Part 4
Last time, we came face to face with the most lovable character, but we had to say goodbye for now.
In the meantime, Siegfried has been busy, recruiting two brand-new members into our tinpot resistance.
Shuuda and Inanna have no love for Magnus, and are joining our group for a sizable discount that fortunately doesn't come out of our actual funds.
Not all appears to be well with the resistance, as some communities are afraid to harbor them for fear of reprisal. Guess recruiting's got to be cut a little short.
Across the river, a patrol extends a bridge to cross it and speak with the steward of this fort.
Get used to hearing about the phenomenal things that occurred offscreen. In lieu of a between-chapter narrator, Blazer has opted to instead have characters mention events in casual conversation. I'm not entirely sure I mind the sentiment, although I do miss the narrator.
This man is named Jarod, not to be confused for Jaled from last chapter. For one thing, he's a cavalier, not a brigand. He thinks that if he can keep the bridge down, he can stall until reinforcements arrive. Also, he'd really like a sandwich.
Indeed, Siegfried and Co. seem to be stymied, as their only recourse is to chat with the local villages and see if they have any clues. There are enemies to fight, but chatting it up with the locals comes first.
Player Phase:
Enemy Phase:
Not one of my favorite tracks. It's fast-paced, I guess, but it doesn't really go anywhere.
Honestly, you could just ignore this map's gimmick entirely. Inanna can carry people over the river, drop them off, come back for another one, and the two villages could be left pretty much alone. Still, for the sake of completion, I'll be showing them off. And speaking of that...
Shuuda, like most mercenaries, has skill and speed up the wazoo. He's pretty strong too, which gives him a lot of use when put up against the lances of our mounted units. He also comes with a red gem, for instant use the next time we run into a merchant. I have no complaints about him.
If there ever was a candidate for the Emblem Lance, it's Inanna. Blazer did the player a big favor by upping Pegasus Knight constitution. Now she only takes a slight penalty for using Iron, which she'll theoretically make up for with her growths. In theory.
For reasons which you'll see shortly, we won't be able to use Inanna much in the next chapter, so I'll be trying to give her some kills this chapter instead.
Jarod's got a decent loadout, but he's weak to the Piercing Sword. His position on a gate will make tagging him with a lance a little annoying, but he's otherwise fairly simple.
Corben starts out on the bridge, taking on all comers.
TLP isn't what you'd call a hardmode hack. At least not this version. So enemies in these first chapters may seem a tad underwhelming.
Especially when you can just snipe them with javelins.
Giving Inanna free space to move around in is always a good idea. Pegasus Knights aren't good for anyone if they have to worry about being one-shotted all the time.
Unacceptable.
I really should have handed Inanna the Emblem Lance like I said I would. She kind of flounders a bit in this map, due to her weak opening selection.
Shon may be hampered by his low constitution, but all that affects is his attack speed.
He can still hit just fine.
Still fresh off the disappointment train, I find this to be more than adequate.
Within a couple turns, we're already dealing with the dregs. This map has no reinforcements, despite Jarod talking about them, so we can pretty quickly run out of dudes to fight.
Especially with folks like Shuuda about.
Still, we've got some Pegasi in the south, so we can amuse ourselves with those.
It's like if Myrrh had really slow experience gains, had to use swords and spears, couldn't fly, and didn't use dragonstones.
Matter of fact, it's not much like Myrrh at all.
Who needs to worry about that weapon triangle when you can just smash the flying horses into the ground? Although to be honest, I should have saved them for Inanna.
Speaking of which, guess who got her first level of the game?
That's a level, all right.
Well, nothing left to do but cleanup.
And since Siegfried took a bit of a beating, Tamiko got her first level too.
That, I can work with.
Still, despite my better judgement, I'm going to try to make something of Inanna. Will I succeed? Most likely not.
Anyway, it's time to question some locals.
Seems that there's a Knight standing on the secret lever that controls the bridge, and only this man can use the lever. Guess it's got a Prf lock on it. However, if we want to proceed, we have to remove the Knight first, then see the man again.
But first, let's deal with our other problems.
Gaining a highly satisfactory level in the process.
Hooray for redundant crits. Those are the best kinds.
Let's get started on removing this roadblock, shall we?
Easier done than said.
Visiting this house gets us an item and a hint.
I'm going to give Blazer a pass on this chapter's hidden item, since, you know, this person comes right out and mentions it.
Plus we get a torch out of the deal. I hope that's not foreshadowing for a later chapter.
And once we've defeated the Knight, revisiting the village will prompt the little guy to run over and get the bridge up for us.
Let's proceed. But first...
Yeah, that's another reason why you want to power level Inanna. This game's following the same Act 1 structure as FE7, so everything you gain is going to get lost forever if it goes unused. Therefore, to make the most of this promotion item, we're going to have to make something of Inanna, so I hope she cooperates.
Ah yeah! You may not be the best for levels, Shon, but you can crit.
Who cares about attack speed reduction when soldiers have terrible speed as it is?
And healing Shon's nicks and bruises brings Tamiko another level.
Keep it up, girl.
Now for the boss.
Wouldn't be much of a game if that was true, would it?
Besides, Shon took off almost half his health in one hit. So far as dying is concerned, he's got one foot in the door already.
But I'd rather that someone else tried to get the kill, so I bring Shon back.
Following a brief javelin duel from Corben...
And some softening up from Shuuda...
Inanna totally muffs it.
So Corben picks up the spare instead.
Buddy, the secret to dying is to not get killed. Keep that in mind for the next time that you'll never have, because you're dead.
Had he also gotten speed, that would have been a fantastic level. As it is, I'll still take it.
All done.
In addition to being a fortress, this structure was also a prison for rebels, some of them from Alicia, the land of Pegasus Knights.
Interrogating a soldier, Siegfried discovers nothing useful, even when he threatens the man's life.
Siegfried needs to work on his one-liners.
Well, there's no way this guy's not vital to the plot somehow.
Revealing the next plot thread, this rebel leader states that a large number of prisoners are nomads serving Chief Haas, who is attempting to put down a conflict between the tribes over serving Magnus or our side. Obviously, this will need to be our next topic of concern, right after...
Rather confusing preparation instructions. Why are we defending the gate if we're leaving soon?
As night falls, Inanna reveals the presence of an incoming Magnian army unit, which is our cue to get out of dodge. But first, who is our mysterious hippie-looking friend?
Remember that. It will be on the test.
Next Time: A very, very, VERY bad idea.
Extras
Shuuda
Class: Mercenary
Weapon Ranks: C in swords
Affinity: Thunder
HP: 22 (75%) Lck: 4 (25%)
Str: 9 (50%) Def: 6 (20%)
Skl: 12 (50%) Res: 3 (25%)
Spd: 12 (50%) Con: 10
Shuuda's growths are all attack, all the time, which is fine by me. It will, however, make him a bit of a problem later in the game, since he'll be able to dish it out, but he won't be able to take too many hits. That may make him difficult to work with.
Inanna
Class: Pegasus Knight
Weapon Ranks: E in lances
Affinity: Light
HP: 18 (60%) Lck: 5 (50%)
Str: 6 (40%) Def: 5 (15%)
Skl: 6 (50%) Res: 3 (35%)
Spd: 8 (55%) Con: 7
Inanna is like Shon in a number of ways, and that alarms me. By setting her speed so low, and making her growth fairly average, Blazer is actually giving her a very high chance of being a speed-screwed Pegasus Knight, and that is just not right. We'll have to see about getting her a lot of levels, ASAP, so I hope she does well.