Part 29: BF25 – Valley of Lament

Nope, this isn't dead. I'm just terrible. I should be able to hold a real schedule from now on.


– Valley of Lament





After the Royal Army passed Marduk Woods, they approached the entrance to Lost Aries: the Valley of Lament.

The valley was lined with steep cliffs and harsh, narrow passages, forming a natural fortress.

Fortunately, Royal scouts discovered that due to the difficult terrain, the Imperial presence within the Valley of Lament was small.

The Royal Army advanced into the valley, hoping for a quick and decisive victory.







They must have concentrated their forces in the forest.

Makes sense... So let's hit 'em while they're off guard!

That's... the Royal Army!? W-We're under attack!

It's too late now!



Milanor and Mistel are the obvious members. Durant should come up next, but we have to deal with a handful of griffons in an ambush, so he can be a liability. So we're bringing Cruz.

Hah, no. Rosary's a good choice against the variety of melee we'll fight, and so is Pamela. Just for something different, I'll bring Pamela as the third and final member for this mission.

There aren't many of them. We've got the upper hand!



It's not in our best interest to wipe out the entire enemy party in one turn. It's unlikely, with how much morale that Knight has, but would be possible with Milanor and a strong card. Regardless, we're arranged in such a way that the Knight will be fine. His two allies are defeated easily, though.



We'll finish him off on our next turn. We get our cards reset as soon as this guy is defeated, so we can spend any extra cards we need to bring our party in closer. In this case, Bloody Claw's 9 mov is enough to bring everyone as close as possible.





What gives...? These guys are amateurs.

They're weak like crazy.

Ahh, you're just imagining things. Let's hurry!



Now's our chance! Onward!



Our next turn ends like this. If you reach the end of either the North or East path, the situation changes with an ambush. It's best to move slowly so a union is ready when we're attacked. Also, the day/night cycle will really give you some issues if you move forward while it's evening.

Next turn, Mistel and Pamela will get into position, and Milanor will trip the ambush with Steal.



Heheheh... You fell for it!

Huh?



The Black Knight...!?

Master Milanor! More enemies are approaching from behind!

What!?



It's Zilva's Special Forces!

Dammit! We're trapped!





I've been wanting to pay you back for your lip, kid!

Gah! We've got to get past them somehow...





Emelia is part of Leon's forces this time, and as such doesn't get a turn of her own. Regardless, she leads the attack for the Black Knight.



Milanor walks away with an easy win, and an item.

Everyone else comes out victorious as well, but only Mistel totally defeats her Griffon opponent.



Zilva's forces rearrange like so, with Elena on the east, overlooking the canyon.



I made a bit of a mistake here, and didn't actually look at the stats or items of any of the enemies. Either way, Emelia had her Ribbon stolen by Milanor. She's also a 2,3,4,4, by this image. Her Griffon ally has no item, an basically no stats.

Pamela will lead this round of attacks, with the Flame card. It's been basically unused the entire game so far, but serves a very important purpose right now.



Pamela hits Emelia with Flame, but due to it's low 1500 pow, Emelia is still flying.





Milanor also hits his opponent with Flame, and eliminates her. Excellent.





Mistel takes out Emelia no problem.



Since we killed a Griffon Rider with no item, using the Flame card, she drops a little surprise for us.



Then this happens.



At the start of Zilva's second round, you hear an arrow being notched, and then fired.



M-My cheek... That thing grazed me!



So it's you, Elena... Your aim's way off! You shoulda shot me in the heart! Zilva! She's your girl, so this is your call.

...Understood.

Heh... This should be interesting. Anyways, I'll have my shot at you guys soon enough...



Haaahahahahaha!

Master Zilva...

All traitors must die. Even if you are Sir Leon's sister. You know the rules.

But Master Zilva! I must stop my brother...!

You're a gifted student. I had hoped you would succeed me... ….........

Your death will be swift and painless... My gift to you.

Master Zilva...

That Black Knight... He set this whole thing up just to watch us squirm? What a bastard...

Look! It seems the Empire has a deserter in the ranks. They're focusing all their attention on her and not us... If we're to attack, now is our chance.

I get it... Then let's attack the Special Forces and save the traitor! Any enemy of theirs is a friend of ours!





We need to get to that traitor before they kill her!



Unfortunately, it's their turn first.

Don't resist, Elena.

Tch...!



Elena has a lot of morale to defend, but the odds aren't in her favour. Thankfully it's noon, now, so we won't have to deal with their Night , or especially Bloody Claw.



Elena loses all three, and comes out with about half morale.

Then, on the start of our turn...

Master Zilva! Someone is flying this way!

What?

It's Kylier!










Milanor will move up here to lead the charge. He can probably take them all out 3 on 1, but at this point of the game it's good to remember the Rep stat – the mostly useless stat you gain from winning fights, and lose from losing.

Well, Milanor's already maxed out at 6, but Kylier isn't. We'll get her some action as well.





Like Durant, she can pass through hostile units. This gets her in position with Milanor.

The Assassins are defeated, but Zilva stays in the game.

With our remaining Mov, Kylier will pass over Zilva and rescue Elena.





Whew! That was close.

….........

So why'd you turn on Leon like that? C'mon, you can tell us. We saved your life!

…......... Thank you for saving me. But... I must hurry...



Hey! Wait! ...She's gone.

She's an Imperial soldier. They're still our enemy. It could be a ruse to try and spy on us.

I dunno... Judging by that look in her eyes, I don't think so.

She seemed really desperate about something.

Well, no harm done. We've got to hurry, though. We should get out of here, quick.



Smash anyone who gets in our way!

Lost Aries is my home! They're not welcome here!





Kylier finishes off Zilva, and we start heading to the exit point.



Talk about bad taste...



This'd be perfect for Durant.

Milanor finds a couple things on the way. The Knight Killer was equipped by Leon, and you find it on the tile he was on when Elena shot him.









Is everyone here?



C'mon, let's get through this valley!

Hurry, everyone!

So this is the Land of Ruin... It truly is a wasteland.

Hey, people live here, y'know. There are towns here, too.

Perhaps we should visit the towns first, then.



You have a huge 27 turns for the quick clear MVP here, and this was done in 16. I've also done it in 13, but that's a good deal more difficult. Since Leon's group always retreats after his second turn, they don't stick around long. It shouldn't take too much longer than this, unless you don't bring in a lot of high movement cards.

Loot:


Ribbon: Nothing special. Void Ailments might come in handy a handful of times from here on, so it might fit on someone. Lasts 2 maps.


Grilled Griffon: The first Griffon Rider with no item you defeat during the same clash you use Flame against it will drop a Grilled Griffon. You don't get any repeat chances, so you can only get the one. You don't have to get it this time – any other Griffon mission will do.


Knight Killer: Not bad. There are a lot of Knights we fight, basically forever, so it's handy. 3 Maps.


Scorpio Tail: Sand is generally annoying as hell, so this can mitigate it. It lasts two maps, two, which in general is how often you actually see sand.


Skull Stone: This item's kinda funny. It gives Roswell a nice morale boost, 6000, but offers no other uses. If you have this item, and try to talk to a person in a village, however, they refuse to talk to you. A great way to miss out on items. Use it immediately.

Notes:

Not too much happening, despite appearances. Most of Leon's forces will retreat before you even have a chance to fight them, and Kylier can deal with Zilva's Assassins pretty well on her own.

The biggest thing to watch out for is probably triggering Leon's ambush during the evening. If you do, it will be Night when Zilva's forces attack Elena. Both sides get the advantage, but Zilva's side will use Bloody Claw, which will really hurt Elena.

An interesting character note, Zilva won't actually move towards Elena to attack her. She stands her ground and lets her, and you, escape.