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Chapter 7: Siblings Abroad
Still a bard... good to know. Good to have!
- - -
I suppose we can't ditch someone THAT important to the plot, though. Nils' replacement is... Nils.
: But sir... why? You were so kind yesterday...
Man: I thought you were just two kids, a couple of travelling performers... If those men are chasing you, you must be vermin! Vermin! Now get up and get out! You're a plague to us decent folk!
: But...
Oh, hello.
- - -
: This is Khathelet. If we head due south, we'll pass into Caelin.
: From here, I'd say we're about ten days' ride to Castle Caelin. Assuming we don't run into any delays, of course.
...Why would we run into any delays, Sain? That's crazy talk.
: Only ten days? That's good, then.
An urchin approaches.
: Yes? Can I help you?
: You and your friends... are you mercenaries?
: Huh? Why do you ask?
: I need your help!
: You must't let your guard down, not even for a child.
: Peace, Kent. I'm sure this boy means no harm. Forgive me, but we're in a hurry. Is there someone else you could ask?
: There's no time! Ninian's been... It's my sister! Some men have taken her away!
I'm pretty sure Sain has some sort of special sense for these things. Like a perv-dar.
: Did you say your sister's been accosted?
: Sain!
: That's right! By some cruel, awful men. I don't know what I'll do without Ninian.
: Milady Linoan! We must help him!
: Nonsense! We haven't the time! If the marquess is as ill as we've heard, we must proceed!
Either Linoan's a really savvy gamer who never turns down a sidequest, or...
: Milady?
: I'm worried about Lord Hausen, of course. But this! I cannot stand by and let a child be taken from her home!
I suppose that would hit a little close to home for Linoan, given the Lopt Sect's... activities.
: We can't just let his sister be captured!
: I see...
: I'm sorry, Kent.
: I am your loyal retainer. You owe me no apologies. You must do as your heart dictates, milady. I will follow you, no matter where that may lead.
Since when?
: Thank you, Kent.
Take notes, Sain.
: Ah well, you're in luck, laddie! Let's go get your sister!
: Uh-huh. They're really tough, so be careful.
: You have no worries. We're pretty tough ourselves. Right, Aranea?
Enemies arrive.
Did... did he just say...? It couldn't be. Could it?
: No! Let Ninian go!
Fang: We ain't supposed to kill you, but we can rough you up! Get 'em!
Kid with the save!
: Ah!
: Who do ya think you are, attackin' a little boy?!
Fang: Hmph... So you mean to stand in our way, huh? What a shame. You're gonna die for something that doesn't concern you.
: Heh! You think you're so big! We're gonna kick your arses so hard, you'll kiss the moons!
Is this her catchphrase or something?
Fang: Take 'em down, boys!
We have this now. Yay. Kent and Sain can go take a nap on the bench with Matthew. Tempest is coming along mostly because why not?
Map start!
: If they're like the Lopto dark mages, then we must be cautious. Hm? Who are you?
: Oh, please. I'm fine. Are you one of the villagers?
: Well, actually... I've only been here for a few months, looking for someone. My name's Luna.
: Do you have any business with us?
: I was at the inn when that boy came looking for help. The innkeeper was afraid to get involved. He seemed... uneased.
Thank you, peanut gallery.
: How terrible.
: If I may, could I help you guys out? I want to help even the odds here, and I'm quite good with a bow.
?quite good with a bow.?
?with a bow.?
?bow.?
BENCHED.
: Of course. We can always use more assistance.
: Thank you very much.
- - -
And with a jarring cut, we're into gameplay. Except we have to sacrifice a kill to Luna.
Who, unlike base Lucius, is totally capable of killing him in one round.
Last exp you ever get.
: Nils? Can you fight?
What do you think this is, Linoan? DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OSTIAN PRINCESS? No Flute Mages here.
: No... but I'm a bard, and bards are useful to have around!
: A bard? Do you mean you're a minstrel? This is no place for a bard or a saltarello.
: Cmon, trust me! I'm all yours, Aranea.
Flute'd. Pointlessly.
: That was very impressive! Quite invigorating, even. You ought to play for me sometime. I could use the boost!
: Everyone could! My music can refresh you all!
This isn't FE4. Sadly.
Anyway, let's check the newbies.
Luna is an Archer, so, you know. Same fate as Cruz, unfortunately.
Nils is, well, Nils. He's a bard. He flutes.
The boss, Heintz is... well... he's +2 HP, +3 MAG, +1 DEF, +1 RES. He could hurt someone if he actually hit them, as long as they're not named Linoan, Sakura or Marcia. Basically I'm not sending Kid to attack him. Though he'd probably miss anyway.
No sense hanging about, now, is there?
I could do this but I don't like the odds. I opt to Iron Lance the other guy instead.
Much better. The brigand can't reach Marcia, and anyway I don't think he'd take the bait. They're pretty single-minded before you save the villages.
Kid can take this one and set up a line for Sakura to fire from behind. Speaking of, I have Mia buy a Fire tome for Sakura and pass it to her through trade chains while advancing.
: Playing the heroes in some foolish knightly romance? You may think you're helping the children, but you're only rushing to your doom!
Heintz takes a potshot at Marcia. It lands for 6 damage, but ehhh. She can shrug it off.
Next turn Mia keeps farming exp. I am determined to use her! I liked Golden Sun dammit!
Kid moves onto the fort and begins putting Myrmidons to shame.
And the knife.
Got an Iron Lance!
What, why were you holding that?
Marcia equips her Javelin and goes to bait the other shaman. Everyone else advances.
On the enemy phase, he takes it, and gets a Javelin to the face for his trouble.
Sakura fries a Mercenary when our turn comes around again. I attacked from close range in hopes of possibly having something for Mia to heal, but she dodged it.
Kid can go get the village. Not letting physical units attack mages? Pffft.
Marcia takes a guy out in style. She also gains a Lance rank.
I guess I was wrong about brigands. One decides to go for our favourite Pegasus Knight, and gets skewered twice in response.
Sakura, being our magical artillery, fries another mercenary over a mountain.
Jesus. Faster and more deadly. I like it.
Mia patches up that 1 HP loss and gets a similar level.
Oh come on. Luckily the second hit lands.
Marcia rounds out our level trifecta with something... not bad, but not great.
Finally, Kid takes care of this.
Man: Magical attacks are special. You can't just avoid 'em like a sword or an axe. Not even if you're wearing armor. Who's tough against magic? Let me think... Well, anyone who uses magic or staves. Pegasus knights, too. Hm? You got others who need to battle magic users? I got something for 'em. It's a special kind of water. "Pure water," it's called. Just sprinkle a bit on you. It'll protect you and lessen the damage you take a bit. Go on, take it. Don't be so shy. It's not like I'm givin' you gold or anything. This stuff's strongest when you first put it on. It gets weaker as time passes, so be careful.
Got Pure Water.
End turn.
Sakura out-mages another mage who attacks her. She's not even standing on the Mountain, she just takes zero damage anyway.
On our turn she blasts this guy to bits, too. I do love Sakura. Just point and click, and she erases whatever you aimed her at.
Finally, Marcia can start on the boss. No need to capture the gate to end the level, killing is sufficient. So everyone else can stay put.
Or she could do that. My record of one-rounding bosses continues!
: You are... too late. The girl is already--
This didn't happen, I just wanted to show that I could.
- - -
: Ninian! Ninian... She's not here. Why? Where could she be?
: A villager spotted a group of men riding south!
: Oh! We must give chase!
: But... but... we won't make it! What if they've already...
This one doesn't even get acknowledged, never mind an explanation.
: She'll be fine. She's just lost consciousness.
: Oh, thank goodness! But, who are you?
: I'm Eliwood, of Pherae. My father is the marquess.
: The marquess's son...?
: She was with a band of ruffians. She seemed upset. She looked in need of rescuing... was I wrong to involve myself?
: No, you saved her life. Thank you. My name's Linoan. I'm the Duchess of Tahra.
: It's an honour to meet you, Linoan.
Haha. For once, Linoan has no idea who someone is but he knows aaaaall about her.
: Oh, please. The pleasure's all mine, Eliwood.
: Hmm... but I'm curious. What's someone of your stature doing in Elibe?
: Well, you see...
Mercifully we're spared another recap by a fade to black.
: And that's my story. It's not an easy take to believe, I know...
: No, I do believe you.
: What?
: We've known about Caelin's troubles for quite some time. Even though we usually pay no mind to these dealings, I'm very concerned about Lord Hausen's wellbeing.
: Oh? Do you know Marquess Caelin?
: Lord Hausen is my father's good friend. It would be uneasy for Caelin if something horrible befell him. Hmm... you also said you were looking for a boy named Raymond, yes?
: Yes. Do you know where he may be?
: Well, actually...
: Oh!!!
: Well, if it isn't the pink-haired duchess herself! Hey there, Linoan!
: Raymond! It's so good to see you!
: Ah. I knew you two would be acquaintances. Raymond showed up in Pherae not too long ago. He's been helping us with things and has been quite helpful.
: Oh Eli, stop. You're praising me too much!
: Heehee. Stillt he same old Raymond, as usual.
: Haha! You know it! So, how've you been, Linoan? Everything going alright?
: Well, you could say that, I suppose. I've been on a mission to Caelin to help Lord Hausen.
: yeah, we heard about that recently. Poor guy's being poisoned inside-out. You'd best get to his aid faster than a Bullet Bill.
: Yes, I suppose you could put it that way. Oh! Have you met up with Pricne Leaf, Raymond?
: He and I parted ways when we neared Pherae. Said he had something to take care of. He did say he'd come back to Pherae afterward, though.
: Oh. Well, I'm glad that he's alright as well. Mia, Sakura and Lady Shion are currently with us.
: Oh, hey. We're five for... Wait. Wait a second. Shion's here? I thought she went back to work?
: She's on vacation, and just happened to end up here. We found her by some ruins, and she decided to come with us.
: Ohhhh. Well, that explains things. Then, that has us five for ten. We'll have to find the others soon.
: Well, we should talk some more after this. I have a lot of things to tell you.
?Spiffy??
- - -
: Nils? Is it really you? Oh, you're safe!
: Uh-huh. These people helped me.
: Who are they?
: Uh...
Ha. He has no idea.
: Milady Linoan... Thank you. I'm called Ninian. My brother Nils and I are travelling performers.
: Both of you? Your brother's a musician. How about you, Ninian?
: I... I dance.
That's our Sain! *canned laughter*
: Sain... now's not the time for this:
: Um, yeah. Of course.
: A dancer? Your clothes don't look like those of a dancer.
: Sacred? What do you mean?
: I... the dance I perform when we travel is just a normal dance. My other dance, though... when they caught me, I twisted my ankle. I cannot dance to aid you... I'm sorry.
: Oh, that's alright. We're just happy to see that you're out of harm's way.
: Thank you.
: But I am concerned about your ankle. You can't travel on it...
: I've an idea. Would it be too much to ask that we travel with you?
: A-are you sure about that, Nils? We're being hunted. We never know when we're going to be attacked.
: Yes. We might be able to repay our debts using our... special talents.
: Special talents?
: When something poses a threat to us, we can sense its approach.
: Truly? That's amazing!
: We can feel it coming, but we can't do anything to stop it. You're warriors, though, so you don't have that worry.
That sounds like the worst superpower ever.
: I think leaving them here would cause Lady Linoan more worry than having them travel with us.
Kent knows how this is going to go and seems resigned to it. Haha.
: Especially if they can help us!
Nobody asked you!
No, that's why they asked.
: Of course!
: You have our gratitude, milady.
- - -
Since we came in well under 15 turns:
: What's wrong, Ninian?
: I've lost my ring.
: Your ring?
: Not Ninis' Grace?
: The very one.
Crap, that's one of the better buffs.
: They stole it? Those curs!!!
Hahaha, what child talks like that?
: Was it valuable?
: It was a keepsake from our departed mother.
: It was blessed by the spirit of Ninis... There's no other like it in the world. And now we have lost it to those villains. There's nothing we can do.
: You're right.
Laying it on a bit thick, kids.
: ?
: You listened to all of that, yes? What do you think? I'd really love to retrieve Ninian's ring for her. But if Nils is right, those bandits may prove too strong for us. What should we do?
Always.
: I was hoping you'd say that, Aranea. Kent! Sain! Those men were headed south. We must follow them!
: Alright then! Let's go!
- - -
Characters Encountered
Luna
Class: Archer > Sniper
Growths;
HP 65%, STR 40%, SKL 55%, SPD 60%, LUK 50%, DEF 20%, RES 35 %
Luna, from Lunar (har.) is an Archer. That's... all that really needs to be said vis-a-vis useablility. I guess this would be Tempest's blue-haired friend then, eh? I'd really have rather had a Monk, though.
Nils
Class: Bard
Growths;
HP 90%, STR 5%, SKL 5%, SPD 90%, LUK 100%, DEF 40%, RES 85%
Nils is a bard. There's absolutely no reason not to use bards. He's gained 5% HP, 20% SPD and LUK (jesus.), 10% DEF and 15% RES. Unfortunately, bard. So most of those are academic. He might make good ballista bait. Maybe.