Fire Emblem: Heroes Of Light and Shadow Part #76

Part 76: Bonus Chapter: Beginning

Update 42: Bonus Chapter: Beginning

So, we’re back to bonus maps. This is the last one, by the way. It’s also definitely the “Final” chapter so far as plot goes, and I’d consider it one of the hardest if you haven’t figured out the trick to it. There’s a very special square in this one.

Even if you know the trick, doing it the way that’ll get you the most points is also a pain in the ass, and I’ve personally never managed it. Enough preamble, though, let’s get started.

(I called this “Escape” last update by mistake, my bad)

: Hurry, Sir Jagen, we must finish climbing these stairs!

: Hold a moment, Steve! Have you ever heard the story of Sir Camus and his daring escape from the Dohlrian Empire?

: Sir Jagen this is entirely not the ti-

: TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED-

: Emperor Medeus of Dolhr ordered Camus to take full control of the palace. However Camus defied his orders, by continuing to shelter Princess Nyna. As time passed, Medeus lost his patience with Camus and ordered his men to take Nyna captive.

: It’s a good thing we’re ascending these steps on our horses, otherwise you’d be out of breath by now, Sir Jagen.

: However, what are my orders, should General Camus betray us?

(This guy, Bulzark, had Frost’s portrait in the original game, assumedly because they just didn’t want to bother making a whole new portrait for “generic manakete man”)

: If he resists, you may kill him. I care not for him any longer.

: As you wish…

Blue Man: We have received news that General Bulzark of Dolhr is coming here.

: It's not as if I didn't see this coming... But... what should I do...? Someone, bring the princess to me!

: General Camus, has something happened?

: Princess Nyna, Medeus's personal guards should arrive here, at the palace, at any moment.

: ...The Dolhrian army!? For what purpose?

: To take you back to Dolhr, naturally. As a hostage to keep Archanea permanently and safely under their leash.

: No! I refuse! I will not go to Dolhr!

: I know. We must escape the palace at once. Sir Hardin, in the northern state of Aurelis, has the power to protect you. I'm sure he will extend you his courtesy. Anyway, let us be off. We haven't a moment to spare. Princess, get ready.

: ...Fine. But, Camus. You have no qualms with this? Will you not be in danger, should we escape?

: Why didn’t he run before, then? Before they were in imminent danger?

: Steve, this is what we call “bullshitting”.

: Then, you have made your decision? Camus, if you're going to abandon your country, then I...!

: Nyna, you're mistaken. I don't fear Dolhr or Medeus, but the Kingdom of Grust means everything to me. I cannot betray it.

: But, then... Why are you...? If you help me, you'll be a criminal. And yet, you say you'll remain in Grust? They'll kill you!

: I remember telling you, Princess. That you could have my life anytime. Well, that time has come.

: Camus...! I refuse! I don't want to be saved if you are sacrificed in exchange!

: Haha, you're still a child, Nyna. It reminds me of when we first met, two years ago. If I recall correctly... You said you would command the Archanean League's army to topple Dolhr. And for that purpose, you have worked very hard in these two years. The people call you the white rose of Archanea. Neat and trim on the outside; you hide such passion and enthusiasm. You give courage to all who come in contact with you. Opportunities appear as we create them. And should one present itself, the people will surely unite and oppose Dolhr, no? Or do you intend to ruin everything you've worked for? All for a fleeting fancy? Nyna, were you always this weak?

I had missed

Camus.

: ...Camus... Very well. I shall do as you say. However, let me make this clear: my love for you means everything to me! It isn't some "fleeting fancy". You've always been on my mind...! True, I said I hated you once. But it was a lie; I was just fooling myself... It was love at first sight! I'm not strong at all... I need you by my side...! It was because you were here... that I had anything to live for...!

: ...Princess. That's enough. I get it...

: Who’s that guy?

: I think that one is Abel.

: Yes, sir! Understood!

: Come, Princess. We must prepare.

: ...Very well.

: With the Sable Order with you, no force of Dolhr can withstand you. Please, give us your orders!

: That will not do. Should we sortie an official army, the alliance between Grust and Dolhr will crumble. The hostages--Prince Yubello included-- will be killed. And Medeus would no doubt burn Grust to ashes. I cannot allow that to happen!

: We'll desert the army. That way, we won't bring trouble to our motherland, Grust.

I wouldn’t think Medeus would be that reasonable, but apparently it worked, because these guys aren’t dead and Grust isn’t ashes.

: ...I see... Thank you. I'm sorry... to get you all involved.

: Are you joking with us? Either way, the princess is ready. It's time to take our leave, General.

: Excellent, then let us march! Make sure the others suspect nothing.

: What did you say!?

Red Guy: She left together with General Camus. Moreover, a few knights are with them.

: Damn that Camus. He really has betrayed us. So, where are they headed?

Crimson Fellow: They are headed straight north.

: Aurelis, huh? Very well. Tell the entire army to march north! Strike them down as soon as you catch up. We must bring Nyna back before she takes refuge in Aurelis.

That’s...a lot of guys.

: Nyna, we'll hold them back here. Go ahead to Aurelis!

: Camus...! Please. If I must flee, then it will be by your side. I want to be with you, at least until we reach Aurelis.

: Nyna…

: Leiden, Belf, Robert! We'll pass through the mountains, while we protect the princess. I understand there are many bandits in this region... Kill any bandits in our way, but do not pursue those who flee. Our objective is to make sure the princess safely reaches Hardin of Aurelis. Understood?

: Yes sir!

: Nyna, we'll pass this valley and run towards the northeast fortress. That's the border of Aurelis.

: Camus…

: Don't worry, we'll protect you. Now, let us make haste!

The game helpfully highlights the spot you need to bring Nyna to for you. Unfortunately, it’s on the other side of all these mountains. Time to get going.

These guys are all in the bottom left corner.

We’re in the top left. Robert here is ranged, which can be handy.

Belf is the most defensive of all the Sable Knights.

Leiden, uh, he exists.

All Nyna has is a heal stave. If an enemy gets close to her, she’s doomed, and it’s game over.

Camus is an absolute powerhouse, and he comes with the Gradivus. He’ll, unsurprisingly, be our MVP.

Time to RUN. There’s a pack of thieves to the east. They won’t attack us, they’d rather run.

: Moreover, Camus the Sable is equipped with the legendary spear, Gradivus. I will march forward as soon as my unit is ready, but you lot march on ahead and pursue the enemy! If things go well, you might be able to capture Nyna, who's slower for being on foot.

Can you tell why I thought this one was called “Escape”?

Bandit Guy: Hey, hey, hey! Did ya 'ear? A big army's comin' 'ere from the south! I'm runnin' from 'ere. Don't wanna let 'em take this treasure I worked so hard to get mah hands on. If you guys wanna flee, now's the time! See ya!

The ambiguously cockney bandits flee.

Camus is on their heels! These guys are sorta in our way.

That man was sort of deleted out of existence.

Robert manages to whiff this one.

Belf hits, thankfully.

As does Leiden, while Nyna patches him up. Time is of the essence here, we need to keep on the move.

The thieves keep fleeing.

But we’re not out of the woods yet. We are getting increasingly more in the woods.

Continuing to take out as many of these guys as I can. Some of them have useful items.

Like that.

This is less useful than it seems like it would be.

Bulzark is extremely impatient. It’s like, turn 3.

Rouge Dude: It'd be a hard battle, sir. The soldiers are afraid because Camus is monstrously strong; he's like a demon on the warpath.

: Then I'll take him on myself! Order the entire army to attack! Send a message to the bandits! Tell them there's a reward in gold for whoever captures Camus and his motley crew!

This doesn’t mean those thieves, just FYI.

Scarlet Fellow: Yes sir!

Bulzark now starts moving. Also, those 4 reinforcements south of him will start spawning in every turn.

Around this point I had Camus and Nyna talk.

Nyna is now falling asleep.

: You need not worry about me. Nyna, you cannot stay here forever. We'll hold the enemy back. Please, worry not for me. Just hurry ahead already!

: Camus…

: It's alright, Nyna. I'm not dying any time soon!

Camus slowly ties the foreshadowing noose around his own neck.

Here, take this handy Stave.

Belf continues his relentless chase.

That’ll be nice.

Oh, those are the bandits that were previously mentioned. That’s a lot of guys. Headed right for us.

And so are these guys. We’re running out of room to run.

Shit. REALLY running out of room to run.

Robert, take this, your defense is garbage.

So, what I’m setting up here is kinda the crux of the whole map. That one square Nyna is on? That’s in a spot that blocks the whole path. Keep that in mind.

Camus can solo these guys. I’m not using Gradivus because I wanted to conserve uses. I probably should have traded him the Javelin, but...well, I’m really bad at this map. This is the first time I’ve ever actually beaten it.

Go, Camus!

And now these Ruffians will begin suiciding onto Camus. This can be a bit tricky, because they do hit fairly hard, but have a low hit rate.

: General Camus was truly a master of battle as he escorted a lone bishop through a valley full of bandits, pursued by an enemy army.

: I feel like I’ve heard that before…

: Who else is expositing at you? Am I being replaced?

So, here’s what I’ve got to do until Camus gets back. Holding that one spot would be way too dangerous, so I’ve split it between Belf and Robert to block off the enemies. Nyna heals him up so the Angelic Robe can take effect.

Meanwhile, Camus deals with the Hunter. One more of them left.

Here’s a spot I could have potentially been fucked if these guys got really lucky and kept hitting.

Thankfully, they didn’t.

And now just one Hunter remains. Meanwhile…

Dolhr’s caught up to us now.

I need to get Camus back there, but he’s wounded. Thankfully, the Gradivus has a second function. Using it restores all your HP. I left him in range of the Hunter and equipped it for a reason.

Nyna keeps Robert up. He can hold out as long as she’s here. Note that she is in range of a ranged weapon, but that cavalier doesn’t have one. So long as I keep him there by not killing him somehow, like equipping a bow on the guy he’ll attack, Nyna won’t get attacked.

Not actually attacking here, just waiting.

The final Hunter makes a poor decision, and the coast is (mostly) clear to the Fort.

Robert can hold the line a while longer, but we need to get Nyna out of there. Time for a beefier chokepoint.

Robert weakens this cavalier.

And Belf’s Ridersbane finishes the job. That spot is open now.

ENTER THE CAMUS BLOCK. If I was smart here, I’d have unequipped the Silver Lance and just let him heal with Gradivus every turn. Otherwise he runs the risk of being too good and killing so many Paladins that enough can get in to overwhelm him.

What actually happens is much stupider.

Nyna gets the fuck out, I sent Leiden with her because there’s...one enemy I forgot about.

WHOOPS THERE WAS A VILLAGE THERE!

That one has Boots in it. I suppose you could get it if you had someone break off and get there, or you manage to kill all the thieves, or both, but it’s honestly not really worth it, IMO. Not a huge deal. The lady in there says something like:

hypothetical old woman: You're being pursued by Dolhr, aren't ya? Please take this. I'm sure it'll assist you in your escape. I, too, am a citizen of Archanea... and as such, an ally to your cause. Now, go! You can't stay here any longer…

I mean, just a guess.

These foes are no match for Camus.

Eventually some of them can’t even hurt him.

These two Horsemen move to take a shot at Belf.

This is secretly the key to breaking the entire map, as I accidentally discovered like an hour ago.

: Are reinforcements coming from the rear...? There's nothing to do about it. But I still have the Gradivus! As long as I have this spear, I will not fall back!

The Gradivus heals Camus to full again. It is a REALLY good weapon.

Everyone else runs, and the commander of the Sable Knights prepares to face off against the entire Dolhrian cavalry.

I do not trust this man.

So, this looks...bad.

But those two Horsemen next to Camus that moved in to shoot Belf only have bows.

The Paladins don’t have ranged weapons.

That means that, because the enemies don’t swap positions, I can sit here for literal eternity, as long as I don’t kill the Horsemen, and nobody will attack anyone. I don’t think that’s how this chapter is supposed to go, you’re supposed to keep having to use Gradivus to heal Camus, but, uh, this works. You’ll get an awful score, but it works.

Not letting this guy sneak attack Nyna.

This would be kinda nice if I really needed to do damage.

So, I just sat here to see how many reinforcements I could get to spawn. It stops here.

However, that’s the end of this map.

Oh hey, this guy is here again.

: Princess Nyna, I presume? I am Hardin, younger brother of King Aurelis. I heard the news and I came for you, Princess. You need not worry any longer. I shall protect you, even at the cost of my life.

: It was misguided, unrequited, foolish, potentially world destroying love at first sight.

: So you are... Sir Hardin of... Aurelis. I am Nyna... I'm pleased... to meet...////

: Someone, bring a bishop here! And water! Quickly! Hurry!

Well, he more just...stared at ‘em. By the way, if you kill Bulzark...Medeus himself appears for this scene. It’s still mostly the same lines, but Camus is a bit more intimidated, and Medeus compares him to Anri.

: I didn't imagine that it would come to this. Truly, your power is beyond imagination. However, this farce ends here. Your sword is broken and your spear lost. Even you cannot fight bare-handed.

That’s not a class in FE. He is fucked.

: Should you surrender peacefully, we could spare you the worst. Give up.

: ...Very well. Do as you wish. ...I have fulfilled my duty…

: Men, seize him!

the final line for the generic enemy soldier of the lp: Yes sir!

: We have him now. Put him in a cage, and drag it behind the carriage. He'll prove a fine example of the fate that awaits those who oppose Dolhr.

Why do a bunch of dragon people need a carriage?

: Sir Jagen, is this going to get weird?

: Everyone shall laugh at the misery of their once great hero, Camus! Bwahahahahaha!

: Nyna... Did you reach Aurelis safely? Forgive me... For my cowardice. Nyna... I...

: Camus was incarcerated in a small cage, and forced into a relentlessly painful journey to Dolhr. After that, Medeus stripped Camus of all his rights and privileges, confining him to a dungeon in Dolhr. Princess Nyna, under the protection of Hardin, called upon the entire continent to reform the Archanean League and go to war against the Empire. A few months later, one young man answered to Nyna's call, leaving the island that was his refuge.