Part 47: (Part Three, Endgame) The Dawn that broke the Daein

The blue light that burns within the medallion grows more fierce with each passing day. To prevent the awakening of the evil trapped within, the fighting must be stopped.



Though they hoped that Daein would cease fighting, they knew battle was inevitable. The bloodshed begins anew.





How terrible... I'm sorry for what you've been put through, Micaiah.

The uprising in the empire continues. The apostle's people await her return as they fight against the senate. Casualties mount each day... We know how urgently the apostle's army needs to reach the empire. However, if we let their army pass through Daein, the senate will surely invoke the blood pact and destroy us.

But why haven't you told the apostle's army all this? Surely an alliance between your army and theirs could overcome the senate!

Attacking the senate is not an option for us. If it were, we would have marched against them when this all started. If we were to side with Ike, the senate would use the curse against us. The death of the senate will not stop the curse.



What tragedy... Is there any hope for Daein at all?

There is... One person who holds a glimmer of hope for all of us.

One person from whom we're finally going to get some answers.

---



You know something, don't you? I saw the look on your face... You noticed something even before Pelleas told us about the pact. If there's something you know that we don't, please tell us!

I... I know nothing...



Obviously, the scene we're watching now is conditional on Pelleas still being alive, because, well, duh.

...

Mother, if you can't help us, then there's no hope for Daein. I guess we were right... We have no choice but to wager my life.



I'm going to tell you something... But you mustn't tell the others. In the Begnion era, year 626, a terrible plague swept through Daein, killing over a thousand people.

(Friendly reminder: this game begins in summer of the year 648. There's no clear indication of exactly how much time has passed since then, however.)

Yes, including nearly the entire royal family. Those who had ruled and those destined to do so--none were spared except Ashnard, who ascended the throne in the wake of it all. I've heard that tragic story for as long as I can remember.

(This puts Ashard's reign as starting 18-19 years before the start of Path of Radiance - the uncertainty arises from not knowing exactly how much time passed during PoR.)

That was no disease. It was the curse of a blood pact.

What?!

It was all plotted by my husband in a bid to claim the throne of Daein. Ashnard tricked his father into signing a blood pact with a traveling wise man. Ashnard convinced the king that he was signing a contract to procure the services of the wise man, which was true, in a fashion. With the pact signed, Ashnard had the wise man invoke the curse. My husband looked on in triumph as the royal family began to wither. The power of the curse killed every royal in line for the throne. It was brilliant. With no one to block his way to the throne, Ashnard executed his master stroke. He killed his father and took the crown from his head. What's important is that, after killing his father, Ashnard was not cursed himself.

He broke the pact's curse?



The destruction of the document itself, and the death of the one bound to it. Either condition by itself is not enough. I watched it happen. Ashnard killed his father, then tore apart the pact. And before my eyes, the mark of the pact faded from the dead king's arm.



How could you, Almedha? How could you not tell us? You knew all along--

Because I was terrified! I knew that once you found out the truth, you would butcher my dear son to save your doomed country!



Priorities!

Mother... Thank you. Thank you for telling us. It makes my decision much easier. I will save Daein...

No! I won't let you die! You are all I have left in this world, Pelleas! If you only knew how much I've sacrificed for you... I never should have said anything. I can't bear to lose you again, Pelleas... Please don't die.

I'm sorry, Mother. My mind is made up. This has to happen.



...the hell, lady?

Mother?!





The reveal! This shot of the two of them standing right next to each other was scientifically engineered to make anyone who didn't immediately guess the connection from the moment Kurth and Almedha had that little chat in the desert way back in Part 1 feel really stupid. As well they should, because come on.

Of course, this fact has implications... but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Back to pretending to be surprised:

Sister?

Oh, Kurth... Don't you understand? I can't feel this way any longer!

I do understand, Almedha... more than you realize.



The destruction of the physical document and the death of the pact-maker. However, it takes two parties to make a pact.

Oh... I see.

Yes! Ashnard once told me he'd considered killing the man who created his father's blood pact instead! I didn't know why until now... This means that we could kill the senator who signed the pact instead of Pelleas!

It's possible, but very difficult. We'll need not only to hunt down the senator, but find the document, with no idea where to start. Daein could be annihilated in the time it would take to look.

Oh, Kurth! Please, please save my Pelleas! I need your help! Help me protect Daein until we get our chance to break the blood pact! I no longer have any power of my own. You're my only hope now, little brother. Please, Kurth...

Of course, my dear sister. That is why I came when you called me. I shall protect Daein for you and for Pelleas.



Oh, Kurth, thank you! I'm so sorry for everything I put you and Father through... I'm so sorry...

For all its not-terribly-subtle-ness, this whole thing with Kurth and Almedha is a great little revelation combo, because you have this whole pattern of character relations set up and the revelation that Kurth is the prince of Goldoa sets off a little domino chain of further revelations. Since we now know that Almedha is his sister, this means that obviously, she is a laguz. This would mean that Pelleas, as the son of Almedha and Ashnard, is in fact a Branded. It also offers an explanation as to why Rajaion came to Daein in the first place - we now know that Almedha was his sister too.

---





Don't tell me... No luck, right?

It is far worse than that. Prince Kurthnaga has decided to fight for Daein.

What?! Why? He was supposed to stop them from fighting! And now he wants to fight us instead?! Oh, this is just perfect!

He has a good reason to side with them, but... I'm afraid I cannot tell you why.

Wonderful! So we still have to fight Daein, and they've added one of the supposedly neutral dragons of Goldoa to their army?

I'm sorry, Ike. I will try to reason with Prince Kurth again. It was the prince's wish to come here... King Dheginsea knows nothing of this visit.



It turns out, Kurth is also somewhat of an idiot, and has forgotten the very important reason why Goldoa remains neutral.



Yes. We dragons have the power to sense the presence of our allies. If that ally is someone we care for very much, then we can communicate telepathically. With the sending stone, we can use this telepathy across extreme distances.





I would've preferred to avoid a fight, but once again Micaiah isn't giving us much of a choice.

I will do my best, Sir Ike.

So we're fighting the Dawn Brigade, at dawn, in a region called Nox. Careful not to trip over all the symbolism.



So here we are again.



Pictured: A "secret" conversation. To see this conversation, you have to have an A-support between Boyd and Mist.



The conversation very quickly takes a turn for the profitable.

Yeah. You said you wanted one, right?

And you found one for me? Thanks, Boyd. You're the greatest.

Yeah, well. You always take such good care of us.

...

What's wrong, Mist? Are you feeling sick? You look a little pale.

Yeah. I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately.

Hey, you can't go out and fight if you're feeling sick! You should rest!

No! No way!

Mist?

I'm staying with everyone! I have to! I'm not going to be left behind. Something might happen!

But you're in no condition to...

Dad never came back! He died somewhere, and I wasn't there to say goodbye!

Aww, but that's--

That's why I'm not staying behind! I want to stay with my family until our last moment together. Please, Boyd. Don't stop me.

All right, I won't say anything. I won't tell you to stay behind, either. I guess I'll just have to be careful to protect you when we're out in the field. Does that sound good?

Yes, Boyd. Thank you.

[Received a Spirit Dust!]

There's also a less secret but equally profitable conversation...



Then you secure it right there, and... There, it's finished!

Yeah! Shinon, you're the greatest! I'm so proud that you're my teacher!

Oh, come on, Rolf. Don't make puppy eyes at me.

What? But it's true! You're really amazing!

Cut it out, kid. You exaggerate too much.

Are you going to sell this one to Aimee again? Can I come along? Please?

I'm not selling this one.

What? But... Oh, I got it. You're going to use it yourself. Then can I fight alongside you? I want you to teach me that trick where you shoot them in the neck and then--



Smart. This way we save about 3000 gold.

But this is--

You've been running around camp with that silly grin plastered on your face, but I can tell all the fighting's wearing you down. I can't help you get a good night's sleep, or make you eat your vegetables, but I can see that you're using a decent bow.

Shinon...

I don't know why we're fighting this stinkin' war, but I ain't about to die like a dog. And I know you're too young to be pushing up daisies.

But I...

What's your problem, kid?

I can't possibly pay you back for it! A great bow like this... what can I do? You taught me how to shoot a bow. How to make a bow. And that's not all! You've given me so much, and yet there's nothing I can do to pay you back for it.

Of all the stupid...

Ouch!

Quit whining at me!

Oww! You didn't have to hit me with that bow!

Did I ever ask you to pay me back? Did I ever tell you my help had any strings attached? No! Kids should be kids and just learn from their elders!

But--



Waaaaay ahead of you.

Doesn't matter if it's at using a bow or making one. Just do it better. Then I can point at you and tell people "That's the best student I ever had."

Shinon...

I look after you because you have talent. I like watching you, kid. I like watching you shoot better every single day, you know? But if someone sticks an arrow in your eye, I ain't gonna have any way to pass the time. So stay sharp! You hear?

...Fine. Thanks, master. I'll do my best to surpass you. I swear!



[Received a Silencer!]

Sweet! If you were silly and didn't have enough money to afford the first one, the game throws you a freebie here.



Somehow, for some utterly unknowable reason, Aimee stocks a second Rolf's Bow. Why you would want another one of these is beyond me. There's also the usual glut of Olivi Grass.



Marcia's last BEXP level for a while. It's handy!



Before Astrid hits the BEXP, we use an Ashera icon on her to max out her luck. This will increase the chances of her getting speed from her BEXP levels.





The plan works! Astrid is now, somehow, back on par with the game in terms of speed demands. And she's about to promote!



On a complete whim, I decide to forge Soren a new fire tome with fully tricked out Mt. As a total bonus, we also happen to draw the Axe card for a total of 12 Mt. The most powerful fire tome in the game has a base Mt of 12, so that's pretty good.



I thought it was a clever name, shut up.



The Smite skill is harvested from Mordecai and put on Ike.



And our lingering doubts as to who's carrying the Dawn Brigade are dispelled.

Now, for some reason, the game managed to crash whenever a unit promoted after combat during the next mission. This was extremely annoying, and now I have to spend a load of BEXP just to promote two units who were going to promote anyway. But there you go. In any case, here are some promotions:





Marcia gets a tad more gold trim and some horse armour...



...and some pretty awesome stats. The extra strength and defence on female units is always a welcome sight. And I love that Marcia gets +4 resistance when resistance is supposed to be one of her strengths.



Astrid, for her part...



...gets the traditional layer of extra barding, complete with the crest of House Crimea. It's a nice detail.



So, how about that defence, huh? In any case, Astrid is now quite combat-capable.



So, let's move out.



Daein has quite a few units.



All right. Order all units to stand by until they encounter the enemy forces.





Nailah and Rafiel are also helping Daein.

That army has enough troops. I think you could use some help on your side.

Reyson and Leanne both fight for the people they love. I shall do the same, even if that means fighting against them. I shall fight for Daein on your behalf.

Thank you both. It means a lot to me. But are you sure? After all, this seems like a hopeless battle.



And sure enough, there's Kurthnaga.



Micaiah is veeery slowly starting to put the pieces together.

Not just a laguz. He is a black dragon. The black dragons are the strongest of all the laguz tribes. We have a chance.

If Queen Almedha's brother is a black dragon...that means the queen herself must also be a laguz!

Seems like a complicated mess to me. Just the same, he is a powerful ally.

You're right. If we can stand our ground, there will be hope for another day. Each day that Daein survives is another day we'll have earned for it!

Meanwhile, a little down and to the left:



Also...



It is his choice. We can't do anything about it.





Prince! What are you doing here? What about the medallion?! Weren't you supposed to be--

Leanne is watching over it now.

Either we convince Rafiel to come back to our side, or we drag his unconscious backside over here. Got that?

Yes, Your Majesty!



What will you do now, Ena? Are you going over to the other side, too?

King Dheginsea has expressly forbidden us from choosing sides. The dragon tribe must not fight. I shall attempt to stop the prince.

Do what you need to do. Just be careful out there, all right?

Yes, Sir Ike.



Elincia and Lucia walk up and Ike just tells them to go away before either even gets a line in.

If a chance for a peace talk arises, I want you to mediate the whole show.

I understand. Please be safe.

OK, everyone, get moving! Let's get this mess over with.





We get 15 units total, including Ike, Ranulf and, for some reason, Sigrun. We don't have quite enough space to bring all of our frontrunners, but we can accommodate enough for some serious asskicking. Heather is coming along too, and I have big plans for her. Big plans.



This map is quite, quite large. You can't even see our starting positions, or those of Skrimir and Tibarn.



There you go. Our objective is to rout the enemy, although, as we'll quickly find out, it's not quite as simple as that. In any case, Skrimir and his beast army are going to murder their way north via the western route, and Tibarn and his small contingent of hawks are going to mop up the southeast. Ike and friends, meanwhile, are going to charge right down the middle.



Here goes nothing!