Part 66: Unfulfilled Heart

And now, another demonstration of Hector's story playing with the fact that you already know the plot.



: Mm.

: Um, Ninian? Lord Hector's a strange guy, isn't he?

: Nils, that's impolite, saying he's strange.

: But it's true. He is strange. He doesn't put on airs like other nobles. He even lets me ride on his shoulders. He's pushy and rough, but nice, too... I really like him.

: Nils...

: What if the people from long ago were like him? I just wish everyone could've gotten along better, you know?

: Yes... I agree...

: ...Tell me, Ninian. Lord Eliwood... You're fond of him, aren't you?

: Nils! I...

: But you must not fall in love with him, you know? We...are different from them.

: ...I know. But I cannot... ...I...

: Ninian! Where are you going?

: I need time to think. May I be alone, please?

: Ninian...

I love the image of Hector just carrying Nils around everywhere on his shoulders.

Hector has no need of Speed or Skill!



So then. Unfulfilled Heart hasn't really changed at all from Eliwood's story. There are a couple more points where wyverns can come from, and Vaida's undergone one very minor change, but otherwise it's exactly as you remember. In terms of our strategy, Canas and Bartre are going north to where the lords are and Eliwood and Louise are coming south. Hector, Lyn, and Pent are going to play with the wyverns and Louise is coming back after grabbing a ballista. Florina, Guy, and Priscilla are heading to the southwest corner, Kent, Fiora, and Farina are going to the southeast corner, and Raven is staying where he is.

Oh, yeah, we actually have a usable Ballistician now.



The change with Vaida is a momumental dick move in that she's now sitting right on top of the shops. You know, the shops that sell Elfire tomes and Killer weapons. It's not impossible to sneak in, but to guarantee the shopper's safety, you basically have to send a flyer on the very last turn so Vaida only gets one shot at them. And even with Nini's Grace, that can be a rough prospect given Vaida has the Uber Spear. Unfortunately, there's no really easy way to steal it in Hector's story, but you can use the mine glitch to have her trade it away and shop in relative peace.



To anyone who really cares, she's been given 4 HP, 2 Str, 2 Skl, 1 Spd, and 1 Def on top of the regular Uber Spear bonuses. These might matter if we were going to go anywhere near her in the first place.



: That will be helpful, but... You, too, Lady Louise?

: Of course.

: No need for concern. She is quite skilled with a bow. Those Bern wyvern riders will be sorry to meet her.

: Despite what you may think, I shoot much better than I dance or sing. I believe I can be of some small assistance.

: I doubt I'll have such a lovely comrade-in-arms again soon. I look forward to witnessing your prowess!

Oh Hector, such the ladies man.



: It's from Lord Athos.

: What is it?

: A Heaven Seal. It reveals hidden strengths. It only works for a select few, but...

: Looks funny.

: Do you think you can use it?

: ...Nothing's happening.

: Wait for the proper time, and have the other two try it. It might not work now, but I'm sure that you will all be able to use it at some point. Just keep trying.

: Okay, I'll hold on to it. Hey, Lyn, check out this weird thing!



Thank the gods, finally some fucking defense, and the strength isn't exactly unappreciated either.

Sweet, sweet, marginal usability! Will wonders never cease?



It is such bullshit that the Light Brand can't crit at range. Guy should have like a 40 or so percent chance of nuking this bandit with shinies.

Oh, come on, he's doing 21x2 damage as it is. What'd be the point of crits?

On this bandit, none. How about on, I dunno, literally any other enemy? Especially ones with resistance?



Also new to Hector's story is the incredibly bizzare desire for the wyverns to crowd around the Bern palace. They're supposed to all charge you at once on the last turn, but I've never seen it happen and it won't be an issue for us anyway because we're going to just murder everything.

It is often the best solution in Fire Emblem.



Florina picks up the Hammerne staff on turn 2. Note that wyverns are popping out from the southwest corner now.



Farina's failure to crit on the first nomad means she's going to have to take a hit from the last one. She'll walk it off.



Our first objective will be to clean out that northwestern corner. Bartre is just out of range of the mages, but he is in range of a couple wyverns, so everyone ends up winning.



Farina's playground will be the southeast corner. The wyverns aren't particularly dangerous and she can play her Killer Lance to her heart's content.



Bartre gets a defense level off the sage. With that corner cleaned up, he and Canas are going wyvern hunting.



Priscilla gets an excellent level from a wyvern in Farina's corner.



A terrible level, but eh, strength.



The wyverns that come in from the northeast corner tend to just fly straight south, so Raven moves up to meet them. Also, I don't think I mentioned it yet, but Merlinus promoted at the beginning of this chapter.



We're preparing an amazing welcome party for the shamans before we head north to the palace.



Farina needs to retreat and heal up a bit, so Priscilla physics her for a breather.



Goddamn that's a lot of wyverns. Let's taunt a few of them.

And yet all I can think is "Damn, I wish Rachel from AWDS was here".



Bartre ought to get a few of them, at least.



Bah, if her next two levels aren't amazing, I'm just going to bench her. As much as I like Farina, I have neither time nor experience to waste on her.



Goddammit, lure out two, four more take their place. That's okay, that just means we need to be even more .



Only two more turns already? This chapter would be so much more fun if it were 15 turns. So much killing to do, so little time. So let's abuse that support. Canas without beneficial terrain is up to 63 avoid with his Bartre support, so he moves up and Bartre takes his spot in the forest.

The most efficient way to murder in Fire Emblem is and has always been to let the enemy come to you.



Farina has her hands full in the south, and this gets me into the only spot of trouble in this whole map. Florina was at 10 HP after dealing with the cavaliers and wyvern by the village way back when, and I forgot to heal her. One of the wyverns goes after her, but she has a pretty full set of supports right there and easily dodges, then crits the wyvern in response.



Not going to complain about this at all.



Well that was fun. These two wyverns plus two by Farina and that's a clean sweep of this chapter.



Oh Vaida, you're so silly. I'm pretty sure we had this exact same situation in Eliwood's story, too.

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