Update 38: Blemphis

♪ Three Crowns ♪





♪ No music ♪



♪ Lava noises ♪


It is said that this land was born of the goddess's wrath. There was an immense battle here long ago. To end it, she set the entire valley aflame. Of course, there is no record of this. Some theorize this was done by another and then blamed on the goddess...
My head is being defeated by this heat. I think I am seeing visions...
There, within the mountains... A shadow...




It's an enemy raid.

♪ Dark Clouds Gather ♪


Damn... I thought we had disposed of all the spies.
They carry the flag of House Rowe... They've joined the Empire, then. To think they'd travel all this way.


We must break through.
Yes, we must defeat them quickly and locate Judith's army.
They have chosen the Valley of Torment for this battle, and so we shall send them to the flames of eternity!



♪ As Fierce as Fire ♪


Oh, we're back at the same place we were for Ingrid's paralogue. Lava and damage tiles everywhere.

Enemies choking every avenue of approach. Lovely.

The eastern chest contains a bolt axe, while the western chest contains a measly silver shield.

Bolt Axe: Requires Axe rank B. 1-2 range. 14 Mt, 60 Hit, 15 Wt, 25 durability. Magic weapon. Requires Arcane Crystal x1 and 960 gold to repair.

Heavy as shit, but packs a hell of a magical punch. Annette would probably do pretty well with this thing...

...Oh.

Hi, Ashe. It's...it's good to see you again...

So, yeah, uh... Welcome to what happens if you don't recruit certain students in Part 2. You'll have to fight them. Though, uh, it is worth noting that Ashe shows up here regardless of if you recruited him or not. It's just that recruiting him beforehand gives you the chance to avoid... Well, you'll see.

Ashe himself doesn't deal a lot of damage and isn't particularly fast or durable, but he's got a fucking killer bow on him. 51 base Crit is dangerous, and it makes him a priority target unless you want to chance losing a unit to a crit.

Bowrange +1: Increases bow range by 1.

Thankfully, he's only an archer instead of a sniper or bow knight, for some reason, and has no abilities besides Bow Prowess 3.

He also has a master seal you can swipe if you have anyone with Steal. I...don't. Whoops.

Here's the boss of the map: Gwendal. He's incredibly slow, can't dodge worth a damn, and will die a horrible death the instant a magic user looks at him funny, but he's a mounted and armored unit, which presents trouble for our weapon-using units.

General: Nullifies instant death effects and halves damage from enemy gambits.
Axefaire: Grants Atk +5 when using an axe.
Hit +20: Increases Hit by 20.
Keen Intuition: Grants Avo +30 during combat with a foe 2 or more spaces away.
Armored Blow: If unit initiates combat, grants Def +6 during combat.

Stop it with the Keen Intuition! I hate that ability!

Here's the group I'm going with. We're only given 9 unit slots, one of which is an obvious forced Abby deployment. So not only are we contending with a fairly large map that inhibits our mobility at points, we're also shorthanded compared to normal.

Seteth is Ingrid's adjutant, Felix is Sylvain's adjutant, and Catherine is Shamir's adjutant.

For important equipment: Bernadetta gets a knowledge gem, so she can maybe get a non-class ability Bowfaire before the game is over. Ingrid gets the Rafail Gem, to protect her against bow users. Sylvain gets a knowledge gem so he can get Special Dance soon. Marianne and Flayn get the Caduceus Staff and a march ring for the same reason: giving them the ability to hit more things, even with the reduced mobility on this map.

You thought Ingrid was scary? Try Ingrid while she has the Thunderbrand.
♪ No music ♪


Get it onne.
♪ Dark Clouds Gather ♪


Only if that puny force of children is able to kill me, of course...
That lion banner—it seems Gwendal is the one leading the troops of House Rowe. He is an experienced general, renowned throughout Faerghus. Let us hold nothing back.



♪ Chasing Daybreak ♪


Yes, Seteth, I know. I've been here before.

We've got some space to set up with at the start, at least.

Abby is such a wonderful decoy.


Chump.

And now one of the other good parts about Bow Knight: Bernadetta can Canto away to safety after sniping someone!



Just as I thought—the professor's army. But it's too late to back out now.
In Lonato's place, I have to do my duty.



Oh, hey, what nice timing. I'll have that to play with for the rest of the map.

Aura: 1-2 range. 12 Mt, 70 Hit, 20 Crit, 12 Wt, 3 durability.







Again, enemy armored units are such a non-issue.

...Ngh...
♪ Paths That Will Never Cross ♪


But as Lonato's son, I have a duty!

♪ No music ♪




Ashe screams.
♪ The Dream is Over ♪


And here's one of the game's most unfair gutpunches, in my opinion: when you kill former students/faculty during Part 2, the game mimics what happens when your own units die—everything freezes for a second, the music cuts out, the character's death scream echoes as their death animation plays in slow motion, and then you get the same music for when your own units die as they say their final words. Former student/faculty death quotes are almost always different from their normal ones, and can be specific to the current map.

The first time I killed a former student was Lorenz on my Blue Lions run. I didn't like the guy—the small glimpses of him I'd seen made him seem stuck-up, as is intended. I wasn't particularly plussed about killing him going into combat.

Then the second-long freeze happened right as the lethal attack hit him, and my heart sank as I knew what was coming (I'd already seen what happens when your own units die, due to some mistakes during Reunion at Dawn). When the game got to his death quote, I cried. Cried for a character I had no particular attachment to at that time.

Farewell, Ashe, my boy. May we meet again in better times.

If I'd recruited Ashe during Part 1, and had Abby deal the final blow to him, I would've been given the chance to spare him and welcome into our army. But, well... I didn't recruit him. I wasn't planning to. So...
♪ Chasing Daybreak ♪


Flayn pulls Bernadetta out of the danger zone.

I don't actually do this, that'd be obscene overkill. But you can see how good Beast Fang is.





Going for the kill.









Even with effectiveness negated, bow users can still deal some decent damage to Ingrid.



Abby baits enemies on the west side.


Sylvain masters Dancer, and gets Special Dance, which I...can't use on this map. Didn't empty an ability slot for it. Oh well.

Special Dance: When using the Dance ability, grant Dex/Spd/Lck +4 to target ally.





Guess I've got you!



That was wholly unnecessary, but it led to a fantastic level.




Ingrid rushes a paladin down, and Flayn pulls her back.

This does leave Flayn within attack range of a sniper, but she'll live.



Toldja.





You can see that, now that we've completed Marianne's paralogue, her minor Crest of the Beast can now activate in combat.

To terrible effect.






Hey, Spd.

Not gonna complain about him missing Str since Seteth is, y'know, the person in our army with the most Str.


Ingrid finishes off the archer that Abby failed to kill due to a miss.




God, look how far she can snipe people from now.

Okay, I'm gonna do it!



Love ya, Bernie.



Eh, that's a lot of stats, I'll take it. Flayn's Mag is shaping up.





Just shifted everyone up last turn.

3 Hit lmao



Oh, dammit. Gwendal is moving up. That's gonna screw up something in a bit...




Oh, the Hero of Daphnel is here! I'll expect more from her than the young ones...


Oh, great. Love it when I'm given a game over for an allied unit dying.

If Abby were to talk to Judith, she'd get an Energy Drop. Unfortunately, Abby and Gwendal's positions make that practically impossible now.







Bernadetta snags the bolt axe.



Ingrid is so absurdly strong.



Oh, dammit, Gwendal's going for Judith now.

Bernie's Crest nets her a counter-kill on this armored unit. Neat.

Oh, and infinite reinforcements start showing up here. Love it.





You're damn right it isn't, that was atrocious.





Guess I've got you!


Poor man never saw that coming.





Well, I kinda have to end the map now, or else I run the risk of Gwendal killing Judith.
♪ Wrath Strike ♪


I am Gwendal, the Gray Lion, a knight by the hand of Count Rowe! Do your worst!


Meh, one miss, Ingrid can still—

Okay, I'm gonna do it!



...A Crest of Indech crit. Hey, I'll take it.


I will never have another Bernadetta as strong as this one, and that makes me sad.
♪ No music ♪




You're damn right.
♪ Beneath the Banner ♪



I can see why they call you a hero.
Well, that's ancient history.


Claude?
He asked me to help you because you seemed trustworthy.
Claude of the Alliance? How did he learn of our plans? We can't underestimate someone like him... There is a reason they call him the Master Tactician. But I suppose we are both fighting against the Empire now. The enemy of our enemy is our ally.
That's right. I have a letter from him as well.


That is yours, Professor. Please tell me what it says when you see fit.
OK, let's wrap up this hand-off of soldiers. Not that I suspect you of anything, but... I must warn you that these are very important soldiers for my territory. Don't treat them like expendable equipment.
Oh. By the way, I have some important information.
A witness saw Lady Rhea being dragged off by the Imperial army after the battle five years ago.


One of my own saw it happen. I'm certain.


Thank you for the information. We will rescue her at all costs.



♪ Anxiety ♪


And yet, we do not have enough troops to face our enemy's main army head-on.


It will be a fierce fight.
Yes, it will. We must brace ourselves. As you know, the Oghma Mountains lie south of Garreg Mach, towards the Empire. In order to enter Empire territory, we must travel around those mountains.


Let's go east.
Yes, that makes sense. There are lords in the Alliance who support the Empire, but they are, at least, not completely under their control.


Claude's letter?
Yes, precisely.


I don't know exactly why, but I feel that I can trust you. So I'm going to do just that. To that end, I propose an exchange. You're intending to invade the Empire. That much is clear. And that means your only option is to pass through the east. You'll have to cross the Airmid River, which runs along the border between the Empire and the Alliance. That means you'll need to gain control of the Great Bridge of Myrddin, the one closest to Garreg Mach.
It just so happens my family, House Riegan, is in conflict with House Gloucester right now. It would be easy enough for us to eliminate them, but I would prefer that we settle things without it coming to that.
Do you see where I'm going with this? We'll act as a distraction and draw House Gloucester away from there. That will allow you to cross through their territory and take the Great Bridge of Myrddin. After you take the bridge from the Imperial army, House Gloucester won't be able to receive their aid. You'll get to cross Myrddin without any trouble, and I'll be able to maintain stability in the Alliance.
Not a bad deal, eh? I hope to hear from you soon. Be well, Teach.


The conditions are not bad... All is as he says it is. If we take the Great Bridge of Myrddin, and House Gloucester bows down to House Riegan...


Let's do it.
It seems you are decided. We will send our answer at once.


Next time: Chapter 16.

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