Shin

I missed that part (text wall too stronk), all my test builds have been done on ZSNES 1.42, and they run without issue. Can I ask which versions of emulators you have tried? Some users have reported success with various ones.

Don't apply a translation, the Shin Patch comes with the old translation included.

Flower Vision Elvira glared up at the stairs, almost as if she'd seen the presence of her husband. Thinking little of it, the fact her daughter had snagged a foreign Prince was a big enough happening to make her forget her husband's schemes for now. "Then he's welcome whenever he is able to visit." she replied, turning around and heading towards the living room calmly. "Your father has a lot of explaining to do, but I'm sure he'd say that it was better I found out from you rather than him." Evening 16th April 812 The evening had come around, the sky darkening as the sun began to set. Tytilia's busy market had settled down, but its nightlife was just beginning. People had taken to the bars and taverns, enjoying themselves after a long day. The meeting with the Queen had gone smoothly and Emily had returned to the realm of the living, it was perhaps an eventful day. However, there were still many problems afoot, such as the war brewing on the continent, and the state of their beloved Wyke. With their plans still to be decided, and no formal declarations of war from Raewald, only time could tell. The queen's invitation still stood, the guards appeared to have been instructed to direct either of the royals to one of her studies if they so wished to speak to her. The guards seemed awfully rigid though, making sure to maintain as formal a behaviour as possible. They either had incredibly strict orders or something else was afoot. Daydream Believer Emily appeared much the same over the following hours, it was hard to tell her apart from the unique individual she'd been before her death - other than her lack of memory of Serge. The Hearthfire Crew had stayed with her, anxious in case something were to happen. However, Sebastian seemed intent on making sure they had time for themselves. "I shall keep an eye on her, she's unlikely to be able to cause any trouble before I can stop her." Sebastian informed, playing with a knife idly. "It would be best for your morale to visit the city, one night of recreation can be afforded." Alain, Serge, Freya and Claire are free to post! Happy Family However, the situation in the Montana household had grown calmer, the promise of a visit from a Prince and the return of their daughter had produced a family atmosphere that had been lacking for years. Elvira in particular was in a good mood. Anthony had sat himself in the lounge, glad in his own way his wife and daughter had managed to make something resembling peace. "I thought it would be best to allow you and your mother to speak together, without my interference." Anthony explained, showing no regret in his actions. "I needed to see if you were the same girl who got into trouble, or if you'd learned to solve your own problems... it's about half and half currently. I'm sure you have better things to do than stay at home, go enjoy yourself, just be careful." Sidney is free to post! All other players are free to post!

Royal Pardon "There's no problem at all, Prince Owen." Ethel replied, shooing her advisors out of the meeting room. "Debts mean nothing when we all have so much to gain from this. Without your aid, any chances against Deira would have been less comfortable than I would have prefered. With you at my side, the balance is just enough in our favour. Do not consider yourself a burden, you're very much helping me. I believe we should stop at this current moment, meetings do drag on" Ethel's underlings began to vacate the room, nervously glancing at Owen as they left. The meeting concluded, it appeared that everyone had other plans - or were just eager to escape their Queen. Ethel remained in her seat, basking in satisfaction from the meeting. Owen, Cass, Adele and Angus are free to post before the skip! Best of Both Worlds Elvira looked at Sidney with eyes full of disappointment. "Running around with nice people doesn't make up for all the embarrassment I've faced! All of my friends have been asking about you non-stop, what was I supposed to tell them?" she fumed, ready to stomp her foot in rage. However, the mention of Owen completely stunned her, leaving the woman speechless for a moment or two. Anthony ducked behind the stairs, deciding that his own daughter could handle the situation from now on. The aura of rage surrounding Sidney's mother faded rapidly, replaced by a baffled curiosity. "You? Prince Owen of Wyke?" she gasped, her eyes wide with surprise. "How did such a thing happen? I hope you had not played any tricks on the man, but perhaps he can see you for who you are? But maybe he also sees what you've become... I'm so confused. Tell me, what is he like? Please tell me this isn't a cruel prank."

Bantu is too magnificent to ignore. Plus, compared to the others he's pretty unique - mostly by having trashy growths and being super old.

Hey there, I've noticed that you've made a couple of these threads in the last few months. I feel that you may be perhaps a tad obsessed with the likes of diet, weight and calories - this isn't the first time you've come seeking advice over a relatively trivial matter. It may be best if you speak to a health professional about your worries, it is likely that you've got a lot of anxieties and obsessive thoughts tied to eating and weight, and SF isn't necessarily the best place to get proper advice.

Celice really benefits from the Elite and Leg rings, I'd put the Thunder Sword/Wind Sword on him for good measure too. Generally, it's better to have things appear as early as possible. Return rings are also a good way to pass down cash, since the kids can just sell them. Otherwise just load people with stuff they can pass down. I'd recommend giving Corple a return ring just so he has a little more dosh to spam Libro with.

The mystery of chicken resteraunt was stil very real for Tarquin too, but it was similiar enough to the training base canteen for him to have something to work with. He'd always been instructed on what he could and couldn't eat but after his adventures with toast, it was time to take things one step further. Fried chicken appeared to be that step, it was a small victory but Tarquin was gaining some semblance of control within his life. Perhaps one day he'd be free to do as he wished, maybe there was a life for him beyond the ANF? Tarquin still considered it so strange to be mingling with the general public. Only a week before he'd never been outside a military facility, and only a few years before that had he met people outside his research team. He couldn't say that he was quite like the people ahead of them, not even remotely, but there were at least people out there he could relate to. People like Bruno and Nikolai. There would be some that he couldn't fathom understanding, but he only needed to tolerate them and blend in. "So many people seem to want it, they wouldn't want it if they didn't like it, right? I've never been here, but there has to be something that we like." Tarquin asked, hopin that Nikolai would be able to tolerate whatever he could choose for him. It would be a massive assumption to believe Nikolai's tastes would mirror his own, even he understood theory of mind enough to realise that. However, if Nikolai was mostly used to scavenging for food, perhaps he would be open to something less difficult to obtain? The chances were anything on the menu was more pallatable than a roasted rat. "Nikolai, how long have you lived like that?" Tarquin asked, his curioisty trying to piece together Nikolai's past. Had he been fending for himself his entire life. From what he'd gathered, his friend had been with a stray group of boys for much of his childhood - at least until they'd all died. "It must have been really scary going through all of that." - Talia turned the page anxiously, eagerly awaiting the resolution of her long-followed manga. "Please pick him..." she mumbled, her hand shaking as she flipped the page. "Waifu or Laifu" was a tale of a young girl aspiring to be a scientist at the heart of a complex love network, with friends, suitors and rivals afoot. A promising career, admiration from all her peers, the heroine was rather admirable for Talia. There were days where she imagined such a life for herself, with friends of her own, a bright future ahead of her. Then there was the harsh reality she lived in. Talia hadn't set foot outside her room in weeks, and even then it had been at the Professor's request. With not a friend in the world and no real achievements she could call her own, her serial was a harsh reminder of her own inadequecy. She'd almost had friends, back when the researchers had brought their own children to work to see her, they counted right? Although she hadn't seen them in a decade, and the chances were that they'd completely forgotten her and had moved on with their own lives. It wasn't that she'd gone without, Talia had always gotten what she wanted from the Professor. Books, toys, games, clothes... anything she could imagine. She was all too aware of how the rest of the support staff saw her. A failure, a recluse, a freak, she could tell they talked about her like some sort of lackluster science project. At least the Professor liked her, but even then he had her replacement to focus on, leaving her as an afterthought. She'd never met the boy, but he'd taken away everything she'd had. He'd exceeded her in every single of the facility's tests, and the last she'd heard he'd become part of a ship's crew. She would have done anything to swap places with him, to succeed and get along with other people, making friends with his teammates. However, the prospect of piloting again was too much to bear, even thinking about it made her hands shake. "It should have been me... he doesn't know how good he has it." she grunted, gritting her teeth and throwing her book off the side of her bed. "There are still things that I'm good at, it's just nobody's asked. I can be useful, I promise."

Sety is very flexible and pretty much impossible to ruin. Even with someone like Ardan as his dad he still ends up very usable. Admittedly he comes a little later than ideal, but the extra point of move over Lana and Corple mean he's the best A rank staffer outside of Leaf. His combat's good and his bases and default skills will mean he's never hurting too hard for additional attacks. Still, he's on foot and he misses out on the first half of the generation, but his existence is always a boon. 6.5/10 Fee has pretty stellar availability, but she's a little more dependent on her dad than Sety is. Flying isn't as amazing in FE4 as it is in other titles, and there's plenty of archers around to scare her unless her dad had a turban. Depending on her dad, she can either go magical or stick with the Hero Lance, so she definitely has options. Her stats are generally pretty OK and moves well so she's pretty hard to fault too much. 6.5/10 Hawk is basically Azel!Sety, except he can't use Bologna but who cares about that. He's nearly as good as Sety in general, but lacks the ability to get A staves or Lolsety so is probably like half a point worse maybe. 6/10 Femina is pretty bad, her stats just about function but no early Hero Lance and no natural pursuit so she's always going to be worse than Fee. She's at least available early and can move alright, but she'll be hurting later on when the enemies get bulkier. Her only skill is negated by the Hero Lance so that's also lame. 3.5/10

From the sounds of it, Nikolai seemed ready to hunt, catch and prepare the chickens for himself. Tarquin had always been fully provided for, the idea of having to fend for himself was both foreign and rather frightening. Nikolai's reality was a horrifying one, one that Tarquin needed to make sure Nikolai he didn't return to. Part of it was out of a strange sense of kinship, a feeling that Tarquin had managed to identify as friendship, but another part was Tarquin's own selfish desire to avoid being left alone again. Nobody had understood Tarquin quite like Nikolai had, despite their differences they were united in their isolation from the rest of normal society. "I've never seen a living chicken before, only after they'd been cooked." Tarquin replied, blissfully oblivious to Nikolai's less than moral alternative. Tarquin had more than enough money to cover for both of them, he'd never really seen the point of it until he actually had reason to purchase things. He had been willing to pay for Melissa and her unusual taste in "Don't worry about money, I can pat for all of it. Buying things isn't something I've had many chances to do before, so I'd like to try." Tarquin could smell the fried chicken as they slowly approached the establishment, the decor dedicated to chicken far beyond Tarquin's comprehension. Did it serve to remind people of the place's products or to try and convince them to purchase them? It wasn't exactly clear, but from the number of people present in it, whatever food they produced people seemed to desire. As unnerving as the googly eyes chicken wing mascot was, the location suited their purpose. "Shall we go in? If you tell me what you want, I can ask them to make it for you." Tarquin added, hoping that the menu had decent enough pictures for the pair. The queue ahead wasn't too long, but Tarquin needed to make sure that Nikolai understood the social construct they needed to partake in - if he decided to use his knife, getting chicken would be the least of their problems. "We just need to wait until the peope ahead of us." Tarquin explained, looking up at the menus above. The pictures were of items that resembled food, but he was wholely unfamiliar with the products. Thankfully they had more than a little time to decide.

There's no way to quantify if a growth is good or not, it all depends on context. Pent's speed growth is 40%, which is generally pretty OK, but his base is great, so his growth works well. Bartre on the other hand also has a 40% speed growth, but his base is so awful that his growth really struggles to salvage him. As a general rule of thumb, a 40% is considered pretty passable for an non defensive stat, but I'd recommend against using them as a sole measure of a unit's worth!

Private Audience Ethel had seemed mostly finished with the meeting, but was keen to hear responses from her guests. Cass in particular had caught her interest, the ruler leaning forwards gently to signfiy her attention. "No need to be so shy, Princess. I would be more than happy to meet with you both. Just us girls, it's awfully stuffy with so many grumpy old men around, isn't it?" she laughed, the rest of her advisors smiling pleasantly. She looked over at one of her advisors, the oldest looking in the room. His smile faded rapidly. "Yes, I mean you, Baron Aberforth. Age isn't a bad thing though, it means you've got some experience behind your words." Owen's interjection made Ethel smile, the woman putting her hand to her mouth and laughing playfully. "It's OK, Prince Owen. I'd very much like to meet you by yourself as well." she charmed, sitting back in her chair. "After all that you've been through, any consolation I can give is the least I can do for you. Feel free to treat the castle as your own, until you can return to Hull Castle... I want to make sure you're as comfortable as possible." Watchful Eye "Aye, Sir Alain. I'll keep an eye on her. I'm hoping that it all goes alright, but we've gotta be ready for the worst. Engel forbid it don't come to that." Lars replied, determined in his resolve to keep the group safe. Sebastian remained quiet, carefully observing the mage. It was often difficult to tell what the butler was thinking, but there was certainly something on his mind. Emily looked around curiously, puzzled by something within the room. "Sir Alain? Where are Morganna and Emmet? They were with us too... unless..." she began, her expression suddenly shifting to one of a dopey horror. Putting her hands to her face, she covered her eyes. "She eloped with Emmet! That's why she's not with you! They ran away into the sunset to make super clever babies that can shoot arrows from their fingers!" Lars laughed, a gentle smile appearing on his face. "One thing's for sure, that's definitely Emily. Sometimes wonder how she manages to get dressed in the morning." he joked.

Henry and Ricken is probably my favourite support set in Awakening, it conveys a deeper sense of kinship than any of the romantic supports did, and you get to see sides of the two beyond "lol, let's get funky with X". Ike/Elincia is also a really nice platonic pair, since they clearly have a respect for each other despite the differences in their experiences.

I heard that all of you were saying to yourselves "Wow, this game really needs more SHIN" and "People always want more SHIN in mafia games". Even if you didn't and it was all a delusional lie. Even if it's not true, I'm going to pretend it is anyway, because in my eyes all of your lives are meaningless without SHIN. I guess Marth's kinda OK but he doesn't wear pants and that's WEIRD. Shin is IN. Boron says she might join later too.

Combined Might "That's fine, Prince Owen. I wouldn't want you to make a choice without careful consideration. I hear your father was very much the same. My late husband had said that he would always wait until he knew what he was in for before deciding on his actions." Ethel replied, content with Owen's response. Standing herself up, she began a bold declaration. "Regardless of your choice, Wyke will be freed from the grasp of Deira, and Deira shall not continue to threaten the continent. If I am known in history for nothing else, I want to be known as the queen who stood up to Deira's tyrannical ways." Ethel's advisors began to applaud, either out of obligation or they truly felt the message had hit home. "Are there any other questions from your people? I would hate for you to go through all the trouble of meeting with me to go away without knowing all that you needed to." she added, looking at her advisers smugly before sitting down. "If you ever wish to speak to me in private, all you need to do is ask one of my guards. It would be far better to chat in a less formal setting, no?" Fallen Beast Emily laughed, playfully amused by Freya's demeanour. "It's hard to talk to people when everyone's so fancy." Emily replied, itching the back of her left hand. "I don't mind though, you can talk to me as much as you like! Uncle Morgan might be Wyke's Court Magician, but I always like to be plain old Emily. Lady Emily of Edion is way too hard to spell!" Leaving the two women to chat, Sebastian slipped alongside Alain and Lars. "The reports of Baleros were rather limited. Normally Master Javier writes detailed reports after each assignment, but his demise left the notes on the Dettard expedition woefully incomplete." Sebastian informed, removing a roll of parchment from his satchel. "The most we know is that he was transformed into a hulking monster, most likely by the contents of the vial. Other than being the son of a Magonsaetean warchief, we have no information on his background before the encounter. It may be best that you speak to Baron Kearney, he is likely to be the most familiar with Baleros after doing battle with him." Lars looked relatively uneasy, the talk of a monster sharing Emily's revival didn't sit well with him. "I only heard of this Baleros, but he don't sound too human. Those twins weren't right either. You think Emily will end up like any of them?" Lars asked, clenching his fist. "Dying's one thing, but turning into a monster ain't right." Mama Mia Sidney could see her mother standing in the hall, her eyes livid and her face sporting a disgruntled scowl. "It's one disappointment after another, Charlotte." Elvira replied, stomping forwards towards her daughter. "I'm not sure what's worse, going to prison for something so stupid or escaping it and strolling around the countryside until you felt like coming home. Did you know how many times the city guards came to ask about you? It's been nothing but worry for the last year. I'm glad that you're back and safe, but why have you come back now? It's so strange for you to suddenly appear completely unannounced." Anthony was peering down subtly from the top of the stairs, keeping an eye on the situation. Whilst he likely had his daughter's wellbeing at heart, challenging his wife at a time like this did not appear to be something he was quite willing to do.

Claude by a fair bit. Lana has no real business fighting and having access to A staves from the get-go is far more useful than the ability to use Elfire.

Delmud is generally pretty good, you have to go out of your way to make him a chump. His strength is pretty hard to screw and he's content with Pursuit from his dad. He's essentially Noish and Alec if they decided to combine their useful traits into one unit. His only real flaw is that he doesn't have a super broken weapon locked to him. Also charisma bot so good 7.5/10 Nanna is also pretty swanky, although Troubadour bases are lame so she can't quite fight as well as her bro and she comes a little later. There are way more staff users to contend with, but Nanna generally functions well and charisma is always a bonus. 6/10 Tristan is still way scrubbier than Delmud but having Critical, early availability and a decent class kinda salvage him. With the pursuit ring, he essentially becomes a second Oifaye except he really needs a lot of investment to get going. He's not amazing, but he's one of the more salvageable subs. 4.5/10 Janne is always going to be worse than Nanna. Mounted horse healer is all well and good, but C staves doesn't really do her any favours. She's essentially a slightly more flexible Mana, but without the possibility for utility later on. 4/10

Nikolai was doing something with his face, and it had taken Tarquin a few moments to realise that it was meant to be a smile. The explanation made sense, but Tarquin didn't like how he was calling himself stupid. It was true that by his age, Nikolai would probably be expected to read, but it was unlikely that he'd ever had the opportunity to learn. Surely if he were given the right circumstances, learning would be no trouble for him? Even without an intellect like Tarquin's own, if a brute like Elaine could read, Nikolai would be able to as well. "No, you can come too. Maybe you can help me figure out what normal people do. I've never been to a shopping mall before, it's nothing like where I'm from." Tarquin replied, wondering if he were walking too fast for Nikolai - his steps seemed rather eratic. Tarquin stopped suddenly. The talk of how other people made Nikolai feel resonated somewhat with Tarquin, he'd never really been given too much of a hard time by his fellow trainees - they'd mostly ignored him. However, Cheryl had definitely tried to pry under his skin, trying to figure out his inner workings. Maybe Nikolai was right, was he just a science experiment to her? She'd already made him worry about people knowing his origin, who knew what other secrets she wanted to pull from him? "I need to pay for these books, I won't be long." Tarquin replied, Nikolai's last comments still circling in his mind. Thankfully, paying was far more simple than he imagined - all he'd had to do was present his card. Having lost Melissa, probably somewhere deep in the comics section, Tarquin wasted no time in leaving the bookstore with Nikolai - his company was far more preferable to hers. The crowds of people in the complex hadn't died down, if anything it seemed even busier than before. Lunch was starting to become more appealing to Tarquin, but that was going to pose a challenge in itself. Apparently the mall also had services that provided food, but it was anyone's guess which of the oddly named stores actually did so. "I think we can get food here too, are you hungry?" Tarquin asked, his gaze shifting across the mall in an attempt to identify a suitable location. Very few of the names were helpful at all, how did someone's name relate to any semblance of functionality? The chances were that he'd find a furniture store before anything remotely edible. Nikolai's illiteracy meant that he'd have try and spot one, it was far easier when there was only a designated cafeteria to get food from. "I don't know any of these places, Nikolai. There's one that says chicken, that might sound like food... if you want to."

Missing in Action There was a silence after Owen spoke, Ethel seemed almost impressed by his response. "A full attack on Deira would be catastrophic to all sides involved. With military might matched, the victor will only win by a narrow amount. Attacking more than we need to would result in the deaths of thousands... deaths that I deem unnecessary." Ethel replied, laying out her logic to the prince. "Deira are unlikely to be willing to lose their entire army defending, but you do raise an interesting prospect. If we were to force their hand, make them feel truly vulnerable... perhaps they would be more willing to halt their senseless war." Ethel gave Cass a sly smile, but at least appeared willing to give an answer. "Deira and Raewald have never gotten along well, it would be very much in my interests to ensure that Deira don't try to take over the entire continent. A partnership with Wyke would help us produce a safety that current times truly need." she announced, all her men nodding around her agreeably. "Prince Owen, it all depends on what role you would be willing to play in our plan. I would understand if you did not want to get invovled, but General Tarasque intends to strike a costal city near the Myrcian border. It would not be unreasonable for you to return to Wyke from there... but at the same time, if you felt that taking Deira's capital was more vital, your assistance with the northen attack could tip things in our favour." There was a muttering among Ethel's nobles, mentions of alliances with Wyke and Owen as a military commander were the most notable points. Tapping her hand on the table politely, Ethel brought them all back to silence. "You do not need to decide now. Even if we were to dispatch our forces now, it would take weeks to arrive at Wyke." Ethel continued, her presence in the room even larger than before. "Your homeland is as big a priority as stopping Deira, Prince Owen, Princess Cassandra. I hope that we can work together to return Angelcynn to a time of peace." Smooth Criminal Sidney had managed to avoid her mother the entire morning - it appeared that she had left shortly before Sidney's arrival. However, it was inevitable that they would meet once more. Anthony had sat himself comfortably in his favour armchair with a good book, knowing too well the sounds of his wife opening the door. "Well, Charlotte. I think it would be best if you were to say hello to your mother." he suggested, focusing on his reading. "I would recommend a delicate approach, she did not take your sentencing nor your escape terribly well."

War is Peace Duke Aldus didn't answer Cass immediately, there was a great deal of hesitation in his response. "Princess, the last reports of his Highness were within Hull Castle. We have no further information about his whereabouts or status beyond that." he replied, still incredibly cautious in his response. "There have been no reports of his capture, but information was very difficu-..." The man went silent as Ethel gave him a sharp glare, the Duke visibly cowering back into his seat. "My apologies, Princess. It must be a painful topic for you." Ethel assured, tapping her hand on the table. Ethel looked around at her other men, almost checking if any of them dared to speak up. Leaning forward onto the table, she addressed both Owen and Cass. "As soon as we are able to confirm what has happened to your father, yourself and Prince Owen will be the first ones to know. I should hope Duke Aldus understands how sensitive situations like these are. Perhaps he can make a better effort in explaining our military tactics. General Tarasque unfortunately is not able to join us today, so Duke Aldus will have to suffice." Standing up slowly, Duke Aldus nodded, making sure he got a reciprocal nod of approval from Ethel. "Of course, your majesty. General Tarasque's plan had been to attack from two angles, both from the north and south of Myrcia. Our intelligence suggests that Deira also plans to attack Myrcia. With the invasion of Wyke, Deira has spread its commanders thin." he began, anxiously keeping an eye on Ethel. "Baron Kearney raises an excellent point. With two concentrated attacks from the west, it is likely that one will provide a suitable opening. Our main forces will then be able to follow and force Deira to abandon all attempts of invasion to defend. If General Tarasque is able to push to the Deiran capital, we will be able to force negotiations to prevent further conflicts." - Memory Emily didn't appear to understand Serge's sorrows, from her perspective he was simply a stranger. A puzzled expression sat on her face from the start and until the moment Serge left the room. All she could do was give him a polite wave, still perplexed by his behaviour. She watched Alain's little rant, she couldn't quite comprehend many of his issues. Hans, or quite possibly Lars, nodded, stepping through the door and closing it behind him. The other didn't appear too content with Alain's tone, but at the same time didn't really do anything to protest against them. "Of course, I remember you, Sir Alain. You're Morganna's boyfriend, it'd be really rude of me if I forgot someone like you." Emily replied, nodding her head enthusiastically. The questions about what she remembered had stumped her again, her face wasn't too dissimilar from when Serge had been speaking to her. "We're here to help Prince Owen talk to the Queen. That's why we came along. With Hans and Lars, Morganna... we were all hired by Princess Mustache." The last question made Emily laugh, as if it were too silly even for her. "Of course I remember how to read, Sir Alain. I was at Wihtwar for a whole year, and then Uncle Morgan taught me afterwards." she laughed, now being questioned by Freya. "You're Freya, the really quiet armour girl! I've always thought that you seemed really nice, but were too shy to come and say hello. Well, you're kinda saying hello now, so maybe you're not as shy as I thought! I thought that maybe you had a vow of silence and were only allowed to talk when the Princess said you could." Sebastian nodded, subtly revealing a knife in his hand to Claire as she slipped through the door. He hadn't said anything to her, but his eyes were fixed firmly on Emily.

I kinda have to so I don't kill people!

Lester's generally fairly flexible for pairings, he basically wants someone with pursuit who isn't called Azel, and none of his good dads are contested. He's got almost zero competition for bows unless you wanted Hero Bow!Leaf or felt like using Johalva because you hate yourself. He's mounted, available from like turn 3, he's set with the Hero Bow and generally can do enough damage to stay relevant. Being bow locked is a slight issue during enemy phase, but he can more than contribute throughout the game. 7/10 Lana is basically your main staffbot for ages and is also incredibly flexible with who her father is. She's a fantastic candidate for inheriting staves and can carry out some mad Rescue staff feats if Claude's her papa. This does however gimp Lester but you've got enough combat units to make up for one chump. She can in theory be replaced by Julia but Lana should be coming with all the staves anyway and Julia's lack of inheritence and disappearing act make her less reliable. Leaf will eventually take over her duties but she can more than help out during her existence. Corple, along with Sety and Tinny can also theoretically have A staves but they're functional way later. 8.5/10 Dumbnuts is basically inferior to most Lesters. He's stuck with an Iron Bow for ages and his stats aren't great outside of strength (from his secret event) and skill. Despite having pursuit he's kinda slow, and I've found he doesn't double a fair number of enemies. He comes early with a horse but he's still kinda chumpy. 2.5/10 Mana suffers from having almost nothing. Staff utility is nice, but without any means of getting money, she's stuck with heal for a while. Her stats don't matter but they're pretty bad anyway, she's mostly relying on staff utility but by the time she gets going, the other staff users start to steal her turf. She loses out on a lot of the utility Lana has, and she's essentially a worse Julia pre-promotion. In her defense though, she comes early and can use staves, but she's pretty low down on the pecking order. 3.5/10

Desperate News "How pleasant to have such good company. In my four years as Queen, I haven't had a chance to meet Wykian nobility. King Oswald always seemed so busy." she replied, beckoning the group towards her again. "Don't be shy, please sit. We've got a lot to get through." Having gathered her visitors around the table, Ethel was ready to begin the meeting between the two rulers. She hadn't quite paid much attention to Adele or Angus, her focus was very much on Owen. Sitting comfortably at her end of the table, she raised her hand, all her underlings waiting expectantly for her to speak. "Now, as you all understand, we are fortunate enough to have Prince Owen of Wyke with us, along with his sister, Princess Cassandra... and two of his men." she announced, not paying too much attention to Adele and Angus. "Of course, with the threat of Deira, there are many things that must be said about what must be done, and the relationship that Raewald has with Wyke. However, it would be rude to not inform Prince Owen of the current situation in Wyke, his long journey has unfortunately meant he is not up to date. Duke Aldus, do share what our intelligence has gathered." A finely dressed man, one with grey hair and a pencil mustache stood up almost immediately, holding a stack of parchment in his hands. "Of course, your majesty. As of our latest report from one week ago, the territories of Bennett, Enidraine, Valter and Gringolett have been captured. Hull was under attack from Deiran forces, it appeared that the capital was likely to fall and may have after we lost contact with our informant. We have confirmation that Duke Herman and Earl Valter have been captured by Deira." he informed, the man incredibly methodical in his demeanour. "The estimates are that Deiran's entire army outnumber Wyke's own eight to one, with roughly a quarter of their forces deployed in the invasion. Estimates against our own army is that they outnumber our own men twelve to ten." Ethel's other four men began to mutter amongst themselves, the numbers in particular seemed to scare them more than Wyke's claimed territories - perhaps they were more concerned with a how their own forces fared than how Wyke had lost. Ethel looked over at Owen curiously, almost anticipating a reaction from him. "Thank you, Duke Aldus. Prince Owen, and anyone else who is particularly concerned, is there any other information you'd be interested in hearing?" - See Emily Play Serge could see Lars at one of the rooms' doors, ushering his boss in he came hurtling towards him. Emily was laid on a bed, completely still and devoid of any signs of life. Sebastian stepped aside to let Serge reach Emily, the woman appearing as lifeless as she had for the last week. However, as he put his hand to hers, he could feel a gentle pulsation at her wrist - her heart was beating. Emily's hand began to move in Serge's, the mage's eyes opening slowly. She looked to the side, seeing Sebastian standing watchfully over them. Her expression was tired and weary "Princess Mustache's butler... where am I? I remember being with Hans and Lars then..." she muttered, her gaze shifting over to Serge. She almost seemed puzzled by his presence, pulling her hand away slowly from his. "Who are you? Did you come to visit me too? I mean, it's really nice of you, but Uncle Morgan said it wasn't a good idea to hold hands with strange men."

Afternoon of 16th April 812 Grand Destiny The morning's antics had give Owen's group a chance to settle and find their way around Tytila, as well as allow Alain and Sidney to reacquaint themselves with their capital. However, the time had come for Owen to meet with Queen Ethel, a vital meeting that could possibly determine the fate of both Wyke and Angelcynn as a continent. Having decided on taking his dear sister, Cass, his close friend, Adele and... Angus, it was the first chance any of them had of meeting foreign royalty. Lead through multiple hall ways by a quartet of guards, the group could see that the castle design was not too disimilar to Wyke, although a dark grey had taken the place of the blue banners from home. Halting in front of a towering oak door, the guards stepped ahead of Owen and his friends, standing either side of it. "You are now permitted to speak with her Highness, Queen Ethel, Prince Owen." one guard announced, all four of the guards standing up straight with their spears held upright. "We wish you the best in your meeting." The door slowly creaked open, revealing a meeting room more fit for a banquet than a simple conversation. Fine art decorated the walls, chandelieres hung from the ceiling, even down to the golden trim on the table cloth, Ethel had wasted no expense at ensuring her hall was hospitable. Despite being of a similar generation to Owen's own mother, Ethel appeared rather youthful, no more than a decade older than Owen himself. Sitting elegantly at the far end of the table, Ethel was a stylish woman with curled black hair. There was an air of condience about her, a commanding aura tha extended even from across the room. It didn't appear that she had many advisors with her, a few unremarkable middle aged men sittling awkwardly around her. "Prince Owen, how good of you to come and see me." Ethel beamed, beckoning Owen and his allies towards her. "I was worried that you had been caught up in the tragic happenings of your country. Come, do sit down, we have much to discuss about the future of our nations." Owen, Cass, Adele and Angus are free to speak! Remember, this is the queen! - Good Morning Emily The asylum had left Cass and Claire with many questions unanswered, as well as several people they would rather not meet again. The same could have been said for Alain, although he at least had someone he intended to spend more time with. The time had come to return to the Nobles' wards, it appeared that Sebastian had managed to convince the guards to allow them to bring Emily to one of the rooms. However, before they had too much time to settle, Hans had come running towards the group, barely able to catch his breath. "Boss! It's Emily, she's waking up!" he panted, pointing back to one of the rooms along the corridor. "Mister Sebastian called us over, we saw her hand moving! You gotta come quick! Whatver that stuff was, it's doing something!" Serge, Claire, Freya and Alain are free to post!

When it wasn't possible to learn directly from reading material, Tarquin had always found that observation was the next best thing. Paying for items in itself wasn't a difficult concept, but it was the actual application that he was focusing on. The sequence of motions that seemed intuitive and basic to every shopper he watched was one he'd never had to go through. It wasn't a longshot from ordering food at the canteen, surely he could build from a common skill set? He'd been ready to begin his self-taught lesson in normality, but Nikolai's interjection had provided a welcome, albeit unexpected, change of focus. A bookstore was perhaps the last place he'd expected to find Nikolai, although from when they first met, a washroom wouldn't have been a bad contender. Still half caught up in the old man's rambling, it took Tarquin a moment or two to prepare himself for another conversation. "Nikolai? Why are you here, were you looking for something?" Tarquin asked, completely stumped for explanations for his friend's appearance. It was somewhat pleasant to see a face he recognised, especially one that wasn't Melissa, but Nikolai appeared incredibly out of place, perhaps even distressed. "I was looking for a book to help you read, and a man helped me reach the shelf... and I was just ready to pay." Paying couldn't have been that difficult, he could just watch the people in front of him - the chances were that Nikolai was probably as bad at these things as he was. There was something comforting about not being alone in his shortcomings, he wasn't quite ready to mingle freely, or even pretend to, with other people. Nikolai was easier though, he wasn't like the other children, but not like Bruno or Mateus either, it was like having another Tarquin about. "Do you want to go somewhere else afterwards?" Tarquin asked, feeling that he could share his goals with Nikolai. "I was trying to find out how normal people do things, I did have someone with me... but I think I was better off without her. She talked too much, I almost wanted to be by myself again."