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Welcome back. Today, we enter Mark Hamill's Canyon.
I had honestly forgotten that Valter dragged Glen's corpse all the way back to Grado with him 
Even without getting motivation to avenge him, I'd have ran off after that too.
Ah, Fort Rigwald. I'm sure that'll be fun, once I get there.
And, hey, you actually can do that now! Not very well, but still.
We get a shot of the enemy army. Look at that, they might actually be able to use those Ballistae themselves! 
The timing on Caellach's blink here makes it look like he's trying to say "yes, Aias, I fucking know, you've told me at least 10 times, just shut up and get on the battlefield already"
And then we go to the prep screen. This is a survival/kill the boss map, but...
...and correct me if I'm wrong here... isn't Aias supposed to move? Maybe it's because I'm only playing on Normal, but I could have sworn he made an effort to come to you. But nope, he has 0 move. And 1 range for that matter, so Vanessa and Seth can just pump him full of arrows with no consequences (assuming the other enemies are out of the way, of course).
When I called him "the worst survival chapter boss", I was referring to his 0 move, because these are actually very respectable boss stats. With Bracing Stance and Voice of Peace, he effectively has 22 Defense and 17 Resistance (or 18 and 13 if we're fighting on the enemy phase), and we don't have many characters who can do much to get over that. His personal skill also basically gives Bracing Stance to some of his allies, as Spur Defense makes units adjacent to him take -4 damage from physical attacks.
The setup for this chapter is similar to the last one, but I'm benching Moulder and bringing Ewan in (also keeping Saleh deployed). Unless I get a significantly better magic user by the time the desert rolls around, I'll pull him off the bench for that, but Moulder's levels have been downright depressing lately.
Tana does her thing to get us started...
...and gets us a Dragonspear of our own out of it. 16 might for 7 weight is excellent... it's just a shame that it probably won't hit anything ever.
Vanessa started in range of the Ballista, so she hops right in and gets to work.
I had danced Tana so she could act as a meatshield for Vanessa, given she's basically defenseless in the Ballista... only to realize that doing so leaves L'Arachel wide open, so Saleh rescues her to take advantage of Savior.
This Wyvern Rider ignores Tana and goes straight for Vanessa, and the point of strength she got from that level is just enough for the one-shot kill. 
Ewan kills an archer to get... a level without Strength?! 
There are some female Heroes here, but they're nothing to write home about.
Tana doesn't finish her off, but hey, more skill!
Joshua ends up getting the honors instead.
Saleh was on the front lines and ends up in two fights with Journeymen, including this douche with a Poison Axe. It's a good thing neither of them hit, because after Fury, he would have been in a very precarious position.
There's also an enemy Ranger here! ...and he's fast enough to double Ewan 
Well, not anymore, anyway. That's actually a rather nasty skill he has for this map, too - Elbow Room is giving him +3 damage for fighting on outdoor terrain.
Let's see how you deal with a real promoted archer!
Lute kills the cav that poisoned her for a pretty good level.
Then Ewan kills another one of the Heroes to... not get Strength for the second time in a row... 
Don't think I didn't see you there, reinforcements.
This knight having an Axereaver means Tana can get her sword rank up a bit against him.
Eirika hit A in swords earlier, which means she can finally use the Runesword I got all the way back in Chapter... 6?
The enemy phase is uneventful, but it goes to show how quickly this chapter can go if you're inclined towards rushing Aias down, even randomized. I'm not, given it means the map would be over before Cormag shows up, but still.
Seth gets in the other ballista to pick off some of the other enemies.
This time I actually remember to give the Restore to Kyle.
The reinforcements slowly go down - the less I have to deal with two separate fronts, the better.
I could use Joshua to start whittling Aias down, at least, but because of Bracing Stance I just have him wait here a turn and let Aias attack him instead.
Neimi kills a Mogall on the enemy phase and oh my god she actually got defense naturally 
Or Aias could... steal his Vulnerary. I was under the impression that Locktouch didn't enable stealing, but I guess I was wrong.
Well, here's Cormag...
...the third unit to not change class after Ephraim and Innes, and the eighth to start locked to lances (and the third of those to be a flier of some kind). We have so many lance users that I've half a mind to just let him get killed, but he's got some very nice skills. Ignis, his personal skill, gives him a Skill% chance during combat to add half of his Defense and Resistance to the damage he deals, and his last skill is Capture, which we haven't formally seen in this run. As a refresher, it's a command that starts a battle wherein you take a stat penalty, and if you win, you capture the enemy and can add all of their items to your inventory.
L'Arachel helps Eirika get closer to him.
And Vanessa empties out her Ballista and gets a shit level for it.
Shine is a really good tome, and I wish I had more light users besides Saleh.
Some knights pop out of the forts, but Tana and Joshua can handle them.
Tana's still on track to cap strength before promotion
A new weapon! This is kind of good, but the iron blade is better beyond being way heavier.
Cormag is in range to attack Saleh, but given he can and most likely will one-shot Cormag, he gets the hell out.
Eirika is able to get into Cormag's range, but he has a Javelin and she still had the Runesword equipped, so I had to make a quick trade lest Eirika accidentally kill Cormag.
Artur and Lute are dealing with the reinforcements from the top right, where Artur's Lethality rate slowly rises.
Eirika talks Cormag down from his more-suicidal-than-usual attack on her...
...to reveal a surprisingly balanced set of growths. I'm not sure who of Ewan or Cormag I'll use more yet, but both seem pretty alright!
And now, Capture in action. If Cormag can land this hit, with his Strength, Skill, Speed and Defense halved...
...he will take the enemy off the map as if he had Rescued it.
The enemy phase is uneventful other than this guy with a killing edge thinking he's threatening.
Anyway, you can trade with a captured enemy as if they were on your side. Don't ask me why this one looks like Fir. Once you're done trading, you can Drop the enemy, which causes them to disappear.
Ah, there's that 65% Strength growth again!
Pablo doesn't show up until next turn and Aias is the only enemy left on the map, so we might as well whittle him down a bit... for real this time.
The one counterattack he can make, and he actually lands with it!
That's... not the Entombed Pablo I remember. Suddenly I feel less confident about this...
We can at least take a potshot at him...
...and then remember to check his stats. 
Definitely a huge step up over his Chapter 10 incarnation, but what isn't? He's another boss with Fury, though, which means his 51 HP will go down faster than it seems. The only skill worth noting here that I haven't touched on already is Tomebreaker, which works exactly like the other Breaker skills but on magic users.
A knight activating Luna puts Lute in a scary position, so Saleh runs up to heal her.
Kyle cures Tana for yet more magic and defense. He sure knows what he wants, huh?
I don't know where Pablo's going, but he's still in range of Seth's ballista so 
Very nice!
...Less nice is the situation that everyone else here faces. That Bael is another one with a Sharp Claw, and I really don't see how I can turn a situation like this around, so I'm gonna just... not bother!
Joshua caps HP, which is... something, I guess.
L'Arachel's... uh, gorgon knight shows up to chase off the rest of the enemies, and that's that!
NEXT TIME:
