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

Jotari · June 23, 2020

20 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Pronouncing worthy as worthy.

It's not that bad if you're singing it in a stereotypical pirate accent. Where "worthy" comes out sounding more like "wordy".

20 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

So yes, we finally meet face to face with King Caineghis, the guy whose name you apparently can't say on YouTube or else you get demonetized.

~~What really? Why? Does it sound similar to something I'm missing?~~

I see the answer provided in a ninja'd post. Still keeping this around to show my surprise.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Jotari

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

11 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I think that has a lot to do with Zelgius always having been the Black Knight. Of course not with his now iconic armor but there are hints that Zelgius already went around fully armored back in Gawain's days. During their flashback Sephiran notes that he never takes off his armor to conceal his identity. If Tauroneo is aware that BK was Greil's student then he doesn't seem to be aware of his identity either.

Wait, Tauroneo knows the Black Knight was Greil's student?

Espurrhoodie · June 23, 2020

8 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Glad to know you're still here at least! Hoping you find stuff to say in the future though!

And yeah, the software YouTube uses to make automatically generated captions, which I think is connected to its "bad words detection" method, hears kay-ne-giss and apparently, according to Mangs, detects somebody dropping N-bombs.

Oh yeah, didn't something like that also happen to Lucky Crit (at least I think it was Lucky Crit) where he got demonitized because Youtube's caption system thought he said "cigarette" instead of "Sigurd"?

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

...That is, unless the explanation here is that the thing I've been calling “beorc language” is not, in fact, beorc language at all, and that back in the days of the goddess, it was a language spoken by everyone. That would explain their lack of discomfort with using it, but on the other hand... it begs the question of why they stopped using it in the first place.

Nailah: Long ago, beorc created the Old Tongue. The ancient speech is what we laguz call it. The language was too difficult for the laguz to master. So the language of Tellius was created in its place.

Because Hatari speaks the Old Tongue, it had to be invented antediluvian, and the New Tongue afterwards. If it was invented during the Kingdom of Begnion, it might not be racist (I'll assume some of the Tower flashbacks of RD were translated for us). Herons continue to speak the ancient language Nailah then states, because their longer lives means they have the time to learn it (and yet you'd think Janaff- 110 - would've had plenty of time to learn).

2 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

But even so, just... the idea of them using beorc language to speak with other laguz races feels like it would be interesting to hear the thoughts of the more... shall we say... politically exuberant on this topic.

Linguistic nationalism is a modern thing, but it does have select cases of older roots. Norman French was replaced as the official language of government by Middle English- the language of The Canterbury Tales- in ~1430 AD. In 1539 AD, Middle French became the official language of government in France. Dante's Divine Comedy, finished by 1320 AD, caught on like hellfire and created a standardized Italian- albeit Italy would remain as city-states until the 1850s-60s. And this ignores that for centuries thereafter, strong dialects would remain in most European countries, losing their grip only as late as the 1800s.

In the modern world, we do have many postcolonial nations that retain the language of their colonizer. Think of Latin America's Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, or Ireland's English (modern Irish barely a toehold maybe 2% of the population). Or of the African continent, when English and French remain one official language of many, partly because it is useful for sharing in global wisdom- how many academic works across the world are published in Wolof every year? Partly because most African countries are a mixture of ethnic groups each with their own language and favoring just one would unfair to the others, English/French is no one's native tongue, so no one is favored. The language of the colonizers is good at least internationally, even if one uses other languages or a mix including the colonial at home. India's recent abandonment of English is purely because of Hindu Nationalism- which is having a despicable and inhuman ball right now trying to purge the hundreds of millions of Muslims from the country.

But none of these examples match the case of the Laguz countries. Hmm... Another instance that comes to mind is Chinese. For centuries, until the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800s, Literary Chinese was commonly used by Japan's elite, it often surpassed Japanese in prominence. At first, Chinese-Japanese relations were fine, but they did sour over time, the Kublai Khan's invasion comes to mind, as did China's defense of Korea against Japanese invasion in the Imjin War too. After the Imjin War, Chinese-Japanese relations remained poor, as Ieyasu when he took over didn't want kowtow to the Chinese Emperor as the Ashikaga Shogunate had, that was national humiliation that undercut the very powerless Ashikaga. But regardless of Japan's political antipathy towards China, Literary Chinese endured and even the Japanese Emperor would recite the Chinese Classics in it from childhood.

Maybe you can make a case for Christianity? Roman rule made many martyrs, but Rome's Latin and companion Greek became the standards of the disciples of Christ (maybe b/c St. Paul?).

...None of these examples really work, do they? 😅

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Oh, and Marcia shows up. Forgot about that! Awesome, though... ugh. I just do not like pegasus knights. Units intended to go out to areas where other units can't follow them... and aren't built to last, or to fight enemies on their own.

👿

Wrong game. Marcia is no GBA Pegasus. Str replacing Con means she can have Atk and Avoid at the same time. RD Pegs may be hindered by the Wyvern buff and availability, but PoR Marcia and Tanith are hella good on average.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

...Man, if Gallia doesn't even have ships... that's... I mean that's a pretty severe mark against their tech level, especially in this time period, and especially especially when they aren't even laguz that can swim, and especially especially especially when they have a known pirate problem.

What use would a harbor with a seagoing vessel be to Gallia, in all fairness? Princesses in exile aren't commonplace.

Goldoa would blast 'em to bits for taking five steps, and they've a land border already if they wanted to die.
Crimea has a land border and the peasants would abuse them if they stepped foot into a city (although a small island bookmarked for the Laguz near a coastal city where tolerant Beorc merchants would visit could suffice- Europe did that in Africa and Asia).
The birds probably don't have anything significant to trade (ironic, given Phoenicis is named after Phoenicia- one of the world's very first great commercial empires that crisscrossed the Mediterranean Sea).
Begnion is racist.
Daein is the epitome of racism.

1 hour ago, Espurrhoodie said:

Oh shit really you can't? Huh. Weird. ~~Then again I have zero idea how to pronounce that name and I just end up calling him Mufasa anyway~~

I call him the King of Red Lions, because that is factual, and GameCube-tastic.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer
Correction for the Irish statistic

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

What use would a harbor with a seagoing vessel be to Gallia, in all fairness? Princesses in exile aren't commonplace.

Goldoa would blast 'em to bits for taking five steps, and they've a land border already if they wanted to die.

Crimea has a land border and the peasants would abuse them if they stepped foot into a city (although a small island bookmarked for the Laguz near a coastal city where tolerant Beorc merchants would visit could suffice- Europe did that in Africa and Asia).

The birds probably don't have anything significant to trade (ironic, given Phoenicis is named after Phoenicia- one of the world's very first great commercial empires that crisscrossed the Mediterranean Sea).

Begnion is racist.

Daein is the epitome of racism.

I suppose to answer this question I have to know where the hell those pirates are coming from and where their base of operations is. If there are a bunch of islands off the coast that are too small to put on the map, but that beorc pirates are using to harass them...

...But granted, doesn't exactly sound like the best environment to want to make ships, and innovation is heavily driven by demand.

Still though... I hate how this is mostly guesswork. This game says just enough about Gallia to prompt a bunch of questions it then doesn't answer, which... frustrates me from a worldbuilding perspective to no end.

Also, thanks a ton for all this info you're giving. It's all fascinating to hear about real-world context on a lot of this stuff.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Alastor15243

Jotari · June 23, 2020

33 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Ireland's English (modern Gaelic has a foothold, but it's maybe 20% of the population).

Oh no, it's way, way lower than 20% of the population. We're talking less than 2% of the population. And you're highly unlikely to hear an Irish person refer to it as Gaelic. It's just Irish, in English or Gailge in Irish.

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

7 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Still though... I hate how this is mostly guesswork. This game says just enough about Gallia to prompt a bunch of questions it then doesn't answer, which... frustrates me from a worldbuilding perspective to no end.

I get this, as much as I love Tellius's worldbuilding, it favors the Beorc nations over the Laguz.

Perhaps it has something to do with IS not being very smart about "medieval" politics, government, and society already, albeit no worse than probably most companies selling entertainment in this genre. So when they attempt to create something not-Medieval European, something thats even more foreign and less popular- the "tribal/indigenous" of whatever parts of the globe they choose for inspiration, they know even less about what to do.

17 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, thanks a ton for all this info you're giving. It's all fascinating to hear about real-world context on a lot of this stuff.

I only wish I knew more.

But I do think video games and other entertainment media could benefit from hitting the history books. Pick the general time period or topics you want to borrow from, find some general histories that seem good, have each dev team member read one book, everyone jots down favorite events they want to share with the rest and integrate into the plot, and then get work twisting them into your fantasy story.

Or, just hire a historian to help you with your world/story. We could use more employment opportunities.

1 minute ago, Jotari said:

Oh no, it's way, way lower than 20% of the population. We're talking less than 2% of the population. And you're highly unlikely to hear an Irish person refer to it as Gaelic. It's just Irish, in English or Gailge in Irish.

Sorry!😬

I didn't fact check that (bad decision) and that wasn't my strongest point of knowledge either. The general point I was trying to make there is that linguistic nationalism in Ireland failed and English tongue of the evil colonizers since ~Henry II prevails, and you've proved that even more so.

Jotari · June 23, 2020

19 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I get this, as much as I love Tellius's worldbuilding, it favors the Beorc nations over the Laguz.

Perhaps it has something to do with IS not being very smart about "medieval" politics, government, and society already, albeit no worse than probably most companies selling entertainment in this genre. So when they attempt to create something not-Medieval European, something thats even more foreign and less popular- the "tribal/indigenous" of whatever parts of the globe they choose for inspiration, they know even less about what to do.

It could also just be that making a realistic world building for the likes of the laguz is damn difficult. Because they would be completely alien. And not just alien to medieval Europe, but alien to humans entirely. The idea that they communicate it growls and roars, or basically animal speak is a good one for depicting that, the issue is actually the wider context in how it's used across both games, as this is one of the only references to it. But if we were to be realistic about it and have almost all the laguz characters speaking in grunts and roars or Mordecai speak then it be damn difficult to implement them into the story (while I'm at it, almost every fantasy story ever told has language way too homogenized for what it should be). This would be even more troublesome given they're making racism a core aspect of the story. So if they had the laguz speaking in a "less sophisticated" language it could run into unfortunate implications that the game is suggesting they're lesser. Anyone with a reasonable knowledge of language knows this isn't really true, but at the same time it's a pretty gut reaction to assume anyone with a non standard accent in your own language is stupid, let alone an language so alien it doesn't even have words. A very capable writer might be able to make use of this to show how the racists view things while still giving a voice to the laguz, but it would be monstrously difficult to get right, I think. Much more convenient to just make Laguz functionally humans with cat ears most of the time.

19 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I didn't fact check that (bad decision) and that wasn't my strongest point of knowledge either. The general point I was trying to make there is that linguistic nationalism in Ireland failed and English tongue of the evil colonizers since ~Henry II prevails, and you've proved that even more so.

That's partially by design. Irish became banned as a language to be used in schools towards the end of British rule which is a massively useful tool for ending a language. If you force the children to speak another language natively or have parents forced to choose between education and tradition, then it's basically a slice to the juggler. Though the other aspect of it is just basic practicality. Even since independence the language has declined despite the governments attempts at linguistic nationalism (one of my favorite examples of that is the Irish text of the constitution taking precedent over the English version, even though it was drafted and written in English first and then translated to Irish). Everyone learns it in school formally, but no one outside of native areas actually speaks it. There's just no reason aside from passion and pride to speak it when you can use English to communicate with way more of the world's population. Languages work through evolution too and survival of the fittest is an aspect to them. Sad as it might be to lose your own native language, language itself is a tool of communication and is only the tools that work are kept around.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Jotari

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

3 minutes ago, Jotari said:

(while I'm at it, almost every fantasy story ever told has language way too homogenized for what it should be).

Ever heard of Dragon Quest IV the DS version? Oh, how a vocal group of fans detested that "translation". The English localization broke from the Japanese and instituted heavy accents into the first four areas, for the sake of creating more regional flavor. The first was particularly "bad" with fake Scottish English:

Every subsequent DQ translation stepped back from IV's strong dialects. Although I didn't mind them, Sancho's Spanish in DQV was on the border of racist though.

I dare Treehouse/10-4/however does FE's next translation to go as thick. If it's FE4Remake, give every duchy of Grannvale an individualized German dialect touchup- educate me in the difference between Westphalian and Swabian accents!

...My point is if you lay it on realistically, which means thicker, some people will hate it because their brains will struggle too much to understand a basic conversation. Though a separate audience is sure to exist that would appreciate it.

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Ever heard of Dragon Quest IV the DS version? Oh, how a vocal group of fans detested that "translation". The English localization broke from the Japanese and instituted heavy accents into the first four areas, for the sake of creating more regional flavor. The first was particularly "bad" with fake Scottish English:

Every subsequent DQ translation stepped back from IV's strong dialects. Although I didn't mind them, Sancho's Spanish in DQV was on the border of racist though.

I dare Treehouse/10-4/however does FE's next translation to go as thick. If it's FE4Remake, give every duchy of Grannvale an individualized German dialect touchup- educate me in the difference between Westphalian and Swabian accents!

...My point is if you lay it on realistically, which means thicker, some people will hate it because their brains will struggle too much to understand a basic conversation. Though a separate audience is sure to exist that would appreciate it.

Goodness knows I would appreciate it. Petra's an example of a character who really, by all rights, should have had an accent. Hearing her struggle with the Fodlan tongue while speaking with a flawless Fodlan accent was... utterly surreal to me. I felt like I was watching a Japanese dub of an anime with a "foreigner" who speaks in perfect Japanese and broken English/German/whatever.

Jotari · June 23, 2020

14 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Ever heard of Dragon Quest IV the DS version? Oh, how a vocal group of fans detested that "translation". The English localization broke from the Japanese and instituted heavy accents into the first four areas, for the sake of creating more regional flavor. The first was particularly "bad" with fake Scottish English:

Every subsequent DQ translation stepped back from IV's strong dialects. Although I didn't mind them, Sancho's Spanish in DQV was on the border of racist though.

I dare Treehouse/10-4/however does FE's next translation to go as thick. If it's FE4Remake, give every duchy of Grannvale an individualized German dialect touchup- educate me in the difference between Westphalian and Swabian accents!

...My point is if you lay it on realistically, which means thicker, some people will hate it because their brains will struggle too much to understand a basic conversation. Though a separate audience is sure to exist that would appreciate it.

That's sort of what my point was. If these things were absolutely realistic then it would make the story way harder to tell and largely less enjoyable to read. A Song of Ice and Fire is an example I particularly like to fall back on as that's a highly acclaimed series that gets praise for its world building. Yet you have tenish countries in an area the size of South America that speaks the same "Common Tongue" without even noticeable regional dialects. Across the sea where culture is much more of a melting pot you have dozens of different languages, yet any major character still speaks the "Common Tongue" of a different continent fluently. Even all the barbarians in the wildlands North of the Wall speak fluent "Common Tongue" despite tribal languages canonically existing. The reason why for all this is evident, if everyone spoke a different language then it would be nightmarish to have anyone communicating with each other in this continent spanning story. The only way to get around this issue is to either make a very small scope story focused on a singular region, or to just go full maniac on the story and create dozens of con languages (or magic it away with universal translators). But there's no real problem with just ignoring it and having everyone speak a "Common Tongue". It's not realistic world building, but it is practical story telling. That's why stuff like the growl language wouldn't bother me as much as it is our OP. I don't really see it as conflicting world building, instead if see Moredeci as being the representation of an aspect of the world's world building, an aspect that just isn't pragmatic to show off while still telling a compelling story. The world building would certainly be better if animal speak was a more integrated part of the story beyond this one reference, but for some aspects of world building your faced with a scale, where if you increase the quality of the world building, you decrease the quality of the story. So a compromise with a single character representing that and then ignoring it for practical use works for me. Just like Mance Ryder referring to every different wildling tribe having a different language that we never experience first hand.

14 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

While we're on this subject though, if I recall correctly people seemed to love Frog's hammy ye olde English in the original localisation of Chrono Trigger...even if it was a bit weird that no one else in his era spoke that way at all (and even he didn't speak like that prior to getting turned into a frog?). Chrono Trigger being a story about time travel absolutely had to ignore the language aspect of it's world building, so drawing any attention to that aspect was probably a bad idea, but still Frog sounded so hilariously bad ass to some people that it just plain worked.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Jotari

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

35 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Chrono Trigger being a story about time travel absolutely had to ignore the language aspect of it's world building, so drawing any attention to that aspect was probably a bad idea, but still Frog sounded so hilariously bad ass to some people that it just plain worked.

Ayla had caveperson speak.😀

And thats about the best you can do- accents. Multiple languages where some are more than just "special tongues" and not fully conversational is too difficult to create on the development end and too hard to understand on the audiences'. One language spoken all the same is boring. Thick accents are the best solution, a compromise between monolithic ease and blandness and "unrealism that every talks the same", and diffuse, esoteric flavor thats "too realistic". Accents so thick that subtitles and cranking up the volume becomes mandatory at points during cutscenes (or, how I sometimes feel watching the Great British Baking Show).

Oh, I'm reminded Super Robot Wars explained why the Inspectors- very human aliens- speak Earth language fine, a futuristic translation device we don't see or get told anything else about. A fig leaf some games could use.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

lenticular · June 23, 2020

6 hours ago, Alastor15243 said:

And so, far earlier than I expected, in the lyrics of a dumb, innocuous little pirate sea shanty we never hear the melody to, or even learn if it has a melody or is just a rhyming chant, we encounter the first instance of a pet peeve of mine that plagues basically every single game in this franchise that has localized lyrics.

Accent on the wrong syllable.

Deliberately mispronouncing words in a clumsy and lazy attempt to cram a square lyric in to a round meter.

I... hate this. I've given up hope that anyone at Nintendo will give enough of a shit to stop doing it to every single goddamned song in the franchise, but I still hate it every time it happens. As far as I'm concerned, nobody who speaks fluent English has any business being this outrageously lazy when constructing lyrics. There is a magic to properly-constructed lyrics and lyrical flow that is completely lost when you stop giving a shit about this, and every single song that has ever succumbed to the temptation is lesser for it. Even songs I otherwise love.

I'm not an expert on this by any means, but I have heard that translating song lyrics is particularly difficult. Essentially, different languages have different rhythms, with different patterns of stress being common. If you hear Japanese and English from a distance and can't even make out any of the words, you can still tell that they're very different lamguages because of the different patterns of rhythms that they make. With songs, the music is generally composed specifically to fit the rhythm of the language of its lyrics. With a translated version, you're left trying to conform to a bunch of stress patterns that don't really match your language very well, all while trying to convey the same meaning as the original. It's still frustrating and jarring when it happens, but I don't think it's really born out of laziness.

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

Path of Radiance Day 7: Chapter 10

Yet again my wiimote lost all of its battery sitting in the charger last night because I put it in the charger the wrong way without knowing. Are wiimotes supposed to lose their charge that fast when they aren't being used, or did I get a really, really shitty rechargeable battery? I don't remember having to change the batteries on my wiimote every day.

Well, either way, I'll have an alternative by the time it's a huge deal. I've just got to wait long enough to give it a sufficient charge to turn on.

…

...Okay, strangely, after leaving it in the charger for like, what, ten minutes? It says it's fully charged.

Why the fuck didn't it turn on before?

Anyway...

So, one thing I didn't comment on before: it's been a while since I've played a game in this marathon that didn't have the Fire Emblem theme on the main menu, or at least on the “thing that plays when you don't press start in time”. It's... honestly, I always found it kind of strange about this game. In fact I don't think this game has the Fire Emblem theme anywhere in it. The only other games I can think of that have that in common are... I think... Gaiden, Echoes and Fates.

Anyway, Ranulf makes a baffling and needless comment that Ike being “awfully friendly for a beorc” is probably due to him being born in Gallia which... yeah, wow, thanks.

But then Ranulf warns Ike that when a laguz says “human”, watch out, because they're using a slur and aren't your friend.

I'm pretty sure this never, ever comes up again as something Ike would need to be aware of, but I'll be on the lookout. The way Ranulf said it gave me the impression as a kid that it would be important later, like this information would have saved Ike's life.

Okay, so the 20,000 gold that Caineghis provides to Elincia (which she uses to pay Ike for the work he's done so far) is in “beorc currency”. Now if only I had an idea of how much 20,000 gold even is. All I know is that 20,000 gold is an “outrageous fee” for what Ike has accomplished by safely escorting Elincia to Gallia. So... that's gotta be a lot of money.

But then Ranulf says that 20,000 gold for the life of a princess “almost borders on insulting”, so maybe that was just Ike being Ike, not thinking that specifically escorting a VIP like a princess changed anything about how much his work was worth.

Alright, so Ranulf confirms that there aren't any ships in Gallia at all. Alright. As IntOb has said, there's not exactly the biggest need for it in Gallia, but like...

...has anyone noticed that most of the limited worldbuilding we get about Gallia is focused on implying what they can't do, and not what they can? Like, our image of Gallia is just that of a beorc society minus all the stuff they don't have. All of the technology they don't make, or don't need. Do we even get a single example of an object made by laguz, for laguz, created due to the unique demands of the laguz lifestyle? I mean, we get the laguz stones and the laguz/demi bands, but it's never made clear how, or even if laguz stones are made (as opposed to being found in the wild, already magical), and those bands were retconned out of existence in the sequel before they were ever acknowledged outside of gameplay by anyone at all.

And again, like I said, the issue here is that we're told just enough to ask a lot of questions that the game has no intention of answering, which... from a worldbuilding perspective... just frustrates me.

...Moving on.

So Lethe yet again calls Ike a “human”.

...I really, really want to see her supports with a beorc, to see if she eventually shifts from using “human” to “beorc” around them to show her growth. But...

Ranulf: You must forgive Lethe. Her tongue cuts as deep as her claws do.

Fitting, as big cat tongues have barbs on them that can strip flesh right from the bones.

Anyway, time to go to base and, crucially, give Mist her bonus exp.

...As well as the mage band that she should have been given from the start of last chapter.

But as I get her to level 9, I start to think I probably don't need to give her that much to get her to valkyrie in a timely fashion, so I also give some to Marcia to help get her up to speed. I get her up to level 12, which, aside from Titania and the laguz, lets her tie with Boyd for second-highest level in the party.

She better not disappoint now.

...Considering she has only 2 less strength than Boyd and a crapton more speed (though way, way less HP)... I think I'll find a use for her after all.

Man, I must've gotten her really stat-screwed last time I played this game. Good thing I'm playing on fixed mode! This is really giving me a good sense of the usefulness of all the characters I'm using.

Oh shit, this chapter isn't selling hand axes or javelins. Good thing I bought more than I needed, but I'm still running low on hand axes at least.

So I get to the info conversations, and there's this generic laguz guard, and I can't tell if he's blindfolded himself, or if he's about to walk into a catgirl harem hentai, because I can't see his fucking eyes beneath that “headband”.

But anyway, this guy's really rude to Ike, and then when he apologizes, he says it's hard to fight the “instinct” to hate beorc, and muses that “perhaps some memory of the slavery our forefathers suffered at beorc hands flows in our blood”, and I'm like...

...Well, okay, first off, Ike's response is just “I understand. I'll keep my distance”, but... I dunno, that's not how I'd respond. I get the racial climate of this setting, but... It sounds like this guy hasn't actually been wronged by any beorc personally, or even knows anyone who has, and yet he's just so heavily baked in hatred for beorc that he reflexively snaps at a guy who's done literally nothing to him, and... I'm not sure I find that very sympathetic, especially when he starts making excuses for his behavior that kinda-sorta blame Ike by proxy.

So then Ike talks to Marcia, and when he sees her finished packing, he says “You're more skillful at this than I would've imagined. Or is it that Mist is woefully inept?”

Why Mist, specifically? Does Mist usually do all the packing? Everyone packs their own things, right? Or is Marcia currently packing the sorts of supplies that Mist usually packs, and not her own things?

Oh, and Marcia calls pirates “boat monkeys” again, and I'm starting to love that insult.

Okay, really, I wanna know what Lethe's deal is. She's such a jackass to us that I'm really hoping we learn that she's got some personal chip on her shoulder that motivates this, because if not... if she's this riled up just by secondhand accounts and not by profoundly formative personal experience...

...I mean, she's just being an asshole to Ike, and not just saying stuff about how racist and evil beorc are, but... constantly talking shit about how weak and inferior they are, too... and... Ike's just kinda taking it, or even occasionally kind of agreeing with her.

Lethe: Look who I'm trapped with! Of course I'm depressed... And keep your worthless observations to yourself. All of you are so slow... I can't believe you're still not ready.

Ike: Sorry about that. If we were like you and didn't need to carry anything, it would be easier, but... we have weapons and things to get ready.

...Honestly, I'm not sure I like this. It feels... weird, shall we say... for Ike to put up with someone just casually talking shit about not just him, but also all of his friends and his little sister. If instead of Lethe talking shit about them for being weak, hairless beorc, this were some noble talking shit about them for being peasants... I have a feeling that Ike's reaction here would have been... very different.

But then Ike points out the dagger Lethe has on the scabbard on here leg. And right after denouncing beorc's reliance on tools as a sign of weakness, she talks about how useful it is for getting bones out of meat or cutting fruit into bite-sized pieces.

And would it not also be useful for stabbing people who are trying to kill you while you're stuck out of beast form, Lethe?

Actually... is that even canon? The games' cutscenes, both in-engine and out, as far as I can remember... seem to treat it as if all laguz can transform at will and indefinitely. I can't remember a single instance of laguz being forced into their human form half the time being acknowledged anywhere outside of gameplay. If that's true, and in-story they can just stay in beast form indefinitely, then that makes their refusal to use human weapons a lot more understandable (though they'd still be way better off swallowing their pride and figuring out how to make armor or something).

...So, that's interesting. Lethe's comment about fruit is indirect confirmation right there (maybe it came sooner and I didn't notice) that cat laguz are not obligate carnivores like the animals they can turn into are. Which makes me kinda curious about how the anatomy of a cat laguz in beast form differs from that of an actual big cat.

And then Lethe says that “denying something's obvious worth out of petty spite is foolish”, and says she doesn't despise everything beorc, then says she acknowledges that Ike is actually a good person by saying “If every beorc could get along with us as well as you do, I'm certain...” before trailing off and going “This is a ridiculous conversation! I'm leaving now.”

Jesus. I don't think you could get less subtle if you just taped a speaker to her head that looped a recording of willfromafar shouting “I AM A TSUNDERE.”

...Actually, I just tried that out, and it sounds like he's saying “I am a sun deer”. ...Which sounds like some kind of deer god you'd find out in the wild in a video game.

But anyway, yeah, this is, uh... I don't think I like Lethe. She's... basically just a racist, bitchy tsundere who can't help but verbally abuse people she knows don't deserve it.

...But that's it for info conversations, so let's keep moving.

And now we get the narration screen again!

Okay, so, I just realized, like... I know I heard that word associated with it, but I dunno, maybe thinking so much about Grado made it finally click...

The Begnion... Empire.

First off, they say it's the oldest nation on the continent of Tellius.

Curious. As far as I can tell, that means one of three things:

1: Daein, Crimea, Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis and Kilvas are all nations remade in the ashes of some massive war that only the Begnion Empire survived intact as the same nation it was before.

2: The lands outside of Begnion were completely uninhabited by the time Begnion seized control and started forming its empire by taking over other countries and incorporating them into itself. And then later, people ventured off and founded societies in all of these lands. This is probably the least likely one, because that makes it very confusing how the laguz nations came to be and where the laguz lived in this time.

3: The Begnion Empire once ruled the entire continent of Tellius, and Crimea and Daein successfully fought for independence, and perhaps Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis and Kilvas all managed to throw off their beorc overlords and founded their own societies on Begnion soil they took for their own.

...Man, I really want to know which one it is.

...And then the narrator goes on to say that Crimea is a former fiefdom of Begnion, implying that yes, it is the third option. This makes me really curious about how the laguz nations were founded and in what context, if they really had no place to call home until after the foundation of the Begnion Empire.

I mean, assuming the narrator isn't racist and simply parroting Begnion propaganda that dosn't recognize the laguz countries as “nations” to be older than.

Curious that the mountain range between Gallia and Begnion is said to be “impassable”. I wonder what that's like wait a minute...

So...

...In Radiant Dawn, when Gallia goes to war with Begnion they... they seem to get to Begnion pretty easily.

How?

How did the Gallians get their troops onto Begnion soil so easily? The path to get there was obviously through Crimea (since they didn't go by sea and Goldoa is right the fuck out), so what is this method they used to get to Begnion so fast, and why aren't we using it now?

...I'm going to reserve judgment on this until we get to Radiant Dawn, but if it turns out Radiant Dawn just made up a path between Gallia and Begnion that Ike and company could have much more easily taken...

...I am going to be quite pissed with Radiant Dawn.

Ooh, I think I found a grammar error. “If we can rescue some Crimean soldiers they might decide to join us.” No comma between soldiers and they.

But more importantly, this is the chapter with the prison break. There's a Crimean castle being used by Daein to hold Crimean prisoners, and it's kinda a stealth mission, but this is an ironman, and I'm not remotely prepared to take the risk of low-manning this. We're going in guns blazing.

Also... Volke shows up. I like this scene a lot. Also, the sheer hilarity of it starting with Soren accusing Volke of “sorely lacking in social etiqutte”...

So Volke comes in saying that Greil hired him to look into something, and the report costs 50,000 gold. Now... as will be revealed later, this is a complete and total lie, so this doesn't have to perfectly make sense, but... let's just say I'd find it entirely in character for Soren to call bullshit on this.

Soren: You expect me to believe you were hired to perform a job worth 50,000 gold, and you didn't demand that money upfront? And what did Greil do to convince you he even had that kind of money? We just got paid less than half of that doing a job for royalty. You are either the worst businessman or the worst liar I have ever met.

But no, while Titania does point out they have no way to know he's telling the truth, nothing seems to strike any of these characters as particularly unbelievable about his completely unbelievable story.

Anyway, he says that rather than traveling with them (because obviously he's got shit to do), he tells them that when they have the money, “Stop into any tavern along your way. Tell the barkeep you've need of a fireman. You'll see me within an hour”.

Which I always found to be a cool detail, mentioning the method of locating a secretive criminal who normally doesn't want to be found. Sounds like shit you'd do in real life to find a hitman. Of course, this is implying he already knows full well where Ike's going, but, like, he's a thief, spy and assassin rolled into one, so sure.

Okay, revised opinion:

Aside from how weird I find it that Soren doesn't find Volke suspicious, I like this scene a lot. I like how Soren kinda opportunistically uses Volke's presence to their advantage by instantly pegging him as the sort of individual who'd know how to pick locks, and trying to hire him for that purpose (which he does for the pittance of 50 gold per lock, which... only makes his lie that he's got intelligence worth 50,000 gold even more ridiculous, but we're looking past that now).

And then you get the choice whether or not to hire him, which... like, okay, we all give Awakening shit for those moments where your choices don't matter as much as it looks like they would, but here... there's just an obvious objective right and wrong answer here. You never get anything for turning these people down, except that you get a renewal scroll for turning down Reyson, Janaff and Ulki (not remotely worth it). There is no advantage to not recruiting Volke, and no way that recruiting him bites you in the ass like Titania is worried it would.

But I do like the “seek advice” option where you get more dialogue talking to your two... advisors... Titania and Soren. It never really sank in that that's pretty much the role they fill. It took playing 1-6 and then playing 7 to really let it sink in how common that trope is in this franchise.

But yeah, if this is just a thing to do to first-time players, maybe it would have been nice to have one of these decisions bite the player in the ass, so this wasn't just the game instilling needless paranoia in a blind player about what recruiting these characters might cause.

And then Ranulf bails, because assorted work he has to do is going to keep him from joining our party officially for... fuck, I don't even know how long. But I'm pretty sure we don't get to use him until after Ike promotes.

Weird graphical hiccup: if you go to “reposition”, click on someone, and then press A on an empty space to go back to the main menu... the spot you selected will stay glowing red until you go back to “reposition” or “view map”.

Anyway, for the first time all game, I can't bring everyone I want to. I've gotta pick 5 people to leave behind. Rolf, Ilyana and Mia are pretty easy candidates for this, and I decide to leave Rhys and Lethe behind too. Mordecai is more useful when untransformed than Lethe is (due to smite), and also I wanna start building up his supports with Mist, so if I can't bring both him and Lethe, I'll bring him.

I'm also bringing Marcia because it seems that bringing her up to speed in levels has really made her look more viable. She's still not one-rounding anything, but then... nobody in my party is, not even really Titania a lot of the time. I think Mordecai will though, if he can double.

Ah yes, and we get three new allies this chapter. I was always kind of annoyed that you needed Oscar to recruit one of them, otherwise he'd just stay in his cell. That was just inexplicable to me why he'd choose to stay behind.

Also, having just seen a bishop (Sephiran), I realized that weirdly, despite adding a skill allowing you to use light magic, they still change the staff rank graphic to show it also represents light magic by putting something that could have easily been a light magic symbol on its own behind the staff symbol, further baffling me as to what the motives for making it a skill even were.

Alright, I'm ready to start. I decided to stuff some spare weapons with Mordecai and Volke, in case I'm mis-remembering and the talked-to units become blue, not yellow... so now I'm fully ready.

Let's go.

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

Chapter 10 Continued

Curiously, it seems like we're in the basement of this castle. So how did we get into the castle itself without getting caught?

...I'm not getting the answer to that question, am I?

But anyway, getting found by the guards on player-phase causes tripwire reinforcements, but at least you were pretty clearly warned by the implications of getting caught. At any rate, I triggered it right away because I am not trying to stealth this shit. So now we've gotta get to a more secure position.

But wow, Oscar is struggling here. Either that or these soldiers on watch are really strong. Because he did six damage to one. Without doubling. Even after Titania softened one up, he still just barely managed to kill him.

Oh right, Kieran's shown faceless here with his helmet on until you recruit him with Oscar. But, like... why? That just calls more attention to the fact that he was still allowed to keep his armor on in his cell.

Okay, yeah, I was wrong about Marcia. She was just underleveled, and bonus experience can fix that with ease. She's actually stronger than Oscar right now, at only two levels higher. Marcia's the one softening up enemies for Oscar now. I must have really gotten bad luck with her last time.

Anyway... christ, I wish knives didn't suck so much. Volke's actually as strong as Ike, and only one point behind Boyd, despite being four levels behind the former and two levels behind the latter. And yet because his only weapon has a measly 2 might, he's basically completely worthless for combat.

I'm wondering if there are more reinforcements coming, because if that was literally all this map had to offer aside from the stealth challenge... I am going to be annoyed.

Oscar's finally hit 10 strength, and also 12 speed.

Still not enough to double these soldiers. Wow.

Mordecai transforms, so I figure now might be a nice time to try him out. He's a tier 2 unit, which is... troubling when it comes to using him, since you'd think he'd already have enough downsides without adding in reduced exp gain to the mix, but still... he's really strong when he's in beast form. Like a more mobile knight. If I can get his speed up...

...Well that apparently shouldn't be too hard, since he's got a 50% speed growth. He'll gain 9 levels in it on average. I should probably give him a speed-boosting accessory just to make sure the enemies he fights don't strip him of that last level though. That's still only going to be 20 speed by the end of the game when transformed, which isn't exactly speed demon tier.

But anyway, since he's so tough, and he's not gonna stay tough for too much longer, I figured I'd have him rush the boss area so I don't have to worry about tiptoeing in and triggering AI flags or something, since he's guaranteed to survive.

So, Mordecai has a quote with the boss, in which he talks to him. So...

...So the game seems really inconsistent on what they can and can't do between gameplay and story. In the story, it seems they can transform indefinitely but can't talk in their animal form, while during gameplay, it's the opposite.

...Wow, looks like I remembered correctly. Ike can't recruit Kieran. That's... frustrating. Well, talking to him with Oscar now.

...Wow. I, uh...

...I kinda want Kieran and Owain to interact. I can see a lot of Owain in Kieran. And I don't just mean the hair. I think this would be a pretty funny conversation, especially in something like Warriors. Hell, I can practically imagine Kaiji Tang voicing Kieran.

But anyway, the boss is moving, but Mordecai is nearly out of juice, so I have him retreat so we can assault the boss with ease now that he's on the move.

...Except that he's stopped moving now that nobody's in his range. Now, I could probably easily deal with this guy, except that I'm terrified that I might trigger those stationary knights and the halberdier guarding the entrance to move if I do the wrong thing. But I don't want to use a precious laguz stone to bring Mordecai to full power again, so I'm gonna use Titania.

...or I could sneak around the side to take out the knights if they still refuse to move...

...Fuck it, I'll work this out.

So, here's something unfortunate I just learned, since this is the first time I've really done rescuing in this game: due to this game using the “select your space” method of target selection rather than “cycle through all viable targets” method that the past games used... there's no way to trade with a person somebody else is carrying. You can trade with someone you're carrying, but try it with a passenger of anyone else's and you're out of luck.

...But I just checked: pressing A on the stat screen of a unit holding someone? Still sends you to the stat screen of the unit they're carrying! I can't believe that was in this many games and I never noticed until this marathon!

...Also, in all my fucking around trying to dance around these enemies that could kill me were it not for their AI telling them not to... Mordecai transformed again. So fuck it, he's killing the boss.

Also, I got my first master seal, meaning that Mist can promote basically any time she wants to. But honestly, we're not at the point where mounted healing would be too useful. I think once we reach the point where units like Titania, Lethe, and Mordecai are going to need healing deep into the field is a safe place to say we need healing. Any extra experience before promoting we can get her is just gonna make her better.

...Also, depending on how much these master seals are worth, since you don't even need them to promote in this game, it might be better to just invest in a nice weapon, depending on how soon I need Mist on a horse.

...I forget if yellow units can actually escape. But I'll be trying to do it anyway, by using the target and roam commands to see if that works.

And that's it. We'r getting the treasure now, so the map will be over shortly. Man... this is probably the emptiest map I've seen in a while. There's basically nothing to do if you don't go in quietly, and I've heard if you do, then this map is a psychotic pain.

Alright, so these yellow units don't do anything if you pick “roam” when they're in range of an escape tile, but if you pick “target”, and target the escape space, they will in fact escape.

I'm glad that this game asks you before having a unit escape. That would have been such a nice feature to have in Thracia.

Oh yeah, and I forgot, this game has a cover of “A Knight's Oath” that plays when Kieran sees Elincia.

It's interesting that Elincia doesn't know who Kieran is, or that he was with her during the escape. How big was the group escorting her?

Also, Brom brings up the fact that the peasants don't really care too much about kings or nobles, which... is brought up in a much darker sense in the next chapter, so that's nice foreshadowing.

Also, I love how Sephiran's continuing the proud Fire Emblem tradition of disguising yourself as a peasant by just slapping a brown tarp over your noble finery.

It's not even covering his whole body!

Oh yes, and then we have this great scene with Volke:

Soren: I believe this is a good opportunity. We will almost certainly have need of this man's talents. He is a dubious character at best, but at least we know his motives. Everything begins and ends with gold. He'll be easy to control.

Ike: Soren, he's standing right there.

Soren: I don't think he minds.

And then they give you another chance to kick Volke out of your party, which just...

...I mean in fairness this isn't a “to or to not get completely fucked over” decision. You get Sothe in an info conversation (that I missed on my first playthrough somehow) in the chapter after next, so you're not just forced to do huge swaths of the game without a thief, or even to go without a thief for even one indoor map at all, but...

...At any rate, as long as this map felt, I'm actually done ahead of schedule. I might be able to squeeze in another part, but... given that I didn't get last entry finished until around 8:30 at night...

...I think I'm gonna call it for today.

Stay safe, everyone!

Jotari · June 23, 2020

The narrator must be racist, because I have a hard time believing Goldoa didn't exist in some form before the establishment of Begnion. Deghensea was around during the time of the goddess. Where was he living if not Goldoa?

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

...I really, really want to see her supports with a beorc, to see if she eventually shifts from using “human” to “beorc” around them to show her growth. But...

Well, since Ike is mixed up with Soren and Oscar, you've unfortunately only one choice- Jill. Maybe A the two together instead of MistxJill?

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Curious. As far as I can tell, that means one of three things:

1: Daein, Crimea, Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis and Kilvas are all nations remade in the ashes of some massive war that only the Begnion Empire survived intact as the same nation it was before.

2: The lands outside of Begnion were completely uninhabited by the time Begnion seized control and started forming its empire by taking over other countries and incorporating them into itself. And then later, people ventured off and founded societies in all of these lands. This is probably the least likely one, because that makes it very confusing how the laguz nations came to be and where the laguz lived in this time.

3: The Begnion Empire once ruled the entire continent of Tellius, and Crimea and Daein successfully fought for independence, and perhaps Gallia, Goldoa, Phoenicis and Kilvas all managed to throw off their beorc overlords and founded their own societies on Begnion soil they took for their own.

...Man, I really want to know which one it is.

If you wish to know right now, I can offer you the timeline posted in Japan at the time of RD's release, it's never shown ingame.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Ah yes, and we get three new allies this chapter. I was always kind of annoyed that you needed Oscar to recruit one of them, otherwise he'd just stay in his cell. That was just inexplicable to me why he'd choose to stay behind.

Actually, I've recruited Kieran and left him untalked to here several times, it was long before I realized Oscar could do that. Maniac difficulty in Japan demands the NPCs escape to recruit them however.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Well, since Ike is mixed up with Soren and Oscar, you've unfortunately only one choice- Jill. Maybe A the two together instead of MistxJill?

I was actually planning to support Mist with Mordecai, so that's fine. Jill and Lethe it is!

10 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

If you wish to know right now, I can offer you the timeline posted in Japan at the time of RD's release, it's never shown ingame.

Yeah, I think it'd be better to know that now, thanks!

10 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Actually, I've recruited Kieran and left him untalked to here several times, it was long before I realized Oscar could do that. Maniac difficulty in Japan demands the NPCs escape to recruit them however.

Weird, I could've sworn I failed to recruit him on my first playthrough.

20 minutes ago, Jotari said:

The narrator must be racist, because I have a hard time believing Goldoa didn't exist in some form before the establishment of Begnion. Deghensea was around during the time of the goddess. Where was he living if not Goldoa?

Yyyyeaaaaah, that occurred to me too, making the narrator's claim really suspect. But at the same time it would be really weird if the narrator were delivering misinformation. I'll have to see if he says anything else we know isn't true.

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

17 minutes ago, Alastor15243 said:

Yeah, I think it'd be better to know that now, thanks!

Here it is in two forms, pure text, and a chart with interactions that in principle is cooler, but isn't used as awesomely as it could be:

Text:

Spoiler

-155: The Great Flood

-131: Formation of [The Kingdom of] Begnion

Altina, one of the Three Heroes who defeated the Dark God, became the first Queen of Begnion.

-95: Birth of the Apostle

Altina’s granddaughter Yoram predicted the arrival of a great famine, and her prediction was confirmed.
Yoram was known and worshipped as the Apostle- the one who could converse with the Goddess.

0: Begnion Empire established

In the name of the Goddess’s chosen, the Apostle, the senate declared that all the regions outside of Goldoa were to be ruled by Begnion.
The Begnion theocracy and empire was established, with the Apostle as its Empress. The first Empress was Altina’s descendant, Apostle Meshua.

160~250: The Golden Age of Begnion

The discrimination against the Laguz greatly increased over the years, and the Laguz’s hatred of Beorc rule reached its peak.
The independent Kingdom of Goldoa continually protested to the senate about the treatment of the Laguz, but to no avail. Within Begnion there appeared a Beorc movement to remove the power and property of Laguz.
The senate, stating themselves as perfect beings who were closest to the Goddess since ancient times, declared that the Zunanma were “humans” and that they, themselves, were also “humans”. Very quickly this inspiring name spread across the whole of Begnion and was eventually officially accepted. In comparison to themselves, the Laguz were seen to be closer to the beasts and were referred to as “sub-humans”.

320: Start of the Great Laguz Movement

In order to find new lands, the Laguz steadily started leaving Begnion.
Many of the beast tribe headed to the distant forests of Gallia, and some of the bird tribe escaped to the unknown southern islands.

350: First War of Gallia

The senate sent soldiers to diminish the power of the beasts who had escaped to Gallia.
However, the beasts used the forest terrain to their advantage and engaged in guerrilla warfare, leading to a fierce battle with the Begnion soldiers.

352: Laguz Emancipation Movement

The remaining Laguz in Begnion, encouraged by the battle at Gallia, started a movement to liberate the enslaved Laguz.
Within the senate there were those who defended the Laguz, and opinions were divided.
As a result, the inner disputes escalated and the Gallia expeditionary soldiers were temporary forced to withdraw.

355: Formation of Gallia

Solhaut of the Lion clan was pushed to become the leader of Gallia’s beast tribe and, with the support of Goldoa, Gallia was established.

360: Bird tribes find new residence

Encouraged by the formation of Gallia, the birds who had escaped to the southern islands began to call their comrades that remained in Begnion to escape.

The bird tribes slowly began to gather at the island known as Phoenicis, and their independence steadily rised.

Same year: Second War of Gallia

Worried about the current state of affairs, Begnion sent more soldiers on an expedition to Gallia.
However, before the beasts’ guerilla tactics, the battle was indecisive just like before.

385: Formation of Phoenicis

Taking advantage of the confusion caused by war, the birds push the Hawk Hols to become their king and, at the island of Phoenicis, established their own country.

390: Formation of Crimea

The Begnion senate divided into two. Led by the powerful senator Caradock, the side that wished to find peace with the Laguz became independent.
- At Crimea they formed their own country, and made peace with Gallia. At the same time they began to make up with their motherland, Begnion.

395: Signing of the Peace Treaty

Begnion and Gallia signed a peace treaty.

400: Kingdoms of Crimea, Gallia and Phoenicis established

The Kingdom of Crimea, Kingdom of Gallia and Kingdom of Phoenicis were officially recognised as countries.
At the same time, within Begnion, the voices of those who wish to re-evaluate the position of Laguz began to steadily rise.

405: Formation of Daein

The view of Beorc and Laguz equality increases in popularity, leading to the loss of power of those who back the sub-human view.
- Led by the senator Hengist they left for independence and established their own country at Daein.

410~425: Daein-Crimea War

Daein requested for Begnion’s aid to invade Gallia, but Begnion refused.
- Daein also requested of Crimea, but was refused as well.
Realizing that they could not defeat Gallia by themselves, Daein invaded their neighbour Crimea instead.
- However, due to Crimea’s strong resistance, the war was indecisive.
- The war continued for 5 long years, before both countries decided to avoid destroying one another, and so ended the war.

420: Formation of Kilvas

Because of differences within the bird tribes, the Ravens left Phoenicis. At the nearby island of Kilvas they established their own country.

425: Begnion Empire’s invasion

Feeling that their dominance has started to fade, the Begnion Empire, using the Goddess’s name, sent troops to begin an invasion to restore their dominance of the continent.
- The invasion started with new powers Daein and Kilvas.

428: Kilvas’ surrender

Kilvas refused Phoenicis’ reinforcements and surrendered to Begnion.
Also the Daein troops, concentrated at the capital of Nevassa, continued the resistance.

432: Tellius continental war

Believing Begnion’s dominance over the continent would not bode well, Crimea decided to ally with Daein, and declared war against Begnion.
- Begnion’s battle with Crimea and Daein erupted.
Although Begnion’s might was unshaken, but due to the involvement of the Laguz of Gallia, Phoenicis and Kilvas, the war was prolonged and continued for numerous decades.

470: Formation of Serenes

The citizens of Serenes protested against Begnion’s war, which was done in name of the Goddess.
- Because they doubted the existence of the Apostle, they ended up angering the senate and became at opposing sides with them.
Finally, the citizens of Serenes established their own independent country, although the battle of the validity of the Apostle never ended.

478: Treaty of Sarasa, Kingdoms of Daein, Kilvas and Serenes established

The war entered a seemingly neverending state. Begnion, worried about their great losses, finally decided to find a way to stop the war.
In the end, by the intervention of Goldoa, peace talks were held within the Sarasa region of Goldoa.
Begnion signed a treaty of peace, with the conditions that they had to return their conquered lands to Daein and Kilvas and recognise them as official countries.

595: Misaha’s ascension

Apostle Misaha became the 36th Empress of Begnion.

624: Laguz Emancipation Act

Attacking the senate who were slow to act with regards to Laguz slavery, Apostle Misaha declared the Laguz Emancipation Act.
The Apostle’s voice was powerful. The senate could no longer ignore the cries of the country and ordered the release of all the Laguz slaves.

625: Serenes Massacre

Apostle Misaha was assassinated.
The senate declared this to be the doing of the Serenes citizens who doubted the existence of the Apostle.
The furious Begnion citizens ravaged the Serenes Forest and the Kingdom of Serenes fell in a few days.

626: Daein’s great change

Within Daein, various mysterious changes occurred.
General Gawain of the Four Riders mysteriously vanished, along with his fiancée.
A plague gripped Daein, resulting in countless deaths, including deaths of the King and almost all of the royal family.

Same year: Bird tribes’ oath

To avenge the Serenes Massacre, Phoenicis began pillaging nearby Begnion ships. Also Kilvas took advantage of the situation and pillaged relentlessly.
Within Begnion, awareness of the the Bird tribes’ actions steadily rised.

627: Ashnard’s ascension

Ashnard, the sole survivor of the Daein royal family, became the 13th King of Daein.

Same year: Wyvern rider Shiharam’s desertion

[Some of- not all] The holy wyvern riders of Begnion, led by Shiharam, deserted for Daein.
King Ashnard awarded the title of Palace Knights to Shiharam and his men. (What? Defending Talrega contradicts this.)

640: Sanaki’s ascension

Apostle Sanaki became the 37th Empress of Begnion.
At the same time Duke Persis, Sephiran, as the prime minister and leader of the senate, became the aide of the young Empress (and also the youngest Empress in history).

645: Mad King’s War

Daein attacks its neighbour Crimea.

Chart:

Spoiler

One little contradiction on the chart- how was Goldoa founded after the Empire of Begnion- but the empire excluded Goldoa from its rule? My own interpretation is that Deghinsea had founded Goldoa from the very start, but he did not declare a separate political entity from the Kingdom of Begnion because of optics- to preserve the happy veneer of all Beorc and Laguz in a single realm.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

Espurrhoodie · June 23, 2020

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

So, one thing I didn't comment on before: it's been a while since I've played a game in this marathon that didn't have the Fire Emblem theme on the main menu, or at least on the “thing that plays when you don't press start in time”. It's... honestly, I always found it kind of strange about this game. In fact I don't think this game has the Fire Emblem theme anywhere in it. The only other games I can think of that have that in common are... I think... Gaiden, Echoes and Fates.

Not entirely sure about Gaiden/Echoes, but the Fire Emblem theme plays in the last pre-rendered cutscene for Revelations. It starts at around 3:45 in this video (I'm on mobile so I can't make the vid play right at 3:45):

Also I forgot how much I didn't care for the voice-acting in Fates.

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

20 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Here it is in two forms, pure text, and a chart with interactions that in principle is cooler, but isn't used as awesomely as it could be:

Text:

Reveal hidden contents

-155: The Great Flood

-131: Formation of [The Kingdom of] Begnion

Altina, one of the Three Heroes who defeated the Dark God, became the first Queen of Begnion.

-95: Birth of the Apostle

Altina’s granddaughter Yoram predicted the arrival of a great famine, and her prediction was confirmed.

Yoram was known and worshipped as the Apostle- the one who could converse with the Goddess.

0: Begnion Empire established

In the name of the Goddess’s chosen, the Apostle, the senate declared that all the regions outside of Goldoa were to be ruled by Begnion.

The Begnion theocracy and empire was established, with the Apostle as its Empress. The first Empress was Altina’s descendant, Apostle Meshua.

160~250: The Golden Age of Begnion

The discrimination against the Laguz greatly increased over the years, and the Laguz’s hatred of Beorc rule reached its peak.

The independent Kingdom of Goldoa continually protested to the senate about the treatment of the Laguz, but to no avail. Within Begnion there appeared a Beorc movement to remove the power and property of Laguz.

The senate, stating themselves as perfect beings who were closest to the Goddess since ancient times, declared that the Zunanma were “humans” and that they, themselves, were also “humans”. Very quickly this inspiring name spread across the whole of Begnion and was eventually officially accepted. In comparison to themselves, the Laguz were seen to be closer to the beasts and were referred to as “sub-humans”.

320: Start of the Great Laguz Movement

In order to find new lands, the Laguz steadily started leaving Begnion.

Many of the beast tribe headed to the distant forests of Gallia, and some of the bird tribe escaped to the unknown southern islands.

350: First War of Gallia

The senate sent soldiers to diminish the power of the beasts who had escaped to Gallia.

However, the beasts used the forest terrain to their advantage and engaged in guerrilla warfare, leading to a fierce battle with the Begnion soldiers.

352: Laguz Emancipation Movement

The remaining Laguz in Begnion, encouraged by the battle at Gallia, started a movement to liberate the enslaved Laguz.

Within the senate there were those who defended the Laguz, and opinions were divided.

As a result, the inner disputes escalated and the Gallia expeditionary soldiers were temporary forced to withdraw.

355: Formation of Gallia

Solhaut of the Lion clan was pushed to become the leader of Gallia’s beast tribe and, with the support of Goldoa, Gallia was established.

360: Bird tribes find new residence

Encouraged by the formation of Gallia, the birds who had escaped to the southern islands began to call their comrades that remained in Begnion to escape.

The bird tribes slowly began to gather at the island known as Phoenicis, and their independence steadily rised.

Same year: Second War of Gallia

Worried about the current state of affairs, Begnion sent more soldiers on an expedition to Gallia.

However, before the beasts’ guerilla tactics, the battle was indecisive just like before.

385: Formation of Phoenicis

Taking advantage of the confusion caused by war, the birds push the Hawk Hols to become their king and, at the island of Phoenicis, established their own country.

390: Formation of Crimea

The Begnion senate divided into two. Led by the powerful senator Caradock, the side that wished to find peace with the Laguz became independent.
At Crimea they formed their own country, and made peace with Gallia. At the same time they began to make up with their motherland, Begnion.

395: Signing of the Peace Treaty

Begnion and Gallia signed a peace treaty.

400: Kingdoms of Crimea, Gallia and Phoenicis established

The Kingdom of Crimea, Kingdom of Gallia and Kingdom of Phoenicis were officially recognised as countries.

At the same time, within Begnion, the voices of those who wish to re-evaluate the position of Laguz began to steadily rise.

405: Formation of Daein

The view of Beorc and Laguz equality increases in popularity, leading to the loss of power of those who back the sub-human view.
Led by the senator Hengist they left for independence and established their own country at Daein.

410~425: Daein-Crimea War

Daein requested for Begnion’s aid to invade Gallia, but Begnion refused.
Daein also requested of Crimea, but was refused as well.

Realizing that they could not defeat Gallia by themselves, Daein invaded their neighbour Crimea instead.
However, due to Crimea’s strong resistance, the war was indecisive.

The war continued for 5 long years, before both countries decided to avoid destroying one another, and so ended the war.

420: Formation of Kilvas

Because of differences within the bird tribes, the Ravens left Phoenicis. At the nearby island of Kilvas they established their own country.

425: Begnion Empire’s invasion

Feeling that their dominance has started to fade, the Begnion Empire, using the Goddess’s name, sent troops to begin an invasion to restore their dominance of the continent.
The invasion started with new powers Daein and Kilvas.

428: Kilvas’ surrender

Kilvas refused Phoenicis’ reinforcements and surrendered to Begnion.

Also the Daein troops, concentrated at the capital of Nevassa, continued the resistance.

432: Tellius continental war

Believing Begnion’s dominance over the continent would not bode well, Crimea decided to ally with Daein, and declared war against Begnion.
Begnion’s battle with Crimea and Daein erupted.

Although Begnion’s might was unshaken, but due to the involvement of the Laguz of Gallia, Phoenicis and Kilvas, the war was prolonged and continued for numerous decades.

470: Formation of Serenes

The citizens of Serenes protested against Begnion’s war, which was done in name of the Goddess.
Because they doubted the existence of the Apostle, they ended up angering the senate and became at opposing sides with them.

Finally, the citizens of Serenes established their own independent country, although the battle of the validity of the Apostle never ended.

478: Treaty of Sarasa, Kingdoms of Daein, Kilvas and Serenes established

The war entered a seemingly neverending state. Begnion, worried about their great losses, finally decided to find a way to stop the war.

In the end, by the intervention of Goldoa, peace talks were held within the Sarasa region of Goldoa.

Begnion signed a treaty of peace, with the conditions that they had to return their conquered lands to Daein and Kilvas and recognise them as official countries.

595: Misaha’s ascension

Apostle Misaha became the 36th Empress of Begnion.

624: Laguz Emancipation Act

Attacking the senate who were slow to act with regards to Laguz slavery, Apostle Misaha declared the Laguz Emancipation Act.

The Apostle’s voice was powerful. The senate could no longer ignore the cries of the country and ordered the release of all the Laguz slaves.

625: Serenes Massacre

Apostle Misaha was assassinated.

The senate declared this to be the doing of the Serenes citizens who doubted the existence of the Apostle.

The furious Begnion citizens ravaged the Serenes Forest and the Kingdom of Serenes fell in a few days.

626: Daein’s great change

Within Daein, various mysterious changes occurred.

General Gawain of the Four Riders mysteriously vanished, along with his fiancée.

A plague gripped Daein, resulting in countless deaths, including deaths of the King and almost all of the royal family.

Same year: Bird tribes’ oath

To avenge the Serenes Massacre, Phoenicis began pillaging nearby Begnion ships. Also Kilvas took advantage of the situation and pillaged relentlessly.

Within Begnion, awareness of the the Bird tribes’ actions steadily rised.

627: Ashnard’s ascension

Ashnard, the sole survivor of the Daein royal family, became the 13th King of Daein.

Same year: Wyvern rider Shiharam’s desertion

[Some of- not all] The holy wyvern riders of Begnion, led by Shiharam, deserted for Daein.

King Ashnard awarded the title of Palace Knights to Shiharam and his men. (What? Defending Talrega contradicts this.)

640: Sanaki’s ascension

Apostle Sanaki became the 37th Empress of Begnion.

At the same time Duke Persis, Sephiran, as the prime minister and leader of the senate, became the aide of the young Empress (and also the youngest Empress in history).

645: Mad King’s War

Daein attacks its neighbour Crimea.

Chart:

Reveal hidden contents

One little contradiction on the chart- how was Goldoa founded after the Empire of Begnion- but the empire excluded Goldoa from its rule? My own interpretation is that Deghinsea had founded Goldoa from the very start, but he did not declare a separate political entity from the Kingdom of Begnion because of optics- to preserve the happy veneer of all Beorc and Laguz in a single realm.

What I want to know is how the message got lost so quickly that they needed to avoid another race war. It feels like if Altina had enshrined anything saying as much in law and culture, it would have been respected.

Also, why would they make only two nations if the more nations they had meant the more safeties they had against the pact being violated?

Edited June 23, 2020 by Alastor15243

Interdimensional Observer · June 23, 2020

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

Also, why would they make only two nations if the more nations they had meant the more safeties they had against the pact being violated?

More nation-states =/ better. Sometimes, you have to because internal friction and separation is indeed the best possible outcome. But, nothing stops nation-states from warring against each other, especially if there is disputed territory between them. Separating Muslim Pakistan from Hindu India? You've two nuclear powers stuck in unending rivalry with Jammu and Kashmir in the middle now. Irredentism isn't always required however, the Soviet Union and

There is something beautiful in the image of a multinational state if it's fair, tolerant, and harmonious, it's sad to give up all hope on that because of reality.

And that pact... how does a medallion figure out what a country is and if it counts for the pact? Nations are artificial creations of the human mind- they have no literal soul. If a man afflicted by syphilis-induced insanity declared himself the King of Outhouse and seceded his thatch hut from Crimea, would the Medallion's seal not have been broken? Okay, lets just assume it was the fighting presence of a full-blood Dragon Laguz in Kurthnaga and more chaotic energies than been during the Mad King's War that broke the seal. That sounds most... realistic as this can be, and why the seal never broke before- Goldoa and all the Dragon Laguz with it stayed neutral.

1 hour ago, Alastor15243 said:

What I want to know is how the message got lost so quickly that they needed to avoid another race war. It feels like if Altina had enshrined anything saying as much in law and culture, it would have been respected.

People are human, people don't do what is ultimately in their best interest, and dead people have no power over the living.

Charlemagne's great Carolingian Empire, the first great polity since the demise of the Western Roman Empire in Western Europe. His grandsons ignored this glorious unity decades later, imprisoned their dad who tried to negotiate a peaceful division of territory, and it split in civil war into three kingdoms at odds with one another.
For a more modern example- George Washington died in 1799, James Madison the "Father of the Constitution" in 1836. The US Constitution was made to keep the American states in union, which would enable the experiment in democratic republicanism to succeed where other historical republics had died. 1861- the US Civil War begins.
And for a third example, see Yugoslavia. By force of will, Marshall Josip Broz Tito kept it intact following WWII. After his death, it held together, but you had the same bickering as in the interwar period, which gradually led to its demise. Croatia and Slovenia thought themselves more Western European and advanced than Serbia because they had been in Western Europe via Austrian rule. Serbia thought, as it was the only pre-WWI component to be independent, was superior. When it came to government spending, Serbia wanted federal funds to develop the economy of the backwater regions- Serbia-, while Slovenia- the economic leader of the union- didn't want to waste their hard-earned earnings on the laggards.

Getting back to FE, Deg could've laid down the ancient law to restore peace by force. But, dragonkind was too powerful for that, and yet probably too weak too, birth rates being glacial and Dragon Laguz, as deadly as they are, aren't invincible.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

Koops · June 23, 2020

Just to answer that question about transform gauges and whether or not they are acknowledged ingame, I'm pretty sure there's a talk conversation in chapter 15 where a maid in the Mainal Chathedral tells you that the most efficient way to fight laguz is to wait for them till they untransform and become helpless, so it a thing canonically.

Alastor15243 · June 23, 2020

Just now, Koops said:

Just to answer that question about transform gauges and whether or not they are acknowledged ingame, I'm pretty sure there's a talk conversation in chapter 15 where a maid in the Mainal Chathedral tells you that the most efficient way to fight laguz is to wait for them till they untransform and become helpless, so it a thing canonically.

Ouch. That, uh...

...Yeah, that means that that rant I've been bottling up is indeed going to wind up happening, and it's a question of when, not if.

I am not happy that that's true. At all.

Alastor15243 · June 24, 2020

Path of Radiance Day 8: Chapter 11

Okay, so, here's the port chapter, the one before we spend several chapters at sea. I remember a good deal about the story of this chapter, and... okay, here's an issue I know I'm going to have with this story regardless of how it winds up being executed:

This is going to demonstrate that racism against laguz is pretty dang rampant across Crimea. So I've gotta ask... how did Ike wind up completely ignorant of their existence his whole life? Like, if you hate these things so much that you'll just start beating one in the street the second you see him... that's gotta, like... leave evidence behind in the world, right? How sheltered has Ike's life been? How much of it has he spent just living inside the Greil Mercenaries' base? Has he never talked with people outside town, or read a book, or been in the same room as Shinon while he's drunk? Or shit, wouldn't his father have told him all about the people he's liable to hear nothing but bad things about if he learns about them from nearly anyone else? How did Ike not know that a third to half of the habitable landmass on the continent is occupied by shapeshifting beast-men? And how could this revelation, after going his whole life thinking humans were the only sapient beings on earth, not have been a massive shock to him?

But anyway, the people here are just pretending the war isn't going on, because they're sheltered from living in a country that's never been to war in ages, and thus has never lost one.

Soren says a bunch of cynical and morbid stuff about the human condition, denouncing humans as “shameless creatures that carelessly ignore any misfortune which does not befall them directly”. And I'm curious... since he's branded, is he talking about humans here as something distinct from himself?

Anyway, this is cynical even for Soren standards, as Ike very astutely points out, and so he's worried something's particularly bothering him right now. And then Titania chimes in.

Titania: Soren's a very empathetic young man. The emotions of this place may have proven to be too much for him.

...Uh... I don't think that sounds right, Titania.

Anyway, yeah, Ranulf confirms that he knew Nasir would be here, willing to take them to Begnion. Nasir's... also a spy for Daein, in order to protect and assist Ena. Which makes me wonder when that spying and turncoat behavior starts, because surely if it's during or before this boat ride, he should have been told to turn them over to Daein on the voyage over, right? Or to just “fail” to set sail?

...So... this thing about only the ruling classes accepting this friendship between Crimea and Gallia is interesting, but... I'm hoping we get an explanation for the details of why exactly the efforts to instill tolerance between the two nations and peoples went so incredibly horribly. I'm quite confident that, because the Greil Mercenaries are the main characters, this isn't trying to insinuate something about “the intolerant unwashed masses” versus “the virtuous, socially-conscious social elite” or something like that. Especially given the shit we see in Begnion. But like... why didn't it work? I'm not saying I'm surprised it didn't work, I'm saying I don't even know what “it” is! Ramon, what did you do to try and inspire tolerance for laguz? Don't tell me you just made a lot of flowery speeches that fell on deaf ears, or talked down to whoever would listen about how much their attitude needs to change. Because what, the people are going to take that shit lying down? From the stuffy pampered nobles who probably powder their feet and pay people to piss for them? “They haven't worked an honest day in their lives, and they expect us to think they know how the world works? Oh sure, tell us that we need to be brave and hug a tiger, while you stay up in your fancy castle with your armed guards.”

You're fucking royalty. Make policies. You can do that.

Make tax breaks and subsidies for traders who do business with Gallia! Encourage merchants to bring back exotic fruits, or that olivi grass medicine Kurthnaga gives to Micaiah in Radiant Dawn, to sell back at home! Right there, just by doing that, without making any of the lower class feel like their safety has been jeopardized for some “arrogant elitist social experiment”, you've gotten a foothold. Suddenly the Gallian laguz aren't just some scary “other” from beyond the trees, out to violate their women and probably also their cats. Whatever else the Crimeans are still undoubtedly going to think about the laguz, at least with that step you've established to everyone who buys this stuff that laguz can be reasoned with and can create things of function or beauty!

From there, you've got a bit of momentum. Keep going with it! Increase the availability of voluntary exposure that the people get something out of. Make it in the people's best interest to do things that make them less ignorant! And eventually the climate will change enough that laguz will be able to set foot in at least some Crimean towns without the people beating the laguz in the streets in fear of their own lives. And once that happens, then they can talk to each other. They'll probably each offend the shit out of each other at first, so maybe be careful about who you allow to head over at first (same goes for the beorc allowed to visit Gallia), but the more exposure the two species get to each other, the more lies about each other become exposed as obviously false.

I'm not saying that racism is some trivially easy problem to solve, because that would be utterly ridiculous, and maybe (okay, probably) there's some gaping flaw in this idea I just came up with in five minutes. But my point is it would be an idea. A tangible effort that would make it clear that the friendship between Crimea and Gallia's royalty isn't some empty gesture. And it would be a cool thing to learn about that would help us understand the situation on a deeper level.

Did they do anything like that? If so, why didn't it work? Where did it go wrong?

...I really should wait until the subject changes before writing multiple-paragraph rants on the game's story. Most of what I said is still relevant, but it looks like King Ramon is stated to have at least accomplished something. At least he managed to get the outright laguz hunts to stop, because apparently that was a thing. I'm guessing that was just a matter of making it illegal, though, given the Crimean attitudes towards laguz that are handily demonstrated later in this chapter. Though are they saying that before this, Crimean “poachers” invaded Gallian territory to kill laguz? Or are there pockets of native, Crimean laguz that were targeted?

...Well, that's everything worthy of commentary that happens in this scene. Time to outfit!

Hand axes are finally for sale again, so I stock up. I also get some steel lances for Marcia, because she can actually carry the damned things pretty well. And then I have Ike get his B support with Oscar.

...That's interesting. Is this... a time-sensitive support? The subject matter is very topical, not just that it couldn't have happened before (which would be easy to gate), but that it wouldn't make nearly as much sense happening afterwards. They're talking about how to fight the laguz bird tribes, which is going to be relevant pretty soon.

Also, Oscar describes the bird laguz transforming as them turning “into their true selves”, which... would be a fascinating philosophical statement if Oscar were a laguz, and an equally-fascinating look into the mind of a beorc-supremacist if Oscar were one of those. But Oscar is neither, so... I guess it's just flowery langauge?

And wow, okay, we've got a loooot of info conversations. One short of the max the interface's window can display.

And we'll be starting off with a talk with a racist merchant who, before revealing himself as such, says a lot of interesting stuff about how the common folk's lives really aren't affected by who's sitting on the throne. But the thing is... they don't actually have any experience with significant regime changes or hostile takeovers. They just think about the impact of the ruling class so little, and take the country they live in so thoroughly for granted, that they just assume that a change in leadership would have absolutely no impact on their lives, and that even though Ashnard invaded unprovoked and just took over, that doesn't mean he won't be reasonable. And then, of course, the shopkeeper says he'd be way more terrified if they were invaded by Gallia.

Up next is a pretty fun and fascinating scene with a town vigilante talking to Ike and expressing interest in recruiting him for his merry band. This... I think what I like about this scene is that Ike's just having a casual, almost friendly conversation with someone who neither one realizes is about to become his enemy. And the weird thing is that... and bear with me on this... setting aside the fact that he's racist... he's actually pretty likable! Certainly a lot better than he looks, with his huge, crooked nose and his massive jaw, which by Fire Emblem logic would normally make him scream “rape and pillage”. But no, he's basically part of a vigilante militia that, unless I'm horribly mis-remembering something here, genuinely wants to keep the town safe from bandits and the like. Also, he's actually pretty damned clever, too. He takes one look at Ike and instantly pegs him as a badass and tries to hire him, and when Ike says he's got other work lined up, he also manages to correctly guess that Ike's going out to sea! And he even gives Ike a pretty damned expensive sword to give him a helping hand against Naesala's infamous sky pirates. And he actually manages to make Ike crack a smile! Yeah, I always found this character, and this conversation, very memorable as a kid.

Question, though... the laguzslayer I get from this guy... is that... is that name being censored? That's not... that's not its actual name in-universe, is it?

Am I to believe the first person to invent a weapon specifically designed for killing laguz gave a shit about using the polite term for laguz when naming it?

Up next is Elincia. And I notice that, unlike Ranulf, she isn't wearing a disguise. What, did they run out of brown tarps?

Also, that's a second time the game has used the word “imperial” to refer to something “royal”. Is that some leftover thing from when Crimea used to belong to the empire?

But anyway, this is the sort of tiny, subtle thing that info conversations were made for. I love that the game acknowledged that Elincia would be having a significant reaction to being here, because hell yes she would. This would be the first time she's actually seen a proper town of her home country. I also like how she remarked on the fact that you can almost pretend that everything that happened to her was a bad dream when you look at this place.

And now we get three scenes with Kieran, Brom and Nephenee. And apparently Kieran's a bit out of shape from his captivity.

Honestly, I wish you didn't have to be in a dialogue scene to press the Z button to read the text log. It's not like the Z button does anything else, at least on the preparation screen. I forget what it does in-game, though.

And Brom talks about a “lucky charm” his family gave to him that's basically just a bag full of rocks. But he apparently takes the little stones out of the pouch and talks to them like they're his family in order to give himself the courage to fight.

Something I've been noticing: I think all of the info conversations in Path of Radiance involve Ike, which isn't the case in Radiant Dawn. Granted, that was probably to compensate for the lack of supports, but I think the whole time-sensitive system of info conversations, and allowing characters to comment specifically about what's going on in the current chapter, would have been a worthwhile thing to have in this game too.

Right, so... here's something I've always found interesting about Nephenee... look at her from the shoulders-up, and she almost looks like some kind of elegant royal knight. Her hair especially doesn't exactly scream “country girl”. It's really only the tattered cloth strips on her arms, and maybe the leather straps holding her armor together, that indicate she's a peasant.

Yeah, she's the first playable soldier in the series too, so... it's weird that I always wanted to be able to use one in the GBA games, and yet the second they're available in this game... I never used her. She's just too under-leveled, and I never felt the desire to train her up, just like Brom and Kiera...n...

...No, Kieran's better than I remember him being. He's level twelve, which is about the average of my army, and is pretty much on par with Oscar except he can use axes. I might actually use him this time, if I have room!

Alright, so, I just started the pre-battle cinematic, and holy shit, I'm only just now noticing that a huge number of the Greil Mercenaries are just casually crowded around the front door of the house the Black Knight is in.

And then of course, a young lady bumps into Ranulf and accidentally knocks off his hood, and then the racist brigade starts. And they actually rat Ike's group out to the Daein army, reflexively victim-blaming the Crimean royal family for trying to be friendly with the laguz in the first place. Christ. This is pretty brutal. One thing I like is how they used the info conversations and a couple of lines beforehand to show just how nice these people were until they realized laguz were involved, making it clear that these aren't just shitty people in general. Racism against laguz is just that bad, even in the good-guy country.

...Also, sorry, but I just have to say this...

...Lethe looks absurdly cute in a peasant hood. It's the weirdest thing, but her face just looks so adorable like that.

But then they actually explain, in-story, an objective that gets you bonus experience! Avoid fighting the citizens of Crimea, specifically the vigilantes, which... hahaha, yeah, good luck with that. The guys are pathetically weak and suicidally stupid, and you have to get near at least one of them in order to recruit Zihark this chapter, which we are totally going to do. Imagine trying to recruit Sheena in FE3 Book 2, except all the Gra soldiers attacked you on sight. Not happening.

Speaking of, though, looks like the unnamed vigilante we spoke to and who appeared in the pre-battle cutscene isn't visible with his portrait here. I wonder why.

I can bring a lot more units to this map than last one. I expected I'd have to leave most of my new recruits behind, but no, I'm actually leaving fewer units behind this time! By ditching Brom, I can bring back Rhys and Lethe!

...Okay, my top priority, on top of making sure I get to the houses before the thieves do and not visiting any of them with laguz because I know some of them won't give you anything if you do, is getting rid of these enemies by my starting location. I've got a lot of manpower, but enemy durability in this game is surprisingly high for its reputation of being absurdly easy. So I'm gonna have to be careful about it.

I'll post this now, and then get back to you later with an update about how the actual map went.

Until then!

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

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