Part 26: (Endgame, Continued)
Turn 1
Wait, what's that?
Marcia!
Thanks to General Geoffrey, we spotted an ambush on the main road and snuck by on the old highway instead! The Royal Knights will be here soon. I flew ahead to tell you...and to serve you some traitor pie on my lance! ...Thank you. I'm impressed you made it back so quickly. My pleasure, Your Majesty! Now, which monkeys do you want filleted before the Royal Knights get here?Awesome. Can we get to murdering now?
Marcia gets the party started. The attack range pictured is for the only crossbowman in range right now; obviously we don't want Marcia anywhere near him.
Spot the rookie error...
Yep. The range displayed was assuming Marcia remains in her current position... so when she moved, the crossbowman's options expanded, right into the square she ran to. So let's send Haar to plug the gap (and finish murdering the rebel).
Proud Tradition = Upheld.
Oh, Haar.
The square Haar moves to after attacking just so happens to contain some Olivi Grass.
Calill assumes her defensive position. The slightly annoying thing about carrying long range magic is that it makes your attack range readout go crazy. Well, since we're here...
You think your range is so great, Mister Longbowman?
Nephenee takes up the space at the top of the stairs, waiting for foes to come to her.
Leanne sings to Calill and Elincia...
Our queen, ladies and gents. Now that she has her sword back, Elincia is the most powerful unit in this team. Just keep her away from crossbowmen. Meanwhile, Calill switches back to her Elfire tome in preparation for the inevitable assault.
Mordecai's job during all this will be a sort of backup tank. If anyone has to abandon their position due to health reasons, Mordecai will dash in, transform, and hold their place until they get back. He has a Laguz Gem and some Olivi Grass for added staying power, and when transformed he can still out-tank pretty much any enemy on this map.
Our siege positions assumed, we end the first turn.
These two generals will make short work of this door. before long that stairway is going to be packed with armour.
Our archers aren't even fast enough to double the opponents below them. Funny story - even if you set the AI to move to a given spot, these archers just will not abandon their positions.
That said...
Incompetent archers aside, the assault at this point is pretty laughable.
The wall has fallen, and only Calill stands between a horde of enemies and Leanne. She will suffice.
Otherwise, there is much moving forward...
And a whole bunch of reinforcements appear. Reinforcements will appear at the end of every turn until the 12th; soldiers and generals through the south door, and mages, soldiers and crossbowmen through the southwest. Sometimes you'll get both sets, sometimes only one. Who knows?
Turn 2
Marcia hates archers.
This spot is out of arrow range but will allow Marcia her pick of available hit and run targets.
Thunder mages can't be a threat to Haar if they're dead.
Speed is a problem for Calill when her training is starting out. She'll be fine after a few levels - if you can get them - but for now, she's of more use holding the ledge and flinging spells over walls then as a battle unit.
Since they won't go to her, Nephenee goes to the rebels. She's now standing right in the chokepoint. Her situation will get very interesting once all those generals in the south show up on her doorstep. But the rabble already up here aren't much of a problem for her, and now that we have a good healer in Elincia she can keep her health topped up without ceasing the offensive.
And with Physic, Elincia doesn't have to brave the front lines to heal her!
Leanne plus Elincia is a scary combo. Elincia can go into healing overdrive, turning Haar and Nephenee into endless fountains of hit points, or she can turn enemies into fountains of blood. Your choice.
End of turn 2. The rush is about to begin.
Of course, for Haar, the "rush" consists of people maybe being able to actually do a few points of damage (but not really). This suits Haar just fine.
Heather takes some damage (but kills the guy in return).
Generally, everyone crowds towards us and more reinforcements show up.
Turn 3
Nephenee cleans up the leftovers from the last wave and prepares for the next.
Haar doesn't even bother preparing and just starts charging down the attackers on the stairs. Oh, Haar.
A combined effort from Heather, Marcia, Calill and Elincia mops up the rest. We now have the first landing more or less to ourselves. So ends turn three.
Leaving Elincia there was a really bad idea. True, with the ledge advantage, she's in significantly less danger, but you do not want to leave your leader in a position where there's a ~30% chance of instantly dying.
On the right hand side, enemies crowd into the stairs.
On the left, enemies charge blindly into Haar.
For all the good it does them. One...
Two...
Skip a few (people who waste time with zero-damage Javelins)
Two and a half. The crossbow guys aren't as slow as the rest, so no double for Haar.
And a trio of generals. Get used to that. It's kinda a theme in this chapter.
Turn 4
If left unattended, this guy will be irritating and heal people. We don't want that.
All crossbowmen must die.
Keep an eye on this guy. He's a thunder mage, and he's set to stay put until someone wanders into his range. Thing is, the only reason his range doesn't include the square immediately to Haar's left is because there's a general standing in the spot he needs to be in to target that square. It's possible that the general might not move, but that's not a chance you want to be taking when you're a character with a vulnerability to thunder magic. So Haar stays right where he is. It's not like the rebels are going anywhere.
The really nice thing about Amiti is that it's actually strong enough to kill crossbowmen before they get a OHKO off on Elincia. Which is handy. Y'know, for keeping her not dead. Good thing the sword is so accurate, too, because when you're dealing with crossbowmen from pegasus-back, nothing short of 100% accuracy is acceptable. Elincia uses a second Leanne-provided turn to heal Haar back up to full.
Calill also goes back to her favourite ledge, although there's no one in Elfire range so she pesters the attackers with Meteor again.
Wow, it's been a while since we last saw some inane chatter, hasn't it? Brom finishes off the Meteor-softened enemy here...
Talks a bit more...
...and then Nephenee steps into the chokepoint. The landing is now ours - sort of. There's still the matter of the longbowmen on the ground to deal with, but that's a problem we can solve next turn.
End of turn 4.
The enemy continues to waste Haar's time. One charges to his death, a second to his half-health.
Ineffectual Javelin Man is still there. Still ineffectual.
Nephenee's survivability under extreme pressure isn't as certain as Haar's. She can hold out for a while, but eventually her evasion will fail her and her defense won't be able to keep up. For this reason, we've got Mordecai on standby, ready to step in should Nephenee need a break. But for now, she's good.
Turn 5
Wonder how long Nephenee can hold by herself?
That takes care of one of the longbowmen.
Stop Press: Haar Still Godlike
Also, Invincible
(Haar could get two-stat levels for the entire rest of the game and still be amazing)
And then there's this.
This rebel has forgotten that Steel Poleaxes slow him down, so Calill kills him until he learns.
Ironically, he was carrying an Energy Drop, which Calill grabs for the stockpile.
End of Turn 5.
On the right...
Nephenee is having a hard time, but at least cripples the knight in front of her.
On the left...
Haar is still having his time wasted.
And Ineffectual Javelin Man is still here.
Turn 6
Nephenee continues doing her thing. She is assisted by Calill, who is now pestering the people on the stairs with magic.
Also, Haar.
Elincia keeps the HP flowing.
Despite her disproportionate level, Elincia can level up mega-fast by using staves. She actually gets more EXP from using Physic than most enemies in Part 4 will give her.
Marcia invalidates the remaining Longbowman. We're now free to all crowd onto the landing.
End of turn 6.
Haar is still there.
So is he.
Nephenee takes a beating this turn. Beyond this guy, who she murders in retaliation, she also takes a Hand Axe to the face and is hit with Elthunder.
Turn 7
More Haar.
Marcia does her anti-mage thing.
Bleh. You're not living up to your reputation, Marcia.
Look what my relative carelessness has wrought. Haar had to run away from a thunder mage, but Marcia is now right in range of a crossbowman. This requires an immediate (and strategically goofy) remedy!
Nephenee is healed...
And rushes over to assist!
Brom comes too.
Goddess only knows why, but the guy at the front of the enemy formation is a priest. So we feed him to Heather.
We send in Mordecai to tank the right. He's not as fast as Nephenee, but he'll sure as hell hurt anyone who comes near him, and he's backed up by ranged support, so that's something.
Calill plus Leanne means lots and lots of ranged support.
It also equals okay levels for Calill. Though she's gonna need to step her game up if she wants a hope in hell of playing with the A-Team.
End of turn 7. Mordecai's arrival at the chokepoint signals the beginning of the counter push, and, while technically a mistake, all this mess on the left side will mean that, when all is said and done, we can kill way more people over there next turn.
The assault from the left begins! Up to bat first; this asshole, who deals 19 damage to Marcia.
Then this guy turns up and poisons Haar. Spoiler: Haar will take more damage from poison over the next few turns than he will from fighting. Needless to say, the poisoner does not survive the battle.
This guy completely fails at damaging Nephenee, while Nephenee succeeds at murdering him and profiting from his death in the form of stats.
Very agreeable stats! That's speed capped now - we can now begin the BEXP abuse... at level 8 (or more likely 9, when skill will most likely cap too). Having six capped stats (all but HP and luck) is not at all out of the question. Nephenee, ladies and gentlemen.
Even Ineffectual Javelin Man is able to actually do something!
Sike. The only damage to Nephenee this turn comes from a Crossbowman.
Meanwhile, on the right...
This fool gets into a magic competition with Calill.
This fool gets into a not-taking-damage competition with Mordecai. Two fools with Wind Edges also get into a missing-Mordecai competition, but it's a draw.
Suddenly, just when
Your Majesty! We'll countercharge their flank! The Royal Knights will succeed again!
Find Ludveck, duke of Felirae! Seize him immediately! He must not escape!
What a bother! They arrived far faster than I had expected. But I will prevail. I won't lose to that worthless queen.Alright! Yeah! Countercharge their flank! Run them down! What does this make us, Kieran?
Big Damn Heroes™, Geoffrey! 
Except that this is Fire Emblem and directional formation doesn't really have much of an effect, especially on an army that's like fifty percent knights and generals. Also, unlike the last "army" the Royal Knights had to fight, these guys can actually almost stand up in a fair fight against Geoffrey, can give Kieran a run for his money, and god help you if one of them gets near Astrid.No, for all the goddamn fuss, the Royal Knights aren't going to have much of an effect on this fight. They'll clear out that little alleyway they're in, and then they'll just hang back while the real contributors (and their queen) continue their mass slaughter. This was supposed to be a huge moment of relief for Elincia but as we said earlier... it just kinda falls flat.
Turn 8
Due to the confusion on the left, Haar is finally able to do the one thing he's been meaning to do for the last four turns;
Kill Ineffectual Javelin Man.
Haar flies over to the right, because there are tougher guys over there. Nephenee can take the left.
Funfact™: This picture is post reload-Battle-Save. The first time round, Marcia took this guy on with a regular Steel Lance, and his counterattack critted and killed her. The chances of that happening a second time are pretty low (well, technically they're the same after the first one already happened but broadly speaking the chances of it happening twice in two reloads is 36/10,000) but I was paranoid so I used a Brave Lance to be sure.
Vindication! Fucking six percent crit chances. I fucking knew it.
With Nephenee safely holding the chokepoint, Brom sets to clearing out the middle again.
Meanwhile, on the right, while Calill and Mordecai continue softening enemies up...
Elincia continues swooping in to destroy them outright.
More turns for Haar and Elincia. Haar uses his to finish off the last guy occupying the landing. Elincia uses hers to heal Marcia.
Since the Royal Knights were nice enough to show up we might as well have them do something useful.
Kieran gets straight to softening a guy up...
And Astrid continues picking off leftovers. Geoffrey attacks a guy too, but doesn't kill him - and in fact, takes 10 damage in return. Like I said, the Royal Knights aren't actually that great.
Danved and Makalov are here too. Makalov rushes forward to act as a meatshield. Danved just hangs back.
End of turn 8.
A heroic Crimean generic appears to have charged forward to protect Makalov. Sure.
This guy right here can put some serious hurt on if you're not lucky. Fortunately, Geoffrey is lucky.
See? Geoffrey's not good for much other than meatshielding, so, really, this is basically a perfect level up for him.
Back on the right (not to be confused with the bit where the Royal Knights are)...
People are still wasting Mordecai's time... and his transformation points.
He fights gallantly, even getting a kill, but all good things must come to an end.
Fortunately, Mordecai still has hells of defense even in human form.
Then this asshole comes along and doubles him with a bow.
Hey, wait...
Did Mordecai just get indirectly attacked twice while in human form?
Why yes, yes he did! And to think, I was going to use a rare(ish) item to transform him on his next turn! Now I don't even have to do that.
And on the left...
Some asshole poisons Nephenee.
Er... that is all.
Turn 9
Poison Nephenee, get murdered.
Haar begins the job of clearing out the lower area around Ludveck. It's filled with generals (with scattered halberdiers and a crossbowman). Haar has a Hammer.
Elincia invalidates all the effort of the seven or so guys it took to untransform Mordecai and deal some damage to him.
With a Leanne-sourced second turn, Haar continues his work. This guy is too fast for him to double, so he takes a chance on the Killer Axe instead.
It works. Dragonmaster crits are wonderful. Haar slams down on the critee from above with so much force that they are literally bounced off the ground.
Marcia still has misgivings re: crit chances of >0%, but she can survive a crit from this guy, so we don't mind.
It proves to be a nonissue.
This guy, on the other hand, requires a stronger hand to deal with.
Over on the right...
Calill gets to kill people.
Mordecai gets to transform right away, and gets a free kill into the bargain...
Even Nealuchi gets in on the action! He can't kill this guy, but he does some damage and runs away. Bird Tribes are good at that.
Brining Lethe in here is a bit of a risk. She's not nearly as tough as Mordecai, and she loses TP quicker to boot (-4 per fight instead of -3). She won't last more than one turn, but since she's here...
The Royal Knights continue carrying out their task (i.e. retaking the alleyway). Astrid, Kieran and Geoffrey all murder a guy each, Geoffrey picking up a Silver Greatlance for his trouble. Geoffrey and Kieran form a defensive line to stop any runaway enemies from getting near Astrid.
End of turn 9.
The two generic knights bravely charge ahead of the defensive line. Whatever you want, guys.
Lethe gets straight to damage-taking.
Though some of the soldiers continue to waste time on Mordecai anyway.
One of the enemy mages is savvy, and runs past the two generics to have a go at Geoffrey. Another attacks a generic but misses, taking 10 damage. I guess they're being helpful in their noble sacrifice, which is something.
This mage on the left side, however, is a bit of an idiot, and opts to attack Elincia over Nephenee. At least he does it at range.
Mistake 1: Attacking Haar. Mistake 2: Ledge.
Turn 10
Nephenee judges the mage too stupid to live.
Elincia heals up the damage on Nephenee; there are still guys about to maybe attack up the stairs.
Marcia gets in on the lower-area-clearing party. The guys down here are a bit tougher than the rest. We need one of these hits to be a crit in order to win here, and even then Marcia risk taking a nasty hit in the process.
Alright! The first hit crits! Marcia takes the 15 damage... and incredibly, the second hit misses. Fuck.
Haar goes after the fool attacking him up a ledge. Again with the having to gamble on crits. It doesn't work, though.
Marcia and Elincia get additional turns.
Marcia uses hers for murder...
Ok, both of them use their turns for murder.
Over to the right...
I reckon Lethe has enough TP to survive another turn down here.
Calill helps.
Mordecai Mordecais.
Everyone gets to violence!
Astrid, thanks to her spectacular resistance and above-average speed, is an excellent magekiller.
Which is great, but can we please have some defense now? She's also below her average in skill, which is worrying for a bow-using class.
(0.082 = the probability of Astrid not getting a single point of defense in seven levels)
Kieran axes a guy out of the way. The Royal Knights are now pretty much done for this chapter.
Geoffrey and Kieran form a protective cordon.
Makalov finds an extremely sellable item just lying in a corner. This is funny because Makalov is characterized by being a) stupid, b) a gambler, and c) really unlucky.
End of turn 10.
Guess what the Crimean generics do! They charge right at the enemy generals on the stairs! They nearly die!
Potshots are taken at Lethe.
The generics have gotten the attention of the rebels. I question their possession of basic survival instincts.
Kieran also takes some damage, but reacts far more sensibly than the generics did.
He was a terrible soldier.
Worried now. But fortunately, that's all Kieran has to deal with this turn.
Over left, Nephenee is re-poisoned. As usual, her poisoner does not survive.
Then there's this guy. Same deal.
Turn 11
Looks like the Royal Knights get to play a bit more after all, since so many enemies were kind enough to charge right at them.
Astrid takes some Lobgbow potshots.
She is successful!
Kieran and Geoffrey both equip ranged weapons and back up. Ranged weapons seem to be a thing among the attackers down here.
Calill almost murders a guy.
(but Heather picks up the slack)
Lethe pitches in, but the effort makes her turn back to human form. This is problematic, since it means that if any enemies are left on the stairs at the end of this turn they could probably kill her.
Haar is willing to help with this problem.
Mordecai, with a little help from some Olivi Grass, goes to tank the entrance to the stairs.
Marcia pitches in to help, too...
Leanne does her thing with Elincia and Haar. Elincia heals Marcia up...
While Haar gets to use the Hammer again.
Now we're talking.
The action on the left side isn't nearly as interesting. It's basically just Nephenee murdering a guy.
...
...well, at least she's capped three stats. At Lv 9. We're not taking that away from her. In fact, we need to BEXP her right up when next we get a chance, because once you cap a few stats, your levels tend to start looking like this until you promote.
Elincia also benefits from healing Haar. More strength and speed!
End of turn 11.
On the left, this guy and a thunder mage miss Nephenee.
On the right, Kieran and Geoffrey take some damage but nothing worth reporting. They do, however, almost (but not quite) kill everyone who attacked them. This will suit Astrid just fine.
Turn 12
There are some annoying people who Astrid can't double and instead must try to crit. This guy is critted.
In the course of murdering a guy, Mordecai gains a pretty great level. Bear in mind that these gains are all doubled when he transforms.
Calill finishes off a straggler and...
...with this, the stairs are officially ours.
Over leftways, Nephenee is dealing with the remaining enemies.
Marcia gets to beginning the push proper on the south.
With a Leanne-branded second turn, Haar continues it.
Kieran and Geoffrey continue their cleanup, and with that, the right is officially won.
End of turn 12. Net's tightening, Ludveck.
Of all people, this guy attacks Haar.
Nephenee also takes a bit of damage. Well, that was an interesting enemy phase.
Turn 13
Nephenee is running a little low on health, and this guy doesn't help.
So we send in Brom to help. He's not so accurate but he sure can soak up damage.
Even Elincia comes over to help! She kills the only remaining crossbowman on the left hand side, so she's fine to lurk over there now.
Time to start clearing the way to Ludveck. We could just hand Haar the hammer and have him sit there, and every single enemy in this area would promptly suicide on him, but we still have things to take care of down here besides murder.
Astrid is helping, too! See?
Marcia's efforts net her a kinda crappy level, though at least she gets strength. Right now, Marcia is about on par with her averages, although she's sacrificed defense for skill and HP
Leanne ducks into the combat zone and then flys out to safety. This is the nice thing about Leanne as opposed to Rafiel - Canto is very very handy.
Marcia uses her turn to continue cleaning.
As does Haar.
End of turn 13. Next turn's the one.
Over by Elincia's way, some people try to kill her.
Elincia is powerful.
Also Brom takes a bit of a beating.
Over in Ludveck's 'hood, the main event is beginning.
Today, a weak queen falls...and a new king prevails!Big words for someone who, 13 turns ago, was on the giving end of a siege.
Anyway, he actually hurts Haar. Which amply demonstrates how dangerous he is.
Some of his buddies move. This is good.
Finally. The whole point of counter pushing to the left is to kill this guy, but between the solid meatwall of soldiers and the danger inherent to lurking near Ludveck, he's quite hard to reach. Anyway, he's not so invincible anymore, so Elincia kills him.
This is what we came for. Nullify has the same effect as the Full Guard item from Path of Radiance - it will stop weapons from dealing "effective" damage to the user in combat. It's very handy for any class with an inbuilt weakness, and even of some use to generals and paladins.
Since it's evident we're not going to see it, here's what would happen if Elincia and Ludveck came to blows:
Queen Elincia...
Ludveck. Looking quite gallant, aren't we? I thought you would surely be fleeing by now...or pleading for your life. I must commend you on your unexpected bravery. I am the ruler of Crimea. I will not abandon that role. Oh, I see... Self-sacrifice, is it? How very honorable of you. By the way, Your Majesty, Lady Lucia is often in your company. Wherever could she have gone to? Where is she?! Tell me she's safe! Tell me--now! Oh my, you look pale. You two grew up like sisters... You must be worried, then? Ha! Yet another facet of your weakness.Turn 14
Let's complete our victory.
No, don't worry, we haven't been holding back for the sake of a goddamned Coin. It's just an intermediate point along the way and I figured why not.
BTW, Geoffrey has dialog with Ludveck too.
That's enough, Duke Ludveck! You have no chance of victory. The Royal Knights are here, and we have our queen to lead us. Ho ho... It's the valiant Geoffrey. I assume, General, that you have yet to hear about Lady Lucia? Lucia? What's happened? Well... I could tell you, but what would that gain me? Now, if you were to turn on the queen and grovel at my feet, I might consider telling you. How dare you, you rotten...
Marcia begins the process. Sadly, her second attack misses, but so does Ludveck's.
Calill braves an axe to the face for the sake of getting a hit of her own in.
It doesn't transpire.
In comes Leanne...
Over here, and...
This is why we were holding back. This guy is annoyingly likely to suicide if you just send Haar in.
Now we send Haar in.
For shits and giggles, Mordecai mauls this poor priest.
Well, Ludveck's on 1 HP. I think we all know that there's only one way this mission is going to end.
See, this, right here, is why Ludveck is dangerous. This is why you always double-check the numbers with him.
I cannot think of a more appropriate ending for this fight.
This kill alone gets Astrid a level. She's certainly not done badly for herself in Part 2!
(0.058 = probability of Astrid not getting a single point of defense in 8 levels)
Your Majesty, be merciful! Spare our lives. We surrender our weapons.My mind is filled with images of Ludveck's army surrendering personally to Astrid.
Sweet.
Ridiculous! You did no such thing. Geoffrey... Thank you so much. So, what of the rebel army? Without Ludveck at the helm, they're a mess. They're all running about trying to escape. As commanded, we are not pursuing fleeing soldiers, and Lord Ludveck is locked up in the dungeon.
Lucia is being held captive! If we're to save her, we need to talk to him.