Part 1: Dawn of Destiny

Chapter 1: Dawn of Destiny

Men and Dragons once lived in harmony on this land.

However, that harmony was broken when the men suddenly started to invade. In a great war known later as the Scouring, both sides fought over dominion of the continent. The laws of nature were twisted from the vast amounts of power that were released...

The Dragons were defeated and disappeared from the face of continent. Mankind then began to spread its forces throughout to populate the land. And now, 1000 years later...


...for some time now, after the Dragons were defeated in the Scouring.


...civilization in Elibe.


...attitude about life, is located in the east. These were the two largest nations in Elibe, and the smaller powers were scattered between them.




...wastelands in the north.



Despite the occasional clash between nations, there was enough balance of power to ensure peace in Elibe. However, no peace can last forever. Under the command of King Zephiel, the Kingdom of Bern suddenly began to dispatch its forces and attack the rest of Elibe. Taken by surprise, Sacae and Ilia were quickly overrun, and those who resisted were mercilessly put to death. It wasn't long before Bern turned its attention to Lycia as well.

In the east of Lycia lay the territory of Pherae. Roy, son of Lord Eliwood, Marquess Pherae, was studying to become the region's next leader in the great Lycian city of Ostia. However, Eliwood, who had fallen ill, sent for Roy to return home. Just a few days earlier, Lilina, the daughter of Eliwood's best friend, Lord Hector of Ostia, had traveled to Pherae to pay her respects to Eliwood. After getting his father's message, Roy hurried home, taking with him his loyal knights and Bors, a knight from Ostia responsible for Lilina's safety.

Roy had reached an area just on the outskirts of Pherae...





Heh, even Eliwood, the greatest knight in Lycia, can't beat an illness, eh?

Hehehe, you were right when you said there wouldn't be many soldiers around here because they're getting ready to take on Bern!

Of course, who do you think I am? But you never know when reinforcements are gonna show up. All right! Kill off the guys in the castle while we still got time! Then all the loot is ours!



Let's go ransack the villages and get some loot!



The bandits from Bolm Mountain have surrounded us!

I see... Damn! If I weren't in this state, I would teach them a lesson...! Cough, cough...



Lilina, you must hide. This castle will become a battlefield.

No! I can fight, too!

Don't be ridiculous. If something were to happen to you, I wouldn't know what to say to Hector.

To my father? But still...

Don't worry. Roy should be arriving at any moment now, so as long as we can hold our own until then, we can drive off these bandits. Merlinus! Send a messenger to Roy informing him of the attack immediately!

Y-Yes, my lord!



It should go without saying that Lance will have conveniently forgotten how to move through enemy units when we gain control, of course.

These proud Fire Emblem Traditions have roots, you know.



Why are you in such a hurry?

Master Roy! Bandits have surrounded the castle and are attacking as we speak!

What!? Is Lord Eliwood safe?

He's inside, defending the castle as best he can. But he won't last long with his illness...

S-Sir Lance! Is Lady Lilina safe?

Are you from Ostia? Lady Lilina is inside as well. She should be all right as long as Lord Eliwood is with her, but he can't last forever.

No...I shouldn't have let Lilina go to the castle before me.

Master Roy, regret won't solve anything. We must hurry to the castle!

Wolt is right. We must make haste.

You're right. All right, let's go! We're going to save those trapped in the castle!

And with that, welcome back to a new journey in which we test the limits of the RNG's spite. I remain Artix, the man with the most inconvenient luck possible, and returning from Hector Hard Mode and an excellent Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn LP is Fedule.

Hey there. _{Also, let’s not get ahead of ourselves; I’m not done with PoR yet.}



Sword of Seals starts us off pretty easy, with what is pretty much a gimme chapter. None of the enemies are particularly dangerous, though we still need to tread somewhat carefully; it is Chapter 1, which means we have a full set of L1 units that can only take a hit or two before croaking, and only two or three sets of vulneraries for the entire party.

Luring you into a false sense of (relative) security, no doubt.

Speaking of, let's meet the crew:



Roy, son of Eliwood and our Lord for the game.



Alan and Lance, our red and green cavaliers.



Bors, the designated tank character.



Wolt, son of Rebecca and our early-game archer.



And finally a familiar face, the elderly Marcus.



Alan and Roy take the top line, and Bors and Lance the lower one. No reason to rush into things, especially since this is Chapter One and all. Wouldn't want to fuck up and lose someone already.

And no reason to use Marcus either, of course.



But you ain't gettin' to the castle so easy!

Of course, the boss moves onto the gate as soon we show up. If you have not played FE6, gates and thrones will be your least favorite pieces of terrain by the time you finish the game, and this will be amply demonstrated within the LP.

I’d hate them too if they were as... everywhere... as I hear they are in this damn game.



Roy, Lance, and Alan each draw a fighter and commence the stabbin'. Roy even manages to not fuck up on his first combat. With a little help from Wolt, he finishes the fighter and Alan kills his as well. Lance rides east toward the village, and Bors kills the fighter he left behind.



Oh goddammit Roy, are we really going to start this already?



Well, there went that setup.



Fortunately, the archer isn't capable of killing Roy, so we only have to kill the fighter. Alan does so, and Roy and Wolt kill the archer as well. Lance stops in the village next.



Aren't you knights going to the castle? This may not be much, but this is something we'd really like to offer you. Please use it well!



What a nice starting present. Maybe the houses will be equally useful?



Money is important! If you don't have it, your weapons will rust and you can't fight without your weapons!

Or...we could not visit the houses.

This is a solid plan and I endorse it. Sod houses.



After cleaning up a brigand going for the village, we start moving north. Wolt is in an unfortunate location, so Alan, Bors, and Lance line up above him to draw the next batch of fighters in.



Okay Roy, you can do it. First level of the LP, so let's get off to a good start, eh?



Well...Not amazing, but it could be far worse, so I'm not going to complain.

It’s disappointingly adequate.



Wolt gets all flashy taking out the other fighter.

It’s the shuffling right foot that really completes this animation.



Alan is set to draw the east fighter, so Lance moves to bait the ones by the castle.



Wolt gets a pretty awesome level cleaning up after Lance.



As does Alan for killing another fighter.

We’re building up for a fall here. I can feel it.



Bors moves up to bait the other fighter by the castle, and Lance jumps into a forest to deal with the fighter/archer combo. Wolt also moves west, staying outside of the fighter's range.



Bors misses the fighter he tried to bait for a second time, so Alan and Roy kill him off.



I don't know why the AI went after Wolt since Lance had his sword equipped (and therefore couldn't counterattack), but it weakened him enough that Lance takes the kill next turn.



Another relatively mediocre level, but he's fast enough to double pretty much everyone at this point, so the extra damage is appreciated. And with the archer dead, all that remains is the boss.

The number of numbers is low, but... strength for everyone! That’s pretty good.



Damas hits quite a bit harder than his lackeys thanks to that Steel Axe, but his hit rate is atrocious, and he has no way to deal with Wolt peppering him to death from afar. Roy and Alan both pop a vulnerary, and Alan waits for the boss's attack.



Can't you guys take on these bastards!?

Alan's hits both land, dropping him to 14 HP.



Wolt only lands one of his blows, but 10 HP is just enough for Roy to come in and get the kill.





That's a pretty fantastic level and I am A-OK with it. Seize the gate, and we're done here.

Of course, enough good early levels can seriously take the edge off a large quantity of RNG-screwing later on.



Roy! Is that you?

Roy!

Father! Lilina! ...Thank goodness you're all right.

Roy, thanks for coming all this way.

Of course, father. How is your health?

I'm fine. I'm still alive, see? Now, Roy, I trust you know why I sent for you to return back home?



...the Lycia Alliance Army.

Right. Bern has started to invade Lycia. We must follow the ancient pact and send out Pherae's military to defend our land. I didn't want to send for you because you were still studying, but I'm not well...I would merely be a hindrance.

Father...

Lord Eliwood, I will accompany Roy! My father is in charge of the Alliance Army, and my magic could be of some help to Roy...



...Why?

With Hector's absence, the people of Ostia must be feeling uptight. As the marquess's daughter, you must take the throne and ease the tension of your people. Do you understand?

...Yes.

Roy, first you must go the Bern border and meet with a mercenary band that I have arranged a contract with. I'll send Merlinus along with you. He'll be helpful with his knowledge.

Thank you for everything, father.

You'll be fine. You can do it! Go fight, and show them who you are, the next Marquess of Pherae!

Yes!



I know, my lady. I will accompany Roy in his travels and swear to protect him with my life.

Thank you, Bors. Roy, be careful.

I know. You too, Lilina!

-----



Level 1 Lord
Swords - D, Affinity - Fire

HP: 18 (80%)
Strength: 5 (40%)
Skill: 5 (50%)
Speed: 7 (40%)
Luck: 7 (60%)
Defense: 5 (25%)
Resistance: 0 (30%)
Con: 6

You know, I have the strangest sense of deja-vu right now... If Roy's stats/growths look familiar, that's because they should. Roy is pretty much the spitting image of his father, except slightly worse. His Str, Def, and Res growths are all down by 5% from Eliwood's (though he does have a 15% higher Luck growth), he comes with one less Con, and a lower starting level in Swords. And when you're being compared unfavorably to Eliwood, you know you're in trouble. Add in that he doesn't promote until the fourth-to-last chapter in the game, and you've got a recipe for one of (arguably the) worst Lord in the entire series. And of course, he's the only lord in the game, so he's required for every single map. Have fun!

Sometimes I wonder if the generally higher growths starting in FE8 were a direct result of IntSys thinking that Roy and Eliwood would be disappointing to anyone who discovered Fire Emblem after playing Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Probably the biggest counterargument to this is that Roy doesn’t need context to be disappointing.



Level 1 Cavalier
Swords - E, Lances - D, Affinity - Fire

HP: 21 (85%)
Strength: 7 (45%)
Skill: 4 (40%)
Speed: 6 (45%)
Luck: 3 (40%)
Defense: 6 (25%)
Resistance: 0 (10%)
Con: 9

Alan is the first half of our cavalier duo, and while he's far from a stereotypical red knight with those growths, his base stats certainly fit the bill. Much like Kent and Sain, he and Lance both make fine choices if you want a paladin or two, but FE6 is fucking loaded with cavaliers/paladins, so don't worry if he doesn't turn out.



Level 1 Cavalier
Swords - E, Lances - D, Affinity - Anima

HP: 20 (80%)
Strength: 5 (40%)
Skill: 6 (45%)
Speed: 8 (50%)
Luck: 2 (35%)
Defense: 6 (20%)
Resistance: 0 (15%)
Con: 9

Lance is our green knight, with green knight growths and green knight bases. I find his higher speed and skill makes him more useful than Alan, given that enemies are stronger on the whole and accuracy is at a huge premium in this game, but both are serviceable. Pick your favorite, or even both if you really want, and go with it.



Level 1 Archer
Bows - D, Affinity - Ice

HP: 18 (80%)
Strength: 4 (40%)
Skill: 4 (50%)
Speed: 5 (40%)
Luck: 2 (40%)
Defense: 4 (20%)
Resistance: 0 (10%)
Con: 7

There are a few ways to look at Wolt. If you look at him in a vacuum, Wolt isn’t terrible. Not good, mind you, but he’s serviceable. His bases are low, and his growths are a little shaky, but he won’t be an unusable mess. If you include the other archers, you start to see the problem; namely that he’s outclassed by every single one of them. Even the prepromotes. If you then expand your scope a little more and include all the army, you have to account for the fact that mages get a spell that’s effective against flyers on top of all that, and the reality is that archers really aren't a good unit, let alone Wolt.



Level 1 Knight
Lances - C, Affinity - Wind

HP: 20 (90%)
Strength: 7 (30%)
Skill: 4 (30%)
Speed: 3 (40%)
Luck: 4 (50%)
Defense: 11 (35%)
Resistance: 0 (10%)
Con: 14

Bors boasts a surprisingly high speed growth for a knight, but his base HP is low, and his ability to tank levels off pretty quickly. If you're willing to stick with him, he'll probably end up capping speed as a general and roll back around into a good tank, but much like Lowen, he's not going to be much use beyond being a bucket of HP that can take hits really well with those offensive growths.



Level 1 Paladin
Swords - D, Lances - A, Axes - E, Affinity - Ice

HP: 32 (60%)
Strength: 9 (25%)
Skill: 14 (20%)
Speed: 11 (25%)
Luck: 10 (20%)
Defense: 9 (15%)
Resistance: 8 (20%)
Con: 11

Oh Marcus, the years have not been kind to you. While he served as an Oifay in FE7, he's become a full-blown Jeigan for FE6, and not even the best one at that. As before, he's most useful when you use him as a meatshield or to soften up tougher enemies, but with his lower Str and Def combined with the stronger enemies, you'll find he can't even do that very well. Use him sparingly, because he's not worth the time or the effort to extract whatever disappointment he has in store for you.



Eliwood official art.