Part 4: Late Arrival (feat. Alkydere)

Chapter 3: Late Arrival (feat. Alkydere)


The Lycia Alliance was assembling here to discuss what to do about the danger approaching from the east. Roy hurried toward Castle Araphen as well, taking with him Princess Guinevere, the key to make or break this war. However, when Roy had gotten within a day's march of the castle, a distraught messenger came rushing to him with grim news. Two of the three Dragon Lords of Bern, General Brenya and General Narshen, have attacked Castle Araphen and decimated the Lycia Alliance Army... Shocked by the report, Roy hurried toward Castle Araphen to find survivors and determine the damage that was done...





Good. Bring him before me.



Hector... If he got this fucked up by Bern, I think we may be in a little over our heads on this one...

I dunno, head wounds bleed a lot, so I doubt that’s Hector’s blood. Oh, also, hello there. Artix is apparently planning a rotating guest commentary slot, so I’m Alkydere.

Maybe he - wait. Hang on. They’re actually showing blood? In Fire Emblem? What’s going on here?

Zephiel, the King of Bern! Damn you...!

Ah, Lord Hector. I must praise you for putting up such a good fight against two of our Dragon Lords. I suppose they do not call you the leader of the Lycia Alliance for nothing. However, no one stands in Bern's path and survives. Pray while you can, for you end here.

Why...

Hm?

Bern and Lycia...we were always on good terms with each other. Even after you took the throne, we have shown respect toward your nation...

Respect? Don't be ridiculous. Lycia...no, this entire continent must go under my rule. That is the only way to liberate the world. I lack the time to be worrying about such trivial matters as respect.

”Liberate the world”. I know nothing about this game’s plot so I’m gonna give that an 8 out of 10 on the crazy scale without any modifiers. Of course, that could change, it really depends on what he’s trying to liberate the world from. Is he trying to liberate the world from some sort of social injustice like serfdom (5 to 6 out of 10) or is he trying to liberate the world from the tiny little men living under everyone’s toenails (11.3 out of 10)?

Clearly he wants to save the world from the rift in the fabric and space and time that would result from a Fire Emblem game not beginning with a formerly peaceful country suddenly invading a neighbour with which it had been on good terms. That could’ve gotten ugly, fast.

To liberate...the world? What do you mean...?

What does it matter to a dying man? Someone! Take him away! Throw Lord Hector into the dungeon!

Yes, sir!



Yes, you may be on your way.

One thing before I leave, your Majesty. Forgive my impudence, but I do not think that we should put too much trust in...sinister...beings.

Are you talking about Idoun?

Yes. Our soldiers call her the 'Dark Priestess' and do not seem to think highly of her presence. I understand that she is a Shaman of great power, but...

Brenya, do you not have faith in me?

...Yes, of course I do, your Majesty! I just thought that...

Then all you must do is follow my orders. Understood?

...Yes. I will do whatever his Majesty wishes... *Brenya leaves*

'Do you not have faith in me?' Dear, dear, the things I say sometimes...

He’s already planning to sacrifice her in some stupid way just because she’s “Too Idealistic”, a.k.a. having a brain and realizing selling everyone’s souls to dark forces is a bad idea, isn’t he?



Yeah, that's for sure. I saw him being dragged into the castle by Bern's soldiers.

Chad, was it? Do you know the inside of Castle Araphen well?

I guess. Wait, are you guys planning on going in to save Lord Hector? Are you nuts? The bulk of Bern's forces are gone, but there are still a decent number of soldiers left in the castle, you know? It would be suicide to try and charge them with your army.

Perhaps you're right. But we can't afford to lose Lord Hector. And you said that their main forces are gone, right? In that case, we still have a chance of winning.

I see... Then I guess I'll go along, too. I can show you around the castle.

What!? No no, don't feel pressured! If you could just explain what the interior of the castle looks like...

I...also want revenge against Bern. C'mon, let me go with you!

All right. Then I'll be counting on you.

Of course! Leave locked chests and doors to me!



I'm sorry... I...I didn't think Zephiel would invade Lycia so soon...

Princess, dwelling over what's done never solves anything. Please do not blame yourself. Besides, Lycia has not fallen yet. If we can get our leader, Lord Hector, to safety, we can unite Lycia once again and fight! We must recapture Castle Araphen for all of our sakes. ...And for Lilina's sake...

...

Let's go!



Alright then, Chapter 3. It's a small step down in difficulty, but we meet our first knights in battle and get to play with our new thief. Priority number one is getting to the northwest village for reasons that will be quickly apparent, but otherwise this is a pretty chill chapter.

The average Fire Emblem Player™ will probably rush the village anyway, because the IntSys-Asshole-Tendency law dictates that if there isn’t already a bandit or enemy thief on the map there will be one teleporting in at the mathematically determined most inconvenient time.

Maybe in hard mode, but in normal there are absolutely no thieves or bandits on this chapter. It’s kind of nice, actually.



Chad is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a thief. Something of note is that Lockpicks have 30 uses instead of 15 in this game, so his initial set will take him pretty far.

30 Lockpick uses sounds wonderful honestly. Of course, he’s still a level one Thief, a class that is delicate in any game, in a game that hates the player.



While Marcus heads north, we start cleaning up the starting area. Alan lances this guy in the face twice, and the rest of the crew forms up. The other soldier goes after Wolt, but misses.



Of course. We of the Elimine Church will take good care of the orphans. And what will you do, Lugh?

I'm going to stay here. I still have some things to do.

I see...but please do not strain yourself.

Yes, thank you.



Aren't you coming with us, Lugh?

I'm going to wait for Chad, and then we'll catch up with you...

Yay! Chad's coming, too?

That's right.

Then I want Ray to come, too!

Yeah... It would be great if Ray came back and we could all go together, wouldn't it?

Children, we must be off.

See you later, Lugh.

Hurry and catch up, okay?

Yeah...



Oh, hey, look, it’s the Obligatory Implausibly Courageous Child!

So yeah, this is why we want to hit the northwest village as soon as we can. It's not in any danger of being destroyed, but Lugh here will join up, and it's a long treck back to the main group on foot.



Let's deal with some soldiers. Wolt starts by killing the southern-most one, and Lot takes the one above Lance. Chad softens up the archer, and Bors comes in for the kill.



Perhaps you're not as useless as you initially let on.

It’s the Manjaw. Bors Manjaw will lead us to victory, chin first!



Thany weakens the east soldier, which Ward kills for...this, and Alan and Lance form the front guard by killing the north-most soldier.

Well...it’s, um, it’s not an empty level, though it might as well be one.

Fire Emblem is always more interesting when a given playthrough’s RNG-Karma is balanced but unevenly distributed.



Yes, this is quite acceptable.

Turn 3 is village time, so we'll start with Marcus.



Please let me fight with you! I don't have any useful information, but I can use a bit of magic! Please let me help you!



Lugh's a little fragile for now, but he's our first offensive mage. Unsurprisingly, he's quite useful for this map with the knights running around. For now, he hops in the forest by Marcus.



Here, take this and go quickly. There are a bunch of Bern soldiers here. Bern may govern this whole area, but we're friends of Lycia!



Very nice, free Mend staff. We push forward in the castle, but nothing exciting.



Well...fuck. Yeah, charging the castle may not have been the best idea.

Oh, that looks like fun.



Ah, the remnants of the enemy must be trying to put up a futile resistance in their last hope. Excuse me, your Majesty. I shall have them cleaned up in no time.

Good god, those eyes. indeed.



No, I wouldn't dream of putting the Dark Priestess through any trouble. Fear not, we can handle them on our own...

...

Not this time, Idoun. Send the Dragons back to Bern, as planned.

Yes, if his Majesty wishes.

...

We shall head back to Bern as well. Narshen, I trust you can handle Lycia in my absence.

...What shall I do with the remants of the Lycian army?

Should they resist, show them no mercy.

...Does that include women and children?

Of course. Beat them down so that they would never think of standing up to us ever again.

Leave that to me, your Majesty. Hehehe...



Well, I suppose I shall be off as well. Slater, I'll leave this castle to you.

Are you going somewhere?

Yes. One of the Lycian traitors has a special gift prepared for me. He says it's a girl of Etrurian nobility. Hehehe...

A traitor within Lycia holding an young Eturuian lady hostage? Now there's a plotline we haven't seen before, no sir.

From Etruria? She must be very beautiful.

Yes, the marquess tells me she's still young, but quite the beauty.

I would be looking forward to it if I were you, sir. Please be careful on the way.

You be careful too, Slater. Don't you dare let these pathetic remnants take the castle from you. If you do, I will personally tear you apart.

...Have mercy, sir...!

Wow...psychopaths one and all, aren’t they? Guy legitimately wishes his boss well, his boss reciprocates by threatening to slowly murder his subordinate in the most painful way possible if he doesn’t win or die trying.

Well, we wouldn’t want them getting confused for slightly sympathetic villains, now, would we?

Hahaha...!



With Narshen, Idoun, and Zephiel off, Slater takes the throne and we see our first enemy reinforcements (the cavaliers). The biggest thing about reinforcements in this game is that they can move on the same turn they appear. Keeping your healer in the back of your formation? Whoops, asshole reinforcements and now your healer is dead before you could do a goddamn thing about it.

What they actually do is have the reinforcements appear at the beginning of the Enemy Phase. In future Fire Emblem titles, reinforcements appear at the end of the Enemy Phase.



Fuck yeah, Lance, 9 whole damage!



Lance has better luck on a nearby soldier and gets an alright level.



The cavalier brigade is knocking on our door, so Bors and Alan take the line. Lot comes in to help, but misses with his hand axe. The sword-wielding ones proceed to off themselves, leaving the ever-obnoxious javelin ones.



They don't last very long, considering how weighed down they are.

In other news, Lugh and Chad decide to warp themselves outside the castle to have their conversation.



Lugh!? What are you doing here?

I brought the little kids here to hide.

Oh... Where are the little ones? Are they safe?

Yeah, the Elimine Church is going to take care of them for a while.

And you?

What?

How come you're still here?

...The same reason as you.

Lugh, you're not thinking of...!

I can use some magic! You know, when I borrowed the Fire spell book from Father's room...

"Father" here is a priest, not his actual father. This is interesting, because it's kind of implied in FE7 that Lucius was the head of this orphanage, which means there shouldn't have been any Fire tomes in his room.



But...

Don't worry, I'll avenge Father. You should stay with the little kids.

I'm sick of hiding, Chad! Everyone, everyone keeps disappearing when I'm not looking...! Father, you...even Ray... I want to fight to protect the people I care for, too. I want to protect, and not just be protected!

Lugh... ...All right, let's go. I'll ask Master Roy if you can join the army.

Chad! Thanks!

I really understand how you feel, so... All right, let's crush Bern and go pick up the little kids!

Yeah!



At this point, Chad, Lance, Lot, and Lugh head south to get the treasure, and the others move east toward the boss.



Lot gets a pretty bad level mostly killing the last knight.

At least there’s a little meat on that level. An HP only level might as well be empty.



Slater himself isn't particularly dangerous, but this is our introduction to how much harder thrones make things. Gates are annoying, but thrones give a massive +3 Def, +5 Res, and +30 Avoid. Considering that every single map in the game is a seize map, the boss will always be hiding on one or the other, and the game has a wonderful habit of putting units like knights that get most (or all) of their weaknesses covered by the throne's benefits.

That nose, that beard. If we could recruit him I’d vote for having him team up with Bors Manjaw to be part of our moving wall. Also, this is Intsys we’re talking about. Things are too easy or too hard, but never balanced. If they took away, or reduced the +30 avoid thrones give units (don’t ask me how parking your ass in a chair makes it easier to avoid being hit), these fights might be fair.

My interpretation: they’re just standing on the seat for a height advantage. Hey, it’s no less silly than... whatever explanation we’re supposed to accept for thrones acting as they do.



Alan takes a potshot at him, but misses.



Case in point. Even with the weapon triangle advantage, the hammer has a 26% chance of landing.



Even Lugh isn't much help.



Our healer, ladies and gentlemen.

Still. One. Goddamn. Magic.

Wait until you meet our second healer!



3000 Gold for the taking here.



Lugh dodges like a boss, and gets an excellent level for his trouble. With that single point of speed, he can now double Slater, so his damage output just went from 4 damage a battle to 10.



Slightly less useful treasure, but they can't all be winners. Lugh dodges another pair of javelins and drops Slater to 2 HP for Roy to finish up.



You’re dead, I don’t think he cares. He probably won’t even remember you.



Eh, alright. I'll take it.



...the dungeon!

Really!? Is he all right?

He's severely wounded...



Lord Hector! What an awful wound...! We must treat it! Here, lean on my shoulder...

There must be something below the camera/portrait. I still say the blood on his armor and face are splatter from someone else.

No, it's all right... I won't last much longer...

Lord Hector...

We were taken by surprise... I never would have guessed that Bern had resurrected the Dragons...!

Dragons!?

Yes...the Dragons that mankind fought in the Scouring...

The Scouring? I've heard of that... It was a great war that was fought a thousand years ago, where humans and Dragons battled over control of Elibe...

Right...the 'Eight Heroes'...defeated the Dragons and led us humans...to vic...tory...

Yes... And then the Dragons were said to have disappeared from the face of Elibe. ...I always thought that Dragons were creatures of myth.

So...did everyone else... But...the Dragons existed...! We...stand no chance...against their power...

How did Bern use the Dragons...?

I...have no idea... But...Bern was where the Dragons flourished in the past... And the founder Bern...is Hartmut...one of the Eight Heroes... Perhaps...the reason...lies there... Cough, cough...

Lord Hector!



...You must...lead what is left of the Lycia Alliance Army...in my place...

Me...? But...

Don't worry... In Ostia..we have a weapon...that is effective against the Dragons...

A weapon...?

I have already told Lilina where it is hidden... Take care of her, too... She...may seem strong...but she is still a child... Give her your support...

...Yes, I will.

...Lilina...one...more...time... Guh...

Lord Hector!

Good night, sweet prince. We'll remember you for who you were.

From the looks of it, he died as he once lived. IE, in a tornado of axes and blood.

-----



Level 1 Thief
Swords - E, Affinity - Thunder

HP: 16 (85%)
Strength: 3 (50%)
Skill: 3 (50%)
Speed: 10 (80%)
Luck: 4 (60%)
Defense: 2 (25%)
Resistance: 0 (15%)
Con: 5

Chad follows the Julian and Sothe playbook; that is, absolutely fantastic growths wasted on a unit that shouldn't really see combat in the first place, and can't promote. Unfortunately, there is no assassin class in FE6, so it comes down to which of the three thieves you want for stealing, opening chests, etc. The second one is essentially a "prepromote" thief, and the third one comes late enough that there's no reason to use them if Chad or Thief 2 has seen regular use, so pick one between Thief 2 and Chad as your primary, and just roll with it.

No promotion? Ouch, that’s 20 levels of growth he’ll be lacking. Of course, if he did have a promotion the game designers would have probably halved all of his growths, so take what you can get I guess.

At least he’s not stuck with halved EXP gains and the single weakest weapons in the game.



Level 1 Mage
Anima - D, Affinity - Fire

HP: 16 (50%)
Magic: 4 (40%)
Skill: 5 (50%)
Speed: 6 (50%)
Luck: 5 (35%)
Defense: 3 (15%)
Resistance: 5 (30%)
Con: 4

Lugh is the first of Nino's children, and tends to be the "balanced" mage of the game, similar to Erk. Don't let his low constitution fool you; magic is much, much lighter in this game than FE7. 4 Con is barely enough to hold a Fire tome there, but 4 Con covers Fire, Thunder, Elfire, and a new tome in FE6. Even the mighty Bolting weighs in at a mere 10 Wt, and all that means he can really let his speed (and other good stats) shine.



Hector's non-bloody official art.

Obviously not the Hector you dragged through Hector Hard Mode on FE7. Way too manly for that.

Of course not. Obviously Eliwood's route was canon.