Part 10: The Shield of Thracia

However, danger was still with them.





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What should we do?
We have two choices. We can either head west into the mountains to shake them off, or we can continue on southward towards Castle Meeds. Either way, we will probably have to request aid from Thracia.
Aid...from Thracia? But Thracia ruined my country and killed my parents. I have no intention of asking them for help!
Do you intend to put your allies in danger just because of your own selfishness? You must understand that we are not fighting to avenge your country or family. We have stood up to liberate Northern Thracia from the Empire.



Also, General Hannibal resides in Castle Meeds. He is a respectable warrior known as the Shield of Thracia. I'm certain he would help us if we tell him that we have escaped from Redric of Manster.
All right, then let's head for Castle Meeds. We can go to Tahra later.
Tahra...? I've heard that the Imperial Army has surrouned Tahra because it openly opposed them taking their children. It would be suicide to go there with our small forces.

Suicide... or totally awesome? (The answer, as always, is both.)







And if the rumors are true, that someone is a kid named Leaf, one of the last surviving heirs of Lenster. There's a huge bounty on his neck as well. We've got a nice one to go after for a change...

: Hm...

---

This can be a damn tough map, and I’m not ashamed to say I had to reset more than once to beat it (I am upset at just how many times I reset, but that’s something for the end of the update. Don’t play Thracia 776 tired, let me just say that.) Here’s what we’re up against.





Here are the myrmidons. Shiva’s on the left of the back row. It's can be hard to keep track of Shiva amongst the swarm of identical myrmidons if you don't know that he always stays at the rear of the pack. This ends up working to our advantage.



To the south of the myrmidons lies our goal. There's a couple of facilities here: a supply, a shop, and a third new building we've never seen before. Remember that it's there.



Lying along the west side of the map is a bunch of bandits and such. They're just going to hang out here, so we can ignore them if we want, or deal with them on our own time.



And here's us.





Karin heads into the mountains.



Fergus charges the wrong way.



Leaf and Makua move into a pair of adjacent mountains. Mountains give +5 defense, as well as 30 avoid, making them an ideal place to stave off the incoming myrmidon horde.



The rest of our gang moves to the west, towards the two houses.

---





Yes, there were some suspicious figures lurking around the area, so we captured them. They're probably bandits from the outskirts to the east...
I see... What are they saying?
They keep claiming that they are simple villagers, but from the way that they talk, I can only suspect that they're brigands of some sort.
All right, I'll talk to them myself later. More importantly, something is boiling up in Manster... That Reidric might be scheming something. Be on your guard.
Yes, sir!





Fin!



Sir Fin... Am I just a hindrance after all?

Safy too!

No, that's not it. I appreciate your offer to help, but I'm not sure if I can protect you or not.
When I left Tahra, I swore to the war god, Heim, that I would not fear death as long as I could help the savior of my town. You need not worry about me. If I could be of any assistance to you, then please take me along.
Very well, if you insist... In any case, we must get going. We need to find the prince before sunset.

---



Directly north of Fin and Safy lies a berserker.





Yeah, we're not going to mess with him. Oddly enough, every other playthrough I've done I've put Fin into the forest and had him fight the Berserker (only on the counterattack.) This time the berserker got lucky and scored a crit on Fin, leaving him with 1hp... and poisoned. I had to watch him die.



This time, I'm not going to risk it. Fin's Brave Lance could probably nullify the berserker's crit chance, but why risk it? (Also, doing it this way turns out to be for the best.) He's gonna ditch Safy, the berserker doesn't move.



Karin continues her flight over the mountains. You may already have an idea where I'm going with this.

Up north, we start visiting the houses.

---



If you ever get hit by poison, just rub this on the wound and it'll go away just like that. I've heard the rogues in the west use poisoned weapons. You'll be glad you took this antidote along.

One guess what we get here. (an antidote cures poison, and can be used thrice.)



Ignore the fact this screen was blatantly taken on a different attempt.

Oh... Just forget what I said, then. Here, I'll give you this to keep your mouth shut.

We get another Knight's Proof.

---



Asvel moves onto a mountain.



Fergus moves into a forest, and gets off his horse. Don't worry, there's a method to my madness.

---







Yeah, could you also ignore that this was blatantly taken on a different attempt as well?



Yes, my lord. ...But Thracia is allied with us. Would they really head for Castle Meeds at all?"
The Empire and Thracia are allied, but we are not on good terms with each other. In fact, we're on bad terms. If there's anyone with half a brain among the rebels, he would take advantage of this situation.
Ah, I see.
Anyway, if we can catch them before they reach the castle, we won't have to deal with Thracia at all. And one more thing... Hannibal most likely has his armored infantry stationed around the castle. Whatever you do, don't get into a fight with them. Understood?
Yes, my lord.

---



And here they come.



From both sides!





A second javelin user misses Fergus as well.



Alright, let's talk about Eisenhower and his reinforcements. They'll show up every turn from now on until we kill Eisenhower, and can be a pain to deal with until then. You see, they are all equipped with rapiers. As you may remember, Rapiers are effective against both horseback units and armored units. In short, they're good against all of our tanks. They also have javelins, so if we dismount our mounted units to get around the rapiers, they can pelt us from a distance with javelins, taking advantage of weapon triangle bonuses. My first reset of the Lp came from Bryton taking one too many rapiers to the face. As such, I devised this somewhat unorthodox strategy. Fergus and Asvel are going to take advantage of the mountains to face off against the cavaliers. While I don't have a traditional bottleneck going on, Fergus and Asvel are the only characters in their range, and so they'll break themselves trying to take out either Fergus and Asvel.



I can't say for sure, but I think hit chance has a minimum of one. Seems like something Thracia 776 would do.





Karin keeps doing her thing.



Here comes the cavalry (again).



The southern forces are almost upon us.







Asvel makes short work of a pair of Cavaliers.



The two other cavaliers are too afraid to attack Fergus. Right now he's got a fire sword equipped, which means he can counter their javelins. Technically this is a good decision on their part, if only because it keeps them alive for a couple more turns at least.



Burn baby burn. The fire sword gives an extra 5 magic, meaning it's somewhat usable by anyone. (The enemy dies of course.)





Karin keeps doing her thing.



Fin gets his start on trying to rendezvous with the main forces. He gets back on his horse here.



The cavaliers continue to show up, while the myrmidons finally make contact with our main force.





One's weakened, a second killed.









The last fellow there has a Killer Edge, there's a reason both Leaf and Makua we're given scrolls, and it wasn't really for the stats.



Asvel trades blows with a cavalier, and gets [Hp: 26, Str: 0, Mgc: 9, Skl: 7, Spd: 16, Bld: 5]



He fights a second cavalier as well, taking it down to around 12hp because of an unfortunate miss.



Elsewhere, a lone myrmidon starts heading down. (It's Shiva.)



Karin drops Safy. Almost there...



Back on the frontlines, Makua brings the killer edged myrmidon down to two health.



I take a gamble on a 95% and have Nanna capture him. Nanna was actually the best candidate, her earth sword is amazingly accurate. I mean, she probably would have died had she missed, but so would have Bryton/Dashin/Hicks. This actually caused another one of my resets, although I wish I could say it was because she missed with a 95%. In truth, she hit, but I are smart and she couldn't actually kill him. Then she died.



He's not fast enough to double, meaning the cavalier survives (albeit weakened).



Bryton and Dashin make a shield to protect Nanna from the cavaliers. They'd tear her apart with her rapier. At the same time, Leaf takes down a weakened myrmidon with his light sword that could have reached Bryton. (Which would have been bad.)



Fergus continues his path of carnage.



A movement star lets him take things even further. (Do I even need to say the enemy doesn't survive?)





This is why you don't let Bryton into the frontlines here.







Three myrmidons try their chances at taking Makua down. None approach being successful. One also has a silver sword, which I would very much like. Also, level! [Hp: 28, Str: 5, Mgc: 2, Skl: 16, Spd: 17, Luk: 10, Def: 5, Bld: 7] Pretty bad.




The reinforcements this time around are easily frightened.



Nanna finishes the cavalier from a distance with her Earth sword.



The rest of the gang retreats and in Bryton's case heals.



Finally, my convoluted plan has reached fruition. Let me whine about this for a second. You see, if Shiva gets a movement star, he can capture Safy, rendering him unrecruitable. There's a 5% chance of this plan failing, no matter what you do. (Yup, it happened to me ) Why can't she talk to him while he's taken her prisoner? It would be make so much sense!



Why are you doing this? You're not a bad man...
I'm just doing my job. It's of no concern to you. Now move.
...No.
...You're going to sacrifice your life for that kid?
If that's the case...then so be it!
......
Thracia needs Lord Leaf! I would gladly give my life to ensure that he arrives there safely!
Hmph... You say some pretty stupid things sometimes, don't you? Fine... Have it your way.
What!? Then you're going to help Lord Leaf?
Yeah. Might as well, you know? But let me say this. Don't ever talk about death lightly in front of me. If there's one thing I hate, it's people rushing to get killed.
I'm sorry... I'll be more careful.
Can I ask you something? What is it that you want? What would make you smile with your heart?

Aww, look who's a big softie

I simply want to see the people living happily in peace. If they are smiling, then I will be as well.
I see... Guess I shouldn't have asked. Anyway, my name Shiva, from Savan. What's yours?
Safy...from Tahra.

---



Shiva's a damn good unit. I'll explain in greater detail later.



And finally, Asvel's hit 11, and doesn't have any enemies in dire need of killing. It's time. Time for pants.



Game on.



Dead. [Hp: 32, Str: 14, Mgc:2, Skl: 11, Spd: 11, Luk: 11, Def: 6, Bld: 10]. My successful run yielded far worse levels than any other run. That's Fire Emblem for you.



The gang down south do their things.



And we've got two mages. Bishops with meteor are going to be showing up soon, and I don't want to have to deal with that, (I was several resets in and feeling defensive), so I decide to stop toying with Eisenhower. Asvel has his promotion, we don't need anything else.

First though, the enemy phase must come to an end.



The myrmidon with the silver sword heals, which is far preferable to suicide by Makua.





These two aren't so smart. Silver sword guy and weakened guy are the last two myrmidons.



Everyone here goes after Fergus, no one hits. (He's got his rapier equipped, not his fire sword, so no counterattack for him.)



Nice knowing you buddy.



And that takes care of things there.



Fergus strikes back!



So does Makua.



On the enemy phase, Silver sword guy comes back for more. Thankfully, he survives.



This isn't a war it's a slaughter. (All enemies died by Fergus' hand )



The gang from the south has almost reached the gang from the north. How long until they start dancing? _{It is a bad west side story joke}



It's almost like Makua realizes I want the silver sword. Way to go, Makua!





And we've done it!

Now it's time to take care of the enemies across the mountains. We actually have a unique opportunity here.





Karin can attack the brigands, then retreat into the mountains where they can't attack her. So, we're going to have her gradually whittle down and capture most of the enemies here, to fill our coffers with plundered loot. Here's the master list.



An iron bow and some holy water...



A lockpick and an iron sword...



Another Iron bow and some holy water...

You know what, let's skip the pictures. From here on out, I pilfer an iron bow, four iron axes, and a hand-axe. In the process, Karin levels twice.

[Hp: 29, Str: 10, Mgc: 7, Skl: 11, Spd:20, Luck: 18, Def: 7, Bld: 4.] Defense is always great. Also, speed can still increase even when it's capped. If memory serves, having a stat technically above 20 mitigates dismounting penalties.

[Hp: 30, Str: 10, Mcg: 8, Skl: 11, Spd: 20, Luk: 19, Def: 7, Bld: 4] Magic is nice, otherwise bad.



All that's left is a warrior and the berserker.



I'm not successful in capturing the former. Fergus gets an empty level.



The berserker takes several turns, consisting of Fergus damaging him on the counter-attack to avoid wrath (he has a scroll to avoid normal crits, however the scrolls don't protect from wrath), as well as Karin whittling him away with a Javelin. Fergus levels:

[Hp: 32, Str: 15, Mgc: 2, Skl: 11, Spd: 12, Luck: 12, Def: 7, Bld: 10] Pretty good, speed and strength is always great.

Every enemy is dead, but we aren't done yet.

---



If you fight and win, you'll get rewarded with cash, and it's a good way to test your skills. Oh, but you'll die if you lose, so don't get carried away. You must never overdo anything. If you do decide to go, then take this. I'm sure it'll be of some use.

---

Oh, we'll do just that old lady. The arena is just like she described it, you wager money, and fight an enemy selected by the computer. You win, you get money and experience. You lose, you lose your money and a character. It's damn risky. Combat in the arena is fairly simple, a typical round of combat is infinitely repeated until somebody loses. The game assumes you initiate the attack (or maybe it's speed based - god knows I would never put a slow character in the arena.) You can also press B at any time to yield (although the next attack will still go through). You'll lose your money, but you won't die. The arena is tough, you're almost always saddled with an iron sword, but enemies will have steel or silver weapons that don't weigh them down. The only characters who should touch the arena are very fast characters with high offensive potential to compensate for their iron sword (a high PCC will suffice). They also need the build to not be weighed down by their weapon. Anyone else should stay away. I got cocky and put Karin in the arena, she got doubled and killed by a troubadour who had to have had max speed and more than 12 build to have been able to double her. Luckily, we have a perfect candidate for the arena with us - Shiva. We're going to give him every scroll we've got and let him go to town on the arena.





You can see how the arena doesn't pull its punches, a level 5 enemy has 22 attack, which is more than most normal enemies we face. The arena doesn't provide free heals, so Safy heals Shiva's wounds. Anyways, time passes. Let's have a before and after pic of both Shiva and Safy.



I didn't mean to get him so many levels, but the numbers going up felt so good.



I don't know what happened here, but I don't like it. Not one bit. (It's not so bad really, weapon rank is the most important thing for staff users, and regardless of her stats, that kept increasing.)

Anyways, with that done, let's mosey on out.

First though, we have some conversations to have.

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No, I trusted you would be safe, Lord Leaf. I just didn't expect to find you so quickly...
It's all thanks to the Magi group.
Magi...? They're called the Magi group? They seem to have both knights and mercenaries, but who are they?
They're rebels from Manster. They agreed to help me until their city is liberated.
I see. ...Where is Eyevel? She doesn't seem to be here...
Eyvel's in Manster... She was turned to stone by a Lopt Priest. There's nothing we can do right now...
! ...I see... I'm sorry, Lord Leaf...
You don't have to apologize. And...I will go rescue Eyvel. Some day, we'll go back to save her. So you'd better not die! You can't die until we return to Manster!
Of course. I will swear to my spear that I will never leave your side again!
Yeah... By the way, where are the others?
They're being held captive in the castle. I thought about rescuing them, but I figured I should find you first.
I see... So we have to go to Castle Meeds anyway. All right, we'll pick up the others, and then go to Tahra. You must have memories of that place as well.
Yes, Lord Leaf.

Next is Nanna and Fin:

Father!?
Nanna... Thank goodness you've alive. Are you all right? Are you hurt?
No, I'm fine. Eyvel protected me...
I see... I wouldn't know what to say to that person if something had happened to you...
Father...
Hm? Is something wrong?
No... Sorry. Never mind...
Well, if you say so. Anyway, return to the back lines. Your staves are useful, but you shouldn't be up front like this.

We've killed everyone Fin, there is no back line.

Yes, father..

---

Now we're done. Let's start escaping.



---




However, we were rescued by the rebels there, and we escaped.
Hm... You look quite resolved for one so young. What is your name?
My name is Lugh Faris, General Hannibal.
...You look like him...
What? ...I look like who?
No, forget it. What do you intend to do from now?
I'm planning on going to Tahra. I have friends there...
Are you going over the mountains?
Yes. We are fugitives. We cannot go through Imperial territory.
I see... Those mountains are home to bandits. Be careful.
Thank you. Then will you release my allies?









Oh, and one more thing...





You don't need to do that much for us...
Please take me. I want to go along with you!
Well, if you insist... Please show us to Purple Dragon Mountain.
Yes!






You are an amazing person Corple.

The sun is setting. You should be on your way, Lugh.
Yes, thank you for everything, General Hannibal. I won't forget this!

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New Recruits

Shiva



Hp: 70% Spd: 35%
Str: 45% Lck: 60%
Mag: 5% Def: 30%
Skl: 50% Bld: 20%
Mov: 1%

Weapon Ranks: B (swords) Movement stars: 1 Skills: Sun Sword PCC:4

Shiva's one of the game's best offensive powerhouses. He's got a great PCC, and pretty good strength to go along with it. Shiva's growths and bases are pretty excellent, rather than being a typical myrmidon with a high speed base and a high growth, capping it early while other stats lag behind, Shiva gets a high speed base but then gets a low growth, with his lower stats like strength who need high growths getting higher growths. He's also quite durable: 30% defense isn't so bad, he has great avoid from his high luck and speed, and his Sun Sword has a skill% chance of healing for damage dealt. (There's a trend in 4 and 5 to take all the useful mastery skills from 9, and give them all to myrmidons.)

Carion





Hp: 75% Spd: 45%
Str: 40% Lck: 55%
Mag: 10% Def: 25%
Skl: 65% Bld: 25%
Mov: 1%

Weapon Ranks: E (swords), D (lances) Movement stars: 1 Skills: None PCC:4

There's not much too say about Carion, he's just a really good unit. He's got good growths, decent bases, and a high PCC. That's pretty much all you need in a character. (The movement star is nice as well.) Also, as a cavalier, he can use swords even when he's on a horse. This is very useful, it lets him build weapon ranks in swords while mounted to make him more viable when he's dismounted.

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Current resets: 0 6 I'm sorry everyone.

Next time on Thracia 776: A breather.

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Note: There is no viewer participation for this update. You'll see why next update. (On that note, I'm home for reading week, but all my good friends' reading weeks just ended, so I have plenty of time to commit to the Lp, so the next update will either be tomorrow or the day after.)