Part 23: Ave Maria (Prep)

Chapter 10: Ave Maria (Prep)

Last time around, Marth and pals managed to overthrow an entire island nation and we’ll never acknowledge it again. More importantly, Catria showed up and informed him that Minerva was being coerced due to her sister being held captive.



Time to do something about that. Because no boat is mentioned, I assume everyone just piles on Catria and Caeda’s pegasi.



That’s why they don’t get named. For their own safety.



: Marth doubted that, though; he had seen the woman in Lefcandith Valley, and she did not strike him as a sort of conniving menace his followers feared. As the brunt of Grust’s might drew closer, Marth led the League to Castle Deil, determined to attack the citadel and rescue the young Macedonian princess, Maria.




This map can be kind of a rough one, especially after Chapter 9 is relatively easy. You can pretty quickly end up in a very tight situation. This is also the first time we’ll be seeing promoted enemy units that aren’t stationary bosses or weak, very gimped Horsemen.




This is also a relatively complicated map.



So, best to work this one backwards, we’ll have to make our way to that castle in the top left corner. Right above him we have Minerva, and a lot of other fliers.




So, to get there, we’ve got two paths. Regardless, we’ve got to go around the southern end of the fortress in the center of the map, but then you can either pass through it or go around it.



The fort itself is a bit of a crowded maze, it’s got some chests, close quarters, and the unfortunate appearance of our first enemy Sniper. If this guy gets near Caeda, she’ll be a puddle. That said, I do want his Silver Bow.




There’s also two chests here, which start with a Thief right next to them. You’d think this might mean we shouldn’t bring Julian in the building, but that’s a locked door in the center there! Also the thief can only open one chest.




And there’s Maria. You don’t HAVE to save her, but you’ll miss out on Minerva if you don't do so. So let’s not do that.




The exit is guarded, however, by another promoted foe. I’d call these guys “minibosses”, but that’s way too generous. What’s most interesting here is the Master Seal.



Still, going through the castle means you’ll have to creep through this forested cliff, and probably the fliers. For reasons you’ll see in the battle proper, it’s also not a great idea to be too slow here.



I’m benching Navarre and Roger for now, and letting our new Sniper get some spotlight time. This level has a lot of enemies you might want to hit from a distance. And we might need tools for that. Given that Cord’s an axe is starting to wear down...





Here’s another axe.



While trying to find a good use for the Goddess Icon, I noticed that Draug only had three luck. Two more points bring him up to five. Honestly, I pretty rarely think much about who I spend this on, because Luck is a weird stat I’m not worried about Min/Maxing. The answer to “Who doesn’t want to get Crit?” is “Everyone.”



Also, I’m not reclassing anyone for this chapter...but I did want to show off that if I did reclass Caeda, she’d hit the cap for Speed. Caeda is fast as shit.

Next time we save our second Princess. (Caeda doesn’t count, I think we were her henchmen in that map.)

Bonus Content

I wanted to use Jeorge here, but reading his supports for the first time made me realize that he has a pretty decent amount of backstory (That of course will never, ever be mentioned in this game.) and that they do spoil FE12, which I’m trying not to do...too much, just in case. So I’m going to recommend reading those at SerenesForest right here if you're interested before I get onto the normal stuff.

Now for the normal stuff.

Draug’s Secret Technique

: Sir Draug, I'd like to ask you something. Can you teach me your legendary technique?

: Legendary technique? I only know of normal techniques.

: Sir Draug, you are even more humble than I thought. You’re a legendary hero, yet you don’t seem to boast at all… Sir Draug, I’ve heard the legends about the previous war. Like how you took on hundreds of enemies without so much as flinching…

I mean, he does have 5 whole Luck now!

: Y-yeah. That sounds greatly exaggerated…

: And then, with a swing of your lance, you blew the enemy army away to the skies.

: Wait, what?

: Then, to finish them, you took flight and with a strike of your lance, sent them flying far from Archanea.

I’d make a comment again about how sad it is there’s no fan art of this, but last time I said that I was extremely (though thankfully) wrong. Maybe this is the source of that balloon Draug art from earlier?

: No, no, wait a minute. That’s complete nonsense.

: Indeed. I don’t think it’s something a man could do. Unless that man is Sir Draug…

: No no, I can't do it either. Steve, I'm happy that you hold me in high esteem, but those legends aren't true at all. They've been exaggerated beyond belief. Are you truly suggesting I grew wings and that's how I took flight...?

That would make him take triple arrow damage. Just saying.

: There's no need to be so modest, Sir Draug. You know such an amazing technique, but you won't even admit it... Sir Draug, please teach me your technique!

: …...I think we’ve a misunderstanding here.