much tougher maps compared to beating the last chapter.



Miriel's paralogue is another map back on the first continent, though it's a desert map so try to bring as many fliers and Mages as possible. To access, Miriel has to S rank with someone.

S: A ring? How curious. Are you proposing we melt it down to ascertain its composition?





Or rumors of one, at any rate. People claim to have spied a desert village that sometimes appears during sandstorms. Tales speak of a legendary Goddess Staff that sleeps there, but who can really say?

That sounds like it could be helpful. It may be nothing more than idle talk, but it still bears further investigation.

Just take care, sir. The sands are home to armed barbarians. Every year sees a few villagers go chasing the myth and finding the grave instead. I'll not stop you, but be sure you're well armed and fully prepared.



Lots of desert, lots of Falcon Knights and Barbarian type enemies to roam around the desert and ruin your day. It's a race to visit the villages before the Barbarians wreck them, and you can't get the Goddess Staff if even one village is gone.



Tharja and Olivia make a comeback, though the former is really starting to fall behind with her terrible Skill total.

Let's race to the Goddess Staff.



They say the villages around here are filled to burstin' with rare treasure!

Kick down every door ya see! Don't let a single coin slip by!



If you really hate this map and just want to recruit Miriel's kid and be done with it, just fly over and kill Nombry.



Speaking of which...



Er, yes. And you are...?

Ah, apologies! I am Laurent, a traveling mage and scholar. And perhaps more saliently, I am Miriel's son.

Wait, you mean OUR Miriel? Oh, right. So then you must have traveled back and... Er, right?

Excellent! Your comprehension spares me the botheration of further explication

...Yep. You're Miriel's kid all right. So have you come all this way in search of your mother?

Just so. She wrote of a mirage village in one of her records. I thought it might offer some clue to her current whereabouts. And acquiring the Goddess Staff is a worthy motive, besides.

Any luck with that?

Nay, sir. Much to my vexation, staff and village both elude me.

I suppose it wouldn't be a legend if you could just stumble upon it in the market.

Well put! And yet, not all is lost. Meeting you here is success enough. I was quickly reaching my limits of what one man can do alone.

Might I lend my might to your cause? I assure you I will not be a burden.

Of course. We'd love to have you.

Excelsior!

If Miriel visited the village

Eureka! It's you!

...Curious. I have no recollection of making your acquaintance. Though few things are as unreliable as the human memory.

Ah, forgive me. I forgot that you have not met me before. My name is Laurent. Are you here in search of the mirage village?

That is my cause, yes.

Mine as well, though I fear my efforts thus far yield precious little progress. Still, an excess of evidence exists for the village to be baseless rumor alone...

An assumption on your part, that.

Might I accompany you in your search? I feel certain that your help will lay exposed that which has eluded me alone.

Mmm. I worry your hypothesis lacks a certain scientific rigor... And yet, there exists the possibility I am in error on this count...

So...yes. You are welcome to join us.

Excelsior! I assure you, I'll not be a burden.

If non-Miriel or Chrom visits the village

That mirage village must be located very near to here... Though I fear my own search for it has borne naught but ill fruit. No doubt Mother would have this mystery unraveled in moments, were she here...

So if anyone else visits the southwest village, it will still be open until Chrom or Miriel visits it.



Well, this is what happens when two people marry after not fighting since basically chapter 6. Hilariously Laurent has the 2nd Mage ability that his parents don't have. Focus gives +10 Crit when there's no allies in a 3-tile radius.



Donny with his C rank will give Tharja some pointers on how to literally anything. Morgan will help out the newbie by giving him a decent boost in magic.



Mother and child join together to wreck some looters.



Some careful placements to end the turn. Most of the enemies just trek across the desert to reach us before our turn starts again.



Robin starts the pain train on track.



Cherche, with her great defense, is perfect for taking out the weak-armed Peg Knights and strong enough to one-shot any Mages with Elwind in range.



The Shirtless brothers do a good job of weakening the Pegs to the brink of death.



Laurent pulls double-duty with Olivia's help to take down the fliers.



I'm going to assume any lack of speed is because of Ricken.



Are you serious, girl



Anna and Lissa clean up some Mages to end the turn.



Robin takes out a couple enemies before gaining a decent level. More importantly, speed at this point of the game since her killing power is taken care of by her husband and kids.



Cherche takes care of some mooks herself, then Robin finishes off yet another enemy to end the turn.



Owain takes out a Barbarian with an Astra, pulling out two crits in the process.



Anna gains a level after healing Tharja, adding to her impressive stats that will utterly fail her if she gets touched twice.



Most of the team continue their way towards the 1st village at the northeast, while Cherche finishes off the last enemy in the southern area.



Just want to remind you that Miriel is almost as fast as Cherche. Promoted Cherche with about 7 more levels.



Owain activates Astra again, letting only use 1 Killing Edge durability to take out the Peg Knight.



Excellent, he hits 20 strength.



Cherche gets some WEXP, while 3 Shepherds move ahead to take on the north squad.



Laurent takes down a Barbarian with Olivia's help.



Lucy gains some good stats after taking out 2 enemies.



Royal Female Ylissean beatdowns.



Meh. She's like 10 levels above everyone else, but her stats don't say that.



Riiiiiicken!



For gods' sake She gets the kill on the 2nd hit, but this is ridiculous.



I am seriously considering to reclass her to Archer at this point.



Chrom continues his rampage on the enemies hanging around the left.



Cherche takes out the last enemy, then Lucy visits the village to start the Goddess Staff quest.



Here, then. Take this as a reward for your efforts. ...A mirage village? No, I'm afraid we're quite the ordinary one! Ha ha ha! Perhaps you'll find what you seek further west...

He gives out a Strength Tonic. Once you visit a village, it disappears from the map and another appears. This also means enemy reinforcements will pop out from the sides so stuff as many units near the middle as you can to avoid being blindsided.



The second village appears on the northwest, followed by enemies coming from the north and southwest.



Henry and Gregor combine their manly biceps to start taking down the left reinforcements.



Cherche also joins in the fray.



Lissa takes out a Barbarian and gains D rank Tomes, then Tharja moves in and side-steps the issue of hitting twice by critting.



Laurent takes care of an enemy, and Olivia gives him another turn after gaining a level.







Henry counterkills for a level. Defense is okay, but not sure it matters much when certain enemies are hitting for 20 at a time.



Henry ends up killing most of the left reinforcements.



Anna rescues Henry and gains another level. She also learns Lucky Seven, making her the best combat healer by far on the roster. To top it off, Anna gains C rank Staffs, giving access to Physic.



Not many make it out this far. You must be near exhausted from the sands. Here, then. Take this as a reward for your efforts. ...A mirage village? No, everyone can see us just fine! Ha ha ha! Perhaps you'll find what you seek on the far side of the oasis...

This elder gives out a far more useful Speedwing.



The last village appears in the southeast, followed by Berserkers in the northeast and fliers in the south.



The teams along the zigzag safe zone, with Donny taking the lead since he can handily defend himself from the fliers.



Owain takes out one Peg knight, but the rest attack from range to avoid death and the Berserker squad start their journey towards the village.



Donny and Tharja start off the turn with a couple more fresh desert mounds. The latter gains B rank Tomes, which is more useful for that +5 hit because she severely needs it.



Lucy takes out a Berseker, setting herself up to take on the other one on the enemies' turn.



Henry and Cherche axe down another flier.



Finally, some speed.



Morgan is angry that people keep attacking his new friend!



The Berserker squad rush to their doom.



Thanks for taking kills, Cherche.



The next couple of turns were spent setting up team to survive the final reinforcements. Lissa triggers the last village.

Not many make it out this far. You must be near exhausted from the sands. Here, then. Take this as a reward for your efforts. ...A mirage village? Yes, my mum used to sing cradle songs of such a thing. "Find the last tree north of the oasis shore... Then two steps north and one step more!" Er, or something like that. It's not like the place really exists, anyway.

He gives a Large Bullion for our troubles. The gifts the villages give are more useful than this Goddess Staff as you'll see.



Berserkers and Warriors on the left, fliers on the right appear.



Henry takes the brunt of their puny attacks, gaining C rank Axes in the process.



Laurent gets set up for another kill, gaining another level.



Amazing, speed?! It's possible?!



Henry overkills a flier for a good level, just missing skill, luck, and defense.



The last of the fliers are killed off, with Gregor getting a level.



Despite their different upbringings, Henry and Gregor are very similar in stats.



Chrom starts off the turn with a decent level after chipping the Berserker.



Laurent gets to promotion range with a great level, gaining everything but strength and defense.



Gregor and Robin continue the rampage.



This is a weird level. You're weird, Robin.



Tharja FINALLY gets to double-digit skill. She also learns Vengeance.



The map is cleared (Finally) so all that's left is some treasure finding.



Cherche gains some EXP while Lucy walks in that tile that the last village talked about.



Few hold faith in that which cannot be seen to exist, yet I sense such faith in you. Here, then. Claim what you have come for. I hold my own faith that you will use it with wisdom.



The Goddess Staff is okay. The main problem is that it only has 1 use, and there's another staff called Fortify that does the same thing except it heals based on magic and has 5 uses. Not worth it if you just want to recruit Laurent and end it.



DO NOT ATTACK NOMBRY FROM CLOSE RANGE. He carries Counter, a level 15 Warrior ability that deals equal damage back to the user from any attack at melee range. That means if you hit him up close with a Tome, it's getting sent back. If you activate Astra, each hit from the ability gets sent back individually, so Counter can kill you before Astra finishes.



After a Dance, Morgan takes him out.



Morgan has two more strength than magic. Maybe I should just give him a sword. Nombry drops a Master Seal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UfG8mvsHHE





Just what was that place, in the end? Something beyond our ken, I suppose... Maybe a small proof that faith, even in the intangible, can still be rewarded? Like faith in a better future, perhaps. ...Heh. That's treasure enough for me.

If the Mirage Village wasn't found

It seems the mirage village remains just that... Best we returned our focus to the real world. Let's press on.

(Laurent approaches Miriel)



I don't see why not.

Tell me honestly—how would you assess my performance?

You have certain natural deficiencies, but you compensate for them well. I surmise this is the product of considerable time and effort.

Hah! The best response yet! You're as perspicacious as you are blunt, Mother.

Mother?

Indeed. I am your future progeny.

Do you have concrete evidence to substantiate this proposition?

I have a ring which is the same as yours. Quite literally.

...Fascinating. It does appear identical.

Do two instances of a unique object coexisting constitute sufficient proof?

To be sure, time travel is one viable hypothesis to explain the rings. But the possibility also exists that you pilfered the ring from said time traveler. As a means of identification, I fear it inconclusive.

...An astute criticism. I'm uncertain that any truly conclusive case can be mounted to prove my claim.

But I intend to spend the rest of my life investigating the matter, if necessary.

A single-minded pursuit of the truth may be the best proof of my heredity.

This is a reasonable assumption.

But I'm afraid a unilateral investigation is hardly credible.

Then how should—

However, I have no material evidence to suggest you are not, as you claim, my son. I shall conduct an inquiry of my own. We'll investigate the matter until a clear conclusion emerges. ...Together.

Until then, I will grant the fundamental assumption that you are, in fact, my child.

...Thank you, Mother.

Extras

Laurent
Starting Class: Mage
Weapon Ranks: Tomes (C)
Abilities:
-Magic+2
-Focus

Mage Support Bonus: +4 Mag/+2 Skill

Reclass options: Mage, Barbarian, Dark Mage, Cavalier, Archer

Base stats (Growths as Ricken's Child)

HP: 26 (78) Spd: 10 (53)
Str: 3 (18) Lck: 11 (55)
Mag: 11 (58) Def: 6 (30)
Skill: 10 (56) Res: 8 (40)

Laurent is a nuclear magic god...you know, if his parents actually saw combat. He has relatively low bases compared to the other children, but he can promote to Sage and stay as the team's healer to gain EXP the easy way. I guess.

Official Bio: Miriel's future son. A sharp but overserious wunderkind. Folks take advantage of his wisdom and empathy, but his attention to detail makes him a natural problem solver. The one with the worst lens glare.