Alastor plays and ranks the whole series! Mission Complete! ...For now.

[Alastor15243]

Radiant Dawn Day 29: Chapter 3-10

Well, we're back with the Greil Mercenaries for a little while longer, but only that: a little while. This chapter and the next. And then... we'll be the Dawn Brigade again, for the remaining tow of their three maps in Part 3.

...Man, this game really fucks over staff exp people, doesn't it? The methods they use to get the Dawn Brigade's fighters caught up despite their limited screentime really don't translate to helping anyone relying on a fixed per-turn pittance of exp. Really, staff users should be getting double, no... triple rates.

Actually, honestly, player-phase fighters suffer due to this too, but that's a problem inherent in nearly the entire series, and it wasn't until Fates' experience formula kept the enemy phasers from getting too far ahead (among other changes) that player-phase units even began to be viable.

Moving on, the narration here is... not much to comment on. It's about what you'd expect from the ending of last chapter.

I... liked this opening talk scene for the most part. I struggle to think of any specific descriptions of why though, it's just a generally enjoyable scene. Not a masterpiece, but no real significant complaints.

God damn but there is a shitton of Olivi grass in the bargain section. I think I've got more than enough to last for three laguz though. Certainly until the laguz gems start showing up in Part 4.

Also, Janaff and Ulki have sub-300% growth totals, meaning that they're already technically slightly prime for bonus exp. I didn't find this out though until I gave Shinon 3 levels and was rewarded with exactly three level ups of strength, luck and defense due to his capped HP, speed and skill. Not that that's not a great outcome, but now I'd have been happier if I'd been able to get Ulki to level 30 for tear and not just Janaff.

Anyway, preparations are light as usual, so we're ready to fight. The two armies talk shit at each other, then Crimea shows up, and Elincia demands both armies leave Crimea immediately, as she won't allow either army to wage war in her homeland.

I love how Valtome's just insulting her repeatedly and then making death threats to her, and Queen Elincia just turns around and turns to Tibarn and is all like “I see. Okay, what's your answer?”, just not giving a shit at all. It's actually kinda badass.

Though... she talks to Tibarn and refers to him as the leader of the Laguz Alliance, and... is he? I mean it makes sense, given that the only other option is Ike, who's a beorc so that would be weird, and Skrimir, who's still a bit nuts. But like, was it ever explicitly stated and I just missed it?

Then Elincia just puts her sword down and says she will not use force, “But we are willing to do whatever it takes to end this here and now”.

...I mean, it's ballsy to drop your weapon in the middle of a battlefield and all, but what the fuck does she even mean? What was her plan here? What could she possibly have hoped to accomplish if that mere act of dropping her weapon on the battlefield hadn't bizarrely instantly impressed both Tibarn and Zelgius into withdrawing, sheerly because they were both honorable and impressed by her courage?

And, like... Zelgius is getting himself killed doing this. He's disobeying Valtome's explicit orders, and at the end of this battle it's going to result in his attempted execution.

Yeah, this feels kinda dumb.

But I do like Ike's line when Valtome decides to opportunistically attack Elincia.

“Greil Mercenaries! Looks like we have our old job back! Protect Queen Elincia!”

Ah yes, and this is where Elincia gets her “mercy” skill, which you should obviously immediately remove from her the second you have her at a base, because it's utterly useless for anyone who actually needs to keep up with the experience curve.

Yeah, this map is pretty simple and straightforward. The real challenge is getting these enemies to suicide onto the right people and not ones who can't kill them. That's a bit tricky actually, especially since Haar's starting to lose his ability to double reliably again. I caught him unable to double a soldier or two.

Thankfully, if it's just being an attack point or five short, the majority-mounted green units guarding Elincia can finish them off with ease.

...But it doesn't look like there's gonna be much challenge after the initial rush. Pity. The aggressive portion of the enemy forces have almost completely petered out by like turn three or so, an now it's just a standard rout mission with none of the enemies really moving aggressively (or sometimes at all) and no real need to protect anyone. Laaaaaame.

Most of the routing work at the moment is being done by Haar and, amusingly, Soren, because they're the only two who can reliably one-round enemies at 1-2 range, and Soren's surprisingly tough now. Between his defense, evasion and flare, he's easily got front-line-worthy survivability at the moment. At least until his endgame caps catch up with him I'm assuming.

Aaaaand Elincia is moving. Her army is aggressively charging the enemy units, which begs the question of why the fuck she didn't just pick up her sword the second she got attacked if she's still letting her army kill for her.

...Damn, 2-ish pages again. why do I have so little to say during these updates lately? I mean it's kind of weirdly refreshing, but also concerning. These chapters just seem to be going by so fast with so little to comment on. I feel like I'm playing the earlier games in the marathon again, and that is profoundly weird. It feels nice, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something horribly wrong.

Haar got a great level up, with HP, strength, skill, defense and speed, thanks to a boss kill that I arranged with some mildly ballsy galdr gambits. I wanted to kill as many of the archers as I could, because Elincia's placement was... unfortunate, and would've allowed the enemy to shoot her down if they were smarter. I got all but one of them, and the enemy was not smart, so things worked out.

Well, turn 7, and I'm done. Man, Reyson is fun to use at full power. A flying 4-space refresher with canto? YES PLEASE. Anyway, Ike catches up with Geoffrey a bit, and then...

...Zelgius's attempted execution.

I find it kind of crazy that Valtome is openly admitting to someone he does not seem to be planning on killing (that being Levail) that he plans on lying about how Zelgius died and expressing confidence that the apostle “will never hear” either the truth or the lies, meaning he's all but outright admitting to this man that they did something to Sanaki.

Then of course Apostle Sanaki shows up to save Zelgius, accompanied by the holy pegasus knights of Begnion. She outs the senate's coup attempt, and then Valtome tries to claim that this isn't the real apostle, and that it's a coup attempt by Sephiran, and the very second Valtome talks shit about Sephiran, Zelgius choke-lifts him, hammering home that the execution was only working because Zelgius was cooperating.

...Which really begs the question of if he was really prepared to die here if Sanaki hadn't intervened, and why, when he secretly doesn't even answer to the senate at all? What were his orders from Sephiran here?

We got a shitton of bonus exp again, which is awesome. I guess I'll start saving up a little again, in case I start needing it for the endgame when GMs start capping stats.

Aaaaand that's it for today! Now we start getting into the climax of the Greil Mercenaries, and...

...Yeah, I'm probably gonna want to buy some bronze weapons tomorrow and lowman the next chapter so that I can do some inventory fuckery before the chapter's end.

If the Dawn Brigade's performance against the Greil Mercenaries last time was any indication.

Stay safe, everyone!

[Icelerate]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...Damn, 2-ish pages again. why do I have so little to say during these updates lately? I mean it's kind of weirdly refreshing, but also concerning. These chapters just seem to be going by so fast with so little to comment on. I feel like I'm playing the earlier games in the marathon again, and that is profoundly weird. It feels nice, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something horribly wrong.

 

You're saving your typing energy for the blood pact. 

[Acacia Sgt]

You know, the Senate could've easily called Crimea hypocrites there, when they were refused passage.

Since remember, the mountain passes mentioned in the Extended Script are also stated to be only known to the Laguz. As far as anyone else is concerned, the LA had to pass through Crimea to attack Flaguerre. Which means either Crimea let them pass, which means their refusal to Begnion means they are picking a side despite proclaimed neutrality... or the Laguz passed through without asking Crimea first. Either way, Begnion could've easily drove a wedge between them by pointing this out as early as when the war began. Since it's unlikely Elincia would know of the passes either, so she would want to know if the Laguz really did crossed through her country without authorization.

[Alastor15243]

Just now, Acacia Sgt said:

You know, the Senate could've easily called Crimea hypocrites there, when they were refused passage.

Since remember, the mountain passes mentioned in the Extended Script are also stated to be only known to the Laguz. As far as anyone else is concerned, the LA had to pass through Crimea to attack Flaguerre. Which means either Crimea let them pass, which means their refusal to Begnion means they are picking a side despite proclaimed neutrality... or the Laguz passed through without asking Crimea first. Either way, Begnion could've easily drove a wedge between them by pointing this out as early as when the war began. Since it's unlikely Elincia would know of the passes either, so she would want to know if the Laguz really did crossed through her country without authorization.

Wow, I didn't think about that. Especially since the mountain pass didn't get them past any of Begnion's Crimean border defenses, if you'll recall. From all appearances, it would've looked like a sneak attack from the Crimean border.

[Shadow Mir]

5 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Ah yes, and this is where Elincia gets her “mercy” skill, which you should obviously immediately remove from her the second you have her at a base, because it's utterly useless for anyone who actually needs to keep up with the experience curve.

Yeah, this map is pretty simple and straightforward. The real challenge is getting these enemies to suicide onto the right people and not ones who can't kill them. That's a bit tricky actually, especially since Haar's starting to lose his ability to double reliably again. I caught him unable to double a soldier or two.

Thankfully, if it's just being an attack point or five short, the majority-mounted green units guarding Elincia can finish them off with ease.

...But it doesn't look like there's gonna be much challenge after the initial rush. Pity. The aggressive portion of the enemy forces have almost completely petered out by like turn three or so, an now it's just a standard rout mission with none of the enemies really moving aggressively (or sometimes at all) and no real need to protect anyone. Laaaaaame.

iono - I always thought this is one of the chapters where AI stupidity is at its most infuriating. The VIP is a flier... who will happily fly towards the boss area. Where there are a bunch of bows.

[Espurrhoodie]

1 hour ago, Icelerate said:

You're saving your typing energy for the blood pact. 

Hooo boy I await that wall of text. I haven't played any of the Tellius games (lol no wii/gamecube and I don't think my surface pro could handle emulating something like that), but even I have heard about just how legendary the blood pact plotline is.

[Alastor15243]

2 hours ago, Icelerate said:

You're saving your typing energy for the blood pact. 

1 hour ago, Espurrhoodie said:

Hooo boy I await that wall of text. I haven't played any of the Tellius games (lol no wii/gamecube and I don't think my surface pro could handle emulating something like that), but even I have heard about just how legendary the blood pact plotline is.

Oh holy shit am I dreading discussing that. That's gonna be a pain to talk about in any capacity, because, well... it hasn't even happened yet, and I already hate it merely due to what it implies about shit that's already happened, and those complaints are scattered all over the last two games of commentary. I'll be using the find tool on my word documents a good deal.

[Eltosian Kadath]

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...Man, this game really fucks over staff exp people, doesn't it? The methods they use to get the Dawn Brigade's fighters caught up despite their limited screentime really don't translate to helping anyone relying on a fixed per-turn pittance of exp. Really, staff users should be getting double, no... triple rates.

Actually, honestly, player-phase fighters suffer due to this too, but that's a problem inherent in nearly the entire series, and it wasn't until Fates' experience formula kept the enemy phasers from getting too far ahead (among other changes) that player-phase units even began to be viable.

Yeah staff/dancer exp has always been a bit of a joke compared to how much is available to combat units per turn. Odd as this sounds simply combining the system we have now with the old FE1 staff bot xp method might be one way of fixing that issue...

As for player phase unit xp, finding ways to make enemy phasing less of a focal point is another way to fix it as well.

 

4 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

God damn but there is a shitton of Olivi grass in the bargain section. I think I've got more than enough to last for three laguz though. Certainly until the laguz gems start showing up in Part 4.

I guess the developers assumed Olivi grass was the way to fix how much they broke the Laguz gauges...

 

7 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...Yeah, I'm probably gonna want to buy some bronze weapons tomorrow and lowman the next chapter so that I can do some inventory fuckery before the chapter's end.

If the Dawn Brigade's performance against the Greil Mercenaries last time was any indication.

Stay safe, everyone!

Another notable instance of where Radiant Dawn can be unfriendly to blind play. I know Thracia got a lot of flack for how unfriendly it is to blind play, and I haven't seen much commentary on how Radiant Dawn is as well. Now its not as bad as Thracia in that regard, but there have been a lot of instances throughout this where playing it blind puts you at a massive disadvantage, especially with the part 3 Dawn Brigade chapter. Knowing how much you need to (and who to) concentrate experience on with them, and what to leave around for them has a drastic impact on how they play, and sneaky little inventory tricks like this give an even great edge, which simply isn't available to those that were playing this blind. Now I am not saying you shouldn't use these advantages, but I think it is something worth discussing in the context of how to rank Radiant Dawn.

[Alastor15243]

25 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

Another notable instance of where Radiant Dawn can be unfriendly to blind play. I know Thracia got a lot of flack for how unfriendly it is to blind play, and I haven't seen much commentary on how Radiant Dawn is as well. Now its not as bad as Thracia in that regard, but there have been a lot of instances throughout this where playing it blind puts you at a massive disadvantage, especially with the part 3 Dawn Brigade chapter. Knowing how much you need to (and who to) concentrate experience on with them, and what to leave around for them has a drastic impact on how they play, and sneaky little inventory tricks like this give an even great edge, which simply isn't available to those that were playing this blind. Now I am not saying you shouldn't use these advantages, but I think it is something worth discussing in the context of how to rank Radiant Dawn.

Certainly. That's also been looming over Genealogy as well, what with the whole "breeding system" thing being a trip-up for blind play, though I tend to judge turn-to-turn blind-unfriendly trip-ups more harshly than long-term trip-ups unless they're really extreme, since with long-term ones you at least have time to respond to the way you've accidentally fucked yourself. Hence why Genealogy is still at the top of ironmannability for now. Here though...

...Actually I think that's mostly to do with the difficulty. I suspect that Genealogy would be even worse than Radiant Dawn in terms of long-term blind unfriendliness if it were just as hard as Radiant Dawn, what with all the ways you can make units literally useless. Then again, most of the pairings that happen without trying are pretty good by default, so...

Edited September 11, 2020 by Alastor15243

[Eltosian Kadath]

46 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

...Actually I think that's mostly to do with the difficulty. I suspect that Genealogy would be even worse than Radiant Dawn in terms of long-term blind unfriendliness if it were just as hard as Radiant Dawn, what with all the ways you can make units literally useless. Then again, most of the pairings that happen without trying are pretty good by default, so...

The 2nd gen Genealogy characters that aren't pairing reliant are some of the best like Shannon, Ares, Julia, and Seliph, plus the pairing that the game naturally pushes aren't bad (like Midir x Edain, or Lachesis x Beowulf, or Azel x Tailtiu, etc.), and there are some units that are still good even with the worst parents (most notably Ced whose bases are always amazing, and Lene, whose value lies beyond her stats). Meanwhile in Radiant Dawn you can really struggle if you spread out the part 1 xp, or accidentally leave the beast foe skill behind (either missing its secret location, or leaving on someone that doesn't return to the Dawn Brigade).

[Jotari]

44 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The 2nd gen Genealogy characters that aren't pairing reliant are some of the best like Shannon, Ares, Julia, and Seliph, plus the pairing that the game naturally pushes aren't bad (like Midir x Edain, or Lachesis x Beowulf, or Azel x Tailtiu, etc.), and there are some units that are still good even with the worst parents (most notably Ced whose bases are always amazing, and Lene, whose value lies beyond her stats). Meanwhile in Radiant Dawn you can really struggle if you spread out the part 1 xp, or accidentally leave the beast foe skill behind (either missing its secret location, or leaving on someone that doesn't return to the Dawn Brigade).

Some of the replacement units, while not as good as well breed child units, are still pretty capable too.

[Alastor15243]

14 hours ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

The 2nd gen Genealogy characters that aren't pairing reliant are some of the best like Shannon, Ares, Julia, and Seliph, plus the pairing that the game naturally pushes aren't bad (like Midir x Edain, or Lachesis x Beowulf, or Azel x Tailtiu, etc.), and there are some units that are still good even with the worst parents (most notably Ced whose bases are always amazing, and Lene, whose value lies beyond her stats). Meanwhile in Radiant Dawn you can really struggle if you spread out the part 1 xp, or accidentally leave the beast foe skill behind (either missing its secret location, or leaving on someone that doesn't return to the Dawn Brigade).

 

13 hours ago, Jotari said:

Some of the replacement units, while not as good as well breed child units, are still pretty capable too.

Fair points. man, it's kind of hilarious how long Genealogy has clung to the top spot of some really unlikely categories...

 

 

Radiant Dawn Day 30: Chapter 3-11

Okay, this opening makes no sense. They're saying Sanaki's reputation was tarnished when the senate imprisoned Sephiran in her name, making it easier for some of Begnion's citizenry to believe she's a fraud like the senate says. But like... the senate's saying that Sephiran is a conspirator too! How can “The apostle imprisoned our favorite senator and we're pissed about it” and “The apostle is conspiring with our favorite senator to do something evil and we're pissed about it” both be believed by the citizens at the same time!?

Though, as that made me think more about how this game compares writingwise to the others... it's occurred to me that Part 3 is actually waaaaaay better-paced than Part 1. Part 1 is really the only one where things move comically quickly and plot points are rushed out the door. That's interesting, because this one's only slightly longer, and yet the pacing feels so much more natural.

Wait, where is this meeting? Caineghis is here, but isn't he not supposed to leave the country?

...Yeah, it's in Crimea, as Sanaki confirms when talking to Elincia. Okay. So I guess he can leave the country in times of war to do meetings? Maybe?

But then Sanaki says something fascinating about Elincia:

Sanaki: She gave me hope when I was driven out of my country, and offered aid when all seemed lost.

That's... a fascinating parallel. Because Elincia could say the exact same thing about her.

Okay, so... this scene confirms that Sanaki and Sephiran weren't captured until after Rafiel got to Gallia and the Laguz Alliance sent their messengers. Which means that... Lekain wound up leading the Daein inspection team, in flagrant contradiction of Sanaki's explicit orders... how, exactly?

But anyway, Sanaki asks for everyone's help taking her country back, and they accept under the condition that she finally does the reforms she's been working towards once the senate can no longer stand in her way, and also that she returns Serenes Forest to the herons. Which... seems kind of ridiculous, given that there are only three survivors, all related (meaning no hope of getting any more of them), being given a piece of land the size of Gallia. I'm not saying it's not rightfully theirs, more that... the fuck would they do with it? And there's no discussion of how it would be defended. It's something of a curious mental image, creating a border intended to keep your own citizens out, to protect another country, because they are pathologically and physically incapable of defending themselves, or even flying away.

And then Ike is made commander of the united Gallian-Phoenician-Crimean-Begnian(?) forces for the pretty understandable reason that he's the only one who commands the respect of all four of them.

Aaaaand now we're at base.

Alright, we've got a master crown, and Ike apparently doesn't know what one is, so if there's already one in our inventory I'm going to be very annoyed.

...Yep. There already was one. I am very annoyed.

Fuck it, I can't sell these things, might as well use them. I'll use the first one on Shinon, Let's save him some experience now that he's level 20. As for the other one...

...In the process of debating who to use it on, I discovered we now apparently have almost 48 thousand bonus experience after our two armies united. That is... that is insane. Man, I wish I could've given that to the Dawn Brigade. Alright, I'll get Ulki to level 30 and then work out what to do with this shit once I actually have a proper thing to use it on. Back to base conversations.

Alright, 20,000 gold and a slightly funny bit of deviousness from Sigrun where she reveals they knew he'd refuse to help if he knew he'd be leading the army, hence why they didn't tell him...

...and Kieran and Oscar meet again. Oscar gives him an imbue scroll, which is hilarious because Oscar is way better for it, with his ludicrous 15 magic. Speaking of skills, let's do something about those skills I loaded off onto Makalov...

...I gave Ulki adept since he's a high-speed player-phase unit who could make good use of it. I'm also gonna see what Janaff's hit rates are like with gamble with his ludicrous hit rate thanks to his personal ability and high skill and luck. I don't have overly high hopes, but if anyone's gonna be able to use that skill, it'd be him. I know it's a player-phase command, too, so it's not like it'll cripple him if it doesn't work. I can just not use it.

I got Soren and Mist to A rank support, there's nothing major in the bargain section, so let's...

...Fuck it, let's make a forge.

So I forged a javelin and managed to get a +1 might bonus on it thanks to a coin, and...

...Huh. Apparently you can forge an unlimited number of times per map in this game. Alright, noted! I'll make a hand axe and then get out of here.

So after making the +1 might Green Sting and the +10 hit Boomeraxe, I'm ready to go. Probably won't use them here, since they're special and I wanna save the really good forges for the endgame probably, but hey, you never know.

And it's just as I get Ragnell that I remember about the whole “bronze weapon” thing. Right. Well, thank goodness I can go back to base at the preparation screen. Unimaginably silly storywise, yes, but the alternative would be absurdly blind-unfriendly, to make you prepare before you even see what you're preparing for.

But as for that story, it's profoundly bizarre that right in the middle of their plans to storm Flaguerre again, we're told that Daein is planning to attack the border and... we go there... like, across the goddamned country...

...and Daein still hasn't crossed the border bridge. That is... what?

...Alright, I've armed my Greil Mercenaries with bronze weapons, and I've got Janaff, Ulki and Ranulf on standby to take away the good weapons the few I'm using actually need to fight this battle once they're done using them. Let's go.

...For some reason Reyson isn't available for this map. Like he doesn't even show up in my roster. Curious.

Oh man. It's good to have Ragnell on Ike again, but it's kind of frustrating that (despite still being the overall best fighter in my army) he's still stuck at the end of tier 2.

One of my notable side-objectives this chapter: I have basically all the time in the world to steal a physic staff if I want one. So I'll be trying that, with Mia and Heather.

I like the new player-phase battle theme, incidentally.

...Alright, so we just randomly get Leanne this chapter now instead of Reyson due to bullshit plot reasons contriving why we can't have more than one at once despite our increasingly united armies. I remember now. Ugh. I wish they'd just find a way to have it so that two dancers wouldn't break the party or something, if they ever try to have more than one again.

...Okay, if I were still doing ironman, I would be screaming right now. Tibarn, Leanne and two hawk allies all show up towards the early-middle of the map the second you send one of your units close to their spawn point... and unless you've killed some of those enemies or still have units left you can send in to attack, she'll be trapped behind enemy lines if you do this. So I have to restart or she'll die.

Not since Three Houses or Thracia have I been so pissed off by the bullshit a game has thrown at me too late to react to. The only thing keeping me from ranting in all caps right now is the fact that I'm not ironmanning, and it happened on turn 2.

NEVER MIND, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, IT'S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT.

I TRIED AGAIN, EXCEPT THERE'S A FUCKING PITFALL ON THE SPOT THAT CAN TRIGGER THEM TO ARRIVE! THANK GOODNESS I HAVEN'T MOVED HAAR AND IKE YET THIS TIME HOLY SHIT.

...Moving on...

...I'm given reason to believe that laguz canto works differently for yellow units, because they moved way too far after their post-transformation attack to be going by the 6 mov they're supposed to have before transforming. They seem to just have their full move to canto with after transforming that turn.

Well, gamble's utterly useless on Janaff. Turns out that your crit is doubled after it's had the enemy's crit avoid subtracted from it. Meaning while he gets respectable hit rates with it, he doesn't actually have any listed crit rate due to not having any crit bonuses on anything, and not even getting higher strike levels is gonna change that. Damn it.

As cool as having Tibarn as an allied unit is, I'm gonna have to have him stay out of things. His allies can't one-round, so they're just wasting physic charges I wanna steal, and also, the boss has a crossbow that can insta-kill even Tibarn, because weapons in this game were balanced without a single shred of sense whatsoever.

Ugh. The staff users are retreating behind enemy lines. On one hand, it's outrageously cool that they have the AI to do that. On the other hand... sucks for me, since I wanna steal that physic staff.

I.

FUCKING.

HATE.

THESE.

PITFALLS.

If this were a game like Conquest that actually required serious player-phase maneuvering to survive, these things would be a fucking war crime. As it stands, they're only even remotely tolerable because I have units so powerful that how specifically I move them on player phase barely matters.

So, fun fact, while it's pretty dang impractical, you can move people who have fallen into pitfalls on the same turn if you restore and refresh them.

Soren got a ridiculous “everything but luck” level up.

I have been having terrible luck with the disarm skill. It's actually kinda hilarious. I got two physics basically consecutively on that failed attempt at the swamp crossing, and then since then nothing.

Okay, so, question... what exactly do the Daein people believe here? The boss seems to believe that Sanaki is a false apostle... and that that is bad. But like... why is the senate in this guy's good graces? Did he not know that this false apostle is the one who got the senators out of Daein? Why should this guy care about this “true or false apostle” shit after all Daein's been through from Begnion's horseshit? He's way too zealous about this for someone whose primary concern seems to be Micaiah.

Alright. I just killed the boss with Ike, so next turn is our last chance to get a physic staff for Ike's army unless I really wanna cheese this and abandon the bonus exp.

...Which I already have lost apparently since I took 16 turns. Man this map is a pain. Alright, I guess I'll wait until I nab it. In the meantime I'll have Soren and Mist heal up everyone's wounds.

Either staves don't have crit animations, or you don't actually get the crit animation when you do no damage.

Oh yeah, right, also, better get rid of Oscar's equipment too, and probably Soren's just to be safe.

Alright, done. Now we wait.

FINALLY. It took until turn 22, but we finally got him disarmed! Seizing now!

...Apparently the Daein army is supposed to be “much stronger” than it was three years ago. That... feels unlikely, given the ridiculous limitations they're working under.

Also, it's utterly ridiculous to have it be a plot point that destroying the bridge would cause Daein soldiers to die, because fuck no it wouldn't. Any Daein soldier who could have died would already be dead unless you were LTCing it and didn't smash everything in your path for some reason. The battle, in every continuity, cannot be over until some of my army has already crossed the bridge. Any Daein soldiers left behind would already be hopelessly sandwiched between people strong enough to take out the bridge guards on one end, and the entire rest of my army on the other. If Micaiah's army still has the means to destroy the bridge, there is no fucking reason why they should not do so.

Hell, why the fuck didn't they destroy it to begin with? Why wasn't that the plan from the beginning, to lure the alliance's strongest soldiers onto the bridge in a battle with a bunch of Daein fliers, destroy the bridge, and cripple the allied forces!? AND IF THEY WEREN'T PLANNING ON PLAYING DEFENSIVELY, WHY DIDN'T THEY EVEN SLIGHTLY INVADE CRIMEA IN THE TIME IT TOOK FOR THAT MESSENGER TO GET TO IKE'S ARMY AND BACK!?

...Deep breaths...

Okay, so, Rafiel and Reyson heard a mysterious voice calling them. This sounds a lot like what called Micaiah and Rafiel to the desert, but if I remember correctly, this is coming from Almedha begging someone to save her son.

...Wait...

...Was the person calling Rafiel and Micaiah before... Almedha? I mean, she was nearby...

...No, wait, that thing I remember was her using a sending stone to contact Kurthnaga...

...What the fuck is going on? What's this voice calling the herons all over?

...Well, whatever the answer is, if any, I sure as hell ain't getting it today.

Which means next week, we'll be starting the Dawn Brigade chapters, finishing up Part 3...

...And getting ready for the beginning of the end.

Stay safe, everyone.

[Acacia Sgt]

29 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Okay, so, question... what exactly do the Daein people believe here? The boss seems to believe that Sanaki is a false apostle... and that that is bad. But like... why is the senate in this guy's good graces? Did he not know that this false apostle is the one who got the senators out of Daein? Why should this guy care about this “true or false apostle” shit after all Daein's been through from Begnion's horseshit? He's way too zealous about this for someone whose primary concern seems to be Micaiah.

Because Daein has been turned into a caricature of itself for the sake of having them as the bad guys again.

I mean, all it took was the prospect of killing Laguz and Micaiah's support of Pelleas' decision, and then it's as if the three years of brutal occupation by Begnion didn't happen at all. Realistically Daein would've fallen into civil war there, since they just fought a war to liberate themselves from Begnion, only to... fall back to being their lapdog once more. Pelleas should've suffered big backslash from it. But no, Daein's racism to the Laguz and fanaticism to Micaiah were instead over-cranked to the point they're willing to listen and obey to the Senate they should by all rights despise even more. Makes you realize the Blood Pact is only really meant to rein in Pelleas and Micaiah, as the country itself was apparently quite willing to be obey them after all, apparently.

Years ago I would've consider this  kind of behavior as too nonsensical... but well, recent global events have worded a second opinion on the matter... and that's all I'll say on the matter. Yes, I just made that comparison.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Acacia Sgt

[Icelerate]

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

But as for that story, it's profoundly bizarre that right in the middle of their plans to storm Flaguerre again, we're told that Daein is planning to attack the border and... we go there... like, across the goddamned country...

...and Daein still hasn't crossed the border bridge. That is... what?

The Daein army never planned to act on that threat from what is apparent. Their goal was to hold on to the bridge which makes sense because the terrain is favorable for Daein to use. That implies the threat was used to draw the Apostle's Army on to the bridge. 

Spoiler

Goran: Ignore the messengers! We must protect this bridge. That is the order from the Maiden of Dawn!

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, it's utterly ridiculous to have it be a plot point that destroying the bridge would cause Daein soldiers to die, because fuck no it wouldn't. Any Daein soldier who could have died would already be dead unless you were LTCing it and didn't smash everything in your path for some reason. The battle, in every continuity, cannot be over until some of my army has already crossed the bridge. Any Daein soldiers left behind would already be hopelessly sandwiched between people strong enough to take out the bridge guards on one end, and the entire rest of my army on the other. If Micaiah's army still has the means to destroy the bridge, there is no fucking reason why they should not do so.

I guess one would have to say this is an example of gameplay-story segregation. Gameplay-story integration would be preferable though. Do think the ability to destroy the bridge after the battle is contrived though. The few soldiers still on the bridge should be in no position to be able to accomplish such a task as the Apostle's Army would easily rout them. 

Quote

Hell, why the fuck didn't they destroy it to begin with? Why wasn't that the plan from the beginning, to lure the alliance's strongest soldiers onto the bridge in a battle with a bunch of Daein fliers, destroy the bridge, and cripple the allied forces!? AND IF THEY WEREN'T PLANNING ON PLAYING DEFENSIVELY, WHY DIDN'T THEY EVEN SLIGHTLY INVADE CRIMEA IN THE TIME IT TOOK FOR THAT MESSENGER TO GET TO IKE'S ARMY AND BACK!?

Probably because it requires Daein soldiers on the bridge to accomplish this and they'd lose a large number of soldiers. Daein fliers alone would be too suspicious and simply be countered by AA, Crimean fliers and Hawk Army. 

But if the bridge can be destroyed so easily, why didn't Petrine do so in PoR to prevent the Liberation Army from advancing further? 

Quote

Okay, so, question... what exactly do the Daein people believe here? The boss seems to believe that Sanaki is a false apostle... and that that is bad. But like... why is the senate in this guy's good graces? Did he not know that this false apostle is the one who got the senators out of Daein? Why should this guy care about this “true or false apostle” shit after all Daein's been through from Begnion's horseshit? He's way too zealous about this for someone whose primary concern seems to be Micaiah.

The Senate did outwardly support Daein's independence and condemned the transgressions of the occupation force. He's not privy to the details that we are. But I agree, that begs the question, why should Daein citizens even care about the true or false Apostle when this detail shouldn't matter outside Begnion. Would have been interesting if the Senate had hypocritically blamed Sanaki for negligence in the Daein occupation and her being the false Apostle led to citizen of Daein believing that Sanaki was a liar and suspect her of being oppressive.  

Spoiler

Lekain:
“Yes, Apostle. Our occupation forces have engaged in appalling and inhumane excesses in Daein. These excesses were perpetrated entirely outside the knowledge of the occupational governor, Duke Numida.”

Numida:
“I come to you penitent… Failing my duties as governor, I, Numida, share a measure of guilt for this disaster. I am prepared to take the appropriate punishment, Apostle Sanaki. However, I feel that freeing the people of Daein from the clutches of our oppression is our most urgent task…”

Sanaki:
“Urgent, you say? Then we must make haste. We will forthwith convene an inspection team and request a meeting with the army led by the late King Ashnard’s orphan. We will assure them of Begnion’s intentions. Then, we will immediately address the occupation force’s tyranny.”

Lekain:
“Excellent! In that case, please deign to allow me, your humble servant Lekain, to lead the inspection team. The soldiers who have stained the empire’s name will be toppled where they stand! I promise, they shall not live to return here.”

 

 

[Jotari]

11 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

But anyway, Sanaki asks for everyone's help taking her country back, and they accept under the condition that she finally does the reforms she's been working towards once the senate can no longer stand in her way, and also that she returns Serenes Forest to the herons. Which... seems kind of ridiculous, given that there are only three survivors, all related (meaning no hope of getting any more of them), being given a piece of land the size of Gallia. I'm not saying it's not rightfully theirs, more that... the fuck would they do with it? And there's no discussion of how it would be defended. It's something of a curious mental image, creating a border intended to keep your own citizens out, to protect another country, because they are pathologically and physically incapable of defending themselves, or even flying away.

 

They're going to turn Serenes into the worlds largest nature preserve. Protect the endangered species!

11 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

 

Okay, so, question... what exactly do the Daein people believe here? The boss seems to believe that Sanaki is a false apostle... and that that is bad. But like... why is the senate in this guy's good graces? Did he not know that this false apostle is the one who got the senators out of Daein? Why should this guy care about this “true or false apostle” shit after all Daein's been through from Begnion's horseshit? He's way too zealous about this for someone whose primary concern seems to be Micaiah.

 

It always stuck me as weird that we had this guy here as the boss. I mean, who the hell is this random Micaiah fanatic who's considered important enough to lead this battle? We never see anything of him before or hear anything of him afterwards. Normally a random boss like this wouldn't raise any eyebrows, but we know what the other side looks like in this scenario so it's bizarre to have a stranger in this role (he also ironically has more authority stars than Micaiah). Why not have Tauroneo as the boss of this chapter? They were willing to have Lethe as a boss earlier and we're going to have all the Griel mercs show up in two chapers. IDK. Maybe they just really wanted a boss that uses a crossbow. They at least could have had him show up some time earlier in Part 1 even in a non playable role if the point was meant to show the death of a character to display how outmatched Daein is.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Jotari

[Forde]

Oh wow. The OP did this extremely well. This is worth reading on and on for me as well. 

[Alastor15243]

2 minutes ago, Forde said:

Oh wow. The OP did this extremely well. This is worth reading on and on for me as well. 

Glad you enjoy it! How far in are you?

[Icelerate]

On 9/11/2020 at 11:41 PM, Jotari said:

It always stuck me as weird that we had this guy here as the boss. I mean, who the hell is this random Micaiah fanatic who's considered important enough to lead this battle? We never see anything of him before or hear anything of him afterwards. Normally a random boss like this wouldn't raise any eyebrows, but we know what the other side looks like in this scenario so it's bizarre to have a stranger in this role (he also ironically has more authority stars than Micaiah). Why not have Tauroneo as the boss of this chapter? They were willing to have Lethe as a boss earlier and we're going to have all the Griel mercs show up in two chapers. IDK. Maybe they just really wanted a boss that uses a crossbow. They at least could have had him show up some time earlier in Part 1 even in a non playable role if the point was meant to show the death of a character to display how outmatched Daein is.

I also felt it odd this random guy is on the front-line. Micaiah showing up at the end of the battle is also odd. If she were near the battlefield, why was she not commanding the army in the first place? Maybe she was feeling to ill to be on the battlefield? Anyway, I like the Tauroneo idea as well. He is the highest ranking general in the army other than Micaiah. If Micaiah was feeling to ill to lead the battle, the level headed Tauroneo would make more sense than a delusional fanatic. Though in terms of gameplay, Goron would actually be a better leader than Tauroneo and Micaiah due to authority stars. Yeah this game is dumb. 

I agree with your last point as well. If this guy is such a capable leader despite being simpleminded and delusional, why was he not the one commanding the army in part one even at least once? 

Maybe the writers didn't want the boss to survive but this doesn't make much sense because they have no qualms allowing the playable bosses of other chapters to retreat. 

[Jotari]

28 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

I also felt it odd this random guy is on the front-line. Micaiah showing up at the end of the battle is also odd. If she were near the battlefield, why was she not commanding the army in the first place? Maybe she was feeling to ill to be on the battlefield? Anyway, I like the Tauroneo idea as well. He is the highest ranking general in the army other than Micaiah. If Micaiah was feeling to ill to lead the battle, the level headed Tauroneo would make more sense than a delusional fanatic. Though in terms of gameplay, Goron would actually be a better leader than Tauroneo and Micaiah due to authority stars. Yeah this game is dumb. 

I agree with your last point as well. If this guy is such a capable leader despite being simpleminded and delusional, why was he not the one commanding the army in part one even at least once? 

Maybe the writers didn't want the boss to survive but this doesn't make much sense because they have no qualms allowing the playable bosses of other chapters to retreat. 

I think they might have wanted to show the Micaiah fanaticism more by showing it rather than just mentioning it, but using a one time boss who never appears anywhere else weakens it. Even a single base conversation in part 1 to establish him would have helped.

[Icelerate]

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

I think they might have wanted to show the Micaiah fanaticism more by showing it rather than just mentioning it, but using a one time boss who never appears anywhere else weakens it. Even a single base conversation in part 1 to establish him would have helped.

I agree that's what they were going for but do you think having him as a sub boss would be a good compromise? For example, Kasatai is a sub boss defending Daein Keep along with Ena. 

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

On 9/11/2020 at 3:14 PM, Icelerate said:

Probably because it requires Daein soldiers on the bridge to accomplish this and they'd lose a large number of soldiers. Daein fliers alone would be too suspicious and simply be countered by AA, Crimean fliers and Hawk Army. 

But if the bridge can be destroyed so easily, why didn't Petrine do so in PoR to prevent the Liberation Army from advancing further? 

While I agree that destroying the bridge is much easier said than done, Petrine would have a clear reason not to do so - namely, that it severs the link between Crimea and Daein. Surely, Ashnard intends to reconquer Daein (now under Zelgius' administration) - if he blew it up, he'd have no way to send non-flying troops back. It'd be a Pyrrhic victory, at best.

Here, however, Daein has no will to conquer Crimea. Their goal is to stop Ike's army from entering Daein and returning to Begnion. Blowing the bridge would be in-line with such an objective.

On 9/11/2020 at 12:09 PM, Alastor15243 said:

Okay, so, question... what exactly do the Daein people believe here? The boss seems to believe that Sanaki is a false apostle... and that that is bad. But like... why is the senate in this guy's good graces? Did he not know that this false apostle is the one who got the senators out of Daein? Why should this guy care about this “true or false apostle” shit after all Daein's been through from Begnion's horseshit? He's way too zealous about this for someone whose primary concern seems to be Micaiah.

The thing is, the cult of Ashera has adherents not just in Begnion, but across the continent. To a Crimean believer, for instance, Sanaki is not their Empress, but she is their Apostle. Like, the Pope is politically in charge of two city blocks in Rome, but has religious followers all around the world. That's my interpretation, at least.

On 9/11/2020 at 12:09 PM, Alastor15243 said:

...Apparently the Daein army is supposed to be “much stronger” than it was three years ago. That... feels unlikely, given the ridiculous limitations they're working under.

Do they really say this? Crazy that I don't remember it. This seems like an ill-placed line - the story demonstrates that Daein is much less of a threat than it was under Ashnard. Like, Ike's at their border now, and he practically conquers them over the next 3 chapters - even with their leaders still in the country.

[Icelerate]

25 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

While I agree that destroying the bridge is much easier said than done, Petrine would have a clear reason not to do so - namely, that it severs the link between Crimea and Daein. Surely, Ashnard intends to reconquer Daein (now under Zelgius' administration) - if he blew it up, he'd have no way to send non-flying troops back. It'd be a Pyrrhic victory, at best.

Here, however, Daein has no will to conquer Crimea. Their goal is to stop Ike's army from entering Daein and returning to Begnion. Blowing the bridge would be in-line with such an objective.

 

I agree. Even though Ashnard himself didn't care about Daein personally, there is no reason to think Petrine and others fighting under his command didn't think Ashnard wanted to retake Daein. 

25 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

The thing is, the cult of Ashera has adherents not just in Begnion, but across the continent. To a Crimean believer, for instance, Sanaki is not their Empress, but she is their Apostle. Like, the Pope is politically in charge of two city blocks in Rome, but has religious followers all around the world. That's my interpretation, at least.

 

True, people worship Ashera across Tellius. While the average Daein citizen may be less religious traditionally, it's quite clear that when Micaiah came and liberated them, they saw her as a direct intervention from the goddess which would make the average Daein citizen far more religious than before due to seeing her as a miracle from the goddess, perhaps more so than Begnion. So the idea that Sanaki was a false Apostle would be extremely blasphemous especially since she's allied to the laguz and it is a fact Daein is more racist than Begnion, many of whom were supporting the Senate. 

Spoiler

Daein Soldier 3:
“Radiant with divine protection, she truly has the goddess’s blessing! The Silver-Haired Maiden! Our priestess! Priestess…of Dawn! Hooray, Lady Micaiah!”

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Icelerate

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, Icelerate said:

I agree that's what they were going for but do you think having him as a sub boss would be a good compromise? For example, Kasatai is a sub boss defending Daein Keep along with Ena. 

Oh yeah if he was a sub boss and Tauroneo was the main boss it wouldn't be nearly as weird. Still a bit strange though. But hey, here's a thought, why not make him be Kasatai. Sure he died in Path of Radiance, but so did Oliver.

[Icelerate]

14 hours ago, Jotari said:

Oh yeah if he was a sub boss and Tauroneo was the main boss it wouldn't be nearly as weird. Still a bit strange though. But hey, here's a thought, why not make him be Kasatai. Sure he died in Path of Radiance, but so did Oliver.

People complain about BK and Oliver surviving even though I see no reason to. But if he was brought back, it risks making the loss that Daein went through look less than what it was. Technically he can survive if you don't kill him. Same with Bryce so it won't cause a plot hole. 

[Alastor15243]

Radiant Dawn Day 31: Chapter 3-12

Okay, question: Why the fuck did fighting the Daein army matter? Last chapter they were talking like the Daein army demanded their immediate attention or some shit, but if Daein really weren't planning on invading at that time, and were just holding the bridge, then isn't this a psychotically colossal, not to mention colossally psychotic, waste of everyone's time? If the issue was that Crimea would be defenseless against Daein's eventual attack if they invaded without taking care of them, wouldn't going off to take care of Daein give an even stronger enemy that exact same opportunity?

But now we're trying to petition permission to enter Begnion through Daein, and I'm like fucking what!?

You already have a fucking border with Begnion, and it's guarded by a fort that, as Ike very correctly pointed out, this army already has experience taking down! And if you go in through Crimea, then should you get overwhelmed again and, god forbid, have to retreat, your retreat path will not be through demonstrably hostile territory!

Also, just an observation, between that oft-referenced trip Soren took at the beginning of PoR and various events of this game, this game pretty repeatedly says that traveling halfway across a country only takes a couple of days. Here they say Sanaki waited “several days” for a reply to her request to Pelleas for passage before she gave up and marched without permission.

...But anyway...

...Yeah, this is where Pelleas reveals the blood pact. And there's this single moment where it looks like it's going to reveal that Pelleas is secretly an evil scumbag. And I really like how effective Pelleas's music can be, at least the first few seconds of it, at giving off a creepy vibe in the right context.

Pelleas: If Micaiah leaves the army... she will die.

Sothe: So now the king shows his true colors... Pelleas, I don't care if you're the king. Threaten Micaiah again, and I'll kill you where you stand. Is that clear?

Pelleas: She won't be the only one to die. You. Me. Every single person in Daein. We'll all die. And it's all my fault.

Okay, so now it flashes back to when Pelleas first discovered that he was under blood pact, and...

Waa...

Waaaaiiii...

WAAAAAAAIIIT A FUCKING SECOND!

Lekain is talking about how “the false apostle has raised an army of sub-humans to reclaim her throne” and I'm like fucking what!?

Sanaki didn't ally with the laguz alliance until the end of Chapter Ten! And Daein first became involved in this fight in Chapter Fucking Six! How is that how Lekain describes the situation to Pelleas for the first time?

Also...

Are those signatures... written in blood? With bloody fucking thumbprints at the bottom?

Was Pelleas's naive ass convinced that cutting yourself and signing a treaty in your own blood is totally normal!?

...I can almost believe that, honestly.

Also, the pact looks like it's three fucking paragraphs long, and you're telling me that Pelleas didn't even glance at it?

Yeah, honestly, this...

...Okay. So.

Yeah. I don't like this. At all.

And it's not because it's a flagrantly contrived excuse plot to put the Dawn Brigade under a very specific set of circumstances. I mean, shit, I'd be the biggest hypocrite in the world if I said that was unacceptable. Danganronpa has one of the most comically contrived premises in the entire history of human fiction, and yet the scenario it jumps through hoops to set up is amazing, and I adore the games as a result.

...At least for the first four cases or so before half of the cool characters die, the class trials stop being class trials, and the climax becomes a plot twist worthy of Shyamalan... if Shyamalan had the audacity to take five fucking hours to explain what's going on.

But that's besides the point.

While it's not at home in every sort of setting, ridiculous plot contrivances to put characters in specific situations can sometimes be acceptable...

...if the situation is worth it. If it's fun and exciting and entertaining and emotionally engaging. If it makes us give a shit about what's going on in spite of the crazy suspension of disbelief.

But what do we do with this? Really, what do we get out of the game tearing its own worldbuilding out by the fucking root in order to get the Dawn Brigade fighting with the Greil Mercenaries?

...Three chapters of conflict, only two of which are actually done with the Dawn Brigade actually knowing why they have to fight. That and a couple of chapters of the heroes fighting against this forced enemy. You could make an entire story out of the emotional and physical conflict spawned from heroes being forced to fight their friends without even being allowed to explain why (as a matter of fact, years later they did, pity it sucked), and yet we only get a handful of chapters out of it.

And what did it cost?

It makes us ask so many fucking questions that the game has no intention of answering in a million years.

How does the blood pact recognize kings? How does the blood pact recognize countries? How does the blood pact recognize citizens? How does the blood pact understand the terms of what's written on it, and how does it recognize when its terms have been broken? Is the blood pact alive? Is the blood pact omniscient?

Apparently only the person in possession of the document can invoke the curse. If you invoke the curse, then take it back as was done with the raven king, can you not activate it again until the other party breaks the treaty again, or do you basically have the power to activate it and deactivate it constantly forever from that point on? Why does it have to be a contract, then? What principles of magic kept them from simply creating a “kill your country” button for the country of anyone whose king they could steal a blood sample from?

Speaking of, why didn't they just steal a blood sample from Pelleas and sign it with his blood themselves? Does the magic involved require the consent of the signatories? If not, why doesn't it require their informed consent?

Is there some inherent magic in this world tied to being a ruler of a country? Is that why only the laguz royals have formshift and why Kurthnaga automatically gets it the second his father dies?

As long as the document remains intact, it's impossible to free a country from the effects of a blood pact even with the deaths of both original signatories, and somehow the terms of the blood pact are simply inherited by the next person of authority in the country. 1: How the fuck does the contract decide who the fuck inherits the pact, since it can obviously pass the buck to people who aren't kings, 2: How was Lekain determined to be the specific person to inherit the controlling half of the Kilvas blood pact when he presumably wasn't the one who originally made the deal with a king of a much longer-lived species, and isn't the highest or even second-highest authority in his own country, and 3...

Why are there not more of these fucking things around?

Lekain acts like these things have been used tons of times, but he only knows of the existence of one of the damned things in human history before he enslaved Daein, and we only know of one more example after that! We have a complete timeline of every post-flood country in existence, so we know there are no examples of any countries completely destroyed by defiance of the blood pact, so if these things have been used more than three times, there should still be some countries enslaved to others. Do blood pacts predate the flood? If not, then they can only have been invented in the last 300 or so years, when there were actual countries other than Goldoa and Begnion for this pact to be used to enslave! Was this actually invented specifically to use on the raven king?

What happens if a king steps down?

What happens if a king dissolves his country entirely and creates a new one on the same land?

What happens if a king does both of these things at once?

WHY IS THERE A BATTLESHIP IN THAT LAKE, INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS? WHY IS THERE A BATTLESHIP IN THAT LAKE!?

...I could probably go on. But I really don't want to. I think my point is clear. This is a disgustingly transparent plot device, and my incandescent rage against it is only kept in check by the fact that a later game in the series manages to somehow do this plot point even worse.

Also... yeah, this seems to confirm that the goal was always to put a puppet king on the throne the whole time. Izuka's job was to find “the perfect king who would execute the senate's will”. So the senate, or at least Lekain, was hoping to insert someone more long-term for when the occupation was inevitably exposed as corrupt and cruel.

Also, the game says that every day where the curse of the pact is active, X people die, where X is the number of days since the curse was first activated. According to my math, that means that after a month, when the raven king finally realized what was going on, 465 people died, and by the 100^th day, when the senate finally called off the curse, 5050 people died. This was apparently a big enough portion of Kilvas's population that the king had lost “half of his subordinates, as well as his lovely wife and child”.

...The fuck kinds of populations are we dealing with, that the countries of Tellius are that tiny? If 5050 people chosen at random can result in those kinds of deaths in his personal life, that suggests Kilvas has about the same population as the second-least-populous country on planet Earth, Tuvalu.

This is the Google maps image that shows up when you Google Tuvalu. Can you see it behind its name tag? Neither can I.

How fucking tiny is Tellius!?

And now Micaiah ludicrously conveniently gets enough of her powers back from her rest to be able to confirm that the blood pact is real, because obviously the plot needs everyone to accept that it's real in order for any of this shit to work, because they can't be given actual proof without, y'know, the country dying.

And also, reminder: The only reason any of this is an issue is because the Alliance somehow feels it's important to travel to Begnion through Daein.

...Christ. I just got to base and I've already made a 4 page long rant.

This is gonna be one of those days again.