#and Ares and Shanan are by his side?

[handfuloftime]

Back to FE4

I am again having a terrible time telling the kids apart from their parents  (Larcei and Julia are the biggest problems, because their map sprites are exactly the same as their mothers’).

Nanna and Delmud are both quite good (and Nanna ended up with the Strength Ring lol). Delmud needs a better sword though.

Fee is also pretty good?

And Larcei is unstoppable again (except for her terrible Res); she and Ulster inherited five skills each (Pursuit, Nihil, Vantage, Astra, and Paragon), though Larcei ended up with the Skill and Leg rings so she still comes out a bit ahead.

Glad that Adean survived, at least, even if she’s conveniently offscreen.

Rachesis deserved so much better than vanishing into the desert.

Though, having said that, who in Gen 1 didn’t deserve better?

I’m just picturing Oifey and Shannan pushing a wheelbarrow full of two year olds through the desert to Issach.

Chapter 7 is such a slog. Love replaying the same three turns seven times in a row.

On the bright side, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the little group of Oifey, Ares, Delmud, Lester, and Fee handled Jobarro’s mercenaries. Especially since I accidentally let Jobarro escape and he came back with a second wave of troops.

Even if it meant that I ended up defeating the bosses at Darma and Alster at roughly the same time, so I had to walk Seliph all the way over to capture Darma (in order to recruit Leen) and then all the way back.

Once again: fuck the Shield skill.

It took me way too long to crack that the way to deal with the Alster mage trio was to put Shanan on a tree to get his evasion as high as possible (because they insisted on attacking him from close range for some reason? Sure, I’ll take it) but one of them promptly hit him with 7% accuracy anyway.

I said this last time, but I love Ares’s introductory conversation so much. The way Seliph responds to Ares threatening to kill him by insisting that they should be friends instead really sums up why I love him.

Trying to learn from my major mistake last time and level Julia up as fast as possible. She’s level 9 now, but that’s still another eleven levels over the next two chapters...

The thing about this game is that once I figure out a workable strategy and everything comes together, it’s really fun! It just takes six hours of increasingly frustrated resetting to get to that point.

[randomnameless]

Final Chapter - Dozel to Freege!

Seliph continues to liberate the land of his grandfather, and settles down the feud the Chalphyians had with the Freeges for 3 generations.

AND WE SEE THE RISE AND FALL OF OUR HERO - SCIPIO OF JUNGBY

You had men out there? I forgot. I was focused on, you know, the Master Knight with a Holy Weapon.

I hope you’re calling your men cowards, not the Dozels! Or is it another way of Kaga to pile shit on the Dozels, even from within their side?

Yeah, once and for all given how you’re one of the rare bosses to run away and not to die when we defeat you.

A plan?

This is a way to warn the player of what kind of backup units/mechanics are going to happen, so we won’t be going “WTF” at, idk, ballistaes popping up after the 10th turn in a defense map, but it defeats the plot purpose!

there’s no surprise here, so of course Hilda’s plan doesn’t work. If we knew in FE5 that Dastard Jr was going to blow up the bridge after we sent units to cross it, then to send Reinhardt and his pals on us, it wouldn’t have the same impact - we would curse Saias less, but his “tactician” gimmick wouldn’t be translated into the game

Hilda means to fight to death. Well, this is the final map so...

The Gelbenritter, or what’s left of it looks menacing! Hopefully Arvis gave Seliph the Tyrfing in the previous chapter, else Seliph wouldn’t have been able to plow through those guys like Ares does on a regular basis - welp that sounds wrong doesn’t it

What do you mean, random? Is this not a holy war on its own, us having to fight against Loptyr himself?

HE ASKS US TO SUMMON THE TRIFORCE? SUMMON THE POWER OF THE HYLIAN GODDESSES SELIPH!

?? To this day, I still don’t understand what the fuck are those trails. Julia and Seliph? Leif and Seliph? Julia vs Julius? (one good light vs one evil light?)

At least he gave us sufficient funds to repair our HWs.

“slow down you jackass you have a horse now !”

“remember you’re weak and i have to protect you, the usual routine” “hey i have my holy weapon now”

? You’re scared now, but when we were fighting in Thracia you weren’t? OTOH this is the end of the journey, and during Siggy’s end everything burnt, so maybe Larcei’s afraid of that, or she knows that if she manages to rekt Julius before, now he is stronger.

IDK, maybe having your WIFE and not only her BLADE at your side?

Larcei’s supposed to find this romantic, or she’s pissed, idk.

Finally someone’s going to sing something good about the Crusdaders, Neir and co!

smite the devil with a demonic blade? Like in Pokémon when ghost attacks are very effective against ghost types?

Odo and Hezul hated each other guts or something? One is a saint, the other wields a demonic blade...

Apparently Baldur is only remembered as very pious, or something? the Tyrfing shines in the dark?

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER CRUSADERS DAMN IT

and Baldur “shines a light” but Heim “prays”? I mean, if something should be shiny and have a “light” imagery, it should be the Book of Naga, not the Tyrfing but...

Ooh!

So Heim prays to the white dragon who destroys the shadow dragon, that’s why praying is important and Heim’s reserved stuff!

So the white dragon means light? Baldur and Heim were cosy enough to share their attributes, or Baldur did something awesome to be called the holy knight with a sword that shines light?

Well, wait 60 turns and see.

for we have the power of savestates at our disposal?

OTOH, if Seliph and Julia die here... We can only pull a Manfroy with Linoan, and hope for her Naga-grandson to continue the fight

Children will finish what their parents started, the game is called Genealogy after all!

or he is talking about the power of savestates

MMH

Never lost? The Barahra family nearly went extinct because someone only had eyes for a married woman who ran away!

You believe in Lester, who’s only following us?

I believe in Linoan too, even if she isn’t in the game. Or by light you meant people who want to fight against Loptyr?

You raised more questions than answers, but this song makes me understand what the randoms in Granvalle are really thinking (or what Finn thinks they’re thinking^^) - only the sword crusader counts and that irks me a lot!

Stop swarming us from the rear damn it genealogy of the rear attack : the holy innuendo

Scipio is into dubious kinks

more seriously, who compares himself to a snake? That’s not a noble animal!

DERMOTT NO - he managed to dodge this

Hilda knew Tailte had another child? She must have heard about how Tine defected to join her brother and made 1+1.

She can dirty them around killing randoms, but not by killing Hilda? It doesn’t make any sense :’(

!

Hilda’s aware that she’s going to hell? Or that, whatever she is/was doing, she knew it was something that no one could condone?

HOW’S THAT “WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE”

You’re being rude to your street urchin of a cousin Scipio!

the sprites beg to differ, but again, to Scipio and everyone around his age who grew up in the empire Siggy and pals, even Briggid were traitors!

Family bonding time :)

ULSTER NO

YOU RUINED THEIR FAMILY BONDING TIME :’(

Maybe he felt conflicted by hearing that he is the son of Jamke and how the Empire and the Jungbies never gave a flying fuck about his country

Fee remembered that Arthur’s dad was the guy who berated Arthur’s mom for wanting to kill her own dad, Arthur mustn’t slay his relatives! So she’s the one to kill Hilda.

Farewell Hilda, at least you’ll join Blume and you’ll live happily ever after together, with your daughter joining you in the next update!

Come on i’ve seen this before

Try to be more inventive next time, would you?

Finally, we settle things with Freeges! By seizing their castles!

Seliph thinks of the children :)

Felipe ex machina

Oldvis had an aide? With Aida dead, he maybe wanted to share his dastardly plans to someone, or maybe he wanted to talk to anyone who wouldn’t trashtalk him unlike his son(s?)...

OMG OMG OMG

Even the ones from Thracia?

THEY’RE ALL HIDING!!!!

Which raises several issues, how can they all fit, how many were they, how come no one noticed that no children were in Belhalla and reported it to Julius, etc...

Remember that Hilda was the Queen of Miletos, so she spent the majority of her time there!!

And Freege isn’t Hilda’s city, but the Ducal seat of Blume and the Tordo royals!

and here the Ishtar gambit is revealed!

So Ishtar has wrath in her skillset? I never noticed

Hm... You haven’t met a lot of people.

She and Oldvis were really getting along then! We could glimpse it in their convo, too bad it ended in, well, you know. Loptyrpocalypse ruins everything.

Oh, so the children signed their presence sheet, then skipped the “i will sacrifice myself for the sake of Loptyr, our God and Savior” classes.

It still doesn’t make any sense, but why not

They’re going to gie you armorslayers and vulneraries, ask Leif!

Thank you revealing crucial elements of caracterisation the game couldn’t offer us in some other way

“Some results” is the reason why so many people joined Seliph’s quest, and the symbol of the Empire’s tyranny, but whatever

But yes, the real job awaits.

Dead is the only logical conclusion, but the game isn’t logical. And how’s that the only option? Master draconic tactician can’t guess that Loptyr murdered the only one who can kill him before she could hold the tome of Naga?

Or is he desperatly clinging to the little shred of hope he has of Julia being alive not to think about his own naivety of letting her get captured when she is the only one able to save the world?

That’s not what you told us in Chapter 6, you said only Seliph’s destiny was “to free the world from this evil grip” as the “one true heir of Saint Heim”

Freeing the world from the evil grip means getting rid of the idiot sitting in Belhalla, right?

Hopefully even this guy doesn’t contradict the game’s lore. At least one positive point I found about you, yay!

“what about you, you raised her for years?”

“i only fed her wild berries and gave her a roof - i spent more time training Arthur in wind magic than talking and being a relative to Julia, remember how i dropped her on you during your Isaachian campaign without any tomes or staves?”

Hopefully, Julia dosn’t need to be convinced by those dolts, because it’s her destiny as a Falchion to slay an evil Dragon!

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 9

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Chapter 9 - Dragon Knight Arion

T/W: Mention of likely one-sided romantic feelings between adopted siblings.

Ever since the child hunt was carried out at Grutia Castle, many of the citizens had come to see Seliph and his soldiers as a liberation army.

The same people also spread the news that General Hannibal's son had been taken hostage. His name was Coirpre, and he'd been entrusted to Luthecia Castle's General Disler.

"Let's save the hostage!" Seliph said. "If we do that, the general may respond with a ceasefire."

It was the liberation army's fundamental policy to avoid pointless battles as much as possible, and Hannibal's army was also very powerful, so reaching a conclusion without fighting him was the best possible option.

But to get to Luthecia Castle, they would have to get past Hannibal's army, which was stationed in front of Kapathogia Castle.

"Does anyone know of a road we can take that will allow us to avoid being seen by Hannibal's army?” Seliph asked.

The villagers took him into the mountains behind Kapathogia Castle, where hunters were using the land as their hunting grounds. 

According to the hunters, if they avoided General Hannibal's army and traveled on the foot to the base of the mountains, there was a road that circumvented the castle.

"Alright, let's take that road!" Seliph exclaimed.

Since the rescue mission was to be a surprise attack from beginning to end, it was best to only let a few people go, so they narrowed the group down to Seliph, Ares, and finally, Fee, who would act as a flying column. 

The problem was the countermeasure in case of Hannibal's army attacking before the rescue had been completed.

"I have a Sleep Staff. Whoever I use it on will sleep for four to five days straight." Lana said.

"I didn't know there was such a useful spell! Why haven't you used it until now?"

"The staff will break after one use, so I didn’t want to use it until we were in a desperate situation…"

Shanan was chosen to lead the army while they were gone. 

-

With the hunters as their guides, Seliph and the others headed out.

They traveled west in a straight line, then turned south at the foot of the mountains. That area was wooded, so they didn't have to worry about being seen by enemies.

The forest cleared when they neared the castle.

"Starting from here, we'll have to climb into the mountains a bit."

The path was steep, and they couldn't make much progress on foot.

Fee gave a report every day on what she observed from the skies.

On the evening of the fourth day since they'd set out, they made it to the backside of the castle.

"Up until this point, we haven't run into any enemies at all. But tomorrow, I suspect some will be flying around in this area, so I will go ahead to Luthecia Castle." Fee said, then turned west and flew away.

"What should we do? It may take a toll on our bodies, but it would be safest to travel behind the castle tonight because we'd be able to get past it very quickly."

They of course thought it best to follow the hunters' suggestion, and started moving again without taking time to rest.

The hunters were right. Because they were following right along a steep mountain, there were areas where they had to walk almost right against the castle wall. However, the soldiers didn't think anyone would ever pass through such an area, so they were able to safely make it through.

"For the last stretch, we should travel south. We'll soon come out to the main road that leads to Luthecia."

"Thank you. You might have saved a lot of lives by helping us. How can we repay you?"

"We don't need repayment. But…"

"But?"

"If you can, please save the children that were taken away to Miletos."

"Understood. We'll try as hard as we can. ...No way, are those children…"

"No, none of them are mine. But my sister's son was taken. He's a smart, cute kid, yet they had the gall to do something so terrible to him!"

-

When they arrived at the main road, they could see that Hannibal's army, located to the north, had begun to move. Though Seliph and the others did not know it, Hannibal knew that King Travant had deployed, and ordered his own army to attack.

"If the king himself has gone to battle, then we have no choice. All units, attack!"

However, Hannibal's army was made up entirely of infantry units, so they didn't make it in time to fight alongside Travant. By the time they neared Meath Castle, the dragon knight unit the king led was already completely destroyed.

Lana turned towards Hannibal's army and waved the Sleep Staff.

Hannibal, marching in the center of his army's formation, was enveloped by a white, heavy cloud. However, that didn't mean that the sleep magic affected everyone. The soldiers outside of its range remained loyal to their orders and continued their attack. Shannan and the rest of the liberation army had no choice but to fight them without stopping.

-

"Lana said that the sleep spell will last for four to five days. The others must come back with the rescued hostage by then."

Because they'd heard that the distance between Kapathogia Castle and Luthecia Castle would take two days to travel, they only had a small margin of leeway.

Seliph and Ares did not take any breaks aside from allowing their horses time to rest, continuing onward.

In the evening two days later, they'd come so far that they could see Luthecia Castle. Fee had arrived earlier, and came to report on the situation at the castle.

"There's hardly any soldiers here. I'm pretty sure there's just a front line and those rounded up to protect the main building."

"Then let's attack tomorrow at dawn. Fee, you fly over the castle wall, and open the gate. After that, we'll storm the castle."

With the plan for their surprise attack decided, Seliph and Ares got a full night's sleep for the first time in a long time.

The surprise attack was a success. General Disler was killed by Ares and Mystletainn the moment he came out of his bedroom in a panic. 

The other soldiers were mostly still in bed. By the time they woke up, the general was already dead, and upon hearing that news, they surrendered.

They found Coirpre in the dungeon. He'd been treated more like a prisoner than a hostage. From what they'd heard the villagers say, they'd gotten the feeling that General Disler had a bad reputation. 

Coirpre was still young, but already very proper and polite.

"I am Coirpre, General Hannibal's son. My father stated that he wanted a ceasefire with the liberation army, but King Travant misunderstood that, and took me as a hostage. So I beg of you! Please take me to my father! I want to convince him to stop fighting!"

Of course, that had been the reason for their surprise attack in Luthecia Castle. Seliph entrusted Ares to keep watch over the castle, and immediately left with Fee, taking Coirpre towards Kapathogia Castle.

Along the way, they saw a single dragon knight flying towards them. Fee readied a counterattack, but the dragon knight did not try to start a fight.

"You are Prince Seliph, yes? I am Altena, daughter of Quan of Leonster."

The dragon knight landed next to Seliph, dismounted her dragon, and greeted him.

"Oh, so you're Prince Leif's sister! He told me about you."

"My brother's story was true. Since I have learned the truth, I can't fight against you any longer. I too am a descendant of a Crusader. Please allow me to join the liberation army."

"Of course, with pleasure! Prince Leif will probably be happy as well when he hears the news.”

"I just have one request. Arion… No, Prince Arion. I don't want you to fight him. His way of thinking is completely different from the empire's."

"Even if you ask, I can't stop that from happening, though I don't want to fight Prince Arion, either. If only he'd made you the mediator of a ceasefire. Nothing would be better than that."

-

The liberation army met General Hannibal near Kapathogia Castle. He'd just woken up, and had left the battlefield to return to the castle and order all the soldiers there to deploy.

The moment he saw his son, he was surprised. But when he heard everything from Coirpre, he approached Seliph, and said, "I'd like to thank you for saving my son."

"General Hannibal, we are only fighting those who agree with the ideas of the empire. I've heard that you are also against the child hunts, and that King Travant is already dead. Why would we fight against each other any longer? Please end this battle. And, if possible, I want you to fight the empire with us. You are called "The Shield of Thracia." We are still young, so please be beside us to guide us."

"If you insist, then I have no choice but to accept. So long as you don’t mind fighting with an old man like me, then I will devote my strength to you. I'd also like you to add my son to your army. He probably told you this already, but I took him in and raised him. When I found him, he had a staff that seemed to have a long history. When he's old enough, we will learn the meaning of it. Seliph, I happily entrust him to you."

General Hannibal's remaining soldiers also joined them.

-

The liberation army, now even stronger, gathered in Luthecia Castle to capture Bishop Judah's Gruthia Castle.

At the same time, they received word that a large imperial cavalier unit had crossed the Miletos-Thracian border.

At the strategy meeting, Altena suggested that it would be the best course of action to settle that fight first.

"I know the terrain of that area very well. The road leading from the border to Luthecia Castle that the cavalier unit can take is a thin mountain path. How about Fee and I meet the enemies halfway, and reduce their numbers? If we swoop down to attack, then use that force to fly over the mountains, they won't be able to counterattack at all."

"That's a great idea, Lady Altena!" Hannibal agreed to the plan right away.

"Because the enemies are calvary, they'll attack by taking turns. If we reduce their numbers by even just a little bit, it will make things that much easier for the rest of the army."

When she’d joined the liberation army in Isaach, Fee was still just a trainee pegasus knight. However, after fighting in battle over the span of a year, she'd evolved into a seasoned falcon knight. She couldn't compete with Altena, who wielded a Holy Weapon, but her flying and combat skills certainly weren't inferior to Altena's.

The enemy cavaliers were worried by the two flying soldier's attacks. Because they didn't know when they would be attacked, their paranoia grew stronger and stronger without end. And even when they were attacked, they only had a split second to react, so there was no way for them to counterattack. No matter how well-trained they were, all they could do was take damage in a one-sided battle, causing their morale to drop. 

Once they were off the mountain road, the spirited imperial soldiers were no more. It wasn't just their numbers that had decreased. Their exhaustion and drop in morale was even greater.

The battle was as good as decided the moment they saw the main force of the liberation army spreading out and waiting for their arrival.

-

While the liberation army was marching towards Grutia Castle, Arion was in Thracia Castle, proposing a ceasefire over and over again. However, not a single soul agreed with him.

Several powerful iron ballistae were set up at Grutia Castle, however, the unit that was supposed to protect them was not there. 

The liberation army's calvary entered the edge of the ballistae's range, then charged at full speed ahead. Their goal was to move as quickly as possible and lower their chances of getting hit by the ballistae's bolts. 

Within the blink of an eye, they trampled the ballisticians, and captured Grutia Castle.

As if they had been waiting for that to happen, three dragon knight units flew from Thracia Castle and towards them all at once.

When Hannibal saw them, he turned pale. "That is the Three-Headed Dragon formation."

"What is that? This 'Three-Headed Dragon.'"

"Those units are each targeting Meath, Kapathogia, and Luthecia, a formation they call the 'Three-Headed Dragon.' They utilize it when an enemy is targeting Thracia and has gathered together too many of their troops in one place, and they wish to launch a counterattack all at once. Prince Arion practiced it many times."

 "I'll defend Meath!" Altena said. "Lana should have a Warp Staff. I want to get to Meath as soon as possible."

"Will you be okay on your own?"

"If we divide our numbers up too much, the main army will probably come attack us here. For now, I will protect Meath!"

"Let's do as Princess Altena says." Hannibal agreed. "I'll protect Kapathogia. I want those remaining to head for Luthecia and intercept the enemy unit headed there. When we do, that's where the real battle should begin. If we take out their commander, the subordinates will surely change course. In other words, they won't continue moving towards Luthecia. And if we defeat them entirely, they'll want the others to come reinforce them. Until then, Lady Altena and I will take care of those other enemies."

The fight went exactly as Hannibal had predicted. When the dragon knight unit headed for Luthecia saw Fee trying to intercept them, they turned towards Grutia Castle to fight the liberation army.

-

Once she'd lured the dragon knight unit a good distance away and defeated them, Fee and several cavaliers turned towards Kapathogia to provide reinforcements there.

Hannibal wielded a flame sword and fought the oncoming dragon knights. Though he suffered several wounds, he did not lose even the slightest bit of energy. He was able to hold out until reinforcements came, just as he'd promised.  

-

The day had come for Arion and his dragon knight unit to fight.

This was his response to Altena's final letter:

"As a warrior of Thracia, I cannot consider a ceasefire after you've killed this many of my soldiers. You too should know that very well. Now, I wait for the day of our final battle. From the beginning, I have thought not about whether we will win or lose, but that, as a warrior, my acts are not an embarrassment. Still, do not hold back. Tell Lord Seliph to come at us with everything he’s got."

Seliph said in response, "Thank you. Tomorrow, the last battle will finally begin. It may be difficult for you to fight, so you should stay on the rear line."

Altena did as Seliph suggested, and did not go out to the front line, instead flying high in the sky from the rear.

Even though the liberation army was fighting against the once great Thracian Dragon Knights, their numbers had already been so greatly reduced that the battle proceeded to go in the liberation army's favor.

Then, she saw a single dragon flying towards her.

"It's Big Brother." She realized it in an instant. "He's going to try to fight me."

Though she had Gáe Bolg, she knew that she was no match for Arion and Gungnir. At best, the fight would end in a tie.

'I will die by his hand.'

A sweet memory filled her heart.

When she'd stood up to Travant, she'd pictured her ideals in her mind, but never thought things would end up like this. For a moment, she worried that it was all her fault.

'What will become of Thracia now?'

She had no memory of Leonster. Thracia was her one and only home.

'Perhaps dying by his hand is the greatest end for me.’

She raised Gáe Bolg and yelled, "Let's do this, Brother!"

The two dragons flew towards each other in a straight line, with their opponent on their right side, as if they were in a jousting match.

As the distance between them shrank, Altena could see clearly the face of the man she loved. She could also see the sparkling tip of Gungnir, aiming straight for her.

'Watch my final attack!'

When they crossed paths, she thrust Gáe Bolg forward.

She felt resistance ripple through her arm.

However...

What about the attack aimed for her? Where was the blow from her beloved that was supposed to lead her to a sweet death?

She was in a state of total shock, but her eyes moved and laid upon her beloved's dragon, hurtling towards the ground.

"Brother!"

His dragon fell into a forest, and she lost sight of them.

"Brother!"

She burst into tears.

The battle was already over, but Altena did not return to land. She continued to fly through the skies, thinking of Arion.

No matter how many tears fell, they did not cease, continuing to stream down her face.

But, eventually, the time came and her tears to dry up.

And it was then that she understood the reason why her beloved did not strike her with Gungnir.

'Brother, you ordered me to live, right? I understand. I will live. I will fulfill my duty as the inheritor to Gáe Bolg. If that is what you wish, then that is what I will do. But, my life is terrible. All of my dreams have been crushed… The moment you were gone, I knew for sure. That for a long, long time, deep within the bottom of my heart, I've wanted you to hold me in your arms. Why did you give me that dream? And then go so nobly all by yourself…'

Altena soon landed at Thracia Castle.

Her tear stains had already vanished.

In their place was nothing but the face of Lance Knight Njörun's descendant.

[sinisteriisms-blog]

[ Guys, I just had a wonderful thought. As easily as Manfroy had kidnapped Dierdre, what if he also took baby Seliph away? ]

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 28:  Eddafication

Part 27

Welcome back to FEIV! For those who have been following us all this way, you’re about to be rewarded. Last week we avenged Seliph’s dad, and this week we get to avenge his mother and save his sister (PLATONICALLY).  That’s right, the invasion of Grannvale is about to come to its inevitable conclusion with the Second Battle of Belhalla. Seliph vs. Julius, prince vs. prince, brother vs. brother (though Julius would insist we say ‘alleged brother’). Without further ado, let’s rock this!

His army’s victories are a beacon of hope to the Empire’s victims, and a wave of further rebellions sweeps across Jugdral.  First, Silesse was wrestled back from Imperial control by its citizens, and soon after Agustria’s people flocked to arms, burning to fight for their country.

(Convenient!)

But Grannvale itself yet stands.

(If you’re having trouble keeping track, and I don’t blame you, Dozel is the house of Lex, Johan, and good old dead Langbalt. Brian here is Johan’s oldest brother and the current holder of their house’s Holy Weapon, the Helswath axe.)

(Oh God, not these idiots again.  Yes, Scorpius is the son of good old uber-douche Andre, making him cousin to Patty, Faval, Lana, and Lester.)  

… and the capital. Belhalla itself is shrouded under and eerie silence,

(It says something that I’ve beaten Ishtar without any problems twice now, and yet my stomach still falls at the sight of her.  As for the Deadlords, they’re a recurring FE miniboss squad; twelve undead warriors animated to serve the cult of the week. I believe this is their first appearance. They’ll be dropping in this map to make Julius just that much more of a bastard.)

Over a year has passed since the fateful first battle in Isaach. The tragic struggle pitting kin against kin wears on, splitting the heirs of the Twelve Crusaders between the light and dark…

So begins the final holy war.

Julius: Feh. I almost feel sorry for him. All his life he was your tool, Manfroy, only to be thrown away so casually.

(I agree. Arvis was definitely a tool.)

Manfroy: All in your empire’s name, Your Majesty. Arvis was a lost cause. To think he, a man of Loptyr’s bloodline, dared to challenge the revival of your empire! The heart of the Crusader Vala burned too fiercely within him. It was only a matter of time until he turned on you.

Julius: I know, I know… now then, I hear those rebels have stumbled as far as Chalphy. Are our defenses really that pathetic?

Manfroy: Rest assured. I’ve already tasked Edda’s Bishop Rodan and Brian of Dozel with purging Chalphy of those vermin. You’ve no need to worry, Your Majesty.

Julius: Don’t I, now.  

(Julius stands strong in the absolute contempt he holds for his own minions, at least.)

Julius:  Now, where is Julia?

Manfroy: She awaits your whim in the dungeon… you there! Bring us Princess Julia!

Julius: Oho! So you do remember me! I can hardly believe seven long years have passed since you slipped away.

Julia: I… that night is seared in my memory now, as if it was only yesterday.

Julius: Fehehehe… good. I trust you remember your mother’s final kindness as well?

Julia: Who… no what are you? That night… the night Manfroy came bearing that eerie black tome… nothing was ever the same again. My brother, the kind and caring boy I loved so, died that night. In his place stood a demon of terrifying power… my brother in name only. You… you monster… you’ve taken my mother and my brother from me!  Who are you? WHAT are you?!  Why… why do you torment us all so?!

Julius: I am the heir to Loptyr’s blood, and the inheritor of his limitless power. This world rightfully belongs to me.

(Remember this moment, because it’s very, very important.)

Julius: Using Naga’s power to serve me? Interesting. Very interesting! Very well. I must return to Belhalla, Julia is yours, Manfroy. But be warned. Be extremely careful! Even a single mistake with her could cost me dearly.

Bishop Disposable: Cavalry unit, move in on Chalphy! Reclaim our land from the rebels!

Lewyn: That’s what this is. Julius is descended from Loptyrian royalty, and he’s been working to revive the dark empire. No matter what, we must stop him.

Seliph: It feels as if you know everything, Lewyn. I’m beginning to feel left out… please, what in the world are you talking about?

(Well, about ten chapters too late, but he at least finally asked.)

Lewyn: Yeah, sorry about that, Seliph. I know there’s a lot I haven’t been telling you.

(“And what I do tell you tends to be rambling and obnoxious.”)

Lewyn: I’ve spent over a decade on a journey to figure out the truth behind all this, and I’m finally onto a hidden bigger picture here.

Seliph: The bigger picture…?

Lewyn: The founder of the old Loptyr Empire, Bishop Galle, dedicated his youth to a world-exploring voyage across the sea. He desired nothing less than to drink the blood of a legendary beast. Even a single drop, he believed, would bestow upon any human limitless power.

(How… … … … evil?)

Seliph: Do… do you mean the dragonkin of old? It couldn’t be… is that not a myth?

(“I mean, dark gods and holy weapons of divinity, sure, but dragons? Let’s not get weird here, Lewyn.”)

Lewyn: I thought so too, but… when Galle returned home, he bore bizarre powers nobody else understood. With these powers, he set to work swaying youths across the land to aid his ambitions.

(Wait, he swayed them? He didn’t kill them for funsies? Because that doesn’t sound like Loptyr.)

Lewyn: Before anyone realized, he’d raised a fell legion unflinchingly loyal to his cause.

(Okay, that sounds like Loptyr.)

Seliph: Where, then, does Loptyr enter the tale?

(………… It’s so frustrating to always be twenty steps ahead of the main character in following the plot.)

Lewyn: I believe that Loptyr is the dragon Galle bonded with. All of his heirs since then have inherited the dragon’s blood, and the dark powers Loptyr’s kin command are nothing more than the dragonkin’s powers.

Seliph: And what of the Crusaders?

Lewyn: You know the legend. The gods descended upon twelve warriors of the old liberators at the fortress of Darna. But…

Seliph: But?

Lewyn: Sorry, Seliph, but this will have to wait. The enemy’s approaching.

(LEWYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYN!)

All right.  Since Lewyn couldn’t take ten more seconds to finish up the story, and since I’m gonna guess you can probably make some safe assumptions as to where this is going.  Let’s deal with the whole ‘war’ thing first. First, of course, it’s time to see who makes the cut. This is probably the hardest chapter in the game, so dead weight will not be tolerated. Anyone who disappoints me in the arena is fucking out, you guys. You get to stay in the castle with Hannibal, hiding while the awesome people solve the problems. Do not fail me.

Seliph: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Strength, +1 Speed, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Resistance

Shanan:  Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +2 Defense

Oifey: Six wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Luck, +1 Defense. Hmmm… not amazing, but also not bad. And when I gave you a pass last week you surprised me with quality, so hey, I’ll allow it. You can always defend a different castle if you don’t pan out.

Ulster: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +2 Defense

Larcei: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +1 Luck, +2 Defense

Lana: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Luck

Lester: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill, +1 Magic

Dermott: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +2 Resistance

Nanna: Seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Fee: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Skill, +2 Strength, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Ced: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill

Arthur: Seven wins, gained three levels: +4 HP, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Tinni: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Luck

Patty: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Magic, +1 Luck, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Faval: Seven wins, gained two levels: +4 HP, +2 Luck, +1 Resistance

Leif: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +1 Luck

Altena: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP.  Altena, if you didn’t already have generally great stats and a golden spear of the gods, I would drop you right now.  

Johan: Five wins, gained one level: +1 HP. Yeah, see, Johan? The difference between you and Altena is that she’s amazing and you’re just kind of okay. You’re benched, and Leif is going to put that Brave Axe to better use than you literally ever have.  

Finn: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Luck, +1 Defense

Ares: Seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Luck

Hannibal: Six wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Strength. Oh, Hannibal.  I honestly am rather shocked you did better than Johan, but I’m afraid you didn’t do better enough.  Patty and Ulster will enjoy your swords quite a bit.

Welp, those weren’t great levels in many unfortunate cases, but we’re approaching the point a lot of people can’t get good levels anymore, I guess. Let’s take a look at the map!

It’s a big one, but we’re locked out of a large chunk of it, as usual. We start off in Chalphy on the far south, and our final goal will be Belhalla to the far north; the reason the map looks different from our last assault on Belhalla is that we’re approaching it from the opposite direction.  For right now, we can only proceed east from our starting location to Edda (formerly the duchy run by our old buddy Bishop Claude). Let’s try and give it to his kids!  But before that, we start off with Loptyrian dark mages on the cliffs above us on both sides, armed with siege tomes and our old friend status effect staves. There’s two villages on the map and I think no bandits ever go for them, so no need to rush anywhere; let’s make ourselves safe above all else.  

Good start. Of the eight mages surrounding us, we killed six, severely hurting their ability to bombard us. In particular I got all the staff users, meaning it will all be nicely healable damage, and I’ve got like seven high-tier healers running at this point. End turn!

Not bad again! Fee cripples another mage on the counterattack, and Lester somehow dodges an infinite blue void. The Edda cavalry force also comes close to us, but we aren’t in anyone’s range on their end, and we are in a great position to make them regret approaching us. First step, though, is to clear out the last two mages.

… I can’t reach the last one. I’m a dumbass, I should have sent one flier to each group of mages, but I didn’t. Altena runs over in his direction to break him in half next turn, while everyone else takes their shot at the main enemy army.  

…. Shit.  Finn, what was that, exactly? *sigh* Ares, clean up his mess.

I hate you, Ares.

Okay, not great. Finn is in serious trouble here, and while I have him surrounded, I do think there’s someone who can take a shot at him.  God, if I have to reset on the second turn I will be so ticked off, Finn. I will send you to the bench and give your lance to Altena, Finn. She’s a beautiful flying death machine.

End turn.

*phew*

I always love watching someone dodge a siege tome. They’re just this huge screen-filling doom effect and the target just kind of lightly steps back, and then they miss.

Now then, time to end this before Finn can fail me again. Guys, finish off the first wave!

Larcei, if you’re going to get a completely weird unlikely stat, make it Resistance instead of Magic. You can actually use Resistance.

Still, Edda is now open to attack. Of course it has its own issues, in the form of just… just every fuckin’ mage.

God, just look at that mess. And the worst part is that every single one of those magical jerks? Has a long distance option, either a siege tome or a… ugh… sleep staff. So really, the best strategy I have is to send Ares and Seliph in to be anti-magic gods and shrug off magic whilst killing the staff guys.  Fee could go in without worrying about magic too, but those three snipers in the front row who could shoot her down like a stray duck have other ideas.  Oh, and Nanna gains a staff level to top her off at 30.

Yeah, that’s about what I expect from her. I am not sure but I suspect her strength, defense, and speed at her cap, at least. Maybe? I should look that up but I’m tired and I’d rather just end my turn and destroy the enemy.

And after that, insert about fifteen more shots of people missing Ares with siege tomes. Ares gives precisely zero shits about your Bolting, guys.  Everyone takes the shot and nobody comes close. It’s almost sad. Almost.

On my turn, I have the Horse Boys move slightly up and kill two of the snipers, with eventual intent to let Fee help their dumb horse faces out.

Seliph also got one but I wasn’t paying attention and saved over it, whoops. So one archer left to deal with next turn. I also have Cairpre start moving up, and he wakes Ulster up so he can move back. Then Lene dances her brother to send him another run forward to join in too.

End turn! Enjoy some more scenes of Ares and Seliph just rocking the shit out for awhile.

… Who even are you…?

Well, nobody threatening, anyway.  

*Insert 20 shots of horses lightly backstepping out of the way of fireballs and lightning bolts*

That was nice. Now, Seliph moves up and takes out one of the staff guys, Fee and Patty step up to clear out things for our air force, and Ares kills whats-his-name.  

…. Wait, what?

FUCK. Reset.  

Okay. This ass is way more dangerous than I remembered or gave him credit for, clearly. So let’s try the cautious approach. Lana, care to spend some of your boyfriend’s money?

See, that’s a little more what I was aiming for. Honestly, hiding a Swordmaster with Sol, Pursuit, Critical, and Adept in among everyone else? That’s just mean.  

… In other words, I feel like I’m playing Fire Emblem again!  The last few maps were just too nice, barring Julius’s crazy psycho games and Arvis being Arvis. Fun times. Cairpre runs up and grabs Patty out of horrible murder range with his Rescue staff, and: end turn!

Yeah, Ares, you better succeed here. You’re on thin ice, buddy.

At this point, the staff dudes are mostly in range, so it’s time to start moving up a little and purging them.

Be-au-ti-ful!  Though like, half of them are still alive, even if I took away some leadership stars by removing Bishop Not Paying Attention to Morals. I may regret this. *sob* End turn…

Well, that was ugly, but nobody died. Still quite a few people have taken heavy hits… shame there’s not like, a huge HP reset button that can undo it all immediately.

Hehehehehehehe.

Okee dokee!  That’s the first army down. There’s…. *sigh* there’s more armies.  This is gonna get worse before it gets better, folks, so let’s just take Edda and end-a the update. (And I’m not just cutting this short because Red Dead 2 and Hitman 2 came out back to back, why would you even say that.  … Also this wasn’t actually very short, between the six-thousand enemies and Ares getting mangled.)

*sob*

Lewyn: Oh, of course. Cairpre and Lene. They’re going to be great rulers for Edda.

(… … … Are they?)

Lewyn: And after all they’ve been through, I know that’ll bring a smile to the people’s faces.

(Well, Lene is basically a stripper, so that part is probably true.)

All right, Homeland One, liberated! Join us next week when we continue our tour of the nation with Dozel and Freege, homeland of some of Grannvale’s greatest and most beloved nobles.

Yeah, it may be best to just burn those ones down.  

See you next week!  

Total Resets: 28. And I was doing so well, damn it.

Part 29

[sireneia-a]

i have nowhere else to post up this but i feel like i definitely want to get my impressions of the fe4 fuyuki manga out somewhere and trying to put this in a tweet thread would prolly be annoying

i fully expect my opinion to change with time cause i think making judgments on something in less than 24 hours of consuming it... doesn’t usually lead to the long-lasting opinions. manga and fe4 spoilers both in here under the cut. i’ll try not to judge the manga in terms of merely deviating from the original game too much cause it’s allowed to take its own liberties, and sometimes those deviations can actually be a really good thing ( e.g. gaiden manga for the most part ). if you want to know abt my opinion on deviations, i’m still Bitter(tm) that they took out lene. this’ll be pretty unorganized cause i’m just spitting out my thoughts without revision cause i don’t intend to make this an actual literary analysis essay. 

anyway, moving forth:

my opinion isn’t really positive. might as well just get that out the gate before i get into details.

i think the main issue i have is that this manga... feels very unfocused in what exactly it’s trying to accomplish. is it a war story? they don’t finish the war. is it a love story? well, that really only came in about halfway and doesn’t focus on the euphoria of love, just the angst associated with a love pentagon. is it a coming of age story? maybe. this might be the closest answer to the truth.

the pacing definitely leaves something to be desired. we go from pretty fast action of seliph being introduced and then taking up arms and then rescuing leif, but... then it just slows down for a filler chapter with all the army members hanging around and talking about how much they like seliph but how distant he is. it’s a weirdly slow chapter that comes out of nowhere, and the mood whiplash is so great; seeing leif go from being this vengeful, frustrated teen who just realized his god worship of seliph was unfounded to leif being a happy-go-lucky guy acting pestering others and teasing them in just a short amount of time... is Very Odd. i’m not against leif being able to show a more casual persona, but i definitely think it could’ve been handled better.

ced’s introduction is as this all mighty, powerful mysterious man and... then all that buildup just goes into making him a background character. it feels wasted, which is how i feel about a lot of this manga honestly.

the manga tries to have some arcs for characters, and i think it pulls it off best with tine, arthur, leif ( in his first few appearances before filler ) but otherwise it’s kinda Meh. there’s just a ton of loose ends that just don’t get resolved at all. i’m cool with this usually, but the fact that the only thing that seemed to really be concluded was seliph’s romance arc and nothing else made it feel extremely unfinished. the other characters in this love pentagon don’t really get closure either, ESPECIALLY FEBAIL.

speaking of febail. Well. i wish he was something more than just “the love rival” character. he’s introduced to get patty/lester development and to further seliph/lana as well. it’s a shame cause febail actually is one of my favorite gen 2 characters ngl and to see him getting reduced to this is.... Hrm. larcei also suffers from this issue too, not really having a character outside of being tended to by lana ( to show that lana is a capable cleric ), to be fawned over by iuchar and iucharba, and to fawn over shanan. ulster might be even worse, really only existing to be the protective older brother to larcei, but when she barely gets any screentime, he might as well be replaced by a stop sign.

i’m not saying we need multiple chapters focusing on characters’ developments either. it functioned just fine with arthur and tine, and leif had a REALLY good arc in the leonster castle chapter. i really liked how they handled fee too! even if she didn’t get any closure. i expected her to show how capable she was at some point and stick it to her dad, but nope.

the manga really likes to focus on seliph, leif, and ares. i get it, they’re the sons of their power trio of dads. i’m not at all surprised these are the three they chose to focus on, but man it doesn’t have a good pay-off imo. ares might be the best handled out of the three despite having his character tweaked a bit ( the fault of removing lene, i suppose ) and i actually liked his progression with the inner conflict of living in isolation. 

leif took a nosedive for the worse when he somehow began revolving his life around seliph despite the fact his first appearance was all about how he should not be heralding him as a god amongst men. leif was that character had a weird duality between being the “shounen best friend” trope for seliph, telling him to never stop believing in himself and reminding him how great he is amongst giving cheeky hints about the romance plot, and being his own character filled with angst. leif brings some nice laughs a few times i’ll admit, and even if it’s pretty ooc for him, i was okay with it i guess; the issue i had was just how his status as seliph’s best friend seemed to also come along with removing all of his initial character development. 

i’m not a fan of how leif’s last bit in the manga is admitting that he didn’t know what he’d do without seliph. leif’s got all this buildup of trying to take on travant because he wants revenge, and he’s shown himself to be capable before this. i think my issue with this is less about leif’s competency ( i really do think though leif’s whole thing of being a pretty horrible lord unit and then turning into this master of all trades in fe4 is super good ) and more about how we don’t really see seliph helping leif out much at all. leif is a pillar of emotional support for seliph, but it doesn’t ever get conveyed that it’s mutual even though the manga WANTS you to believe it is. when seliph goes to check out on leif, it’s always leif talking out his own feelings and coming to conclusions himself without any input on seliph’s end. when seliph does say something, it’s just to scold leif and remind him that they’re friends and that seliph can help him, but i... honestly didn’t want seliph to help leif defeat travant. it felt more like seliph was meddling more than anything, and i could easily see this being fixed with just some dialogue tweaks of seliph saying he wishes to support leif or doesn’t want to see him die. but it’s just “we’ll kill him together!”

seliph is just a standard protag who understands he needs to grow and he closes off his feelings. he is compassionate, charismatic, and he goes throughout the story changing people to ally themselves with him. this is most notable in how he convinces through sheer pacifism for iuchar and iucharba to join his side even though originally their role in the game was all about making a choice between one of the brothers.

speaking of the brothers, they also got shafted quite a bit. i mean, true to the game i suppose, but still. they both had pretty interesting characters when they first get introduced as sons who disapprove of their father but come out to fight because it’s what they’ve learned and been told to do. they don’t understand seliph but feel a sense of wavering conviction because they want to do the right thing. but... then it just goes to nothing, this beginning of a mini plot, because they meet larcei and since larcei barely gets a character in this manga, neither will these two. they fall head over heels for her and then lose their characters entirely. i don’t even know what the point of recruiting the BOTH of them was if they weren’t even going to do anything with them. like, sure, show that seliph is a good person. but they were going to show that seliph is great without this incident anyway. 

the fact that julia gets reduced to just a healer hopelessly in love with seliph is sad. she has this crucial plot importance and it’s hinted at with the chapter involving ishtar and julius, but it really goes nowhere because the manga decides halfway through its main focus is going to be the romance between seliph and lana, so we’re going to end the manga in the middle of chapter 9 instead of actual endgame. julia’s just a slightly upgraded form of febail’s character in this lbr. she’s a love rival character meant to inspire angst within lana. woo.............. she gets brownie points i guess for helping along ares’s arc, but eh.

altena was fine. i think they stuck to everything important about her: her devotion to thracia, her dilemma with leif, etc. the arion and altena plot was okay. hell, even though i really like coirpre’s close relationship with altena in the game, i thought how he served as a voice of reason for her in this without the two knowing each other was actually done really well! just. wish coirpre got recruited. but that’s just me being salty, and i really don’t have an actual valid complaint about coirpre’s writing and minimal involvement in the manga. he served a purpose and he did it pretty damn well.

overall?? i thought this manga was a poor adaptation, and i really don’t recommend it as a way to understand fe4 gen 2′s plot at all nor its characters. but it serves its function as supplementary material, and i heard it’s like infinitely shorter than oosawa if you want a shorter read! it’s got its good points with certain characters like i’ve said before ( the tine and leif recruitment chapters are VERY GOOD and i loved fee in this too! ) and the fact it got a few laughs out of me is something i didn’t expect coming into it. i’m personally okay with the art, though i do wish characters didn’t appear crosseyed as often as they do.

[arthoure]

seliph/ares making out in the woods after a dangerous battle

basiliskdragon said: pokes you firmly: ares/seliph

gabrieelreyes said: i will also second ares/seliph pls

I was drawing blanks on relief!makeouts but then you started talking about face kisses and wwwwELP. This also turned out way longer than intended so congratulations; once again this is all your fault: 

Ares is sitting up in his cot by the time Seliph has finished his after-meetings with Lewyn and Shanan. Nanna sits on a wooden stool and tends to a cut on his cheek with a needle and thread while he looks up at the tent’s canvas ceiling like enduring it is nothing but a chore. She is doting more than anything else, Seliph supposes. In the face of all the other wounds Ares had sustained, so many that he hadn’t had the breath to protest when Leif dragged him off the field, the sluggishly-bleeding line on his face, though deep, had been inconsequential.

He musters the stomach to look lower. Bandages cover Ares’s right arm and chest and stomach so thickly that hardly any skin is showing. Seliph’s cheeks heat regardless. It’s mostly anger, he reasons to himself. He has every right to be angry.

Nanna ties her last stitch and nods at Seliph when she notices him approaching. She goes quietly to another patient’s bed and Ares glares at her back when he realizes she’s left him to his fate. The full force of that glare, the Black Knight’s silent and infamous wrath, hits Seliph next, but he purses his lips and busies himself with removing his gloves, making a show of being unfazed.

“I suppose you know why I’m here,” he says.

“I’ve nothing to say to you.”

“You were too reckless, Ares.”

“I’m not in the mood for a lecture.”

“I can’t keep putting you in the ranks if all you do is break them.”

“So I was supposed to just leave your right flank open. Just let someone pincer in and slay the only hope we have.”

Seliph doesn’t retort, though he’d had no intention of giving over the argument when he is in the right. It’s just that Ares speaks so rarely of hope. He sits on the stool at his bedside and takes his chin to study Nanna’s handiwork. The stitches are clean and tidy, though the black thread against Ares’s pale skin seems instinctively wrong, somehow; makes Seliph’s gut twist like he’d eaten something too raw. Though Ares doesn’t pull away, he still finds a way to look at Seliph like his chin is jutted high and Seliph is at the end of his long Nordion nose.

“We’ve been over this,” Ares says.

“Yes, we have. And I said I didn’t, under any circumstance, want you behaving this way.”

“And it’s still irrelevant. Every foe I kill, every blow I take, is one less for you.”

Seliph sighs. The main problem with being with Ares, he’s found, is that they’re equally stubborn. They agree on most everything, but when they don’t, the impasse seems insurmountable. He glides his thumb gingerly over the cut, which almost parallels his sharp cheekbone.

“This could’ve been your eye,” he says. “Could you fight as fiercely with just one eye?”

“After some practice. Besides, it would make me look fearsome – rugged. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“No. I like your eyes.”

They’re the only telling part of him. They smile when his lips don’t, mourn when his voice is steady, fill with love when his tongue won’t shape the word. It has never been so hard for Seliph to speak or to show. If anyone can lose an eye, it can be him. He leans forward and kisses the lid of Ares’s, and then the skin just beneath it, and then each of his stitches, as gently as he can. Ares huffs: a small laugh.  

“This is hardly an admonishment.”

“I was never here to punish you. I’m here because you worried me so much.”

The ever-present confidence fades from Ares’s eyes. Seliph can see from their sudden emptiness, from the slight furrowing of his brow, that he’s confused. It’s not the first time Seliph has suspected that Ares is new to love without punishment, that he is unaccustomed to a touch not given out of possessiveness or anger. The thought makes Seliph press another kiss to his temple.

“I just want to talk you out of any future sallies,” he explains. “If I were to lose you…”

“That’s exactly the thought that led me here in the first place,” Ares argues, but the heat drops from his voice and he lowers his eyes. He mutters, “But I’ll consider being more careful. At your side, maybe, rather than dashing ahead.”

“At my side,” Seliph echoes. He reaches for Ares’s hand and squeezes, and though Ares’s eyebrows slope up even further, he squeezes back so hard it almost hurts. “I like the sound of that.” 

[randomnameless]

FE4 run - the unofficial 3rd Gen

Procrastination at its finest here - what would happen in this run of FE4 after several years?

warning, as always, this is not serious

Queen Larcei and King Seliph of Granvalle are actually pissed at the reconstruction and their own Kingdom - why should they start trading with Agustria first and help them more than help Isaach?

The “nobles” can’t tell them that they’re “barbarians” since Larcei is obviously Isaachian so they use the “it’s too far to send help there, we must secure the Yied Desert first if we want to cross and provide them with goods etc...” card.

But then Larcei tells them that Verdane is closer, and yet Granvalle isn’t helping her brother with his rebel-taming duties. Hell, if she could, she would go there to help him get rid of the bandits. But she can’t because she is Granvalle’s Queen.

Seliph understands that providing help to Verdane will bring less benefits to Granvalle than helping Agustria - who still has a functioning economy, and, besides, as the son of Sigurd, he feels indebted to the people of Agustria (he might have read a letter his cousin’s wife gave him).

So while he is a bit furious but powerless about helping in Isaach’s reconstruction, he continues with the general trend of his forefathers and doesn’t give a fig about Verdane.

Things are difficult in mainland Granvalle for Tine, because everyone and their cats hate Freege, and demand outrageous fees for Reparations about what the Freeges did during the War - when i say everyone and their cats it’s mainly the New Kingdom of Thracia and the Miletos guilds.

Tine and Nanna will never be friendly towards each other until their deaths.

She doesn’t care about Miletos though. Hopefully Seliph puts in place a new policy about “sharing the costs” so every Duchy has to participate. Ultimately, Seliph suspends the payment when he and his cousin have a heart-to-heart talk around the famous bottle of wine because Leif knows now that bleeding dry a country or a duchy isn’t the way to build a lasting peace between nations.

Tine also has problems in her personal life, because he husband is in Jungby and if they manage to get an Ulir Crusader, soon enough they will need a Tordo one but hey, there’s no one left with Tordo blood and there’s a duty not to let bloodlines extinguish (that’s the last thing Seliph heard from F!Lewyn).

Speaking of Jungby, as expected, Faval is the golden puppet Duke whereas Lester - who managed to convince his mom to come home - rules the house. They try to repair some of Faval’s early decisions like opening the castle to accomodate all orphans in the Duchy and giving a quarter of their treasury to the Conote orphanage he used to live in. Faval loves his wife, of course, but she has a duty to recreate a new Tordo line, just like he had to take his Holy Weapon and fight in the last Holy War. So he isn’t sad.

A bit pissed, but not sad.

Johalva was acclaimed as both as a hero and as a kinslayer by the randoms of Dozel. Lana was really pissed about this, but Johalva didn’t deny the various accusations but still add that he had to do those things to protect the civilians, the innocents etc and Julius was really mad, didn’t you see the big monster disappearing in the sky during the end of the war?

He finally managed to be acclaimed as a good Duke after head-butting with some of his fellow Dukes who called him a “disgrace” and managed to make Seliph reconsider his idea of taxing Dozel more than the other Duchies (Chalphy, Jungby and Edda) in the war reparations efforts.

He and Lana also made graves for Johan and Brian, but none were made for Danan.

Lana’s a bit worried about Neir blood disappearing, but given one or two generations cousins could marry and a Crusader could be born again.

Oifey trains Seliph’s son in the ways of chivalry like he did with Seliph when he was younger, he hopes that Seliph’s son will inherit the Chalphy duchy, because he doesn’t feel like he belongs here, in the halls and the throne that were supposed to be Lord Sigurd’s and Lord Byron’s.

Arthur’s dream never comes to fruition, and despite his best efforts, he cannot manage to make the world see Velthomer as anything else but a nest of vipers and other less than savoury people. Fee is the only reason why he didn’t pack his things and run away to Silesse after ten years of rule.

Cherry on top, despite being Azelle’s son, Arthur is also known for having been the one to have killed everyone in his maternal family, so the randoms think they get the short end of the stick - he even killed Lord Ishtore who participated in the child rescues with his sister!

Hopefully with a certain priest’s help, he still managed to rebuild the Duchy so they’re not in the Verdane tier of development anymore. After Arthur’s death, the randoms in Velthomer will say that he wasn’t so bad as a Duke.

Speaking of the savages, Ulster makes his base in Evans because it’s closer to Granvalle and to the royal forces he petitions to help against the barbarians.

When Julia finally joins her husband after being fed up with flower pot duties, she moves the new capital to Genoa. “Verdane” is too remote from everywhere, and in Genoa, they’re both close to Granvalle and to Miletos. Why Miletos? The closer they are to them, the harder it is for them to ignore Verdane, so they will have to listen and maybe obey when they petition for help or to stop putting stupid tariffs on their exports.

Why should they listen? Because Julia is Seliph’s sister and he cares a lot about her well-being.

Ultimately Ulster becomes King of Verdane, but Julia remains a Princess of Granvalle. Their son is the Prince of Persia Verdane and also a Prince of Granvalle. Hopefullu, the kid has major naga blood (even if ulster was overjoyed when the kid managed to “learn” Astra because those rumours about Julia and Seliph are still bothering him, just like they bother his sister) and even if he likes Verdane a lot, some people start to tell him that he has every right to sit in Belhalla and live with the civilised people.

He tells them to fig off.

In Agustria however, there are several rebellions brewing, even after Ares became King. Some former Princes/Kings call him an imposter, other call him too subservient towards Granvalle.

Strangely, though, Lene managed to usher a new era of show and other performing arts - to the point that the New Kingdom became reknown for its great arts. The children puppet shows about the Great King Ares vanquishing the Demon of Granvalle are always full. Through those shows, Agustrians manage to live in a collective fantasy of how they participated in ending the war and fought against Loptyr.

Shagall was the Shield that tried to protect Agustria from the Loptyrians during the first Gen and Eldingan was the Sword who defeated them, but through a deception the Loptyrians had Eldingan killed, so he passed the role of the Sword to his son Ares - everyone was happy, even the old Shagall partisans who, at first, didn’t want Ares or Eldie’s line to usurp the previous line of the Kings of Agustria and reminded Ares of Eldie and House Nodion’s vows.

Sadly enough, Lene wanted to make the lives of the performers and other orphans better with the economic profits earnt by those shoes, but it disappeared in the pockets of the people who were organising said shows. 

Delmud was busy ruling the rest of the country, and exchanging letters with his sister and King Seliph, as the cordial man he has always been.

In Thracia’s New Kingdom we had Leif and Nanna happily creating a new dynasty - and Altenna’s forever alone.

Arion disappeared, and everyone thought that the line of Dain perished with him. However, one of Leif’s former cleric friends told him that there is a child living in (again) an orphanage in Tahra who is Lord Arion’s kid, but for his own sake, it’s better to live as an ignorant peasant than as a prince who lost his kingdom, wouldn’t he agree?

Due to Altenna’s dedication, and Hannibal’s popularity, the Thracians weren’t that crushed when the unification happened, and even if the northeners still have a better lifestyle then their southerners brothers, at the end of Leif’s reign, both people start to have to same lifestyles as in, there are brigands and piss poor people on both sides of the peninsula, but also, rich merchants and assholes in the South too.

Leif is aware that when he asked money to Seliph he acted a bit selfishly, but his Kingdom passes first. They still managed to remain great friends, and Leif’s son married Seliph’s daughter.

In Silesse, Ced manages to get a major blooded baby on someone but realises that he was never cut out to be a King, given how the country governed itself without him during all those years. 

However, he didn’t bail out like his Father, and started to make several researches about dragons, and the mytical land of Archanea - prompted by Loptyr’s sight at the end of the war, and also, because of F!Lewyn.

He volunteered on the first expedition (passing through the northern seas of Silesse) but realised that his place was in Silesse, to study more and, maybe, start to develop trading routes to the new land. It’s only during the last years of his life that he managed to see a returning ship - after several years, sailors finally managed to land somewhere ; they brought him special endemic fruits found in that new land : Zofian Oranges.

The Isaachian people were happy when Shanan returned, because they heard disturbing rumours about their King misbehaving in Thracia and thought that if those rumours started, that meant that he was dead and some man tried to usurp his good name.

They were relieved when they saw him again.

Since the Isaachians had been freed early, they manage to reinstall some sort of government in Isaach (the capital) and everyone from the other kingdoms pledged their allegiance to Shanan - granted, they couldn’t find the former nobles of Sophara, so it was just some elders who participated in the ceremony.

Shanan was a bit disappointed that Granvalle didn’t send as much help as they expected, but thought that maybe Seliph was busy managing internal affairs.

Sadly for him, Patty gave birth to 3 children who all had the brand of Odo on their backs.

He decided that the eldest would remain in Isaac, one would go to Sophara and the last to Ganeishire. 

But the one who was in Sophara wanted to inherit Isaach’s throne, given how he was a boy while the eldest was a woman, and trouble ensued.

More trouble ensued when Seliph’s son didn’t want to return to Chalphy and remain in Belhalla, and when Julia’s granddaughter has had enough of Verdane and managed to steal the Book of Naga, wanting to return to Belhalla.

France Agustria declared itself the Holy land and elected a pope, who took residence in Orgahill and who managed to hear the voices whispers of the gods. Soon enough, being the eldest brother of the Pope, Ares’ son, when he became King, declared the Thracians heretics, for they were developing and practicing dark magic.

Miletos tried to rob everyone using the various tensions as catalysts, but, in the end, they were unable to do a thing when Ares’ second daughter managed to survive a shipwreck when Leif’s only son didn’t. Thracia accused Miletos of having staged an accident to get rid of their heir - Leif’s daughter managed to find (or forge, depends on the POV) a letter detailing how Agustria paid the corrupt Miletosians to sabotage her brother’s lifeboat.

Hopefully Seliph died a few years before the start of the Third War, so he never knew how much the next generation managed to screw what he and friends fought for.

the end

[randomnameless]

FE4 - EPILOGUE

It’s here everyone!

Finally! The epilogue, where i tried to screencap what i could. But more importantly, we know (or are told) that everything ended well in Jugdral, during King Seliph’s reign.

Leif finally managed to unify the peninsula!

“countless small nations constantly warring among themselves” --> i have the feeling whoever wrote that wasn’t a fan of Alster, Conote and Manster.

But with the restoration of House Leonster, the peninsula knows peace! GG House of Leonster! What would Thracia be without House Leonster!

Leif is the first ruler of this new Thracia, so that means New Thracia had several other rulers after him? I hope so.

King Leif?

Leif worked with Leif’s wife

Why is Cairpre called holy? Is it because he is a priest or is it due to his secret Blaggi blood (from his mom)?

Well, i always found it weird that the Thracian peninsula was composed of Thracia and “the northeners” - what kind of thracian people are we talking about, the southern ones of everyone as a whole?

So Alty managed to “rule/govern” the southern area on Leif’s request. Not a bad move.

:)

Her love and dedication for the soil that raised her, at least, Alty acknowledges (or the game) that she is first and foremost a princess to those people in the south. If only Travant was here to read those lines, he’d shed a tear, i’m sure.

So Leif’s full title would be Leif Faris Claus, first King of the Kingdom of New Thracia?

We started here after all!

hahaha

The people of Thracia - Leonster - had it easier because Leif was somehow stronger than Shanan? 

“who is this guy?” “i know it’s that shanam scoundrel”

Patty managed to be a queen in this run!

and she is also the granddaughter of the unnamed Lord of Sophara, but no one cares about Holyn or Isaach’s minor houses

“others” maybe those subkiddies that exist in other runs? or other randoms we never saw, or some with saw like that grandpa trying to marry his granddaughter to seliph?

BARBARIANS

country/state. But given how it’s written here, i’m not sure Isaach stopped being a barbarian country during shanan’s reign, but maybe during his son’s or grandson’s.

i wonder who annexed Agustria - maybe the commander who lead his forces to kill its previous King?

Agustria is a weird topic, because in the first gen the Freeges were supposed to go there, but ended up in Manster instead.

Jugdral AU : Blume and co never went to Manster, so Travant controled the peninsula during the second gen.

Led by the ghost of Eldie - let’s be real, House Nordion is Eldie and his son, no one gives a crap about Delmud

See? What was i saying

unless the beta still roamed in the epilogue, so the heirs of Eldie could be Ares and Delmud...

but curse the beta, it wasn’t released so Eldie sits on the throne of Chagall due to his Eldie-looks.

Hell, if Ares had his own Shanam (Arep?) would the people rally behind the faker because he looks like Eldie?

It is sad that Ares is acclaimed in Agustria because of his looks, the people here don’t know a thing about him, and i’m not sure if being eldie’s kid is more important than being a hero of the war in their eyes...

Queen Lene!

a random

King Ares managed to do great things during his reign?

yay!

So the civilised and arrogant guys returned to be Granvalle’s most crucial partner asap, but the brave Isaachians who helped Seliph during his quest and saved his life will have to wait decades before being seen as somehting else than barbarians from the east.

Never change Granvalle, never change.

it’s not because Arvis’ half Verdanite that he has to care about this place! Ask Seliph!

just like we did when we killed the royasl, took the surviving member of the line with us on our journeys, let Granvalle administer the remaining Verdanites and never ever gave a fig about Verdane anymore

wait wait

there are clans in Verdane???

“let’s call him heroic for the sake of it”

long-awaited return of Jamke or of Ulster?

I mean... if we don’t have some sort of “a letter written by Eldie 100% legit” kind of shenanigans, i can’t understand why “youths” would come to Ulster’s side. Why would they care about Jamke? He was a guy who left the country when it was in dire need of, idk, administration and never returned.

and let’s add he sided with Siggy, who invaded the land for friendship.

one year to get rid of bandits?

“no one year to cross the forest”

“rightful throne” again. What kind of rightful throne could Ulster claim? Rightful due to being Jamke’s son or rightful after having restored some order in the country?

with the support of Grannvale “and his wife, Princess Julia”

nope :)

With the help of Granvalle and Agustria? GDI, put the two most racist and assholic countries together to help a former barbarian country...

I mean Granvalle can’t really shit on him since Julia’s married to the guy - but would Julia’s kids end up in Verdane, with the book of Naga or remain in civilised Granvalle?

not this nonsense again

well, some lines are missing

but compare to Agustria where Ares managed to recreate, during his reign, a powerful country, Ulster worked to rebuild the peaceful Verdane but it isn’t said that Verdane managed to become a new country as important as Granvalle or a suitable partner during Ulster’s reign...

GG Ced! Well, the land isn’t that ruined and you have to thank your mom, your sister and Misha for that.

Really? I thought he tried to run away in the first gen, at least that what was Rahna said, and i can’t disagree with her.

so is Silesse a barbarian kingdom or a civilised state?

Ah, finally!

Poor guys

Tinni’s a lord.

Maybe Faval and Tinni can still meet each other once a in while, or something.

Lester? Lester what, Lester who? At least Delmud had a nickname!

Oifey’s the Lord of Chaphy now, even if he spent more of his life in Isaach than in Granvalle.

Finally!

“officially” maybe some people opposed it and wanted to put, idk, Julia on the throne? Or Julia’s husband (even if he is a Verdanite/Isaachian barbarian) à la Arvis’n’Deedee?

So Seliph is anointed by whoever is in charge of the Blaggi Church it’d be priceless if Saias did it

let me tell you : it failed.

uh... I could see Lana or Tinni, but Larcei?

HERE IT IS 

JULIA’S GREAT ROLE AFTER THE WAR

“Divine”? Maybe on par with the 12 Crusaders? Well, at least it’s in the ages to come, and not right now.

He will be remembered thousands of years later in the magical land of Ylisse!

The end!

[randomnameless]

Final Chapter - Seliph’s journey ends here : Velthomer to Belhalla!

Time to end Julius!

Seliph will achieve Siggy’s quest and return to Belhalla. 

Julia cleans up the remaining foes, including her brother.

i totally forgot to screen cap the various fights against the deadlords... but if you want the story, Julia rekt’d them.

So have the glorious post battle convo. where a dragon sets the continent for another great war!

i tried to screen cap everything i could, but the convo runs automatically so i might have skipped some lines...

Meet at last, you in your castle Meteoring people from afar. Sure.

Julius tries to Meteor an heir of Baldur into oblivion, but he isn’t talking about Leif or Alty here.

This is where Seliph’s liberation of Jugdral’s story ends?

PLOT CALLING 

GRAVE MISTAKE = CHANGING SKIES - there is no escaping from plotholes, especially since Julius ordered Manfroy, after explaining why, to kill Julia ASAP.

Julius dies in a flashing light

he gives his sister bad level ups - a douchebag until the end.

:)

The only acceptable ending and, imo, the only one that should exist.

Ulster wonders what is that thing, he was just following his wife here

I wonder if everyone in Jugdral saw this afterimage of Loptyr? Or everyone who was near Belhalla?

Anyways, after this other worldly apparition, Seliph seizes the castle!

His journey finally ended!

Means little? Julia defeated Loptyr, so the big bad is over. But yes, the continent is in ruins, and everyone needs to rebuild the land!

this is where we step into the realm of nonsense - what kind of “rightful throne” are we talking about? Might makes right? Or just opportunity, because everyone is dead so anyone with a shred of Neir blood can claim Dozel?

and let’s not talk about Thracia :)

All can live in happiness? Colour me surprised. And how’s that the Crusader’s heirs will need a proper leadership? Are we falling back into the dark times where manga!Langbalt was pissed at Kurth’s family omnipotence?

A brand new world? without fear of prejudice haven’t i head something like that back in the first gen? Seliph will be the one to create a new world when it used to be Arvis’ end goal. Does that mean that, somehow, Seliph inherits Arvis’ dream?

HERE IT GOES

BAD FUCKING ADVICES 1 : WHY IS SELIPH SUPPOSED TO GUIDE THE RISE OF THE NEW WORLD IN ISAACH, AGUSTRY OR EVEN SILESSE AS THE KING OF GRANVALLE????

For sure, everyone loves Seliph because they fought together, and Eldie was Siggy’s best pal, but why should Leif’s kid, or Ares’ kid listen to anything coming from Granvalle? Their dads were Kings of their own, sort of (Ced and Ares) liberated their countries alone so why should they listen to Granvalle?

Are we back to the Granvallian hegemony of the first gen? 

and that’s not even tackling the Julia issue - Seliph led the liberation war in Isaach, Manster, Miletos and Granvalle, but who was the one who defeated Loptyr?

And the Granvale’s kings are supposed to rule over the world??

Julia of course can’t be the leader and is ignored because she has girl cooties. Note that here, F!Lewyn says Seliph should be King because he has the blood of the Granvalle’s kings, not because he is Siggy’s son or Deedee’s first born!!

??

I can assure you that Quan, Travant, Lamia, Siggy and, idk, Ishtore didn’t give a fig about the Granvalle kings, putting a Naga on the throne or Julia. 

Quan wanted to unify the peninsula, i doubt he’s watching over his nephew. Maybe Arvis entrusted his world free of prejudice to his daughter, but i heavily doubt so. And what kind of light Bridget, or Burian strove for?

I know it’s post battle nonsense to give Seliph a sense of duty to make a better world, but damn. Seliph is, for instance, the only member of the junior lord trio who doesn’t want to fulfill his dad’s dream to rebuild/unify his country. 

All he can to make the world a better place, I guess.

It’s the end of the game, so F!Lewyn finally allows her to have some lines! Go Julia! Use your new sprite to deliver something powerful!

Oh! That mean you will take an active role in the future years to come? I’m expecting great things from you!

Go Julia! OTOH, seeing her with the “happy” sprite makes me sad, because she killed her twin a few minutes/hours ago and Julia shouldn’t be happy about that...

That famous subplot^^

Damn it Larcei, she’s married to your brother, remember?

...

Back when i entered in the Jugdral fandom - eons ago - i really didn’t like Deedee. This line, along with “she didn’t oppose any reistance when i killed her” from Julius really made me see Deedee in a bad way. Maybe Julia didn’t see the ghost of her mom and she’s thinking that’s what Deedee would want when Deedee herself wouldn’t want her daughter to atone for what her “kind” dad did.

So Julia thinks she has to atone for what happened to Siggy, as Arvis’ last (lol) kid when it’s not her role to do so, and no one tells her that no, atoning for your dad’s mistakes shouldn’t dictate your life.

Jeez.

But apparently everyone is happy if Seliph inherits Verdane and/or Agustry despite the various failings of Siggy in those countries he invaded, and no one asks Seliph to pay for Siggy’s crimes... Double standard much?

The famous epilogue where everyone talks to the Lord! FE9 didn’t start it!

i expected F!Lewyn to say “first task as their king” but hopefully he didn’t cross this line :)

“i have left them to wait long enough, and i didn’t even liberate my own country so i’m pretty happy no one can come and usurp my title with secret Odo brands because as a King I really sucked big time” - don’t worry Shanan, you led a rebellion, that sure counts for something. I think.

:)

You thanked him for everything he has done by liberating his country?

Liar, Deedee disappeared pretty early on ! And uh, didn’t Shanan have an aunt or something that was always there for him?

Lord Sigurd was a moron who entrusted his “wife, stay in the kitchen!” safeguarding duty to a preteen, not taking into account that Deedee might have wanted to see him and that a kid shouldn’t see anything wrong with a wife wanting to meet her husband.

God damn it, stop it people! Stop grieving for things that weren’t your fault to begin with!

OTOH, i wonder if exile!Oifey sometimes reminded Shanan of this failure when they would be fighting over something in Isaach...

That’s true. Siggy’s act of kindness saved Seliph. even if said act was used to frame him as a traitor and participated in the series of events that made Seliph an orphan

:)

I love this part, where the lord shows gratitude to the “humble” people who raised him. That and “those 3 years were the best part of my life” really made me love those dorks.

What the fuck Patty? I really love your character, but this is nearly on the “Lana will forever be jealous if she isn’t married and doesn’t end up with Seliph” moment that could ruin everything.

Shanan and Seliph are equals, they’re both Kings!

Or maybe she’s talking about he should act “nobler” since they’re talking to Seliph the King from Shanan the King, and not Seliph talking to Shanan.

Shanan is being sarcastic, but where does this “imperial majesty” comes from? There’s no empire, or if there is one, Seliph should be the Emperor? Or maybe Shanan is bad with royal titles ^^

Again a moment where Patty shows empathy that makes my earlier rant useless, you’ll forever be a fave Patty!

Breaking news : Patty knows more about how nobles should act than King Shanan himself?

Didn’t you hear anything Seliph? You’re “King Seliph”, so call him “King Shanan”!

OTOH, the “my blade will always be yours” feels and sounds wrong. As a King Shanan, your blade belongs to Isaach... not to Seliph. You could have said “i’ll always come to your help if i can” or something like that would have been better...

Why best of luck? Do they have to to fight or something, or isit  a way to say farewell?

Oh, Leif. Well, you too have to thank Seliph, and a lot. I mean, in this game, he liberated all of your castles!

hm... She loves her homeland, at least Leif understands that.

Seliph understands! Maybe he’ll allow Julia to spend some time in Velthomer, because she might have some attachment to that land?? kidding

“this war i participated in and wondered more than once why i was there”

But hey, Seliph, you’re also to be the king of an united kingdom^^ 

Maybe Leif knows Seliph will need some of that luck for himself?

They died around the same time, and they were friends! And there was that pink-haired lady in the picture, but i don’t know why she was there.

I mean, being cousins doesn’t mean we’re automatically friends, look at Scipio and Faval!

Are you really asking that from your wife?

uh... what kind of might?

“Thank you, Lord husband, for allowing me to remain by your side”

Leif told you earlier she was going there to help...

OH COME ON NOT AGAIN

If you maybe have to atone, it’s to the Thracian for switching sides during the war, not for their crimes - i mean, what has Arion done?

Wonderful??? No, Arion should die or pass for dead and disappear from Jugdral! I mean, him being alive is just like, idk, Leif being alive when Travant conquered the peninsula!

And why should Arion work with them? To rebuild the country they destroyed? Hopefully Alty says that he can’t do that right now, but maybe in the future.

Oh, Finn. I thought you were headed for the Yied desert? wait, wrong game

In siggy’s cause? “well, true enough, i often came to help your aunt when she would call me!”

OH MY GOD

I LOVE YOU

he literaly tells Seliph that no, i didn’t give a fig about you or your dad, my loyalty lays with House Leonster. GOOD JOB FINN! He’s eons away from Shanan!

Seliph knows that Leif will need everyone’s help to build the united kingdom. Finn is more than happy to help, and note how he inserts Quan’s name in this convo about Leif and the future. We’re talking about the future here, not about your dead Lord!

Oh, Jugdral’s best dad!

Hannibal might be one of the only reasons the Thracians didn’t revolt against Leif, or pulled a Dorias against him.

Teach them that no, Thracians aren’t hyenas and you’re all one nation!

a devoted son! Do your best! In this verse, since he’s the bio-son of someone worthless, he is able to spend the rest of his days with his dad!

“may just be adopted” no you didn’t - i know this game emphasises blood relationships, but Seliph called Isaach his home a few hours ago so...

Thanks to whom who said we had to eradicate the Thracian royals?

Leif will managed to do it, but hopefully it won’t be with your crap advices, but with competent people we see in FE5

Ares “It is I the Black Knight” is very familiar with Seliph.

Since when Ares is a prince? Note how Seliph calls him a Prince when King Shanan is just a King. Is it because Shanan is a barbarian or a friend he grew up with while Ares is just a guy who wanted to kill him and they just happened to spend 2 years together on the battlefield?

Maybe Seliph drops the honorifics when he’s close enough to someone?

“leif sucks” - he is also the son of your father’s friends!

???

Siggy had faith in Eldie, but, iirc, Eldie was ready to kill Siggy because Siggy was invading his country and tried to kill his King! So the “friends until their ends” kind of falls flat.

What dream?

OMG, are they talking about the old bottle of wine they were supposed to share like the old times? Are they going to drink it, after 20 years??

Or not, it must be another kind of dream.

And here, Ares is impressed at Seliph’s ability to make a rousing speech that he calls him “King” now.

Carve in blood? Remember that Eldie wanted to serve the King of Agustria, he never wanted to become King himself! Granted, whatever Ares knows of Eldie comes from Raquie’s forged letter so...

:) Ares is so sweet, compared to Leif!

Good luck to you two!

Anyone can live happily? “Where people like me won’t be forced to dance to make a living!” given how agustria is supposed to be wonder france, i’m afraid to tell you that it failed

You have no wife. No dad to give you some important kingdom or duchy to inherit. 

You don’t know that and you spent 17 years of your life with him in the same village ????

Your strength and your smarts!

idk what were the last wishes of your mom, but an united Agustria was far from her dreams.

Oh well.

Oh? Aren’t we going to help them, like how we interfered in the Thracian civil war?

“how’s that, you won’t accompany us?” “sorry, i’m in Granvalle now so i won’t help foreign nations” “your dad created this mess” “see you later!”

No Agustria 790 for us. Why Kaga, why?

Oh, an useless character!

Truth to be told, in this run, Ulster isn’t useless, lineage wise! He is the “last royal” of Verdane, and Isaach’s second prince, meaning, if Shanan were to kick the bucket, he’d become King!

And he is also Julia’s husband!

Destroying axe units is what i do best! “and why the royal family collapsed” “ we don’t talk about that”

???

Why is Ulster supposed to give a fig about Seliph’s “my parents met here! It’s a super important place” when Ulster told him he is Jamke’s son, and he wants to get rid of the bandits to restore this country it’s in ruins after siggy killed every royal and never brought Jamke home or let him oversee the succession of his dad?

How to become a puppet nation (again!) 101 : I became your King because my King asked me too! maybe they could pull an england and become a country of its own in a few centuries?

Why is Ulster leaving alone, where is his wife :)

Capable? I doubt Faval knows how to count to one thousand! Hopefully some people left from Scipio’s administration know how to run a duchy!

Mmh... Eyvel wouldn’t be happy with that, what about the orphans you had in Conote? Are you going to leave them in the orphanage because you’re the son of a Duchess? “don’t worry mom, i’ll turn the castle into one big orphanage!”

But apparently, helping orphans wasn’t “a purpose in life”...

Because he is your King.... and your military commander?

Oh. You.

What kind of might are you talking about? poor lester wants to help his cousin for the rest of his life? Talk about a lifelong dream...

Who are you? A random named Sigurd?

Tinny asks for Seliph’s help in Freege, she’ll need it. Because returning to Freege reminds her of Hilda’s torture or because the Freegies will hate her because she and the LA killed everyone, even, kind-Ishtar and kind-Ishtore?

Is Johalvier rude because he is rude person, or because he doesn’t consider Seliph as his King?

Atone for his dad’s crimes and his own, maybe? Johalva knows it won’t be easy to return home though, i mean, he is seen as traitor by those Dozels... At least he acknowledges this.

Owe him one? For what? Letting him live when he could have suffered the Ishtore treatment?

Gentle spirit? Well, being kind wasn’t a reason to let him live, i mean, ishtore died but yes, i feel that Johalvier is the only one who cares about his randoms, unlike the rest of Seliph’s gang.

See you !

Oh. What a softie? Maybe Lana fell for his kind side? and it wasn’t just, poor planning on my part that prevented her from becoming Ms Dermott?

I know it’s a generic convo, but Seliph sounds as if he’s talking to someone he knew since a long time, which fits with Lana.

but no, you can’t leave him be, he’s your husband.

That’s it for Johalva, who is, despite F!Lewyn’s accusations, not a disgrace.

:)

JULIA WHO

There used to be a post (a few weeks? Months ago?) on why Atly wasn’t inheriting Chalphy - i didn’t want to necropost but here we have the Julia side -

No Arthur, you’re not all that’s left of House Velthomer, Julia is there and unlike Saias, she exists in FE4.

Why Arthur should atone for the crimes of “his kin” but Tinni shouldn’t atone for all the crap the Freeges did? See how stupid this “atonement for the crimes of my kin” is ?

Surprisingly, I think so. But Azelle would want you to assume a Dermott role, atone for the crimes of Arvis while supporting Arvis’ last child on the Velthomerian throne (Julia), not seizing the ducal seat for yourself.

but Julia has girl cooties, so she can’t inherit anything

At least he acknowledges he did before.

YOU HAVE TO OFFER YOUR CONDOLEANCES TO JULIA DAMN IT

JULIA SHOULD BE THE ONE TO SAY THANK YOU

DAMN THIS GAME

Really? More world building, i guess.

You have a lot of work to do, friend.

“I’m your wife!” “but i promised you we will return to silesse?” 

OMG - that’s so cute.

Oifey wants to go home! It’s been 20 years damn it!

Seliph gets really emotional about Oifey’s departure. Despite all the bro-ness and F!Lewyn nonsense, Oifey is Seliph’s father/Finn’s figure.

Oh :’(

It makes me genuinely sad, King Seliph was acting all kingly and mature before, but now, faced with the prospect that Oifey won’t be there, breaks. Oifey has always been there, but don’t worry Seliph, Chalphy isn’t that far!

!!!!

Someone acknowledges that Seliph’s duty was/is to protect House Chalphy, as a Baldur Crusader!

Jugdral AU : Julia rules over Belhalla while Seliph is Duke Chalphy, chaos ensues, but is it more chaotic than King Seliph’s Jugdral?

ETHLYN WHO

i know she cut her ties with Chalphy when she married, but is her blood erased due to the holy bonds of matrimony or something???

“it’s not that far! We crossed the continent with our ponies, your know?”

:’(

Don’t tell him that, you’re killing him!

Being kind is something that must be taught? 

Jugdral AU : Oifey takes F!Lewyn’s place, Burian and Ishtore are green units who “kind of” join us during the final map like Arion’s squad.

Still, what does it mean, to live as a knight?

:’(

Maybe it’s just me, but i’m sure those two are crying during this scene

Taking your brother of 15 on a continental war? OTOH, maybe Oifey wasn’t fighting in the first gen because Siggy didn’t want him to be hurt.

:’(

You were ordered to leave with Seliph, but poor Oifey feels as if he abandoned his lord. I’m not sure how a support convo between he and Finn would go “i let my lord die alone i’m so worthless” “no i’m more worthless i was of babysitting duty” “just like me damn it”

his fault? Well, Seliph is the reason why Oifey left the battlefield but hey, thanks to him, he didn’t suffer the Noish treatment!

He will!

Finallly Ced returns back home! The people of Silesse have been waiting for him! not sure about his dad though.

????

That’s downright insulting to Oifey and Shanan, Seliph!

“I’m so proud to be his son, he never asked how i was doing or why i was in Manster, told Fee that it was too bad mom died but we shouldn’t give a fig about them and didn’t talk to her after she risked her life in Isaach fighting for your cause!”

Truly Jugdral’s best dad, fig Hannibal!

...

Truth to be told, i’m more used to FE5!Ced. So all jokes apart, I don’t really understand why he wants his dad to come home, it’s not like the country was in shambles because he wasn’t here - as a king he did nothing for Silesse during the Arvis’ years, Rahna died during the invasion and Queen Erinys ruled the country until she died.

... Maybe FE4!Ced isn’t confident about assuming the role of the King ? But why asking Lewyn to come though...

Wouldn’t you be envious of a dad like that? 

Oh? Is Ced aware that F!Lewyn isn’t Lewyn? or he is aware that F!Lewyn never gave a fig about Silesse and its royal family?

Hopefully FE5 introduced Misha and Karin to give more life/insight to Silesse because here...

Guided? uh... if you say so.

he sure didn’t guide julia to the book of naga -

Poetic and draconic words?

And what kind of duty are you talking about? Naga most likely never ordered you with such a duty, and if it is a duty about “helping the humans” it would have failed if Manfroy wasn’t a moron.

so you mean you guided everyone in the army? Or tried to help everyone?

who told you those tales??? Where are they from??

MMH

i still support Naga’s position about not becoming “entangled” with humans - and even moreso after seeing Forseti’s “guiding” in this game.

Also, can’t we say that Forseti guided them when no one would, but in the same sense,  the Crusader weapons were meant to deal with Loptyr, so it’s a sort of leftover from the original 12′s guidance?

Save for the Dozels! And Julia, and Arion, and their kids! And the future kings of Isaach, Augstria, Verdane and, Silesse!

At least that’s a cool name! 

[randomnameless]

Maybe I misunderstood, but Kaga didn't say Lex was the ONLY good Dozel, so much as his brother and father were rigid traditionalists who weren't connected with the current populace and thus weren't very popular among them. Like Lex was one of the first Dozels to look past the ancient grudge between them & Chalphy. The game did show Langobolt saying a prayer for Lord Ring & disgust at Andre's patricide, as well as reluctance to fight Lex, showing again his traditionalism(the good side to it).

I’m always for bringing more nuance to the Dozels, and if F!Lewyn is any indication as to what Kaga was thinking, there are no “good” Dozels, and Langobalt is the worst human being in both gens

a good dozel is a dead dozel

Lex went first and foremost on Siggy’s adventure for Azelle, he says it himself in the first chapters that he isn’t all buddy-buddy with Siggy and his Chalphian pals. Then Lex fights with Siggy, lives with Siggy, and is branded a traitor by his dad, just like Siggy.

Langbalt was not the best Lord/Duke around, he was willing to brand his son a traitor, and even called Danan useless, on top of being A-OK with regicide, and murdering Byron.

Langbalt wasn’t the mastermind F!Lewyn painted him to be Reptor was. He was just in because he didn’t like the Chalphys (it’s never explained why in the game btw) and wanted to get rid of Kurth too. He led his troops to Isaach, murdered (?) the good king Mananan and got rid of Marricle.

Was Reptor in to become the ultra mega emperor of the universe? I think so. Was Langbalt in for the same reasons? I don’t know, but I think we’re not supposed to see him as amibtious as Reptor, he was just the brawns to Reptor’s brain (or at least, that’s how it was painted).

Sadly we don’t learn a thing about the Dozel commoners, were they supporting Langbalt or Lex? Bear in mind that Dozel sent their men in the war against Isaach, because those barbarians pillaged Darna etc etc. Lex harbouring Prince Shanan could be seen as treason, even by the randomest peasant in the duchy (if he didn’t die during the war).

Danan being a tyrant in Isaach is obviously another story, Isaach is a conquered country, the conquered people are nothing but slaves (remember when Siggy invaded Granvalle and Augstria and the Granvallians were being asses to the verdanites/augstrians? It’s the same idea) and maybe mcRandom Dozel is super happy that his duchy managed to get rid of those barbarians and how they have to show them who’s the best/most civilised country - with all of the disgusting implications we learn of during the game.

We never saw what the randoms in Granvalle were thinking, because the only randoms we see in the last chapter are randoms begging us to save the world from Loptyr, without any words regarding the previous heads of their Duchies or anything else.

We don’t even know what the randoms were thinking about Lex during the first gen, or between the gens or thinking about Langbalt.

So when our Jo-bro tells his bro that the “people” are behind him and not behind Burian, we’re supposed to buy this thing, even taking into account how said jo-bro killed his own “good” brother for a stupid reason or taking into account how maybe Burian sided with Julius to prevent Julius going all Hilda on Dozel and killing them on a whim or somehting

It’s as if randoms are only here to praise us, but no one is here to call us on our shit, save randoms hailing from mystical land of thracia where a fisherman trashtalks prince leif

More seriously, it fits with Kaga’s idea of the game, we see the war through Jugdral’s lens, not through Seliph’s personal POV; so it doesn’t matter if randoms were a bit unhappy at things, in the end, the land is fred from Arvis, Emperor (?) Seliph rules Granvalle and the continent is “at peace” as in, no draconic threat or massive continental war happens.

Does it matter if Arthur/Jo-bro/whoever inherits Verdane has a hard time ruling their lands? Nope. Are we going to take into account peasants? Nope.

Think of it as SoV’s ending, Alm and Celica fred their land from the gods, they know some random are going to starve (especially the ones in Rigel?) without anyone to bless the crops, but it doesn’t matter because in the long run, the continent fares well

until chrom and his merry band of friends invade to get rid of Walhart

FE4′s own ending mentions this issue with Ares having to face a civil war in France Augstria, he ultimately becomes King and that’s the result we want to hear. Do we want to hear about Diarmuid’s heroic feats against Chagall’s lost bastard son? Nope. Do we want to hear about how Diarmuid helped peasants to revolt against Mc Beth’s widow who hired bandits to rape/pillage/burn for fun? Nope.

Ares became King, and it’s the only thing that matters in Agstria.

So back to the Dozels topic…

If Kaga wanted to show us “good” Dozels, he failed. Compare with what happened with the Freeges, or even Arvis himself. Hell, I’d say Lex counts as a “good” Dozel because he was with Siggy’s company, and the jobros don’t because most of the time we have a lex’s son to take over Dozel, and their antics with Larcei kill any sympatic points.

Maybe he didn’t want to make them one-dimensional so he added Burian, and Langobalt’s line about parricide (rans false given hom he branded his own son a traitor) might have existed to show how much of a little shit André was.

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War; Part 20: He’s Blume, Dabba Dee Dabba DIE

Part 19

Welcome back for another week of Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy Oh Shit It’s Chapter Eight.  

I… have some war flashbacks going about this one.  I… yeah. Okay. Let’s… let’s just start the story.  Story. Please.

The peninsula’s north, once ruled by several small kingdoms, is graced with rich pastures, while the South, the Kingdom of Thracia, is a harsh wasteland dominated by vast mountains.  In ages past, seeking to claim the life-giving northern land as their own, Thracia’s infamous dracoknights have led countless brash attempts to conquer the north, only to be repelled at every turn by the might of House Leonster. Thracia looked to have won at last following their slaughter of Leonster’s army in the Yied Desert, only to be defeated in turn by Blume of Freege, who claimed the land as his own. And so, the so-called Kingdom of North Thracia was born as yet another servant state of the Empire.

Over a decade has passed since then. Not even Thracia’s King Travant, an ambitious man with a thirst for power and glory, dares to challenge the will of the Empire. And so, a strange peace looms over the region. Or so it did, until the arrival of Seliph and his liberation army

Blume’s defeat at his own capital has abruptly tipped the balance of the Thracian stalemate. Both the Alster and Leonster territories now lie under the liberation army’s control, forcing Blume to retreat to Connaught and muster the strength to take Alster back.  

(Oh fuck it’s Ishtar)

Braces itself for the threat of Thracian invaders.

Meanwhile, across the border in Thracia itself, both King Travant and his border watchman, General Maykov of Meath Castle, remain eerily silent. The people are united in their fondest wish: For the Thracian Peninsula to return to the rule of House Leonster.

And so dawns yet another battle…

Blume: Banba! How could the three of you let yourselves be cowed into fleeing? What a disgrace!

Banba: A thousand apologies, milord. However, you’ve nothing to worry about anymore.  Even as we speak, General Muhammad prepares his brigade to lay siege to Alster, and General Ovo’s cavalry are en route to Leonster. We, too, shall rejoin the fray shortly.

Blume: Hrm… don’t fail me this time.  And what of King Travant? Why are the promised Thracian reinforcements nowhere to be seen?  

(Because he’s arguably the one person in this peninsula who’s more of a douche than you, Blume ol’ buddy.)

Banba: We’ve yet to receive any response to any of our messengers so far.

Blume: Gah… what in the blazes is that snake thinking?

Banba: King Travant is an ambitious man. To blindly trust him would be foolish.  

(Shame you’re just a recolor of the standard female villain model, Banba. You just marked yourself as the smartest person in this country.)

Blume: … No matter. Even without his forces, we’ve enough power to stop the rebels cold. Banba, Fotla, Eriu!  Move out at once! This time, leave not a single rebel alive!

Banba: Yes, milord. We will not fail.  

Mr. Needypants: How long… how long will it be until Manster is free from the Empire?

Ced: Don’t lose hope now! Even as we speak, Lord Seliph and his liberators are out there fighting for the district. They’ll be here before long. Go! Tell your friends and family that your freedom is so very nearly in reach! Please, my friends, believe me. Manster’s freedom is fast approaching!

Beautiful Man 57: The Empire has already lost both Alster and Leonster to the Isaach rebels. He wishes to hire us to help reclaim them.

Travant, Ew: The Isaach rebels are led by that Seliph brat… Sigurd’s spawn, correct? Heh… poor, poor Blume. He’s getting so old, even little children are a thorn in his side! Pay Blume no heed, Arion. The Empire and the rebels are best left to break themselves on each other for now. We’ll mop up the leftovers once they’re nice and weak.

Arion: I should have known, Father… all along you’ve been waiting out Blume’s little storm, haven’t you?

Travant: But of course! It’d make no sense to bend over backward for the man who snatched the hard-won north out from under our noses, would it? Leonster’s downfall should have meant a peninsula unified under our rule… I’ll neither forgive nor forget Blume’s craven conquest.

(‘Craven’ by whose standards, Mr. ‘Take a Baby Hostage’?)

Arion: Even now, we still lack the power to truly face Grannvale on an even battlefield… I can only imagine your frustration, Father.

Travant: Thracia’s fate depends on a unified peninsula. The verdant northern soils are the perfect cure for the famine and poverty wracking our south. We’ve been shunned and vilified for centuries,  dismissed as ravenous hyenas… Yet what choice did we ever have? If not for our answer to this world’s craving for sellswords, Thracia would never have had the funds to barely survive as we do. We’ve toiled in poverty long enough, Arion. It’s high time Thracia carved itself a future! A future, I might add, which depends on the outcome of the game laid before us…

(I think, unfortunately, this is kind of a writing fumble. We’re apparently really supposed to buy Travant as a patriot willing to do terrible things for the good of his country, and yet everything he does just oozes liquid smug and cheerful evil. Just, I mean… once you’ve seen a man take a baby hostage so he can murder her dad more easily? It’s really hard to view him as well-intentioned on any level.)  

Lewyn: Do it. With Blume still on the loose in Connaught, there’s no sense in skimping on the defenses. Oh, and we’ve received a plea for help from the people of Manster Castle. The sooner our forces reach them, the better.

Seliph: Very well. We shall make the first move!

…………………….. And it shall be to go to the Arena!

Seliph: Seven wins, gained four levels: +6 HP, +2 Skill, +3 Strength, +2 Speed, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Julia: Seven wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Speed, +2 Luck, +1 Resistance

Shanan: Seven wins, gained two levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill. Told you they were his only two good growths.

Oifey: Seven wins, gained one level: +2 HP, +1 Strength

Ulster: Seven wins, gained two levels: +1 HP, +1 Strength, +2 Speed, +1 Luck

Larcei: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Strength, +3 Luck

Lester: Six wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +1 Speed, +1 Strength, +2 Luck

Dermott: Six wins, gained two levels: +2 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Strength, +1 Luck+2 Defense

Fee:  Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +1 Magic, +1 Luck

Arthur: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +3 Skill, +2 Speed, +2 Magic, +1 Luck

Tinni: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Speed, +1 Magic, +1 Luck

Patty: Six wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill, +2 Strength, +2 Speed, +3 Luck, +2 Defense, +1 Resistance

Johan: Four wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Strength, +1 Speed, +1 Defense, +1 Resistance

Ares: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +3 Strength, +1 Skill, +3 Speed, +2 Luck, +2 Defense, +1 Resistance

Leif: Seven wins, gained three levels: +3 HP, +2 Strength, +2 Skill, +1 Magic, +1 Speed, +3 Defense

Nanna: Seven wins, gained levels: +3 HP, +2 Skill, +3 Strength, +2 Speed, +2 Luck, +2 Defense.  She has apparently decided she won’t be a healer this run, but holy shit she’s going to break some heads.    

Finn: Seven wins, gained two levels: +1 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Strength, +1 Speed, +1 Defense

Oh, that’s the stuff. Now, let’s look at the actual chapter.

We start off with two castles, both on the far west side of the map; Leonster in the north and Alster in the south, the two castles Leif was bouncing around near in the last chapter. There’s only one path to take in this one: go straight at Blume in Connaught, then south to Manster, then right on further south to deal with Thracia inevitably being dicks.  However, do not assume. This is gonna be a slog. First order of business is to get some units up to Leonster; right now they only have Finn, Leif, and Nanna, who almost definitely cannot hold against what’s coming their way.  On the way, we have two conversations to share.

Julia: I’m… scared. I sense an evil presence… something dark… and it’s closing in…

Seliph: What do you mean?

Julia: Seliph… be on your guard… Ishtar is a fierce foe… you cannot fight her… you must not…

Seliph: Julia?! What’s happening to you?!

Julia: Ahh… I… w-what in the world just…?

Seliph: Julia… you’re…

(And Seliph gets +1 Luck from that, because…… shut up, that’s why. In fairness, Julia isn’t wrong.)

Arthur: Hrm… yeah, I guess.  

Fee: Hmmmmmmmm.  Who knew you had it in you? I never would’ve guessed that you’re even able to worry about anyone but yourself? I might have to rethink everything just a bit!

Arthur: Well, er, you’re a special case…

Fee: Eh?

Arthur: Er, never mind! Anyway, just don’t do anything too rash, alright? See you…

And Fee gets +3 HP, because… the worry… makes her more… able to take damage…?  Look, I don’t know.  It’s weird. And since there’s no enemies able to reach us, end turn here.

(Game, for fuck’s sake, that’s not even a palette swap of Chagall. It’s just him.  I know you need to save memory, but that’s just lazy.)

Muhammed (Seriously?): If anyone dares to question my command, come forth and allow me to relieve your neck of your head! No volunteers? Good. ATTACK!

(… Ah, I see. You had to re-use Chagall’s sprites so there was enough memory available for the most amazing looking man in the entire game. Okay, I forgive you.)

And with that, it’s our turn again. Ovo and the three mage sisters (… Are they sisters? I actually don’t know. They look identical, but so does) are moving toward Leonster and Leif, while Muhammed (Seriously, though?!) is moving toward Alster and Seliph. I have the cavalry brigade head up to reinforce Leif, along with Ulster since he can run very fast with his Leg Ring, while the rest of the ground-pounders stay with Seliph to help him stomp the armor unit.  And of course there’s bandits moving toward the villages, because fuck you, so we will need to hurry somewhat. I move right into the edge of the enemy range, and prepare for the assault, because I’ve worked out that this is the best way to do it. Boring but practical, man.  

Also, Finn can talk to Leif, somehow missed that last turn.  

(I hope you enjoy the politics of the Thracian Peninsula, because the next map is here too and it never stops sucking.)  

Finn: We aren’t in for an easy battle, but no matter what happens, we must persevere.  

Leif: I know, Finn.  

(“Did you seriously just tell me ‘fighting is hard but we should try to win’? Did you think this was a revelation?”)

Leif:  I’ve always dreamed that this day, the day of Leonster’s freedom, would come… I’ll do all I can to bring peace to the peninsula and save the people from King Blume’s tyranny. To fulfill Father’s final wishes at last… and if I need to lay down my life to make our dream a reality, then so be it.

Finn: Please, my lord! It ill-befits a future king to do something so rash! You mustn’t say such things!

(Okay, maybe Leif did need to be told that he should try to win.)

Leif: Er, you’re right… sorry, Finn. I know how hard you worked to protect me from the Empire’s pursuit in my youth. I recall how often you’d let yourself starve, just so I wouldn’t have to go without food… all my life you’ve made sacrifice after sacrifice for my sake, and only now do I understand this. I’ll always be grateful for all you’ve done, Finn.

Finn: My lord, the Thracian region has been plagued by strife for generations, but your father dared to dream of uniting it under a lasting peace. He may be gone, but you still yet live, and so too does the hope of fulfilling his dream. Only you stand a chance of uniting Thracia.

And with that Leif gains… holy crap, +3 Strength?! Okay, damn, Finn, tell Leif that he needs to win more often.  Never stop telling him he needs to win.  

End turn! Come at me, Blume.

Special Cousin Friend getting smashed in the face day! Now, let’s let them repay the enemy.

Okay, Seliph’s team pretty much owned, thanks for that very good dance, Lene, but Leif’s team is still undermanned and if they try to go toe-to-toe with the enemy, they’re screwed. So, to give them a chance to hold out until reinforcements arrive, I have Finn take out the vanguard:

And then they run south to park on the forests there.  I do not think any of them are in serious danger of dying, and this puts them close enough to the rest of the army that next turn Ares will show up to kill the entire enemy army by himself with his sheer awesomeness.  End turn!

(Where do these people keep getting reinforcements?!)

Faval: Look, Blume, I’m a busy man. Tell me what you want, or I’m leaving.  

Blume: Tch… Listen carefully. I’ve an employment opportunity for you.

Faval: … An employment opportunity?

Blume: Yes, Faval. I require your services in putting down the rebel army.  

Faval: Pass. I might be a mercenary, but I’m certainly not about to do your dirty work.  

(…. Then why did you come? You’re a mercenary, what did you think he wanted to see you for? A tea party?)

Blume: Oh, really? Then what will become of all those orphans in your care? Rumor has it your dear sister has taken to stealing the money you need to take care of them. Are you content with such a life?

Faval: I guess you’re right. I dunno if I can take Patty risking her life like this much longer. And we do sorely need the gold…

(I was going to make a crack about the SUBTLE HINTS as to the identity of Faval’s sister, but he kind of took the fun out of it.)

Blume: Bring me Seliph’s head, Faval, and you’ll have all the gold your orphans will ever need and more. Your dear sister would approve.

Faval: Deal. I know this’ll come back to bite me, but if it means saving the kids… you have my bow. Just this once.

Soooo. Patty’s brother. Means he’s Bridget’s son.  You know what bow he means, and we definitely need to get his sister up there to make sure he doesn’t shoot us with it.  But first, war:

Why do you people hate Nanna so much?!  Well, at least she badly wounded all of them, so we can just mop up an-

*sigh* Why do they have five healers with them? Seriously? Am I being trolled?

…. Fuck.

*phew* He can’t double. Okay, we got this  then. First step, remove that motherfucker.  

Thank you, Best Finn. Now, Lana busts out the Physic Staff to heal Nanna, and we send a few jerks to join their commander

Ulster’s amazing level would normally be the highlight there, but I honestly kind of prefer Leif busting out that weird multiform Dragonball Z shit for his critical hit animation. Way to rock, buddy.  Southern front, can you top them?

Awesome! Seliph is ready to promote, so I should maybe have him run back right now and sell the Paragon Ring for someone else to purchase? I mean, he actually hasn’t gotten very far yet. Either way, Muhammad’s group is now taken down and the other one has the whole horse division to fight, so we have things mostly under control. All that remains is to get people to those villages, and get Patty up to make sure her brother doesn’t murder us. End turn!

All right! Nanna continues her quest to become a frontline fighter, and honestly when she promotes she’s basically gonna be there. Is there someone else who can use her staff? She can’t really put it to the best use, frankly, and she can use the money to buy more swords.  

Our turn, and the mage sisters are almost to our doorstep, so it’s really time to finish off Ovo’s group. Luckily most of them chose to commit suicide by Nanna on their turn, so there’s actually only two left. So it’s as simple as staying just outside their range, except for Fee with her Bolt Sword handy  to meet Banba head on; Banba is the fire one and Fee’s going to have weapon triangle over her, so it should be a good way to soften her up to start off with.

Oh, and killing the last two guys, obviously.

Heeeeey, way to rock out, Johan! You don’t often impress me, but I cannot complain about your performance here.  I don’t think anything can ruin this good mood. End turn!

(OH FUCK IT’S ISHTAR)

Ishtar: What’s happened, Father? How could a pack of simple rebels get to you, of all people? This is so very unlike you.

Blume: These are no mere rebels! They’ve already slaughtered Ishtore, and Tinni is lost to us as well because of them… the defeated Banba and her sisters… I can’t leave this task to them again. You’re all I have left to depend on!

Ishtar: Understood, but I have one condition. I need the Book of Mjolnir. If I’m wielding Mjolnir, I won’t need an army with me. I alone will be more than enough.

(SHE’S NOT JOKING)

Blume: W-what?! You want me to… Fine. Very well. You can take Mjolnir.  But don’t you dare fail me now!

Ishtar: You can trust me, Father. By your leave.  

(NOT THE TIME, LADY)

All right. Okay. Okay. I have Larcei move toward one of the villages, kill the stupid mage sisters…

And… and prepare for the… issue.  The issue that’s coming toward us, very slowly, and we’re fucked.  

So this is Ishtar, and she’s just… she’s just the worst.  I mean, Mjolnir always turns anyone holding it into an utter bastard, but just for fun, compare her stats to the other two users of the tome.  

Look at those comparisons, and tell me what you see.  Reptor has more magic, certainly, both of them have more defense.... but speed. Ishtar’s speed is fucking 39, breaking the game’s speed cap, and of course her ability list includes Adept. So unlike her predecessors, she can double-attack, and getting hit twice with Mjolnir is a death sentence. 

And I don’t know, maybe all this sounds like she’s a super exciting challenge? But that’s also not true. See, she also has Vantage, meaning once her health gets below half she’ll always attack first, regardless of turn.  And if that happens, your odds of beating her drop a ton, because there’s not a lot of units who can take one hit from Ishtar, much less two if she procs Adept (and she will, right when it’s most inconvenient, because fuck you).  So fighting Ishtar is basically a game of tag with nuclear bombs. The actual fight is only going to last about thirty seconds when I actually meet her: either I take her out in one combat round, or she’ll kill someone and force a reset, period.

And there’s only a few units in our ranks who can pull that off: Arthur/Ares if they proc Critical, Shanan/Larcei/Ulster if they proc Astra.  

Most of the above cannot survive a counterattack from Ishtar.

It’s… it’s not a good situation.  

End turn. Nothing happens on the enemy phase beyond the slow inexorable approach of death, so I start off our new turn by clearing a village out:

And send Fee, Dermott, and Finn up toward the other one. They should be able to clear it before it’s totally destroyed, at least, and I’d like Fee to get some more money; I think she’s a good choice for the Paragon Ring after Seliph sells it in a minute here, since her level’s lagging a bit.  Ares and Arthur are both moving into position to deal with Ishtar, and hopefully between the two of them nobody will die, but before her Faval is in place and he’s going to be a problem all his own because we can’t kill the little prick.

I mean, we could,  but Patty would be sad.  End turn, and-

… Really? Right next to each other? You two are asses.  Okay, let’s try this.  

All right, Patty is now right at the edge of Faval’s movement, and to the south Arthur is ready to swoop up and fight Ishtar as she comes in behind him. This… will be tricky. Patty absolutely cannot fight Ishtar, probably not even after promoting, unless you somehow got very lucky with Luna and a Brave Sword.  For now, though, there’s nothing left to do but end our turn.  

Okay. Okay. We can do this. We CAN.  First, I have the northern troops clear that second village. Not because I’m procrastinating, I just enjoy clearing villages.

Nice Girl: I’ve heard all the stories about your army, and I’ve been praying you’d come. Lord Seliph is our beacon of hope! Here, take this power ring. It’s not much, but it’s all we have to show our gratitude.

… I didn’t remember that was there, but it’s pretty much exactly what Fee needed most of all, so happy coincidence.  Down at the front, Patty moves in to slap some sense into her bro.

Patty: Ugh… don’t tell me you actually let Blume buy out your bow arm!

Faval: Patty? Wait, why are you with the rebels?

Patty: To protect people, of course! We’ve come this far working together, and I know we’re gonna stop Blume for good! I don’t get it. Did you just go and forget everything?! That if it wasn’t for the Empire, none of the kids would be orphans!  But no, here you are, kissing up to the man who ruined all our friends’ lives!  What the heck were you thinking, Faval?!

Faval: You’re absolutely right…. I’m so sorry, Patty. I guess I just wasn’t thinking at all.  

Patty: Any scumbag can apologize until they’re blue in the face! If you’re really sorry, then get over here! Come help us fight for peace!

Faval: … Alright, Patty. I’m with you. You’ve certainly come a long way lately…

Patty: Hee hee… I guess I have!

You do you, Patty. Faval, welcome aboard. 

So here’s Faval, and he’s a solid unit overall, like his mom before him. His highest growths are going to be in Skill, Luck, and HP (a whopping 175% for that last one, thanks to having two Holy Bloods and a tanky father) but none of them are particularly bad other than Resistance. And he has a Holy Weapon, so he’s never going to be useless.  His only skill is Pursuit, but that’s really all he needs; he shouldn’t be up close to the enemy anyway.  

Now then. Ishtar.

Ares and Arthur are ready, and they’re our best options with Forseti and Mystletainn to rock out on her stupid face.  But because I love you, there is a little extra convo to have with Ishtar first, so… save state.    

(Remember they’re cousins, they know each other pretty well. Protip: Do not try to have this conversation in the actual game, Tinni is about to get crushed into a fine paste.)

Ishtar: You’ve turned traitor, then? I’m disappointed in you, Tinni!

Okay, now let’s do our real turn.  Arthur, you’re on point.  

(Your reluctance would seem a little more convincing if I hadn’t watched you vaporize your baby cousin thirty seconds ago.)

*deep breath* Arthur procced Critical. In the great game of Ishtar Rocket Tag, we came out on top… and thank God for it, because his resistance isn’t superb and I’m pretty sure her counter would have killed him.  I realize that this makes me look like a big whiner, but that was a stroke of absurd luck and I’m thanking my lucky stars individually and by name.  

… Interesting dying quote there.  

Oooooh dear.

Julius: Come, Ishtar. I need you.

Ishtar: Y-yes, milord! Anything you wish!

Well, that was fuckin’ ominous! Yeah. Yeah. Our first meeting with Crown Prince Julius and he… well he doesn’t seem like a nice young man, to say the least.  Um. Let’s… let’s just… go promote Seliph! Hahaha, yay, promotions! Not scary!

Congrats, Seliph. You’ve officially reached exactly where your dad started.  Though he does, for some reason, have the ability to dismount his horse and go back to being on foot at any time he chooses. It’s not entirely clear why he can do this, but he can. So if you run into somebody with a Horseslayer or something, that will be nice. I’m… not sure there are any more enemies with horseslayers in the game, but if there were Seliph would be all set.

Now, time to end this.

I realize this doesn’t look too bad, but appearances can unfortunately be very deceiving.  All three of those mages and Blume himself are all packing siege tomes, meaning that while you’re fighting your way through the armor leading the way, you are also going to be getting your ass bombarded constantly.  So to start, the best idea is to kill off the first group of armors outside the range of the mages, I think. I move Faval into their range to test out that shiny bow of his.  End turn!

…

They don’t move on their own! Dicks! Okay, we do this the hard way. 

Not bad, not bad. Unless of course all three of the mages and Blume all target the same person and they all hit, but… hahahahaha… what are the odds of that.  Hahahahaha.

End turn.

………….. This… game… is being so nice to me on this map.  What’s going on.  First I lucked out majorly on Ishtar, and now I’m lucking out on Blume.  What are you planning, game?!  

Okay. Okay. We just need to kill these guys and end the update before my luck can abandon me. Guys. Guys, hurry.

What’s going on. End turn, hurry.  Hurry you strange army of winners, I don’t know you but I love you.

My God even Johan can’t die anymore.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE…

You cannot stop me, Blume. Your lightning is weak and small.

*cough*

Sorry, went mad with power. Um…. Let’s see a shot of Tinni continuing her character growth, hm?

Blume: Gah...

Turns out little Tinni has a bit of a backbone to her when she’s not going to be immediately incinerated by divine lightning.  Not a  great fight, but unlike both his dick kids, Blume has no way to double attack or critical so he also can’t kill her as long as you make sure she gets healed between fights. If I could trust him to always go after her, I’d let her chip him down.  But he still has that damn Bolting tome, so I can’t.  So. Let’s end this.

………………. Okay, that’s Ares’s first bad level since he joined, so I’ll allow it.  From here, all that’s left is to take the castle, so I have everyone move south to get ready to cross the river when it opens, and… rock it, Seliph.

Lewyn: Don’t be too excited just yet. The real problem here is still Thracia.

Seliph: What makes you think so? What would cause Thracia to break neutrality now, of all times?

(“They are what is known, in tactical terms, as a bunch of dicks.”)

Lewyn: You’ve never had to deal with King Travant before. Just ask Prince Leif; if not for Travant, he would still have his parents. Travant’s murder of them was a cruel ambush, an insult to the honor of a knight like Quan.  Who knows what game he’s playing now…

I like that Lewyn’s summary is basically a fancier version of what I said.   See you next week when King Travant is a giant dick, because that’s the entirety of what he does, always. Laters!               

Part 21

[randomnameless]

Final chapter - Chalphy to Edda to Dozel !

Seliph starts to conquer the various duchies opposing him, faces the Great Wall (tm) and ends up killing an old man.

But who will inherit the duchy?

Who cares!

(given how the Edda part was too short, i added Dozel)

AND SO,

After years of fighting, Johalva returns home and meets his last brother.

Finally Seliph finishes the Dozel story.

Again, Who cares?

We finally learn the truth about Julia!

and we all say a bif F to Lewyn 

The Great Wall (tm) of Edda! Quite frankly, this part was annoying. Crusader or not, when Ced is targeted by a sleep staff, he sleeps.

maybe this wall was where Kaga thought “what if i make Staff Emblem 776 next?”

He has hard feelings even if he’s asleep! Granted, he didn’t die. Lucky him! And sorry for you, Voltz’s ripoff.

Prince Shanan isn’t being receptive. Scold him Patty! Is this a way to talk to your wife?!

SHE MADE A PIE HERE IT IS SUMIA HAD BEEN TAKING NOTES FROM PATTY’S HANDBOOK - kidding, it’s adorable but i agree with Shanan here.

Light Touch? We’re always needing gold Patty! Go and steal those fools, with your famous wind sword!

Now, he is only worried about your safety, even if he doesn’t know how to show it. he’s trying to look cool (tm) as if he was 12.

Shanan swallows his pride - he loves her (meals)! 

Daw :)

what the flying fuck did you put in this Patty??

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO??

Shanan wants to kill people, it’s a side effect from Patty’s lunch. Did she put some berserk powder in it?

Well, he’s completely stoned

This is so evil, i love it but don’t forget, Loptyr goon, that you are too, a mortal.

Hopefully Shanan managed to break free from the berserk pie, so Leif kills an old man instead. GG Leif? Why are you talking about damnation dude, did you know you were serving under Loptyr or were you feeling bad because you were ruling over Edda when it’s kind of common knowledge that Claude was murdered by the Loptyrians?

Julius doesn’t give a fig

So maybe Claude’d be happy that his land is now safe, but Claude DID NOT gave his life for Siggy’s cause!

He was branded a traitor because he knew too much from the Blaggi Tower - not because he was a friend of Siggy! Claude and Siggy bonded because they were both branded traitors ; but under no circumstances Claude was branded a traitor because of Siggy!

Honestly Seliph, not everyone died because of Siggy!

:) 

I made a post about it earlier

Giving crap advices #1 : look after them from now on, and completely ignore Lene and Cairpre who have Blaggi blood, and their children. I’m sure it won’t bring catastrophes.

Hopefully no one can look at that screen !

Ooh! If Brian stayed in the kitchen in the castle it’d have been a pain to seize it, OTOH, by charging on Chalphy, he is more dangerous due to his high mobility and stupid stats. Our useless units (Lester) can’t survive a fight with Duke Brian.

Legendary? So that means that the peons we’ve been killing in Isaach, who were with Danan, weren’t Dozel’s finest soldiers but mere peons?

Diarmuid is the son of the man who killed Langbalt, you had no chance.

He is the one and only Dozel slayer! Granted, here, he won’t be killing Brian (because he can’t)

Murder it was, and yes, at least two generations of Dozels were killed by Chalphians “wait i’m not from chalphy i’m leif from leonster�� “you’re from chalphy”

The sass! Brian doesn’t call him a traitor though, but a moron! Maybe he still sees him as family, even if he turned against his bro and his dad. It’s kind of wholesome, in a way.

Not the people of Dozel Johalva. But look, he swears to look after his Duchy! yay?

Now Brian is mad, because Johalve mentioned the people? Is it a case where Brian thinks he has the HW so the people must be behind him as the Crusader, and Johalva is spouting nonsense, or Brian being mad because Johalva completely writes him off the future Dozel scenario, meaning that he wants to fight?

You made your big bro mad - honestly, idk if it was on purpose or not, but by his sheer class, Brian is stronger than his siblings and can wreck them without his HW.

Hopefully Ced finished to sleep and uses his magic to kill him. If it weren’t for him though... I wonder how you kill him in a sub only run. He has so much def, Seliph, Ares and Shanan can make the deal?

:’(

This line makes me so sad. Wrong about what? Fighting for the Empire? Why were you even fighting, did you even know what was going on? Did you agree with your dad’s policies in Isaach?

We will never know, and we’re not supposed to give a fig.

Farewell Brian.

i’ve seen this before

stop reusins your friend’s quotes damn it!

“there is a red castle over there, i’m sure we have to seize it somehow. It’s near!”

???

I kept on seeing this all around, but did Quan in FE4 ever mentioned that he wanted to unify the peninsula?

“his GRAND vision” damn it stop putting your words in Leif’s mouth Finn!

Quan’s GRAND vision was most likely to unify the peninsula but to get rid of every Thracian from it first.

“i’ll follow you even in maps were we can’t see a thing!”

Burn in hell - i didn’t hate anyone in FE4 before playing the game but now i do - hell even Chagall is better

yes, let’s play blame the dead. Seliph has had enough of his rant, and wants to continue to listen to his story.

and i thought F!Lewyn said it earlier that the gods were the dragons?

“I can’t say for sure” yes of course :) - but if there is one thing that’s interesting about this character it’s this line “our land’ misery was caused by the power of the dragonkin”

Without HB would Langbalt not be an ass or something? i don’t think so.

Bantu traveled a lot in his younger days, he went to another world! His recollection of the journey must be one of Tiki’s favourite stories.

Naga who? And what scripture? The Blaggi bible?

Bantu = Salamand? what shape did you take, Forseti?

Just like the covenant Erik of Laus wanted to make with Hector and Eliwood!

blood rites, yes. At least it’s not as hardcore as bathing naked in a pool of blood but...

F!Lewyn is upset that Seliph isn’t into blood rites unlike his ancestor Baldur.

“humble” well they managed to survive that far, against people who could magic unlike them! So they were pretty badass!

I wonder if Blaggi was disappointed when he saw the staff - until he learnt what was its power 

Sadly, not all of them. 

Fell power? Here again, being judgmental when you shouldn’t. Granted, we don’t know what was Loptyr, but in this verse, and at that time, the Earth Dragons aren’t reviled as being evil; heck, Medeus is a pretty chill guy right now.

Heim used to be a priest then, but Blaggi founded the church?

OH MY GOD

MAYBE THIS IS THE REASON WHY AZMUR WANTED A MAJOR NAGA ON THE THRONE BACK IN GEN1?

IS THIS WHY BARHARA IS THE RULING HOUSE IN JUGDRAL?

I WONDER WHO THAT IS

oh wait, F!Lewyn told us back in the prologue that it was you Seliph! Remember?

THREE?? WAIT SHE MENTION JULIUS AND AN USELESS CHARACTER IN THE LATEST CHAPTER COULD IT BE

IT MUST BE THAT USELESS CHARACTER

OMG OMG OMG

JULIA IS A PRINCESS???

And how dare you claim you learnt it recently, you spent 6 years with her, when everyone heard about Princess Julia missing, you found a kid clothed with royal clothes in the middle of nowhere, who had the same name as the missing princess, and you didn’t make the link?

F!Lewyn “i was expecting Tahra to fall” can’t fool anyone

LIAR

if it was really your reaction then you would NOT have sent her in Isaach WITHOUT any weapons, not let her out of your sight for even a millisecond, knowing well that without her Judgral is DOOMED

or maybe, if he really learnt it recently he’s all “welp i treated like lester when she was actually important^^”

oh, because if she wasn’t your sister you wouldn’t need to rescue her?! 

FE5!Leif wants to have some words with you two

If she isn’t a plot device i don’t what Julia is

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 29:  Hildead

Part 28

Welcome back to Fire Emblem IV! Because the Dark God Loptyr doesn’t take Thanksgiving off, so neither can I.

You may recall last week we began the Final Holy War, which is both Final and Holy, and War, and you should Finally do the Holiness of the War that’s Final and War. War War Final Holy Holy, Final.  Also, we took Edda, the home of our poor old dead friend Father Claude, so his kids will be happy. They get their own castle!  Now, let’s see what happens next:

Brian: Against the full might of Dozel’s legendary axe knights, the Grauenritter, the rebels stand no chance! They’ll drop like leaves!

Fisher: At once, milord!

So there’s where we start. Two armies, one going east toward Edda and the other going south toward our starting castle, Chalphy. There’s two things that can be done here; you can either split the army and try to kill both, or you can trust a single character to defend Edda castle from Fisher’s group, while your whole force goes to intercept Brian.  

(Theoretically I guess you could do it the other way around, but Fisher is a mook and Brian has a holy weapon. One of these armies is more dangerous than the other.)

Anyway, I don’t trust myself, so I’m not gonna put all my eggs in one basket; the route from Edda will be guarded by Leif, Nanna, Altena, and Fee. I can’t imagine any axe dudes being able to bring those four monsters down.

Oh, and there’s a few talks to be had as we move about. First, Leif and Nanna:

Nanna: And once this is over, I take it we’ll be returning to Leonster?

Leif: Indeed we will. The Thracian peninsula has known not but strife for decades, and to unify it was my father’s dream.

(Oh goodie we have another Thracia lecture. I’m gonna go take a nap, back later.)

Leif: I’ll pledge my life to fulfill his grand vision, and I’d love nothing more than to have you by my side every step of the way, Nanna.

Nanna: Of course, Lord Leif! I’ll be by your side forevermore, wherever your path leads. Even to the very ends of the earth…

(Protip: When you two do that, don’t bring a baby with you. Next up:)

Patty: ‘Er, yeah’? Well, nice to see you too! Look, it’s lunchtime. I made it myself!

(…. Um… there’s… a war on…)

Shanan: … What are you doing? This is a battlefield, not a place for a picnic.

(See? He can’t even get oxygen to his brain through all that hair, but he gets it.)

Patty: But I’ve got nothing else to do! It’s not like there’s anything around here that needs my, er, light touch.

Shanan: So you thought getting in the way in the middle of a battle was a good idea?

Patty: OH!  Well, that was just uncalled for. You can’t throw me aside like some old bag! And to think, I spent all that time slaving away in a hot kitchen to make you lunch, well, I guess I won’t be doing that again!

(But there’s a war, you dimwit!)

Shanan: Oh, Patty…. Look, I’m sorry. I went too far. Forgive me.

Patty: Then you’ll be eating my lunch? Really? Oh, that’s a huge relief… I love you soooooo much, Shanan!

….

Sure, whatever. Shanan gets +3 HP and +3 Speed from that conversation, so that was clearly a pretty incredible fuckin’ lunch. I assume that either Leif or Nanna were supposed to get a stat boost as well, but they’d already maxed out in whatever stat(s) they were supposed to gain. Alas, romance has turned against me.

All right, everyone’s moved and we’re ready to roll.   End turn, and let’s start the axeing!

Wow. That was kinda sad, honestly. But, over by Chalphy, Brian is going to beat us back to our home castle, which is currently defended by only a few doofuses. That’s not ideal, because Brian:

Is actually quite the badass. As with his dead grandpa Langbalt, the Helswath makes him a very tough nut to crack, and he can hit like a freight train with it as well. Basically the only saving grace is that the axe is ridiculously heavy, and so he’s actually not nearly as fast as his 26 speed implies.  Still, I want someone tougher at the castle to hold it until the army arrives, sooo….

Ced, you are the man.

There we go. Ares and Seliph are pretty unbreakable, so those two in the way should keep the castle from falling. Barring, you know, Ares screwing me over like he did last week. Don’t do that, Ares.  

And, to the north…

Yeah, leaving four people to guard the north pass may have been overkill. Okay, end turn!

*sigh* Yeah, this will happen sometimes. The AI in the northern pass can’t hit anyone, so they choose to not attack at all. I don’t know what triggers it, because it doesn’t always happen, but this time it hit and wasted my time.  Yaaaaaaaaay.

Now, for Chalphy…

*phew*

Okay, that was a little closer than I’d like.  Seliph gets doubled by Brian, apparently! That…. That seems wrong to me.  But, hey, he missed both shots. That’s what really matters. The rest of the army moves forward towards the Brian Bunch, and Seliph and Ares continue their purge.  

Brian: Could it be… could I have been… wrong all along?

…. Yes! You work for a child-murder cult! Why is this so hard for people to grasp?!

And hey, Ares? Totally redeemed. That is the kind of performance I expect from you. He procced Critical and Adept (twice!) in the same battle, letting him hit Brian four times, with one of them being double damage, and meaning Brian’s absurd defense was 100% useless. Four Mystletainn shots will burn you down no matter how tough you think you are.

(Unless you’re Julius)

(Do NOT let Ares fight Julius)

Oh, and the northern group is… well. Well.  

They’re doing pretty okay. With the deaths of both Brian and his primary toadie, the Dozel army is basically smashed. None of the ones that are left can pose a serious threat to our army, and they’ve lost their leadership stars to diminish the already existing minor issue they were.  Sorry, guys. Don’t worry, you won’t have to put up with this sense of inferiority for very long, because I’m pretty sure most of you are totally gonna die on your own turn here.  End turn!

Well that was fun. And kinda sad. Seliph is absolutely not needed here, so I have him start running north to take Dozel castle while the rest of the group smash the enemy’s faces in.

… Or not. I am really bad at measuring distance, and most of the army was too far away to actually fight here. So. Um… one more turn for Dozel, then!  It should be… should be…. Interesting…?

Well, they landed a few hits, I suppose.  They get to go out on the closest thing to a high note they’ve had. Let’s finish this up!

That was fun! Now then, let’s rock out on Dozel castle; since this is the final map there’s a Dark Bishop there because everyone in the fucking country has failed to recognize they should be opposing Operation: Child-murder.

And of course he has a siege tome!  Luckily he chose to go after Leif, whose Light Brand counts as a Light magic when fighting from a distance; the only kind of magic that dark magic has no advantage over. Combined with his natural dodgy nature, he rocks out. Now then, let’s see about clearing the castle.

Yes, like that.  Okay. Taking Dozel opens up the northern section of the map, and I don’t want to screw this up again; by taking Edda without preparing for Brian’s charge I ended up having to burn up valuable staff charges to get people back there in time to crush him like the insect he was. I may have panicked too hard. But what comes next is actually, if I recall right, a gigantic pain in the butt, so I make sure to spend a few turns getting the army in position. Fee also caps off her levels by healing some folks up.

Not half bad as a way to end out her growth.  She isn’t super-phenomenal at anything, but she’s good at everything.  She can be put into basically any situation other than ‘surrounded by archers’ and expected to perform pretty well. Combined with her flight, and she’s infinitely reliable. That’s my girl.

And since we’ve got time, I also send some folks south to grab the villages waiting in the southern corner of the map. Don’t really need money anymore, but I like it!

Info Master, Lord of Song: O Black Knight Hezul, Mystletainn the demonic in hand, smite the devil; O Sword Saint Odo, Balmung the divine in hand, repel the blight; O Holy Knight Baldur, Tyrfing the sacred in hand, shine a light; And O Saint Heim, Book of Naga in hand, pray to the heavens above. Prayer begets light, light begets the white dragon, foe of the shadow dragon; Black and white, Light and dark, an eternal struggle; Shall our prayers yield victory, or shall it be death? And yet have on fear, for our battle is a beginning and defeat is never the end; the flame we seek is eternal, undying, never lost, and in all who follow us I shall believe; and in all who bear the light I shall believe.  Not bad, innit?

(No, it’s pretty bad.)

(OH GOD HE HEARD ME! HE’S BACK FOR REVENGE!)

Info Master Part 2, the Return: If wisdom, courage, and power be your allies, summon them now and give all you have, should you wish to prevail this day.  Trust in yourselves to bring forth our destiny, one born where the two trails of light meet.

Well. Someone’s been talking to Lewyn, I see. And speaking of, the army’s in position, so let’s take Dozel and set the story rolling once more!

(Well. I mean. I would argue, but you’ve all met Johan.)

Lewyn: If it weren’t for Langbalt, the world wouldn’t be in such a mess…

Seliph: Lewyn, I cannot wait much longer. Just where did the Crusaders’ power come from? What in the world are the gods?

(Yeah, dude, finish the fucking backstory already.)

Lewyn: I can’t say for sure… but whatever they were, they realized that our land’s misery was caused by the power of the dragonkin.

(He’s lying and knows exactly what happened. I’m honestly not even sure why, since he admits to that later anyway.)  

Lewyn: And so they came to Jugdral to save the human race. It was they who appeared at Darna, just as its doom seemed certain.

Seliph: That would be the legendary descent of Naga and the eleven gods found in scripture, yes?

Lewyn: Yeah. They say the gods took human shapes; Naga, the god of light, appeared as a little girl, while Salamand the fire god was an old man. With twelve chosen warriors, the gods bound themselves into a blood covenant.

Seliph: A blood covenant?

Lewyn: Basically, the gods drew their own blood with a scratch to the fingertip and presented it to the warriors.

Seliph: … I beg your pardon?!

Lewyn: Long story short, they were dragons. The gods we know only from scripture? They were all of the dragonkin, just like Loptyr.  With a single taste of the blood of dragons, these once humble warriors of the liberation army were reborn as the Twelve Crusaders. Each dragon presented to their crusader a weapon forged by them and steeped in their power. And then, with some final parting words of wisdom to the Crusaders, they departed Jugdral.

Seliph: I see… so our power is, in truth, that of dragons…

Lewyn: Loptyr himself is actually from a dragon clan whose power is amongst the mightiest of all. The great dragon Naga, strongest of them all, bestowed their own blood upon the leader of the liberation army, the priest Heim. Naga knew only their power could hope to stand against that of Loptyr.

(And here’s the final bits of the puzzle. Basically, Jugdral has been fucked over royally by the dragon civil war that painted the backstory for the first ever Fire Emblem game. As a small primer: Dragons in this setting are incredibly powerful, immortal beings, and the strongest of them, like Naga or Loptyr, can rightly be declared godlike.  They ruled the world for thousands of years, alternately considering the humans as children to be nurtured or vermin to be ruled over depending on the dragon in question. However, over time, as humans grew more powerful, the dragons in turn began to degenerate; their birth rates declined, and as they aged they began to be driven insane by their own power.  They were left with the choice of either sealing the majority of their power into special stones and taking on human-like ‘manakete’ forms, or going mad and becoming threats to everyone around them. The Earth Dragons refused to give up their power, and fought a great war against the other tribes led by the Divine Dragons under Naga, ending in them being sealed away forever except for two: Prince Medeus, who took on a manakete body and eventually became the Big Bad of Fire Emblems 1 and 3 after his bitterness towards his situation consumed him… and Loptyr, who took a third option in the form of giving up his body altogether and becoming an immortal spirit, able to possess the descendants of the emperor he gave his blood and power to. And that’s where we are today!)    

Seliph: So nobody else among the dragonkin would be able to prevail against Loptyr?

Lewyn: It certainly wouldn’t be easy. Even if you had ever last dragon fighting together, it would be unlikely to prevail without Naga’s power. This, of course, means that if we’re to win today, we’ll need the last surviving heir to Saint Heim. In other words, one of Deirdre’s three children. Of those three, you didn’t inherit the full breadth of Naga’s blood, and it’s pretty obvious that Julius didn’t. Actually, I only recently learned who it is. The inheritor of Naga’s power is Julius’s twin sister… Princess Julia.

(YA DON’T SAY.)

Seliph: E-excuse me?!

Lewyn: Yeah, that was more or less my reaction too. Julia is Julius’s twin sister, which also makes her your half-sister, Seliph.  

(You can apologize for encouraging him to bone her at any time, pal.)

Seliph: So all this time… Julia was my sister…

Lewyn: I guess now we know why Manfroy took her to begin with. Needless to say, Seliph, we’ve got to rescue her, no matter what. We absolutely need her power if we want any hope of stopping Julius!

Not strictly true, but you’ll regret it if you don’t! End turn.

(Oh goodie. Hilda’s back.)

Hilda: Feh, why’d I ever expect any better? Worthless cowards, the lot of them! It’s time I took this into my own hands. All I need is to lure these flies into my web. Then I can crush them, once and for all! Send Scorpius of Jungby a messenger! Pass on to him this plan. The Gelbenritter will coax the rebels our way, leaving them wide open to a deluge of the Beigenritter’s arrows from behind!

(Send half the army south to intercept that, gotcha.)

Hilda: They’ll have nowhere to run or hide. Kill them all! No survivors this time!

Now, Hilda herself is not really any stronger than she was the first time we stomped her, but she’s definitely more of a threat due to the army she’s brought with her. Two dark bishops, one in the castle and one on the ledge above it, both of whom have Fenrir siege tomes; five dark mages with sleep staves, meaning anyone with less than 15 resistance who even gets near the castle is going to be taking a forced nap; and seventeen (!) barons.  Yes, barons, the overpowered enemy-only class that usually functions as bosses, are her generic mooks. Their stats aren’t as painful as the barons who usually serve as bosses in other chapters, but they’re all packing Silver Lances and Thoron tomes to really, really hurt you. Two of them, and Hilda herself, are also packing the wide-area-healing Fortify staves, meaning any you hurt but don’t kill off will definitely be getting zapped back up to full health on the enemy phase. And of course, Scorpius and the Beige Knights (no I’m not letting that go. Ever.) will be coming up from the south to add another obstacle after a few turns, so you can’t even hit this very formidable group with your full power.

Fortunately, we don’t really need to. We just need a pissed off niece and nephew. Tinni and Arthur, to the front; both of them can fight the barons from a position of advantage by using wind magic to counter their Thoron tomes, then switch over to lightning when fighting Hilda herself; and as siblings they’ll give each other the critical boost from fighting as a team. Plus, there are some mountains in the area that can be used as defensive terrain, and the barons themselves can’t do the same because their armored-unit movement can’t go over mountains. Ares, Leif, Ced, Seliph, Lene and Cairpre will be backing them up, while Fee circles around the mountains to start assassinating the dark mages on the ridge above the castle to clear things up for the rest of the army to move up there later.  The rest of the team head south to intercept Scorpius’s surprise attack that the game told us was coming. End turn!

Yeah, you’re a tactical genius. The Beigenritter are basically unchanged from gen 1, and Scorpius is  literally just Andrei with better stats. Not that they’re a total non-threat, they all have Brave Bows, but bows aren’t great at accuracy and we’re all parked on forests, so they’re definitely way less dangerous than Hilda and Company here.

Yup, exactly as dangerous as beige. And now we remind them that bows can’t counterattack at point blank.

…. I’m an idiot. I thought Altena would be able to move out of bow range after she attacked here. She couldn’t. Um, this one might be leading to a reset.  Ummm… um… um. End turn. Please survive, everyone!

God, fuck Barons.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit…

… … … Well, I didn’t see that one coming.  Scorpius doubled him and both shots were critical hits. Killer Bows remains the worst thing unless they are being used by me.

I repeat the previous turn in most detail, with a minor exception; I focus much less on offense, only attacking with people who can make the shot and then pull back, and leaving only Patty and Shanan near the main enemy since they’re largely unable to be hit. I want to make sure the majority of the Beigenritter make their attacks at me when they aren’t near Scorpius.  I also have Altena run far, far away, and remember to move Faval in closer; I forgot him last time, since he was kind of over near the villages. Whoops.  Okay, let’s try this again…

Tinni, dammit.

Welp. It was ugly, it was a very ugly fight, but we pulled it off. When I started this I was genuinely not expecting Scorpius to be the major problem I had to deal with, but here we are!  Now, he has special dialogue with Faval, but I’m sorry, I kinda fucked that up beyond repair. Faval isn’t close enough to attack him on this turn, and I can’t risk letting him live for another one; his Killer Bow and leadership stars are what make the Beigenritter any threat at all.

Sigh. Sorry. I screwed up and sent Faval too far away from the fight to meaningfully participate in it until next turn, and I’m not risking another death just to get them yammering on. The gist is basically that Scorpius recognizes the Yewfelle, declares that Faval must be the child of the traitor Bridget, and then dies because Faval has the best bow in the game. I’ll try to get both of Hilda’s dialogues to make up for it.

*sniff* The family that slays together stays together. And, assuming that barons don’t clog up the way, Hilda should reach Tinni on this turn! That will be fun. End turn!

Big if, mind you. Nothing like a 25% chance to block all damage to make an annoying enemy.

And there goes what little progress I made down the drain. Fuck you, Hilda.

Well, at least the Beigenritter are pretty much smashed, with only three offensive units and two healers left. So let’s take out the trash.

SHANAN CHOOOOOP!

And then there were none. The southern front rounds itself out by having Lana and Ulster get their lovers conversation.

Lana: Please… please don’t die in this battle.

(… Okay, so Lana is crazy! Good to know.)

Ulster: Oh. Listen, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I’m not about to let myself die just yet.

Lana: Ulster, I…

Ulster: Yeah?

Lana: … I love you, Ulster.

A little disjointed, but it gives Ulster +3 Resistance, so I’m just gonna roll right along with it! You do you, Lana. Now, the northern front continues chipping away at a seemingly infinite supply of regenerating armored steel walls.

Tinni, goddammit. Still, at least Fee finished looping up and around to start purging the status effect squad.  Now, end turn. Try to die a little better, Hilda squad.

You guys never do what I ask!

Good lord this is tedious. End turn, I guess, not much else to do!

… Welp, it finally happened. Even the AI has gotten sick of this map and they’ve started committing Suicide-By-Larcei. And now it’s our turn, and it’s time to finally purge them.

God that was cathartic. Only two left, the two who have been hiding in the back healing all this time.  And now… her.

Hilda: I want nothing more than to choke the life from you with my bare hands!

Tinni: You won’t get that chance! I pray you’re watching, Mother… I’m finally going to kill Hilda!

Hilda: Am I to assume you’ve come to seek my head for your mommy’s pathetic demise?

Arthur: Oh, yes. I figured that Tinni shouldn’t dirty her hands on scum like you.

(I mean, nice of you, but she’s actually really into it.)

Hilda: Oh, did you now? In that case, I’ll drag you straight to Hell with me!

Ding-dong, the Witch is Dead.  And from a sibling team effort of her worst victim’s kids, no less. The one thing Fire Emblem does better than 90% of other series? The ability to inflict some poetic goddamn justice.

Now, this update has run way too long, just due to sheer number of enemies, and we did take a castle, so I will actually save the remaining siege of Freege for next week.  I leave you to your sweet dreams of Hilda dying in misery and begging for someone to avenge her, which is not going to ever, ever happen.

And that, kids, is what the Holidays are really all about.  

 Resets: 29.  Hey, I have as many resets as I do posts at this point! That’s really nice. Other than the fact it marks my many failures. 

Part 30

[randomnameless]

Chapter 7 - Darna to Alster!

Seliph finally finishes this Naga forsaken map and says good bye to the Desert.

RETCONS RETCONS WHO WANTS RETCONS?

(joking, FE4 happened before FE5 so FE5 is the retcon game but)

Ares wants to talk to his friend - the reason why he turned blue to begin with 

but an idiot is here, blocking the doors.

so the only thing he can do in this situation, since he’s grey and can’t move, is talk to the guy.

don’t ask that

no “it is I, Ares the Black Knight”? Vengeance leaves no place to theatrics.

uh... yeah? Siggy couldn’t kill Eldie even if he wanted, he didn’t have the stats for that!

Poor Graine. Here you see miscommunication at its finest, granted, given how Eldie ignored his wife/son to run to his sister’s side and Siggy’s help, I understand why Grainne never got the true side of the story. Her version, and I believe the version of most Agustrians is “Siggy led an invasion in Agustria, Eldie died while defending his homeland and his King” which isn’t that far from reality actually! I love how Ares calls his mother “noble” and not just, my mother. Seliph is of course completely clueless, no one bothered him to keep him in touch with the Augstrian campaign - Aidean what were you doing?

uh... well, i’m sure they hold no hard feelings against each other because they were knights and knights simply do what they’re told, if they hate someone it’s the king who orders them to fight, but Eldie wasn’t totally happy at Siggy’s invasion/occupation. Hopefully Siggy went all “i’m just listening to orders i’m trying to write a letter to Azmur don’t worry” and Eldie believed him. If Chagall wasn’t such a douche the blame could be shared, but hey, we have the most perfect scapegoat so let us all blame Chagall, it makes the Augustrian campaign less catastrophic.

haha Seliph doesn’t understand a thing, Ares is the son of dad’s friend so we can be friends, right? It’s still kind of insensitive to call Ares’ lifelong grudge a “misunderstanding”, OTOH it’s clever because Seliph isn’t calling Ares’ “noble” mother a liar to his face!

Genealogy of the Holy War : sons must pay for the grudges of their fathers? S

Subverted here, Ares drops his grudge. If only we could have asked Brian or even Scipio to do the same :) But their dads had ugly sprites, so they couldn’t be Siggy’s friends so we don’t give figs about them :)

Not totally subverted though, Ares still has doubts and will murder Seliph if he lied.

i cringe a little at this line from Seliph tbh, the fate of the world resides on your shoulders (lel) because you’re the only Naga alive (lelel) F!Lewyn said so, and you’re willing to die just to please Ares? Seliph no :’(

hey you know what you could have met him when you were 3 weeks old if Eldie wasn’t such a douche and didn’t ignore his son and wife. During the occupation he could have sent them to say “hello” to Siggy and his family (or invited them at his place) before Chagall became a douche, but no, Eldie never gave a crap about his family - save for Raquie.

Once he is finished with Seliph Ares pushes him and runs to find his true friend

Here she is! He worries about her, how cute.

:’(

Ares apologises and calls himself a fool, poor Ares. And Lene confesses that she isn’t alright but she still trusted him even after he made himself a fool with that “killing Seliph” nonsense.

Daw! Why IS didn’t give them any lover convo?

Of course he won’t! He will take you home to Agustry! and then you’ll be eaten alive by the agustrian court

“are you the guy Ares wanted to kill?”

“Ares told me about you, he said “move imbecile i have to rescue Lene” when i tried to talk to him earlier”

No dancers in Isaach? 

i don’t know if that would be the word i’d use. Seliph is flustered seeing scantily clad women. Granted, any scantily clad woman would have been captured in Dozel!Isaach so...

and now for the retcon: Raquie’s children!

“who are you random knight?”

what are you talking about? Wait you didn’t knew you had a bro? But in FE5...

that’s understandable - save the part where Lewyn only tells you now that you have a sibling but fig that guy.

off screen, crawling after Shanan and Oifey because they said they could only carry one child and that one child was Seliph

hoho, so Nanna’s Leonster born, it fits with the timeline. The thing that doesn’t is Nanna still ignoring she has a bro :’(

is it me or FE4!Nanna seems to miss Raquie more than FE5!Nanna?

??? I thought you said you didn’t know you had a bro and now Raquie told you she left to meet him in Isaach??

Poor Nanna, she waited to see her, she had no mother figure during all those years

only kaga knows

she took her horse and fled with her horse in the desert with figging sand and it’s not like Quan did the same mistake but no 

meanwhile, two cousins chat

at least - well yeah at least because he had to backtrack to Darna and it took around 15 turns or something (thanks Naga for Lana’s warp staff)

prelude indeed, since Arvis hired Travant and co to assist in his coup

bad Leif, you forget how Travant first set your home in flames and only afterwards Blume arrived. You were sleeping during Finn’s history time or what?!

“my knight Finn” sounds... not strange, but I can’t see FE5!Leif calling Finn “his knight”. Finn is his father figure, he is Finn, not a knight. Heck I doubt FE5!Leif would even call Carrion and co “his knights”. August/Dorias would.

this is so... well, not strange because in FE5 Leif says retaking Leonster was his dream (Finn’s dream) but before chapter 6 he was happy living as a peasant in Fiana with his sisters (and Jugdral’s best mom) killing pirates. Maybe that’s not something you can tell to your kingly cousin, so it’s better to say that he wanted to fight since the beginning...

pff would you have helped against Raydrick when he stoned Eyvel - i mean when Dorias and co tried their multiple attempts at murdering Blume in his sleep? I don’t think so but it’s something Seliph has to say. He doesn’t have to apologise per se but... Well, the way Leif told his story we could think we should be berating Seliph/Siggy for the BBQ’s aftermath that impacted Leonster - in that regard Seliph HAS to apologise.

but this vision, of course, throws Travant in the “ignored” trashcan.

But Leif quickly apologises, it wasn’t his intention to put the blame on Seliph. It’s squarely his fault. RIP Dorias :’( (well Miranda has to share the blame too)

?? Of course he was worthy of being dubbed a knight of Nova he was a crusader. But Leif bragging about being the son of Quan? Heck, that’s something Finn/Dorias would say “don’t lose hope prince you’re the son of quan”, the words of support Ced shared with him when he was down! FE4!Leif is so... confident and assertive, it’s super... weird considering my only Leif experience was FE5!Leif.

It’s so weird that I don’t recall FE5!Leif saying something like that, or reclaiming himself of Quan’s legacy even once. 

“Marty, Othin, pack your things we’re going with Seliph now. Lifis too.”

“But Lord Leif, we’re returning to Fiana now” “don’t you dare i said we’re leaving.” Haha, restoring honor to Granvalle? It’s not about stopping the child hunts and stopping Loptyr’s resurrection? this is so un - FE5!Leif - like! remember the guy who screamed about honor and glory? he would have said those lines!

uh... sure, Quan helped Siggy a lot. And given how Quan died for/because/ during his quest to help Siggy, their deaths are linked.

OMG OMG OMG SOMEONE REMEMBERS

Indeed, but i can’t totally ignore the fact that maybe Ethlyn, even if she wasn’t a Chalpy anymore, wanted to restore her “birth” house’s name clean too, and was also worried about her dad - who didn’t even mention her but that’s how we roll in Jugdral daughters are worthless.

Again, Seliph apologises. Not for Leonster’s fate, but for Quan and Ethlyn on the behalf of his dad.

yes, the stories August told me said that Siggy manage to pierce Arvis’ plans before everyone else! He was a wise man!

As do I? What about “don’t hate the people, only the evil in their hearts?” “oh fig it”. 

pff hahaha if only you knew what were your dads’ last wishes! it was only about restoring chalphy’s good name!

he already said he was going to lend you his scrubs!

“damn that new blade shoots beams of light it’s so cool!”

“I GAVE YOU THOSE RIBBONS!” “hilda did and told me to hang myself with them it’s not a kindness”

hey look, it’s the imperial princess!

“Fear me else I’ll tell everything to daddy and he will Valflame you to oblivion”

because...

“THE MYSTELTAINN CRAVES THE BLOOD OF MEN”

but i thought Julius wanted to throw his party there? You can’t just rewarp in it, it’d be lame!

Wow no mercy for Blume? But yeah, per Aidean’s history lesson, when a baron escapes he will return to piss you off again until you kill him.

it could have been helped if we put men to block the exits, re you really a strategist? or maybe Blume just rewarped when Ares was busy screaming his finishing line for the finishing blow...

??? They’re happier than the Isaachians you fred from Danan’s rule? I honestly can’t believe it.

a real hope, not a joke like Leif’s failed attempts^^

yeah, they’re all stronger than you. Even your wife Larcei!

“have you seen that kid with Leif’s group? She can steal stuff with a magical staff!”

“just as planned and if you don’t i have a backup plan involving a minor character with naga blood”

lol Julia isn’t part of any plan.

[randomnameless]

Chapter 7 - Rivough to Yied!

In which Seliph hates send. AND THE DOLT, WHAT OF THE DOLT?

Hey I remember this map

Amalda turned into an armor? And Conomore too? Imagine if those armors were real horseback units like in FE5 and feel the dread.

uh... you’re not saying this in FE5. I don’t even think you exist.

Shanan did Siggy forgot to teach you manners? Keep your hands to yourself!

Wait Patty, a thief doesn’t care about the legal owner of the property she’s stealing! You’re not really a thief, are you?

HAHAHA

“someone” maybe a Loptyr goon thought it would make a good mural decoration or something. OTOH, note how Marricle’s holy weapon was pillaged from his corpse, but the 2nd gen character have no problem in inheriting their parent’s weapons! No one stole Noish’s armorslayer or are we supposed to believe he gave everything to bby!Diarmuid when he went to Isaach?

“and i abandonned my country for a short while. Nothing of importance could have happened anyways!”

Patty knows that Balmung = Isaach and Isaach’s prince = Shanan.

Poor Shanan isn’t use to fangirls? What about his cousin?

What kind of stories? “Shanan goes to the market” and “Shanan goes to the beach” or “Shanan kicks butt right and left”?

You have weird dreams Patty.

Is Shanan thinking the Balmung is his because he is the prince or because he is “the only one who can use it”?

“the same thing totally didn’t happen with my bro and his shiny bow”

stop lying old lady at this point in FE5 you’re most likely waiting for Seliph or calling Leif an idiot for going against the Empire with half of his troops

Lady who?

well she’s talking to Nanna here, because I figured she’d need money from the village more than Leif and because she can reach said village faster.

hahaha, the end of which war, random? Look at him, saying Blume conquered everything forgetting that Travant already rolled over Leonster first.

Was the random happier under Travant’s Leonster?

Child hunts, again. But what are they doing with all those children?!

haha I see what you did here.

Oh? Arvis’ offering a reward to everyone who brings him a blue haired boy’s head? Watch out Lester/Sharlow/Ronan!

damnit not again.

Oh, mercenary squad. Who will join us if we pay some amount of money?

Hey, it’s Lene! Funny how Ares calls the LA a rebel army, for everyone who isn’t on our side we’re totally rebels.

Daw! But Ares doesn’t understand Lene’s feelings and feels insulted in his pride. He is a proud Agustrian, isn’t he?

oho, vengeance > pride of being a mercenary?

yeah, mortal, but not in the sense you’d expect.

GO TEACH HIM LENE! ARES YOU DOLT

AH BEST CHARACTER CONFIRMED

:’( You and Lara had a shit life, you know?

He will think over it for 5 seconds, then charge when he will spot Seliph’s head on the battlefield.

DON’T YOU DARE THERE IS NO NEED TO ADD “between them” THE OTP LOVE EACH OTHER AND NO ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN HAVE BEEN BORN OKAY

Seriously? Ishtar? I thought you were a pretty lady, not a guy with a purple armor who wanted a promotion! Julius has weird tastes

HOW IS THAT UNLIKE THEIR FOLKS - oh i get it he might be talking about that tinni girl.

And Reinhardt? You know, a mage knight, the second coming of tordo, who has a brave tome, vantage, big shield, continue and other skills?

How is that “blume’s niece she may be”, as if anyone related to Blume was a dastard. The Ish-siblings are dastards? The other random wants to have a discussion with you.

Nothing like her family - wait she has no Tordo blood??

Daw Oifey, don’t faint it. You know he has a sister in Leonster. But, uh, the separated when we were very young... as young as in “not being conceived yet” young?

Hey Oifey, you do remember Finn, right? Blue hair, brave lance, pony, remember him?

You’re talking to the Dozel Slayer Oifey, he doesn’t need your lesson.

“but not sorry for leaving Isaach?”

“thank you for retaking Isaach in my stead, I’m sure the people will still love me even if i haven’t done a thing for them, it’s not like there are other Odo crusaders around, right?”

Oh hey, it totally amounts to participating in Isaach’s liberation!

hey stop touching people to feel their muscles shanan jeez where are your manners

“i was just calling you a wimp”

Seliph sounds like a child eager for praise. Maybe it’s because Shanan is his father figure, or that cool role model figure.

Thank you for the praise? “you’re a good boy!”

At least he apologises to his cousin. I mean, the one who counts, no one cares about Ulster.

Larcei wants her prince safe, because he is her crush or because she worries for Isaach’s future if he were to kick the bucket?

I forgot to, but comparing stats might give a different answer, Larcei.

Honestly seeing this makes me realise how Mareeta’s convo was recycled, but in a good way.

Random took way too much time to pwn Ctuzof so his lackeys found his Fenrir tome. Random is in deep shit.

Marvel in fear? Sad thing is, Julia can’t tank them and unlike FE5, those tomes have no number of uses, so you can’t pull the ballista strategy of FE5 here.

:’(

so when you’re in a stupid situation, you send your HW user deal with the problem, and the problem dies. Yay for Shanan!

and whose fault is that?

harsh circumstances make harsh people

by enlightened people living in Agustria, or even Granvalle. But the barbarians of Verdane wouldn’ - and yet, again, who cares about those savages?

“or as if i murder Scipio for the sins of his dad - wait”

In Aideen/Oifey/Shanan’s face. Heck if Shanan/Oifey were to meet Sara and know she is who she is and not a random kid, they wouldn’t give her any sympathy.

“dear loptyr, please take grandpa very far away, i hate him.”

yep, desperate people turn to desperate things/acts to make their lives better. Remember Lewyn’s words here, and burn them when we will meet Brian or even Travant.

“can i make an exception for Arvis?” “of course, as long as i can hate the dozels. But at least, my dead dad won’t bother me about it later on.”