Part 14: (Chapter 7, Continued)

Sothe does his usual unequipped decoy thing, and Micaiah stands by with Thani.

Jill goes north, but…



Since we're indoors, mounted units take a -2 penalty to move. Not that big a problem for Jill.



Jill, however, is a pretty big problem for this guy. Nolan finishes him off with a Hand Axe, and everyone moves up.



The situation at turn's end.



The two knights attack Sothe, to no effect. Over north, the remaining soldier deals a few damage to Jill and evades the counterattack - but all the enemies at the north door are staying put, it seems.



Other phase?







Wow, yet more returning characters! And some new raven lady. She's new.

What do you think? We're helping, of course! Keep up, Muarim! Come on, Vika!

Hey, boss! Wait a second! I'll be... He's already out of sight. How does he do that on those skinny beorc legs?

Who do you think taught him how to run? We'd better go after him.



Huh?! What...

Eh?

Have no fear... Tormod is here! I'm coming to your rescue!

Tormod?! You crazy fool...

Time for the trusty hero to save the day, I see. Still quite the showman, eh, Tormod?

"Hey, I'm a returning Path of Radiance character, too! Let's suddenly have been friends!"

It's more like a reunion every moment. Now if Haar were just here...

It's funny because she's drawing attention to the total coincidence that is in progress! And lady, if Haar were here you'd (probably) be redundant.

All right! Let's go wild!







Hey, 'Stache is still alive! Remember 'Stache? He was the guy who was evil enough to shoot a small child, but not evil enough to shoot everyone else present.

That child hasn't transformed yet! Nab him before he does!

Fool! Transforming ain't what I do. But I can do this...



Wait. Never mind.

He-he's a mage! Fall back! Don't get too close to him!

Who in the world are they?

People I used to know. I'll introduce you later, but for now, let's concentrate on the fight.

Ah, right, the fight!



Micaiah knows what to do. The other knight will either attack Sothe - to the usual effect - or he'll get in a hit on Micaiah, which she'll survive, and get a Thani in return, which he won't survive.



Sothe has nothing better to do than talk to Muarim.

Little Sothe... You've grown up.

Why does everybody keep saying that?

Hmm?

You know, "little"?

Oh, sorry. I guess I have to respect your manly pride now.

Yes, please. Or something like that.

"Sir Sothe." Will that do?

Sothe will do. Just Sothe.

I'm afraid I could never speak so familiarly with my little one's good friend. So, with your permission... Sir Sothe.

No! That doesn't... Ohhh, never mind!

Jill and Zihark can also talk to both Tormod and Muarim, but have nothing interesting to say besides "Hey, remember when we were in Path of Radiance together? Weren't those good times?"



Edward, flush with pride at his new occupation, takes out a knight with no regard for the 12 damage he incurs while doing so.



Hmm. I wonder if Fiona can-



BAAAHAHAHAHAha… hah… ah, huh. Right. Well, maybe this isn't going to work after all.

Instead, Nolan does the honours, and for the first time ever, manages to actually land a Cancel against someone who would otherwise have counterattacked, saving himself 9 HP. Actual Usefulness!



Zihark finishes the job.



End turn.



Tormod & Co. are quite able to take care of themselves. The remaining knight from the south attacks Sothe and lands a hit. The remaining knight on the stairs attacks Jill to no avail and is almost killed in the attempt.



An archer attacks Edward, leaving him at 9 HP. Out of 32. Expressed another way, about 27%.



Another soldier is fool enough to attack Muarim.

In the Other Phase, the only remaining enemies in the south are summarily disposed of.



On our turn, Sothe and Tormod finally get to chat.

You! What in blazes did you do?! You scurvy traitor!

Um.

What are you talking about?

You grew! Too tall!

…

And to think, I expected you to make sense. I have more important things to tend to.

Hey, it's important to me!

What I'd really like to hear about is that issue I asked you to look into... How did it go?

So evidently this isn't a complete coincidence.

I have news to report. But! There's no time to chat in the thick of a fight. I'll tell you later!

Hey! Drat!

Tormod, Muarim and Vika now work for us. We'll take a look at their stats after the mission.



With the south pretty much wrapped up, Micaiah moves back to join the others. Muarim and Vika revert back to human form. Jill takes care of the knight near her. Edward goes after the archer that made the foolish error of leaving him on less than 30% health.







Foolish error.

That said, there are enemies in attack range who could kill Edward, so we have Laura heal him back to (almost) full health.

Nolan and Zihark continue to wait for Edward and Jill to get in position, because those four guys near the door will require a coordinated assault to deal with.

Astoundingly, the enemy makes no move during the Enemy Phase, so its our turn again.



Since this guy wouldn't come to Edward, Edward goes to him. He drops a Door Key. Laura finishes healing him and…



Gains everything she needs to be a good healer, and more!

Jill heals herself, Micaiah continues running to catch up, and Nolan and Zihark edge forward because of the outside chance it could persuade the enemies near the door to advance.



End turn.



This mage attacks Edward, but does so from the only point from which the second mage could have attacked also, causing the second mage to conclude there is no one in his attack range and thus stay put. Even coincidence is slowing me down.

So on our turn, Edward kills him in one strike.



This guy will be annoying if left alive, so Tormod takes him out.

Zihark and Nolan get so bored of waiting they decide to abandon the coordination strategy and charge the four guys at the door themselves.



Zihark tests out his new toy on the frontmost guy, so as to take him out without suffering a counterattack. Nolan doesn't attack, but does move near enough to Zihark to claim that +15% avoid thing they do. All three guys from the door are axe users and will probably rush Nolan for that reason, and if all three of them hit he will die. So we don't want that.

Also, as soon as Zihark ends his turn, the door behind the four guys opens. That'll be significant later.



End.

As expected, all three guys rush Nolan, and he dodges one of them. Phew. The remaining mage to the north attacks Edward to no meaningful effect.



The myrmidon in the north also attacks Zihark, who destroys him in a flashy display of redundancy. Note his weapon - Iron Blades are the same price as Steel Swords, very slightly more damaging, a little heavier and a lot less accurate.

On our turn, Zihark kills the first survivor. The knight who attacked Nolan did so by wandering into Micaiah's range, so he get's Thani'd. The remaining guy is dispatched by Nolan.



Having a capped stat doesn't stop Micaiah from getting way more stat-ups than she has any reasonable claim to.



Jill ain't afraid of no wind mage. Tormod climbs up to the ledge to join the rest of the group, and we end turn.



This guy has a Longbow. Despite his low accuracy, he almost kills Jill. Almost. The knight standing outside the northern cell doesn't move.



Jill shows this guy what happens to people who nearly kill her. She then retreats to be healed.



The knight is left to Edward.

While everyone is busy with combat and movement, Sothe remembers why we came here in the first place. We open the first cell door, and…

Y-you really came to save us? Thank you. Oh, thank you. You have no idea how scared I've been. I'm so glad I didn't give up. We knew the Maiden of Miracles would free us.

…this guy appears. It would seem that Begnion is so focused on capturing Daein's soldiers that they aren't even confiscating armour before throwing them in jail. Once freed, Ex-Daeins will navigate themselves towards the door that Nolan and Zihark opened a short while ago, and we get a cool 400 Bonus EXP for each one that escapes (there are 5 total). We could, of course, free them and then finish the mission before they physically run to the door, but of course that doesn't count as them "escaping" now, does it? That would be real-world logic, and unacceptable.



These're their stats. We don't really want these guys to be getting hit.

In any case, the rest of our guys continue their advance, Micaiah heals Nolan, and there's some inane chatter;



Oy.

Well, that's all for this turn.



Instead of doing something sensible like charging the swordmaster who's about to kill him, the knight opts to heal himself.



For absolutely no reason, I move all of the laguz back to the starting area.

Edward softens up the knight a bit and…



Jill finishes him with a Hand Axe. Sothe frees another soldier, and the enemy wastes their turn doing nothing.

We dick around for a while, Micaiah and Laura heal, support points are ground for, and Sothe finds a coin on the floor. Edward is in the middle of calling for Sothe to unlock another door when he remembers he still has the door key the last guard dropped. Just when I'm expecting the enemy to waste another turn…



Seven soldiers show up to the south. Good thing all of our horrifically overpowered laguz just happened to be hanging around down there!

(Fiona's there too, to balance out all the power with some fail)

Both Muarim and Vika have full transform gauges. When you want to use (real) laguz to fight, you just move them next to an enemy…



Choose "shift"…



…and let 'em have it.



Outside of battle (and cutscenes, I guess), you sorta lose track of how big laguz are when shifted. These ain't your garden variety birds.



As a new feature in Radiant Dawn, you can now see your laguz' transform gauges tick down after every battle. It's useful for keeping count. When it runs out, they automatically shift back, whether or not it's your turn.

So the three laguz get three easy kills each.



Fiona just runs the hell away because seriously, Fiona.



Over on the main front, we charge the boss area (sort of). We want these mages to die in one hit because they can inflict some nasty damage (despite his progress in other areas, Edward's resistance is still terrible, whereas Zihark's start's quite high).



We leave Edward alone with the two enemies and Nolan guards the weaklings.

The surviving soldier from the first wave of reinforcements at least has the good sense to attack Vika from range. (the reason we left him alive rather than the archer is because Bird Tribe laguz are, like pegasus knights, very susceptible to arrows in the face)

Edward takes some fire magic in the face, the freed soldiers continue shambling towards the exit, and our next turn rolls around. Edward opts to go after the soldier guarding the last cell.



This soldier clearly didn't get the memo detailing what happens to people who land hits on Edward.







…yyyep. He drops another Door Key.

Nolan thinks to go after the mage, but his axe is juuust not doing enough damage, so…



…he uses the Hammer instead.



Of course, he swings the Hammer just like any other axe. You'd think it would go overhead or something - because that would really fuck up someone in armour. This, though… eh, videogames.




What Nolan really needs right now is some more speed. He's not behind, according to the Damnable Table Of Averages™, but he really could do with being a bit faster. I miss being able to double things with him.



We continue to barge on through. Meanwhile, down south…



Fiona considers helping out but then remembers she's Fiona. Instead, Volug, Vika and Muarim murder the three healthy soldiers, and Fiona runs away, and we end the turn.

The one remaining reinforcement immediately kills himself on Volug.



…and some reinforcements show up to reinforce the boss. This will be fun. Y'know, "fun" in that uniquely Fire Emblem sense.



For reference, here's the boss. Note the capped defense and the Storm Sword (the second tier version of Wind Edge)



Before we deal with him, though, there're two more prisoners to release.

Now for Boss & Co.



We send in Zihark, and Nolan tags along for support. This is how we look at the end of the turn.



All that extra evasion is paying off nicely. Zihark's own natural evade is so high that he gets the same odds against another guard with a triangle advantage. Three weapons in all go sailing past the two of them.

On our turn, Edward heals himself and the first enemy archer goes down to Jill, who gets…



…a decent level, really. We won't be able to really game her stats until she comes close to second tier Lv 20 (if she's still in our team at that point) but this is a decent start.



Sothe joins in the fun. Nolan gets his third (out of four) completely redundant Cancel activation, and Zihark manages a (non redundant) Adept-powered triple hit. Micaiah cleans up Nolan's leftover guard, and…



…y'know, I don't think Micaiah has gotten a single non-decent level (less than three stat-ups) since this LP began. She's now capped in two stats, so we could, if we wanted, use Bonus EXP to work on her speed and maybe her defense… if we wanted.



Not looking so great for the enemy team as they begin their turn. The one remaining mook decides to waste his turn by attacking Sothe.



Y'know, it's kinda a shame we don't get to use Sothe much, because his animations are pretty cool. His fighting style is 90% backflips.



So does the boss. He misses too.



Our turn again, and here's the hammer in action against its intended target. Because most knights use lances, the Hammer (as an axe) is quite effective against them.

Sothe finds a Master Seal just lying around.

Well, it's a seize map and only the boss remains alive. That means it's time to throw away about 20 turns building up support points again!

It also allows the remaining Daein soldiers to flee.

It also allows Nolan and Zihark to talk some more.



It also also gains our healers some levels.



Requirements: Satisfied



Okay so maybe I spoke too soon about Micaiah's level ups earlier but come on, she's capped in magic and resistance and has more speed than statistics says she should have at this point. Ironically, the only thing she's behind in is luck.



So anyway, when I finally get bored of selecting "End" over and over again we finally get to killing Djur. He's the first knight in the game to be able to survive a Thani - stupid arbitrary magic cap. Micaiah has some things to say to him;

We are the Daein Liberation Army! We demand you free the hostages... or face the consequences!

Of all the ridiculous... All of you pigs from Daein will be our slaves 'til you die! It's your destiny. What need have swine for freedom? Swine are happier being kept...and consumed.

"What're you gonna do, reduce me to 1 HP?"

"You don't consider that to be a bad situation? What is this, Final Fantasy VIII?"

If that's how you really feel, then...

So we reduce him to 1 HP.



Then we hit him a second time. This is the kind of situation where it'd be really funny (and really awesome) to have, say, just speaking in generalizations here, a really weak new recruit who badly needs training come in and deal the finishing blow to the boss. Unfortunately, Fiona sucks too much to deal any damage to the regular mooks, let alone the boss. Why couldn't she joined at a higher level, with better bases? Why?

Well, enough about Fiona. Time to talk about people whose stats don't suck.



Like Nolan! We asked, and he did receive.

They were...worthless, trivial... Only...scum of Daein... How? How... could that filth have...



As a great man once said, "we're done here."


They are my personal acquaintances from Begnion. And yeah, they can handle themselves in a fight. But if any more laguz join us, there will be problems. We've managed to hide Volug and his true nature, but...with more laguz, it will surely get out.

Any such backlash can be extinguished with proper punishment. But laguz... They're powerful! (And expendable...) Just what we need. By all means, invite them to join!

They're good friends. I'm sure they'll agree to help if I ask (you mumbling creep). But... Isn't it the prince--and not you--who should make those decisions?

Question me not, young Sothe. My words are the prince's words. You need to understand that. Isn't that right, my prince?

Ah, ah, yes, that's right. You should do as Izuka wishes.

I...see.

I'm glad you see. Now, quickly, quickly...go talk to your friends. And see to it you don't foul up.



It went great! In fact, we finished up so quickly that we flew here to back you up in case you needed help.

Um...

Oh, sorry I haven't introduced myself yet. You're Micaiah, I take it? I'm Tormod! Three years back, Sothe and I were in the Crimean Army...sorta. We fought side by side as mercenaries under Ike.

Of course...General Ike...again.

I beg your pardon?

Nothing. Don't mind me. So, anyway, what is this investigation Sothe requested of you?

I began to doubt that the apostle--Begnion's empress--actually knew what was happening in Daein. At only thirteen, the apostle may be young, but she's proud and upstanding. She'd never let these kinds of things happen to Daein. So, I asked Tormod to fill her in on what was really happening here.

This is what we learned... The apostle had noticed something shady about Daein. She was investigating on her own. She traced the ones pulling the strings to a certain faction of senators. Now, she's snapping mad, but without proof, she can't publicly move against them.

The apostle is the highest power in Daein... Even so, she and the senate are rarely on good terms with each other.

Sothe, she promised she'd help us however she can. She said to do whatever is necessary... And that inspired me to find you sooner than later.

I see. So... I can depend on having you three around, for at least a little while?

Yeah! Your old pal here is gonna take care of everything. Just try getting rid of me!

I can only try!

What do you mean by that?! Ah, you're as blockheaded as ever.

---

That Sothe... He looks happy, for some reason.



That must be it... Oh, Sothe, ever since he was small, he's tried to act more grown up than the grown-ups... I've taken care of him so long, and still I've never seen him smile so easily before.

Hm... Watch what you say. Comments like that... They reveal that your appearance belies your true age.

What are you--

Among the laguz, there are those who detest and revile half-breeds such as yourself. They call you "parentless," and deny you any laguz heritage, honor, or dignity. Take due care.

Oh... Oh no...

Well, the secret's out. Not to the people in the game, just to us. In case it wasn't incredibly obvious from the conversation between Pelleas and Micaiah. Come to think of it, Pelleas… _{but that would mean…}

Ahem. Where were we?



Another small cache of BEXP gained. This will also be put to good use.

Before we go, let's take a look at our three newest recruits.





Tormod is, looking at it one way, the complete polar opposite of Fiona. Fiona has good growths and expansion room, but for all the time she has to train, her bases are terrible and make her next to impossible to actually train. Tormod, on the other hand, has decent growths and expansion room, like Fiona, and has has amazing bases, even if he is overpowered right now (and to be honest, his actual level - 5 and promoted, effectively 25 - isn't that much higher than our own best units, who are all hovering around 20) - but gets no time to train. It's really a kinda-cruel trick on the player; there is next to no advance indication of the perspective shifts - for all a new player knows, the whole game is about Daein and the Dawn Brigade - and there is no way for the player to know that Tormod is going to leave our team before the enemy levels catch up to his own, and he won't return until literally right before the endgame. To become decent, Tormod needs natural levels to make use of his ample growths. However, you only get the endgame and one late-game chapter in which to do this, and you'll have to baby him most of the way - or waste his growths on bonus EXP levels. It's not impossible to have Tormod become a really, really good endgame mage (though it won't happen in this LP because circumstances beyond my control will force certain… other mages… in my team) but it's very difficult and unlikely to happen unless you specifically plan for it.

(discussion of Bonus EXP will follow this update)

…hey, does he have a +2 bonus to Move? What's that about?



That's why - Tormod has innate Celerity. Tormod isn't fast because Muraim taught him to run, he's fast because he has a skill that gives him +2 to move. It's very useful on the right character - though for the most part there are more important skills - so we'll be taking this off of Tormod and leaving it in our pile of spare skills.





This is Muarim. He's a Tiger, and hits like a train as is appropriate for a Tiger. Muarim can be an absolute… well, beast, though he'll be leaving along with Tormod, with all the prospect-ruin that brings. He's absurdly overpowered at present but otherwise unnotable. Tormod and Muarim have a Bond support, so that's something. Muarim has no skills besides Shove.





Vika is our first Laguz flier. She's a Raven, the flying answer to Cats - less strength than the other Bird Tribe but a bit faster. There're a few things we could say about Vika and her stats generally but since she will be joining Tormod and Muarim in sitting out three quarters of the game there's really no point.



We will note, however, that Bird Tribe laguz are the only units in the game who get both Shove and Canto, though of course this is subtracted from their skill point total appropriately. Vika also has innate Shriek, which gives her a [luck stat]% to reduce an enemy unit's luck to zero in response to an indirect attack - pretty useless, then.

Muarim and Vika are also our first proper laguz soldiers, since they don't halfshift like Volug does. If they weren't overpowered to the point where they're very sturdy even when untransformed, they'd be good units for teaching players how to strategically use laguz.

Coming up next time: An even more overpowered unit!