Part 9: Waterside Renvall

Chapter 7: Waterside Renvall



Now Eirika must find a way to rescue her brother from beneath enemy eyes.

Eirika's company rushes towards Castle Renvall, where Ephraim is being held. Surrounded by lakes, Renvall is a natural fortress, all but unassailable. A lone bridge, held by the enemy, is its only entrance.

Eirika has only one choice. Eirika decides to confront Grado's soldiers head on...





: Renvall is surrounded by lakes. The only entrance is the bridge to the main gate, and it's well guarded. Castle Renvall is a natural stronghold, easy to defend and difficult to assault. We must plan our attack carefully.

: I agree...



: My elder brother, Forde, is in there with Prince Ephraim, Sir Kyle, Sir Orson... Let me help you set them free!

: There is nothing to discuss. We will fight.

: The hour of your reunion is not far off now.

: I am yours to command, Your Highness.

: We're with you all the way! Right, Dad?

: Don't work yourself into a lather, Ross. In the heat of battle, a good warrior remains calm where lesser men do not.

: You need anything stolen, I'm your man. 'Course, my blade's no joke either.

: I'm sure I can help you if you'll let me... I'll keep you safe.

: You can't possibly consider fighting without my genius at your side!

: I have yet to repay you for helping me fight those abominations. Please, let me stand by your side a while longer.

: This has trouble written all over it. Bet you it's all a trap... Ah, well... My luck's gotta turn around sometime, right?

: May the sacred light surround us and protect us all.

: Well, Princess, let us prepare for battle.



This little snippet where everyone gets a turn to talk is very reminiscent of the final chapter of FE7's first act, and appropriately so, since the chapter after this one marks the end of this game's Act 1, too.

It's too bad that the game doesn't let you field your entire party like in FE7, but our group here is a bit bigger.



As you can see, the main obstacle in our way is this large mountain range right next to a river. The chapter text wasn't kidding when it mentioned how difficult this place is to get to. But I've got a plan.



Murray would be a bit more of an obstacle if he wasn't susceptible to Eirika's Rapier. The guy's got good stats across the board and a fairly decent weapon combo, and he's going to get an assist from the gate he's standing in. The game's slowly slipping off the kid gloves.

Notice the Knight Crest. It's green, so he'll drop it on death. It's a promotion item for cavaliers and knights, so we'll need that shortly, since they're getting up there in levels.



Since going around the mountain is such a bore, I figured I'd do something different. To start, Eirika applies some Pure Water. We got this a while back, if you recall. What it does is it raises Eirika's resistance by 7, then wears off a point at a time every turn. Why does Eirika need a resistance infusion, you ask?



Because of this guy, of course. He's got an Energy Ring, and since it isn't in green text, that means we'll have to steal it. An Energy Ring increases the attack stat (Strength or Magic) by 2, which makes it really handy to have.



In order to get Eirika over to the other side of the river, Ross picks her up...



And Vanessa sets her down.



Meanwhile, Neimi makes a beeline for the ballista on the western side of the lake, while everyone else goes across the southern end of the mountain.



Except for Colm, who takes up a position next to the river.

I suppose I should make a distinction here between rivers and lakes. The lake is the big patch of water around the fortress. Only pirates and fliers can cross that sort of watery terrain. Meanwhile, people on foot (except knights, for obvious reasons) can wade across the river, but it costs them 5 move to take a single step. Pirates, meanwhile, only take a cost of 2 to cross them (presumably because they can swim it instead), and fliers are, naturally, above such considerations entirely.



: General Valter's adjutant, Lord Tirado, has charged us with defending the castle! Show them the might of Murray's Brigade! Don't let anyone near the castle!





I got a lot luckier here than the first time I tried this. The first time, the soldiers both hit Eirika, followed up by this guy, which was mostly the reason why I used the Pure Water this time around. Figures, doesn't it?



In the south, Gilliam does his thing.



Getting stronger, that is.



Meanwhile, Eirika moves so that the mage can have an opportunity to shoot at Colm, putting him in easy thieving range. Colm can take it, and then Colm can take it.



It's rare to see magic just bounce off of someone in this game. Pure Water is powerful stuff.



Eirika apparently enjoys the feeling of it.



And with that, the largest challenge of the map is over. Time to clean up.



Atta boy, Ross!



Gilliam, Artur, Joshua and Moulder trudge along the south side. We've already almost completely cleared out the area around the bridge, and they're just coming around the mountain. This chapter takes a while if you do it the boring normal way.



With the coast clear, Neimi boards the ballista to find...



That there's nobody in range. D'oh!





While Vanessa baits over one of the mercenaries so I can show off the freakin' ballista, Artur and Joshua actually get something done.



Ballistae are terrible when there aren't any pegasi around. They've got 5 shots, bad base damage, a mediocre hit rate, and they're stationary, so you usually have to bait people into coming into range of them.



Not that the enemy archer on the east side is faring much better. Take this shot of him missing Joshua and repeat it three times, and you've got the extent of the ballista's threat this battle.



Vanessa gets hit by the curse of the HP, Luck, Speed level.





Lute too. I wonder why the game likes luck and speed so much.



Now, the boss.

: Our ballistae have failed? How could this be? Grrr... I guess it's up to me!



Nice try, sparky.

: Lord Tirado...



Well, at least it's not speed.



...Let's just Seize and be done with this.



: Seth, we must go inside!

: Hold, Lady Eirika. Look, in the shadows--a figure...

: Ah! An enemy soldier!



Not quite.



: Sir Orson... Why are you here? You should be with Prince Ephraim.

: Are you all right, Orson? If you're here, my brother must be here as well, right?

: Yes... Prince Ephraim and I were both captured by Grado forces and held here as prisoners. I just managed to escape my cell... A chance to escape-- It's what I had prayed for...

: Orson... are you well? Your face is so pale. Grado's men, don't tell me they've--

: No... it's nothing. But Lord Ephraim... I cannot say whether he's still unharmed.

: What!? Where is he? Where is my brother?

: If he lives still, he will be in one of the deeper cells, where I was held. Head down this corridor to the dungeons. Quickly, before reinforcements arrive.

: Thank you...

: ...

Well, this sounds completely plausible.

Next Time: It's a Trap!