#well that's probably why arvis would never let it happen

[emblemcest]

tbh Azelle/Arvis would go hard as, like, a toxic age gap ship thing

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 15 (The Grand Finale!)

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Chapter 15 - Wind God Forseti

The entire text is under the cut for spoilers.

The war was over.

However, the storms of conflict had ravaged Jugdral twice in just twenty years, leaving huge scars across the continent. Reconstruction would probably take many times the amount of power needed to win the war.

Those who fought alongside Seliph, as well as those who now needed to bear the burden of reconstruction, said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

-

Shannan, who was next in line to become king, returned home.

By his side was the future queen, Patty. As the Sword Saint, Shannan was nearly always scowling, but that front cracked whenever he was talking to her. Even before the final battle, he was shy when he accepted the lunch she packed for him. The two will undoubtedly become a good husband and wife to each other.

-

Leif inherited the title of King of Leonster, but at the same time, many wished he would also take on the role of unifying the Thracian peninsula.

Those who went with him to Leonster were Finn, the knight who'd vowed to protect him ever since he was orphaned until the very end, and Nanna.

Nanna was in love with him, but because she was from Augustria, she'd told herself that she must part with her beloved when the war was over. However, when the time finally came, Leif took her hands in his, and passionately shared his desires for her to come with him. They too decided to marry one day.

Though Altena was of the Leonsterian Royal Family's bloodline, she returned to southern Thracia, where her memories of her beloved remained. There, it was decided that she would work with Leif to unite the peninsula.

-

Ares, together with the dancer Lene and his cousin Diarmuid, decided to go to Augustria, where the battle between the imperial army and the local liberation army still raged on. Ending that war and unifying Augustria was the next duty bestowed upon him. 

After he married Lene, he mellowed out. So long as they have the aid of the calm and collected Diarmuid, they will likely be able to carry out even the most difficult of their duties.

-

After the kingdom fell in Verdane, it had been taken over by bandits. The bow knight Lester traveled to those remote lands to establish a new government. By his side was the falcoknight Fee.

-

The six dutchies of Grannvale were inherited by their next in line.

The tactician and paladin Oifey succeeded Chalphy,

The wielder of Holy Bow Yewfelle, Febail, succeded Jungby, 

The axe knight Iuchar succeeded Dozel,

The mage knight Arthur succeeded Velthomer,

High Priest Coirpre succeeded Edda,

And the thunder mage Tinny succeeded Friege.

(Iuchar's beloved, Larcei, went with him as his perfect match; and it went without saying that Coirpre was accompanied by his adoptive father, Hannibal.)

And, of course, Belhalla was succeeded by Seliph, and he was crowned King of Grannvale at the same time. Lana, who'd fought alongside him from the very beginning, became his queen.

The inheritors of the duchies, and even the inheritors of the surrounding countries, all walked up to the new king, raised their swords, and swore their loyalty to him before leaving Belhalla. From that day forward, the Jugdralian continent would change from a land of power and fear, to one connected by a new bond of trust. 

-

The last person they said goodbye to was wind mage Ced.

"Seliph, I will return home to Silesse with Father. Thank you for everything."

"Yeah, you helped us out a lot! We'll never forget you!” Then, he turned to Lewyn. “And Lewyn, I don't know how I could ever thank you…"

"There's no need to, Seliph. Everything we accomplished was because of all your hard work."

"Now, Father, let’s…"

"No, Ced. I will not go to Silesse. You are the only one who can rule Silesse."

His father's unexpected words pushed Ced to put pressure on him to change his mind. "But why, Father!? The war is over. Please return home with me."

"No, I have played my part. Just like the other countries, Silesse must also be reborn. For that to happen, she needs a power of youth like yours."

"I don't understand. Silesse needs you, Father! Please, please, come back home."

"You've said more than enough. I don't want you to speak another word. Fee realized everything from the very beginning. You should have already as well. Isn't that right, Ced?"

"Father!"

"I won't say anything more. Now go! Silesse is counting on you!"

Ced bit his lip and stared at his father for a long while.

But when he realized that Lewyn's resolve was firm, he turned towards Seliph and bowed his head. "Then this means goodbye, Lord Seliph. Good luck. You too, Lady Lana… and you as well, Father…" With that said, Ced bowed his head deeply, then left.

"Seliph, Lana, though it pains me to leave, I am going to go on a journey."

"Where will you be going?" Lana asked.

"A bard has no set destination. I will travel wherever the wind may take me."

"Lewyn, thank you so much. You watched over me and guided me when I knew nothing. I am so grateful to you from the very bottom of my heart."

"I was merely fulfilling my duty. Silesse's royal family is one of wind mages. Wherever I am, I am there simply because the wind took me there. And you humbly took that wind in."

"I know that, Lewyn. And I also know that your true identity… is not really Lewyn."

"..."

"The Lewyn my father fought with really did die during the Battle of Belhalla. Some of the female soldiers survived, but all of the men died during that battle. So I wondered, then, why you are the only one they failed to find.

"You are actually one of the dragon tribes, most likely the god who made the pact with Crusader Ced at Darna Castle, and granted him the powers of wind magic. You knew that the path leading to Loptous' revival was opened at the Battle of Belhalla, and took Lewyn's form to try to stop it."

Lewyn did not deny Seliph's words, nor did he affirm them.

"I've heard that the dragon tribes fear participating in the human world. But you went so far as to break that rule to guide us. So long as this land exists, we will never forget all you've done for us. Lewyn… no… Forseti of the wind, and warrior of a distant land."

Lewyn raised an eyebrow and smirked. Then, he bowed in a manner fitting of a bard, and tried to leave the room.

"Wait, Lewyn!"

When Lewyn turned around, it was only just a little bit, but he looked uncomfortable.

"I want you to tell me one thing, Lewyn. Did you know that Arvis had given Julia the circlet? And were you trying to tell us that Manfroy hadn't killed Julia?"

The bard paused for a minute, then said, "No, there was no way that I could have known. I knew what the darkness' goal was, but none of the intricate details. All I knew was that even they had a weakness."

"And that weakness was?"

"That they do not sympathize with the human heart. And that you would have become proud of your own power."

"..."

"That if we did our best, then one day, that weakness would be revealed. I only believed in that. You did not win with power. You won because you are considerate and humble. That is why everyone stayed with you until the very end, despite how harsh the battles were. That will also be important for your future rule. You two should remember that."

The bard said, then waved his right hand to say goodbye. His gesture also conjured up a light breeze.

“One more thing, Lewyn! The bard in Peruluke, was he a dragon? Or…"

But the bard had already begun to fade away, little by little. He disappeared without giving an answer.

-

The Thracian Peninsula was unified.

The region, made up of many small countries and plagued by perpetual war, finally welcomed peace with the restoration of the Leonsterian Royal Family’s power and the death of the Kingdom of Thracia.

The first king of this new country was Leif, chosen by the people and their passionate hopes for him.

Leif entrusted Altena with the reconstruction of the territory that previously belonged to the Kingdom of Thracia.

Altena never left Thracia ever again. For the rest of her days, she protected the land she was raised in, as well as her memories of Arion, with a love so strong it would last her entire life.

-

The Kingdom of Isaach had been the first nation to be freed from the empire's oppression, but the inheritor to the throne was not there at the time, so the peoples' days were filled with uncertainty.

Because of that, they welcomed Shannan's return home. Once he was crowned, he worked tirelessly to rebuild his country, and proceeded to implement trade with the other nations. Isaach was previously called the barbarian land of the east, but the latter half of his rule achieved unprecedented development, and Isaach transformed into a rich land that rivaled the other countries.

-

After the civil war ended in Augustria and the country was annexed by Grannvale, it had been put under a strict, tyrannical rule.

Because of that, all of the people had wished for their own liberation army and the establishment of a new, unified country, and those wishes were directed towards the hero Eldigan and the Nordion Royal Family. They were wildly excited to welcome Ares home, because he reminded them of Eldigan in his youth.

Under Ares' rule, Augustria's reconstruction progressed quickly. After that was done, the country continued to develop as Grannvale's greatest ally.

-

Because Verdane was a remote country, the empire did not meddle into their affairs very much. However, after the death of their king, each tribe had gotten into disputes time and time again, public order was in distress, and thieves went around looting as if they owned the place.

Amidst all of that, Lester's homecoming, as one of the hero Prince Jamke's bloodline, gave the people courage, and many young people gathered around him. The war to unify Verdane ended in less than a year, and Lester was crowned king. He earned the cooperation of both Grannvale and Augustria, restored the lands, and returned Verdane to the country his grandfather Batu had created.

Verdane, the forested land of the lake… Where Sigurd’s prayers are granted in the beautiful greenery, and the clear water is made up of Deirdre's tears. Or so the people believe…

-

Silesse, which had long been under the empire's control, crowned Ced once he returned home, and poured its energy into restoring the country's utterly destroyed lands.

The people loved their beautiful land and peace that had returned to it. The kingdom that Lewyn had given his life trying to protect was finally trying to finish his work.

-

And so, Seliph, as the new king of Grannvale, poured his energy into restoring the country, bringing peace to the continent, and creating a rich world without discrimination or oppression.

Through it all, he was always accompanied by his queen, Lana, who was always snuggled up next to him and smiling; and Princess Julia, who always watched over him with a kind, warm gaze.

-

Many years afterwards, the people would say.

"Within Jugdral's history, there was a holy king.

His name was Seliph."

-

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War - End

[crystalelemental]

Alright, Chapter 5 cleared, and I got up to the map part of Chapter 6.  Some thoughts.

I’m confused.  Which I guess is to be expected.  The family tree confounds me.  A lot of names I can’t remember.  I guess Deirdre has the blood of both someone associated with Naga and someone associated with Loptous in her?  So that explains why Julia’s got Naga’s tome and Julius has Loptous’ tome.

I think my biggest point of confusion is...why Arvis killed Sigurd in the first place?  Like, they only really meet the once, in the prologue, where Arvis gives Sigurd the Silver Sword and seems to be at least friendly.  And his aid...Aida...good lood.  She mentions that Arvis is aware of the dukes’ bullshit, and that’s why he set them up to fall.  Manfroy also seems to be in line with that idea, although aside from getting Loptous back in charge, who knows what he’s after.  Chapter 6′s opening seems to imply it was just a scenario of getting all the world under his control, but I guess I would’ve really liked more information about Arvis as a character.  We get a little bit throughout Chapter 5, but that’s it.  It would’ve been nice to see a bit more of how he came to know Manfroy and how that relationship started, or when he first met Deirdre and how all that came together.  Mostly, does he know that Deirdre’s Sigurd’s wife?  He seems to?  Like, bringing her out to meet Sigurd before having them all killed seemed like an act of intent, like he knows exactly what their relationship is and wants to rub Sigurd’s face in it.  Kind of a dick move, Arvis.

It’s just...with what we’re given, it’s hard to feel like Arvis makes a lot of sense.  A lot of NPC dialogue seems to imply that Arvis is generally a decent guy.  He’s trying to do what he believes is right, same as Sigurd, so there’s the potential to be really good foil characters there.  But then, when we actually meet with him face to face, it’s for a big reveal that he’s betraying Sigurd, in which he lets him see Deirdre one last time to rub it in.  He never really does much that’s kind.  Sure, he has some speech with Manfroy about how he wants to build a world free from the ills that have befallen the world prior, and how he knows was Manfroy’s clan is about but doesn’t want to let them bring their dark god back, so there’s some good in him.  But much like Sigurd, he’s just an absolute buffoon.  “Yeah Manfroy, strange wizard man, I will work together with you to get control of the continent, but I don’t want bad things to happen with the revival of a dark god!  I’m all about peace!  Unrelated, but...why are you so interested in me having a child?”  “No reason.”  “Okay, cool.  Anyway, no dark gods, deal?”  Like...are you serious?

And then at the start of Chapter 6, we immediately go from “Arvis was pretty well supported to take the throne, and then immediately it all goes to shit under his dictatorial rule.”  ...why?  If Arvis was serious about this whole ruling with kindness thing, where’d he fuck up so badly that literally the entire continent went to shit?  Is he even properly in charge?  Because stuff in Isaach, even within the little bit of plot I’ve experienced, suggests that either he’s not paying attention, or did an immediate 180 on his own ideals and philosophy by letting this shit happen under his watch.

I dunno.  Oddly enough, I think the thing that the game is missing most is actually more time with its story.  But most of its story is exposition.  We see almost nothing of what happens with Arvis or anyone else beyond Sigurd.  We get a lot of explanations about bloodlines, but little about what that actually means, what any of those crusaders did, or how all of that relates to the characters we see.  Interactions are really minimal, so I don’t have a good feel for almost any of the characters, and some of them that do get enough development I outright dislike (Lewyn).  To make matters worse, even characters I recognize as being decently done are just...so stupid.  I knew they were setting it up in Chapter 1, but Sigurd’s refusal to just send word to the king about Shanan was kinda the catalyst for all this bad shit that happened, and seriously, his insistence on chasing after Deirdre after meeting her for a total of 30 seconds, in spite of the warnings about all the bad shit that would happen if someone from that forest haven were to breed, is insane.  All the major players just seem so hotheaded and stupid.  Sigurd makes moves based on caring a lot about things, but not a single one feels well-reasoned.  Arvis says a lot of words, but is a huge hypocrite and willing to follow the most transparently evil fucker in the world, who he knows is part of a cult to an ancient evil god.  Eldigan flip-flops constantly, going from “I have to serve this idiot king because otherwise the royal family’s gone,” to “Okay, but Sigurd’s my friend so I probably shouldn’t fight him when he’s willing to peacefully stop invading if we just stop attacking him...” and keeps doing this until going back to the king who’s transparently evil gets him executed.  The only smart one is Quan.  Recognizes the importance of his alliance with Sigurd, follows through, and when they realize how bad things are getting, goes back to his home nation to get reinforcements and return to back Sigurd’s claims to innocence.  He made one mistake on who the dracoknights would follow, which in fairness he planned for them to make a move, he just didn’t predict which one and got caught.  But that’s an honest mistake, unlike the others who had all the goddamn warning signs in the world.

So yeah, I think Quan’s my favorite of Gen 1.  Ethlyn’s also pretty great.  Ayra and Finn are at least okay.  But I don’t have a lot of attachment to many of the Gen 1 units, which is really weird, because Heroes led me to believe I’d actually love the Gen 1 units based on having a tragic ending and a supposed level of moral complexity.  But there isn’t really a lot of moral complexity to them.  They’re just a bunch of buffoons.

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 30: Man, oh Man, oh Manfroy

Part 29

Welcome back to Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War.  Last week, we fought off like six armies all at once, and it was miserable, but on the plus side Hilda died. I think every game would be better if Hilda died.  This week, we finish taking her castle and… *sigh* And we regret it, probably.  This week, we start off mid-turn, so after moving most of my southern front up north toward the action, I end my turn and let the remainder of Hilda’s dorks take their shot.

… Why couldn’t they have gone down that easy last week, huh?!

Now, on our turn, the enemy is down to four dark mages with staves, and one dark bishop with a siege tome in the castle. I have Fee cut down one of the former…

And have Larcei and Seliph talk about love, because honestly I’m actually in no big hurry to finish this castle.

Larcei: I’m coming with you on this one!

Seliph: Of course you’re welcome to… but why?

Larcei: It’s odd… I’m actually a little scared…

Seliph: Odd indeed! If there’s one thing you’ve never been known for, it’s fear.

Larcei: It’s… I just…

Seliph: Shhh. I understand. Now come! After all, what could ever inspire courage quite like having you at my side.

(… Damn, Seliph, smooth like silk. You win a little more of my respect, bro.)

Larcei: Seliph…

This conversation gives Seliph +1 to his Strength; it was apparently supposed to be +3, but he was actually only one point away from his (oddly low) cap. Apparently Seliph only has a natural 25 strength cap! That seems weird considering his descent from Sigurd the Humungous.

And… sigh. Guess I should kill the stupid boss.

All right. Nothing left but sleep staves, and they can’t really hurt us. I have Fee and Altena purge them.

And now we have the problem dealt with. A little jumping around before I set off the next story segment; I have Finn zapped home, where he repairs and sells his Brave Lance. I’m going to have Fee buy it after we take Freege.  Sorry, Finn, but you’re kind of just not holding up; you lasted longer than I expected you too, but despite being decent on offense you’re just kind of fragile.  Oifey will also be benched here, I think, he can stay to defend Freege castle after we take it.  Thankfully…

… The game is polite enough to tell us where the next part of the chapter will be coming from. So I do spend a turn or two moving the kids up to this gate and ready to rock. Seliph?

Seliph: But I can’t help but wonder… are the children at Belhalla still unharmed? I pray they are…

Lewyn: Funny you should say that!

(That’s not really the appropriate response to dying children.)

Lewyn: We’ve got a visitor who’s got a bit of news on that front, Seliph.

(“I’ve seen… terrible things. Thank the gods I have no sister, for I fear I would never be able to look her in the eyes again.”)

Felipe: On secret orders from His Majesty, the abducted children were moved here to Freege for safe-keeping.

(Orders so secret that we never actually got to see Arvis give them in that whole scene where he was desperately trying to save all the children at Chalphy and failing, being immediately caught, and then getting cowed into submission by a man infinitely less powerful than himself. STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL BAD FOR ARVIS, GAME.)

Felipe: Rest easy, sire. They’re all hiding in the city’s abbey, and they’re all in good health.

Seliph: And all under Hilda’s nose, at that! That you’ve kept every last child safe in Hilda’s own city… color me impressed!

Felipe: Actually, sire… Princess Ishtar deserves your thanks. Without her generous aid given in secret, we could never have done this. No Imperial soldiers dared come even close to the abbey, on pain of the princess’s wrath.

Seliph: Princess Ishtar?! But why… why would she-

Felipe: Few people in this land are as kind and caring as Princess Ishtar.  

FEW PEOPLE IN THIS LAND ARE AS KIND AND CARING AS PRINCESS ISHTAR.

YEAH SHE’S A FUCKIN’ TREASURE.

Felipe: All along, the princess has toiled behind the scenes to aid our cause.  It was Princess Ishtar herself who ensured that every last child escaped from the bowels of Belhalla.

(“Then… how comes she’s… you know… literally banging the Devil?” “Technically he’s a ghost dragon.”)

Seliph: I see… at any rate, thank the gods for their safety. I’m certain everyone will be glad to know the children are in good hands. You have my deepest thanks, Lord Felipe.

Lewyn: Well, Seliph, that’s one job done. Good to see we’re finally getting results out of this mess.

(Hey, screw you man, I’ve conquered three quarters of the country.)

Seliph: And yet, Julia still eluds us… where could she possibly be?

Lewyn: The only options left now are Belhalla and Velthomer. It’s got to be one of those two.

Seliph: And Belhalla is where Julius awaits…

Lewyn: Yeah. We’ll need to find Julia first if we want to go anywhere near Belhalla. Without Julia’s power on our side, we won’t have a hope in hell against Julius.

(Again, not technically true, but you really should listen to him on this one.)

Seliph: But no matter what’s happened, Julius is still her brother. Will she even want to fight him…

Lewyn: … You’ll have to convince her.

(I mean, you’ve met Julius. It won’t be super hard.)

Ishtar: This will require that I leave your side, even for a while. I beg your forgiveness.

Julius: Feh.

Julius: Why the rush to get out there so suddenly, Ishtar? All the soldiers they could ever throw at us could never so much as scratch me. Why even bother with those maggots?

Ishtar: Yes, I know… but for me, there is no greater pride than being one of Freege’s great mages.

(“Saving all those children? Doesn’t even compare.”)

Ishtar: My parents and brother lie dead, and I cannot stand to leave their murderers to run amok… please. All I ask is a chance for vengeance.

Julius: It sounds as if what you really want is to following your family to death on a rebel’s blade! Are you so desperate to escape me, Ishtar?

Ishtar: No… nothing like that, Lord Julius. I love you. Nothing will ever change that.

Julius: Hmhmhmhmhm… I know.  

Julius: Very well! Fight if you must. I won’t stop you.

Ishtar: Thank you… now, I beg your pardon. Meng! Bleg! Mabel! We sortie at once.

(Oh god, we are really scraping the bottom of the name barrel this time. ‘Meng’?  ‘Bleg’?)

Julius: Now, then. I think it’s time we put an end to this sorry show. Deadlords, move out!  And order Arion’s unit to attack!

(… wait, what?)

So. You may recall I told you to remember this moment.

It was important for two reasons.

First: This is the moment the war becomes winnable. You see, Manfroy is not… really all that into Loptyr. Oh, he worships him, but it’s not really about loyalty so much as sadism. Manfroy hates the world, and every single human being in it. His overall goal in life is nothing more or less than to make humanity suffer as much as possible. But he’s generally pragmatic about it. He knew the best way to hurt humanity was to revive Loptyr, who possesses incredible powers and views humans as little better than food to eat and pets to abuse. This moment, right here, is the moment that Manfroy, flush with overconfidence in the presence of his god on earth and having enjoyed a long decade and a half tormenting the entire continent, finally makes a mistake. He lets his sadism overpower his common sense for the first time. And in so doing, he gives us a real shot.

Second: Because he’s still Manfroy, he’s a total fuckwad about it.  

Remember Ayra? Waaaaaaaaay back in Verdane, remember how we recruited Ayra. How we had to get to a castle to turn her non-hostile to us, only she was between the army and the castle and she was trying to kill us the whole time?

Yeah, that’s happening again. Only it’s Julia, our lil’ atomic vampire gatling gun trying to kill us. Of course she’s just as strong as she was when she was on our side, why would you even ask.  Oh, and just for fun…

Here’s the map of what we need to achieve.  The blue X is where we are. The red X is where we need to get to save Julia.  The ravenous piranha is Ishtar’s army, waiting to pounce upon us and tear us limb from bloody limb.  And to her right, marked by the douche, is Julius. You don’t have to fight him, and you in fact definitely should not because getting anywhere near him will also draw the Deadlords out to fight you, but of course has a siege tome now and will cheerfully wreck the shit of anyone who gets anywhere near him, therefore heavily limiting the space we have to move.

And of course, Julia will be trying to kill us the whole time, and we can’t fight back and risk killing her.

And hahaha, yeah, Arion will be showing up soon.  

This is not going to be any fun, is what I’m getting at here.

First thing’s first, let’s take a look at our piranha.  

Ishtar has taken yet another level in badass; her magic has gone up two points, skill by three, luck by 2, defense by eight, and resistance by one. And this time, she’s got an actual army with her instead of fighting us alone; three Snipers, three Heroes, three Sages, three High Priests with Fortify (of course) staves, and of course…. *snerk*…. Bleg, Meng, and Mabel.

They’re three identical Falcon Knights, both in picture and stats, so I’ll only be showing one of them. Despite the intensely crappy names, they honestly three ridiculously dangerous units. They all have Earth Swords, meaning any hit they land is going to heal them, and they’ll be hitting often what with that maxed-out Speed and solid 23 skill. And to make things worse, they all have the Nihil ability to prevent us from just shooting them down with arrows or relying on Astra to solve our problems.  

So! This is going to suck. A lot. But thanks to Ced being awesome, there’s an option I can take to make this a lot more manageable.  Lana sells her Silence staff, and he buys it…

And with his 35 fucking magic he can overpower Ishtar’s 32 Resistance to Silence her up to three times, basically removing Mjolnir from the equation for this battle. And Mjolnir is like… half of this battle’s equation.

I literally cannot believe I’ve never tried this before.  From here, the army moves forward, Seliph leading the way; he’ll be attacked by quite a lot of people here, but he’s a living iron wall of destruction, and the more of these people I can lure away from the main melee, the better.  So. End turn!

(*sigh* Must you, now?)

Arion: Chalphy’s fall to our blades shall be the first step to winning back our fatherland. Now, move in! Show these liberators one final defiance from the drackoknights of Thracia!

A solid enough start! We hurt one Falcon Knight, and didn’t take much damage in return.  And now that Ishtar is in range…  

Oh, that is delicious.  Now, my first goal here is to kill at least one of these three annoyingly fast pega-bitches, but I also have to get Altena (and yes it has to be her, of course it has to be her) down to the castle to intercept Arion.  I hate everything forever.

One down!  Let’s keep this train rolling and clear out some more jerks.

Two out of three ain’t bad!

Okay, I think that’s about all the damage I’m going to get done this turn.  And not bad at all, frankly, so I’m happy.  I have Lene dance Altena, and warp her home with Lana.

Ignore the pentagram. It’s a good pentagram. Down at the bottom, Altena equips Gae Bolg and flies to just outside Arion’s range. The rest of his buddies don’t matter at all, but I don’t want her to fight him. There’s a reason for this, of course. It’s unsatisfying, but it makes her happy.

The things I do for my kids, I swear.

End turn.  

… Huh. They don’t attack her? Or maybe they can’t damage her. I honestly am not sure.

*sniff*

I remember the last time I played this map.

I died five times on this battle alone.

And now it’s going better than the fight against the fucking Beige Knights.

I don’t understand what’s going on.

Altena: How could you be so craven?! How dare you place your vanity and pride over what truly matters!

(You tell him, honey!)

Arion: What do you want from me, then?

(God, don’t ask her that. This LP is not rated Adults Only.)

Altena: Take a good, hard look at Prince Seliph! Ask yourself, this: why is he still fighting? For whom is he out here day after day, setting his own suffering to the side?

Arion: So Seliph fights for justice, and I somehow do not? Is that what you’re trying to say?

(…. YES!)

Altena: Very well, Arion… if you won’t see reason, so be it. Come on. Kill me. End this. My… my life is in your hands. I die with no regrets.

Arion: A-Altena… very well. You can rest easy now. I get it. I was wrong… my mercenary days are at an end, and my final task is with Seliph. Wait… no. With you. I now fight for you, Altena.

Altena: Arion…

Yeah, it would have been neat if you’d done this a few maps ago, jackass, but Arion is on our side now. Or, well, sorta. He doesn’t join the army, but his unit becomes neutral and are programmed to stay close to Altena and be hostile to any Belhalla units that get near them. I know we all sort of wanted to kill him, but he still has Gungnir and I really just didn’t want to risk a screwup when things are going so well.  I mean, I’m not even gonna use him. At this point, letting him get near the enemy would likely result in him rushing Julius and dying, which sorta defeats the point. Let’s just end this; time to wipe out the remains of Ishtar’s unit.

And now, a special treat. Since Ishtar can’t fight, we get to see a conversation that even I have never actually seen.

(…. ‘Nothing but kind’.)

(Just sayin’.)

Ishtar: … I may be in the wrong. But I can’t turn back now. Forgive me, Tinni… please….

And thus passes Princess Ishtar of Freege. She died as she lived: getting nuked by her cousins. And without her leadership stars…

All right. Now, the rest of the army is going to stay right where they fucking are. Julia cannot be trusted to not kill herself, or more troublesome to not kill me.  The only people going forward are Seliph and Ares, who are going to go north across the forest, out of Julius’s range, and try to lure Julia into following them. Their resistance is tremendous, and they’re both on horses. Ideally she’ll try to kill them, fail, and be following them and unable to catch up until I can free her. This will take a few turns of nothing but movement because I will not be going anywhere near Julius.

Trust me.

She seeeeeeeeeees uuuuuuuuuuussssss…

Okay. There’s two things that could happen here. She’s either going to go east and cut us off, in which case we’ll be dodging vampire lasers the rest of the map, or she’s going to go north through the forest and we basically win the game.  Let’s see!

…. Bitch. Okay, straight west you guys! Hide on the healing church, you beautiful bastards. God, haven’t used one of those in awhile, with those fifty healers in the army lining up to zap everyone with staves.

Dammit, Loptyrians, I am trying to flee in terror from a small woman.

Okay. We can do this. Ares heals up, and all we have to do is clear out those priests and kill Manfroy. Go get ‘em, boys!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Are you fucking kidding me.  

Of all the.

That.

I.

I.

You.

HOW.

What the!

NO.

………………

Well. You know all those times when I was questioning my good fortune? The moments where I was like ‘oh, man, I don’t trust how generous the game is being, bet it’s gonna screw me later!’ Well, that just happened.

*sigh*

End turn. If I survive this, I will be genuinely stunned.

Oh hey it’s as though the Hel tome is really easy to dodge and you should have dodged it all along. But here we go…

(How do you know that’s Manfroy? You’ve never met him…)

Manfroy: So I did. And so long as I live, my puppet she shall remain! Hehehehehe!  She’s every bit as helpless before my magic as her mother was…

Seliph: I should have known. If not for you, Mother… Gah! All of this misery… all these agonizing years… It was all your doing from the outset!

Manfroy: Heh… of course. Everything I’ve done has led to this moment: the revival of my lord Loptyr. And at last, it is so! Loptyr’s advent in the form of Prince Julius is complete, and darkness shall soon engulf the world. You cannot prevent it. Nobody can…

Seliph: Manfroy, you… Father’s grief… Mother’s despair… if not for you and your foul ambitions, none of this would have ever happened… Damn you, Manfroy! I cannot allow you to win! I will not! You’ll NEVER know mercy for your crimes!

Yeah, not the dramatic win I was hoping for after that great speech. But I guess I saw that coming.  Reset! I start off a little differently; Seliph and Ares park themselves on trees. With the 20% dodge bonus, they should have no chance of being hit by Hel, and very little of being hit by Julia. We need to clear out these Dark Mages before we go for Manfroy.

Better! This repeats for all of them; one actually dies because they’re forced to attack at close-range thanks to being blocked off by their own buddies, which is great.

Yeah, yeah.

He only does one damage. Seliph could have survived him with no problem in any other situation. I hate this game sometimes. On our turn, I have Ares and Seliph each clear out a mage…

Then immediately go hide in the woods again. I am playing this as cautious as humanly possible, honestly. Better to spend three turns killing mages than let the reset counter jump up above the number of updates.

The enemy misses again on their turn, because they literally can’t not miss. Two more deaths…

All right! That’s that for dark mages. On the next turn, Ares is going to park his butt on the healing church forever, and Seliph goes to fight Manfroy.

You stay out of this.

Now then. It’s time. It’s time to face Manfroy himself.  In direct combat. The enemy behind it all! The dark schemer who has given over our kingdom to the dark god.  And he…

Is a loser.  I mean, he’s not the worst enemy in the game. He’s okay. But he’s definitely no match for Arvis, or Ishtar, or… anyone with a holy weapon, really.  Which fits, really; his danger is his skill and intellect, not his power.  But considering he’s basically the final boss, it’s a little sad, still.

Seliph. Teach him some manners, bro.

And with two shots, he’s down to six HP.  End turn.

I miss the days when I was the one with the Julia Beams.

*sniff*

God. That is just cathartic to do. Now. With Manfroy off to Hell, where I’m assuming he will meet Hilda and strike up a whirlwind love affair, Seliph can take the castle.

Lewyn: That’s right, isn’t it Felipe?

Felipe: My liege concealed the key within his most treasured memento…. The circlet once worn by Empress Deirdre.

(HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!)

Felipe: If we can find that circlet, sir, the Book of Naga is yours.

Lewyn: Deirdre’s circlet…

And that’s that! Ares runs toward the castle, with intent to lure Julia toward us. Of course she’s still hostile, why are you even asking? She has to talk to Seliph to get back to our side. Tee-hee, Fire Emblem hates you.

God, you are just like your mother. Seliph, go fix this please.

Seliph: It was Manfroy’s dark arts. He brainwashed you into his service.

Julia: Manfroy… that’s right, he caught me…

Seliph: Thank goodness you’re safe.  

Julia: Lord Seliph, I…

Seliph: It’s fine, Julia. I know. Lewyn told me everything. I’m sorry… I failed to protect you.

Julia: No… it’s fine. Don’t worry, Seliph. I finally know why I’ve survived for all these years. I know my fate… I’m fated to fight. I’ll never run away again!

Seliph: You’re right… This is the will of fate, tragic as it is. None can afford to cower or flee now. Until the bitter end, we must march on.

And with that, Julia rejoins the team. She’s just as strong as ever, barring one fact; she’s picked up Deirdre’s circlet, adding Renewal and Miracle to her list of abilities, which is a heck of an upgrade.

But not as good as the one she gets from reaching Velthomer.

Lewyn: It worked… it really worked! And there it is, the Book of Naga! It’s yours for the taking, Julia!

Julia: … Oh! How strange… it feels so warm. It’s almost as if I’ve known this book all my life…

And now, the game is over. See, here’s the thing… Julius is just as dangerous as before, if not slightly moreso. His stats are slightly lower than his first appearance where you are very clearly not meant to fight him, but he still has Loptyr’s game-breaking effect, and his ability list is now Wrath, Pursuit, Nihil, and Accost. So he can double most of our army, null critical hits and combat abilities, and gets a huge critical boost when his health drops below half. And of course, he’s on a castle and gets the defense bonus and health regeneration that gives. Basically, he’s borderline invincible. The only real option if you lose Julia is to have Seliph fight him, and poor Seliph can only do about 15 damage per turn (if he hits) some of which will then be healed.  While getting blasted in the face repeatedly, so you’ll need to get someone in to heal him between rounds, and they’ll very probably die to having Meteors dropped on their head unless you’re very lucky. And then there’s the Deadlords, who are just a pain.  

But if you do have Julia…

Yeah.

YEEEEEEEEEAH.  

Naga is the best weapon in the game. +20 each to Skill, Speed, Defense, and Resistance, instantly turns Julia into a hyper-fast, hyper-accurate, hyper-durable killing machine. And as a light magic tome, it has no disadvantage to any kind of weapon. And, of course, it negates Loptyr’s half-damage effect.  Your reward for the most annoying recruitment in the game is the weapon that ends the game. Big time.

So.  

It’s time to lay back and let Big J play us out, I think. I have her do the Arena, just for old times sake. Nothing even touches her.

Julia: Seven wins, gained two levels. +2 HP, +1 Speed.

About as good as can be expected at this point, honestly. And it…. Doesn’t really matter, you know? She heads to Belhalla, and Julius has no chance to hit her with Meteor, so he doesn’t even try.  The Twelve Deadlords rush up to meet her, of course…

They’re going to regret this. The Deadlords are named for the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and each one has a different class and some very good weapons and abilities. They’re a dangerous group! Usually.  

One down, eleven to go. End turn.  

And then there were nine.

Sorry, seven.

Six of one, half-dozen of the other.

Fun fact, ‘Lepus’ means ‘Rabbit’. And ‘Dead’.

Well I’ll be! Someone landed a hit!  Too bad Julia did too. Four to go.  

I’m so bad at counting! It’s actually three. Congrats to Equus the Bishop on surviving a round with The Julinator.  But with that, none of the remaining Deadlords will actually take a shot at Julia anymore, so I’m just going to ignore them. It’s time for a family reunion.

(He isn’t wrong.)

Yes, that was a single round of combat. Julius procced his Accost skill and made the fight last an extra round. This… was not helpful to him.

Julius vanishes, the spirit of the dragon arising from the castle as the entire map shakes…

But it’s just bluster. Naga’s power has destroyed Loptyr’s vessel, and with its bloodline finally ended the dragon’s grip on this world is gone. Loptyr returns to whatever void it came from, and with the power that animated them gone, the few surviving Deadlords vanish.  

I’m going to cut out here, but no sense waiting a week, huh? So see you tomorrow for the epilogue, kids. I think we earned it.

Final Reset Total: 30.  Y... yay.

Epilogue

[annathetrickster]

with the voting gauntlet finished, its finally time for me to get started on my playthrough of FE4: genealogy of the holy war, as promised. i’ll be sharing my thoughts on it as i go along with the game since i know ppl have really been looking forward to that. thanks for your patience and sorry its taken me so long.

if you haven’t played this game yet and you don’t want it spoiled for you, you can blacklist #54462 to be extra safe, even though i will be keeping all of my thoughts as well as any spoilers tucked away under a read more. 

for those of you interested in playing the game for yourselves, here is a link to everything i used to get it all rolling. 

emulator (i used the 2nd to last link)

japanese ROM 

translation patch (instructions on how to use this are on the site)

with all that said, here are my thoughts and first impressions of FE4 so far.

whoa whoa slow down. one historical moment of noteworthy importance at a time.. i literally just started this game have mercy on me.

i don’t trust you, kurth. i don’t trust you and and i don’t trust your face.

and there he is. gotta say he looks pretty damn handsome in this for a 1996 game. he’s got the whole sailor moon villan/utena aesthetic working for him, 10/10.

ah yes, who could forget the YEET desert.

the man, the myth, the legend, sigurd himself. 

handsome? yes. DILF tier? debatable. they went a little too yaoi faced for my liking, but he’s definitely handsome. 6.5/10.

“im 11 so shut the fuck up”

S̶͢͞͡T̴̴͞Ŗ͏́͜Ǫ̶̢͞N̷҉G̕͞ ̶̕͘A͡͠͝N͝D̸͘͟҉ ҉́͟͏Ţ͟͢͡͞O͏̵͏͝U͜҉Ǵ̵̷̷͠H̨̢͜͢͞

not sure what i expected tbh. i never thought i’d say arden looks more handsome in heroes but here we are.

the movement arrow is kind of extra when you think about it. a least they were kind enough to make the range more clearly visible unlike FE1.

you know, i’d imagine graphics would be a turn off for many newer players. personally though, i love this aesthetic. it reminds me of shining force 1 which was honestly the game that got me into turn based in the first place, so this style is right up my alley.

imagine how fucking broken the fact that horses could move again after attacking would be in heroes. its practically a built in galeforce by default. horse emblem would be immortal.

rip in pepperoni, character i had literally no way of reaching in 1 turn.

of course marriage is the first thing on his mind, just like the european settlers ‘married’ the native americans. seems legit. 

i love me some older FE games, but this blatalant trend of “you are a helpless woman, therefore you are my prize” is one theme i could live without. not even FE7 is free of this sin. its unfortunately realistic of what would happen, sure, but im glad they did away with these kind of themes in the newer games. 

but wait! theres more!

troubadors can wield swords here which is very nice since they’re one of my favorite classes tbh.

the maps are definitely as massive as i expected, at least this game throws you a bone by taking multiple turns to burn down villages because really there’s no way you’re getting to them anytime soon.

so ive been playing for a bit now and i still have no idea how you’re supposed to see whether you can double or not, speed seems to be irrelevant to it, or at the very least its not the usual 5 point difference. 

i really can’t imagine someone going directly from awakening/fates to this and not being driven up a wall at this point. this is definitely one for the more advanced/veteran crowd.

update: it’s at least a 3 point difference.

update 2: more than a 1 point difference

there’s also the whole calculation of atk - def = damage that you have to do for yourself. similar to how echoes did it. i dont mind that so much it just takes some getting used to. i do prefer the streamlined experience of being shown exactly how much damage i’ll deal before combat since it just feels like a math lesson otherwise.

brigand: fucking burns a village right in front of sigurd’s face

well i didnt make it to this last one in time. hopefully i didnt miss anything important.

i was wondering why the enemies stand on top of the castle rather than in front of it, but now i have even more questions.

there’s also no way of reaching him, and i don’t feel like dragging literally the one character who isn’t on a horse down here to deal with this one boss so..

?? sieze the throne with... sword??

OHH

besiege: surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its surrender; lay siege to.

literally the first time in my life i see this word, but it makes a lot more sense now obviously.

first you beseige then you seize. an added layer of complexity that wasn’t really needed but, i can see them possibly doing something fancy with this in a potential remake. it does add a level of realism though, like the castles aren’t just decorations on the map that the character stands in front of and walks into, but rather obstacles you have to overcome.

hey she’s he’s alive. also sigurd does not fuck around, noted.

great, castle siezed.. so what do i d-

castle #2: SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER

oh my god there are multiple castles to deal with. i remember seeing this mentioned somewhere now that i think about it, probably in an ask or something but wow. you better set aside an afternoon, grab a snack, and strap in kiddos because this is gonna be a long ride.

and of course there are reinforcements why wouldn’t there be reinforcements.

also keep in mind, this is literally the prologue, not even the first chapter of the game yet. i think i hear the sound of multiple awakening-first fans rage quitting and going to find a youtube playthrough to watch instead.

its pretty obvious from arvis’s tone that he can’t stand sigurd, and sigurd is seemingly oblivious to that fact.

things you normally take for granted in newer fe games: being able to tell your units apart. 

lets play find the healer shall we?

there she is. maybe on a TV screen these would be easier to tell apart since this is a super nintendo game after all, but as a ROM its pretty much a process of elimination to find the blue one cavalry unit without an obvious weapon in their sprite.

the seemingly “overpowered” built in galeforce of being able to move again after attacking seems a lot less overpowered after playing for a bit and a lot more like a necessary ability. being able to tee off on enemies is pretty much the only way you’re able to clear these maps in any reasonable amount of time.

finally.

all that trouble and you’re basically trolled with ‘sorry your princess is in another castle’

i think that’s going to wrap it up for part 1. i have to say i was definitely not prepared for the sheer amount of time it takes to clear one chapter. i was hoping to knock out a few chapters and post my thoughts after that, but at this rate i’ll only be able to manage one chapter a day so we’ll see how it goes in the future.

so far i like the game, and to be fair i was warned of the length and difficulty several times. but as we saw with ddlc, i tend to ignore warnings. im sure i’ll get used to it more as i progress through the game but right now it seems like the perfect game to play this is when you’re tired, but can’t seem to get to sleep and you’re looking for something to watch or do until you can’t possibly keep your eyes open for another second. if you’re ever in that position, that’s when you should fire this up.

i can definitely see it being offputting to a lot of newer fans, but im stubborn as hell and take this kind of thing as a personal challenge so i’ll definitely be doing my best to step up to the challenge and complete this game rather than backing down.

if you have any questions regarding the game or want to get my thoughts on a certain part of it i just ask that you try to keep it as spoiler free in your question as possible. or just use the reply feature instead.

thanks much for reading.

[councilof9]

DEFCON 28 Badge Challenge

If you are still working on the Badge challenge, be warned! Spoilers below!

If you’d like to play along, you can grab all of the required materials for free at:

https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2028/DEF%20CON%20Safe%20Mode%20Badge.rar

Exposition:

Before getting into the badge challenge write-up, we would first like to take a moment to thank all those who helped make this possible. First and foremost, a big shout out to 1o57 for putting together these amazing puzzles every year, and the sacrifices required to make it happen. Also a big thanks to the DEFCON organizers as a whole, who allow people like us to engage in these puzzle-solving shenanigans, and giving 1o57 a place to create and foster the hacker mindset.

Finally, a big thank you and congratulations goes out to Co9’s newest members, and four complete DEFCON newbies (congrats on your first con!):

Cr0wn_Gh0ul (@Cr0wn_Gh0ul) 

JTobCat (@jtobcat) 

LeFevre (@Lefevre) 

motive (@leemsparks)

With that, let’s get into it.

The DEFCON 28 Badge 

The Council of 9, undaunted by the irregular startup routine of DEFCON Safe Mode, prepared to scuffle and rumpus against the bewildering puzzles of 1o57 once again. After purchasing our DC28 badges, the fun began.

As 1o57 puzzles go, you never have an official starting place. You have to find it. So as we found answers or interesting information, we would record it for possible future use, and move on to the next thing we could find. Eventually, the breadcrumbs resolve into a path to follow.

This years badge consisted of three physical items:

A traditional printed cassette tape insert booklet

An old school audio cassette tape

The Lanyard

Booklet 

The cassette tape insert booklet had several codes printed across it.

First, looking at the track listing:

Taking the first letter of each song on the side A tracklist spells out “LOSTINTIME”. For the uninitiated, 1o57 is the longtime Defcon badge designer and puzzlemaster. These track names also contain hints for later - Keywords like Lissajous.

Color Block Sub Cipher

Written, the color boxes read

Orange White Pink

Purple White/Green Orange/Green

Blue/Green Green Pink White

Purple/Green White/Green Orange White 

and

Orange Blue Yellow/Yellow Green/White Purple

Green/White Green/White Yellow

By substituting the letters directly below for colors the first image, decodes to DEF CON SAFE MODE. It's basically a key.

So the second is

Skull Text

This string of text wasn’t nearly as simple to decipher. This skull artwork was a throwback to DC21, which had us scurrying to find notes and write-ups on the Badge puzzles from that year. Ultimately, however, we found the solution by taking the text string and pasting it into a 6x6 route transposition cipher, yielding:

tIstFCOnRFoofFioumYrgureoohrDOuntlon

Which is read Come on four dot four is right in front of you

We didn’t yet know what to do with this, so we put it aside for later.

Cipher Text Page

Xbaw maek wzme pgty zvxy izwk iwhk lnhy

agrl rrlp fsis xadh uflx dsqh rzrg qegu

itwb wveq aslo moii xmzx mvea rtil yekd

lvks jrbo arvy nmjz wodi gcxe tkrr cyir

xbsu rwyf slwr ixyk lrwz sbzr zbpg rrrw

hjsi alXX 1o57

The solution to this text really came from the fact that we were paying attention to 1o57 dropping random hints in various locations - not from anything in the booklet itself. 1o57 had played a video on his Twitch channel from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Most notably, Buckaroo is famous for using the phrase: “No matter where you go there you are”

Using this as an OTP key...

nomatterwhereyougothereyouarenomatterwhereyougothereyouarenomatterwhereyougothereyouarenomatterwhereyougothereyouarenomatterwhereyougothereyouarenomatterwhereyougothere

...you get another Buckaroo quote (actually written by Greek philosopher Odysseas Elytis) :

Know that as in life there is much that many have looked up on but few have seen because as my father told me and his father told him you will come to learn a great deal if you study the insignificant in depth

Cassette Tape

With the booklet sorted, we turned our attention to the DC28 cassette tape. Upon listening to the tape, there are some immediate … features… that stick out.

Tones

One of the first things anyone listening to the tape will notice is the odd tones that sound at different times, and seem to repeat. These were halves of a DTMF (Dual-tone Multi-Frequency) tone, known better by many as “touchtones”, and appeared in two (2) groups of fourteen (14) tones that repeated three (3) times. By combining these single frequency pairs back together, we restored the dual frequencies and, by examining the peak frequency of the tones, we were able to identify the keypresses that generated the given tones. The flow of tones came out as:

DTMF Numbers: 2 6 3 3 9 6 7 3 7 9 9 9 4 9

We’re not done yet, though! Not yielding any immediate plaintext, we continued checking for a second-stage decipherment. As we’ve learned from other puzzles, any phone-related cipher should be checked for T9 coding, which turned out to be exactly what we have here.

By looking at a phone keypad,

Reading those indices onto the available letters, we get: CODEWORDSYZYGY

Oscilloscope

 It’s not just the obvious side of the audio that we need to examine - the audio on the cassettes had much more than meets the … ears. Based on some hints that 1o57 dropped, and our experience with past puzzles, we decided to examine the audio for any hidden waveforms or other hidden data. Using a software oscilloscope, we examined the tape audio and discovered plenty of hidden text, as well as Lissajous patterns (remember that word from the Tracklist? Ya, that was the hint to get us here). The patterns we saw included a spaceship, a heptagon, a butterfly, and some very interesting text. The text we needed was:

The full text that shows up in the oscilloscope reads:

FIND A KEY AT LOSTBOY.NET SLASH PALEBLUEDOT

These two lead us to http://lostboy.net/PaleBlueDot

When we found this, though, the site was not yet active (since DEFCON hadn’t officially started). Oh well, better solve the Lanyard while we wait.

The Lanyard 

This year’s lanyard proved to be quite tricky. We went through several iterations of attempts to make sense out of it. Pictured below is the lanyard with our attempts at dividing up and delineating each shape.

1o57 offered quite a few hints about the symbols on the lanyard - and with good reason. Finding the appropriate reading for the text was pretty difficult. Here are some of the most important hints that came out:

...now excuse me while I go read more about French aristocrats fleeing a post 1789 revolution. 

More hints will start flowing from the font of knowledge tomorrow after DEFCON officially starts....

These sorts of hints eventually point towards the Crackly font, hosted on emigre.com (https://www.emigre.com/PDF/Crackly.pdf). Using this font, we were able to extract the following values from the lanyard segments:

Note first those mad MSPaint skills. Note second that all of those numbers are below 26, we immediately changed them into letters, giving us:

Q X U N

E K K E

V I O Q

Q G C O

Throwing this through a ROT, because you should always ROT everything, discovered that it was ROT-24’d. (Side note: Why ROT-24? Because ROT-24 is a negative ROT-28. Tricksy)

O V S L

C I I C

T G M O

O E A M

While not immediately obvious, one observant council member noted the presence of the C-O-M series of letters when reading in the vertical 4x4 pattern. Reading it in this way gave us what we were after:

OCTOVIGESIMALCOM → http://octovigesimal.com

Octovigesimal.com 

This new page contained quite a bit of new content that we needed to sort through, and any answers were certainly not obvious.

Image filename: besidenequals2.jpg

The summation equation written at the bottom of the Goonies skull key implied that we need something that follows the pattern 1.1 + 2.2 + 3.3 + 4.4. The banner of the website implies that we need to look at the album “The Great 28” by Chuck Berry. This is further hinted at by the text “Record your answer~”, as in a record. We even think the tilde, from the latin for ‘title’ was probably part of the hint.

Upon looking at the Track list of “The Great 28” we saw that there is a track called Come On, which is right before a track called “Nadine (Is it You)”. This seems to link back to the text that we extract from the cipher text on the cassette tape insert “Come On Four Dot Four is right in front of you” Come On happens to be Section 4 track 4 of the album (4.4) and is “right in front of” (before) “Is it You”.

Going with that train of thought, and concatenating the titles of tracks 1.1, 2.2, 3.3, and 4.4:

Chuck Berry - The Great 28:

we get: MaybelleneRockandRollMusicMemphisComeOn

However, we don’t know what to do with this yet. Note it and move on.

Last on this site, but certainly not least, is another URL. Hidden right in plain sight underneath the logo is a pointer to the URL “Base-28.com”.

Alright, time to move on. 

base-28.com

The first thing to look at here is the ciphertext in the top center of the page. We have a few strings to play with from previous solves. With the earth, moon and sun being in a line on the page, we figured it was a good opportunity to try the key that we found previously (from the audio DTMF codes): SYZYGY. This ciphertext is Vigenere encoded with SYZYGY as the key, and decodes to Who are you going to call? Definitely sounds like Ghostbusters to us.

Also of note here, is that the image on the arcade cabinet was identified as being the Temple of Gozer - a Ghostbusters scene. This scene is actually Chapter 28 on the GhostBusters DVD, and is titled “Crossing Streams”. This reinforces the Ghostbusters clue that the vigenere text gives us, and will prove critical to the next step.

On either side of the website we see pictures of members of the band The Commodores. 64 of them, in fact. These two clues combined tell us that we need to look at the Ghostbusters Commodore 64 game. What specifically about it? We don’t know yet.

Visually, it looks like this...

Pale Blue Dot 

The Lissajous from the audio on the cassette tape pointed us to lostboy.net/PaleBlueDot. Upon accessing this page, we were greeted with… a wall of numbers. A giant freaking wall of numbers. Oh, and a joke.

How many Sagans does it take to change a lightbulb?

A quick google search will reveal the hilarious answer: “Billions and billions”

How it’s supposed to be solved

The numbers in the image are divided by the decimal, with a number of seemingly arbitrary length on the left, and eight (8) digits to the right of the decimal.

Left-Hand Numbers 

Noticing that the numbers, with appending a few leading 0s, can be paired into values all less than 26.

Separating them out, and converting them via Letter-Numbers

Then, Vigenere decode using the key “billionsandbillions” (from the Sagan riddle) to get the plaintext:

ChineseTakeout

CrunchBar 

Eggs 

Twinkie 

Marshmallows 

Popcorn 

Pizza 

PotatoChips 

Gum 

Cheezits 

Beer 

These resulting words are the Game Franchise Username for the Ghostbusters c64 game, save bankroll amount.  This consists of the Username (left side decoded) + 8 digit account number (right side number), with the decimal separating the two.

Right-Hand Numbers 

The numbers on the right of the decimal, being 8 digits, are the account numbers for the Ghostbusters game. These can be plugged into the game (via an emulator) to discover the corresponding amount of money that is ‘saved’.

Emulator Franchise Username and account number screen:

Account Amount after validation of Username screen:

The Final Step 

Realizing that these account balances all have trailing ‘00’s, remove the 0’s and convert the remaining numbers into letters to reveal the next destination.

Numbers: 13 25 19 20 5 18 25 19 3 9 5 14 3 5 20 8 5 1 20 5 18

Letters: M Y S T E R Y S C I E N C E T H E A T E R

Also, noting that each segment in the graphic is separated by the text ‘PaleBlueDot’, place a dot between the words, to arrive at a web address.

https://mysteryscience.theater

How we actually solved it (the narrative of pain) 

One of our immediate observations was that the numbers always had eight digits on the right of the decimal. From the base-28.com site we knew about the c64 Ghostbusters game, and had the Crossing Streams chapter title as a potential hint that we needed to use clues across websites. In our reading about the c64 game, we learned that it was one of the first that allowed players to ‘save’ their game. Researching how this ‘save’ feature worked, we noted that it always used 8-digit account numbers, which curiously lined up with our 8-digit numbers to the right of the decimal. This felt like a crazy idea at the time, but we were frustrated enough to try it. Given the account numbers, we needed to find a way to reverse out the Names and Balances that would give those account numbers.

This video explains how the ‘save’ feature works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3cpbCCfK5A

Rather than digging into the algorithm, like we should have done, we discovered a Chrome extension that generated Ghostbusters accounts.

We tempted fate and downloaded the extension, only to rip out the code in order to reverse the algorithm. With that, we wrote the below brute forcer which, after inputting a Name, would try all possible account balances and then check if any of the resulting account numbers matched any of the account numbers from the image.

We immediately set out trying names that came from 1o57’s Twitch streams or other areas of the puzzle so far - and we found a few that worked:

'REAGAN,RONALD',

'POLLY,SKATING'

'SOTER,STEVEN',

'MORANIS, RICK',

'BROLIN,JOSH',

'HOUSE,BRICK'

But note that we said ‘a few’. We couldn’t find hits for every account balance. Fortunately, these were enough to assure us that we weren’t crazy, and we began attempting to interpret our output. While working through this, we realized that we didn’t even need the names. Using the information from the aforementioned YouTube video, we learned how to derive the information we needed. Take the account number for 1o57 which is 27710104. Reverse the number by pairs to get 04017127. Then convert from octal to hex, you get 101E57. The middle byte, 1E, is the hash of the name. The account balance is the first and third byte, so 1057. We filled in the remaining few accounts to come up with a full dataset. As it turns out, the whole page could have been solved like this on a calculator.

Examining the resulting balances, and knowing that the game’s algorithm divided the balance by 100, we dropped the trailing ‘00’ and then converted the remaining numbers into letters, revealing the string mysterysciencetheater. After trying this on a few of the known sites with no luck, we discovered that this was pointing us to mysteryscience.theater The PaleBlueDot in the middle of the numbers was also a hint to look for a domain.

While we had discovered some new information, it was not a complete solution. We still hadn’t used the left-hand side numbers from the PBD image, so we now shifted our focus to those numbers. After realizing that the numbers seemed to be relatively low when split into their component digits, we tried Letter-Number conversion again. We then Vigenere’d that output with the riddle answer ‘billionsandbillions’, and came up with a list of delicious food from the Ghostbusters movie. As it turns out, these were the names we were supposed to use to get the balances via a Ghostbusters c64 emulator. oops.

The complete output was:

Mysteryscience.theater 

This page was kind of interesting in that there wasn’t really much to do with it… at least not immediately. From time to time, 1o57 will time-gate an area of his puzzles, and this is exactly what we ran into here. So, fast forwarding something like 24 hours, let’s begin examining the final puzzle-filled state of the page.

The top of the page now contained ciphertext. After a few attempts at deciphering it, we tried one of our old unused pieces of data (the concatenated list of Chuck Berry song titles) as a key and were greeted with a successful decipherment:

An y QewpFyyvRqd,

WehjhwpIclpVtme:

Ioqfig oloage.

Using OTP key: MaybelleneRockandRollMusicMemphisComeOn

On a PaleBlueDot,

WrestleWithThis:

Things change.

The meaning from this was clear! Head on over to http://lostboy.net/PaleBlueDot/WrestleWithThis

WrestleWithThis

Not much to see on this page, just the text “It’s only a tiny problem” and a YouTube video.

In the page source was the following comment:

<!- bFNhZ2FuQExv ->

And the title of the page was:

Wrestle With This y6nk3z9y

The comment Base64 decodes to lSagan@Lo

Additionally, the hint on the page about a ‘tiny’ problem, combined with the page title, resulted in a tinyurl link for our next destination:

tinyurl.com/y6nk3z9y → http://lostboy.net/PaleBlueDot/EverythingWasFineWithOurSystem.jpg

EverythingWasFineWithOurSystem

The image on this page immediately presents us with two sets of ciphertext, and a curious little man yelling at us from the corner.

As seen lightly overlaid into the blue of the car:

U2VuZCBDb3Nt =base64=> Send Cosm

And in the rear light:

TG9zdGJvWSBkb3Qgc2xhc2ggSEhI =base64=> LostboY dot slash HHH

Navigating to http://lostboy.net/HHH, we were greeted with two more youtube videos. The first one was titled “Close but no Cigar”. Immediately realizing that this meant we hadn’t interpreted the clue correctly, we Nope’d right the heck out of there. Luckily, we also knew what HHH was referencing from watching 1o57’s Twitch stream on 8/7. so we wasted no time in discovering the correct endpoint.

lostboy.net/HappyHarryHardOn 

Here we go, a YouTube video and some encoded text. This feels right. The video was of RayParker Jr. performing the GhostBusters theme song, and below it was the text “What a singer! LostboY.net/PaleBlueDot/?” Also on the page was the text “F1LZuQ9E4JQ”.

The F1… text was another YouTube video; Chuck Berry and Tina Turner performing Rock n Roll Music. In an interesting twist, we discovered that by sorting the video comments by Newest first, there was a comment from NEW SOUND AGENCY with the text “b3MgdG8gQ2Fy”.

Also, if we look at the NEW SOUND AGENCY channel on YouTube, it has just one video of 1o57 playing around with a MiniMoog. Yep, this is a clue. This text of the comment base64 decodes to “os to Car”....hmmm.. That seems to fit with the other ciphertext we’ve found so far.

As for the URL, the team immediately recalled that Ray Parker Jr. may have, probably, almost certainly, likely, stolen the Ghost Busters theme music from Huey Lewis and the News’ “I Want A New Drug”. The next URL, then, was pretty simple to guess:

http://lostboy.net/PaleBlueDot/HueyLewis/

HueyLewis (and the Solve) 

This page was pretty simple. A single ciphertext was present on the image and gave us the following:

c3Rib1kubmV0 =base64=> stboY.net

And finally, putting together all of the fragments that had been discovered:

U2VuZCBDb3Ntb3MgdG8gQ2FybFNhZ2FuQExvc3Rib1kubmV0

Base64 decodes to => Send Cosmos to CarlSagan@LostboY.net

We shot off an e-mail (several e-mails?) as directed, and got replies letting us know that Defcon 28 Badge Challenge: Complete … phew. The e-mail also linked to another video and requested that we watch it as a team.

We immediately shared a screen as a team and viewed the video together.

With that, DC28 badge challenge was complete.

@TheCouncilOf9

Co9.io

contact@co9.io

[gamerprincess13]

Fire Emblem Heroes Unit Review: Alfonse

"I have to confess that I never intended to become friends with you... But you're always there when I need you, to the extent that when you're not near, I feel...not quite myself. It's a delicate position to be in. The more you have to lose, the worse it hurts when you do. Others may open themselves to such hurt, but as a prince, I must remain strong. It seemed reasonable to keep everyone at a distance. But you've shown me the folly of that. I would have never discovered our fine friendship, had I not welcomed you in. And then what would I be? Less than I am. Now, I can only hope you feel the same. In any case, I swear to keep you safe. You're my trusted partner...”

Available: At the start as a 2-Star

Neutral Stats as 5-Star: 43/35/25/32/22 (IV’s always Neutral)

Default Kit:

Folkvangr: (16 Might: Grants Atk+5 at the start of turn if unit’s HP is below/equal to 50%) Unlocked at 5-Star

Special: Sol (Heals 50% of damage dealt) Cooldown: 4. Unlocked at 4-Star

A-Slot: Death Blow 3 (Grants Atk+6 if unit initiates combat) Fully unlocked at 4-Star

C-Slot: Spur Attack 3 (Grants adjacent allies Atk+4 during combat) Fully unlocked at 5-Star

Pros:

Great Attack stat

3rd highest for Sword units

Good physical bulk

Good base kit

Native user of Death Blow 3

Consistent Arena Unit

Sword has a decent effect that works with Death Blow 3

Works well with Brash Assault 3

one of the few that can work it properly

Fluffy prince!

Better looking than Rowan, the male protagonist of FE Warriors

Cons:

Low speed

Dies to magic very quickly

Requires heavy investment if not using his default sword

HEAVY competition from other sword units

Known as the Benchwarmer by many players :(

Alright, here’s the main character of Heroes: Alfonse! Or as I like to call him: the fluffy prince, not benchwarmer like almost everyone else does. Out of the three Askr trio, Alfonse is hailed as the weakest due to his stats, being outclassed by many sword units (especially the new Genealogy sword units), and his unique weapon not having the best effect (but not the worst). Because of these flaws Alfonse has, many people tend to forget Alfonse in favor for other powerful and sexier sword units.

However, this doesn’t mean Alfonse isn’t the worst unit in the game. Far from it in fact! If set up correctly, Alfonse can be an unexpected force if one isn’t prepared.

Alfonse carries the legendary Askr sword: Folkvangr. Like all legendary swords, it has a might of 16, going well with his high attack stat of 35. The effect is that it grants Alfonse +5 to his Attack if he’s below 50%. Sounds very strange when he has a decent Defense stat of 32, but he can take very good advantage of it when combined with Death Blow 3, giving Alfonse a total of +11 ATTACK if he initiates. It can get higher if he has an ally support or a Spur/Drive skill is active, so look out! Hey, beats Seliph’s sword that grants +5 to Defense when he’s about to DIE!

Speaking of Death Blow 3, Alfonse naturally has the skill in the A-Slot, and it’s easily unlocked at 4-Star, so you can get it before you promote him to 5-Star. His C-Slot is Spur Attack 3, which while it requires specific positioning, it can give his allies the needed boost for a KO. Plus, Spur Attack 3 is not effected by Panic Ploy, so that can catch some people off guard.

Now on to Skill Inheritance! His A-Slot is perfect, so for the love of the gods, don’t change it unless you have an army of Hectors stashed in your closet! You can change Alfonse’s sword to the Brave Sword+ if you have an extra Cain/Ogma/Luke to spare and it works well with Death Blow 3. His special can be switched to Luna, Bonfire, or Draconic Aura to give him extra damage as Sol, while nice for recovery, isn’t the best since it doesn’t let him deal more damage. The Assist skill can be Reposition, Draw Back, or Swap to give his allies a more comfortable position. His C-Slot can be his default skill, or any Hone/Fortify and Threaten skill of your choosing (not named Threaten Res 3).

Now the B-Slot is where it gets... interesting. The -breaker skills or Wings of Mercy are nice options for Alfonse, but the biggest one is Brash Assault 3. I never talked about that skill before since it’s not that useful compared to Desperation, so I’ll explain what it does. 

Brash Assault 3 will allow the unit to make a follow up if their HP is below 50% and the foe they’re attacking can counterattack. It has very strict requirements compared to Desperation and requires the foe to be at risk, and only a few units can make it work such as Chrom and Lyn. Alfonse is the perfect candidate for it due to his weapon requiring him to be below 50% HP. I have an example of Brash Assault 3 working it’s magic during an Arena season:

Granted, Alfonse had Draconic Aura up, but normally, Alfonse can’t double Brave Ike unless some conditions happened ( Brave Ike was -Speed, Threaten Speed effected Brave Ike, speed buffs to Alfonse, etc.), and Alfonse was able to get the KO. If Alfonse had more HP than in the image provided (like maybe 21) and his special isn’t up, Alfonse will survive Brave Ike’s strike and Alfonse will finish Brave Ike off.

And with the Brash Assault Sacred Seal up thanks to the recent Tempest Trials, Alfonse can actually take advantage of Desperation 3! GASP! I know, shocking, isn’t it? Because Desperation 3 switches up the attack order and Brash Assault 3 guarantees a follow-up attack to a foe that’s able to counterattack, it’s possible for Alfonse to kill a foe before they can even attack! This was possible for only Lyn due to her weapon having a built in Desperation 2, but now more units can take advantage of it. And Alfonse is one of the top candidates for this combo! There’s some videos on YouTube that showcases this combo, so check them out!

However, despite the praises I gave to this fluffy prince, Alfonse has downsides that are easily noticeable. Like I mentioned before, Alfonse is outclassed by many sword units such as Ike, Ryoma, Lucina, and now Sigurd and Ayra due to their stats and their weapons being much better than Alfonse’s. His speed is at 24, the same as Hector, but it’s more noticeable compared to Hector as blue units are popular in the Arena metagame, so several blue units will take advantage of his low speed and kill him, especially Brave users and magic users. Speaking of magic, Alfonse’s Resistance is terribly low, and combined with his low speed, he’ll die very easily to many popular blue mages such as Linde, Delthea, and ESPECIALLY Reinhardt. Even Nino can possibly kill Alfonse if set up correctly... Aw. And his (arguably) best set with Brave Sword+ is incredibly expensive, alongside other sets with very rare skills like Distant Counter, Close/Distant Def 3, Steady Breath, and Aether. Also, like Anna and Sharena, he requires 22,200 feathers in total, and some people don’t think it’s worth it and it’s better off for someone else like Arvis, Xander, Nino, and Camus.

That’s probably why Alfonse earned the infamous name of Benchwarmer. NO!

But despite these setbacks and better heroes coming by, Alfonse is still a reliable unit since he’s a free unit (yea!) and is guaranteed to be a bonus unit in Arena if you get incredibly unlucky with the recent banner. Plus, he’s NOT the worst unit in Heroes. All Alfonse needs is some love and care with his set, and watch him wreck the battlefield! Besides, he’s doing it to protect you! And he secretly loves you... But SHH! He doesn’t want you to find out...

Suggest Skills (Bolded means Highly Recommended):

Weapon:

Folkvangr (default)

Brave Sword+

Special:

Draconic Aura

Luna

Bonfire

Aether

Assist:

Reposition

Draw Back

Swap

A-Slot:

Death Blow 3 (default)

Steady Breath

Distant Counter

Close/Distant Defense 3

B-Slot:

Brash Assault 3

Desperation 3 (if using the Brash Assault Sacred Seal)

Swordbreaker 3

Wings of Mercy 3

Escape Route 3

C-Slot:

Threaten Defense 3

Hone/Fortify Skill

Spur Attack 3 (default)

Counters:

Strong blue magic users such as Delthea, Linde, Reinhardt, Olwen, and Tailtiu

Some green magic users like Nino and Summer Elise can kill him with the right set ups

Lance users such as Camus, Ephraim, Lukas, Tsubaki, Oscar

Worse if Brave Lance+ users like Cordelia

Swordbreaker shuts Alfonse down

Nowi will eat him due to commonly running Triangle Adept 3 with Quick Riposte

Same with Corrina and Ninian with set conditions

Brave Bow+ users

Teammates:

Blue magic checks such as Julia and Deirdre

Arvis provides excellent support due to Valflame providing debuffs to the enemy

Hector for any stray archers and blue magic users that threaten Alfonse

Dancers to give him chances to escape/attack

Anna. He needs the RNG Goddess’ luck to not suck. Kidding! Backs Alfonse up with lance/blue magic users.

Summoner’s Words of Wisdom: “Benchwarmer this and benchwarmer that! The Askr prince has a name, you know! And it’s Alfonse! He may not be the strongest unit, but he’s not the weakest either! You dare make fun of him, you’ll pay! And those putting the love and care for him, he takes a while for him to get strong, but once his training is finished, he’ll protect you no matter what. Anything for the Summoner.”

[thrashermaxey]

Goldipucks and the Three Skaters: Teravainen, Nyquist, & Arvidsson

  Welcome back to “Goldipucks and the Three Skaters,” which will now appear monthly as part of my new “Roos Lets Loose” column format. For first time readers, or those needing a refresher, this column is a play on the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story, except instead of there being three bowls of porridge I’m covering three skaters and declaring one too hot (i.e., doing unsustainably better than he should), another too cold (i.e., doing unsustainably worse), and a third “just right” (i.e., producing where he should be). I also assign each a 1-10 rating, indicating just how hot (rated 7-10, where 10 is the most unsustainably hot), how cold (rated 1-4, where 1 is the most unsustainably cold), or how “just right” (rated 4-7, where 5.5 is the most “just right”) he is.

  The three skaters featured this week are Teuvo Teravainen, Gustav Nyquist, and Viktor Arvidsson. Stop here and see if you can guess which is too hot, too cold, and just right, then see if you’re correct after you read on.

  Teuvo Teravainen

One of the omitted questions from last week’s mailbag had asked me for my thoughts on Teravainen. So I figured since I was doing a Goldipucks column the very next week, and this type of question fit the bill, I’d just cover it here instead.

  Not only have Teravainen’s (TT’s) points trended upward with each season, so too – impressively – have both his ice time and primary assists rate. Together those strongly suggest he’s not lucking into his increased scoring and could be poised to do even better if the trends continue. In a similar vein, TT’s IPP has been at or above the key 70% mark in two of his three full seasons and is on tap to be above it for 2018-19 as well (at a career-best 76.3%). Also, he’s managed to keep his 5×5 team shooting percentage above (yet not too far above to be sustainable) the key 9.0% level for 2018-19 despite his offensive zone starting percentage dropping from the 58-59% mark in his first two Carolina seasons to 53% this season.

  TT also is at 3.15 points per 60 minutes mark for this season, which is being bested by only 31 other forwards this season. One reason it’s so high is he’s still not receiving 18:00 of ice time per game, and a decent chunk of his added ice time for 2018-19 is unproductive PK duty, which is an unfortunate – for fantasy – consequence of him becoming a more complete player. The good news is there’s nowhere for the ice time of a player of his calibre to go but up.

  TT’s SOG rate, however, is lower than in past campaigns; and as his scoring rate has increased with each passing quarter of 2018-19, his SOG rate has dropped. I believe we’re seeing TT’s style changing before our eyes, with him turning into a pass-first player who needn’t rely as much on shooting to produce. Beyond that, TT is now driving the scoring no matter whom he plays with, as he has two or more even strength points with six different lines that include seven different players.

  At first there looks to be concern regarding TT’s PPPts rate, as he nearly equalled his full-season PPPt total in the first three quarters of 2018-19. But that too is likely related to his changing style of play, as well as perhaps this being – if we disregard his 34-game 2014-15 campaign with Chicago – his “magical fourth year.”

  Overall, I think Teravainen is TOO COLD since all his key stats and metrics have been trending up with each passing season on Carolina yet also still have realistic room to climb higher. But he’s certainly not ice cold, so I’m assigning him a rating of 3.5, leaving room for him to improve to point per game output, with a shot at 85-90+ if Carolina becomes more of an offensive force as a team or his ice time spikes.

  Gustav Nyquist

Just when poolies were about to erase the last shred of hope of new San Jose Shark Nyquist ever coming close to living up to the potential we witnessed in his breakout 48 points in 57 games 2013-14 campaign, lo and behold at age 29 he’s on track for 63 points, igniting hopes among many that he’s a late bloomer who could produce into his 30s. Still, others are skeptical, wondering if they should use this as a chance to sell high on Nyquist, and I’m here to tell you, that’s the group you want to be in.

  At the outset, we can’t ignore that Nyquist is playing his best hockey in five years during what just so happens to be the last year of his contract. Or to put it another way, when a player’s collective full season scoring rate over the previous three seasons was a mere 45 points and then he suddenly shows up – at age 29 – and sees that increase by nearly 50%, it’s inherently suspect and warning bells should be going off for poolies who’ve been burned by this kind of pre-UFA turnaround in the past.

  Beyond that, his data/metrics either aren’t consistent with his track record or just plain unsustainable on their face. Take IPP for example. After it was 73.4% in his breakout 2013-14 campaign, it went down with each successive season – yes, it dropped in each of the next four seasons! Yet this season it’s shot back up to 71.0%, just when he happens to be on the verge of a UFA payday?

  Hmmm……

  It’s a similar story with SOG, which, after being collectively at 2.25 over the previous four seasons, is suddenly up to 2.65. And although the 11 PPPts he amassed while still on Detroit doesn’t exactly jump off the page, consider that there were only 12 PPPts scored while he was on the ice, meaning not only was their PP not too successful with him on the ice, but he somehow found a way to factor into more than 90% of the possible PPPts he could’ve amassed!

  Nyquist’s IPP hasn’t been the only thing dropping with each passing campaign, as so too did his offensive zone starting percentage. Yet unlike his IPP, his OZ% managed to fall even further this season while with Detroit, making his jump in points even more inherently suspect than it already was. There’s also his secondary to primary assists ratio, which, prior to this season, was weighted heavily in favour of primary assists, with 82 of them compared to only 47 secondaries. With Detroit before being traded this season, however, he tallied 15 secondary assists to only 18 primaries, for far more secondary assists than he’s normally used to receiving, further signifying his scoring rate would be unsustainable even if it wasn’t coinciding with a contract year.

  Hopefully even the most fervent Nyquist believer can see he’s TOO HOT, which is why he receives a rating of 9.25. The expectation should be once he’s paid this summer he’ll immediately revert to, at best, his usual 45 point ways, disappointing the poolies who were too optimistically stubborn to seize upon this moment to unload him in trade for a value he’ll never again come close to commanding.

  Viktor Arvidsson

Perhaps no one had more consistent stats over the previous two seasons than Arvidsson, from identical point totals (61) to virtually identical SOG (246 vs. 247), to nearly the same PPPts (9 vs. 8). This season, however, despite missing a good bit of time due to an early injury he’s on pace to score at a 67 point rate. Is what we’re seeing is for real, particularly in view of his prior seasons of uniformity and him not having played as many games in 2018-19? The answer is yes, it’s for real indeed.

  While Arvidsson’s already quite impressive SOG rate is even higher this season, it’s not up by very much, so, in turn, it’s unlikely that’s where the explanation lies for his uptick in scoring. His personal and team shooting percentages are both a good bit higher than his previous bests; but this was someone who, despite shooting a ton, was at 12.6% and 11.7% in personal shooting percentage in the last two seasons and above the key 9% mark in 5×5 team shooting percentage as well. Accordingly, while he’s probably gained some unsustainable benefit due to these numbers being elevated, chances are the associated boost in scoring isn’t all that much.

  It’s also important to look closely at Arvidsson’s PPPts. Yes, it’s true that he’s fared poorly with the man advantage, having failed to even hit double digits in PPPts in each of his two full seasons. For 2018-19, however, he’s truly been snakebit, as his IPP with the man advantage is 11.1%, meaning he’s nabbed a point on a mere one of the nine PPPts scored while he was on the ice. Despite this, his share of PP minutes is growing for the second straight season and now sits at better than 50% for the first time in his career. So clearly the team doesn’t think he’s a drag-on man advantage production despite what the results are indicating. At worst he should have 3-5 more PPPts versus what he has now, were it not for his unsustainable bad luck on the PP; and that effectively cancels out the gains – to the extent they’re unsustainable – he’s receiving from his higher than usual personal and team shooting percentages.

  Moreover, if we look at Arvidsson’s high SOG volume and low PPPt output, it tracks that of Jeff Skinner and Evander Kane, who are the only two other forwards since 2000-01 to average 3 SOG per game while scoring five or fewer PPGs in the same season three separate times by age 25. What do both Skinner and Kane also have in common? They’re on pace to best their career highs when both are right near Arvidsson’s age (Skinner is 26, Kane is 27, and Arvidsson turns 26 next month).

  One other major key for Arvidsson is whereas last season Nashville sheltered the Kyle Turris line, now it’s Arvidsson’s unit enjoying a points-friendly deployment. In fact, Arvy’s 66.8% offensive zone starting percentage puts him in the top ten among all NHL forwards. Granted, there’s only one way to go from there, which is down; however, with Arvidsson responding well, he could see his OZ% stay this high. After all, look at Artemi Panarin, whose OZ% has been 75% or above (!) in three of his four seasons.

  Overall, I’d peg Arvidsson as JUST RIGHT. His PP scoring – although never great – is far too low this season, essentially offsetting whatever potentially unsustainable gains he’s receiving from his personal and team shooting percentage being higher than his norms. Long story short, his current 65-70 point pace is legitimate, and he gets a rating of 5, suggesting he’s a good bet for 70+ points going forward if both his OZ% stays this high and his PP scoring gets back at least to prior levels.

  **

Mailbag questions needed

  I’m always in need of questions about fantasy hockey for me to answer in my monthly mailbag column. There are two ways for you to get your questions to me – (1) email it to admin@dobbersports.com with “Roos Mailbag” in the subject line, or (2) send me a private message at the DobberHockey Forums with your question (my username is “rizzeedizzee”. Next week though, it's my second edition of Forum Buzz, which analyzes the hottest recent topics in the Forums, so be sure to come back for that.

  from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/fantasy-hockey-rick-roos/goldipucks-and-the-three-skaters-teravainen-nyquist-arvidsson/

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 14

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

Chapter 14 - The Final Battle

The moment Manfroy died, Julia's curse was lifted. "What… happened to me?"

"Manfroy cast a spell on you to control you." Lewyn explained.

"Manfroy? ...That's right, he captured me… I wonder what I did. What if I…"

"It's all okay now. Some of the soldiers have some minor wounds, but no one died. More importantly, let's go to Velthomer. Seliph should be waiting for us there."

The two traveled towards Velthomer Castle, and along the way, they ran into Seliph and the cavalry unit, returning from their fight.

Seliph was happy that Julia was safe, but then his expression darkened.

"What's the matter, Seliph? Did something bad happen?"

"Lewyn, we cannot obtain the Book of Naga."

"Why not?"

"Only Julius knows where it was sealed. Manfroy and Arvis knew, but I killed them both and squandered our chances of victory."

"Um…" Julia said nervously. "I… might know where it is…"

"What did you say!?"

"Father told me. When I was being held in Chalphy, he snuck in to see me during the night and gave me this circlet, then said, 'This is the key that will open Velthomer's underground treasure room. There is an item in there that is very important to you.'”

Julia remembered how lonely her father's face looked at that time.

-

"Julia, I've done something inexcusable to you. You must hate me for it. Please forgive me…"

"I don’t hate you! I've never hated you! You’ve always been kind to me."

"It brings me a bit of peace to hear you say that. …I don't have the power to protect you now. It's embarrassing as a father to admit that, but I don't think there's anything that can be done about it. Take this circlet. It's a keepsake from your mother. It's praying to keep you safe. Your mother is surely praying for you, too."

In the memories of her childhood, her father was always full of confidence.

'Yet now, he has no power, like a person on death’s doorstep…’ Julia thought, and her eyes filled with tears.

-

"There!" Lewyn said. "That's where the Book of Naga is! Come on, everyone, let's go to Velthomer!"

-

The existence of the underground storeroom was by no means a secret in Velthomer, it was just how to open it, and what was inside, that no one knew.

Within the door was a long, thin indent that seemed to match the shape of the circlet. Julia put the circlet in the indent, and the door opened with a loud creak.

Inside was the Book of Naga.

Julia picked the tome up with both hands and pressed it against her chest. "Ah, what a strange feeling this is. It’s so nostalgic… and warm…"

And now, it was clear to her what her purpose was.

It was not her brother Julius that she would kill, but the Dark God Loptous.

-

At a monastery on the route to Belhalla, Lana discovered that a large group of children was hiding there.

The owner explained that Ishtar had taken care of them.

"Huh? Ishtar, the thunder mage warrior?"

"Yes. She said not to hand them over to anyone, no matter who came, until all of the fighting was over."

The moment they heard that, their image of the mage who'd given the liberation army such a difficult fight vanished. Ishtar was a woman who'd worried greatly about the contradictions between her love and her reality.

"Poor girl." Lana whispered.

"Huh? Who are you talking about?" Seliph asked.

"Ishtar."

"Yes, that's true. She was killed in battle…”

'It is a death she was prepared for.' Lana thought. 'She, as Julius' beloved, chose to fight, and, as a human being, also chose to save the children. If the Imperial Army had won, Julius probably wouldn't have allowed her to get away with letting the children escape. So either of the paths she chose would have ended in death. I wonder how much she worried until she made up her mind.'

Comparing Ishtar's situation to her own made her realize just how happy she was. 'I should love Lord Seliph as much as I can. And surely Lord Seliph feels the same way towards me…'

-

The liberation army surrounded the perimeter of Belhalla Castle.

The soldiers all wished to attack right away, but Seliph did not allow it.

"If you all attack at once, that might end the battle quickly, but it will make us suffer a large number of casualties. We've finally made it here. I don't want even one more person to die."

The only people guarding the castle were the Twelve Deadlords and their soldiers.

At Seliph's order, Altena and Fee flew in from the south and attacked using their signature "attack and retreat" maneuver. In the east, the cavalry unit was carrying out a similar attack, and working as a group to defeat any enemy that came at them. And in the west, Seliph was with the infantry unit, baiting the enemies, then defeating them one by one.

They continued attacking like so until they finally defeated the entire defense unit. 

 "Only Julia and I will storm the castle. Anyone weak to magic cannot go near the building!" Seliph said, then the two passed through the castle gate.

There weren't any enemy soldiers on the castle courtyard, so they were able to rush straight into the main building, where Julius was sitting on the throne.

When he saw them, he stood up and said, "Hmph, so you're Seliph. …To the world, you are known as the Scion of Light. Hmph. Don't make me laugh! No matter how much you struggle, you are no match for me! Come at me whenever you want. Just be prepared to die when you do so…"

"Loptous, I will never forgive you for your tyranny!" Seliph screamed, then rushed up to him and swung Tyrfing. He put all of the strength in his body into that one attack, but Julius still repelled it.

"Do you understand now, Crusader Baldur? This time, I'll go first!"Julius said, then a black dragon appeared from within his body and attacked Seliph.

Seliph dodged the dragon's fangs and claws. However, a moment later, with a swing of its tail that he did not predict, he was slammed against the floor. He quickly stood up, but the dragon had vanished, and in its place stood Julius, sitting on the throne with a cold smile spread across his face.

Seliph retreated while shielding his wounded body.

"I'll take it from here!" Julia said with confidence, and went ahead.

"J-Julia… how are you here!?" Julius asked in complete shock.

"Julius, we have been led to the fate you spoke of. Though we are twins, we must fight. The time has come."

Her voice was filled with a strong will. And it was not just her voice, but also the look on her face that reflected that strong will as well.

'It's as if she's not Julia at all.' Seliph sensed.

"I see. So Manfroy failed."

Julia did not answer, but clasped her hands together as if she was praying.

A white dragon appeared from within her body.

In response, the black dragon appeared from within Julius once again.

The two dragons intertwined, then flew up into the sky.

At some point, the palace ceiling, and even the walls had disappeared. The black dragon and the white dragon were flying around in an empty void while fighting. Their teeth cut into each other, their claws raked each other, their bodies constricted around each other, and their tails slapped each other… The moment they would fly into the air, they would drop back down, then fly back up just as quickly...

It was a long battle that felt like it might never end. Seliph couldn't tell who would win. The only thing he clearly felt was their will not to lose, no matter what.

Finally, the two dragons fell, still wrapped around each other. The moment they crashed on the ground, Seliph saw that the white dragon was just barely on top.

Then, he realized they'd returned to the palace reception hall.

Julia retook her previous prayer stance. And Julius…

“Graaaaaaaah!”

Seliph heard him howl in pain.

"So, Naga… Are you going to stand in my way… again?" Julius said, then his body slowly crumpled in front of the throne.

The moment he fell, the castle shook violently.

The head of the black dragon appeared from within Julius' collapsed body.

'Are they going to start fighting again?'

It seemed like everything was already over, but it actually wasn’t, not quite yet.

The black dragon's body appeared little by little, but Seliph did not sense that it was coming towards him like before. Instead, this time, the body was transparent, so much so that he could see the wall behind it.

The black dragon slowly rose, until it shot through the ceiling and vanished. The moment it disappeared completely, the shaking stopped.

"Loptous, the dark god, will return home." Julia said. "He knew that there no longer exists a body in this world that can host him…. So he can never be reborn again."

The voice returned to Julia's own. And it was not just her voice that returned. Her facial features were also once again that of the girl who was quiet, reserved, and seemed a bit lonely.

She walked up to the throne, got down on her knees, and cradled Julius' head.

"Julius!"

The red mark on his forehead vanished, along with his arrogance and cruelty, the other characteristics of the dark god.

"Julius, you've come back!" Julia said as she hugged him.

When the angles of his face changed, it was just for a split second, but she could see him light up with the smile of a cute little boy who'd just thought up something naughty.

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 4

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Chapter 4 - Divine Blade Balmung

The cave was exactly where Shannan had been told it would be: a little ways up the east side of the rocky mountain where the Aed Shrine was located.

He walked inside, led by the light coming from outside. The cave was small, and believed to have formed naturally. About ten meters in, he hit a wall, and could not continue going straight.

"We've reached the end of this path, so we'll go right. Then, there will be a small gap in the rocks at about waist height. That's the entrance to the secret shrine. When the Loptr Church was outlawed, the church's followers lived in hiding in the underground level of this shrine. But they probably didn't live down there all year round. When they came out, they would use this path. But since there's no need for any of that now, no one comes through here." The man explained to Shanan, then looked his lean, toned body up and down. “Big people can't make it through here, but someone of your size should be fine."

Just as the man had said, when they got on their stomachs and crawled through the hole on the right, they were able to make it to the opening. The rocks surrounding the opening were smooth to the touch.

'It has to be here.' Shanan pushed his belongings through first, then himself.

The narrow opening was only about two meters long. At the end was a much larger open space than he thought there'd be.

Once he'd made it through, he was surrounded by total darkness and didn't move for a while.

He didn't hear, nor sense anything.

When he felt it was safe, he lit a small candle.

The path, wide enough for the two men to easily walk next to each other, shined in the light.

"When we come to a fork in the road, we must turn left, as that will lead to the underground shrine. It will be different from the path we've traveled so far, as it's made entirely of stone. Since we have a light source, you'll know it when you see it. The treasure room is the farthest room down that path. I saw Balmung in there. There's no lock on the door, but there might be several mages standing guard."

The first time Shanan had heard this, he thought it was a trap.

The man had claimed he was an ex-priest of the Loptyr Church who fled because he didn't agree with the horrible things they were doing. To avoid their pursuit, he needed money.

'Even then, thirty gold coins is too cheap for a job like this, isn't it?'

However, after thinking it through, Shannan finally decided to try and see where the lead took him, even if it would be to a dead end. 

'If he's telling the truth, then that's the best case scenario, but even if it's a trap, that's just one move he could make. As one of Sword Saint Od’s sayings goes, ”When one makes a move, they always let their guard down.” Since he's trying to use Balmung as bait, the likelihood that he either has it, or at least knows information about it, is high. That will be when he lets his guard down, and I should attack him at that moment.’

As a descendant of Sword Saint Od, Shanan knew all of his sayings. Shannan also believed that he understood, though the intense training he’d subjected himself to, what most of them meant. However, he knew that he could not grasp the last saying if he did not obtain Balmung.

This is that final saying:

"If you are within light, become the light

If you are within darkness, transform into darkness

And within nothingness, is the truth."

He intended to figure out the meaning. However, he wouldn’t know what would happen when he obtained the holy sword, so he couldn’t understand it yet.

There was also one more reason he went with the man's movements.

And that was because Seliph had raised an army, and if they did not recruit Crusaders with legendary weapons, they would not be able to defeat the empire.

'We might be able to take back Isaach, but chances are, we'd lose if we went any further than that. Thracia has Heavens Lance Gungnir, House Friege has Holy Thunder Tome Mjölnir, House Dozel has Holy Axe Helswath, and Arvis has Holy Fire Tome Valflame.

And if someone among the enemy can wield Black Magic Loptous, then we won't stand a chance. So even if I am risking danger here, then I should go along with the enemy's movements and see what happens.'

They walked for about an hour, then finally reached the entrance to the shrine.

There wasn't a door, nor any people, but the path was dimly lit by a magic spell.

'This is the real trap.' Shanan sensed, but had no intention of turning back.

He walked into the shrine at his normal pace.

After taking five steps, he heard a creaking noise come from behind him.

He turned around, and a huge rock fell down between the cave and the shrine, blocking the path.

But since he'd predicted that there might be a trap, he didn't panic.

He confirmed that the path was completely blocked off, put the lantern and his supplies on the floor, and unsheathed a steel sword.

'If the exit is blocked, then I should continue forward.'

There were various doors on both the right and left sides of the path before him. Fearing that he might be attacked from behind if he walked too far, he only continued forward after he had checked each room to see if anyone was inside.

He didn’t find anyone, and finally came to the furthest door. To the right was a staircase going up.

He took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and flew inside.

He saw a mage, sitting at a small desk, in the corner of his eye.

He took a big step and used the force to attack. The mage didn't even have enough time to stand up.

Shanan immediately checked his surroundings. There was no one else in the room. Next, he noticed that there were items that could be considered treasure in the room, confirming that it was indeed the treasure room.

And so, he began to search.

There were both many valuable and rare items inside, but no swords.

'If this is a trap, then of course it wouldn't be here.'

He abandoned the treasure room and returned to the hallway.

He didn't know what he should do next, but knew that in order to attack the enemies while they were still unguarded, he needed to move quickly.

The moment he tried to climb the stairs, he heard footsteps coming down them.

'An enemy has found me already!?’

He braced himself, but the shadow looked like that of a child's, making him decide against attacking. It was obvious they were being chased by something and running away.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he grabbed their arm.

"Eeeeek!" The shriek sounded feminine.

"Be quiet! I'm not your enemy!" Shanan hissed, while also noticing the item she was clutching to her chest. 

It was a sword, and not just any sword. He remembered seeing the design carved into the handle before.

"Where did you get that sword?"

"I found it."

"Where? In that treasure room?"

"No, in a room at the top of the stairs."

"As I thought. Now hand it over."

"Hey! Are you trying to steal what I worked for? I went through a lot of trouble to get this, so there's no way I'll just give it to you!" The girl said, slipped out of his grasp, and ran towards the secret passage.

"W-Wait!"

She was dressed in men's clothing, and could run very quickly, making it obvious that she was a thief…

However, she had no choice but to stop in front of the boulder blocking the way to the cave.

Shanan caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Eeek! Stop, or else I'll never be able to be a bride!"

"Don't be stupid! I'm not going to do anything to you! I just want you to return that sword to me."

"'Return…?' So this is yours?”

"Yes. It is the Divine Blade Balmung, that has been passed down in my family for generations. I'm the only person who can wield it. Even if you have it, you can't do anything with it."

"But why us a holy sword in the Aed Desert?"

"It was taken from my father when he was killed during Grannvale's military campaign in Isaach. I was only just recently told that it's here in the Aed Desert. That's why I'm here, to take it back."

"Wait, so does that mean you're Prince Shanan of Isaach!?"

"Yes, I am."

"Wow, really? Yay, I'm soooo lucky!"

"..."

"I've always admired Prince Shanan, and wanted to meet him, even if it's just once… but I didn't think I actually would…"

"..."

"But it really is so cool to meet you!"

"I get it, I get it. Now, my sword, please."

"Oh, sorry. Here you go!"

Shanan took Balmung from her, and slowly unsheathed it.

As he revealed the blade, it lit up with a sparkling light. Then, he started to feel a strange power course through his body and make him feel warm.

'Balmung is finally mine… Ah, what a magnificent power this is…'

His body overflowing with new power, Shannan kept his gaze straight ahead, and said over his shoulder to the girl behind him, "What is your name?"

"I'm Patty! And don't forget it!"

"You're a thief, aren't you?"

"You could say that. But I only target the rich!"

"And you were found, so you ran away."

"Yeah. It was the first time ever for me, so I was surprised. But I wonder why they didn't chase me all the way here…"

"There's no way out of here, so they aren't worried. There’s no doubt in my mind that they are slowly gathering together more people and heading this way.”

"So what are we gonna do?"

"Keep your distance, but follow me."

Shannan gripped Balmung with both hands, held it out straight in front of him, and slowly began to proceed.

When they reached the section of the wall lit up by a magic spell, the torch went out.

"Eeeeek! It's pitch black!"

"You can't see anything?"

"I can, but only the light coming from the sword."

 That was all Shannan could see as well. He gently closed his eyes.

'If all I can see is the sword's light, then I'll be able to see any enemy that comes within its range. In this case, I shouldn't rely on my eyes.’

"If you are within light, become the light

If you are within darkness, transform into darkness"

"Listen closely, Patty. We're going to follow the sword's light."

He abandoned his sense of sight, heightening his other senses.

'There's eight enemies. Three of them have swords.'

He pictured the hallway in his mind, and as he proceeded, he felt more and more like he was actually looking at it.

He turned right, and started climbing the stairs. 

There were several lights set throughout the stairwell, but if one looked down at the stairs from the very top, they were shrouded in darkness. 

When the leader of the mercenaries suddenly saw Balmung's light, he panicked and froze. He knew there should be a person on the other side of the sword, but he couldn't see them because the light was in his way.

The glowing sword slowly climbed up the stairs. It felt like someone was lying in wait for them, but it seemed like that person wasn't concerned at all.

"Die!" The mage standing in the back shouted.

"Hiii-yah!" The lead mercenary aimed as best he could, and swung his sword.

The man's voice and the movement of the air felt as if they were flowing through Balmung.

Shannan felt no resistance, as if he only cut through air, but he did actually slice open the mercenary's abdomen, who then fell down the stairs.

Another mercenary tried to come around from the left, but Shannan sensed his breath, the movement of his scent, the way he quietly stepped on the stairs, and the change in the temperature around him, as if they were concrete items Shannan could hold in his hands. Shannan only had to think, and Balmung moved, cutting down two more mercenaries.

The other mercenaries above him could only see the slight movements of Balmung's light. It returned to its original position in a split second, then started slowly moving up. As Balmung came close to each magic light, they went out, making Balmung's light grow stronger and stronger in the darkness.

The mages couldn't see what was behind Balmung's light, either. So even if they cast black magic spells, all they could do was aim at the sword, which sent every spell back at the casters. The next moment, the sword leapt into the air, and cut them both.

As he and Patty slowly climbed the stairs, Shannan defeated each and every enemy that came near them. He had no idea how many enemies he faced in total. He only knew he had become one with Bulmung, and the moment he sensed an enemy, he could take them out with the slightest of movement.

Then, finally...

He no longer sensed any enemies. After climbing a few more stairs, he could see light through his closed eyelids, so he opened his eyes.

They were already above ground, and in front of his eyes was a big door.

Shannan swung Balmung, and landed gracefully in the blood pooling beneath him.

He placed the Divine Blade in its sheath, then opened the door. It was the prayer room, and inside was a man in bishop's robes. He was surely none other than Kutuzov, wielder of the dark magic spell Fenrir and leader of the Aed Shrine.

'If I go any further, I'll probably be consumed by Fenrir's magic.'

"If you are within light, become the light

If you are within darkness, transform into darkness

And within nothingness, is the truth."

Shannan emptied his mind of all thoughts, then calmly stepped into the prayer room.

Kutuzov had seen Shannan the moment he opened the door, and realized the swordsman was not wearing clothing he'd ever seen before. However, Kutuzov didn't sense any ill intent, so he did not think he should do anything. He saw Shannan, but did not look at him.

As Shannan came closer, Kutuzov noticed a strange scent. It was the smell of blood. Then, he saw that the man's clothing was stained with blood.

'Why is he covered in blood…? I see, so he is Shannan!?'

Kutuzov panicked and tried to cast a spell.

In a movement so fast his eyes could not catch it, Shannan unsheathed Balmung.

Kutuzov's head went flying through the air before he was even done with his chant.

"That was so cool!!" Patty screamed from the entrance of the prayer room.

-

 Seliph and the liberation army defeated the mages stationed throughout the rocky mountain, and arrived at the Aed Shrine shortly after.

After they had fully seized the shrine, Seliph entered the shrine's underground with Lewyn, who had just returned.

"The descendants of the Loptrian Empire lived here in hiding for a long, long time, because if they went above ground, they would be persecuted and burned alive. But even that doesn't mean they were evil from the beginning. However, many, many years of that treatment turned them into demons."

Seliph walked into one of the rooms in the hallway lined with rooms on both sides.

On the walls was writing that looked like a child's scribbles.

'Please come back someday soon, Lord Loptous.

Please make them suffer.

If you make our wishes come true, Lord Loptous, then we will give our blood to you.'

He guessed those words had been there for over twenty years, but the hatred with which they had been written had not faded one bit.

Seliph was overwhelmed by that hatred. He didn’t know what to say.

"Hate only begets hate." Lewyn said.  "You must etch those words into your heart."

"What do you think of my hatred for Arvis?"

"I've said this before, but this fight is no longer yours alone. I understand how you feel, but you must only hate what he has done, or what he is doing, not the man himself. If you do, then it will cloud your judgement.

"You should hate the evil, not the person. You must never forget that."

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 9 Part 4

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Chapter 9 - And So, the Door of Fate Opens...

Part 4

Mages rained down meteors from atop the rocky mountains scattered throughout the desert, attacking Sigurd’s approaching army. 

To safely proceed, Sigurd’s army needed to defeat them. And the only person they could rely on for that job was Erinys.

She aimed at the mages from the skies above them, and swooped down to attack.

The moment she defeated all the mages atop the first mountain, she saw a large group of dragons far off in the south.

She hurried back down to the rest of the army, and reported to Sigurd, “We don’t have good footing here, so we can’t fight! Let’s retreat back to Luveck Castle.”

There was still plenty of time left before the dragon knights caught up to them, so they could afford to retreat and organize their army. The soldiers all gathered in battle formation together, with the archers and those who could use offensive magic placed behind them. 

-

Because he’d claimed such an easy victory against the Leonsterian Army, Magorn was full of arrogance.

When he saw Sigurd’s army, he ordered his soldiers to attack immediately, without taking the time to properly survey their battle formation.

The Thracian dragon knights were known for their bravery and valor, and put up a terrifying fight, but they only managed to just barely endure the first assault, while Sigurd’s army perfectly maintained their formation.

When they flew back up into the skies to regroup, their numbers had already dwindled by more than half.

Magorn realized that the battle was lost, but didn’t hesitate to give the order to attack a second time.

The lands of Thracia were barren, and the money the dragon knights made as mercenaries was the country’s main source of income. Their bravery and valor was the service they sold, and their absolute rule was to never retreat.

The moment they started to move to make their second attack, Sigurd’s army’s front line stepped back to allow the second line to attack.

While the dragon knights fought the second line, the archers stationed in the back picked them off one-by-one.

Magorn was also killed after taking a direct hit from Brigid while in the middle of a divebomb.

With the battle over, the heavily injured returned to Luveck Castle, while the rest of the army regrouped into their normal positions, and reentered the desert.

Erinys resumed her attack on the mages atop the rocky mountains.

To continue onwards, Sigurd’s army would have to conquer Phinora Castle, located in the middle of an oasis.

Erinys secured their path, and taking the castle was easy by comparison. Afterwards, Sigurd decided to allow his soldiers to rest.

-

Their next destination was Velthomer Castle, where Duke Arvis and Duke Reptor’s units were likely to be waiting for them.

Sigurd once again ordered the female soldiers to return to Luveck, especially those who were pregnant.

Azel persuaded Tailtiu to leave.

“Tailtiu, The Friegian Army is your father’s unit. You probably won’t be able to fight them. Go return to Silesse now. I’ll follow along after you. I promise.”

“But…”

“Or do you think you can kill your own father?”

“I… couldn’t…”

“And that’s okay. I couldn’t love someone who could callously kill their own father. ...When I first became a father, I realized exactly what a father is - a person who wouldn’t regret throwing away his own life for his children.”

“Azel, do you think you'll die?”

“Not at all! When I see Arthur’s face, I know that I cannot throw my life away. But if someone must fight, then it is the father’s duty to fulfill. And you have a duty as their mother to raise our children. It has to be you, because going to have another. Please take good care of them for me.”

“Azel!”

They both hugged each other tight as they could.

With their bodies so close together, Azel could feel the new life growing inside of her.

-

Jamke suggested to Aideen that she go to Isaach.

“Aideen, we vowed together to fight all the Sandimas in the world. And I don’t think they’re all going to be gone, even after this war ends. The fight must go on. That’s why I want you to go to Isaach, so you can raise Lester and our unborn child as part of the next generation of warriors.”

“Jamke, do you have a bad feeling about this?”

“N-No, that’s not it.” He denied her worries in a panic. “I’m just thinking of our children. And… Shanan and Oifey are in Isaach, but there’s no mother figure for the children there, so I was thinking that they’d really need one…”

“I was thinking that, too. But, Jamke, please be honest with me. You… do have a feeling something is going to happen too, don’t you?”

“For you to bring it up, means that you have the same feeling, doesn't it?”

“Yes, sometimes, the fear is so much that it makes my heart beat wildly. Though I don’t know why at all…”

“I feel the same. So please, go to Isaach.”

“Can’t you come with me?”

“No, I can’t. So please…”

“I understand. I do, I just thought I’d ask. Jamke, please survive, and come home to us.”

“Of course I will. I promise.”

-

It was finally time for the army to begin marching towards Grannvale.

Aideen and Tailtiu watched the army leave from Phinora Castle.

Jamke looked back time and time again, burning the image of Aideen over and over again in his heart, even as she became smaller and smaller.

When he turned around for what felt like the hundredth time, and swore to himself that it was the last time he would, he saw Dew wandering up to him.

‘Why is he ignoring Prince Sigurd’s orders?’ He thought, and stopped to wait for Dew.

“Hey, Jamke! What’s the matter?”

“You’re still here, Dew? There’s no place for you here any more. Hurry up and get away from here.”

“Wow, even Jamke’s tellin’ me to get outta here now! What’re ya’ll bein’ so weird for? You’re so close to winning, but ya’ll are on edge! What gives?”

“Sorry. ...Yeah, I guess I am being a little irritable. But you’re not really a soldier, so don’t follow us anymore.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’ll go on home.” He said, and started to walk away, but then turned back around and said in a very serious voice, “Jamke, I like you. When I think about it, I always did from the very beginnin’, back when I helped ya out at Marpha Castle. Ya may be a prince, but ya treat me like a human being. Thanks.”

“Whoa, where’d that come from all of a sudden? Now you’re the one acting weird!”

“Naw, I just wanted to say a little somethin’ nice. ...Well, I’ll be goin’ now. See ya.” Dew said, then broke out of the marching lines and wandered off.

‘Even Dew senses it.’ Jamke thought.

-

Beowulf jumped off his horse and waited for Lachesis to catch up to him.

“Hello, Beowulf! What’s the matter?”

“I was just thinkin’, you should go before the final battle starts.”

“What? Why do you look so serious?”

“Lachesis, I want you to take Diarmuid and go to Leonster. Finn’s there, and he’s a good guy. He won’t do anything to hurt ya.”

“Don’t say things like that! Where you go, I’ll go, too!”

Beowulf didn't argue back, instead looking straight at her and saying, “Lachesis, I ain’t good enough for ya.”

“Huh? Why…?”

“You’re a princess of Nordion, and I’m just a lowly mercenary. If only I were a more noble knight, then…”

“Seriously, why are you saying something like that!? I’ve never seen a more noble knight than you!”

“...”

“People aren’t born knights! It’s about what’s in their hearts! And you have a very noble heart. Your rough way of speaking just hides that. I’m very proud to have married you.”

Beowulf felt warmth spread through his heart. So as not to show it, he immediately mounted his horse, and said with his back turned to her, “Don’t forget what I just said to you. See ya, Lachesis.”

“Wait, Beowulf!”

But he didn’t wait, instead ordering his horse to gallop away. He didn’t even look back.

-

Midir slowed down his horse to walk aside Brigid, who was leading the bow unit.

“At long last, the final battle is about to begin. Are you doing alright, Brigid?”

“Yes, I am, because you’re by my side.”

Her words made his cheeks turn bright red. 

“C’mon, I still make you blush?”

“Brigid, I’m very happy to have met you. Words can’t express how thankful I am to have you.”

“You liked Aideen, right? ...Are you really happy with me?”

“Yes, I did. But I didn’t love her as a woman. I was looking for someone to love and devote myself to as a knight, and she was the lady closest to me, so I chose her. To be honest, I thought of you in the same way, too, at first. But then, the more and more we talked, the more and more I learned what women are like as people. And that is why you, Brigid, are my first love. And my last.”

“Thank you, Midir. ...Please watch over me until the very end…”

-

Though it was still far off in the distance, everyone could now see Velthomer Castle.

Alec, who was marching directly behind Sigurd, said to Noish, who was next to him, “Noish, we’ve been through a lot together, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“I’ve counted on you for a lot.”

“Me too, Alec…”

“They were all fun times.”

“They were…”

“Well then, take care of yourself, Noish.”

“You too…”

-

Lex overheard Alec and Noish's conversation, which prompted him to halt his horse and wait for Ayra, who was leading the infantry.

When she saw him, she continued marching along and called out to him, “We’ve finally reached the end, Lex.”

“Yeah… but you’re being really stubborn! What can I do to get you to go back to Isaach?”

“And why would I do that? Because I’m a woman? I won’t allow even you to say something like that! We are both responsible for our children!”

“You’re right… I’m sorry. I was just thinking of them, lonely without us in Isaach…”

“And that’s why I’m trying to say that we should return to them together! After this battle is over, of course.”

“You’re right, Ayra. Alright then, I’m going on ahead.”

“I’m sorry, Lex. This is the only way of life I know…”

“Ha ha ha, I get that. And it’s why I love you. I don’t know what’s in store for us, but let’s go as far as we can together.”

“Yes…”

-

Once she defeated the last of the mages, Erinys landed her pegasus next to Lewyn. 

“We’ve been through so much together, haven’t we, Lord Lewyn?”

“Yes, we have. But, Erynis, you must keep your promise.”

“That I will survive and return to Silesse, correct?”

“Yes. If anything strange happens, do not fight. Run. I will not die, so you can’t, either.”

“Yes, I promise. ...The dreams I’ve had since I was a child have come true, but it will all be over if we die in battle. I won’t leave your side.”

“My mother is waiting in Silesse. I think she’s looking forward to seeing you even more than seeing me. I bet she wants to meet her grandchild already.”

“Yes, we must make Lady Rahna… no, Mother, happy…”

-

And so, the final battle began.

Sigurd gave the order to attack, and everyone rushed up the hill leading to Velthomer Castle at once.

Atop the hill waited the Freigian Army, led by Reptor. And around the castle and the surrounding hills, waited Arvis’ fire mage unit...

However, when Sigurd’s army reached the top of the hill, the fire mages all attacked Reptor’s army. This sudden betrayal sent Reptor’s army spiraling into chaos.

Sigurd completely ignored both the betrayal and confusion, raising Tyrfing with one hand and charging directly into Reptor’s formation. He cut down the enemy soldiers on both his left and right sides, then made Farron gallop straight towards Reptor.

Again, the red monster appeared.

Seeing the blood soaked horse and rider coming towards them, the enemy soldiers were terrified, and stepped aside to let him through.

Finally, Sigurd found Reptor.

“Sigurd!? ...You traitor!”

“You’re the traitor!” Sigurd screamed, and kept galloping straight towards him. 

Reptor opened Mjölnir and shot a spell at Sigurd.

Tyrfing was able to absorb most of the attack, but a bolt of lightning still made it to Sigurd’s arm and coursed through his body. “Dammit!” He bit his lip, endured the pain, and swung Tyrfing down in Reptor’s direction.

Reptor looked up at him in pure disbelief. 

Sigurd swung Tyrfing yet again, this time landing a direct hit.

“Guah!” Reptor groaned, and fell.

‘I’ve avenged you, Father. But there’s still things I can do yet.’

“No, there’s still something that you must do.” He heard a voice ring through his head. It sounded like his father’s voice, yet nothing like it at the same time.

‘You’re right. I must reduce any further bloodshed as much as I possibly can.’

Sigurd straightened his back and yelled at the enemy army, “Everyone, listen! Duke Reptor is dead! Lay down your weapons!”

At his words, Reptor’s soldiers all threw down their weapons. The fire mages also stopped casting spells.

Then, Velthomer’s castle gate opened, and General Aida came out, followed by her subordinates.

Sigurd waited for her to come up to him, Tyrfing still in his hand.

Aida bowed at him and said, “This is Lord Sigurd. He’s made it home safe!”

“Why did you start attacking your allies!?” He asked accusingly.

“Duke Arvis knows that you are innocent. He said that Dukes Reptor and Lombard plotted everything together. They were just too powerful for him to stop on his own.”

“Is that what happened? So the dishonor on my father’s name will be erased as well?”

“Yes. Duke Arvis is waiting for you with His Majesty in Balhalla. He and all the troops in Balhalla should be there to greet you. He thinks the ceremony he has planned for your triumphant return will be celebrated across the entire country.”

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 7 Part 2

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations - Ko-fi

T/N: Chapter 7′s title completely spoils one of the big events of the chapter, so I won’t be putting it in my tumblr posts like I usually do. You can check out the Google Doc, where I could hide it. Highlight the Table of Contents page to see it. In the event that this is your first experience with FE4′s plot, read the title after Chapter 7 Part 3. Those who have played FE4, it is of course nothing you don’t already know.

———————————

Chapter 7

Part 2

Text under cut for spoilers.

Prince Kurt’s death had a huge impact on the imperial court of Balhalla.

He’d been King Azmur’s only child, and never married, so it meant the death of Saint Heim’s bloodline.

King Azmur had already been sick, but when he heard of the prince’s death, his health declined rapidly, and put him on death’s door.

The next day, the message that Dukes Byron and Ring were the perpetrators was sent through the semaphore line.

The next signal announced that they were on the run.

The three Dukes left in Balhalla, Reptor, Arvis, and Claud, held a meeting to discuss how they should handle the situation.

Reptor immediately suggested that they deploy the Roten Ritter to take down Sigurd’s army in Augustria. “We already know that Sigurd has tried to act without consulting His Majesty before. There’s no question that he plotted to usurp the country with his father.”

Arvis disagreed. “If we deployed the Roten Ritter, the capital would be defenseless. We should wait until the rest of our army returns home from Isaach.”

“Plus, we have very little information.” Claud added, but his voice was as quiet and timid as ever. “Judging from their personalities, I’d never imagine that they’d ever try to harm Prince Kurt…”

“But they’re running away! What more proof could you need?”

“That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that the opposite isn’t also a possibility.”

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t know for sure if they weren’t assassinated alongside the prince.”

“S-So who do you think did it!?”

“I’m not saying I know who did it. I’m just pointing out another possibility. I’ve decided to go to the Bragi Tower. That is, if you two agree to it…”

“Why would you go to the Bragi Tower now, of all times!?”

“I apologize if I’m repeating anything you already know, but High Priest Bragi sealed the Valkyrie Staff there. If Bragi’s descendant prays to the staff, then it will tell them the truth.”

“But how is that relevant to what’s going on now…?”

“The truth is always important.” Arvis cut in. “Father Claud, I think you should go. I only ask that you tell us what truth you saw when you return.”

“Thank you. I’ll come back as quickly as I possibly can, so please wait to deploy any soldiers unless it is absolutely necessary. I’m going to leave for the tower as soon as I am done with my business here, so please report to His Majesty in my place.”

-

Claud started for Augustria alone, and continued on without even stopping at his own villa.

The fastest way to get to Bragi Tower was to take a boat from a port in Grannvale, but he wanted to alert Sigurd of what was going on.

Traveling through Augusty meant that he would have to cross Duke Reptor’s duchy, Friege.

-

Unlike her father, Reptor, and her brother, Bloom, Princess Tailtiu was a warm, cheerful person.

Because Bloom had inherited Thrud’s Holy Mark and the Holy Thunder Tome Mjölnir, Reptor didn’t pay much attention to her. It was a good thing, because it allowed Tailtiu to leave the castle and have fun around town, but it also meant that her family ignored her and she often felt alone, so she was very conflicted by it.

On the day that Claude visited Friege, she was out again, watching a traveling troupe of acrobats in the town plaza.

After they gave their first performance, she walked up to one of the members of the group, a young woman.

She asked what it was like to live life traveling from place to place, why the woman had joined the troupe, what was the best thing about it, what was the worst thing about it, and many more questions.

When their second performance started, Tailtiu watched from the front and center spot once more.

It was the same performance as before, but when she connected it to all the things the woman had told her, she wasn’t bored in the slightest.

When it was over, she threw them a gold coin.

They thanked her, then picked up their belongings and left.

She knew that it would be best to return home soon, but didn’t feel like it, so, she wandered through shops aimlessly, until she just so happened to see the archbishop of Edda coming her way. “Long time no see, Father!”

Claud was surprised by her voice.

“Oh hello, Princess of Friege! Um… what was your name again? Tail… Tail…”

“Tailtiu!”

“That’s right! Hello, Tailtiu! How are you?”

“I’m doing great! What about you?”

“I’m fine, but in a tough situation.”

“Why are you here in Friege?”

“Well, I’m actually on my way to the Bragi Tower. I decided that I would stay here for the night, so I’m looking for an inn right now.”

“Oh really? Then why don’t you stay at the castle? You’re welcome anytime!”

“That’s very kind of you, but…”

“As I thought… You know I’d be the only one to welcome you…”

“N-No, that’s not it…”

“Say, don’t people usually go to the Bragi Tower by boat?”

“Yes, that’s true, but this time, I couldn’t…”

“Wow, sounds like you’re on an interesting adventure! I know of a great inn, and I’m hungry, so why don’t we eat and talk about it there?”

“Alright... Let’s go…”

Tailtiu’s best trait was her cleverness. By the time their meal was over, she already understood the gist of what was going on.

“I’m going to go with you, Father Claud!”

“Huh? But why?”

“Because I heard that pirates have been hanging around the Bragi Tower recently! It would be careless to let you go all by yourself. And I may not look it, but I can use a little magic! You can’t use offensive magic, so….”

“But what would your father say…?”

“You, he, and Duke Arvis all decided at your meeting that you should go to the Bragi Tower, right? So to protect you is to serve an important role for Grannvale!”

Of course, that wasn’t really her main concern. After meeting the acrobats, she now wanted to travel. She had a feeling that there was an adventure out there, waiting just for her.

“What time will you leave tomorrow?”

“Hmmm… About eight in the morning, I believe.”

“Okay, let’s meet here at eight o’clock sharp! I’ll be waiting until then!

-

The next day, Claud walked out of the inn thirty minutes early.

However, Tailtiu was already waiting. “Good morning!”

“Ah, good morning, Princess Tailtiu…”

“I bet you’re surprised to see me, huh?”

“Y-Yes, I didn’t think a princess would be such an early bird.”

“That’s true, but yesterday, when you said eight, I could tell by your face that you were lying!”

“Huh? I… I could never make such a face!”

“A priest shouldn’t lie, Father! Now let’s go!”

-

Erinys left the castle to complete her morning reconnaissance duty.

She always started by first traveling east. Today, she saw a unit of armored knights marching towards Augusty.

She started to head back, but then decided to check north first, and once again saw a group of armored knights moving towards Augusty. There were also cavalry behind them.

‘And what about the western forest?’ She thought.

She flew over the forest and saw the shadow of someone trying frantically to hide in the bushes.

And to the south, she saw a cavalry unit that had already come very far from Silvali Castle.

She returned to the castle and reported every thing she’d seen.

The battle preparation fanfare was sounded immediately.

The army leaders all gathered in the castle reception room.

Sigurd had a grim look on his face. “I don’t want to fight Eldigan. There’s still three more months before the time I promised him we would pull out. I want to figure out a way to end this without fighting. Oifey, can we hold the castle?”

“There’s one general rule for holding a castle - that an army should only do it if there’s a possibility that reinforcements will arrive. Can we expect reinforcements at this time? I don’t think there’s even a chance of that. In addition, we are in enemy territory. The moment they caught on to us, they’d easily be able to send in more and more soldiers to put pressure on us. We have no choice but to leave the castle.”

“If we can’t avoid fighting, then we can’t avoid fighting. But what kind of strategy can we utilize? There’s enemies coming at us from all four directions!”

“King Chagall's strategies are simply whatever comes to his mind. There’s both infantry and cavalry in his army. The best strategy is to have all units march together and surround the enemy castle, yet he has his soldiers all coming from four different directions. He probably thought that we wouldn't notice anyone coming if he sent his army in chunks, but it means they are all moving at different speeds. We can deal with them each individually."

"I see. Since we have no choice but to fight, then let's give it all we've got and claim victory! We’ll deploy after breakfast."

Sigurd returned to his room, and was greeted by Deirdre, who was carrying Seliph, and looked terribly worried.

"Are you going to fight again?" She asked.

"King Chagall's army is coming this way from all four directions. But you can't come this time. You mustn't leave Seliph's side. He's still just a newborn."

"But… But I'm worried."

"Then I'll tell Shanan to protect you two. That should put your mind at ease."

It was actually him that she was worried about, but Sigurd did not realize that, and went ahead with calling in Shanan.

“Shanan, will you protect Deirdre and Seliph while I’m out fighting?”

“Okay! I’ll take care of them while you’re gone!” It was the first big responsibility the Isaachian prince had ever been entrusted with, and he was very excited.

“See? Shanan will be with you, so rest easy. And I’ll come home as soon as I can. We won’t be separated forever.” Sigurd said, then left the room.

She didn’t know why, but her husband’s words made Deirdre even more uneasy. As she watched him leave, she whispered, “Lord Sigurd…”

-

Sigurd’s cavalry unit first hurried south to fight the armored knights.

The knights were caught completely off guard, and suffered total defeat in a matter of minutes.

Meanwhile, the infantry traveled north, hid in the edge of a forest, and waited for the enemy to draw near.

The battle started with the arrival of more enemy armored knights. Sigurd’s infantry unit was unable to finish them off before the cavalry unit arrived, making the situation very harsh for them.

But the tables turned yet again when the cavalry unit returned from their fight to the south.

Lex looked for Ayra, then rushed up alongside her. Though they exchanged no words, they felt like the perfect team as they fought together.

The Brave Sword he’d gifted her was unbelievably sharp. It paired perfectly with her Astra technique, and cut through the enemies like paper.

After they defeated the cavalry from the north, yet another cavalry unit arrived from the south. It wasn’t Eldigan’s Cross Knights, as Sigurd had originally feared. Eldigan must not have answered Chagall’s request for soldiers.

Since Sigurd’s army was so much larger, they had the overwhelming advantage, and this battle also ended quickly.

When they’d defeated this second cavalry unit, the unit approaching from the west was still in the forest.

Sigurd formed a side unit to fight them, then led the main force to Madino.

Claud and Tailtiu met up with the latter group.

Claud told one of the soldiers that they were looking for Sigurd, who led them to him.

Once they had a chance to talk alone, Claud explained the situation to Sigurd. “Duke Arvis is against deploying the Roten Ritter, so he suspended the attack on you and your army, but most of the people in the imperial court right now are part of Reptor’s political party. Please do not do anything to provoke anyone in Grannvale until I’ve figured out the truth and talked to the king.”

“Understood. I’m want to return home because I’m worried about my father, but I’m fighting right now. His Majesty also ordered me to protect Augusty. I’ll stay here until you’ve returned.”

“Please do.”

“But why is the princess of Friege going with you to the Bragi Tower?”

“Oh, we ran into each other while I was staying in the castle town for a night, and she insisted on coming with me. I was troubled by it, too… But she doesn’t have anything to do with Reptor’s party, so don’t worry about her.”

“Really? If that’s the case, then it should be fine… Anyway, I’ll order some soldiers to guard you until you’ve left Augusty.”

After saying their goodbyes to Sigurd, Claud and Tailtiu left with the guards, then headed west towards the port.

-

Deirdre had just put Seliph down to sleep and gotten out of bed when a black shadow began to form on the wall.

The black shadow gradually became darker and darker, until a man wearing a wine red robe appeared from it.

“I’ve finally found you… daughter of Cigyun.” He stared straight at her as he spoke.

“What!? Who are you…!? How do you know my mother’s name…!?”

The man cackled in response. “You will now be reborn! ...By my dark magic, all your memories will be erased, and you will become that man’s wife. ...It is your fate. Do not try to fight it!”

The man’s voice echoed through her head and clouded her thoughts.

He took a step towards her.

“Wh-What are you doing!? ...Stop! ...No… Lord Sigurd…”

Seliph burst out crying.

‘And, Seliph… I must not forget for his sake, too…’

She thought about them as hard as she could, but the darkness was already consuming her consciousness.

Her memories vanished, and she was engulfed in darkness.

By the time Shannan heard Seliph’s cries and rushed into the room, Deirdre had already disappeared.

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 2 Part 1

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

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———————————

Chapter 2 – Arvis of Velthomer

Part 1

On a cold winter's day when Duke Arvis of Velthomer was seven years old, he waited to greet his father, Victor, who was returning home quite suddenly from a trip. 

When his father arrived, he gasped and froze where he stood.

Victor would normally spread out his arms and smile, waiting for Arvis to run up and hug him. But today, he walked slowly and with a limp, like someone who was gravely ill.

The sight reminded Arvis of his grandfather just before he had died, and terrified him.

"Welcome home, Father." He said, but Victor simply glanced at him and kept walking.

He saw hate in those eyes.

'Mother isn’t with you?' He tried to ask, but the words got caught in his throat.

Victor climbed up the stairs as if his boots were full of lead.

ー

That night, at dinner, Victor still looked very grim.

He downed glass after glass of wine, and spoke not a word.

Arvis, worried, blurted out, "Father, you shouldn't drink so much!"

It was what his mother, Cigyun, would say, mimicking his voice, whenever Victor drank too much. Victor would always laugh and respond with, "If your own son is scolding you, that's when you know you should stop." He wouldn’t drink another drop for the rest of the night.

But tonight was different. He threw his glass at Arvis.

Arvis barely managed to dodge it. He ran out of the dining room in a panic.

This event scared him and made him realize that something awful must have happened.

He went to his room, looked in the direction of Bahalla, and prayed, 'Please come home soon, Mother.'

However, she did not return the next day.

ー

Victor spent the entire day locked up in his room.

He came to the dining room to eat dinner, but his clothes were wrinkled and in disarray.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression only worsened the more wine he drank.

Arvis debated to himself for some time whether or not he should say the joke again. Finally, he made up his mind, turned to Victor, and said, "Father, you shouldn't drink so much!"

Once again, Victor threw his glass.

Since Arvis was expecting it this time, he had no trouble dodging it. Then, he stood up and started to excuse himself.

With his head bowed, he didn't see his father throw a candlestick. It hit him in the chest.

The impact hurt his feelings much more than his body.

The pain quickly evolved into hatred.

It wasn't like he'd ever loved his father, though, as the man was a womanizer.

He had countless lovers within Velthomer Castle alone, with whom he had many children. He also had so many lovers among the Belhallian noblewoman that he probably had children he didn't even know about.

ー

One day, after his mother had returned to the castle, Arvis found her gazing out a window, crying.

He looked down and saw his father messing around with one of his lovers.

That sight had also hurt his feelings and made him hate his father.

"I'll never forgive him for making you sad, Mother!" Arvis hissed.

His mother did not respond with words, but a hug. Her body felt very big and soft.

He looked into her lavender eyes and asked, "You're so pretty, Mother! Why would he love anyone else?"

"It's alright, Arvis, because the one he loves most is me."

ー

As he walked to his room, Arvis thought, 'What's made him change so much?'

He thought up countless explanations, but none of them seemed right. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted his mother to come home.

When he got to his room, he wrote her a letter.

'Mother, please come home the moment you get this letter. Something's wrong with Father.

Arvis'

When he finished it, he inserted it carefully into an envelope, and called for an attendant.

The moment one of his guards arrived, he ordered, "Please send this to Mother straight away. She’s in Belhalla."

It was the first order he ever remembered giving to anyone.

The guard stiffened up at Arvis' firm tone, acting as seriously as if he'd received the order from the king himself. "Yes, my lord. I'll make sure that Lady Cigyun gets it." He clicked his boots together, then walked out of the room.

'Once Mother comes back, everything will be alright.'

Arvis was also satisfied knowing that his order was going to be carried out just as he wanted it to be.

Reassured, he slept well that night.

ー

The next day, Arvis awoke to one of his attendants shaking him.

"Wake up, Prince Arvis! Wake up!"

"What is it, Hirsh? What happened?"

"Your father passed away."

"What!?" Arvis snapped awake and frantically dressed himself.

He rushed into Victor’s bedroom and saw Victor’s butler, Oran, and their doctor, Mendel. "What happened to him? Was it a sudden illness?"

Mendel looked at Oran, who nodded and said, "Prince Arvis, since you are his successor, I will tell you the truth. The duke drank poison."

"He drank poison?"

"Y-Yes."

The doctor continued the explanation. "Last night, upon retiring into his room, he continued to drink wine from a glass that also had poison in it."

"He wasn't murdered, was he?"

"Please look at his face. See these red spots? They appear when one has died from belladonna poisoning, and there are traces of belladonna in his wine glass. It is the same belladonna that he asked me to bring him. However, there isn't any belladonna in the wine that is still left in the bottle. His pageboy said that he brought the bottle with the cork still in it, and that he opened it in front of the duke, then left. And this glass was already in his room. He took it out of his closet, where he always keeps it, meaning that… he..."

"I understand. However, my father did not commit suicide."

"But he…"

"He died from a sudden illness. There is such a thing as a sudden illness that can kill someone, isn't there?"

"It is possible to die very quickly from a heart attack, but…"

"That's what happened, then. He had a heart attack and died. Agreed?" Arvis glared at Oran and asked.

The butler shivered at his sharp gaze. "If that is what Mendel, as Duke Victor’s doctor, says, then I have no objections."

"And what do you say, Mendel?"

"If those are your orders, then it is so, Prince Arvis…"

"Those are my orders, then. My father, Duke Victor of Velthomer, died suddenly of a heart attack. Agreed?”

"Yes, that is correct."

"Let's announce the news. I trust you know who to speak to about doing that, Oran, so I will leave it to you."

"Yes, Prince Arvis."

“And now that my father is dead, what should I do?”

“As his successor, you will be the chief mourner at his funeral. After that, you must mourn for a year.” 

“What does a chief mourner do?”

“The chief of protocol will give you the details.”

“Then send for him. I’ll be in my room.”

When Arvis left, Mendel breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m shocked. He didn’t even shed a single tear.”

"It is impressive, in a way. It gives me the confidence that he will make for a fine duke. But still…"

ー

Velthomer's royal family had the blood of Sage Warrior Fjalar running through their veins, and inherited the Holy Fire Tome, Valflame. The inheritor's Holy Mark always appeared as a red, fire-shaped symbol on their right hand's palm.

There were never any problems when the Holy Mark had already appeared on the inheritor's firstborn. But when they were still a young child and did not have the mark yet, it would always lead to a fight over who would inherit the duchy.

And Fjalar's Holy Mark had yet to appear on Arvis.

ー

T/N: Notes on character names:

Victor is called ディーン (Dīn, pronounced like Dean) in this novel for whatever reason. I assume the author just didn’t know that Arvis’ father’s name is Victor and came up with his own name.

As for the names of the characters unique to this novel, here’s the original katakana, for reference.

Arvis’ attendant:ヒーリス (Hīrisu)

The doctor: メンデフ(Mendefu)

The butler: オーラン(Ōran)

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 4 Part 3

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

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———————————

Chapter 4 - The Battle in Jungby

Part 3

Sigurd and his cavaliers formed a unit and headed west.

They got caught up in several skirmishes with the Verdainian Army along the way, but the groups they encountered were all very small, so they were able to easily defeat them all.

'If there's enemies headed towards Chalphy, then Jungby must have already fallen.' Oifey thought. 'But their small numbers prove that they did not plan to fight us.'

"Prince Sigurd!" Oifey called out and guided his horse to ride beside Sigurd's.

"What is it, Oifey?"

"Our initial plan was to turn south in front of the church, correct?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"We don't have to go that far. We can turn south in front of that forest just ahead, and travel down the side road instead. If we do, we can probably avoid running into any more enemies."

"Why do you think so?"

As Oifey explained his reasoning, Sigurd’s face lit up with surprise. "You really are a genius, Oifey! Alright, let's go that way!"

They started traveling down the side road, and eventually met up with Noish, who'd returned to give his report. "There's about fifty enemies coming this way!"

Sigurd looked at Oifey.

"Hide in the forest and wait for them!"

"Okay everyone, get in the forest!"

The enemies soon came into their line of vision, but did not appear to be on guard at all.

"Now! Ambush them!" Sigurd yelled.

His cavaliers dashed out of the forest. The enemies were completely blindsided, and lost before they could fully realize what had even happened.

"We can't let them get away. If even one survived and went to Jungby to warn their allies, it would put us at a huge disadvantage!" Oifey warned Sigurd.

"Understood! After them, everyone! Don't let anyone escape!"

The difference in speed between soldiers on foot and those on horseback was great. Plus, it was easy to attack an enemy who was running away, as their back was turned and they couldn't counterattack. Sigurd's army picked off the Verdanians one-by-one until none were left.

They continued onward, and Jungby Castle came into view just before sunset.

Sigurd looked at Oifey yet again.

"At this rate, we'll make it by nightfall. If you don't mind the inconvenience, we should attack at dawn, while they are still asleep." The small tactician whispered.

"Yeah, good idea. They taught us to march at night and attack at dawn at the Royal Academy." Sigurd nodded and said.

"Alright then, we’ll siege the castle at dawn! And as for now, we’ll continue on for a little longer, then set up camp for the night."

They did just that, setting up their camp in the forest near the castle. The moment the eastern horizon started to turn white, they marched to attack.

By the time they reached the castle, the sun had not yet risen, but was high enough in the sky that it was starting to get bright.

There wasn't even a single person atop the castle wall. Oifey was right. The Verdanian Army had their guard down at this time of day.

Sigurd gave the signal to ambush.

While the gate had been properly closed, it had yet to be repaired from the damaged the battering ram had done, so the cavaliers were able to tear it down easily.

"We're under attack!" By the time the surprised guards announced their arrival, Sigurd's army was already about to enter the castle.

There were only ten soldiers in the garden, and though they tried to fight, they were quickly cut down.

Meanwhile, the enemies that came pouring out of the main building were all hit by arrows shot from the castle wall.

The one who had shot the arrows was none other than Midir. The Verdanian Army thought he'd died when he fell from the tower, but he'd only lost consciousness. Once night had fallen, he'd woken up and hid in the tower, waiting for help to arrive.

Sigurd chose just ten men, then led them into the main building.

Since the Verdanians had been taken off guard, none of them had any armor on, nor any weapons nearby.

"Aideen, where are you!? Aideen!?" Sigurd yelled.

"You're too late, Grannvalian scum!"

Sigurd turned towards the source of the voice and saw a huge man walking down the stairs with a poleaxe.

"Prince Gandolf has already taken her to Verdane! I can only imagine what he's doing to her right now…" The man laughed.

"Curse you!" Sigurd ran up the stairs.

The enemy turned to face him.

'I'm at a disadvantage, attacking a man with a poleaxe from below!' Sigurd quickly calculated what he should do next, and that was to feint. "Hyah!" He shouted and made it look like he was going to stab, but then jumped to the side.

The enemy swung his poleaxe down where Sigurd had been standing just seconds ago.

Sigurd took a step up the stairs to grab the enemy's waist. 

The enemy started to freak out. His eyes widened as he looked down at Sigurd, then he screamed and tumbled head-first down the stairs.

"Aideen, are you here!? Aideen!" Sigurd climbed up to the second floor and checked each and every room, one by one.

However, he saw no sign of Aideen, nor any of her maids.

'Looks like that man was right, they were taken away to Verdane. I won't let them get away with this! I'll bring her home, even if I have to invade Verdane!'

By the time Sigurd reached the bottom of the stairs, the battle had already ended.

He asked one of the surrendered enemy soldiers about Aideen, who said that she'd been taken to Verdane with her maids three days prior.

'If it's been three days, then they must already be crossing the Yung River at the border.'

This time, they'd surprised the enemy, and only had to fight a small number of men, so victory had been easy to obtain. However, once they crossed the border into Verdane, if they didn't recruit more soldiers, there was no way they would make it out alive.

Sigurd suppressed his wish to save Aideen right away, and decided to wait for reinforcements to arrive.

-

The first wave of reinforcements was a unit led by Arvis' younger brother, Azel, and Lombard's younger son, Lex.

Duke Arvis, as the leader of the Rottenritter, was in charge of guarding the capital, and not part of the army that went to Isaach. 

When Arvis heard of the crisis in Jungby, he held a briefing for the Rotenritter.

He told them their duty was to defend the king no matter what may happen. Until they received orders to do otherwise, he would not allow them to abandon their duty by leaving the capital.

Azel thought of Arvis like a father, and considered the Rotenritter's orders absolute. However, he was also secretly in love with Aideen.

He'd met her once, at a ball held at the palace, and only managed to stutter out a bit of conversation with her, not even getting the chance to dance together. However, that was all it had taken for her to steal his heart.

That night, he'd kept his eye on her the entire time as she danced with others. But each and every time she was without a dance partner and waltzing around absentmindedly, someone else would swoop in and ask her to dance before he could come up to her.

'I'll ask her once this song is over!'

He'd had that thought countless times. However, he'd also been held back by the fear that she might reject him, and was too scared to ask.

'Surely she isn't interested in a boy like me.'

He didn't think she had intended to send him that message. They were simply the musings of a boy who had never been to a ball before and knew little about them.

And now, he'd learned that she was in trouble.

He couldn't stand around doing nothing.

'And maybe if I go save her, she'll see me as a royal like her and not a boy.'

His imagination was now running wild. 'I must go! Even if it means defying Brother's orders!'

Hit by a sudden sense of purpose, he kept his plan a secret from his brother, and left Balhalla.

On the way, he'd passed through Dozel, and invited his friend Lex to join him.

"Dozel is connected to the semaphore line too, isn't it? You must know by now that Jungby was attacked! Prince Sigurd went to help, but he only has a few soldiers with him! You can't just turn a blind eye to all of this, can you!? I've decided to go with the reinforcement unit. Please come with me!" Azel pleaded.

However, Lex knew instantly of his true intentions, as he gushed to Lex about his feelings for Aideen every time thoughts of her came into his mind. "Sigurd is going to be at a huge disadvantage up against a large army like that. He'd probably be happy to have us. However, I am rather curious. I wouldn't mind seeing what happens if I stay out of it…"

"But then your allies would suffer! Would you really be okay with that?"

"Well, you're as forward as ever. But those aren't your only reasons to go, are they?"

"W-why would you say that all of a sudden!?"

"You're worried about Princess Aideen! I know you have a crush on her!"

"D-Don't be stupid!"

"Aw, you're blushing! It's so cute!!"

"Stop it, Lex! Fine, you can stay here, then! I'll go by myself!"

"Hold your horses, I'm coming too. This is a good chance to show off House Dozel's axe skills."

Fortunately for Lex, his father was part of the army in Isaach, so he was free to do as he wanted. Lombard would never let his own son aid supporters of the prince like Jungby and Chalphy.

Lex loathed him. He especially had no tolerance for the man's greed, so he probably would have gone even if Lombard was around. And if Azel would go so far as to disobey his brother's orders, then he knew things must be bad.

Along the way, they fought against groups of the Verdanian Army that were pillaging the villages, until they finally met up with Sigurd.

It was actually the first time Azel had ever met Sigurd.

As they talked, he was surprised to discover that Sigurd was the total opposite of his brother.

When Arvis spoke, his wit and intelligence shone brightly, but he felt pressured not to make mistakes, and would gradually stiffen up. In contrast, Sigurd sought out the good in others, and made them feel warm and relaxed. Before he knew it, Azel felt like he would do anything for Sigurd.

Lex appeared to feel the same way, however, he claimed that he had not come to help Sigurd, but because Azel had insisted. 

-

Two days later, Prince Quan of Leonster arrived to help fight, alongside his wife, Ethlyn, who was also Sigurd's younger sister. With them were some of the troops that Quan led, along with Arden and the others who had stayed in Chalphy.

Quan came because Leonster had received a request from Granvalle to participate in the invasion of Isaach. He was chosen to represent his country, and responded by going to Balhalla, where he had been told to invade Verdane instead.

Ethlyn knew her brother all too well. When she heard that he was going to go fight for Jungby, she would have gone even if it meant going alone.

But when Quan learned of what was going on, he too immediately decided to go and provide reinforcements.

"I'm so sorry, Quan, to get you involved in this fight too. I know I am a member of Leonster's royal family now, not Chalphy's, but when I think about my brother's reckless personality, I can't help but worry! I mean, I don't think he's helpless, but there's no one in Chalphy that can use healing magic! Thank you for helping him."

"You don't have to thank me, Ethlyn. Sigurd has been my close friend since we attended the Royal Academy together, and now that we are married, he is my brother-in-law. I wish from the very bottom of my heart to help him."

"Oh, thank you, Quan! Thank you so much!"

When Quan arrived in Chalphy, things were as he'd predicted. Sigurd had already departed with a small army.

"We've been awaiting your arrival, Prince Quan!" Arden said, his face lit up with glee. "Now I can finally go out to battle, too! Prince Sigurd headed down this road that travels west and leads to Jungby. I was ordered to march with the reinforcements once they arrived, and head south. I'll lead the way, so please follow me, sir."

Quan's unit had already encountered the Verdanian Army several times. Since the units of the Verdanian Army did not communicate well with each other, Quan's unit was able to take them all out.

For the knight-in-training Finn, this was his first battle.

Quan had ordered him to stay by his side always. 

"Battles are very different from training. Your life is always at risk. You must take them seriously, but not too seriously, or else you will never improve. And our enemies are in the same situation. If one shows any hesitation, do not think. Just attack. Do that, and victory will be yours."

And the moment Finn saw such an enemy, he did just that.

Finn fought as boldly as he had been instructed to, and quickly came to understand how to fight a real battle.

Sigurd was surprised by the unexpected reinforcements from Leonster, and thanked Quan.

"There's no need to thank us, Sigurd. You, Eldigan, and I were all best friends at the academy, weren't we? We shared our dreams with each other, and vowed to help each other out if we were ever in trouble. That's why we're here. I'll fight with you until the very end. I won't allow you to die fighting barbarians."

This was also the first time he'd seen his sister since she and Quan married.

She'd always been the reliable one, ever since they were children. Sigurd and their father, Byron, were rather messy, so Ethlyn had taken care of House Chalphy ever since their mother's passing.

"Brother can't clean up any mess on his own, so that's why I came here." She said, but didn't really mean to be so harsh. The moment she knew that he was safe, tears welled up in her eyes.

-

Three days later, Sir Filat came before them, and said he had a message to deliver from King Azmur.

"Thank you for fighting so valiantly to retake Jungby, Lord Sigurd. The moment you heard the news, you gathered a small army, took the enemy by surprise, and claimed an overwhelming victory. His Majesty was extremely happy to hear of your actions, and has bestowed upon you the title of Crusader of Grannvale." Filat had always favored Sigurd, and thought of him like a grandson. He smiled from ear-to-ear as he spoke.

"You praise me too much, Filat. I am just doing as anyone who has sworn loyalty to His Majesty would do. But while we may have retaken Jungby, we were unable to save Princess Aideen of Jungby. She was kidnapped and taken to Verdane. I plan to invade Verdane and take her back."

"Oh, how unfortunate! His Majesty has been worried about Princess Aideen as well. He said that he will allow you to decide what to do about Verdane. In other words, if you think it necessary, you have his permission to invade."

"I am relieved to hear your words. In that case, we will prepare to fight the Verdanian Army and save Princess Aideen at once!"

"Please do! There's no way you, as Balder's descendant, can possibly lose to savages!" Filat said as if it would be no trouble at all.

Sigurd, however, understood well the challenge ahead of him. 'Is he seriously telling me to figure things out with the small force I'm commanding now? Is that really what King Azmur is thinking?'

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 2 Part 2

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

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Chapter 2 – Arvis of Velthomer

Part 2

Four days later, Cigyun returned from Balhalla.

She gasped when she saw Arvis.

"Why are you so surprised, Mother?"

"It has been six months since I last saw you, but still, you've changed so much…"

"How so?"

"Well, you aren't that much taller. And now that I've gotten a good look at your face, that's the same as well. But when I first saw you, you looked like an adult. And not just any adult, but a very dignified one, like your grandfather did."

Arvis didn't remember his grandfather, but he'd heard many stories of the man, who had been the duke when he was born. He also liked the large portrait of his grandfather hung on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

He'd had bright red hair, a tapered beard, and almond-shaped eyes. Arvis didn't have the beard of course, but whenever he looked in the mirror, he could see the resemblance. 'I want to grow a beard like that someday.' He would think.

He took his mother by the hand, led her to a place away from her maid, and whispered, "Mother, did you know that Father died?"

Her face hardened. "Yes."

"Who told you?"

"When I received your letter, it was delivered with one from your father as well."

"Please forget all about Father's letter." Arvis said decisively.

"Why?"

"Because he came down with a very sudden illness. It was, um, a heart… That's right, it was a heart attack. Mendel, the doctor, told me directly. If Father's letter said differently, then he was lying."

"Who came up with that idea? Was it the butler, Oran?"

"No, it was me."

"You did…?" She said with a huge sigh. "I understand. Father died of a heart attack."

"That's right. And it's what I had announced to everyone."

Cigyun suddenly felt her chest become hot. ‘He’s become so considerate in just this year alone. Everyone, I was so, so wrong. I never should have left the forest... I never should have tried to defy fate...’ She frantically pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and hid her face in it.

Arvis thought that she was simply crying over the death of his father. 'But the person that made you sad is gone, Mother!' He wanted to say, but couldn’t bring himself to.

ー

Victor's funeral was held ten days later.

Because he had been an inheritor to Valflame, Prince Kurth attended the ceremony.

His coffin was put in the shrine behind the castle, and was kept closed during the entire ceremony, as his body had already begun to rot. This also meant that no one saw the red spots on his face.

Afterwards, everyone left Velthomer, except for Prince Kurth, who spent the night in the villa.

The next morning, he approached Arvis to say goodbye. "If you ever need anything, please tell me. I will do whatever I can to help you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Arvis said, then realized that his mother was not with them. He had seen the prince doing his best to comfort her many times, so he thought, 'She probably wants to thank him.'

"Please wait a minute. I'm going to go get Mother."

"Thank you, but you don’t have to." The prince’s expression darkened. "I don't think she wants to see me anymore."

Arvis realized at those words that something had happened between them, and that he shouldn’t try to pry into the matter, so he changed the subject.

"Will I be able to attend the Royal Academy when I'm older?"

"Of course. Come to Belhalla once you've turned fifteen. I'll be your reference, and they’ll let you in right away. Or, if your Holy Mark appears before then, I'll let you enroll earlier."

"Really? You think I'll get it?"

"You will. No one else within the Velthomer family has one right now, so you'll get it for sure."

"I'll be happy if it happens, but I don't know if it will…"

"Of course you'll be the one. The inheritors to the holy weapons are greatly revered at the Royal Academy, and given special treatment. It is also tradition for all the inheritors around the same age to form a special club. Of course, they have fun together in their free time, but they also work together and come to understand their destiny as the Crusader's descendants. I can't quite put it into words, but since I was one of them, I can guarantee that it will be fun. I'll be waiting for you to come to Belhalla." Kurth said and gave Arvis a firm handshake.

ー

That night, at dinner, Arvis noticed that his mother had a very grim expression on her face.

'She looks just like Father did. What will I do if I lose her too?’

His fears were not just in his head.

The next morning, after they had finished breakfast, she hugged him, and said, "I must leave now. I worried about you the whole time I was gone, but once I saw your face, I was reassured. I know that you will become a fine duke of Velthomer."

He realized that she didn't plan on ever coming home. His heart started to pound. 'Don't go!' He tried to say, but the words got caught in his throat. He knew that if he said them, he would only add to her suffering. Instead, he continued to scream to himself, 'Don't go! Please! Don't leave me all alone!’

She cradled his cheek, carefully etching the feeling of his skin in her mind, so that she would always remember what it felt like to hold her son. Then, she stood up.  "Take care, Arvis."

He watched her walk away, not once taking his eyes off her until she had disappeared. He felt like he was tied up, and couldn't move.

ー

He was right. She didn't come home.

The next day, the butler handed him a letter. "This is for you. It’s from Lady Cigyun."

He took it and threw it right into the fireplace. He didn't want to know what it said, but knew that it must have had something to do with what had happened between his father, his mother, and Prince Kurth.

His mother had been his everything. Though he'd never loved his father, he’d always wished to meet the man not as family, but the great duke of Velthomer. And while he may have only just met Prince Kurth, he respected him as well. He didn’t want his feelings for any of them to be sullied.

ー

The public quickly found out about Lady Cigyun's disappearance, and the debate over who was to become the next duke of Velthomer was brought up once again.

As Arvis no longer had a guardian, Victor's younger brother, Lord Dalton, called for a family meeting.

It was highly likely that the meeting would be held, no one would listen to the words of a seven-year-old, and Dalton would be chosen to become the duke.

Arvis already knew how great it felt to give orders, so he did not intend to give up the position so easily. He remembered what Prince Kurth had said to him at his father's funeral.

'If you ever need anything, please tell me.'

He didn't want to ask Prince Kurth for help if he didn't have to. He liked the prince, but also hated him.

However, he had no one else to turn to.

And so, he wrote a letter.

'Prince Kurth,

My father's successor will be chosen in four days.

Please do whatever you can to support my case.

Arvis'

It took two days to get to Balhalla, and that was only if the messenger changed horses and didn't stop to rest for very long along the way. It was nearly impossible for the prince to receive the letter and make it to Velthomer in time for the meeting.

ー

The morning of, the prince still hadn’t shown up.

The meeting started in the afternoon, and ten members of the family were in attendance.

"Alright everyone, let's begin." Dalton said and stood up. "We all know that there are other people in the family that are older than I, but I was the closest to Victor, second only to his young son, Arvis. So please allow me to speak first. Thank you for your understanding. 

“I greatly appreciate you all for coming here today to help Victor’s son, Arvis. I thank you on his behalf. As you know, my brother died suddenly, and Cigyun also disappeared suddenly, but we are not here to investigate the cause of these matters. The problem at hand is that of seven-year-old Arvis, who has lost both of his legal guardians. Velthomer must participate in the Grannvalian government, but we cannot grant Arvis’ wish and allow him, a seven-year-old boy without a guardian, to represent us. If he said something foolish to the king, then it would disgrace our entire family.”

Arvis heard someone snicker. He wasn't sure who it was, but his face turned red with anger and embarrassment.

"By the way, Prince Arvis. Has your Holy Mark appeared yet?"

Arvis remained silent, so Dalton provoked him further.

"What's the matter, Arvis? Can't answer a simple question?"

"I don't have it yet." He knew that his uncle had an ulterior motive, and was offended.

"Well, you heard the boy. My brother's Holy Mark had already appeared by the time he was seven. I may have only been five at the time, but I remember that day as if it was only yesterday. When I saw the firey red mark on his hand, I felt great respect for him. However, Arvis does not have his yet.

“If he had his Holy Mark, he would be allowed to attend the government meetings, so long as he stayed quiet. But since he does not, he would be laughed at immediately. Even he would feel humiliated if that happened, don’t you think?

“And that is why we are here today. We're all family, so I want you to feel free to say whatever is on your mind.”

When Dalton sat down, the eldest member of the family immediately stood to speak next. "How about we decide who will discipline him until he comes of age?"

"I think it's more important that we decide who will inherit Velthomer. That's what's been done in the past when a duke's son was too young and his Holy Mark hadn't appeared yet." Said Victor's younger sister.

"I mean, we need to address both of these issues, don't we?" Asked one of the fire mages of the family.

Suddenly, the butler entered the room. "Prince Kurth has come to participate in the meeting."

"What? Prince Kurth? Why is he here?" Dalton asked, but Kurth entered the room before the butler could answer. "Greetings. Prince Kurth. I welcome you to our castle, but regret to inform you that this is a personal meeting between the members of the Velthomer family."

"I understand, Lord Dalton. I have no intention of meddling in your family's affairs. And that's why I'm not here as the prince of Grannvale, but merely as Prince Arvis' guardian. I think that qualifies me as able to attend this meeting."

"You're his guardian? Who decided that?"

"Both Lady Cigyun and Arvis himself requested it." The prince said simply. "There is precedence for a member of Granvallian royalty to be chosen as a guardian of a duke's son, so I do not think that it would be inconvenient at all for me to become Arvis' guardian."

"Y-You are correct, Your Majesty. It would be an honor to him. He’s still too young to answer even simple questions for himself, so I thank you on his behalf…"

"I understand, and accept your gratitude. So, what have you discussed so far?"

“I expressed concern over who would discipline Arvis until he became an adult. But if you are now his guardian, then that is no longer an issue.” The old man said.

And with that, the results of the meeting were mostly decided.

“I have already become Arvis’ guardian, and if all of you, as the members of the Velthomerian family, agree to that, then I don’t believe there are any problems with it. Does anyone have anything else to say?” Prince Kurth asked.

They went on to decide that Arvis would inherit Velthomer, with Prince Kurth as his guardian. Valflame would be entrusted to the prince, and he would hold onto it until the Holy Mark appeared on a member of the family. If that person was someone other than Arvis, then they would all hold another meeting over who would inherit Velthomer.

After all of the details were ironed out, the meeting was adjourned.

ー

T/N: Note on original character names:

Victor’s brother is ドール (Dōru) in the Japanese.

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 7: Blaaarrglglggleerrgle

Part 6

Welcome back to Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the I lost the Document Midway Through the Chapter.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, my own stupid fault, I lost a lot of the writing for this update. Computer crashed and like a fucking moron I didn’t hit the right choice when I was asked if I wanted to autorecover. On the plus side I didn’t lose much gameplay, maybe a single turn, but still. I’ve lost some dialogue here, and I don’t want to replay what was a very tricky section that took me several resets to pull off. I’m annoyed. By life.

Le sigh.  

Well. When we left off last time, Sigurd was proving he was probably not fit to lead an army because he somehow managed to not spot the many hints that his wife is the child of Sigyn, formerly the sole survivor of the Loptyr bloodline.  And in so missing that, also missed the direct statement that Arvis is another such child.  And in so missing these, also missed the hint that his wife’s father is the crown prince of his own country. 

I’m not saying Sigurd should go home and let someone else lead the army, but Finn has been leveling up really well.

 Now, speaking of people who shouldn’t be handling armies…  

Someone seriously hasn’t been paying attention.  What follows is a statement so terribly generic I can almost remember it verbatim because it’s something I would write myself if I was trying to write a doofus; he says he’ll have to fight, so his army should go out. And you probably remember the ballistae? Well, guess what: there’s four of them now! And you can’t reach them!  Hahahahahaha.  

Fun.

Further…

Remember Pegasus Knight Outta Nowhere? Well, of course, Chagall and his terrible old man face have convinced her that we kidnapped Prince Lewyn and have him locked up in Evans.  Which is… half true. He is in Evans. And you know, technically he never joined our army.  He just showed up and we sent him home to engage in arena fights.  Shit, have we kidnapped the prince?!

Well, Lewyn’s Angels think so, and they’re on their way to take him right back. They’ll go straight for Evans, unless Lewyn talks to their leader. He’s in Evans. Do the math.  Meanwhile, Chagall sends out his own army, and unlike most, they immediately start moving toward us.  

I guess Chagall is just a dick like that.  But, on the bright side, Mackilly’s army doesn’t move.  So it’s actually not a bad idea to just kind of set up a chokepoint and wait for the Agusty forces to come right past them and fight on their own.  It’s possible I may do that.  

I did that.

And, while everyone is getting in position, here’s some fun.  

Don’t worry, he isn’t really a douche. He spends some time teasing her for being useless, before revealing he’s actually an old friend of Eldigan and wanted to see if he could make her lose her temper. He could, because she’s kinda temperamental, but that’s okay, because he also gives her combat training after, giving her a permanent +2 Strength, +2 Skill, and +1 Defense.  

Remember, I allow douchebaggery as long as it’s paired with a neat gift. So if you want to piss me off? Go ahead! But I’ll expect cash.  

Now, what follows is going to be somewhat weird as I try to piece together what I did, and it will be kind of awkward. So I’ll disguise it using creative writing.  

Part One:  Do the Dew  

As you see, things started off just fine. Arden is here, after a long time of walking around seeking random treasure, and he’s a damn fine wall.  And Dew, who I put in the front to tempt fate because I thought we were safe, manages to dodge and plink successfully. He gets about a third of a level from every successful plink now, so that’s a big deal.  On my turn, I kill the enemy’s first two attackers, and set up what I think will be a solid line.  

The entire army all goes for Holyn and kill him.  So I wasn’t quite right.  On the next attempt, I pull the line back in an attempt to stop anyone from being attacked twice, thinking I can avoid anyone being gangraped to death by moving to the edge of the enemy’s range.  

And in so doing, I forget the enemy commander for the first wave of Agusty units has a javelin, and he kills Dew after his buddy softens him up.    

But! I learn from my mistakes, after the third or fourth time I make them. And thus begins the next stage of our victory...

Part Two: Quan-tum Physics

My problem, as I came to realize, was that the front line has to always be Quan and Arden. Other characters can run past them to attack, but they have to be the front lines. Sigurd could help if he was closer, but he’s not, so those two must be the key, because they:

A)     Almost literally cannot die to these enemies due to their ridiculous defense.

B)     Will rarely kill anything. Arden physically can’t, and Quan won’t unless he procs Adept, which he admittedly does do when I don’t want him to.

This will offer me a powerful wall against the foe, without giving all the experience to one or two people.  And indeed, it goes well!  

See, even Dew gets a plink in to give himself a nice solid level. And with that, the first wave of Agusty is defeated. One more, and moving on to Mackily is open. The second run has swords, which is troublesome because they are far less likely to miss, but on the plus side they also do somewhat less damage.  

Not shown: Jamke just one-shotting fools in both waves.  Why don’t I show it? Because he didn’t level up, and because it’s a little sad. These people probably have families, and I just fed them to an amoral cosmic destroyer.  But with this, we have only a single enemy left in the Agusty forces, and we need to move forward. That means

A)     Moving into the range of the ballistae, who are going to be very annoying.

B)     Moving near the boss of Mackily, who is a bishop with a long-range staff that causes sleep.

Nothing much to be done about the first one. But when dealing with magic, there’s only one option.

Part Three: Deirdre, Shatterer of Universes

And lo, gaze now upon the beast who strides forth onto the plains of Gehenna, now at the end of days.  Lo for though her power doth shine, it is a light which doth not radiate from the Lord, but rather a dark flame that burneth in the pits of Hell and devour flesh, bone, and the souls of men alike.  

Three-fold are her heralds, bearing blade, spear, and bow.

Grow stronger do they from the blood of her enemies.

When she ceases her charge, temporarily, always temporarily, others among her screaming horde follow in her wake, preying upon the wounded.  The screams of men and horses echo around them, and yet they do not hear. Bearing blades of cold iron, they slay, destroy and plink in her name.

The sun rises above the blood, and yet it does not illuminate for the light of the Beast outshines it.  She steps forward, singing the song that will end the world, and the warriors who kill in her name multiply.  One is her lover, himself a being of strength and terror. When the world ends, bathed in her unholy flame, he shall rise again as a demon with six mouths and six heads.  

One is a child of royal blood, turned now to the forces of the End Times by the loss of country and hope. When the souls of men burn and the stars go cold, she shall become a beast part lion, part ram, and part serpent.

One has a great bandana, and strong though he is, he seems to have become allergic to getting stronger still. When the world ends, he shall be a turtle.  

Gazeth now upon her foe, the Lord of Mackily.  A small lord of a small, human land. He seeks to bar her path with a paltry magic to cause sleep.  Sleep!  

Deirdre does not sleep. She IS a nightmare. Suffer in silence, thy power stolen and thy staff broken, pitiful wizard. Thou are no threat to Her Majesty.  

Her power knows no ends, and yet grows still. She is beyond infinity.  World-ender, soul-breaker, She Who Hungers.  Blood and death will not sate her, until naught remains of this world but dust and screams.  

Her heralds grow in number and power. Against her greatest foe, Quan the Many-Fanged strikes. 

He is loyal, and 666 souls shall be his to consume in the Void.  

Dew, the Omni-plinker slays a weakling.  

He grows stronger. When he dies, he shall be reborn as a hawk with claws of obsidian and wings of bone.  

And Lex was also there, I guess.  

Ride, warriors! Ride to Valhalla, to Tartarus, to all the pagan realms afterlives! Find within them the souls of those too weak to ride for Deirdre, and consume them! Shatter all worlds! Lay low all gods! There is no future but Deirdre!  PRAISE HER!

*cough* Um… what happened? I think I blanked out for a second there. What was I doing again…?

Oh, right, Pegasus knights! Heading right to Evans. Better deal with that, while Lachesis works on healing all this damage I don’t remember taking.    

There we go! They’re dealt with, trust me. The leader won’t attack Lewyn, and the others are basically free experience.  End turn!

Chagall: Y-you! Manfroy! If it weren’t for your schemes, I wouldn’t be in this mess! How in the blazes will you fix this?!

Manfroy: Heh heh… you exaggerate my role. All I did was advise the removal of the king, obstacle to your ambition as he was. All else was your choice. Can you doubt this?

Chagall: I… damn it all! How is Sigurd’s little army even this strong? This isn’t fair! Manfroy, I’m begging you… help me. What am I supposed to do now?!

Manfroy: As I said, this isn’t over. As a last resort, I do believe you have a fellow of use imprisoned here…. Yes, I speak of Eldigan. Eldigan and Sigurd have been associates for years. Sigurd will unquestionably listen to Eldigan’s counsel. Of course, Eldigan can’t do that while locked up, can he? Go apologize to him.

Chagall: Er… y-yes, of course! Surely, Eldigan is the answer! Now, if you’ll excuse me…

Manfroy: Ugh… what a simpleton.

Manfroy: With Kurth’s death there remains but a single scion to Naga’s holy lineage, and that old fool hardly needs our help to die. And then, all that will remain is the restoration of the dark one, and the world will belong to us…

Sandima 2.0: What of Duke Arvis, your Excellency? Is he in agreement with your plan?

Manfroy: Why, of course. As a bearer of the dark one’s blood, what choice does he have? Not even one of Arvis’ stature can afford the wider world learning of his heritage, lest he be burned at the stake. Could a man as prideful as Arvis bear to meet such an end?

Sandima 2, the Revenge: So he will betray his kind and style himself emperor, and…

Manfroy: Indeed… but that will not be enough. Arvis alone cannot restore the dark god. We still need one more person… that woman’s daughter.

Manfroy is distressingly smart. Especially in comparison to the normal idiots who make up this world’s population.  So, we need to work out and becomes stronger while he runs his plot, so we can stab him real good later.  First, a few people take new shots at the arena:

Ethlyn:  Up to four wins.  Gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Strength, +1 Luck

Alec: Up to three wins. No new levels.

Finn: Up to seven wins, gained one level.  +1HP, +1 Luck

Lex: Up to six wins, no new levels.

Holyn: Up to seven wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Skill, +1 Defense

Azel: Up to six wins, gained one level: +1HP, +1 Speed

Beowulf: Four Wins, Gained one level: +1HP, +1 Skill, +1 Strength +1 Speed, +1 Luck

Midir: Up to five wins, gained one level: +1 HP, +1 Strength, +1 Magic

Oh, and speaking of Midir:

He’s got a giiiiiiirlfriend.

Now, down at Evans, the Pegasus Knights begin trying to murder their own prince.  

Luckily, they’re kinda bad at it. Wait a turn to let the leader move closer after her entire squad dies pointlessly, aaaand…

(Good question. He seems to have tied a rope around his head?)

Lewyn: What, this? I’m a bard now. You know, walking the land, spreading songs and cheer? What do you say: Perfect, or perfect?

Erin: Er… perfect? But why, milord… aren’t you supposed to be held captive at Evans? I got here as fast as I could, but…

Lewyn: I’m imprisoned, am I? Where’d you hear that one?

Erin: King Chagall of Agustria said so.

Lewyn: Chagall? HA! Hate to break it to you, Erin, but you’ve been tricked! It’s nice and all that you’re so ready to trust, but you wouldn’t last ten seconds out there in the city. It’d eat you and your innocence alive. You might even end up like Sylvia…

(GEE THANKS FOR BRINGING THAT UP AFTER I JUST MANAGED TO FORGET IT)

Erin: Sylvia, milord?

Lewyn: Oh, Sylvia’s… er… it’s not important. Point is, what are you doing all the way out here?

Erin: Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to find and bring you home, milord. It’s been two years since you fled Silesse. Her Majesty is gravely worried about you. Please, milord. Come home with me.

Lewyn: Do you have any idea what that’d do to Silesse, Erin? If I go back, I’ll have no choice but to take the throne. It’s my late father’s will, but my uncles would never accept it. Just one false step and we’ve have a civil war, just like here.  And it’s always the common folk who suffer for it. If there are people who want to be kings or whatever, great! Out here, though? I’m free, and I like it that way. I don’t want a think to do with that throne. For the good of Silesse, just give it to one of my uncles.  

(Now, I’m not a doctor, Lewyn. But it seems to me that anyone willing to start a war in order to stop the legitimate crown prince from taking the throne is probably not going to be super nice to the common folk when he becomes king anyway. Also, they’d probably be willing to kill your mom. Dumbass.)    

Erin: I can’t allow that, milord. You know as well as I that the kings of Silesse must bear descent from Forseti, the wind god. You, milord, are the sole living scion of his lineage. Neither of your uncles bear it. You, milord, are Silesse’s future! Yourself and your uncles aside, all Silesse wishes to see you claim the throne. And… your mother, the queen, was in tears when she sent me. Please, milord… come back.

Lewyn: Erin… ugh, don’t you start crying too! Give me a break… I can’t stand to see a woman in tears… Okay, fine, I’ll think about going home. Just give me some time to muster the nerve, all right?

Erin: Thank you. In that case, I’m staying with you until you’re ready, milord. I’ll send a messenger back to Silesse to report you’re safe.

(“Or, you know, I would if you hadn’t killed my entire squad.”)

Lewyn: Wow, you’re persistent, I’ll grant you that. All right. I think I’ll stay with Sigurd’s army for now. He’s a pretty neat guy to work with, not to mention his army’s full of beauties! Hey, Erin, you could stand to get to know some of the ladies here. Maybe their stylishness could rub off on you a bit!

Erin: Yes, milord…

Lewyn: Hey, I’m just kidding, Erin!  Relax a bit! Don’t take everything so seriously! Heh… nobody in the world’s as sweet as you. Don’t you ever change a thing.

Erin: Y-yes, sir… I mean… no, milord…

So here’s Erin, our first flying unit.  Flying units are fun; in exchange for not getting a terrain bonus from defensive locations other than castles (because they fly) they can move over any terrain without penalty (because, again, they fly).  One thing to watch out for, though, is that they take double damage from archers.  She herself is pretty much usable and excellent right out of the box; her physical stats are all fine, with her speed in particular being absolutely bonkers, she can use both spears and swords, and she has Pursuit.  Welcome to the team, Erin! Let’s get you away from Lewyn and up to loot some villages I left behind for you.

The rest of the army, meanwhile, has crossed the invisible line that makes Zane’s group start moving toward us.  I have most of them pull back a little to set up a defense line in a natural chokepoint the game is kind enough to provide us in the form of deep forests:

And hey, Lachesis gains a level from healing while hanging back:

Good girl. I then have Sylvia dance her, and send her in for her Arena matches. She doesn’t get far (Two wins, no levels) but that’s all right. She’s going to be guarding this castle from now on, to make sure her doofuses stay close to her.

Now then. Zane… shall we?

You know, Ethlyn is such a garbage healer I didn’t even notice that she’s somehow become a pretty competent melee unit.  Her speed is great and her strength is actually fairly solid, so while being a bit fragile she’s very dodgy and does great damage when she hits back, especially if she procs Critical.    

Oh, yeah, and it’s our turn again, so… rampant slaughter?

Well done, boys.  But Zane’s dudes are closer to us, so the next wave will be a big one.  Man, I wish I had my incredible army of living tanks right in the very front to meet them.

Ooooh, Lex hit level 20! He can promote now, I’ll show you that as soon as our turn hits…

… Could you guys please stop killing yourself on Lex? He doesn’t need the experience. Great, now all those levels that could have gone to people who need them are wasted on

WHAT AND HOW?!

…. FUCK… FUCKING, FUCK!  

Yeah. Yeah. Zane has a Horseslayer. It does exactly what it sounds like it does. I completely forgot to look at his items.  

*sigh*

Reset.

Okay, rampant slaughter once again achieved. But this time, everyone who was on a horse runs the fuck away from Zane’s combat range after moving. Shall we try again?

Okay, good points: nobody died. Bad points: Holyn came close and Zane is too far away for us to take a real shot at him. Not saving the game, but… let’s try this.

… Well, the actual combat went well, but… I kinda fuck up and leave Finn sitting too close to Zane. I move Sigurd (who can take the shot) and Ayra (who is Ayra) to block him off from Zane. I also move Deirdre up to a place she’ll be targeted. She has plot armor and can’t actually die, you just lose her for the remainder of the map.

This is a little cheesy, but. Eh. I can…

…

A bow knight runs through the lines in a hole I didn’t spot and kills Erin, who just arrived at the front and… and…

*sob*

Reset.

What follows is basically the same turn with three differences. First, I manage to snare an axe dude for Dew to plink. Second, I move Jamke up to the front line, because he dodges like a magnificent tiger. Third, more important, I keep Erin far the fuck away. Rather, I have Sylvia dance her, and she heads to the remaining villages.

Plot Kid: Folk in the big cities like Agusty and Mackily certainly seem to think so. Every year they do these huge hunts for Loptyr’s spawn. They arrest a ton of people, then burn ‘em all at the stake, even if they’re innocent… madness!

… Jugdral sucks!

Okay, we’re in a stronger position, so, Zane’s Group. Take three.

Like a tiger.

………………………………………..

I don’t remember it being this hard, I swear to God. ONE MORE TRY!

NOT EVEN GONNA PRETEND I GET WHY HE DID WHAT HE DID HERE, SINCE HE COULDA GONE FOR THE HORSESLAYER, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I DON’T CARE. SAVE GAME.

SLAUGHTER. SLAUGHTER, MY MINIONS.

HEY ZANE HOW YOU FEELING ABOUT AGUSTRIA

That’s what I thought.  

Now, all that’s left are two archers and a healer, who I’m going to try to feed to Dew.  Dew, you think that’s a good idea?

Don’t fuck this up for me, Dew.

YOU GUYS COME ON

WHYYYYYYYYY?!

Sigh.  Well, at least he’s leveling up really fast.  And in the meantime, Erin continues to go around the villages being helpful.

Info Master: It’s an unusual sort, innit? They call it an armorslayer. In the right hands it’ll cleave right through the thickest armor.  If your hands aren’t the right hands, though? Maybe it can make ya a quick buck at a pawn shop in town.

I love you too, Info Master. And I take this opportunity to have some wounded folks run back to Lachesis to get their ouchies kissed as well.

*sigh* Well. At least I can zap Lex back to Evans to demonstrate promotion. That counts for SOMETHING.

And that’s that. When a unit hits level 20, they can go back to your home base (other castles don’t work!) to get promoted.  This results in a new look, a big stat boost, and occasionally some new abilities (Lex doesn’t get any personally, sadly).  Azel will get a horse when he promotes, that’s cool!

… Less cool, apparently the very last enemy unit got in the range of exactly one of Lachesis’s MORONS, and they all rushed up to try and kill steal me. I mean, they can’t…

But now they’re right up at the front lines and I’m genuinely worried they’re going to rush at Agusty’s final defense line and die in the ninth inning, like the fucking liabilities they are.  I need to rush, now. Great.  I move the line up…

Yup, here they go.  Assholes.

They either die or killsteal me. No in-between.

…. Right, and against all odds Chagall is a healer. Forgot that.  Okay, we really need to rush then, because he has more survivability than most.

Okay. All that remains is one armor and three ballistae. I don’t think the knights can manage to die, but Beowulf might, he took a nasty hit on his fight. Dammit.  Okay… end turn…

….

You know, normally I’d be angry that they’re literally getting in the way of my advance, but honestly, this makes it much more likely Beowulf will live.

… *sigh*

You know. I don’t recall this as one of the hard chapters. This is going really bad.  Luckily, my next attempt goes considerably better.  It goes mostly the same, but nobody gets hit, and Beowulf gets an even better level than last time!

Try to live this time, jackass!

All right, that’s Chagall’s last armor knight. The ballistae are up on a higher level, but Midir can snipe the first one, taking it out flawlessly.

You guys are just an emotional roller coaster for me. Every victory is met by equal defeat.  

(…. Do I?)  

Saucy Lady: Y’know how Lord Eldigan has a li’l sister, right? Well, lookin’ at ‘em, wouldn’t ya say there’s more to it than that?

(Ugh, it’s a shipper.)

Fanfic Author: If ya know what I mean… ohhohoho! I love me a lil’ bit of gossip! Hm? I’ve better things to do than run me mouth, y’say? Fine, then.

Erin doesn’t do shipping, thanks. And the map is basically won at this point, so I end the turn.

Kill-stealing bastards.  Well, on my turn, I kill the last ballista with Alec, and win the map. See, the thing about Chagall is, he’s very strong, stat-wise. His class is Baron, an enemy-only class that’s like a supercharged Armor Knight that can use any weapon type except light and dark magic.  And from a purely numerical perspective, he’s the strongest boss in the game thus far.

He also has no distance weapon. So.  It’s impossible to lose if you only engage him at range.  

The opposite of this statement, basically.  What follows is… a very tedious battle where six or seven units dogpile Chagall and throw stuff at him, usually missing. Lachesis gains a level from healing:

And this is the most exciting thing that happens to us, right up until Ethlyn lands the killing blow.  

She also gets his Physic staff, but her staff rank isn’t actually good enough to use it. So. She will be selling that next chapter!  After this, it’s just a matter of some last minute healing, running Sigurd to the castle, and running Erin through the arena.

Erin: Seven wins, Gained three levels: +3 HP, +1 Magic, +2 Defense, +1 Resistance

I think she and I will be getting along. Now then. Lachesis patches up the last few wounds and gets her last level of the map…

Not bad! And Sigurd takes Agusty.  For keeping the three stooges alive, Lachesis gets the Knight Ring, which allows her to use up any remaining movement spaces after she fights or heals, like mounted units can. That will serve her well until promotion.  Now then! Back to the actual war.

(Oh goodie, Eldigan is back and he’s still putting that world-class genius to use.)

Eldigan: No matter how unwise his decisions, no matter how ill his temper, I cannot sit in silence and allow my liege to die.

Sigurd: Hm? Eldigan?! You’re safe! Thank the gods! I’ve been looking everywhere for you, since I’d heard you’d been arrested.

Eldigan: I suppose I was… but what is the meaning of this, Sigurd? Why is your army swarming the capital the first thing I find upon release? Why are reports saying our castles are now under the rule of Grannvale officers, as if we are a mere tributary state?  

(Because your unwise, ill-tempered king declared war on us and lost, dumbass. Oh, and hey, we saved your sister from rapists, you’re welcome.)

Ungratefuldigan: I’m indisposed for barely any time at all, only to find Grannvale has made itself at home in Agustria behind my back! There had better be a damned good explanation for all of this, Sigurd, or there will be consequences.

(See above.)

Sigurd: I’m so sorry, Eldigan. You’re absolutely right: none of this makes sense to me, either.  As if out of nowhere, the entirety of Agustria suddenly turned against us. We had no choice.

(It’s as if the king is a murderous warmongering idiot or something.)

Sigurd: I’ve been ordered to remain here for the time being, to maintain peace and order. Eldigan, please. I know this is a dreadful situation, but one year is all I need. I can restore the country’s peace to normal and repair our diplomatic ties, but only if I’m allowed time to do it. Once our time is through, we’ll leave your country with no objections. My king and I pledge our word.

Eldigan: Hm… I suppose I’ve little choice but to take you at your word. Very well. You have your year. I shall relocate the king to the northern Madino Castle for his own protection.

(SON OF A BITCH, ELDIGAN, THAT IS THE ONE ABSOLUTE CERTAIN WAY TO MAKE SURE THIS FAILS)

Eldigan: I’ll also leave my Cross Knights stationed at Fort Silvail. Offer even the slightest provocation, and your forces will have us to answer to. Remember, I’m holding to your word. Break your promise, and we will break you. Do I make myself clear, Sigurd?

(……………….. Bring it on, bitch. Sigurd, we’re gonna kick your friend’s ass. That okay?)

Sigurd: Of course. You know I’m not about to betray you. Please, Eldigan. You have to trust me!

Sigh. Well. That didn’t go great, but chapter done. I got a lot more killed than I was expecting… I do not remember this chapter as one of the hard ones, I swear.  But hey, won in the end. And everyone’s a lot tougher than they started off as. And Ethlyn somehow turned usable, just not really for what she’s usually used for. I mean… go team!  

Ish.

I’m going to go take a nap.  S…see you next week.  

Total Resets: I’m honestly not sure. I lost some content at the start, remember? It was up to 8 last time, so let’s be cruel to me and say I reset six times this update, and take us to 14. That’s… that’s not great.  I’m not doing so great. I still blame Dew. 

Part 8