Search the Community

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11Pzz8scfMvfMKUWod-Q5-yYX4RlXzWh02BzBVQraWxI/edit?pref=2&pli=1

"The Destruction of the Tailver Bandits: It was dark out, the only light came from the moon and the stars, and even they were obscured. It was a bit cloudy. It was slightly cold thanks to the breeze, and there seemed to be some moisture in the air, as if it was going to rain at any moment. A perfect night for killing. Wallace, a retired knight from the territory of Caelin, in the nation of Lycia, stood tall, lance in hand as he gazed down at the two corpses at his feet. They had been easy to kill, he’d simply snuck up behind them and pierced their hearts with his lance. Their eyes were still open, mouths agape in shock, their own lances on the ground next to the doused torches they’d both been carrying. Blood stained the grass, although you couldn’t see it very well thanks to how dark it was. His lance was stained, too. As he lifted his gaze, he could see that about twenty yards straight ahead of him there were a few buildings built within close proximity of each other. There was light streaming through the window of one of the buildings, and the loud sounds of cheering and celebration emanated from within. These buildings before him were nestled snuggly in a valley in the Taliver Mountain, the mountain on the border between the nations of Bern and Sacae. These buildings also just so happened to be the hideout of the Taliver Bandits, and the men he’d just killed had been guarding them. The Taliver Bandits were the reason not many dared to travel through the mountain. They were a ruthless group, even other groups of bandits hated them. The Talivers took whatever they pleased, they pillaged and plundered, they murdered whoever they wanted without distinction. Even bandits had a certain code, and they broke that code. They were less than human. They were a great sore on the earth, a disease that needed to be wiped out. And that’s exactly what he was there to do. Wallace began walking forward, slowly making his way towards the hideout. The sounds of celebration were probably because they’d just come back from a successful day of pillaging and murdering. It was sickening, it put a scowl on his face and anger in his heart. Why had no one come to clear this rabble out sooner? The only bright spot was that they were cheering so loudly that they couldn’t hear him approaching. He had killed their guards, and now he was waltzing right up to their front door. “I will finish it for you, Lady Lyndis,” Wallace muttered to himself once he’d reached the door of the first building, the building where the bandits were celebrating. Lady Lyndis was the daughter of Lady Madelyn and Lord Hassar. Madelyn had been a noblewoman from Caelin, and Hassar had been the chieftain of the Lorca tribe in Sacae. The two had fallen in love, Madelyn had abandoned her position in Caelin and eloped with Hassar to the plains of Sacae. It was funny. He had been sent after Madelyn and Hassar to prevent them from eloping. But when he’d caught up to them, he’d let them go. They were both his friends, and they deserved their happiness. He’d spent a long time in the dungeons for that. He’d let them go, they’d eloped and were blessed with the birth of Lyndis, and for eighteen years they had been happy. And then the bandits of Taliver had attacked. They had poisoned the water supply and, while the Lorca tribe was weak from the poison, wiped them out. Even the women and children. Hassar and Madelyn had also been killed. Lyndis had been the only survivor, she’d been found unconscious several days later. That had been over a year ago. Lyndis was eighteen years old now. She had come to Caelin after her parents had been murdered and taken up the position her mother had left, and it had been quite the adventure getting to Caelin! But that was a story for another time. Her grandfather, the current Marquess and ruler of Caelin, had since forgiven Madelyn and had welcomed Lyndis with open arms. The lass was a good ruler. Plus she had skill with a blade, thanks to the teachings of her father. But now she only tempered her skills with the desire for revenge. She harbored anger and hatred, a burning desire for revenge. And that’s why he was going to wipe out the Taliver Bandits. For Lyndis. She possessed a good, kind heart. He couldn’t let her be consumed with anger and hatred. So there he was. He may be old and technically retired, but he was still the best knight in all of Caelin, and in any other land and country! Wallace was tempted to push his ear against the door to hear what the bandits were saying, but decided against it. He didn’t need to, he could predict what was being said. It was all vile talk, talk of murder and stealing, talk of stabbing some poor child in the back or beheading a helpless housewife, robbing a hardworking man of his gold or barging into an innocent family’s home. It was disgusting. Just another reason on a long list of reasons of why these vile vermin required terminating. The tall knight grit his teeth together as a scowl formed across his face. He took a step back, raised his leg and, with all of the strength he could muster, he kicked the door. The strength of his kick sent the door flying off its hinges, spinning rapidly at a diagonal angle as it broke away and flew through the air for a moment before landing with a loud bang. The bandits inside all sprung to their feet, dropping their drinks and spilling the alcoholic poison everywhere. There were about twenty of them and they all spun around, drawing their weapons quickly and facing Wallace. Most just stared right up at his face, but some let their gaze linger on his blood-stained lance. He was a whole head taller than all of them, but he knew his tall stature didn’t necessarily mean anything. “Who dares barge into the lair of the Tailver Bandits?!” one of the bandits bellowed, stepping forward and staring at Wallace with fiery eyes. He wasn’t particularly tall, in fact he was one of the shorter bandits, but his gaze was the most focused. Before replying, Wallace glanced around the building. It was surprisingly empty, it was obviously just a meeting place. A celebration chamber. Whatever. There was nothing there except for the bandits, a single table and the chairs they’d been seated in. An empty barrel of alcoholic drink in the corner. Nothing else. “I am Wallace, knight of Caelin!” Wallace announced in a loud, booming voice as he stepped through the broken doorway. His voice was authoritative, it commanded attention. “And this night, you will all fall by my hand as my lance pierces your hearts!” The bandits were speechless for a moment, seemingly taken back by the boldness of the tall knight standing before them. Then after a moment, they all burst out laughing. “You must’ve never heard of us, old man!” the focused bandit laughed. “Guess we’ll have to teach ya!” Wallace narrowed his brow as a battle-hungry grin spread across his face. He may be old, completely bald, and pale-skinned, but he was more skilled than they knew. “I’ve heard of you filth, but you’ve never heard of me. You’ll soon learn.” He banged a fist on his armor, the silver breastplate he wore shimmering. “Your weapons will bounce off my breast as I cut you all down!” The bandit flinched as a scowl formed, his expression showing he was clearly taken back and surprised at the retort. He took a few steps back and raised his sword, pointing it at Wallace. “Get him, boys!” The bandits shoved the table and chairs out of the way, and then two of the bandits charged forward at the same time, but they were easily dispatched. Wallace took a quick step to his right, swinging his lance around so the side and the blunt end of the long weapon hit the bandits on the back of the head, and hit hard. He swung with all of his might, his lance made a sickening cracking sound as it connected with their skulls. Blood sprayed lightly and immediately seeped from their wounds. The first bandit was sent straight into the corner of the broken doorway and bounced off like a ragdoll, and the second went face-first into the wall, also bouncing off. Both fell flat on their backs, faces bloodied. Both were dead. The other bandits flinched, and a brief look of shock flashed across their faces. But it lasted for the briefest of moments before they all gazed at him again, weapons ready for battle. Another bandit charged him, this one wielding an axe. Wallace didn’t sidestep this time, this time he brought his lance up for a parry stance and let the bandit come. The bandit charged in, using his full body weight to swing his axe down at Wallace. The Caelin knight wore a grin as he pushed his lance forward, blocking the blow and sending the bandit stumbling backwards two steps. And quick as lightning, as the bandit stumbled back, Wallace swung his lance across the bandit’s torso, slicing his belly open. The bandit dropped to the floor, dead. The other bandits flinched again, rage flashing in their eyes. They gazed from their dead comrade to Wallace. And then all at once, they charged him. And so the battle began. Wallace swung his lance upwards at a diagonal angle as the bandits all charged at him, catching two of them and slicing them open from their groins to their necks, lifting them into the air and throwing them like ragdolls ad the lance went up. Fifteen bandits left. The tall knight leaped backwards and slammed his lance down at another bandit, slicing the thug straight through the left shoulder and rendering that arm useless. As the bandit cried out in pain and dropped his weapon, another swung his axe at Wallace, and the Caelin knight parried the blow and kicked the bandit right in the belly with his boot, sending the attacker straight back several feet. He then swung his lance back at the wounded bandit, slicing the throat expertly. Blood sprayed out as the bandit fell to the floor, dead. Fourteen. The kicked bandit scrambled back to his feet, joining his comrades in the attack on Wallace. He and two others leaped at Wallace, swinging swords and axes, but Wallace jumped backwards again, this time at a diagonal angle. Landing on the door he’d sent flying earlier, he stood a bit taller and swung his lance down, slamming it into two of the attacking bandits. One bandit dropped his weapon at the force of the lance, the other was forcibly sent careening into the third, his sword going through his comrade’s belly on accident. With one bandit shocked at his accidental murder of his companion and the other scrambling to pick up his fallen weapon, Wallace cut them both down. Eleven. The bandits were beginning to show fear now, some backed off while others stood where they were shaking in their boots. Another lunged at Wallace, this one holding his axe in a defensive manner and going a little lower, at Wallace’s legs. The tall knight hopped off the door and swung his lance, forcing the bandit to parry the blow and catch the lance with the hooked end of the blade of his axe. With his lance hooked, Wallace shoved his lance upwards, forcing the bandit to raise his arms as the lance lifted his axe. With his arms raised, Wallace kicked the bandit in the knee as hard as he could. The knee made a sickening cracking noise as his boot connected with it and the bandit screamed in pain, dropping his axe entirely and dropping to his side, his hands clutching at his knee. With the bandit down, Wallace thrust his spear into the man’s side, killing him. Ten. As Wallace was thrusting his spear into the bandit, another one attacked him from the side, swinging his sword in a slicing motion. Wallace saw it from the corner of his eye and jumped backwards just in time, the sword bouncing harmlessly off his silver breastplate. But now he was weaponless, his spear was stuck in a corpse. Thinking quickly, he took another step backwards, towards the door. Bending over, he picked up the door and laughed maniacally. “Even with a door, I will crush you!” The bandits all scowled, some of the fear leaving their eyes. The bandit that had attacked him rushed forward again, but he slammed the door straight down as hard as he could, bringing it down right on the man’s skull, crushing it and killing him. The bandit dropped to the floor, his head compressed in, obviously dead. Nine. Two more bandits charged, one charging from his left and the other from his right. The door was heavier than his lance and he couldn’t maneuver it as well, so he flung it to his left and charged to his right as soon as the door had left his hands. The door smacked the bandit cleanly in the chest, breaking his ribs and causing some of the broken ribs to pierce his heart and lungs, killing him. As for the bandit charging from the right, Wallace ran straight at him and tackled him to the ground before he could swing his weapon. Using his bear fists, he punched the bandit in the face repeatedly, blood flowing from the bandit after a few punches. Wallace beat the man until he was dead, his fist bloodied and the bandit’s face compressed. Seven. One of the bandits cried out in fear and tried to flee, zipping past Wallace and running straight for the open doorway. Quick as lightning, Wallace scooped up the sword of the man he’d just beaten and threw it right into the back of the fleeing bandit, killing him. Six. The bandits all scurried backwards now in a panic, frantically swinging their weapons in an attempt to keep Wallace at bay as they backed towards the wall. The Caelin knight casually walked to the corpse with his lance sticking out of it and pulled the lance out, then slowly walked towards the six remaining thugs. “Are you too cowardly to face me?” he bellowed. “Is this the feared Taliver Bandits I’ve heard so much about? Is this the same group that slaughtered the Lorca tribe of Sacae? You filth couldn’t take anyone in a fair fight. You can only fight with dirty tricks and dishonorable tactics, like poisoning water supplies. Cowards! You don’t deserve your lives!” The bandits made no reply. Sweat beaded their foreheads, fear shone in their eyes. With a battle cry, Wallace charged forward, thrusting his lance through the heart of the nearest bandit, then swinging both his lance and the bandit into the next nearest thug, knocking the man to the ground and flinging the corpse off the lance. With the man on the ground, Wallace stabbed him straight through the gut, then charged at the rest. One bandit frantically swung at him, but he easily disarmed and killed the thug, slicing his chest open and killing him. He then thrust his lance forward, stabbing and killing the next bandit. “No! NO!” one of the two remaining bandits pleaded, falling to his rear and scooting away in fear as he watched his comrades die. Wallace looked at the pleading man, but there was no mercy in his eyes. He walked towards the coward and stabbed the man straight through the chest. One. Only one bandit remained now. “Is this it?” Wallace said as he turned to face the final bandit, his armor stained red with blood and his brow narrowed. “This is all you could offer me?” This final bandit just happened to be the focused one that had spoken earlier, when he’d first entered the building. The bandit shook his head rapidly, quickly walking backwards in a panic. He dropped his weapon and tripped over his own feet, falling to his rear. “Please…” the bandit pleaded as he began to cry. “Please! Mercy! Have mercy!” Wallace stared at the crying man, appalled at the pathetic display. He burst out laughing as he slowly walked towards the bandit, his head thrown back in his howling laughter. “Mercy?! The Lorca tribe. Hassar. Madelyn. Did you show any of them mercy?” He shook his head once, his grip on his lance tightening. “No. You don’t get mercy.” Then, in a single, swift motion, he threw his lance at the bandit. The lance flew straight and true, piercing the bandit and going straight through his heart, killing him. Zero. No bandits remained. Wallace stood there for a good, long moment. He looked to the right, then the left, then ahead and behind. Twenty bandits lay dead, blood and guts everywhere. He pried his lance out of the corpse and slowly left the building, stepping over the corpse of the bandit that had tried to flee and walking through the broken doorway. Just to be safe, he checked the other buildings of the hideout, but found they were all empty. There were truly no bandits left. He had wiped them all out. Satisfied, Wallace left the valley. As he walked along the path, he glanced over his shoulder and looked back at the now-empty hideout. “It is finished, Lady Lyndis.” The Taliver Bandits were no more."

The Path Thereafter Hoshido had always been a land of peace and prosperity. But tonight, it was a country in the midst of recent devastation. Everything is Kamui’s fault, Takumi thought viciously as he shot arrow after arrow into the trunk of a large tree – imagining it were the face of his former brother he was striking. It’s his fault that all of this is happening to Hoshido right now – this war, the capital, and Mother – A fresh surge of anger ran through Takumi’s body as he gripped the Fuujin Yumi tighter, keeping the bow pointed at the tree but unable to muster the concentration to summon an arrow. If Kamui had never come to Hoshido, then Mother and all of the villagers would still be alive. Shirasagi would not be in ruins. His siblings would still be whole. Ryouma-niisan, Hinoka-neesan, and Sakura had always wanted Kamui to return to them. They’d never forgotten him, had trained for the day when they could see him again. And Sakura, who had been too little to truly remember Kamui, had grown up hearing stories of a long-lost brother from everyone – from their siblings, from Mother, from Yukimura-san. Sakura had always wanted to meet the brother that she had never had the chance to know. Takumi hadn’t felt the same as them. He was not, nor had he been, close to Kamui in the same way as Ryouma-niisan and Hinoka-neesan. Any of his recollections of Kamui were hazy and poor; too young to have formed meaningful memories. Rather, it was the loss of his father; the absence of his presence and the impact it’d had on his family that affected him more strongly. His older siblings had been devastated by the assassination of their father, naturally, but then they’d learned that Kamui was possibly alive in Nohr. Hinoka-neesan had become obsessed with getting him back. She trained feverishly as a tenma warrior – she lived and breathed for the day she was strong enough to singlehandedly rescue Kamui from Nohr’s clutches. Even though they’d never been very close, Takumi noticed her grow distant after that. No longer did she take the time to play with him – or Sakura – anymore. It were almost as if everything that didn’t involve Kamui or training had suddenly become a waste of time … as if he were too much of a useless weakling to be of use to her and for her to notice. And of course she’d remain close to Ryouma-niisan, the strong elder brother who was more than worth her time. But his older brother had changed, too. Ryouma-niisan had seemed to grow up overnight after their father’s assassination. The fun-loving brother who had always made time for his younger siblings had suddenly been replaced with a more stoic, more adult version of his brother – one who hadn’t completely mastered his emotional, adolescent tendencies yet but seemed more “father” than “brother”. He had less time for idle activities and he spent more time helping Mother run the country, or training either his swordsmanship or his political knowledge. Nohr hadn’t just killed his father and kidnapped his brother; in doing so, they’d taken the rest of his family too – Ryouma-niisan and Hinoka-neesan, Mother, Sakura, Hoshido’s sense of security … and Takumi could do nothing. In the end, he was helpless to make a difference. So he did the only thing that he could – he hated Nohr with everything that he was, for taking everything that was important. And then, Kamui had come back to Hoshido – just walked back into their lives as if he hadn’t left everyone wondering for years. Mother had been so happy to see him again, as were the rest of his siblings. Had none of them considered that Kamui could be an enemy spy? That the time he had spent in Nohr could have turned him against the country of his birth, poisoned by lies the Nohrians had told him about Hoshido? It’d be a foolish move to accept him back with open arms so soon. (He would never admit it, but there was a small part deep inside him that hated seeing everyone fawn over Kamui like he was the most precious child in the world – the same people who had always disregarded and overlooked him, no matter how hard he tried to be someone worthy of their approval. But he’d never admit it was there, and perhaps he wasn’t even aware of the true reasons for his resentment.) In the end, their trust had cost them. That sword Kamui had been carrying on him, it had been a Nohrian trap and had exploded during his homecoming celebration – taking with it a good portion of the capital, the lives of innocent civilians who had done nothing wrong other than being in the wrong place that day, and their mother who had sacrificed herself to protect Kamui! The pain and grief had clouded his mind with a deep-seated hatred, but Ryouma-niisan and Hinoka-neesan were more upset with him for yelling at Kamui, with nary a word about Mother or the townspeople! That had only worsened his mood. And yet, that hadn’t been the end of it. After the attack on Shirasagi, they had received word that the Nohrian army was assembling at the border, and so he and his siblings and Kamui had gone to confront the enemy – led by none other than the crown prince of Nohr himself, a man who called Kamui his brother. And when forced to make a decision, the traitor sided with Nohr! The country that had just killed his mother, and his father years ago, both of whom had died to protect him! Kamui had, during his short return to Hoshido, indirectly caused the deaths of the queen and innocent civilians, the destruction of the capital, and had demoralized not only all of Hoshido but his siblings as well. Takumi had to wonder if it’d all been an elaborate ruse by Nohr to cripple Hoshido to begin with. “Takumi.” The voice of his elder brother – his only elder brother – startled him out of his thoughts. Ryouma approached him, and from a distance he looked just as confident as he always was, even in the midst of hardship. But as he drew nearer, Takumi could see even in the darkness of the night the exhaustion in his brother’s face; a hint of sadness in his eyes. “You should be resting,” Ryouma said. “That wound won’t heal if you overexert yourself.” A faint blush coloring his cheeks, Takumi slowly rubbed his lower arm. Thankfully, it wasn’t his dominant hand that had been injured, but during the skirmish earlier that day he had battled against one of the Nohrian princes. He had received the injury when his enemy had gotten too close. In his anger he’d barely noticed the pain, but now his arm protested the results of letting out his pent-up rage. “Tomorrow morning we shall begin planning our next move from hereon in,” Ryouma went on. “Nohr’s actions are an act of war, and we cannot let them go unpunished.” “Nohrian scum,” Hinoka hissed, from where she stood behind Ryouma – Takumi hadn’t even realized she was there until he heard her. “I’ll never forgive them for what they’ve done! They turned Kamui against us, his true family …” “It is regrettable, but Kamui has sided with Nohr.” Ryouma closed his eyes, as if his next words physically pained him to say. “He is our enemy now, and the next time we meet on the battlefield we must fight.” “Why … why is any of this happening? For so long, I’ve dreamed that Kamui would return to Hoshido … return to us. That we could all live happily in the castle together like we used to …” “Neesan, what are you saying!” Takumi shouted at Hinoka, unable to bear listening to her mourning for any longer. “Kamui’s been lost to us for years! We don’t know who he is anymore! If it weren’t for him, Mother would still be alive!” “Shut up, Takumi! You wouldn’t understand!” Hinoka snapped back at him, gripping her naginata so tight that it seemed to be on the verge of breaking. “Kamui has always been a kind-hearted child. He’s our family! How can you just cast him aside like he’s nothing?” “How can I – neesan! He’s the one who turned his back on us! He chose Nohr over us – like Hoshido never meant anything to him! Like Mother hadn’t died to protect him!” “Maybe he didn’t want to come back to Hoshido because of the way you’d been treating him this entire time! Maybe Kamui would be here with us if you hadn’t been so terrible to him for no reason!” “P-please stop!” The sound of Sakura raising her voice, especially at her older siblings, was enough to make them both stop and turn to her. At some point unbeknownst to them, Sakura had joined them in the courtyard, probably drawn out by the sound of Hinoka and Takumi’s arguing. She was standing beside Ryouma, wringing her staff in her hands as their elder brother held her in a supportive one-armed hug. “Sakura …” Hinoka had the decency to look embarrassed – as did Takumi; upsetting Sakura was the last thing either of them wanted to do. “I-I’m sorry, but I can’t stand to see you fight like this, not now.” Despite the tears that were pooling in her eyes, Sakura’s voice never wavered. “Mother and Kamui are gone, and we shouldn’t be fighting! We need to stay together, now more than ever.” “She’s right,” Ryouma said, his commanding tone essentially shutting down any possible disagreements. “Today has been tiring for all of us, but we must not forget what is truly important in this venture. We must protect Hoshido and the peace that Father and Mother had died for. Now, let us all turn in for tonight. May tomorrow bring light on Hoshido.” With softly muttered agreements, Hinoka and Sakura headed back into the castle while Ryouma followed them inside. But Takumi remained standing in the courtyard, mulling over his brother’s words. Something had struck a nerve. It wasn’t for peace that Father and Mother had died. It had been for Kamui. Everything that they had done leading up to their deaths had been for that person – who had all but spit upon their sacrifice by choosing the country that had killed them. He may have been right in his distrust, but he felt no satisfaction from it. And why should he? Mother was gone. Central Shirasagi was in a crater. They had lost many soldiers and civilians by the end of the day. And his siblings were broken. They were broken, and yet they still were in love with the idea of Kamui; their long-lost precious brother who would come back if they could bring him back to his senses and all would be as it should be. Kamui had destroyed Hoshido’s morale, and he’d hurt his siblings in the worst way that he could. Takumi vowed to make him pay for it. - He’d had nothing but bad dreams that night. The scene from earlier that day kept on replaying in his mind: the sword exploding, the buildings crumbling, Mother throwing herself in front of Kamui to her death – Sometimes the scene would change. He would be at the border – or sometimes inside the castle. He and his siblings would be standing alone, against an army of faceless Nohrian soldiers – led by none other than Kamui. Ryouma-niisan was still as Kamui brought up his sword, the stolen Yato no Kami that had chosen a traitor, professing that he could not fight the younger brother that he had loved so dearly, even as the sword plunged into his body – Other times, it was Hinoka-neesan instead of Ryouma-niisan. Or Kamui killing Sakura in cold blood even though she couldn’t fight back against him. Sometimes they would all be dead, and Kamui would be taunting him that Father and Mother had loved him best, that he was too weak to defend anything as he raised his sword over his head – Takumi didn’t feel like sleeping for the rest of that night. A soft knock on the door pulled him out of his racing thoughts, and Oboro stepped inside the room – her naginata at her side and a concerned expression on her face. “Milord, are you well?” “Oh, Oboro …” Takumi felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, and he immediately went to look at anything other than her. He didn’t want her to see him like this – like a child that needed to be comforted after a nightmare. What would she think of him? “I’m all right. I apologize if I troubled you.” “Not at all, milord.” She placed her naginata against the wall and sat down next to him, not looking at him but at some point directly ahead. “I understand what it’s like … to lose a parent. To lose your family to Nohr. I’ve hated them … for as long as I can remember. I understand how you feel, Takumi-sama. No matter what lies ahead of us, I will always be by your side and I will always protect you.” Despite everything that had happened, Takumi couldn’t help but smile – just a little. She was right – if there was anyone who could understand how he felt, it was Oboro. And she had always been at his side ever since she pledged her service to him. Even if the rest of the world turned against him, Takumi felt that he could at least count on her to be there. Maybe, once they’d won the war, they could – “Oboro, if it’s not too much trouble … could you stay with me tonight?” “Yes! I-it’s no trouble at all, milord!” He could almost see the grin on her face. “I would be honored to!” It wouldn’t make everything in the world right again, because Mother was still gone and Hoshido had still suffered a massive blow. But for now, it was enough to let him pretend that nothing had changed, that his family was still whole and the world wasn’t crumbling around them.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S2dr7jwqCtyI3oOtOkIIAiLoDEhPwhJbcJKBRj2k9zk/pub

Hi, I´m new to Serenesforest. Last months I´ve been playing a little bit with Awakening and Fates´s story. If your are interested, post your ideas. This post contains Big Spoilers for Awakening and some Mild Spoilers for Fates The first thing I want to share is Chrom´s dad, I made a base design for it and I think it is pretty cool. One thing I noticed is that I´m not that great at drawing armor, so if you´d like to help me with that I would really appreaciate it. Once I get Fates next month and clear the story modes, I´ll update on the story itself, so you´ll have to wait a little bit until the main story. For some time it will be some designs I make or some mini stories that will shape the main story. Well, here comes Chrom´s Dad I am not that great with names, but my idea for his name is Rodrik. He is an only child. In this story, he is the first blue haired descendant that wasn´t born with his brand. For that reason, he isn´t able to wield Falchion. His base class is an Axe Lord, but his class is War Lord, they can use Axes and Swords. I don´t know what his Personal Skill would be. Since his parents loved him very much, they forged a special axe made of extremely rare silver that uses the Argent Gem´s Power. He still goes into a rampage and tries to anihilate the Grimleals. I´ll attach the photos in the next few days since I´m having Internet trouble right now. Update #1 Now, I´ll talk a bit about the main thing of this mashup. Since I haven´t played Fates, but I know a bit of the story, this may change in the future. The idea is that after the end of Fire Emblem Fates, the Invisible Path, Kamui, Aqua, and Lilith go through a portal and got to Chrom´s world. They get separated in the way, and Kamui appears near the time and place where Chrom finds Robin, but he can´t remember well what happened to him. I´ll update after the game comes out, to avoid people getting mad with me.

A year ago my friend The Jonin Monkey reviewed the narrative of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and, in a supplemental video, touched on what made Ike's character in particular special, both of which I helped record footage for, and voiced Soren in the first. Today, he takes a look at the narrative of it's highly divisive sequel, Radiant Dawn, with it's own supplemental video dedicated to the infamous Blood Pact. Both videos I once again helped record footage for, on top of casting and directing VAs for dialogue scenes and editing the blood pact video. This has therefore been a pet project of ours for a while now and we'd appreciate any feedback we can get, so be sure to give it a watch and tell me what you think:

Each person gets a sentence. ONE SENTENCE. No cheating. I'll give the honors to someone other than me to start the story.

I am not going to bore you with too long an introduction but let’s just say I wanted to over-analyze the crap out of Fire Emblem 7’s incredible story (to show people there much more to the story meets the eye). Also anyone who wants to do the same for other fire emblems can do here as well (if no one does it I may do 9 as well which also has a really good story,) BTW MASSIVE spoilers are in going to be in this thread (duh). So let’s begins I am going to start with basic overview talking a little about FE 6. In FE 6 the main antagonist is King Zephiel a man who lost complete faith in mankind do to his father’s repeated attempts to kill him and the chaos that was his family. So in FE 7 they decided to further explore what drove a man such as Zephiel to his breaking point, not explicitly mind you, but they would explore how someone’s family can affect them for good or bad. They would speak as well about the value of life and that people could improve and change (this is mainly shown by Jaffar and Nino). Which properly juxtaposes with Zephiel view that all men deserve to die, because we all at our heart, selfish. And so the main themes of FE 7 are, Family, the value of life, and the goodness in man. The exploration of these themes in 7 are big way that 6 (even though 6 hardly has a story) and 7 are connected. Okay with that out of the way let’s start up Okay so I don’t want to write a 12 page essay so I am not going to go in to crazy detail and I am not going to do a plot summary Lyn’s story Though it might seem kind of irrelevant Lyn’s story does play into the theme here well especially with FE 6 in mind. Here is a couple of point 1. Dorcas it in the chapter he is introduced applies to theme fairly well. In the chapter Dorcas needing money for his sick wife take a job with some bandits which ironically enough end up attacking his own wife. After Lyn talk to him he realize the error of ways his that what doing put people like his wife in danger and end up joining up with Lyn. 2. When they happen upon Nils and he pleaded with them to help rescue Ninian, Lyn is faced with a choice of weather to help Nils and risk not reaching her grandfather in time, or leave cause ain't nobody got time for that. But Lyn go to help Nils even though she risks not be able to see her grandfather alive a selfless act indeed, that ended up paying off in the end. 3. And near the end of the campaign we learn that Lyn parents where not accepted by her father though there was different a reason for it, this still reflective of Zephiel plight. But the difference was in the results because Lyn mother lived a happy life even after her father shunned them, why because she loved her husband and she loved her family, something Zephiel did not have as he even distanced himself from Guinevere his sister. 4. This is more Easter eggy then anything but when Lundgren is trying to kill Lyn’s Father he did so by poisoning him, this is the same way that Zephiel father tried killing him that finally set him off and the difference here again is in the reaction, Zephiel went for revenge and Lyn’s father went for absolution, to right what he did wrong with his kids. And that it for Lyn's story (at least that I feel the need to point out at the moment). but I will update with the Eliwood and Hector campaigns soon, I wasn't going to post until I was finished but the site decided otherwise, so I will update it bit by bit as I have time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok time to start on Eliwood's/Hector's story 1. One of the of most notable thing about Fe 7 is that unlike every other fire emblem (to my knowledge from a thread I read here this also applies to the couple of Fire Emblems I have not played yet namely 2, 3/12, I have played a small amount of 5) in event that gets the ball rolling is not is when bla bla Country suddenly attacks bla bla Country. Though Nergal gets the country of Laus to join his cause by appealing to Darin ambition, they are hardly the main driving force in the plot and are not even close to the main enemy, which is Nergal and the black fang. The main thing that get the plot started is when Elbert goes missing and Eliwood goes to find him, worrying for his safety. The are bits and thing that happen between the beginning and the port of badon but I will cover that later and go to the section the Port of Badon though the Dread Isle. 1. When they go to the port to get a ship they soon find out that no one will take them to the dread isle but Fargus and his crew who are Pirates. This sets Lyn off cause view Pirates the same as the Bandits who killed her entire clan. Therefore she will not trust them as she thinks all these type of people are the same. But it turns out that Fargus has a heart of gold (kinda like the situation with Gonzalez in fire emblem)offering alternative to paying the price in goal, offering to protect them on the ship, recusing Ninian out at sea, and giving them one of his most trusted crew members dart to help them out. Dart is also a great example of how Fargas is as a person, while Dart is in conversation with Farina, Farina starts talking to Dart about treasure and Dart expresses interest in finding a rare pirate treasure. When Farina asks him what he would do with all the money Dart says that all he wants to do with the treasure is hide it again for someone else to find it because he doesn't really want the money he just likes the thrill of finding treasure. This is the thing about Fargus he could've taken their money on the port as the only way for them to support his ship but he offers them the option to of a challenge for the fun of it because Fargus goes on pirate adventures for the thrill of it. 2. On the ship before the battle on hector mode, Lyn and Hector have a very cool conversation. In it we learn that Hector's parents are as well are dead though in a less tragic way then Lyn's. As they in on in this conversation and remiss reminisce over their shared tragedy of losing their parents, they contemplate how they do not want Eliwood to face the same grief that they have and to lose his father and is big reason for them helping Eliwood. 3. While they were heading to the dread isle Nergal busts Leila's cover and orders Jaffar to kill her and place her body in a place where they can find it on the dread isle. When they land Matthew and Hector find Leila's body. Hector swears revenge against Nergal, The Matthews reaction is super sweet and reflects genuine sorrow and he comments on how he had planned to ask Leila to settle down with him after he was finished with this, but he laments that he was too late and should've asked sooner (frankly I wish I had the quote with me because the way Matthew says it is perfect). After that he only asked that he's given time to find somewhere to bury her. What's really cool is that if you bring Matthew into the next battle with you he will comment to you that this is no time for mourning that Leila would've wanted wanted for him to help you right now. This and his reaction to Leila's death is one the things that makes Matthew as a character so great. This also greatly effect Hector and Matthew's thoughts on Jaffar later on. 4. A small little note here but good to point out nonetheless is that Uhai refuses to straight up kill her when he has the chance because that would not be honorable and because she's a woman from the Sacae, showing that the black fang are not just cold blooded murderers. This is your first (if I remember right) big hint at the heart of the black fang, that these are not your typical bad guys. 5. And then they finally arrived at Dragon the gate (thanks to Uhai directions) they meet up with Ephidel and Nergal. Ephidel stops to greet them, Hector tries to kill Ephidel fails to hit him and Ephidel kidnaps Ninian. When they arrived the dragon's gate they find miracle there with new unit dragon's gate they find Nergal there with Ninian and Nils using them to open the gate. Elbert still weak from all the quintessence Nergal has been sucking out of uses the last of his strength to stab Nergal in the back causing Nergal to be temporarily weakened and to abandoned (so can't control the dragons), but it was the last bit the strength Elbert had so he also died shortly after the Gate partially opened and Nergal now gone. Eliwood and company escape, Nergal having left Ephidel then causing him to be destroyed. Showing Nergal’s lack of care for what he created and Elbert selfless nature. 6.The last little part in the section that I want to talk about happens right after the land back in the portable and The last little part in the section that I want to talk about happens right after the land back from the dread isle. Nils and Ninian tell Eliwood of the time they spent at the dragon's gate and what his father did for them there. While they languished away in there his father would often tell they stories of his son and his family, and happy times he had with them, he did this to help keep their spirits up. As you can see from this and his family was his main source of happiness and when he thought to cheer up Ninian and Nils, this was the first place you went to in this we can see from this this man's family is what got him and Nils and Ninian, through this tough ordeal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay with this section done we can move on the next two sections, which will be the most important. I will be covering the Bern chapters, Four fanged offense though Cog of Destiny. The section after that will be will be all about Nergal, the Morphs and the end of the game, these will next two section will be my next two updates. These might take a little longer to make as these two sections go very deep down the rabbit hole and could several pages (3-5 pages, long, for reference this one was 2) long not as many direct connections to Fe 6 here and there is not as much interesting stuff here as there will be in the other two sections, but I hope you like like it regardless. A couple chapter before we are introduced to Pent and Louise and they offer to help everyone though bern because Louise is a distant cousin and friend of the queen of bern. Something interesting is that the Queen Hellene and the King Desmond and Pent and Louise relationship where ment to compare (something I will do later) and contrast each with each other. Hellene and Desmond marriage was a forced marriage done for political reasons. There relationship is totally devoid of love and because Desmond loved a different person and he can't see Hellene and by extension Zephiel as anyone other that the symbol of what was taken away from him. Therefore Hellene became an object of resentment for Desmond, Hellene tried make it work it but Desmond's hatred and unfaithfulness eventually led to Hellene becoming as bitter and hate filled as him. This lead them become a essentially divorced, and the family became split with Hellene and Zephiel living in a one castle and Desmond and Guinevere living in the other Castle (I'm sorry Eliwood but your Queen is living in another castle.... Sorry could not pass the joke). Then they started using the kids as a part of their plans to get back at each other. Desmond pushing for Guinevere's future husband to be king, and Hellene pushing for Zephiel to be king. This is not a power struggle, if Desmond just wanted to maintain power he could easily influence Zephiel as he idolizes his father and wants nothing more that his acceptance and the family to be together again (and he worked insanely hard so he could get his approval but since Zephiel was so naturally skilled at everything it just made Desmond jealous of his skill). No this is all about spite, and I going to tell you the modern divorce parallels here pretty crazy on point. (something I didn't really think about tell I started typing about it.) Okay I am still working on the other parts of this sections I will try to have the rest up next week. in the mean time here is something from the morph section talking about the end of the game So I have heard people say that Ninian being brought back to life at the end of the game is a Deus Ex Machina, well what if told you that while may be a bit cheap, it is not a Deus Ex Machina. You see magical resurrection is a well established as being possible in Fire Emblem 7, tell me what is Nergal army entirely made in the end of the game? Some Guy "The thing Nergal calls morphs which are the reanimated bodies of Nergals former army. But these people are just shells of their former selves, sure their bodies are active, but their souls are gone, this is far from the complete resurrection Ninian has. Me "True, these people are all shells with no sense of self or personality and this applies to every morph Nergal has made expect one. Sonia, who is self aware (to point of clamming repeatedly to be human) and has retained a small amount of personality and free will. Sonia is proof that Nergal experiments have led him closer to actual resurrection. But Nergal still lacked the power and knowledge to do it, something Bramimond has in spades. Bramimond sacrificed everything he knew for the power that he gained, his life, his gender, his personality, all into the darkness. He becomes a reflexion of the person standing in front of him, but he always retains that dark power. Also Ninian's resurrection does serve a purpose to the plot, as when Brammimond does shows that true resurrection is possible through righteous and honest means, he is meant to kind of be the reflection to Nergal showing all the power and Nergal could've attain and still not gone down the path he did. Brammimond also succeeded on his own in ways that Nergal do couldn't even by sucking the power of the greatest warriors around the land. This shows the value of patience and well as sacrifice, which is also at least when it comes to patience, a way that Athos was I was meant to contrast with Nergal showing how their past's split when Nergal who was his good friend greedily started seeking after things he didn't fully understand, but Athos even though he kept studying and searching for knowledge he did not fall into the same trap.

Alright so there have been quite a few changes to how critical work in this game. I'll just list them out and then talk a little about how this affects gameplay. 1) Luck and HP no longer are equal for all classes. This makes it more likely to critical most classes, and even outright OHKO them for not having enough HP. 2) HP growths are much lower this game. Once again, criticals now are much more likely to OHKO in story mode due to this change. 3) Skill now affects critical chance by (Skill-4)/2 = critical stat bonus. This is a slight tweak from awakening, but even tho it seems like a nerf, the next difference changes things even further. 4) 1 Luck = .5 Critical Evade now. Technically... this makes luck both worse and more valuable. It's worse cause it doesn't do as much, but it's more valuable cause now if you don't have high enough luck(ie 4 less than the target's skill), then any weapon has the chance to critical unless you start pairing up. 5) Killing Weapons now do 4x critical damage. 6) While class skills have less options to get your critical up, some personal skills are very strong in the critical department. 7) S rank Classes all get bonuses to criticals except for Maids/Butlers. This makes all these classes very critical based or even anti crit in a couple cases. A couple interesting notes, A) Killing Weapons are extremely strong in story, they make it very likely to have 20%+ critical chance, 4x crits, and only have 5 less hit and 10 less avoid than normal iron weapons. This nearly makes them statistically better than iron, steel, silver, brave, and sometimes warrior weapons in story mode for most cases. B) Certain Builds in PvP are certainly strong, I'm not going to say they are overbearing as I can't comment on that yet, but Arthur is standing around with a 90% chance to crit most classes on player phase when built right. C) This can be pretty scary to some people who hate enemies getting criticals and they may stray away from low luck characters.

So yeah, topic title. I know that the story is heavily criticized here on SF and asking elsewhere (on and offline) has yielded the same criticism. But does anybody know what the Japanese players, the ones that understands the full story instead of bits and pieces, think about the story? I don't think it's wrong to say that they have other standards that we in the West don't have, but I am curious nonetheless.

So I just rather want to hear it straight. I like to nit pick and dig down deep into my games. I've done pretty well so far dodging spoilers. Even when I open some up and not even get a cent of what it meant (though I know IK is the true). I played Awakening, I thought the story was meh, I played Blazing Sword and found it exceptional. So, topic. What do you think about Fire Emblem: Fates story/plot of each path? I'm aware not every story can be good, but I might not consider this gen if I'm going to play 24+ hours of an RPG and find the story not engaging enough. I'm willing to give these weird characters, mechanics and everything else a try, but only if the story is actually worth it, I'll regret it after a week of play. So I want honest opinions. - One of the Best!: Fully engaging and you could never say the story was bad in any way. Worth every cent. - Above Par.: Really good. You'll probably play more playthroughs you usually go through, weather you find the rest of the game mediocre. Worth the money. - Good Enough.: It's tolerable. Nothing spectacular. You'd probably enjoy it as much as Awakenings story. You probably stick with this version though. - Rather disappointing...: You wouldn't buy this game for the sake of the story. You better hope you like everything else. This versions story isn't worth it. Just rent or borrow it. If you going to post something about the story from one of the 3 paths, please put it in "Spoilers". Votes and Posts from members who've played the game or currently knows the story very well preferably.

Hello everyone. I'm finally done with the entire game and I have an urge to discuss what I often consider the most important part of a video game: the story. I created a thread not too long ago where I talked about Conquest and how I thought it definitely didn't live up to the hype of a complex storyline, to put it mildly. However, now that the third path has been released and beaten by a lot of people, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the plot and the characters as a whole. Before we begin, I'd like to mention a few things: Firstly, this thread will contain spoilers, and since I'm giving ample warning, I won't write anything in spoiler tags, nor will I expect anyone else to. Please do not continue reading if you are afraid of spoilers. Secondly, if you get upset by me, or anyone else "hating" on the game, please keep in mind that we're discussing the story here - I find the gameplay and music overall fantastic with only a few missteps here and there. I like the game as a whole. Thirdly, my Japanese is pretty poor, so if I have misunderstood something or offer an insufficient description of something, it's probably because of that. Don't be afraid to tell me if I have misunderstood something. Now, with that out of the way, I must admit that I'm a bit unsure as to how to proceed, seeing as we're talking about three different routes and in essence three different storylines. I think the best way would be to talk about different aspects and parts of the story; a deconstruction, if you will. 1. The choice Let's start with the most important part of the game. I initially loved the choice, and it's presented absolutely brilliantly. If you pick any country over the other, the characters really express their disbelief in a believable way, and the game doesn't shy away from making you feel like an asshole - it's an unwinnable situation, accompanied by beautiful, sad music and a genuinely tragic situation. ...Well, unless you spent extra money on the third route. . If you pick the third option, then Kamui talks to Xander and Ryouma as if they were children, the fight starts soon afterward with Kamui attacking both armies and then fleeing to the Invisible Kingdom, where Aqua drops an impossible amount of exposition, telling the player all about how Hydra and how he's the true villain and the mastermind behind the war, essentially making the choice completely irrelevant in terms of the story. Aqua also says that you can't talk about the Invisible Kingdom, or Touma, in the outside world because you'd turn into foam. That is one of the stupidest, most contrived excuses I've ever heard - THAT'S the excuse for Aqua not telling everyone the truth? That's the only reason why the other two routes even exist to begin with? Because Aqua's gagged? It's not to make the third path more difficult story-wise, because everyone's hellbent on accusing you of being a traitor anyway, and they'd have no reason to believe Kamui if they started talking about an invisible kingdom and evil dragons. This was just their explanation for Aqua not telling you anything in the other two routes. There are so many better ways they could've handled this. I'm no writer, but wouldn't it be much better if Aqua didn't know everything from the get-go and also had to find out the truth? As it stands now, Aqua exists more or less only to dump exposition, and she's got very little character; I almost forget that she's in the game, much less had a backstory of being kidnapped and raised in Hoshido, and the game itself seems to forget it as well. In the other two routes, Aqua just follows you without any real reason to, and she never even tries to tell you the truth; wouldn't that be her number one concern? Couldn't she just write us a note or something? - Anyway, from one point to another, but which is also relevant to the choice: The Hoshido siblings. The choice is further dilluted because the big deal about choosing Hoshido over Nohr was because of your blood ties but hey surprise, there are none, so now you can safely bang them to your hearts content! Seriously though, this was such an idiotic move on their part, and it was a plot twist that people started speculating about the very same day the second trailer was released. I've always found it funny how some people claim that waifus destroyed Fire Emblem, but here the story is actually weakened because it seems Intelligent Systems prioritized being able to marry every single character of the opposite gender over genuine intrigue - unless you think the whole "oh hey I got a letter from mom saying we're not related let's bang okay?" a satisfying enough explanation. To conclude, the premise is absolutely stellar, and in the beginning it seems very well executed, but it's so polluted by stupid story and gameplay decisions to the point where it doesn't even feel like a difficult choice anymore, since one is right - the other two will just take you to different maps. 2. The royal families I'll keep this brief, and I can summerize my thoughts fairly quickly: why the symmetry, and why so many? With the exception of Leon and Takumi, the royals feel very underdeveloped as characters. If there had been fewer of them, there could've been more interactions between them as well as a more fleshed out story - I know this is incredibly subjective, and since my Japanese is so poor I'm hesitant to talk much about characters even though I've read supports, but I can't for the life of me see the reason for several of the royals even being in the game. Hinoka in particular feels incredibly bland and forgettable, and she's probably the one who does the least in terms of story in all three routes; she feels like a complete afterthought. "But Thane, you like Awakening and we all know Awakening's characters sucked!" - Awakening had several bad characters, and I agree that Chrom felt underdeveloped, but the game never forgot he even existed. The big selling point of this game was the royal families and the story, just look at the "Iwata asks" and you'll see it's all they talk about, and they feel so...lifeless. I should also point out that this argument is completely irrelevant, since we're discussing Fates' story, but I wanted to prematurely explain my take on this, since I'm sure someone would've brought it up sooner or later. Leon and Takumi are nice though, and those two have a more romantic support than all other "romantic" supports combined. 3. The villains Well...if you can call them that. Seriously, I know Fire Emblem doesn't have a long history of complex villains, but these guys take the cake. Iago and Ganz hound Kamui in both Conquest and Birthright in slightly different ways before being unceremoniously killed - Iago even survives to beg for mercy in both routes before being killed by Leon...in both routes. Then in the third route they're just swatted like flies fairly early on without any real impact on the story. See, there's my main beef with them - what on earth are they even in the game for? What exactly do they offer? Sure, Iago is at least good at what he does but...what is it, exactly? They're so generically evil it hurts, and even though they survive for quite a while in the two original routes, they never develop as characters or accomplish anything, and they're so unimortant that Ganz dies without being able to have any dying words and Elise cheers Leon on after having murdered Iago in Conquest so...why weren't they just killed earlier? This is partially the reason why Conquest feels like it doesn't have a story and never gets anywhere, because Iago and Ganz are being annoying and the ragtag bunch of misfits can't do anything about it because they've got that world's version of diplomatic immunity. This brings me to the next villain, namely our favorite Flubber since Flubber, King Garon. ...Who also doesn't do much. I think the third route actually nailed his character perfectly. If you don't know what happens, I'll give you the the complete rundown. You mess up Hydra, who says he needs more power and thus teleports Garon, who has been seen about once in the third route earlier cackling maniacally, to his side. Garon offers his body to Hydra, but Hydra eats him instead - the siblings each say one line and after that he's not mentioned again. That's it. You know, for a guy we've seen turn into a giant dragon, a slime monster and (I imagine) having his powers boosted by Hydra, and being the king of Nohr whose manipulation is essentially what drives the entire story in the first place, you'd think he'd be a bit more...important? Prominent? Developed? As far as I know, we get to know very, very little about the real Garon's death and how Nohr has changed, and the siblings talk very little about living under this tyrant. "But Thane, the real Garon was dead and this was just the body controlled by Hydra, of course we can't see the real Garon" - well, I did find Mikoto and Sumeragi's return very cheesy and rushed (why couldn't they have taken Iago and Ganz' place? Would've had much more impact than the generic assclowns we killed without blinking), but Garon is super important to the story. Also, this sort of leads me to the core of the problem I have with this game: why was Hydra necessary? Why couldn't this game have been only two routes where you had to live with the consequences of your choice? Why wasn't Garon simply a misguided King? I'm not the most eloquent person as you may have noticed since, when talking about the villains, all I've done is asking "why?", but I'll try to explain what I wish Garon could have been. In The Legend of Zelda, you often face Ganon or Ganondorf, who's often portrayed as a very powerful, evil wizard, and that's more or less it. He didn't start getting a personality until Ocarina of Time, I believe, but the point where everybody I know started loving him was in Wind Waker. He talks solemnly about being the king of a desert people (this was known very early on in the franchise), and how the wind always carried destruction where he lived, either it scorched the land during the day or pierced their homes during the night. However, in the neighboring land of Hyrule, the land which he had tried to conquer so many times before, the winds carried something else. This speech lasts about half a minute, and suddenly everything falls into place and you feel genuine pity for an immortal guy who everyone just considered a generic bad guy. Garon, needless to say, has no such moment. We have very little information of how he was before, what drives him or even how the siblings react to him changing. We know they fear him, since Camilla was even prepared to kill Kamui on his behalf under the pain of death, but that's about it. I wish we had gotten to know him in Conquest, but instead we got a generic manipulated bad guy and a team of spineless morons. 4. Final thoughts Believe it or not, I don't hate the story, I merely dislike it, and I'm so underwhelmed and disappointed, and I feel absolutely nothing towards it. There are several moments and characters that are portrayed very well, but they're too few and generally unimportant to make much of a difference. One of the main problems is that the game constantly tries to have the cake and eat it too, like with being able to bang the Hoshido siblings. We can also see that in the third path, where all the important characters live, just in case any family member's death upset someone in another route. Speaking of the route system, I like it in theory, but it's made absolutely pointless by the de facto best one where you get everything and everyone. It's also no coincidence that it's the path you can't buy separately that is the "best" one, and I believe the other two routes suffered further because content was removed fairly late into development to give people incentive to buy the third path. I've got no proof of this, but it would explain why there is so much filler especially in Conquest and why so very, very little is revealed. If there had only been two more developed routes, fewer, better written siblings with more interactions between them and there was no true enemy which made one route more meaningful than the others, then this game could have been brilliant. As it stands, I ask myself a lot of "what ifs", but none of them are what the developers had in mind.

I re-made this thread because my previous one--just by the title--doesn't exactly feel like it "plants my flag", or so to speak. With this title, you know I will be making progress with my translations. I will make an effort to get at least one video out a day. It takes me a few to several hours to make one 10-20 minute video, so please forgive me if I miss out on a day. If all goes well I may be able to push out two, but that's not in any way a guarantee. Editing in all this text is a stroke and making sure they're good translations that gets the essential meaning across takes a little extra time.. Please excuse me if I double/triple/etc. post as I keep you guys updated. I'll try and keep it to a minimal, though. And without further ado... ---- Neutral (0-5) Chapters: "Chapter 0" Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Hoshido (6-27) Chapters: Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Nohr (6-27) Chapters: Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 "Aqua" (6-?) Chapter coming soon

http://www.siliconera.com/2015/07/14/senran-kagura-writer-worked-on-fire-emblem-fates-third-story-path/ So, this may or may not explain some things (not familiar with his work). And an interesting tidbit from that article: he and other Synthese staff wrote the support conversations.

So I'm still a bit baffled about something. Yeah it isn't really anything new but man I'm still scratching my head to the bone. So in Awakening we pretty much have the kids play Terminator and come from the future to fix everything so to an extent they have relevance to the story and a doable reason for how they got there but here the kids in Fates have no purpose. I can let the characters getting married slide no problem but what would possess them to have kids during a time of war? Also what is this Hyperbolic Time Chamber used to age the kids faster anyways? Where did it come from and how does it even work? If it speeds up the growth of the children why not those who are in there as well? In Matoi's support with Kamui she mentions that the other wives were there along with some caretakers so what do the ladies go into this real once they realize they have a loaf baking in them and enlist elite nannies to raise them?

So I just recently beat FE6 again and it got me wondering, why is FE7 a prequel to FE6? FE7's main plot has like nothing to do with Elibe. The Black Fang? Dragon's Gate? Quintessence? None of it builds off of the foundation from FE6. Yeah there's that whole Bern succession subplot at the end of the game but it feels really tacked on. It's funny because I was thinking that FE6 might have been a game that could benefit from a prequel. There's a lot of history suggested by the game that I think would be interesting to explore: how far back goes the conflict between Sacae and Bern, how did Etruria come to colonize the Western Isles, how do the Illans maintain dignity as a people when working for other nations. I'm not a writer so maybe it wouldn't have been that great anyway, but still. I don't resent FE7 for not being my personal fanfiction, but it's like, why is this a prequel? It feels like they had Black Fang plot done first and then rewrote it to try to be a FE6 prequel. Why? Was FE6 that popular that the next game had to be related to it? I don't think it really fits. I'm not even saying FE7's story is bad (although I don't really like it). I just don't know what they were thinking. Any thoughts? Would you have preferred a real prequel to FE6? What would you have wanted it to be about?

A while ago, before IS had confirmed that Kamui can transform, I came up with a theory that hinged on the idea that Hoshidan royalty were all dragon-kin. That has now been confirmed (the Hoshidan royalty bit, not the theory). The theory was that every royal had the potential to transform, but the ability was unlocked by going through extreme mental stress. With Kamui watching their father gain a newfound sympathy for pincushions, the ability unlocked. However, due to Kamui's young age their body couldn't handle a full out dragon session, so the transformation was improper. Probably Kamui's partial transformation as seen here. Upon seeing Kamui grow a cool new mask, Garon decides instead of disposing of Kamui, to raise them as his own. Something happens, Kamui is sent to Hoshido, and meets Aqua. Aqua also having gone through extreme mental stress (she was most likely kidnapped) knows how the ability works better than Kamui does, and gives him a dragon stone. After transforming, Kamui, not used to full dragon yet, freaks out and chokes Aqua. Leading to the scene where they, you know, choke Aqua. This theory could explain why Kamui looks so completely different from his kin (who knows what they looked like before transformation), why no one else can do it, and, more subjectively, why the partial form looks so much cooler than dragon form. Thoughts?

This idea came from another thread. So I've been thinking about this but if you think about it we are essentially told that Griel/Gawain is an all powerful warrior bar none and the best swordsmand in all of Tellius even being so legendary that some like Zelgius (a skilled swordsman himself) refer to him as unbeatable before severing his tendons (and even then he's still a threat). I mean sure the guy's gotta be naturally talented but lets face it people don't start off like that. Every legend has a teacher and every story has a begining. He obviously had to train an obscene amount and have a damn good teacher (possibly his father?) to show him the ropes. I think itd be awesome if a little backstory went into Gawain's past but since that'll never happen lets discuss.

This is the feedback thread for my story 'Fire Emblem Awakening - Once Again'. Link to original thread. Other than that, fire away with questions, criticisms or niceties. I'm partial to all.

I realise that this is something that has been done countless times before, but whatever. As I have no capacity for drawing, my only real outlet to contribute to the fandom is through writing. This story, along with being just some fun for me, is an exercise in narrative and tense, hence the second person, present tense storytelling. Feedback thread is now up, so leave comments there. Please do leave criticisms both in that thread and in the form of reviews on ff.net if you wish. Also, if you wish to simply ask questions, or even contribute to the story (as it's still very much only in planning) then feel free to send a message. Enjoy! Chapter Listings Chapter 1 Chapter 2

A friend of mine put together a review for the narrative of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I recorded most of the footage for this review and I also provided a voice for Soren. He'd really appreciate any feedback you have to help make his upcoming review of the sequel, Radiant Dawn, even better, so give it a watch if you have the time: Main review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asDxyhYIkfY Supplemental character study of Ike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joPOFHTItF0

Alright so Fate had me write an intro story to introduce my writing skills, and so I have this story that Bly also wanted to read, and I feel like at this point I should share it Because you know, two people is a majority. Anyway, here's the first er... First post of it, I'll be updating it when the flow comes to me. So... I don't know. I'm sorry for the format, this is how I do forum writing for longer stories. It appeals to my eyes. Lack of a Covenant One day, a boy of the age 15 had arrived in the world Parellia with nothing but the clothes on his back. His hair shone with the color of the sun, and his eyes as blue as the ocean. With the help of his explorative nature and the natives of the land, he was able to save the planet from eminent destruction at the hands of the Chimeron’s army. The demon king was defeated, and the land had a new ruler. Homesick, the hero left for home in the company of an elf named Fae. His legend became a folkstory for the people of Parellia; whenever the world needed a savior, those that were unaffected by magic would appear and help them in their hour of need. 2395 years afterwards, a hero was to return, but none ever came. Without someone to help, the elven kingdom of Rueen was destroyed. The elves became an extinct species, replaced by the Goblins. These goblins ended up becoming pirates and spreading their tortured pain throughout all of the world. It was around this time that a boy named Ren was visited in a dream. Without a hero, their world will die. Without a hero, this world will die The link has been made, whether you want it to or not. The hero won’t come. We need a hero. The boy looked around slowly within his dream. He was standing above the tower of Dabbel in Parellia He looked down at the world below him. Suddenly the planet began to quake; the tower collapsed under him. He fell from story to story of the tower, before reaching the final story, or rather the first. He looked out into a city unknown to him, devoid of life. He wandered around for what seemed to be ages, looking through the ruins. Suddenly, voices began ringing in his head. His name was being repeated several times over, as if sung by choirs of angels. The world began to shake even more violently. “Ren, Ren, Ren, Ren! Wake up! Wake up this instant,” His sister, Lin, was standing over him. Her radiant beauty blinded by that of the sun, she quickly dragged him out of bed as soon as she saw that he was waking up. “Hey, hey, hey! What’s the rush? I mean it’s only…” He had forgotten it was his own birthday. “Oh, I guess you’re here to drag me to the party,” he said with a smile. However, as the sun’s glare disappeared, he noticed the urgent look on her face. Quickly, he jumped out of bed and ran towards the front door, his sister right behind him, holding his hand tightly. “What a way to start the year…” We need a hero. “What did you say,” Ren stopped with a hand on the door handle, looking back at his sister. “I didn’t say anything. Are you alright,” She looked at him with a concerned look on her face. Step outside. “Ah, I must be imagining things…” Ren opened his front door slowly, surprised to see a giant vortex of swirling violet energy looming over his hometown. It had completely eclipsed the sun. He stepped outside and looked into the sky. “Ren!” “What is it,” Ren looked around confused, only to realize that the ground was no longer under him. He began to drift upwards toward the whirlpool as if he were a balloon. “No, no, no, no, no,” He did his best to swim through the air, at least back to the ground, but to no avail. The vortex swallowed him up whole. Suddenly he was blind. Expergiscere anima Chiean Hero, Ren. The world needs a hero. You will have to accept this role. Nobody else can do it. Fear not, you are not alone. You understand me, right? Expergiscere anima The world felt cold. Winds were blowing. Ren dare not open his eyes, for he feared the worst. He could feel the ice and snow under him, and he could hear something quite loud nearby. He felt around and slowly climbed to his feet. Then, he peeked through one eye, seeing the ice and snow that had surrounded him. The glare of the Parellian sun off of this surface had made him think he had been in the clouds. The cold, light, and emptiness reminded him of heaven somehow. Believing himself to be dead, he began to cry. “What’re ya crying about, ya big baby? We’re not dead. Trust me, if you were dead, we wouldn’t be here, now would we,” a man retorted. Ren looked up and suddenly he found himself staring at not one, but two of his friends, alongside his sister. His best friend, Taiga the fiery wonder, was the first he noticed. His red hair stuck out against the white tundra most. He was a little Taller than Ren, standing at six feet tall. He wore a long sleeved black shirt and blue jeans, and red sneakers. Next was his godfather Sain, who was a dear friend of his parents before they had disappeared, and who had always made sure to check in on them. Sain himself stood abnormally tall at a height of six feet and eleven inches. He was athletic, but more than that he had trained alongside Ren’s parents in martial arts. He was the one who had been speaking. “Well… I um…” Ren began to stutter “Where are we?” “Parellia,” A being slowly descended from the sky, blocked by the light of the Parellian Sun. Upon landing, they identified her for the elven beauty she was. Taller than even Sain, she looked down at them with a gentle smile. Her blonde hair flowed in the wind, even moreso than anyone else’s. Her eyes, a bright multicolored show of dazzling light. She wore a suit of dazzling obsidian armor, which seemed to contrast with her benevolent nature. As she spoke of the prophecy which was to be fulfilled, the group of four simply listened in awe. She spoke of a blessing that was placed on Ren’s parents, which passed onto him, as well as the role they would all play. The three of them, Sain, Lin, and Taiga were to help drive Ren towards his destiny of being the hero that would save this world. She smiled and begin flying away, promising that they would meet again after they found the golden fruit of green. Before leaving, she sang slowly, and as she sang, the group was enveloped in yet another light. Each time a verse was done, another would disappear, in the order of Taiga, Sain, Ren, and Lin. One hero to try and save the world One hero to run away in fear Do not try to become one or another Or you will find you have destroyed your brother. The destiny that you envied, you will be able to fulfill To help the young heroes, is your role Young Gandalf, raise your head up high Don’t sulk of your role, or you’ll be left behind Rise up, young hero. You are no leader, but you don’t need to be. You are not brave, but you need not worry The friends you will gather will guide your way Littlest of them all, blind seer It is not your goal to fill them with cheer Help guide them, but bring questions of the world Foolish heroes don’t survive in the west. __________________________________________________________________________ Tempest in the Sea of Trees Some would say that the group simply found trees, but that is because they were never able to find the city of thieves that lay within. Instead, they wandered aimlessly in the forest, awed by the scenery. What intrigued Ren the most about this area were the fruit of various shapes and sizes. He found one fruit the size of his head, but it seemed to resemble a chocolate bar. He and his friends were worried about the consequences of eating such strange fruit though, and decided that they would leave such an option for a last resort, as they found fruits that were similar to the ones on their planet as well. Upon walking in the woods for three hours however, the group came across a group of trees with what seemed to be lemons, and a tree of limes next to each other. Surrounding these trees were a group of lemons and limes that had fallen off the trees. At first, Taiga, Sain, and Lin watched as Ren began Biting into Lemon after Lemon before Sain told him that lemons were already yellow. He’d have to look for a lime that had turned golden, most likely from becoming too ripe. Angered, Ren spat lemon seeds at the three of them. For another four hours, the four of them looked through the lemons and limes, that had fallen on the ground. As the sun set, Ren’s eyes diverted upwards to the stars filling the sky; the stars were plentiful, more so than back home. Taiga looked alongside him, and Lin and Sain kept their eyes averted to the ground, still looking for the golden lime. “Hey,” Ren said, looking at Taiga. “Why don’t we climb the trees for a better view?” “Sure,” Taiga said with a smile. The two of them climbed the two different trees, Ren on the lime tree, and Taiga on the lemon tree. When they reached the top of the trees, they found themselves to be quite awed at what they found. The stars that seemed biggest weren’t truly stars. They were actually more fruit. They each grabbed one and took a bite, before silently falling into a trance. They found themselves in a desert. Near to them was a tower, from which agonizing screams could be heard. Ren trembled in fear “I’d rather back off, Taiga. Maybe we should find a way back.” “Ren, you gotta be braver, you are the hero, right? Besides, knowing this kind of world, I’m almost positive the way back is in there.” Taiga led the two of them into the tower, where they found what seemed to be a mannequin crucified. Disturbed, the two of them began backing off towards the exit, which had disappeared. The screaming became louder, and Taiga fell to the ground, clutching his chest, his screams joining that of the mannequin’s. “Taiga! Ah… I'm sorry…” Ren was a coward, but no fool. His friend should not have followed him, the fruit were meant for him, this new realm was only for his eyes to view. He was blessed by the goddess, and thus, the pressures and torments that had been given to him were for him to face alone. Ren stood up and glared at the mannequin. Mustering his courage, he charged at it, and when he got close enough, he ripped the cross out of the ground and slammed it into the ground four times. Each time he did, the ground shook, and the tower began to crumble. On the fourth impact, the world completely shattered around them. Taiga would wake up, later claiming that the fruit had simply knocked him out. Ren however, stayed awake in the void of darkness around him. He saw a light in the distance and flew towards it. It was another golden fruit, this one an apple with the letter G on it. As he took a bite, he too awoke back in the world that he knew as Parellia, on the ground. He’d fallen out of the tree. He held his head, but realized that he had not been hurt. Sain caught him as soon as he began to fall. He smiled, and said nothing to either of them about what had happened in the new realm. ______________________________________________________________________________ Creation of the Second Hero Taiga was angered of what had happened that night. He felt helpless, and he regret that he was only able to hinder Ren’s progress. He ended up staying in the tree as his friends slept below him. As he thought to himself about his own shortcomings, a man appeared on the tree across from him. He had long black hair and a blindfold over his eyes. He wore what seemed to be flowing robes, and his stature was just as large as that of the elf from before, but one could tell easily that this was a man. He held a black apple out to Taiga, who simply stared at him. “You could walk this world a thousand times with these people, and discover nothing,” The man said, “Or you can begin your own journey. A single man can accomplish much with the determination. I will grant you the power to rival the hero. What he gains is yours, and what you gain shall be his. You will be one half, and he the other. Who remains the shadow is up to you.” “I…” Taiga was confused. He wanted this. He truly did, but would he be able to leave them. Then he remembered Ren’s hesitation. Taiga held his hands out, and the man in black tossed him the corrupted apple. Taiga then took one bite, and the overflowing energy nearly overwhelmed him. “Power... So this is it, huh?” Taiga then began flying, the power of flight given to Ren by the first fruit. Taiga used this to leave the group, heading North towards the icy lands of Lunar Çarenta. ___________________________________________________________ A Tale of Two Heroes Upon waking, Ren could sense Taiga’s presence in the icy tundra. He seemed to be fleeing from something, or rather someone. Ren could sense this man’s power from the forest, even one country away. Ren looked to his remaining group, who had been sitting under the tree, talking. “Guys! Taiga, he’s… he left us! We need to find him,” Ren cried out to Sain and Lin, who only shook their heads no. “Taiga has his own journey, Ren,” Lin stated “Taiga is doing this because he’s your rival,” Sain stood up slowly with a solemn look on his face “He wants to be a hero too. Do you not remember? Besides, once this is over, we go home. So if you want to get home with him, your only hope is to get stronger.” Sain began walking westward, when the elven beauty from before appeared to them. Without saying a word, she waved a hand, and the three of them appeared on the central country of Solar Çarenta, near the City of Dreams to the north. Upon walking into the city, they were not greeted with a welcome of any sort. They simply blended into the crowd. They began their journey from a point of new beginnings.

Dear fellow Fire Emblem fans, The first Fire Emblem game that I played was the very first one released in the US/ Europe. The game that got me interested was Super Smash bros. melee. Roy was my favorite character, and he was someone I wasn't even familiar with. When Fire Emblem was released for the first time in a language I could understand I immediately bought the game, and fell in love... Fire Emblem is my all time favorite game with Jaffar being my favorite character in this game. (Zach Fair is my all time favorite video game character) With the release of Sacred stones I was once again captivated, but let down at the same time. By the time the endgame had come along all of my characters were lvl. 20/20... Grinding was made possible, and as a result every decision I now made carried significantly less weight. Exp. could be gained unlimited. When Path of Radiance was released I was filled with joy. However after playing through the game without ever having to really think about any of the decisions that I made with once again all of my characters at lvl. 20/20 by the time I finished the game, and to top it all off the story wasn't even done... When the Nintendo DS was released I happened to have enough money to buy one with the hope that one day a Fire Emblem game would be released on the system. What a disappointment Shadow Dragon was... Due to my disappointment with Path of Radiance, and my lack of finances I decided to not buy a Wii, and let this one pass me by. When I caught wind of Awakening being released I pre-ordered the limited edition Fire Emblem 3ds XL. This is the game that I am currently still playing. (Actually the only reason I bought a 3ds, and the only game that I own on a 3ds) I'm on my first play through, (Hard/ Classic) and will not pass any (real) judgement until I've at least beaten it. Due to the possibility of grinding... (I seriously hate grinding...) the difficulty level is a joke, and obviously has nothing to do with why it is taking me so long to beat this game. I'm a very casual gamer, and the story/ game has not been able to motivate me to keep playing out of excitement for what's to come next. That, and I'm very indecisive when it comes to picking a partner for myself, and all of my other characters... I'm actually here to seek help for that... :P (And to thank whoever made the translation to Sword of Seals which I will be playing once I've finished Awakening :D)

I am a decent Spriter, or is it just recoloring? Ah either way, I have a story and most of the chapters down in my head and I've been trying to find someone who knows how to do a hack. So i came here because i know this is a great place to find help. Now I do have a friend who says he knows what he's doing but he wont actually do anything or actually get started. I really want to get this started and I need someone who knows what they are doing. Not that i even know how complicated this is or even how easy it may be I just don't want to lose the ideas I have.

I stumbled upon this video while looking through youtube to try and understand the story of these games and I came upon this brilliant video that really helped me.