Part 11: Rebellion at Ostia (feat. Toothache)

Chapter 7: Rebellion at Ostia (feat. Toothache)


According to the information gathered on the way, General Leygance, one of Lord Hector's advisors, had started a rebellion with Lieutenant Devias to sell Ostia to Bern. The unsuspecting Lilina was then captured by Leygance. Instead of killing her outright, Leygance imprisoned her in Castle Ostia, perhaps thinking she could be of some use later on.

Hearing the latest report, Roy charged into Ostia to rescue Lilina. The great Lycian city of Ostia was about to become a battlefield, trampled upon and stained with blood.





It seems to be quiet so far, sir. But the mercenary knights from Ilia that were hired by Lord Hector are showing no signs of submission.

Hmph! What's wrong with them? We're telling them we'll pay more!

Well, Ilia's mercenary knights are known to never betray their clients.

You fool, I know that! General Narshen will be arriving soon! He'll laugh at us if we don't have Ostia under control by then!

Well, aren’t we just the picture of rationality today?

O-Of course, sir.

We may need to use Lilina to bargain with the mercenary knights... If we bring her out as a hostage, they should surrender to us. However, that is only a last resort. We must secure Ostia by ourselves and with the help of Bern's Dragon Knights! Devias, I want you to clear out the city and guard the castle gate. I will defend the interior of the castle.

Yes, sir!



Quite a few, I'm afraid. They have forgotten their loyalty towards Lord Hector, and are simply flocking towards those with power. Disgraceful!

I see...

But we have good news too, Master Roy! There is a band of mercenary knights from Ilia that are willing to join forces with us and attack the rebels.

Mercenary knights from Ilia?

More Ilian knights? I'd love another peg knight or two.

Yes. Apparently, they had a contract with Lord Hector to fight Bern alongside Ostia.

That is good news. But when the mercenary knights hear that Lord Hector has passed away, that contract will be probably be broken. Do you think it would be possible for us to officially hire them into our services?

Well, Master Roy, they were already aware of Lord Hector's death. They offered to fight alongside us anyway.

Why would mercenaries go that far?

Ilia is a barren wasteland with a very harsh climate. Sending out mercenaries to fight for pay is one their main sources of economic input. Therefore, I've heard that they value trust above all, and never betray their employers. The rumors are true, I see.

Then we've got some powerful allies.

Ha... hahahahaha....ahem, sorry, don’t mind me...

Yes! Fortune is still with us, Master Roy! But... I heard from the mercenary knights that a general from Bern is scheduled to arrive with a legion of Dragon Knights. If they should join the rebels, our chances of victory would be lost.

Roy...what should we do?



Etruria!? Would that be possible?

General Cecilia, the Sorcery General of Etruria, was my teacher in battle arts while I was studying in Ostia. I'm sure she would be willing to help us.

I would object, Master Roy! If we depend on Etruria to solve Lycian matters, we'll be sure to be their laughing stock for decades to come!

I understand... But what's important to us now? Lycia's existence. We don't have the luxury to be worrying about our face. If we don't do something, we're not even going to have a Lycia to worry about at all.

...Master Roy.

We have to move fast! I'll write a letter to General Cecilia. Merlinus, I need you to get it to her as quickly as possible.

...Yes, Master Roy! You are right. I shall send the letter to her as soon as you are ready.

Thanks. All right, everybody! Let's retake Ostia!



Chapter 7 is a bit obnoxious with the sheer amount of villages there are to visit, but at least there are no bandits or anything. Most of the enemies will immediately charge us, so the plan is to make a stand by the arena, with half the army on either side. Alan, Bors, Dieck, and Lot will hold the left side, and Lance, Rutger, Lugh, Sue, and Dorothy take the right.

Probably the only upside of this being a Seize map is that you can murder everyone and then deal with the villages in peace.



Oh. They're not peg knights.

As if we don’t already have an abundance of cavaliers and paladins.

All right, we're going, too. We must help them to drive off the rebel forces!

Will do, General Zealot.

Wait, where's Noah?

Uhm, I think he went to the arena a while ago. He said he was coaching a young girl in the sword arts.

That Noah, a coach? Talk about unusual... Well, no matter. Once he finds out that we've started advancing, he'll catch up with us.

Yup.

All right, let's go!



His name’s “Zealot”.

So we have a marginally more useful Marcus, and B-lister Cavalier. Suddenly, I can't help but feel like Farina was right...


What’s worse is recruiting these guys on the turn they appear. In NM it’s not too bad, since Roy will pretty much survive the rescue drop, but in HM requires a lot of luck. It’s only really worth it for Zealot anyway, I’ve yet to see Treck match the other mounts



Let's start on the right side. Lugh kills off the knight, Lance and Sue kill the soldier, and Rutger crits the merc.



On the left side, Bors demonstrates how obnoxious high-avoid enemies are. The weapon triangle advantage is a paltry 1 Mt/10 Hit, so even with it, he's struggling to get into the low 70's with an Iron weapon. He lands, so Alan and Lot jump up into the forests next to the arena, and Dorothy takes a shot at the mercenary.



Surprisingly, she lands. Dieck moves up to block her from one side, and Roy takes the other.



Blah blah tutorial



One down, seven or so to go...



For once, Zealot decides to actually be useful and attack these guys instead of finishing off the archer that Treck attacked.



Well then, Fir, I need to get going now.

Thank you for coaching me, Sir Noah.

No problem. But I must say, you surprised me. You just suddenly rushed up to me and shouted, 'I want to fight a match with you!'

I-I'm sorry, Sir Noah. It was my first time in the arena...

If you'd gone up to someone else, you would have been killed. You need to look your opponent over very carefully before deciding to fight.

And you must not hesitate to surrender if it looks like you're going to lose. Right?

Exactly. You can always win back your money, but not your life.

Hey, is that a somewhat contextualized tutorial? You surprise me, IntSys.

Yes!

What are your plans now? Are you going to stay here and work on your skills?

No. I was thinking I might travel to the Western Isles.

The Western Isles? Why?

I heard that a lot of people are heading there looking for work at the new mine that being built. I thought it would be the ideal place to look for strong people to spar with. And...

And?



She's dead now, but when she was my age, she was also traveling around the world training her sword skills.

I see. ...You surprise me again.

...?

All you were saying at first was, 'I want to become strong, strong, strong,' right? So I thought swordplay was all you were interested in. But you were training because you wanted to be like your mother? I'm happy to see that you do have a cute side!

What? ...Sir Noah! Please don't tease me!

Hahaha!

And with that Noah appears on the map by the arena as a third NPC.



He's about as impressive as his compatriots were.

Noah isn’t as terrible as Treck. His extra point of Con proves useful at times. The only real issue is that you’ve already got 2 established great mounts already, so he is almost superfluous.



Let's start with this mess. Lot puts that hammer to use on the knight, and Bors moves up by Alan to attack a cav. Dieck kills the archer as Saul and Dorothy get out of the wyvern's range, and Alan uses a vulnerary after getting whacked by the wyvern rider's Steel Lance last turn.

Now, for the Ilian mercenaries. Roy can recruit any of them, and Zealot can convert either of the other two once he's recruited. Roy starts by talking to Noah, since he's right next to him.



Yeah. And what do you want?

My name is Roy. I'm the leader of the Lycia Alliance Army.

Oh, I heard about you. Is it all right if I join with you?

Are you sure that's alright? Don't you have to clear it with your commander?

He told us to join with the Lycia Alliance Army. That's good enough for me.

But did he mean like this?

This is a battlefield. If you take the time to check everything with your commander, you won't be able to act quickly in trouble. You can't disobey orders, but outside of that you can play it by ear.

I see...



Lugh, we may have to begin re-evaluating your position in this team. You really need to start getting some magic.



Sue cleans up after him, and Lance moves in the forest next to Zealot with his javelin.



Our wyvern friend decides to come to Roy. For all his faults, the guy is a pretty dodgy motherfucker with his alright speed and good luck.

First thing next turn is to have Roy talk to Zealot.



...Ilian Mercenary Knights?

And you are?

My name is Roy. I'm leading this army and fighting against the rebels.

You're the leader? Impressive... I was expecting someone a little older.

I am here respecting Lord Hector's last wishes.

Lord Hector... We've lost a valuable person. He was a true warrior...

Yes, and I want to retake Ostia, for Lord Hector's sake! And Lilina's sake...

All right. Then we'll help you as best we can.

Thank you for your assistance...

You can thank me after we've retaken the castle. Come, we must concentrate on the enemy now!

Yes!

And then we'll have him turn right around and go recruit Treck. But first, let's go wyvern hunting.



The effective damage bonus is 3x Mt in this game, so while this Iron Bow can do 12 damage, the Steel bow cranks it up about 21. We're in a sharing mood, though.

x3 Effective Damage is just such a wonderful, amazing thing. Especially so when they finally bought it back in Radiant Dawn.



It's not very hard to beat Wolt, Dorothy. And yet, this kind of level is not the way to do it. Sue kills the wyvern.



It fires arrows MUCH further than a normal bow! It's very useful, right? Right. Just like I thought. I'll give it to you guys, I want it with someone that knows how to use it.

Let’s be fair; it’s got 150% of the range... although that’s less impressive in a game where “range” is considered “just beyond sword reach”.



One square is not what I call "MUCH further than a normal bow." Regardless, not going to complain about a free longbow, even if it's inaccurate as hell.

You’d be surprised what advantage that extra range allows for, if you can get it to hit. There are certain annoying enemies in later maps set just in perfect range for the Longbow. The ability to attack without counters even from 2 range enemies is never bad either.



Let's smash some heads.



It feels odd to have a fighter with more speed than strength, but I can't really complain.

Having the extra might from axes kind of negates any Strength deficit, and the ability to double more enemies is always great.



Uh-huh.

Hm, not the most enthusiastic response. You don't like the idea?

Eh? No, I have no problem with it.

Oh, all right. Just thought I'd ask.

Lycia... Nah, we shouldn't have much trouble.

Not only are they terrible mercenaries, they're unmotivated terrible mercenaries. Thanks Hector, cream of the crop material.



No matter what kinds of wounds you have, this will restore you completely! The contents are a secret, though... Can't tell you, or I'll get in trouble. Hm? You don't want the medicine? Aww, I'll give you some for free if you buy it next time! [Got Elixir]



Lugh picks off the knight, and Lance and Rutger kill the mage.



Look, I'm sorry he's not Sydin's Rutger, okay? At any rate, another step in the right direction.

You’ll get your god-unit someday. The unlikeliest ones are always the best...



What a boring Bors level.



You guys are out to restore Ostia's former glory, right? Then take this gem. If you sell it, it will fetch a high price! Please, help Ostia! [Got Red Gem]



Since we're in Ostia, it's as good a time as any to stock up, especially on weapons. Shops are much more common than Armories, so it's a good idea to grab enough for a few chapters whenever you get the chance. Here, we pick a couple Thunder tomes, an extra Mend and Heal staff, a few Door Keys, and a Chest Key.



Can't argue with more defense on the priest.



What the hell is a Social Knight herp derp

This spear, the Horseslayer, is effective against them. There's a lot of horsemen in the rebel army, so use this against them!



Oh yes, we are going to have so much fun with this later.



Come on Lance, not that speed is bad, but how about getting some more strength or defense instead? You could use it.



This can be a nasty surprise, but the enemy weapons start scaling up very quickly in FE6. Those priests by the wall have Physic staves, and the boss has a Spear. Plus, basically every generic has a Steel weapon, a javelin (or some other ranged weapon), or both.

This can work in your favour since the heavier weapons are so inaccurate, in a game where accuracy is already a big issue. Early Physic is annoying though.

The question is, does the generics’/bosses’ Con scale up as well? It’s lovely to have an awesome weapon but not so lovely when any idiot with a heavy Effective weapon can double you...



Sue picks off the other wyvern after it goes a round or two with Lance.



Why can we not steal staves in the GBA games?

Fire Emblem has had a weird relationship with staves. Sometimes, they’re items. Sometimes they’re used as items but counted as weapons. In Radiant Dawn, they became actual, equippable weapons (which actually completely nerfed lots of units). It turns out they’re somewhat of a difficult mechanic to abstract to the same level as Fire Emblem typically abstracts things.

You can’t steal other weapons to be fair.

Sue and Alan pick the two priests off next turn, and Alan even gets a Lances rank out of it.



Chad pops open the front door, and we start making our way up to Devias.



Lance pops in the first armory and grabs a couple of everything: Iron and Steel Swords, Iron and Hand axes, and a spare Iron Blade. Lugh hits the other for a spare Steel Bow, Iron and Steel Lances, and Javelins.

At least it looks like our weapons are scaling too.



He went and slaughtered all those who resisted him...but I saved my own hide. Please take this, it's a proof for Heroes. Give this to them, and keep fighting to protect Ostia. [Got Hero's Crest]



Surprise! Hope you didn't push too close to the boss.



...injuries from a distance! If Lady Lilina's hurt, please help her.



Goddamn, they don't waste any time handing out the good stuff.

Now I’m starting to worry about the team’s weapon ranks not keeping up with the scaling.

Yeah that is a common problem. Weapon ranks grow so slowly compared to the other GBA games



When I helped him, he gave me this sword. Really strange person, but nice... Hm? Here's the sword. You can have it! Just take good care of it. [Got Killing Edge]

And that's a wrap for the villages.



This can be tough because of how much sheer firepower these guys have. Thankfully, Lot damaged this guy last turn, so Sue picks him off, and Lance gets the other mage. Dieck and Alan follow up by killing the archers, and Lot and Bors take the front line against the soldiers.





Not a bad haul, all things considered.



Hehe...the Lycian army'll be shocked when they get hit from behind!

These sort of plans work so much better when you don't tell us, Devias.



Sue kills the last remaining soldier.



Sure enough, these guys show up next turn. The second one has a Silver Lance, but otherwise they're nothing special.



Chad gets to looting while we wait on them. The other chest has a Barrier Staff.







Devias isn't notable aside from his weapon, so Roy gets to work on him.



Suffice to say, this doesn't take very long to deal with.



Erg...I'll not let you pass here!

Roy misses once, but so does Devias.



Like lambs to the slaughter. Anyway, speaking of Bors, Devias has special boss dialogue with him.

Bors! You've returned!

You shameless scum! You shall pay for starting a rebellion in Lord Hector's absence!

After several turns of missing between Roy and himself, Devias finally goes down.



These people are...strong...



God...Roy...?

The gods would not be so cruel.

_{...would they?}



One more from Clarine and we're done.



Next is the castle! We have to rescue Lilina!

Master Roy, our men are currently breaking down to the castle gate. I understand that you want to hurry, but we are working as fast as we can, so please be patient!

...Lilina.

Speaking of Lady Lilina...what do you think of Lord Hector's story, Master Roy?

You mean the thing about the Dragons? They weren't myth, they were real... Lord Hector was one of the greatest warriors in Lycia. And his army was decimated in such a short time...

Well, Bern's army is the strongest in Elibe. I say, those Dragon Knights are the most ferocious soldiers on the continent.

Yes, the Dragon Knights are one thing, but real Dragons? I can't even imagine how powerful they must be. Lord Hector said he had a weapon that was effective against the Dragons. I wonder what it is?



The Divine Weapons? The ones that appear in our legends?

Yes. The Divine Weapons were used by the Eight Heroes to defeat the Dragons in the Scouring one thousand years ago.

So if we had those weapons, we would be able to put up a fight against the Dragons. But I wonder what a Divine Weapon is doing in Ostia?

Perhaps Lady Lilina can answer that. I can only speculate. Oh! Master Roy, our men have finished battering down the gate. We can finally go inside!

All right! Charge! We will rescue Lilina no matter what!

-----



Level 7 Cavalier
Swords - C, Lances - D, Affinity - Anima

HP: 27 (75%)
Strength: 8 (30%)
Skill: 7 (45%)
Speed: 9 (30%)
Luck: 6 (40%)
Defense: 7 (30%)
Resistance: 1 (10%)
Con: 10

Noah has alright bases for when he joins (and hell, he's even kind of useful for the next chapter or two), but after that he starts falling behind really quickly. Pretty much the bog-standard B-grade cavalier, though at least he does serve a purpose later.



Level 4 Cavalier
Swords - E, Lances - D, Affinity - Wind

HP: 25 (85%)
Strength: 8 (40%)
Skill: 6 (30%)
Speed: 7 (35%)
Luck: 5 (50%)
Defense: 8 (30%)
Resistance: 0 (5%)
Con: 9

Treck is a little better off than Noah, but he's still a B-lister. He'll need a little more work to get going, and he'll end up a little more useful, but again, there's no reason to use either when you already have both Alan and Lance, to say nothing of the last paladin we'll get.



Level 1 Paladin
Swords - C, Lances - A, Axes - D, Affinity - Dark

HP: 35 (75%)
Strength: 10 (25%)
Skill: 12 (20%)
Speed: 13 (20%)
Luck: 5 (15%)
Defense: 11 (30%)
Resistance: 7 (15%)
Con: 11

Zealot is a huge dick move on the part of IntSys. A savvy FE player looks at him and sees him for what he is: a prepromote crutch character to carry you if you get in over your head. The problem is that later in the game, we'll be seeing prepromotes who aren't so much crutch characters as standards. In particular, I can think a paladin and sniper who are equal or better to a raised unit of that class when they join. On the flip side, you have newer players who don't realize that Zealot is Marcus 2.0, so they use him and get pissed when he turns out terrible. At the very least, his bases are better than Marcus, so he can finally be sent to the bench for good.

Bonus: Zealot recruits Noah

Noah!

General Zealot, I'm sorry that I'm late.

I heard you were coaching a girl in the sword arts.

Yes... She was a little naive, so I couldn't help it.

Is she not with you?

She said she was headed for the Western Isles.

I see. Pity, I thought she might have been of some help if she were still here. But you, a coach? Now that is unusual. You're known for keeping your distance with people.

Do you think so, sir?

Yes. Treck and I were joking around saying that you might have fancied the girl. But knowing you, that probably wasn't the case.

...

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