Wait, Zephiel's the bad guy? Let's Play Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals!

After an unexpected amount of popularity with the Fire Emblem characters included with Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo decided to start bringing the series over to North America and Europe, starting with the release of Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword (known simply as Fire Emblem outside of Japan). With the release of the seventh entry of the series, those new to the series had hoped that Nintendo would follow up the release with the previous installment, which was the chronological sequel to the game that was brought over.

They didn't, unfortunately. However, thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of Fire Emblem fans, as well as the modern advancements in video game emulation, it's now possible for the game to get its time to shine. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the sixth game in the Fire Emblem series...



Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals! Also known as Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, and that game with Roy in it, this game is the first Fire Emblem on the GBA and is the chronological sequel to the seventh entry, Fire Emblem. Though not as polished as its successors, this entry marked the introduction of several new features, some of which are still used to this day.

Like with the previous Fire Emblem Let's Play, there are going to be a few restrictions with this playthrough, namely we're aiming for the best ending possible - meaning that no one's going to die and we're recruiting everybody. Odds are we'll probably wrack up a magnificent death count by the end of the playthrough, but if we're going to do this, we're going to do this right.



-Table of Contents-
Chapter 1 - Dawn of Destiny
Chapter 2 - The Princess of Bern
Chapter 3 - Late Arrival
Chapter 4 - Collapse of the Alliance
Chapter 5 - Fire Emblem
Chapter 6 - Traps
Chapter 7 - Rebellion at Ostia
Chapter 8 - Reunion
Chapter 8x - The Blazing Sword
Chapter 9 - The Misty Isles
Chapter 10 - Caught in the Middle
Intermission - Choosing Our Party
Chapter 11 - Escape to Freedom
Chapter 12 - The Real Enemy
Chapter 12x - The Axe of Lightning
Chapter 13 - Rescue Mission
Chapter 14 - Arcadia
Chapter 14x - The Infernal Element
Chapter 15 - Dragon Girl
Chapter 16 - Retaking the Capitol
Chapter 16x - The Pinnacle of Light
Chapter 17 - The Path Through the Ocean
Chapter 18 - The Frozen River
Chapter 19 - Bitter Cold
Chapter 20 - The Liberation of Ilia
Chapter 20x - The Frozen Spear
Chapter 21 - The Sword of Seals
Chapter 21x - The Silencing Darkness
Chapter 22 - The Neverending Dream
Chapter 23 - The Ghost of Bern
Chapter 24 - The Truth of the Legend
Final Chapter - Beyond the Darkness
---------------
Trial Map 1 - Valley of Death
Trial Map 2 - Foggy Sunday
Trial Map 3 - Loser Castle

I guess I should mention before I start that I am not a pro Fire Emblem player. I only discovered the series fairly recently (early September, I think), so my strategies won't be as refined and some of my decisions might be a bit questionable. But that's okay! Part of the fun of this LP will be in figuring things out as we go along, and will probably result in a playthrough more like that of the average person's instead of a professional one.

I'll be FAQing the shit out of the character profiles though, so you'll know who to use and who sucks. Anyway, with that said, it's time to start!

The opening movie is one of the few things in the game left untranslated in the patch linked above, so screenshotting and posting the entire set here would've been pointless at the time, but nevertheless the translation is a quality one and worth trying out. However, thanks to SpoonyGundam, I was able to get a hold of a translation for it. So:

...invade. In a great war known as the Scouring, both sides fought over control of the continent. The laws of nature were twisted from the vast amounts of power that were released... The Dragons were defeated and disappeared from the face of the continent. Mankind then began to spread its forces throughout to populate the land. And now, 1,000 years later...



The text in the pre-chapter scenes auto-scrolls, making it a huge pain in the ass to capture, hence why some of the sentences look fragmented.

...civilization for some time now, after the Dragons had been defeated in the Dragon-Human wars. In the west resides the kingdom of Etruria, which has the highest level of civilization in Elibe. The Kingdom of Bern, with a powerful military and a practical and pragmatic attitude about life, is located in the east. These are the two strongest nations in Elibe, and the lesser nations are located between them.

There is the Lycia Alliance, which is under joint relationship of various dukes. The people of the Knights Union of Illia are hard at work cultivating the snowy wastelands in the north. In Sacae live various clans which through the plains on horseback.

Although there were occasional clashes between nation-states, there was a general sense of balance of power and peace in Elibe. However, that balance was suddenly disrupted...



...has sent his forces out to conquer the rest of Elibe. Bern's forces invaded Sacae and Ilia and mercilessly massacred all those who stood against them. And now, Bern has shown signs of invading the Lycia Alliance.



He was sent as a transfer student to train to become the next Duke of Pherae. However, Eliwood, who has fallen ill, has sent for Roy to return home. Just around that time, Lilina, the princess of Ostia, had traveled to Lycia to pay her respects to Eliwood. After getting the message, Roy hurried on his way back home, taking with him his loyal knights and Bors, a knight from Ostia responsible for Lilina's safety. The story begins when Roy had reached an area just on the outskirts of Pherae...

Join us now as we awake at the...

Chapter 1: Dawn of Destiny



Bandit: Boss! The residents of the castle have hidden themselves inside!



Damas: ...an illness, eh?

Bandit: Hehehe... You were right when you said there wouldn't be many soldiers around here because they're getting ready to take on Bern!

Damas: Of course, who do you think I am? But you never know when reinforcements are going to come. All right! Kill off the guys in the castle while we still got time! Then the treasure is all ours!



Bandit: Let's go ransack the villages and get some loot!



The bandit makes good on his plan and smashes the village to the south. Poor guys didn't even know what was coming.

Meanwhile, back in the castle...



Hey, it's Merlinus! And Eliwood, too! Man, is it ever great to see you two guys again.

Merlinus: The bandits from Bolm Mountain are attacking us!

Eliwood: I see... Blast! If I weren't in this state, I would teach them a lesson...! *cough cough...*

Lilina: Mister Eliwood...?

Eliwood: Lilina, you must hide somewhere. This castle is going to become a battlefield.

Lilina: No, sir. I will fight, too!

Eliwood: Don't be ridiculous... If something happened to you, I wouldn't know what to say to Hector.

Lilina: To my father? But...

Eliwood: It's going to be all right. Roy should be almost here by now, so if we can hold our own until then, we can drive off the bandits. [beat] Merlinus! I want you to send a messenger to Roy informing him of this attack immediately!

Merlinus: Y-Yes sir!



Speak of the devil - Roy and his entourage arrive just as Eliwood sends out the message.



Roy: Why are you in such a hurry?

Lance: Master Roy! Bandits have appeared and are attacking the castle as we speak!

Alan: WHAT! Is Lord Eliwood safe?

Lance: He's inside, defending against the bandits' attacks. But I don't know how long he can last with his illness...!

Bors: Excuse me, Lance, is it? Is Lady Lilina safe?

Lance: Are you from Ostia? Lady Lilina is in the castle. She should be all right as long as Lord Eliwood is with her, but he can't last forever.

Roy: No... I shouldn't have let Lilina go to the castle before me.

Wolt: Lord Roy, regret won't solve anything! We must recapture the castle!

Marcus: Wolt is right. We must hurry!

Roy: Yeah. You're right. All right, let's go! We're going to save those trapped in the castle!



Here's the rough layout of the battlefield. Our goal for this battle is to make our way north to the castle gate and capture it, slaughtering everything in our path along the way to gain precious, precious experience. Note the abundance of axe-users - for those of you who remember from the previous Let's Play, swords beat axes in the weapons triangle, so our sword-users here will be our main means of attack.

But first, let's get to know our teammates, shall we?

I won't bother with a stat recap, since Tanto pretty much nailed the explanation in his LP and you can pretty much figure them out on your own anyway. In any case, Roy's not a bad character overall - though his growths don't quite excel in any real area save for Luck, they're good enough that Roy shouldn't be falling too far behind the others. And it's a good thing too, because we have to use him no matter what - as our main lord, he's going to be tagging along for every battle, and having him underpowered would make things harder than they need be. Overall, he's a pretty well-rounded character, and should be able to fit into any situation without missing a beat.

Note that, like his father before him, Roy uses the Rapier as his preferred weapon in combat. However, it's not quite as useful as it is in the later GBA entries - aside from a small boost in crit and hit%, it's pretty much a glorified Iron Sword with fewer uses. Still, the damage bonuses against cavaliers and knights should help somewhat nonetheless as those are units Roy usually has trouble with.



As you may have heard, Sword of Seals was the first game in the series to introduce the wildly-popular support system. By having a specific pair of characters placed together for a set number of turns, you can activate a duo-specific conversation that acts as a means of character development for those shunted out of the story when they join the party. Because death is permanent, the characters that join the party can't be afforded to be given plot-specfic roles, as their death would end up messing everything up. Thanks to the support conversations, they can get back some of the character development they lost.

Roy has, by a fair length, one of if not the best support selection in any of the GBA games. With a whopping total of 10 (!) supports to choose from of all types, elements and walks of life, the amount of choice at your disposal is almost paralyzing. The quality of the supports in question are a mixed bag, of course; he's got a few good ones and a few eh-worthy ones, but there isn't really any outstandly bad ones in the selection.



Hey, it's Marcus! And he's, well... he's terrible, to be honest. With stats far below that of a promoted unit, the ability to suck experience dry and stat growths so low as to make a grown man cry, there is honestly no tactically-redeeming feature to using him in the long run. You use Marcus extensively, and the only person you'll be hurting is yourself.



Supports... he pretty much only pairs off with the character's we've got right now, them being Roy, Alan, Lance, Wolt and one other character. They all pretty much have the same theme though, revolving around his aging form and the others' pending successions. He's terrible though, so why bother?

He makes a reappearance in FE7 where he's... well, still terrible, but not nearly noticably so.



Ah, Alan. The Kain of the pair of cavaliers we get at the beginning, Alan's strongest stats tend to fall within the realms of HP and strength, meaning that he'll be acting as a main part of our physical forces. He's a bit slow and his skill leaves a little to be desired, but all in all, Alan's not bad - he's good at what he does and he gets the job done.



Alan's supports are pretty hit-or-miss, but otherwise they're not too bad. You could do a fair bit worse than using him. He's pretty entertaining to watch once he gets into it, and his support with Lance is one of the better ones.

Though Lance is technically the Abel to Alan's Kain, there's not really much difference in their growths beyong a 5% or so variation. Lance is definitely the speedier of the pair at first though, and will probably be the first to double of the duo thanks to the edge in starting stats he has. His strength is a little worrysome at first, but his growth in the stat is good enough that he won't fall too far behind.



Lance's support selection is pretty good, surprisingly enough, which isn't something you'd expect from the calm, collected one. Note that his flavour text is identical to Alan's, odd considering that they're pretty much polar opposites.



Wolt here is our first archer, and because he uses bows he tends to rely more on indirect attacks in battle - that is, attacks that happen over a larger distance. As such, he shouldn't be expecting to see combat often, or even at all, since his low defensive stats mean a quick and easy death.

Stats-wise, he's probably the worst of the four unpromoted archers, with his stats mostly outclassed by some of the later recruits, and his growths don't necessarily assure him of continued growth. Use him if you want to, but don't be afraid to replace him if you don't - there's a good chance he might not get better than he already is.



Not sure what a milk-mother is, but anyway. Wolt supports are somewhat middling overall, but his selection isn't too bad. He makes for a good support parter for Roy, boosting his otherwise mediocre defense.

You may remember Wolt's mother, Rebecca, from FE7. Note that, if you let her die in that game, you're effectively dooming Wolt to cease to exist. Spooky stuff, huh?



And, last but not least, we have Bors, our knight. He's not too bad - he's got good strength and speed, and eventually he overcomes that terrible speed of his. Still, that's the problem - it takes him a while to get over his speed, and in the meantime he'll be trudging behind the others as they speed ahead.



Eh, I don't like Bors, to be honest. He's pretty boring, all told - all of his supports deal with "being a knight of Ostia" and ramble on about things you and I couldn't possibly care less about. One of the other knights has more interesting support conversations and we'll probably be using her (!) instead.

First things first, Roy's Rapier is one-of-a-kind and better off used when it counts so our first job is to transfer over Marcus's Iron Sword for him to use, at least until we get him something better.



With Roy and Marcus preoccupied and Bors sulking in the corner, Alan, Lance, and Wolt take a few shots at the nearby bandits, whittling them down to low HP.



Damas: But they ain't gettin' to the castle so easy!

Damas takes notice of our arrival and fortifies himself at the castle gate...



On the enemy's turn, the surviving bandits take a few swings at Lance, one of which manages to connect. Only one survives, however...



...whom Wolt is more than eager to dispatch when his turn comes around.



Alan's a little too slow to double the bandits at the moment, so he only really manages to soften this one up.



Lance follows up his comrade-in-arms with a strike of his own, finishing the bandit and earning our first level up. It's not very good, however.



An archer advances on our position next turn, and Alan rushes out to attack him, only to end up missing.

But then, that's what allies are for, right?



After being pretty much shunned from the front lines, Bors makes himself useful and visits the lower-left village and grabs us some much-needed funds.



Roy finally manages to catch up with the others and engages a nearby bandit in a stand-off.



Things don't seem to be going Lance's day today - this is the second time a Fighter managed to connect on him.



With Lance a bit preoccupied, Wolt takes over finishing the fighter and generates a somewhat decent level-up.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the front, Alan helps Roy grab a kill of his own.

Just a bit of reorganization here. Lance uses up a bit more of his Vulnerary to heal himself back to full.



The one-two-three of Wolt and Roy take out this approaching Fighter. Milk-brothers unite!



Yeah, this guy's pretty much fucked.



Defying the odds, the Fighter here manages to land a lucky blow.



I wasn't able to grab a good shot of the fight, but here's a picture of an absolutely fabulous level up instead.



Alan's speed is a bit of a nuisance, but he should grow out of it.



Roy takes the time to heal up a bit.

While Alan reads my mind and defeats this bandit for exactly the level up he needs.



Now that we've crossed past the halfway point, the remainder of Damas's group rushes forward to try and fail to take out Roy.



Alan and Roy are more than happy to teach them a lesson on why that might not be a good idea at the moment.



Here we are, the bandit boss in question. Damas's pretty tough for a level 5 boss, wielding a Steel Axe and having a good amount of strength to back it up. Note that, unlike our characters, Damas and every other enemy only have two status screens - enemies in this game don't have access to supports and thus won't be able to use them against us, so they've been pretty much excised.



Damas: Can't you guys take on these bastards?!

Being a chapter 1 boss, Damas doesn't have any unique battle conversations...



Since he only uses a Steel Axe and doesn't move from the castle gate, you can whittle down his HP at your leisure using Wolt if you want (interestingly enough, Wolt lucks into a 2% critical in the second shot).



However, it's usually faster to just send in Roy to take him out.



Damn straight.

Zephiel is the bad guy in this one?

Zephiel? Seriously?

Jesus, Roy's on a roll here - this is the second excellent level up in a row. Here's hoping this trend continues.



Odd that they would translate this as conquer, considering that you spend most of the games freeing areas, but whatever.



Eliwood: Roy, is that you?

Lilina: Roy!

Roy: Father! Lilina! ...Thank goodness you're all right.

Eliwood: Roy, thanks for coming this far.

Roy: Of course, father. How is your health?

Eliwood: I'm fine. I'm still alive, see? But Roy, you do know why I called you back here?

Roy: I am to take over your role of leading Pherae's military and join the Lycian Alliance army.

Eliwood: Yes. As you know, Bern has started to conquer Lycia. We must follow the ancient rule and send out our military to protect the land of Lycia.

Roy: Yes.

Eliwood: I really didn't want to send you out because you were still studying, but I'm not well... I would only be a hindrance to everyone else.

Roy: Father...



Lilina: My father is in charge of Lycia's main army. And I could use my magic to be of some help to Roy...

Eliwood: No, Lilina. You must return to Ostia.

Lilina: ...Why?

Eliwood: With Hector's absence, there is no one currently sitting on the throne of Ostia. The people must be feeling uptight as well. You, being the princess, must take the throne until Hector returns and ease the tension of the people. Am I wrong?

Lilina: ...No, sir.

Eliwood: Roy, first you must go to the Bern border and meet with the mercenary group that I have arranged a contract with. I'll send Merlinus along with you... He'll be very helpful with his knowledge.

Roy: Thank you for everything, father.

Eliwood: You'll be fine. You can do it! Go and fight, and show them who you are, the next Duke of Pherae!

Roy: Yes!



Bors: I know, my lady. I will accompany Roy in his travels, and swear to protect him with my life.

Lilina: Thank you, Bors. Roy, be careful.

Roy: I know. You too, Lilina.

And with that...



Next time: A meeting that'll alter the course of the future (oh, and a bunch more recruits too, I guess).

Yep! Seems like Desmond's taunts and jeers got to him and turned him into a little terror.

In ye olden times, ladies of nobility would not lower themselves to breast-feed their own children personally, so they had a servant do it. Often this servant would have children of their own, so you'd get the lord's child drinking from one breast, and the servant's child from the other. Rebecca was evidently the person the duty of feeding Roy fell to, so Roy and Wolt are considered "milk-brothers".

And he's a right bastard, too.

Seriously?

Zephiel?

Ahh, I get it now. That would explain why Roy and Wolt are pretty close too, since they grew up together and all that.

Seriously.

Anyway, welcome back. Last time we had successfully staved off a bandit invasion on the Pheraen castle and, after a pep-talk from Eliwood, are now en-route to Ostia to join the Lycian Alliance army to defend the country against Bern's invasion.



Here was where Roy was to meet the mercenary band that Eliwood had hired for him. Just east of the village is a small castle occupied by Bern's forces. When Roy had reached the village, the castle was in a chaotic state. Roy had yet to learn that the confusion going on in the castle was going to cause turbulence all over Elibe...

Join us now as we run into the...

Chapter 2: The Princess of Bern





Seems a little situation's brewing in the eastern castle...

Rude: Y-yes, Captain Miledy... I'm certain she was in her room this morning...

Miledy: I've heard that enough times! What I want to know is where the princess is at this moment!

Rude: Um... She's... Er...

Miledy: We're almost going into head on war with Lycia. What if something happens to the princess? Can you take responsibility?

Rude: ......

Miledy: I never should have let her Majesty go down to the border in the first place. I will return to Bern and inform the king about this matter. I'll try not to make it into a panic, so you must find the princess as soon as possible.

Rude: Yes ma'am!



Soldier: Yes sir, she's under constant monitering in the basement room.

Rude: Good. Don't let her escape.

Soldier: Sir.. Are you sure this is a good idea?

Rude: Don't worry! Bern has plenty of enemies. The younger sister of Bern... We'll be sure to get a hefty amount of money by turning her in to one of their foes.

Soldier: ......

Rude: We're not going to make it anywhere by serving our country, anyway, so we're better off thinking of ways to make money fast, no?

Soldier: Yes, of course sir. ... But, there is one little problem with that plan...

Rude: ? What do you mean?

Soldier: I just received a report... it seems that Princess Guinevere's servant has escaped...

Rude: What?! You fool, why didn't you say so earlier? Go search for her immediately! Don't let her get away!



Roy: This is where we're supposed to meet the mercenary band?

Merlinus: Yes, though, it seems they aren't here yet. Oh wait, I can see somebody running this way...

Roy: Watch out!



Roy: No, it's all right. I'm fine, but are you okay?

Ellen: Yes, I'm fine. Thank you.

Roy: It's good that you're not hurt.

Ellen: ... You are from Lycia, are you not?

Roy: Yes. I am the son of the Duke of Pherae.

Ellen: Oh... Dear God! I thank you for your guidance!

Roy: ?

Ellen: Please, could you help me rescue my mistress?

Roy: What happened?

Ellen: My mistress and I were travelling to meet someone from the Lycia Alliance. However, while we were passing through here, we fell into a trap set by Rude, the lord of the castle just east of here. We were captured.

Merlinus: Master Roy! We must not get into unnecessary entanglements with Bern now!

Roy: But we can't neglect a person who has come to meet someone from the Alliance. ...But, it isn't smart to charge into enemy fields either... ...!



Soldier: Hey guys, over here! Get the servant girl! It doesn't matter whether she's dead or alive!

Ellen: Oh, no...



Merlinus: You won't pay heed of me, now will you? I guess I can be witness to how much you have learned in Ostia.

Roy: Alright! We're going to charge the castle! Miss Ellen, you can hide some place safe...

Ellen: No, I will accompany you. I cannot fight, but I can heal wounded allies.

Roy: Oh... But...

Ellen: I'm the one that got you tangled up in this mess. Please let me be of some help.

Roy: Okay, but please don't strain yourself.

Ellen: Yes, thank you for your consideration.

Well, that's that - guess we're fighting Bern ahead of schedule.



Here's the map, by the way. Like the one before, it's pretty straightforward - head east and kill, kill, kill. We'll probably have to block off those fortresses to the east and wait out the more aggressive soldiers at that point, but once we've knocked them off we can bait the rest to us and head straight for the boss.



Though he was introduced in the previous chapter, this is Merlinus's first appearance in full-on combat. He's not a fighter, as you've probably noticed - the reason he'll be joining us on the map is to store whatever we buy, unlock, steal or win whenever our characters' menus are overflowing and is playable on that front alone. As such, his growths are largely irrelevent - he won't be seeing combat as far as we're concerned, and it's not like we can level him up anyway since he only gains 1 Exp at a time.



Oddly enough, he doesn't have any supports...

The cleric, Ellen, also joins us for our mission, and she's not too bad. She's our first healer, meaning that she can use healing staves to keep our allies in good condition, and her decent magic means that she'll be doing a good job of it. Her speed's awful, though - at only 20%, there's only a very small chance of growing faster, making her usefulness post-promotion a bit questionable.



She's got good supports at least, pairing with some of the best characters in the game, so you don't have to worry about that if you plan on using her.



The battle begins in earnest, with Roy and Lance taking out two of the nearby soldiers. Lance has to rely on his Javelin here, since the Iron Sword he has is too weak to finish them off.



Roy takes a small hit, which Ellen heals as soon as she's able.



As with before, Marcus will be acting as mule for the battle, grabbing us the Armor Slayer from the village.



On the enemy's turn, the remaining forces head north to challenge Allan and Roy.

Thany: Sure!

Looks like our reinforcements have finally arrived.



Dieck: The Pherae family, one of the dukes of Lycia. The duke's son is going to join the Lycia Alliance.

Lot: So we're going against Bern?

Dieck: That's what it looks like.

Ward: A worthy opponent! Time to show some skill, eh?

Lot: Bern... this one's going to be tough. Better be careful.



Thany: But it looks like they're fighting somebody down there.

Dieck: What, a battle's already started? We better hurry!



And with that, we've got four shiny, new troops on our side.



Dieck, the leader of the mercenaries, is a pretty swell guy. Good strength, decent speed and defense, and starting stats high enough to tear into the enemies here with relish, he'll be carrying his weight for a fair while through the game. And if not... well, there's another mercenary later on with better growths, so no harm.



Dieck's supports are also pretty fantastic! Lots of backstory and with good characters too, pairing with one of the few useful prepromotes and a troubadour whom I'm expecting you guys will be forcing into my team no matter what. He's a pretty interesting character overall, so there's a lot to be gained for using him.



Thany's another good recruit, too. She is, without a doubt, a speed demon, with an impressive 60% growth in that stat. She's also a flyer, so terrain isn't a problem and she's great if you're trying to visit villages before they're burned down. Her strength's a little iffy though, and archer's can make short work of her if you're not careful, so be sure to keep an eye out for where you send her. Otherwise, she's pretty solid - keep her around as an anti-mage unit and she'll do fine.



Thany's very likable, and it shows through her supports well. Her selection is a bit iffy, mostly pairing with the other characters in the mercenary troop and the other Pegasus Knights, but the conversations themselves are fairly entertaining, so you have no worries there if you plan on using her.

Wade... well, there's not much to say. He's got good strength growth, but his speed is complete garbage which is the death knell for him since that's what he needs. His constitution's good enough that he'll be wielding axes of all kinds easily enough, but that grows less important as the game goes on and the faster characters start taking the spot light. Odds are he'll be sitting on the bench



His supports are a pretty mixed bunch - Lot, Thany, Dieck, a prepromote we may or may not get and Allan. The conversations are pretty good reads, so he at least has that going for him.



Lot's probably the better of the two fighters, but not by much. In exchange for his increased speed, his strength takes a significant hit, meaning that the enemies he needs to double will be able to shrug off his attacks later on. He's not terrible though, and he's got good defense and great HP so he's a survivor, but there are better axe-fighters out there.



Lot's support selection is virtually identical to Wade's, with the only difference being that he pairs with Lance instead of Allan. Regardless, Lot's a bit weak in his supports, with the other character usually taking the lead, but he's a nice guy.



Anyway, Bors lends a hand and weakens one of the Fighters...



...And I botch things up by having Wolt rescue Roy by accident. Whoops!



Lance finishes the job here nevertheless.



Merlinus is too weak to even serve as an effective decoy, so he's going to spend his time as far away from combat as possible.

Lance whips out an unnecessary critical on the enemy's turn for a mediocre level up.



The remaining Fighter takes a swing at Ellen, but misses.



Lance heals himself up from the fortress here - every turn, he'll restore 10% of his HP so long as he's on a space like this.



Anyway, Lance and Wolt here finish off the Fighters with gusto (the first one doesn't even have a chance of hitting...).



At this point, Marcus's caught back up with the troop and dumps the Armorslayer from before into his inventory, which will come into play later...



At this point, Dieck and company have caught up with Roy's group, and are finishing off the stragglers of the bunch.



Guess we should make this official...

Roy: Who are you?

Dieck: I'm Dieck. I think you've heard the news from an old guy named Merlinus.

Roy: So you're the leader of the mercenary band?

Dieck: It's just a little group, really. I'm sorry we're late. I didn't think that a battle was already going on.

Roy: Well... We have our issues...

Dieck: No, no, we're not blaming you for it. Actually, everyone's all excited and saying that they can show off their skills already.

Roy: Thank you. That is encouraging to hear.

Dieck: All right then, let's get this battle over with, shall we?

Thany was supposed to get a kill here, but the RNG wasn't obliging.



...And he and another Soldier take aim at Allan during their turn. They miss, as expected.



I figure Merlinus, with nothing else to do, could stock up on a bit during the fight. He picks up a pair of Iron Lances to give to Lance and Thany later.



The Pheraen war machine continues its assault.



This is pretty much how it stands right now. All that's left is to lure the enemies up north down and defeat them one at a time before marching onto the boss himself.



This goes as well as you'd expect it.



Lance and Thany team up to defeat this Fighter, but Thany misses (again!) and Wolt takes over for the kill.



...and levels up. It's not bad, but he could use more strength.

Not much to say, other than Alan weathers a few blows in the luring process and gets a decent level up.



At this point, it's pretty much laughably one-sided - the Fighter's have too hard a time connecting, and Soldiers just plain suck.



Look at that motion blur, though.



Thany hasn't been getting that many kills, so I drop an Iron Lance in her inventory and have her take out a few enemies.



With some help from the others, of course.

Dieck didn't need to critical here, but he saves us the weapon use anyway. What a swell guy, eh?



Lance, Roy and Thany gang up on the archer here. (It would've just been Lance, but he missed. Stupid RNG.)



Thany levels up from the kill, and it's a good one.



This is the reason I ferried Marcus back to the group a wild back, so that Roy can get the kill here with the Armorslayer. Roy's fragile even at higher levels, so it's better if we get his growth out of the way early on so we don't have to fiddle with bringing him back up to speed later.

Of course, Rude here is still killing Roy in two hits, so we'll have Roy hold back for now.



Rude: Just when I thought luck was with me...

My suspicions are confirmed when Rude manages to get off a lucky hit here - if I had attacked last turn, he probably would be dead by now.



But he's not, meaning we can always heal him back to full. Ellen gets a level up here though, but I sort of wish she hadn't.



Right, let's try this again.



Rude manages to get off yet another attack here, lucky jerk. Roy responds to this transgression by criticalling him out of the game and grabbing yet another good level up.

Should've thought about that before attacking us, huh?



Ellen gives Roy a little pick-me-up before we conquer the castle.



Merlinus: ...in a room in the basement!

Roy: That must be Ellen's mistress. Have her come here.

Merlinus: Yes.



Guinevere Ellen! Oh, are you all right? I never knew you would do such a brave thing for me... You had me worred, Ellen.

Ellen: I wanted to rescue you no matter what... So...

Guinevere It is fine, Ellen. Thanks to you, I am safe now. [To Roy.] I am in your debt. May I ask your name...?

Roy: I am Roy, son of Eliwood, the Duke of Pherae.

Guinevere Yes... And I am...

Ellen: Your Majesty... Are you sure?

Guinevere It is all right, Ellen. My name is... Guinevere.

Roy: Guinevere?! That's impossible! That's the name of the Princess of Bern!

Guinevere: Yes, that is who I am.

Merlinus: What! Do you plan on attacking us now?!

Roy: Merlinus, wait a second.

Merlinus: I beg your pardon, Lord Roy, but...

Roy: I want to speak with her. Give me some time, will you?

Merlinus: Hmph, if Master Roy says so...

[Merlinus leaves.]

Roy: You are indeed Princess Guineverefrom Bern?

Guinevere: Yes, I am not sure if you will believe me, however.

Roy: Even if you are not the Princess of Bern, I can tell from your actions and your dress that you are certainly somone of hugh social status. But... if you are indeed Princess Guinevere something doesn't seem right. Ellen told me you intended to meet someone from the Lycia Alliance.

Guinevere: Yes, that is correct.

Roy: Why, if you are the Princess of Bern?

Guinevere I want to find a peaceful way of ending the war. I figured if I could speak to someone from Lycia, I could find some solution.

Roy: Your brother started this war. Is it in your power to stop it?

Guinevere I certainly wish to stop it... No, it must be stopped.

Roy: ... I see. Anyway, will you come with us to meet the Lycia Alliance Army? I want to meet Lord Hector andsee what he thinks about this matter.

Guinevere Honestly... You will take me?

Roy: Yes. If there is a possibility to avoid bloodshed and end this war, then I believe that we must try it, no matter how small the chance.

Guinevere Thank you! Thank you... truly.



Next time: Things don't go exactly according to plan...

That was my guess and it makes sense. Dragons probably don't breastfeed.

If I recall correctly, there's a relation like this as well in FE: Radiant Dawn. I think it's Elincia and Lucia?

Thany's wearing Sailor Mercury cosplay. @_@ We're using her. Just letting you know.

DeviantArt say's that they probably do.

Oh man, you just had to go there. D:

DeviantArt says a lot of things I choose to ignore.

Isnt it always the case that the Fighters suck so hard until they class change?

Personally my favorite unit types always end up being Generals or Heroes. I love defense. There is nothing sweeter than hearing that "clink!" noise when they are dealt no damage.

Man, it's taking every ounce of willpower to not upload the installments I've written up all at once here - this stuff gets addictive once you're in the groove. :/ Anyway, welcome back! Last time, Roy, while he had stopped by a village on the border of Bern to meet up with the mercenaries his father, had ran into a priest who's mistress was captured by the lord of the nearby castle. After freeing her, he discovered her to be the princess of Bern, Guinevere, en-route to Araphen to speak with the Lycia League.



The Lycia Alliance had gathered here to discuss the matters of going up against Bern. However, when Roy was only half a day away from Castle Araphen, a messenger brought him news that he could not believe. "Bern has a trio of elite generals called the Three Dragon Lords. Two of these three, General Brenya and General Narshen, had attacked Castle Araphen and nearly decimated the Lycia Alliance Army." Although the morale of the Pherae Army went down severely, Roy led his group towards Castle Araphen to find survivors and check the damage.

Join us now as we see the damage wrought by our...





Zephiel: Good. Bring him before me.



Holy shit, it's Hector! He's... not looking too good.

Hector: Damn you...!

Zephiel: Ah, Lord Hector. I must praise your ability of putting up such a good fight against two of our Dragon Lords. I suppose they do not call you the leader of the Lycia Alliance for nothing. However, you were not good enough. Pray while you can, for you end here.

Hector: Why...?

Zephiel: Hm?

Hector: Bern and Lycia... We were always on good terms with each other. Even when you took the throne, we have always paid our respects towards Bern.

Zephiel: Respect? Don't be ridiculous. Lycia... no, this entire continent must go under my rule. That is the only way to liberate this world. I lack the time to be worrying about such trivial matters as respect.

Hector: To liberate... this world? What do you mean...?

Zephiel: It is of no importance to you. You are going to die anyway. Someone! Take him away! Throw Lord Hector into the dungeon!

Soldier: Yes, sir!



Zephiel: Yes, you may be on your way.

Brenya: ... One thing before I leave, your majesty. I beg your pardon, but I do not think that it is such a good idea to put too much trust into sinister people...

Zephiel: Do you mean Idoun?

Brenya: Yes. Our soldiers call her the 'Dark Priestess' and do not approve of her presence. I understand that she is a Shaman of great powers, however...

Zephiel: Brenya, do you not have faith in me?

Brenya: ...! Yes, of course I do, your Majesty! I just thought that...

Zephiel: Then all you do is follow my orders. Understand?

Brenya: ...Yes. I will do whatever his Majesty wishes.

[Brenya leaves.]

Zephiel: 'Do you not have faith in me?' Dear, dear, the things I say sometimes...



Meanwhile, back outside Roy's running a little reconnaisance...

Chad: Yeah, that's for sure. I saw some of Bern's soldiers take him into the castle.

Roy: Chad, was it? Do you know the inside of Castle Araphen well?

Chad: I guess. ... Wait, are you guys planning on going in to save Lord Hector? I wouldn't try that if I were you. The bulk of Bern's forces are gone, but there are still ad ecent number of soldiers still in the castle, you know? It would be suicide to try and charge them with your army.

Suicidal odds, rag-tag army... feels like we've been here before, doesn't it?

Roy: Perhaps. But we can't afford to lose Lord Hector. And you said that their main forces are gone, right? Then there is a chance we could win.

Chad: I see... Then I guess I'll go along too. I can show you around the castle.

Roy: What?! No, no, don't feel pressured! If you could just explain what the interior of the castle looks lie...

Chad: I also want revenge against Bern. C'mon, let me go with you!

Sorry, Roy, but it looks like he's coming with us whether you like it or not.

Roy: All right. Then I'll be counting on you.

Chad: Of course! Leave locked chests and doors to me!



Guinevere: I beg your forgiveness of my brother's doings... I didn't think he would invade Lycia so soon...

Roy: My Lady, there's no point in dwelling over the past. Please do not blame yourself. Besides, Lycia is still intact. If we could get our leader, Lord Hector, out of harm's way, we can unite Lycia once again and fight! We must recapture Castle Araphen for all our sakes... and for Lilina's sake...

Guinevere: ......

Roy: Let's go!



The battle's a little different than the last two, but it's no big deal. Our first goal is to split up, with Marcus heading for the village to the north while the rest of our forces gather near the one to the east. After that, we'll converge at the entrance and wait out the initial rush before storming the castle and clear out the rest of the Bern forces. Once that's done, we'll loot the chests inside and then take out the boss.



Here's our new recruit, by the way. Chad's our first thief, which means he's got a fair few more uses than the other units. He can steal items from enemies, open chests and doors with a lockpick, and acts as a scout for our units in battles with Fog of War. As such, he won't be seeing much combat, which is good since the thief class is one of the few that doesn't promote and can't really improve much in stats.

If you wanted to get statistical, Chad's pretty good - he gains decent strength and has one of the highest speed growths in the game. If you need to steal something and want someone who'll come out unscathed, then Chad's our man.



He's got... a few good supports, I think. Chad's a pretty nice guy when he's not brooding about the orphanage he's from, and it really shows through his supports. We'll probably be using him, unless there's any calls for me to use the other thieves.

And the fight begins in earnest, with Alan weakening one Soldier and Chad and Wolt killing the other handily.



The surviving Soldier takes a shot at Chad, and somehow manages to dodge Chad's attacks twice in a row. That's some serious luck there.

Alan fixes this, of course.



Meanwhile, Marcus dances with the Soldiers to the north as he heads to the village.



Chad weathers a blow from a nearby archer.

...Hmm? What's this?



Reverend: Of course. We of the Elimine Church will take good care of the orphans. And what will you do, Lugh?

Lugh: I'm going to stay here. I still have things to do.

Reverend: I see... Please do not stress yourself.

Lugh: Yes, thank you.



Boy: Aren't you coming with us, Lugh?

Lugh: I'm going to wait for Chad, and then we'll catch up with you...

Girl: Yay! Chad's coming too?

Lugh: That's right.

Boy: Then I wantRay [sic] to come too!

Lugh: Yeah... It would be great if Ray came back and we could all go together, wouldn't it?

Reverend: Children, we must be off.

Boy: See you later, Lugh.

Girl: Hurry and catch up, okay?

Lugh: Sure. [Children leave.] Sorry... But I've chosen not to run away anymore.



And with that, the Reverend leads the children out of the village.



Lance snatches one of the two Iron Lances Merlinus bought just before and uses it to double this Soldier to nothing.



Meanwhile, Chad and Thany finish off the Archer that was accosting our thief.