To Become an Elitist [Playlogs FE1-5] [currently playing: Thracia 776]

Jotari · April 20

16 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I coulda sworn we fought her back in chapter 7...

Thinking about it, portraits could be the very reason why we don't see her. The number of enemies they redesigned for the second generation sits at just 1 with Alvis. Manfroy just didn't age. And Shannan and Oifey's portraits are so different it almost feels like they were using npc villager palette swaps for them. Meanwhile Fin barely changed at all. It pains very much a picture of "let's do as little as possible on the front". Showing Aida in the second gen would mean coming up with a new design for her and, while that shouldn't be hard, it might be just a bit too much work for anyone to care enough to do. Still, should have at least references her in some capacity.

BrightBow · April 20

17 minutes ago, Jotari said:

Thinking about it, portraits could be the very reason why we don't see her. The number of enemies they redesigned for the second generation sits at just 1 with Alvis.

Let's not forget Travant.

ping · April 20

FE4 Chapter 10: Light and Darkness

Rados --> Miletos

Spoiler

__

Well then, on to Miletos we go.

: "It has been a long time, Ishtar. How fare you of late?"
: "Oh, Your Majesty! What brings you here?"
: "Listen, Ishtar. Release the captive children. I know you care no more for these foul deeds than I do."
: "My apologies, sir, but I'm on Prince Julius's-"
: "Pay Julius's orders no mind. I'll be having a word with him soon."
: "But..."
: "This is an order from your emperor, Ishtar! Has Julius bent you such that you will no longer listen to the word of your liege?"
: "No... Never, Your Highness..."

: "Julius! How dare you-"
: "Why, Father, it almost sounds as if you still don't know any better! Old age must already be dulling that once brilliant of yours. Why not retire before it grows still feebler? Unless... Ohoho! Don't tell me you still seriously believe that you can banish me?"
: "No... I know better than to try something so futile again... I... I have no objection."
: "That's better. Now, then. Begone! Return to your post and haunt my sight no more. Defending Chalphy is crucial. Don't fail me for once in your sorry life, Father."
: "Y-yes, Julius. At once..."

Clearly, Julius is the true self-insert character of Genealogy, to give the teenage boys the fantasy of ordering around their parents after cruelly being told to clean up their rooms.

(It's a nice little disturbing detail that Julius calls Ishtar "his", in particular in response to Arvis trying to give her orders)

: "Never would you think this wretch, now clinging only to the ghost of a crown, was once the most powerful man in Jugdral."
: "Ah, Manfroy. Where's Julia? Have you restored her memory yet?"
: "Your dear little sister is in Chalphy, burdened once more by her old memories. Never have I seen such horror as when she recalled how you, her brother, almost killed her! Or how her dearly departed mother spirited her clear of the castle and your clutches..."
: "Indeed... Near everyone puts up some defiance to death by my hand, yet Deirdre never so much as flinched in the end. She accepted her own demise, all to save Julia with what little strength she still had... Julia possesses the foul powers of that ghoul, Naga, just as Deirdre once did. Nothing is more crucial than killing her now, Manfroy, lest we lose the chance."
: "You overestimate her threat, milord. After all, the Book of Naga remains under the strictest lock and key in Belhalla. Without it, I cannot fathom now Naga's soul could ever come to dwell within that girl..."
: "How many times must I explain, Manfroy?"
: "Every last one of the avatars of Naga, the heirs of Heim, must be purged from existence!"
: "Understood, milord. I'll have my men see to it that Julia is dead by sundown."
: "Do not fail me, Manfroy. Now, then. I suppose I'm needed in the capital."
: "I shall ensure that holding the Miletos territory is the Order's highest priority. Before the week is done, Your Majesty, the corpse of Seliph will lie before you."
: "Seliph? ...Ah, of course. The one the peasants call the 'scion of light'... Feh, just as they call me the 'scion of darkness'. The alleged eldest son of Deirdre, and the alleged true heir to Grannvale... A fairy tale told to inspire hope amongst fools!"
: "He poses a threat to use nonetheless, milord. The sooner we dispose of him, the better."
: "Surely, he doesn't truly bear the power of the crusader Baldur... He couldn't possibly... I might not care about him, Manfroy, but you're welcome to do with him as you will."
: "Very good, milord..."
: "Lord Julius..."
: "Ishtar. Shall we be off, then? I've tasked the Order to defend Miletos. Say... I have a better idea."

: "I want to play a game. Rumor has it that a small army of fresh sacrificial meat is headed our way. Let's see who can claim the life of a rebel first."
: "Yes, Lord Julius. I'd love to!"

Sounding rather excited there, Ishtar.

In a way, I appreciate how Julius and Manfroy mirror each other in how they underestimate the threats to their power: Manfroy is worried about Seliph while Julius dismisses him - Julius is worried about Julia, but Manfroy dismisses her. But I feel like it's getting really late for that story beat to continue. Seliph has liberated Isaach (let's ignore Shanan) and Leonster (let's ignore Leif) already - surely, that's enough to draw some attention?

____

Back to gameplay - a couple enemies start very close to the gate that opens after Seliph seizes Rados. Results in a little jump scare because one of them uses Hel, but no other enemy is in range to follow up on this.

__

The entire defense force of Miletos is unusual for Genealogy, in that it's spread out all over the place. The Dark Mages also have varied equipment (Fenrir, Hel, Jormungand, Sleep), although that is pretty much the standard at this point.

__

Julius takes the field, and he's obviously quite the terror. The Loptyr tome seems like one of the weaker legendary weapons at first glance, only providing a measly +5 Res, but it also carries the same effect that Medeus had in FE1 and FE3, halving any incoming attack's power.

As a big ONLY USE SELIPH AND JULIA, THEY HAVE NIHIL sign, Julius has the Wrath skill, guaranteeing a one-shot on literally everybody (well, save sub-100 accuracy) when he is below half health. And to keep it spicy even for those two, he has Accost, as well.

Ishtar seems fairly similar to her previous appearance - fairly frail, but evasive and very deadly. Notably, she has effectively 31 Res, which makes it *almost* impossible to disable her via status staff. Ced (27 Mag) and Tinni (who'll reach 27 during this update) should be able to silence or sleep her if they equip a Magic Ring. But I don't have that set up, so there'll be a chance of Vantage/Adept shenanigans from her.

I know that Julius and Ishtar will both leave the map if the respective other is defeated in combat - so realistically, killing Ishtar is the way to go. With how Julius is introducing them to the map, I also assume that they leave if they kill one of your units, so the easist (and lamest) method would be to allow somebody to get killed and then use Valkyrie to revive them. And finally, if Seliph just runs around them to kill the boss and seize (not difficult, between Leif's Rescue staff and Leylia's dancing), I would guess that they disappear, too?

(and the way I've written that previous paragraph spoils what I'm going to do, I suppose)

The guy on top of Miletos Castle is very forgettable.

____

While the presense of Fenrir and Sleep is, if not dangerous, at the very least annoying, the spread out enemy formation makes this next segment easier than one might think, so I won't be giving a turn-by-turn.

Of course, facing multiple Sleep staves is annoying, especially when the Restore staff is still on poor ol' 5-Move Lana, but that's nothing that can't be solved by the Rescue staff and a dance or two.

...Good thing I did that right away, too, since Leif is one of the targets on the second turn of this engagement.

And quite soon, the forest is free of enemies. On to Julius and Ishtar! ...OK, just Ishtar.

First attempt: Dermott with the Brave Sword, with aura support from Seliph and Nanna.

: "It seems as if this game shall be mine, Lord Julius!"

__

Well, that's awkward. Vantage: activated. But no fear!

Ares is still available, can benefit from Dermott's aura in addition to Seliph and Nanna...

__

...and he has the HP/Res to survive two Mjölnir hits! Huzzah!

: "You've lost, have you? Hmph... We leave at once!"

And with this, Ares won't die to the remaining Fenrir Dark Mages, either.

In the meanwhile, some side objectives:

Arenaing for Hannibal and Dermott (before the latter was returned to the frontlines by Sharlow and Leif). Only Oifey and Sharlow (90 XP away from promotion at the end of the update) remain. Well, and Leylia, but that's not gonna happen.

: "She goes 'round stealin' kids, then if they so much as cry, she kills the mams so calm-like, you'd think she was just swattin' flies! There's no way that woman's human! It's a fiend that's rulin' us now..."

[5000 gold --> Ulster]

: "A terrifying man, that Prince Julius is... Just a single glance into those eyes of his and you're gone... You lose yourself. So many of my friends and others my age've been all left for Belhalla to serve him. I've heard nothing from any of 'em since..."

[5000 gold --> Oifey]

: "None of yeh come even close t'being strong enough t'fight Prince Julius. Hate t'say it, but sometimes, yeh need t'make sacrifices if yeh wanna keep goin'..."

[5000 gold --> Oifey]

Visiting villages - with Ulster because he's nearby saving children and can give that money to anybody via Patty, and Oifey, because he was below 40000 gold and hasn't arenaed yet.

And Oifey also eliminates the last remaining threat to the last remaining village. Speaking of - that last village (near Rados) contains the second Magic Ring. Arthur or maybe Ced seem like the logical recipients.

Finally, villagers are being rescued from nobody in particular. Ulster gets a second one, then Hannibal gets another two, and one is still remaining near Chronos. Honestly, there's just nobody who *really* needs the XP. If this was a ranked run, Leylia would be the obvious target here, but other than that, most characters are on a good way to reach Lv.30 either way - and we're about to get another five rescuable children. The lowest-level (besides Oifey, who hasn't done this chapter's arena yet, Sharlow, and Leylia) are Lester (Lv.26.66), Faval (25.59), and Tinni (25.55), so I suppose they're going to split the XP between themselves.

: "Wait, you're a crusader? Really? Huh..."
: "Ohh! You're a crusader... I was really scared there..."
: "You're the liberation army? Wow... You're all amazing!"

Oh, and I almost forgot: seizing Rados unlocks a convo between Tinni and... not Seliph, actually:

: "Pardon me, Tinni. Lewyn would like a word with you. If you need anything from me, I'll be waiting over there."
: "Say, Tinni. Hilda was your aunt, right? I can only imagine how painful having to fight her was..."
: "No, not really. Lady Hilda is a horrific woman..."
: "She didn't treat you well, did she?"
: "Mm... Day after day, again and again, she kept on beating and abusing us. And she kept on accusing Mother of being a traitor..."
: "Your mother... Taillte, right..."
: "Yes... After the Battle of Belhalla, she and my brother, Arthur, fled to Silesse. I was born there soon after. I never knew my father. I think he must've died long ago..."
: "I see... Then you went to Alster, right?"
: "King Blume and his minions came to Silesse one night... They dragged us away to Alster... Mother never left there alive..."
: "I... You've had such a hard life..."
: "Mm... Hilda hated Mother so much. I've never seen anything like it... Mother must've coped with so much, all to protect me from Hilda. She was always in tears, right till the end..."
: "She... She did?"
: "Lord Lewyn? Is... Is everything okay, sir?"
: "Yeah. Why d'you ask?"
: "It's your eyes, sir... Are those tears?"
: "I... No, it's... It's nothing. This is just a bit of sweat. I'm fine... I... I'm okay..."

[+4 Mag --> Tinni] (normally +5, but that would've brought her above the cap)

Astonishingly, I believe this is Lewyn being as good at being a dad as he goes. With Lene, his refusal to tell her that he's her father follows her lament that she's so lonely without her parents. Towards Fee, who would've known that he's her father, he's just being a complete arse.

__

But with that, the Miletos arc is over. We've talked about it between updates, but I think I maintain that this entire island didn't need to be a part of the story, since it's virtually unused as a backdrop to the plot - at least as far as events go that couldn't have happened in the exact same way at another location.

____

: "Looks like we're too late, Seliph. The kids are already gone. I'm guessing they're well on their way to Grannvale."
: "Blast... Not again..."
: "I hate to admit it, but I doubt we could've gotten here soon enough either way. Now, then. It sounds like they're finishing up repairs on the Miletos Straight bridge. Ready to move in on Chalphy?"
: "Chalphy... My father's homeland..."
: "So it is. I'm betting the citizens there will be even happier to see you than usual. Let's not let them wait any longer!"
: "Indeed! Everyone, move out. Onward to Chalphy!"

This time, I did finish the turn after seizing, so I'll include the cutscene playing afterwards:

: "Ah, Bishop Palmarch... Your Grace, I need you to escort these children to safety."
: "Come again?! Are you setting them free?"
: "Indeed. More of Julius' minions from Belhalla will be here at any moment. You need to move, and quickly!"
: "Y-yes, of course! Thank you, Your Majesty... Thank you so much..."
: "I... I also wish to entrust you with this."
: "Hold on a moment... Isn't this-"
: "Once, long ago, you were a confidante to Sigurd, were you not? ...You already know what you must do."
: "Y-yes, sire..."

: "Julia, I... I beg your forgiveness. For all the misery I've wrought, you must hate me so..."
: "That's not true! It doesn't matter what happened, Father. Not even for a moment have I hated you! To me, you've always been one of the kindest men I've ever known!"
: "No... I am a fool. I've been a fool from the outset. All this time, I've been Manfroy's puppet. When I finally saw the strigns he was pulling, it was too late. I was powerless to do a thing. I had already given the Empire to Julius... The embodiment of Loptyr, the dark god. He... He took the love of my life from me... And you are next..."
: "Mother sacrificed herself for me... She gave the last of her strength to ensure I made it as far away from Julius as possible. I think the trauma must have wiped my memory... And if Lewyn hadn't found me... But just knowing that Julius did that to his own mother... Now I remember, I almost wish I didn't... It hurts so much..."
: "Oh, Julia... We have so much more to talk about. I wish we could, but time is short."

: "Now, I do believe His Imperial Majesty should keep to Prince Julius' orders. That is, unless you want your dear daughter ot meet the axe."
: "How dare you, Manfroy! You address your Emperor! How dare you seek to use my daughter as a common bargaining chip!"
: "Hmhmhm... So you still feebly cling to your titles and thrones, do you? Your time has long passed, Arvis. You, and this world, now belong to Prince Julius. Unless you wish to know pain beyond the ken of mortal men, still your tongue and obey your new liege without question. It is almost a pity your heroics are for naught. Every last child you freed shall be a festering corpse before this day is done! Hee hee hee..."
: "F-Father!!"
: "Julia... I am so sorry... Julius' thugs are too powerful. I cannot protect you... All I can do now is give you this... This circlet belonged to Deirdre. This... Only it could possibly save you n-"
: "Enough! We leave at once, Julia!"
: "Father! Oh..."

__

And the pieces join the board.

Seeing Arvis this pathetic is a bit hard to believe. I appreciate the shock effect - the mighty and prideful Arvis is now cowering in fear before Julius and Manfroy, not daring to defy their orders openly - but considering that gameplay is about to present him as a still incredibly powerful fighter, I have to question why he doesn't even make an attempt to stand up to Manfroy.

What I do appreciate without reservations is Arvis's regretfulness. He sacrificed a lot of other people to become Emperor, and now the ends that justified the means are not just in shambles, his ambition to overhaul Jugdral has been entirely perverted.

: "Come along, children! Hurry!"
: "But there's nowhere for us to go, sir..."
: "The dark priests are right behind us! We're gonna die, aren't we?"
: "Be at peace. All will be well. Lord Seliph will be here at any moment to rescue us. have faith in the crusaders, my children!"

But first, the crusaders have to endure the onslaught of... one Bow Armour.

Guarding the approach are three groups of enemies - Armours, some Priests and Mages, and a couple Paladin-adjacent classes.

__

No additional commander with a face, but all quite strong enemies.

Arvis himself doesn't have Julius's strength-halving trick or Wrath one-shot potential, but his raw numbers are even stronger than those of his son. He also has the Nihil skill (in addition to the usual Pavise, as well as Charm and five leadership stars), so he doesn't brook any bullshit from the player's side, either. Just a bunch of big numbers, even one-shotting a decent share of our characters.

__

And finally, a group of Dark Mages, who I assume will go after Palmarch and the children. Fee should be well-equipped to face them, though.

The Team:

	  Lv.	  HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res  Funds  XP    Arn
Seliph	  29.84	  68  25   7  22  22  28  22  16  34720  +406  [*]
Leif	  30	  66  27   8  27  27  17  27  11  27372  +521  [*]
Oifey	  25.58	  53  20  10  22  21  12  20   8  47340  +24   [1]
Finn	  30	  51  24   1  18  22  24  21   4  50000  +91   [*]

Dermott	  30	  65  23   0  30  25  22  20   7  16957  +456  [*]
Nanna	  30	  58  24   7  22  21  24  24   8  37680  +210  [*]
Ares	  29.26	  72  24   9  22  22  19  24  13  30870  +420  [*]
Fee	  30      56  20  17  24  29  15  20  24  27417  +276  [*]

Altena	  28.05	  67  27   3  24  22  11  28   3  40860  +629  [*]
Lester	  26.66	  54  22   3  18  20  24  18   4  30563  +470  [*]
Arthur	  29.42	  69   6  23  22  22  26  11  11  43520  +352  [*]
Ulster	  27.48	  65  27   7  27  25  12  22   4  5000   +608  [*]

Larcei	  28.28	  67  27   1  30  30  20  22   6  33570  +368  [*]
Shanan	  27.49	  63  23   0  30  26  12  20   6  39880  +399  [*]
Patty	  28.63	  60  21  15  20  27  24  17   9  12000  +373  [*]
Johalvier 28.74	  58  26   0  18  21   7  24   8  26715  +134  [*]

Hannibal  28.88	  65  23   1  17  12   8  24   6  37820  +698  [*]
Faval	  25.59	  62  17  15  20  27  28  13   5  35423  +408  [*]
Ced	  30	  55   5  27  22  30  29  14  27  22600  +647  [*]
Lana	  30	  61  12  24  24  23  29  12  11  13226  +27   [*]

Tinni	  25.55	  58   4  27  24  27  27   9  16  29753  +696  [*]
Sharlow	  19.10	  36   3  21  12  13  10   6  13  10458  +810  --
Leylia	  12.26	  29   9   2   1  14   8   2   7  13000  +150  [1]

On 4/20/2024 at 11:09 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

Next you'll tell me he has emotions. Real men aren't like that!!

What a nerd. We should give him a wedgie.

On 4/20/2024 at 11:09 AM, Saint Rubenio said:

lol

lmao even

As is my nature, I'm already contemplating interesting ways to replay Genealogy. "No Forseti Inheritance", even though I'm not really looking to do a full substitute run, is looking like a strong option, honestly. Well, not a strong option. You know what I mean.

Edited April 21 by ping

BrightBow · April 20

2 hours ago, ping said:

Julius takes the field, and he's obviously quite the terror. The Loptyr tome seems like one of the weaker legendary weapons at first glance, only providing a measly +5 Res, but it also carries the same effect that Medeus had in FE1 and FE3, halving any incoming attack's power.

I would imagine that it only has that +5 res to protect Julius from status staffs. But of course as already stated, having more than 30 res means that status swords will work 100% of the time, so he is in fact very vulnerable to status.

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "A terrifying man, that Prince Julius is... Just a single glance into those eyes of his and you're gone... You lose yourself. So many of my friends and others my age've been all left for Belhalla to serve him. I've heard nothing from any of 'em since..."

At least there is a basis in lore that everyone always sucks up to the avatar, no matter how heinous they are.

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "None of yeh come even close t'being strong enough t'fight Prince Julius. Hate t'say it, but sometimes, yeh need t'make sacrifices if yeh wanna keep goin'..."

Eh, Julius is perfectly killable here. Because unlike next map, he doesn't have Nihil yet. So crits can punch through his defenses just fine. In fact, Julius will drop the Leg Ring if it wasn't passed down.

Ishtar would also drop her Life Ring. So funnily enough, under very specific circumstances you could actually have a bit of a Arran/Samson situation here.

2 hours ago, ping said:

Arvis himself doesn't have Julius's strength-halving trick or Wrath one-shot potential, but his raw numbers are even stronger than those of his son. He also has the Nihil skill (in addition to the usual Pavise, as well as Charm and five leadership stars), so he doesn't brook any bullshit from the player's side, either. Just a bunch of big numbers, even one-shotting a decent share of our characters.

Funnily enough he has 3 less base strength compared to his NPC version. I guess that's what age does to you.

Well, time for some revenging.

Edited April 20 by BrightBow

Interdimensional Observer · April 20

On 4/19/2024 at 2:17 PM, ping said:

Everybody point and laugh at Faval for his lack of rugged manliness. He's good with children! How embarrassing!

Amy: Um… Kitty-cat man, will you come, too?
Ranulf: Sure. I’ll even let you sleep on my furry belly.
Amy: For real? Yay!
Ranulf: Don’t tell anyone, but my belly is super comfortable. You’ll be asleep in no time!
Lucia: Wow, that’s great, Amy. Let’s get going.
Amy: Yes! Kitty-cat pillow! Kitty-cat pillow!
Elincia: …Thank you, Ranulf.
Ranulf: Don’t mention it. I’m a sucker for kids.

1996 vs. 2007, the difference.

1 hour ago, ping said:

But I feel like it's getting really late for that story beat to continue. Seliph has liberated Isaach (let's ignore Shanan) and Leonster (let's ignore Leif) already - surely, that's enough to draw some attention?

Eeeeeeeh? IIRC, reading a history of the entire Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, the surging Arab menace didn't silence all internal court-squabbling. A national crisis should but by no means is guaranteed to shut down needless infighting.

Plus, Julius has probably spent the vast majority of his life in Grannvale. Warp magic does make for a higher degree of potential travel than IRL, but he could still have very well spent 70% or what have you in Belhalla and wherever the other grand imperial estates are. What is Manster District and to a greater extent Issach, to him? Real places? Or merely names on a map? While Julius may believe the world is his to rule, Seliph has yet to show up on his real doorstep, when the true concern might set in.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Of course, facing multiple Sleep staves is annoying, especially when the Restore staff is still on poor ol' 5-Move Lana, but that's nothing that can't be solved by the Rescue staff and a dance or two.

Honestly I don't think I bothered putting anyone who could be Sleep'ed into the range of the staffers. I used the handful of units who passed the Res check to dispatch everything (I went canon with Lewyn for Erinys, and gave Claud to Silvia, so I forget if Phee and Ced passed the Res check), and the rest gathered elsewhere doing nothing.

Res is such a binary stat in Genealogy: you either have enough to avoid being Status'ed and you're good, or you don't and you're bad. (The use of Res to reduce magic damage being, as always, not that important.)

Although some units in Genealogy do have Res, unlike Old Mystery. Really, all three Super Famicom games run into some measure of "endgame Dark Mage spam" and Res -almost always in short supply on physical units- becoming suddenly excessively useful. (Although, even MagRes ain't all that helpful for mitigating Loptyrians in 776.)

Saint Rubenio · April 20

1 hour ago, ping said:

Clearly, Julius is the true self-insert character of Genealogy, to give the teenage boys the fantasy of ordering around their parents after cruelly being told to clean up their rooms.

(It's a nice little disturbing detail that Julius calls Ishtar "his", in particular in response to Arvis trying to give her orders)

Once again, what makes Arvis less effective than he could've been is that this is his third ever scene in the game. He's not forgettable, not after the barbeque, but he kinda would've liked to have a bit more time so they didn't have to cram literally all of his gen 2 character traits (regretful, humbled, unconcerned with personal risk if it means atoning for his actions, latching on to his titles in a desperate attempt to retain what little power he's got left, afraid of Julius, afraid of even Manfroy) into the one cutscene.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Sounding rather excited there, Ishtar.

In a way, I appreciate how Julius and Manfroy mirror each other in how they underestimate the threats to their power: Manfroy is worried about Seliph while Julius dismisses him - Julius is worried about Julia, but Manfroy dismisses her. But I feel like it's getting really late for that story beat to continue. Seliph has liberated Isaach (let's ignore Shanan) and Leonster (let's ignore Leif) already - surely, that's enough to draw some attention?

Villain thinks hero is going to do nothing. What else is new?

1 hour ago, ping said:

I do really like the visual effect of Lopto blood. Interface horror is seriously underrated. It gets you where you're not expecting it.

1 hour ago, ping said:

The guy on top of Miletos Castle is very forgettable.

Fortunately, next chapter is the final chapter in the game, and there's no way they'd drop a whole brigade of generics in succession.

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Once, long ago, you were a confidante to Sigurd, were you not?

That must've been SUPER long ago, considering we never even saw him when Sigurd was the protagonist of the game lol

1 hour ago, ping said:

Seeing Arvis this pathetic is a bit hard to believe. I appreciate the shock effect - the mighty and prideful Arvis is now cowering in fear before Julius and Manfroy, not daring to defy their orders openly - but considering that gameplay is about to present him as a still incredibly powerful fighter, I have to question why he doesn't even make an attempt to stand up to Manfroy.

I almost would've better if he was kinda weak as a boss.

1 hour ago, ping said:

What I do appreciate without reservations is Arvis's regretfulness. He sacrificed a lot of other people to become Emperor, and now the ends that justified the means are not just in shambles, his ambition to overhaul Jugdral has been entirely perverted.

That is the thing that makes him good. Could've been great if he had more than three scenes in the game, but he's definitely good.

1 hour ago, ping said:

As is my nature, I'm already contemplating interesting ways to replay Genealogy. "No Forseti Inheritance", even though I'm not really looking to do a full substitute run, is looking like a strong option, honestly. Well, not a strong option. You know what I mean.

Get Hawke while you're at it.

Shanty Pete's 1st Mate · April 20

5 hours ago, Jotari said:

Showing Aida in the second gen would mean coming up with a new design for her and, while that shouldn't be hard, it might be just a bit too much work for anyone to care enough to do. Still, should have at least references her in some capacity.

Just give her the "Lamia to Hilda" treatment, of "slightly more wrinkles".

I just can't get over Liza. Like, seriously, she has the same earring as Aida. They couldn't be bothered to remove or adjust that telling detail. Hell, maybe I should headcanon Liza as Aida's daughter, with the earring a family heirloom.

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "Why, Father, it almost sounds as if you still don't know any better! Old age must already be dulling that once brilliant of yours. Why not retire before it grows still feebler? Unless... Ohoho! Don't tell me you still seriously believe that you can banish me?"
: "No... I know better than to try something so futile again... I... I have no objection."

Huh. These lines suggest that Arvis had tried to banish Julius once before (presumably after he got Loptyr'd). Obviously, it didn't stick.

I do wonder whether - as the Emperor - Arvis would have the power to name his own successor. Obviously, Julius would take the throne regardless. But if Arvis were to appoint, say, Julia in his will, it could contribute to more infighting amongst the houses. Thus hastening the Empire's (and Loptyr's) fall.

25 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

do really like the visual effect of Lopto blood. Interface horror is seriously underrated. It gets you where you're not expecting it.

I love how observant players can see the visual impact of minor Loptyr holy blood on Deirdre's and Arvis' stat screens. But you don't understand what it's there for, until Julius appears.

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "Yes, Lord Julius. I'd love to!"

Sounding rather excited there, Ishtar.

"Ishtar"? No, that's Julius, speaking to himself in the third person! As Julius is wont to do.

2 hours ago, ping said:

Julius takes the field, and he's obviously quite the terror. The Loptyr tome seems like one of the weaker legendary weapons at first glance, only providing a measly +5 Res, but it also carries the same effect that Medeus had in FE1 and FE3, halving any incoming attack's power.

I assume the +5 Res is there to protect him from status staves. Because the highest Magic any playable unit can have is 35 (including the Magic Ring). Status swords, however...

2 hours ago, ping said:

As a big ONLY USE SELIPH AND JULIA, THEY HAVE NIHIL sign, Julius has the Wrath skill, guaranteeing a one-shot on literally everybody (well, save sub-100 accuracy) when he is below half health. And to keep it spicy even for those two, he has Accost, as well.

Kids named Sword Twins:

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "None of yeh come even close t'being strong enough t'fight Prince Julius. Hate t'say it, but sometimes, yeh need t'make sacrifices if yeh wanna keep goin'..."

Kinda neat how this old man provides a tip - the ol' "let somebody die so Julius and Ishtar will go away" trick.

2 hours ago, ping said:

: "I hate to admit it, but I doubt we could've gotten here soon enough either way. Now, then. It sounds like they're finishing up repairs on the Miletos Straight bridge. Ready to move in on Chalphy?"

I love the idea that the Grannvale Public Works Department waits for no man. It is actively in Julius' best interests that the bridge stays down. But even he can't fight the Civil Engineers.

2 hours ago, ping said:

Seeing Arvis this pathetic is a bit hard to believe. I appreciate the shock effect - the mighty and prideful Arvis is now cowering in fear before Julius and Manfroy, not daring to defy their orders openly - but considering that gameplay is about to present him as a still incredibly powerful fighter, I have to question why he doesn't even make an attempt to stand up to Manfroy.

I mean, he kinda did, with his "how dare you" comment. And my interpretation of Manfroy showing up is, he immediately holds Julia's life in his hands. If Arvis were to attack him, Manfroy could kill Julia, then and there. So of course, Arvis isn't going to do anything that would endanger his daughter.

It might've been interesting if Arvis had planted the seed of Manfroy using Julia as a pawn in the final chapter. Saying something like "I shudder to think what Manfroy might do to you... were your powers turned against the Liberation Army, they would be stopped dead in their tracks." Obviously, Arvis doesn't want Julia to be brainwashed - but at least that way, she'd have a chance to survive. Some reverse psychology to give her extra time. And Manfroy, in his arrogance, would take credit for Arvis' dastardly plan.

2 hours ago, ping said:

As is my nature, I'm already contemplating interesting ways to replay Genealogy. "No Forseti Inheritance", even though I'm not really looking to do a full substitute run, is looking like a strong option, honestly. Well, not a strong option. You know what I mean.

Daddy Lewyn is interesting because - while you obviously want him to pass down Forseti - I wouldn't call any of his pairings actively bad. Critical and Adept make for a really solid pair of skills, especially on kids who already have Pursuit (the Sword Twins and Faval). The Speed boost from Sety Holy Blood is always welcome. And Lewyn!Lana probably has the best post-promotion combat of any version, thanks to the skills and Elwind access.

Honestly, considered "on average" or "overall", Lewyn might be the best dad, period.

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Res is such a binary stat in Genealogy: you either have enough to avoid being Status'ed and you're good, or you don't and you're bad. (The use of Res to reduce magic damage being, as always, not that important.)

Incidentally, FE4 is the only game I can think of where there's no way to incrase Res temporarily. No Ward or Barrier or Ensorcel Staff. No Pure Water. No Rally Res. The only way to increase it is by equipping certain weapons.

Personally, I like the way FE4 handles it. I much prefer "a point of Res gives either 0 or 100 Avoid against a status staff" as opposed to "a point of Res gives 5 Avoid against a status staff". Like, FE4 is the one game where I have use for the Silence Staff. In other games, it's almost certain to miss the targets I'd want it to hit.

Interdimensional Observer · April 21

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Once again, what makes Arvis less effective than he could've been is that this is his third ever scene in the game. He's not forgettable, not after the barbeque, but he kinda would've liked to have a bit more time so they didn't have to cram literally all of his gen 2 character traits *snip* into the one cutscene.

For you it was one cutscene. For Kaga, given his flowery praise for Arvis, it wouldn't surprise me if his imagination ran wild with thoughts of Arvis every day up to when his death got programmed.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Villain thinks hero is going to do nothing. What else is new?

Although, usually, it's a grown man who underestimates the protagonist. Here, it's a spoiled child, a hair different.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I almost would've better if he was kinda weak as a boss.

-But then you wouldn't be nudged into securing Tyrfing for Seliph. The whole 70 Res-hitting Atk thing is there to force you to get Tyrfing, which could -depending on the player- possibly be the only surefire way of surviving a round against Arvis. And Seliph killing Arvis was supposed to be the climax of his personal story.

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That must've been SUPER long ago, considering we never even saw him when Sigurd was the protagonist of the game lol

Palmark exists because IS could see the future, and now was not the time to replace the throwaway with the yet-to-be-invented Saias (who will pick up Valflame in a post-battle cutscene and join for the final chapter).

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

I do wonder whether - as the Emperor - Arvis would have the power to name his own successor. Obviously, Julius would take the throne regardless. But if Arvis were to appoint, say, Julia in his will, it could contribute to more infighting amongst the houses. Thus hastening the Empire's (and Loptyr's) fall.

It has varied with the empire/kingdom in question. The Byzantines liked trying to keep things in the family as a kind of tradition, but East Rome wasn't at all strictly bound by blood succession, just as West Rome hadn't been. And the emperor regnant's will -if they chose a successor- was usually respected.

Monarchies permitting legitimate concubines producing many legitimate princes, I think those didn't have to follow seniority and the monarch could choose his preferred heir.

Russia was father-son traditionally, and got back to that when Tsar Paul came to power in 1796. But before Peter the Great died in 1725, he changed the succession law to whomever the current Emperor/Empress of Russia chose ~~unless they were murdered~~.

As for naming a daughter when a son lived... I'm not sure if I can think of any IRL examples of that.😅 Though not at all the same, the Pragmatic Sanction is coming to mind. Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died, leaving only daughters behind and no close male relatives within the House of Habsburg to inherit. For years before his death however, Charles VI had labored away to create the Pragmatic Sanction. This agreement provided for both internal HRE and international recognition of Charles's elder daughter, Maria Theresa, as the sole inheritor of the Austrian Empire, her husband Francis Stephen's election as Holy Roman Emperor (although Marie T would be the true HRE ruler in all but title). Charles VI spent plenty of time and effort on bribes and making promises to keep his family's good fortunes afloat. ...But as soon as Charles died, many who had said they would accept Maria & Francis in fact reneged the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession broke out. Without Forseti on hand to protect the territory, Frederick the Great of Prussia stole Silesia from Austria in the ensuing conflict, although Maria and her husband ultimately got to keep everything else they stood to lose (meaning, basically everything).

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I love the idea that the Grannvale Public Works Department waits for no man. It is actively in Julius' best interests that the bridge stays down. But even he can't fight the Civil Engineers.

And the bridge looks unrealistically big (for the era at least). An inelegant but simple solution to crossing a strait.

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Incidentally, FE4 is the only game I can think of where there's no way to incrase Res temporarily. No Ward or Barrier or Ensorcel Staff. No Pure Water. No Rally Res. The only way to increase it is by equipping certain weapons.

Aside from Julia and Priest Boy having a staff-free one-use version of the spell. And Jake carrying two Talismans. Makes magical protection seem more special than it otherwise is.

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Personally, I like the way FE4 handles it. I much prefer "a point of Res gives either 0 or 100 Avoid against a status staff" as opposed to "a point of Res gives 5 Avoid against a status staff". Like, FE4 is the one game where I have use for the Silence Staff. In other games, it's almost certain to miss the targets I'd want it to hit.

I can see your point. I suppose I was just slightly ranting against the staff walls in C10 and the final chapter. Thracia is more fun with the same hit/miss binary, since fairly freely using abundant-ish status staffs in the lategame there is a thing.

Jotari · April 21

9 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Let's not forget Travant.

Egads, you're right. How neglectful of me.

5 hours ago, ping said:

: "You overestimate her threat, milord. After all, the Book of Naga remains under the strictest lock and key in Belhalla. Without it, I cannot fathom now Naga's soul could ever come to dwell within that girl..."

That might be a goof. The Book of Nafa is in Belhalla? Because you get it in Velthomer in the next chapter. It being in Belhalla would change everything, as you'd need to go through Julius to get it. Of course the real goof is that the bad guys didn't just burn it and remove it entirely. Though that might be mitigated by them not having access to it without the circlet. But then why would it be in Velthomer with a magic Heim lock?...I've got it! The Miletos problem. How to solve it feeling irrelevant. We just make it part of of Jugdral. Make it the Velcomher dukedom. We do fight Alvis at the end anyway (even though he's at Chalphy). Fitting all of the Dukedoms of Chalphy into the final map (except Jungby) gets very crowded. None of them seem to have any territory. Stick one of them, if not Velcthomer then Freege since Hilda is here, will just immediately make it a relevant place. But I suggest Velthomer because then the actual Velthomer castle, which is just a stone's throw from the capital, can be made into some other castle important to Heim so the Book of Naga both being there, and protected from the bad guys, would make sense. Hell, it'd actually be really appropriate if it were Darna, though that would make the borders of the previous war a bit funny.

5 hours ago, ping said:

I know that Julius and Ishtar will both leave the map if the respective other is defeated in combat - so realistically, killing Ishtar is the way to go. With how Julius is introducing them to the map, I also assume that they leave if they kill one of your units, so the easist (and lamest) method would be to allow somebody to get killed and then use Valkyrie to revive them. And finally, if Seliph just runs around them to kill the boss and seize (not difficult, between Leif's Rescue staff and Leylia's dancing), I would guess that they disappear, too?

Killing a unit is indeed the lamest way to deal with them. The most based way to deal with them is to have them deal with each other.

5 hours ago, ping said:

: "Once, long ago, you were a confidante to Sigurd, were you not? ...You already know what you must do."

: "Y-yes, sire..."

Hmm. Are you really? I don't recall seeing you in the first generation. In fact, I don't think Sigurd ever even mentioned you.

5 hours ago, ping said:

Seeing Arvis this pathetic is a bit hard to believe. I appreciate the shock effect - the mighty and prideful Arvis is now cowering in fear before Julius and Manfroy, not daring to defy their orders openly - but considering that gameplay is about to present him as a still incredibly powerful fighter, I have to question why he doesn't even make an attempt to stand up to Manfroy.

Would be nice if we got the implication, or even a scripted battle, that Alvis was willing to fight, until it came to the moment where he actually had to trade blows with Julius and he just couldn't. Despite everything he couldn't fight his own son. And Julius would miss the weight of that entirely believing it only to be his own power.

3 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Personally, I like the way FE4 handles it. I much prefer "a point of Res gives either 0 or 100 Avoid against a status staff" as opposed to "a point of Res gives 5 Avoid against a status staff". Like, FE4 is the one game where I have use for the Silence Staff. In other games, it's almost certain to miss the targets I'd want it to hit.

For status staffs in general, I'm with you. Having them be binary yes or no means you have to find specific ways to deal with them. Rather than them just being annoying low hit but very effective problems you just gamble on. That being said, I really like on a conceptual level how the Old Mystery Silence Staff works. In that it hits everyone on the map, ally and enemy alike. You just remove all sound from the battlefield. I don't remember it actually being very useful despite the endgame dark mage spam. Like, I'm sure it is, I just don't remember it ever coming in super clutch for me, though, now, looking at the wiki, I see it worked the same in New Mystery, which I assumed it didn't because the Again staff was no longer map wide. I feel like yeah it would have come in really useful against those Glower Mages, especially in the final part of the first dragon table chapter. Anyway, I'm getting a bit rambly. My point is that it's a cool idea to just shut down magic for everyone for one turn, especially since it gives you questions about your turn order, and if in a game outside of Mystery of the Emblem where hybrid classes exist, it would give more utility to often pointless physical weapons on magic units.

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

As for naming a daughter when a son lived... I'm not sure if I can think of any IRL examples of that.😅 Though not at all the same, the Pragmatic Sanction is coming to mind. Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI died, leaving only daughters behind and no close male relatives within the House of Habsburg to inherit. For years before his death however, Charles VI had labored away to create the Pragmatic Sanction. This agreement provided for both internal HRE and international recognition of Charles's elder daughter, Maria Theresa, as the sole inheritor of the Austrian Empire, her husband Francis Stephen's election as Holy Roman Emperor (although Marie T would be the true HRE ruler in all but title). Charles VI spent plenty of time and effort on bribes and making promises to keep his family's good fortunes afloat. ...But as soon as Charles died, many who had said they would accept Maria & Francis in fact reneged the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession broke out. Without Forseti on hand to protect the territory, Frederick the Great of Prussia stole Silesia from Austria in the ensuing conflict, although Maria and her husband ultimately got to keep everything else they stood to lose (meaning, basically everything).

I recall one instance of a kingdom naming a girl successor over a boy. It was really unpopular with the nobility who loved the prince and ended with the father trying to assassinate his own son only for the son to fake his own death and stab his father at his own would be funeral. I think the name of the kingdom was something like Biran or something.

Revier · April 21

7 hours ago, ping said:

But I feel like it's getting really late for that story beat to continue. Seliph has liberated Isaach (let's ignore Shanan) and Leonster (let's ignore Leif) already - surely, that's enough to draw some attention?

To be fair, Isaac is separated from the Grannvalian core by a harsh desert, so it's unlikely that news of its liberation came to the royal court in time. Leonster is a bit less explicable, but Thracia is also seen as a backwater, and from what we see Leonster has been embroiled in a civil war for a while already, so it's possible that news from there isn't considered very reliable, because it must be a complete mess of contradictory reports about the battles conducted there. That said, the fact that a Loptyrian shrine that was once the former Loptyrian HQ itself is situated right in the middle of the desert makes Seliph evading detection rather unlikely.

7 hours ago, ping said:

The guy on top of Miletos Castle is very forgettable.

What, you don't think Evil Vizier, Red Version is a memorable design? 😆

7 hours ago, ping said:

While the presense of Fenrir and Sleep is, if not dangerous, at the very least annoying, the spread out enemy formation makes this next segment easier than one might think, so I won't be giving a turn-by-turn.

Yeah, Miletos' defenses are surprisingly poor. Though by this point, Seliph and his fellow warriors, Ares and Shannan, are so strong as to not care too much about generic units anymore.

7 hours ago, ping said:

: "It's your eyes, sir... Are those tears?"
: "I... No, it's... It's nothing. This is just a bit of sweat. I'm fine... I... I'm okay..."

So the pragmatic strategist is not completely a jerk. Just mostly.

7 hours ago, ping said:

: "Hmhmhm... So you still feebly cling to your titles and thrones, do you? Your time has long passed, Arvis. You, and this world, now belong to Prince Julius. Unless you wish to know pain beyond the ken of mortal men, still your tongue and obey your new liege without question.

You've really got to wonder how exactly the Loptyrian cult and Julius got enough legitimacy to sideline Arvis, the emperor himself. Like, don't people know they are trying to resurrect Satan? Aren't there other people in the royal court who aren't part of their schemes? Shouldn't going against the empress herself have triggered bigger schisms?

The political side of this story really has some big holes when you seriously look at it.

7 hours ago, ping said:

What I do appreciate without reservations is Arvis's regretfulness. He sacrificed a lot of other people to become Emperor, and now the ends that justified the means are not just in shambles, his ambition to overhaul Jugdral has been entirely perverted.

I definitely like that aspect of the story, they just needed to write the specifics of the backfiring with more skill.

7 hours ago, ping said:

I'm already contemplating interesting ways to replay Genealogy.

Probably need to ban Arena grinding, go with all substitutes, and avoid using holy weapons to make it interesting. And even then, I'm not sure it will really make the playthrough too much harder than a regular run.

Edited April 21 by Revier

Jotari · April 21

9 minutes ago, Revier said:

You've really got to wonder how exactly the Loptyrian cult and Julius got enough legitimacy to sideline Arvis, the emperor himself. Like, don't people know they are trying to resurrect Satan? Aren't there other people in the royal court who aren't part of their schemes? Shouldn't going against the empress herself have triggered bigger schisms?

We can only speculate (that is to say contrive explanations), but the fact that every second or third castle has a Lopt Bishop on it during the second gen seems to suggest that Manfroy has very successfully managed to infiltrate every part of the upper echelons with his own men over the years, there's even a Lopt Bishop in Thracia, somehow. And, somewhat ironically, the presence of the rebels over the years might have done more to prevent schism in the empire than entice it, as people would see unity as more important than religious intolerance. Cohen strickes me as an example of a minor character who in his short time on screen comes across as very anti-Lopt, but very pro-Empire. He would almost certainly side with the Alvis faction if a civil war came, but since that's not happening, the rebels who want to tear down both the Lopt Sect and the Empire are the bigger problem.

And in regards to Alvis naming Julia heir, I meant to say it above, but the big problem with that is that Julia was missing presumed dead for years now. She wasn't around for Alvis to displace Julius with. Yet he did still try to displace Julius and exile him, which didn't work. That's possibly one of the most interesting lines in the entire game that goes absolutely nowhere. Why didn't that work and cause a schism? Whose backing did Julius get that turned the tide against Alvis? Hilda, perhaps? How complete was that exile. Did Alvis just say the words and Julius laughed at him, or did Alvis successfully force Julius to live in Orgahil or something for a few months? How did Travant react to that? Since we'll probably never know, to fanfiction we must go.

Shanty Pete's 1st Mate · April 21

31 minutes ago, Jotari said:

And in regards to Alvis naming Julia heir, I meant to say it above, but the big problem with that is that Julia was missing presumed dead for years now.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if people knew Julia was alive and on Seliph's army, or presumed her dead. Either way would be a problem, but the latter especially.

Wait... how did Arvis become Emperor in the first place? King Azmur stipulated that his successor would be a male child of Arvis and Dierdre with Major Naga blood. Until such a child reached maturity, Arvis would serve as Regent. Now obviously, those traits were split between two children, so it's not clear which one has a stronger claim to succeed Azmur. But in either case, while Arvis might be the next Ruler of Grannvale, I don't see how he could claim to be the next Emperor of Grannvale. ...Outside of, say, simply declaring himself Emperor. And nobody of influence being left alive to challenge such a declaration.

Anyway, if Arvis weren't Emperor, then Julius' immunity from being displaced would make more sense. Arvis' rule was never in-his-own-right, but only via his marriage to - and parentage of - descendants of Azmur. If he banishes Julius, he removes the only known surviving source of his own legitimacy.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

That being said, I really like on a conceptual level how the Old Mystery Silence Staff works. In that it hits everyone on the map, ally and enemy alike. You just remove all sound from the battlefield. I don't remember it actually being very useful despite the endgame dark mage spam.

Ooh, like a magic seal? Very interesting. Obviously a lot more influential than the narrowly-targeted versions we usually get.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

I recall one instance of a kingdom naming a girl successor over a boy. It was really unpopular with the nobility who loved the prince and ended with the father trying to assassinate his own son only for the son to fake his own death and stab his father at his own would be funeral. I think the name of the kingdom was something like Biran or something.

Oh yeah, I remember that Prince! Cute kid, loved to hang out on pillars. Not one for reaver weapons, though.

1 hour ago, Jotari said:

That might be a goof. The Book of Nafa is in Belhalla? Because you get it in Velthomer in the next chapter. It being in Belhalla would change everything, as you'd need to go through Julius to get it. Of course the real goof is that the bad guys didn't just burn it and remove it entirely.

I would assume that, being a legendary tome, it can't be destroyed that easily. Of course, they can hide it.

And anyway, it's possible that the tome was in Belhalla before, and then they moved it to Velthomer. Perhaps they figured Seliph would be less likely to expect the Book to be at Velthomer?

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Aside from Julia and Priest Boy having a staff-free one-use version of the spell. And Jake carrying two Talismans. Makes magical protection seem more special than it otherwise is.

Oh yeah, that aspect is cool. Resistance here feels a lot like it does in SoV (and, I assume, Gaiden). Moreso an innate stat to distinguish characters and classes, than a growth stat to express learned competency. The exceptions being those Holy Blood types which grant Res. In that light, Bragi Holy Blood is actually kinda valuable, because... how else are ya gonna resist status staves?

Jotari · April 21

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

I would assume that, being a legendary tome, it can't be destroyed that easily. Of course, they can hide it.

You just use it 40 times and then kill all the blacksmiths in the world. Simple. Or throw it in the ocean or something. On the subject of book burning, I do wonder what happened to the Lopt tome after the Crusaders' war. Did the good guys get it, not know how to destroy it and just kept it in a meseum with Manfroy only getting it when he gained control of the empire? Or did Galle's followers managed to pick it up off his dead body without Heim noticing and it spent the last century enshrined in the Yied Shrine with Manfroy having it the entire time? I guess it doesn't make a huge difference, but it is a bit of an unexplained thread.

Revier · April 21

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Wait... how did Arvis become Emperor in the first place? King Azmur stipulated that his successor would be a male child of Arvis and Dierdre with Major Naga blood. Until such a child reached maturity, Arvis would serve as Regent. Now obviously, those traits were split between two children, so it's not clear which one has a stronger claim to succeed Azmur. But in either case, while Arvis might be the next Ruler of Grannvale, I don't see how he could claim to be the next Emperor of Grannvale. ...Outside of, say, simply declaring himself Emperor. And nobody of influence being left alive to challenge such a declaration.

Anyway, if Arvis weren't Emperor, then Julius' immunity from being displaced would make more sense. Arvis' rule was never in-his-own-right, but only via his marriage to - and parentage of - descendants of Azmur. If he banishes Julius, he removes the only known surviving source of his own legitimacy.

You do raise a good point, Arvis shouldn't have any direct claim to the throne in the first place. At best, he would have de facto control over the empire as a regent. But this is directly contradicted by the game's narration making him out to be the absolute ruler until the Loptyrians took over. If they had actually touched on how delicate Arvis' position was, and how his legitimacy rested solely on his offspring, it would've made this entire situation far more plausible and compelling.

Edited April 21 by Revier

Jotari · April 21

21 minutes ago, Revier said:

You do raise a good point, Arvis shouldn't have any direct claim to the throne in the first place. At best, he would have de facto control over the empire as a regent. But this is directly contradicted by the game's narration making him out to be the absolute ruler until the Loptyrians took over. If they had actually touched on how delicate Arvis' position was, and how his legitimacy rested solely on his offspring, it would've made this entire situation far more plausible and compelling.

The answer as to why he's an Emperor and not refered to as just the regent is because Emperor makes for a more kick ass class name than Regent (que his battle music). I think it's clear from the fact that it's happening that Alvis is the regent and now that Julius is approach maturity people are taking his right to rule seriously.

ping · April 21

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Amy: Um… Kitty-cat man, will you come, too?
Ranulf: Sure. I’ll even let you sleep on my furry belly.
Amy: For real? Yay!
Ranulf: Don’t tell anyone, but my belly is super comfortable. You’ll be asleep in no time!
Lucia: Wow, that’s great, Amy. Let’s get going.
Amy: Yes! Kitty-cat pillow! Kitty-cat pillow!
Elincia: …Thank you, Ranulf.
Ranulf: Don’t mention it. I’m a sucker for kids.

1996 vs. 2007, the difference.

~~I can't believe Ike's sexy catboy husbando is a nerd, too~~

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Eeeeeeeh? IIRC, reading a history of the entire Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, the surging Arab menace didn't silence all internal court-squabbling. A national crisis should but by no means is guaranteed to shut down needless infighting.

Plus, Julius has probably spent the vast majority of his life in Grannvale. Warp magic does make for a higher degree of potential travel than IRL, but he could still have very well spent 70% or what have you in Belhalla and wherever the other grand imperial estates are. What is Manster District and to a greater extent Issach, to him? Real places? Or merely names on a map? While Julius may believe the world is his to rule, Seliph has yet to show up on his real doorstep, when the true concern might set in.

You can certainly explain Julius not taking the threat seriously, what with him (as you later say) being a spoiled brat that has never faced an actual threat to his power before. But I think it might cheapen the eventual victory a bit: Seliph doesn't win because he achieved something super special awesome - Seliph wins because his enemies handed him the necessary tools on a silver platter. Making your arch villain so imba that the heroes can't touch him, so the villain has to produce his downfall himself sounds like a beginner dungeon master's blunder - although I'm sure I exaggerate (at least a little) with this description of Julius and Manfroy.

9 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Honestly I don't think I bothered putting anyone who could be Sleep'ed into the range of the staffers. I used the handful of units who passed the Res check to dispatch everything (I went canon with Lewyn for Erinys, and gave Claud to Silvia, so I forget if Phee and Ced passed the Res check), and the rest gathered elsewhere doing nothing.

I went with the opposite approach. Shove everybody into the fight, so it doesn't matter if three guys get slept. Still enough offensive power to punch through. :lol:

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Once again, what makes Arvis less effective than he could've been is that this is his third ever scene in the game. He's not forgettable, not after the barbeque, but he kinda would've liked to have a bit more time so they didn't have to cram literally all of his gen 2 character traits (regretful, humbled, unconcerned with personal risk if it means atoning for his actions, latching on to his titles in a desperate attempt to retain what little power he's got left, afraid of Julius, afraid of even Manfroy) into the one cutscene.

'Tis what happens if you skip 17 years of a story, but I agree. I think it works better with Arvis because his transformation from smug badassery to humbled and broken is something of a "oh, damn" moment, but he shares with Travant the problem that their most intriguing stories happened off-screen. And that aspect is arguably worse for Arvis, since it basically happens twice for him, with his scheming in Belhalla while Sigurd is out a-conquerin'.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

That must've been SUPER long ago, considering we never even saw him when Sigurd was the protagonist of the game lol

I first thought that he's the guy who officially made Sigurd a Paladin after the prologue and later shared juicy court gossip with him, but...

...nah. Other Oldman.

9 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Get Hawke while you're at it.

Either that or Arden/Erin.

8 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

"Ishtar"? No, that's Julius, speaking to himself in the third person! As Julius is wont to do.

(first 30 seconds)

8 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Daddy Lewyn is interesting because - while you obviously want him to pass down Forseti - I wouldn't call any of his pairings actively bad. Critical and Adept make for a really solid pair of skills, especially on kids who already have Pursuit (the Sword Twins and Faval). The Speed boost from Sety Holy Blood is always welcome. And Lewyn!Lana probably has the best post-promotion combat of any version, thanks to the skills and Elwind access.

Honestly, considered "on average" or "overall", Lewyn might be the best dad, period.

It's a hard choice from the perspective of the children. On the one hand, you get incredible speed, solid +dmg skills, and maybe even Forseti... but on the other hand, your dad's going to be Lewyn.

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Killing a unit is indeed the lamest way to deal with them. The most based way to deal with them is to have them deal with each other.

Very nice. :lol: Their dialogue afterwards is surprisingly appropriate (if you don't know what "game" Julius is referring to) - like they just had a little sparring match.

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

Would be nice if we got the implication, or even a scripted battle, that Alvis was willing to fight, until it came to the moment where he actually had to trade blows with Julius and he just couldn't. Despite everything he couldn't fight his own son. And Julius would miss the weight of that entirely believing it only to be his own power.

It would require some more rewriting, since it's only Manfroy in that scene with Julia, but I agree that seeing Arvis at least trying to fight for Julia's sake would've been nice. Maybe if you made the First mate's suggestion (that Manfroy is threatening to kill Julia right there if Arvis doesn't co-operate) more explicit in the writing, that would work. (although that would still sell Julia, who's likely to be pretty competent at fighting magic users in particular, very short)

4 hours ago, Revier said:

To be fair, Isaac is separated from the Grannvalian core by a harsh desert, so it's unlikely that news of its liberation came to the royal court in time. Leonster is a bit less explicable, but Thracia is also seen as a backwater, and from what we see Leonster has been embroiled in a civil war for a while already, so it's possible that news from there isn't considered very reliable, because it must be a complete mess of contradictory reports about the battles conducted there. That said, the fact that a Loptyrian shrine that was once the former Loptyrian HQ itself is situated right in the middle of the desert makes Seliph evading detection rather unlikely.

~~Ah, but you didn't consider that information travels instantaneous across Jugdral.~~

Loptyr HQ being an early target of Seliph's campaign would explain why Manfroy is so worried about this - although it's not like he really needed additional reason with Isaach and all of the Thracian peninsula being taken from Grannvale's control.

4 hours ago, Revier said:

So the pragmatic strategist is not completely a jerk. Just mostly.

He is sometimes, in some timelines, not completely a jerk.

Lewyn: Heh... Bratty little thing, aren't you...
Fee: EXCUSE ME?! Ohh, that does it!

So, since T776 makes Lewyn/Erin canon, he's officially always completely a jerk.

3 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Wait... how did Arvis become Emperor in the first place? King Azmur stipulated that his successor would be a male child of Arvis and Dierdre with Major Naga blood. Until such a child reached maturity, Arvis would serve as Regent. Now obviously, those traits were split between two children, so it's not clear which one has a stronger claim to succeed Azmur. But in either case, while Arvis might be the next Ruler of Grannvale, I don't see how he could claim to be the next Emperor of Grannvale. ...Outside of, say, simply declaring himself Emperor. And nobody of influence being left alive to challenge such a declaration.

Anyway, if Arvis weren't Emperor, then Julius' immunity from being displaced would make more sense. Arvis' rule was never in-his-own-right, but only via his marriage to - and parentage of - descendants of Azmur. If he banishes Julius, he removes the only known surviving source of his own legitimacy.

Well, Arvis made himself Emperor. As you say, Azmur was King Azmur. Probably a good helping of headcanon on my part, but it wouldn't be unrealistic if Arvis would've arranged the inheritance laws of that new political entity to be more to his liking, and maybe disconnected it from Azmur's bloodline.

Come to think of it, it would've been an interesting touch if Julius would already have been King Julius of Grannvale - only that he'd still formally answer to Arvis's authority as Emperor.

Jotari · April 21

49 minutes ago, ping said:

I first thought that he's the guy who officially made Sigurd a Paladin after the prologue and later shared juicy court gossip with him, but...

...nah. Other Oldman.

Well, the thing is that guy, Filat, was specifically an attendant to Azmur. While the guy in this chapter, Palmarck, was meant to have served Sigurd directly...but...would you believe, that next chapter we get another attendant to the royal family who instead of using Filat's portrait, uses Palmarck's portrait! That's right, fluffy mustache man appears in two consecutive chapters playing almost the identical role and he is a different guy, neither of which was the character established in Gen 1. And to make matters worse, that old man portrait Filat used is actually used next chapter, but not for an NPC, for a boss!

Edited April 21 by Jotari

Saint Rubenio · April 21

11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

For you it was one cutscene. For Kaga, given his flowery praise for Arvis, it wouldn't surprise me if his imagination ran wild with thoughts of Arvis every day up to when his death got programmed.

Hah, true enough.

11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Palmark exists because IS could see the future, and now was not the time to replace the throwaway with the yet-to-be-invented Saias (who will pick up Valflame in a post-battle cutscene and join for the final chapter).

...Actually? Yeah, this'd be the perfect place to implement Saias.

9 hours ago, Jotari said:

Killing a unit is indeed the lamest way to deal with them. The most based way to deal with them is to have them deal with each other.

This is why Sharlow is amazing.

9 hours ago, Jotari said:

Hmm. Are you really? I don't recall seeing you in the first generation. In fact, I don't think Sigurd ever even mentioned you.

4 hours ago, ping said:

I first thought that he's the guy who officially made Sigurd a Paladin after the prologue and later shared juicy court gossip with him, but...

4 hours ago, Jotari said:

That's right, fluffy mustache man appears in two consecutive chapters playing almost the identical role and he is a different guy, neither of which was the character established in Gen 1.

There was also a perfect opportunity to introduce Palmark so he doesn't feel quite so out-of-left-field. He's a servant of Chalphy. It's implied he's been serving Chalphy for decades. So... why not have him show up in the very first cutscene? Just a quick appearance, where Sigurd tells him to stay and take care of things at home while he's gone because he trusts him the most to do it. 9 chapters later, he resurfaces and the observant player goes "hey I remember him, I know him!" instead of "lmao they just made a guy up for this."

9 hours ago, Jotari said:

I recall one instance of a kingdom naming a girl successor over a boy. It was really unpopular with the nobility who loved the prince and ended with the father trying to assassinate his own son only for the son to fake his own death and stab his father at his own would be funeral. I think the name of the kingdom was something like Biran or something.

It is indeed Biran... In the Spanish version.

8 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Oh yeah, I remember that Prince! Cute kid, loved to hang out on pillars. Not one for reaver weapons, though.

He grew up to be an upstanding, kind-hearted leader that ruled fairly and justly over his people. He even adopted a young orphan and made her his heir!

4 hours ago, ping said:

Tis what happens if you skip 17 years of a story, but I agree. I think it works better with Arvis because his transformation from smug badassery to humbled and broken is something of a "oh, damn" moment, but he shares with Travant the problem that their most intriguing stories happened off-screen. And that aspect is arguably worse for Arvis, since it basically happens twice for him, with his scheming in Belhalla while Sigurd is out a-conquerin'.

The effect is definitely good, but it could've been great if it had more time to sink in. Instead the game meanders with boring-ass bossmen for a bit too long.

Interdimensional Observer · April 21

5 hours ago, ping said:

I went with the opposite approach. Shove everybody into the fight, so it doesn't matter if three guys get slept. Still enough offensive power to punch through.

The Sleep Staff isn't the Eternal Sleep true, but throwing everybody at a target and bearing with the hits still feels wrong for FE.😆

5 hours ago, ping said:

'Tis what happens if you skip 17 years of a story, but I agree. I think it works better with Arvis because his transformation from smug badassery to humbled and broken is something of a "oh, damn" moment, but he shares with Travant the problem that their most intriguing stories happened off-screen. And that aspect is arguably worse for Arvis, since it basically happens twice for him, with his scheming in Belhalla while Sigurd is out a-conquerin'.

This could be fixed with a full-length opera -let's go with three acts- dedicated to the life of Arvis. Begins in Gen 1, ends at the Burning Man. Act 2 covers the happy ten years afterwards. Act 3 would be substantially shorter (the Intermission being after the longer Act 1) and cover the bad times, ending with Arvis's death, with Seliph contrary somewhat to the public mood promising him a burial (or cremation by pyre, which was popular for most of Rome's history) with full honors.

-I came up with this silly idea before actually playing Genealogy, before Arvis became only alright due to my actual experiences.😅

5 hours ago, ping said:

Loptyr HQ being an early target of Seliph's campaign would explain why Manfroy is so worried about this - although it's not like he really needed additional reason with Isaach and all of the Thracian peninsula being taken from Grannvale's control.

I feel like the loss of Issach wouldn't be a huge deal to the Empire. We have no clue what tribute was being sent to the Grannvalian core, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was like losing Britain for the Romans, a boondocks that wouldn't be the worse thing to lose.

Manster though, probably not East-Rome-losing-Egypt bad ~~but then, no more Monophysite ulcer~~, but I don't see how that wouldn't be the imperial crown jewel outside of Grannvale itself.

5 hours ago, ping said:

Come to think of it, it would've been an interesting touch if Julius would already have been King Julius of Grannvale - only that he'd still formally answer to Arvis's authority as Emperor.

Now that has the trappings of history. Me likey the idea.😄

17 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Actually? Yeah, this'd be the perfect place to implement Saias.

I've put some thought into it before. And I've a liking for Gotohs (the archetype, not "Lewyn's" true identity).

Thinking of what Saias would look like, hypothetically, gameplay-wise.:

Saias would have Nihil as in 776 of course, it is what his father gave him. And maybe Charm given it was his schtick.
Probably wouldn't make him level 30, more like 24-26, to give him a few level-ups for the flavor of it.
Ironically, neither High Priest nor Bishop can use Light magic in Genealogy though that's the only magic they can in Thracia, so he'd have to grab a different utilitarian starting tome, not like you'd more than five uses out of it when Valflame would be the entire reason for having him.
Statwise, well super-high Mag would be guaranteed. And really they'd all be not bad in terms of bases, with growths an afterthought.
However, High Priest having a maximum of 18 Def (I'd think Saias would join with something like 13) means he wouldn't actually be physically particularly bulky even with Valflame's +10. He could probably reach his 23 Res maximum and be near-immune to enemy spells thanks to the 'Flame though.
I'm not sure if Saias would stand to benefit all that much from Pursuit. 67 Res-hitting Atk in the final chapter probably wouldn't OHKO all that much, but Valflame is on the heavy side and doesn't have a Spd bonus like the other holy tomes.

Now, narratively weaving him into the fold, let me say this upfront- I don't see him and Arvis hugging. They're both grown men, probably neither is the openly-emotional type either (Arvis at least is possibly privately quite tender). Has Arvis heard the rumors about Saias before, does he believe them, does Saias mention his mother and subtly allude to Arvis being the one who sired him? What even was the relationship between Arvis and Aida? -How these questions would get answered would be necessary to determine how Arvis and Saias interact in their lone instance (or two with an earlier one in Chapter 10 as well) of doing so.

What I can imagine, is that Saias never once refers to Arvis as "father", always at the remove of "Emperor/Your Majesty", as he has been his entire life. Although, Arvis would promise him Valflame with his passing, and ask him to help oversee the transition of Grannvale to its post-Empire state (which is his 776 ending). Saias would likewise part from the living Arvis probably with more a sense of deep respect for the Emperor than for his lifelong absent dad, but not necessarily any hate about (or sympathy regarding the circumstances that led to) that absence either.

As for the retrieval of Valflame, yeah, it probably should happen in front of Seliph, leading him to know who Saias really is. Although Saias would not outright say to Seliph "Arvis was my father". I was thinking more Seliph tries vocalizing his realization of this revelation, and Saias cuts him off mid-sentence, saying "Let us prepare for what lay ahead, my Lord, the Empire shall mount a great counteroffensive soon enough. Leave me to find some reverential servants and Bragi priests here at Chalphy to tend to the Emperor's body for now. I for my part must return the sacred tome to Velthomer. I shall provide you with my full support from now through the restoration of the old Kingdom that is follow, Lord Seliph, such was the Emperor's last will.". Seliph implicitly realizing that Saias wishes not to have his holy blood spoken of, nor be placed in the line of Velthomerian succession.

Jotari · April 21

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

There was also a perfect opportunity to introduce Palmark so he doesn't feel quite so out-of-left-field. He's a servant of Chalphy. It's implied he's been serving Chalphy for decades. So... why not have him show up in the very first cutscene? Just a quick appearance, where Sigurd tells him to stay and take care of things at home while he's gone because he trusts him the most to do it. 9 chapters later, he resurfaces and the observant player goes "hey I remember him, I know him!" instead of "lmao they just made a guy up for this."

But then you'd need to design a Gen 1 portrait for him. Or not. He could buy some of Manfroy's aging cream. "Lopt Brand anti-aging cream, it won't make you look young, but it will make you look the same level of old no matter how many decades pass! And now onto our next product. Even you can conceive when you're in your late 90s with our Duma Strength Viagra".

3 hours ago, Saint Rubenio said:

It is indeed Biran... In the Spanish version.

It's Biran in English too. Never even heard of Bern.

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Thinking of what Saias would look like, hypothetically, gameplay-wise.:

Saias would have Nihil as in 776 of course, it is what his father gave him. And maybe Charm given it was his schtick.

Probably wouldn't make him level 30, more like 24-26, to give him a few level-ups for the flavor of it.

Ironically, neither High Priest nor Bishop can use Light magic in Genealogy though that's the only magic they can in Thracia, so he'd have to grab a different utilitarian starting tome, not like you'd more than five uses out of it when Valflame would be the entire reason for having him.

Statwise, well super-high Mag would be guaranteed. And really they'd all be not bad in terms of bases, with growths an afterthought.

However, High Priest having a maximum of 18 Def (I'd think Saias would join with something like 13) means he wouldn't actually be physically particularly bulky even with Valflame's +10. He could probably reach his 23 Res maximum and be near-immune to enemy spells thanks to the 'Flame though.

I'm not sure if Saias would stand to benefit all that much from Pursuit. 67 Res-hitting Atk in the final chapter probably wouldn't OHKO all that much, but Valflame is on the heavy side and doesn't have a Spd bonus like the other holy tomes.

It's also ironic that he can't even use Valflame in Thracia if it did exist because he doesn't have a fire tome rank. He should also get Pursuit, not because it'd be useful, but because everyone in Thracia 776 has pursuit. Let's give it to Leif at base too (Finn already has it, and Nanna is a eugenics girl who doesn't deserve personal skills).

But really, the most fun he could possibly bring from Thracia is the Rewarp staff. Let's have him zoom across mountains warping himself around the final chapter, not with infinite range ala Thracia of course, no with the physic and status staff ranges Genealogy has. Because those 10 tile Genealogy ranges are all tile in Thracia because it is smaller.

2 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Now, narratively weaving him into the fold, let me say this upfront- I don't see him and Arvis hugging. They're both grown men, probably neither is the openly-emotional type either (Arvis at least is possibly privately quite tender). Has Arvis heard the rumors about Saias before, does he believe them, does Saias mention his mother and subtly allude to Arvis being the one who sired him? What even was the relationship between Arvis and Aida? -How these questions would get answered would be necessary to determine how Arvis and Saias interact in their lone instance (or two with an earlier one in Chapter 10 as well) of doing so.

What I can imagine, is that Saias never once refers to Arvis as "father", always at the remove of "Emperor/Your Majesty", as he has been his entire life. Although, Arvis would promise him Valflame with his passing, and ask him to help oversee the transition of Grannvale to its post-Empire state (which is his 776 ending). Saias would likewise part from the living Arvis probably with more a sense of deep respect for the Emperor than for his lifelong absent dad, but not necessarily any hate about (or sympathy regarding the circumstances that led to) that absence either.

As for the retrieval of Valflame, yeah, it probably should happen in front of Seliph, leading him to know who Saias really is. Although Saias would not outright say to Seliph "Arvis was my father". I was thinking more Seliph tries vocalizing his realization of this revelation, and Saias cuts him off mid-sentence, saying "Let us prepare for what lay ahead, my Lord, the Empire shall mount a great counteroffensive soon enough. Leave me to find some reverential servants and Bragi priests here at Chalphy to tend to the Emperor's body for now. I for my part must return the sacred tome to Velthomer. I shall provide you with my full support from now through the restoration of the old Kingdom that is follow, Lord Seliph, such was the Emperor's last will.". Seliph implicitly realizing that Saias wishes not to have his holy blood spoken of, nor be placed in the line of Velthomerian succession.

That's all well and good for that moment, but is he just going to pop out of nowhere for that scene? Would he still play his same role as he did in Thracia during Chapter 8? I think he says he's going off to Blaggi tower to pray, so that would explain where he is during Chapter 9, but how would he be reintroduced during chapter 10?

Edited April 21 by Jotari

ping · April 21

FE4 Chapter 10: Light and Darkness

Miletos --> Chalphy

Spoiler

____

Well then, time to kill some Roteritter (would one decline that noun?). Getting through the group of Knights in one turn isn't too difficult, although it's a little scary to do so with the mages and horsies nearby. For reliablity, Ced silences the nearest Mage, and Ares takes the point with his high HP and (with Mystletainn) mixed defense stats.

By the way - you're seeing Patty one-rounding the Commander, thanks to a siblings crit. I think that might be the first one in this playthrough? I did see a handful of lovers' crits, though.

____

...and killing almost all the mages and horsies on the next player phase turns out to be quite doable, too. Just one Great Knight (the axe variant) and one healer remaining.

So, next are the Meteor Mages in front of Arvis.

__

A bit less successful, but still -

- only a single Meteor is thrown at us.

____

Meanwhile, Fee and Altena have defeated the Dark Mages to save the children. Easy task when you have both your flyers available. Nanna then warps Altena back so that Sharlow can bestow upon her some magic resistance:

: "Are you hurt at all, Your Highness?"
: "Ah, Sharlow. Thank you, but everything's fine. Don't forget to take care of yourself as well. You shouldn't do anything too risky."
: "Er... Say, Your Highness..."
: "Is something wrong, Sharlow?"
: "Your Highness, I want to cast a Ward spell on you."
: "Oh, right. You're concerned about my low resistance to magic, aren't you? Are you sure? I've heard that few spells endanger the caster as much as Ward does. Look, Sharlow. I'm honored, but I don't want you risking yourself for my sake."
: "But you've always been there to help me, Your Highness. You're the closest thing I've ever had to a mama. Please, Your Highness! All I want is to do anything I can to help you!"
: "Oh, Sharlow... Very well. I can hardly refuse if it's so important to you, now, can I? All I ask is that you stop casting the spell the instant it puts you at any risk at all. Promise me this, Sharlow."
: "Okay! It's a promise, Your Highness. Don't worry, I won't let myself get hurt."
: "Thank you, Sharlow. Now, shall we? I'm ready when you are."
: "Right, I'm ready! ...Hear me, O great Saint Bragi. ...I implore of you! Bestow upon this woman your exalted power..."

[+5 Res --> Altena]

Speaking of things that will make you feel old - I think being told that you're "like a parent" to them by somebody less than 10 years younger than you will probably do the trick.

I appreciate that Genealogy is consistent with Ward to be a dangerous spell to cast, between this, Julia casting it on Seliph earlier, and the classic Barrier staff not being available at all - even though I know that T776 is going to retcon the heck out of this. Not sure if it also comes up in the story, but I know that both the Barrier staff (or maybe Magic-Up staff, I vaguely remember that name) and Holy Water are back as temporary Res boosters.

__

With the Rotenritter defeated, Seliph makes the trip to Palmarch. With the Leg Ring, it doesn't even take that much time.

: "Are you unharmed, Your Grace?"
: "Lord Seliph! Ohh, bless you! We've awaited you for so long. I've done all I can to survive, all to ensure you receive your birthright. Here... Take it, milord."
: "W... what is this?!"
. "It is the sacred relic of House Chalphy. The divine blade... Tyrfing."
: "But... How could you have it, Your Grace?"
: "My apologies, milord, but I cannot say. I swore an oath..."
: "I see... Fair enough, then. I couldn't possibly thank you enough, Your Grace. So this is Tyrfing, then... I've never felt power quite like this..."
: "Milord, I beg of you... Please, retake Chalphy at once! Your subjects have endured for so long, in hope of one day seeing your return..."
: "Rest easy now, Your Grace. So long as I have Tyrfing in hand, we have nothing more to fear!"

And it's even fully repaired! Pretty sure Sigurd didn't scrape enough money together for that.

The five children around Palmarch go to Faval (x2) and Tinni (x3). At the end of this chapter, everyone but Sharlow and Leylia is at least at Lv.28, which I should expect is enough to have a full Lv.30 team after the last chapter's arena.

(all the kids say is some variation of "oh wow! Liberators!", so I'm not going to bother combing through my screenshots to collect the exact wordings)

Nice little detail: Palmarch heals characters in his range. Not necessary in this playthrough, but still very nice of him.

Now, Arvis. I know that Seliph has to be the one to defeat him in order to get him to see ghosts, so nobody even tried chipping him before Seliph returns.

: "You... Emperor Arvis! Why... Why did you betray my father..."
: "At long last... Seliph. I must commend your courage, boy. But courage cannot save you now. Not since your dear departed father have I seen such a pathetic worm... My flames shall purge you from this world!"

I like how Arvis starts complimenting Seliph before realising that he's playing the villain and thus has to follow some narrative conventions. It's an interesting parallel to Travant that Arvis is also convinced that he has to die in battle for the Greater Good.

__

General strategy against Arvis: Avoid chances of death, we wouldn't want that on anybody's permanent record, but otherwise just hack away and hope that no random Adept proc kills him.

(Valflame's animation is pretty sick, btw)

Part of the effort is Arthur - one attempt on player phase, another one (after being healed twice by Ced's Fortify) on enemy phase. The latter brings Arvis down to 10 HP...

__

...which is enough for Seliph to get the kill with his second swing on the next turn.

And while he makes his way to the nearby beach, I'll go over the remaining side objectives:

Sharlow promotes and does some arenaing. Massigli is a massive roadblock for him, since Sharlow has no +dmg skills whatsoever to swing the unfavourable numbers, but some start-of-turn save abuse during Oifey's arena run allows him to eventually overcome him.

...I don't even bother with the second Jormungand user, though. Five out of seven ain't bad.

Back at Chronos, Ulster rescues the last remaining child, bringing him to Lv.28 as well...

...and Ced gets warp-relayed to grab the village near Rados.

: "'Tis only been lately that we've had t'deal with these rites of sacrifice. Not so long ago, from what I hear, Emperor Arvis himself forbade 'em entirely. What the devil could've changed his mind? Please, I'm beggin' you! You've gotta save our children! Here, this magic ring oughta help you out."

[Magic Ring; 3000 gold --> Ced]

: "Seliph... Oh, Seliph..."
: "I-is somebody there?"
: "Oh, Seliph... How you've grown..."
: "Could it be... M-mother?! Mother! Is it truly you?"

Gasp!

: "...Seliph, never forget. Your friends... Your companions... You must always cherish them... You owe them so..."
: "...Y-yes, Mother. I understand. Oh! I've defeated Emperor Arvis! At long last, Father has been avenged!"
: "You did... But what of Julius and Julia...?"
: "I still don't know. Wait! Mother, how could you know of what happened to them? ...Mother?"

(I blame the fandom.com wiki for the poorer quality of Deirdre's portrait)
(and my laziness to clean up her portrait from a screenshot)

: "Listen, Seliph. You must stay humble, no matter what. Remember, your power alone was not what put an end to Arvis..."
: "What? How do you mean, Father?"
: "You must learn the sorrow of the common man, Seliph. Your truth is not the reality of all."

__

[Renewal Band --> Seliph]

: "Rely on the Heart of the Cards, you must! Hrm."

Not a huge fan of this scene, to be honest. Very heavy-handed. Seliph's story has a bit of a theme going that he's standing on his parents' shoulders - game-mechanically in the form of inheritance, but he also benefits from Sigurd's reputation and the personal friendships he had forged. Most directly Shanan and Oifey, but there's also Fee who is moved to help Seliph by Erin's stories about Sigurd. I liked that better when there was more subtlety about it.

: "A job well done indeed, Seliph. And would you just look at that! The locals are so happy to see you. Look! They're already pouring into the streets to rejoice at your return!"
: "Mm. I'm home. At long last, I'm home... Nothing has ever felt this good. But... I mustn't celebrate just yet..."
: "Julia, right? You must be worried something fierce. Heh... Got a little thing for her, do you?"

I'll take this as evidence that Lewyn doesn't actually know who Julia is, or even that she has Naga blood. I think that came up recently in the thread?

: "Oh! Er... No, nothing of the sort..."
: "I've had a word with some locals who've seen her. Archbishop Manfroy's got his grubby hands on her, by the sound of it. It's a pretty safe bet that Julia's still somewhere in Grannvale."
: "Say, Lewyn, Something feels amiss. We've defeated Arvis and avenged my father, and yet I still feel... Empty."

Seliph, literally 20 seconds ago: "Nothing has ever felt this good."

: "That'd be because we still have a while to go until we reach the end of all this. If anything, the real battle here's only just about to get started. Trust me. By the time this holy war has come to a close, Seliph, the truth behind it all will be clear as day."

And endgame time it is. I don't think I have much to add to what I've already said about the chapter. Arvis mostly good, but with too little stage presence. Julius... mixed, although I think I'll keep my thoughts on that for the summary after finishing the game, since it intertwines with some other thoughts. Ishtar still hasn't had a chance to actually do something to make herself appear more sympathetic.

The Team:

	  Lv.	  HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res  Funds  XP    Arn  W/L
Seliph	  30	  69  25   7  22  22  28  22  16  37720  +422  [*]  51/0
Leif	  30	  66  27   8  27  27  17  27  11  14892  +521  [*]  27/0
Oifey	  28.66	  56  21  10  23  22  13  22   8  27840  +332  [*]  22/2
Finn	  30	  51  24   1  18  22  24  21   4  50000  +91   [*]  19/0

Dermott	  30	  65  23   0  30  25  22  20   7  19957  +456  [*]  48/1
Nanna	  30	  58  24   7  22  21  24  24   8  40680  +210  [*]  11/0
Ares	  30	  73  24   9  23  22  19  24  14  33870  +494  [*]  23/0
Fee	  30	  56  20  17  24  29  15  20  24  30417  +276  [*]  40/0

Altena	  28.17	  67  27   3  24  22  11  28   8  43860  +641  [*]  16/0
Lester	  28.10	  56  23   3  18  21  24  18   4  41316  +614  [*]  32/0
Arthur	  30	  70   6  23  22  22  27  11  11  46520  +410  [*]  31/0
Shanan	  28.35	  64  24   1  30  26  13  20   6  42880  +485  [*]  19/0

Ulster	  28.48	  67  27   7  27  25  12  22   4  3000   +708  [*]  6/0
Larcei	  28.28	  67  27   1  30  30  20  22   6  36570  +368  [*]  17/0
Patty	  29.51	  61  22  16  21  27  24  17   9  3000   +461  [*]  28/0
Johalvier 28.74	  58  26   0  18  21   7  24   8  29715  +134  [*]  28/0

Hannibal  28.88	  65  23   1  17  12   8  24   6  40820  +692  [*]  1/0
Faval	  28.57	  66  18  15  20  27  30  13   6  38423  +706  [*]  16/0
Ced	  30	  55   5  27  22  30  29  14  27  28600  +647  [*]  10/0
Tinni	  28.85	  61   4  27  24  27  29  10  16  50000  +1026 [*]  13/0

Lana	  30	  61  12  24  24  23  29  12  11  17726  +27   [*]  0/0
Sharlow	  27.58	  43   4  27  15  18  13   9  16  6708   +1658 [6]  0/0
Leylia	  13.26	  29   9   2   1  14   8   2   8  16000  +250  [1]  0/0

Holy Matrimony: Ulster/Patty, Larcei/Johalvier, Nanna/Leif, Arthur/Fee
Truly in Love: Seliph<->Tinni, Lana->Seliph, Leylia<->Ares
They Fancy Tinni: Shanan, Dermott, Oifey, Lester, Ced
They Fancy Lana: Faval, Sharlow
Nobody Has Anyone On Their Mind:
Forever Alone: Altena, Finn, Hannibal

4 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

with Seliph contrary somewhat to the public mood promising him a burial (or cremation by pyre, which was popular for most of Rome's history) with full honors.

Cremation by pyre seems... appropriate.

Interdimensional Observer · April 21

19 minutes ago, ping said:

Not a huge fan of this scene, to be honest.

Agreed. Renewal, this late, really? Should've been a Recover Band. What terrible ghost parents they are.🤨

BrightBow · April 21

31 minutes ago, ping said:

_

Man, with jumps like that, Celice could attack Berwick Saga wyvern with 0 range attacks.

40 minutes ago, ping said:

: "At long last... Seliph. I must commend your courage, boy. But courage cannot save you now. Not since your dear departed father have I seen such a pathetic worm... My flames shall purge you from this world!"

"Daddy screamed reeeeeeeeal good before he died."

34 minutes ago, ping said:

"Bless Levin" indeed. Crew Shanan and Oifey, I suppose.

Although Oifey has it coming for his Arden erasure.

35 minutes ago, ping said:

: "...Y-yes, Mother. I understand. Oh! I've defeated Emperor Arvis! At long last, Father has been avenged!"

36 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Listen, Seliph. You must stay humble, no matter what. Remember, your power alone was not what put an end to Arvis..."

You also had a really cool sword.

37 minutes ago, ping said:

Not a huge fan of this scene, to be honest. Very heavy-handed. Seliph's story has a bit of a theme going that he's standing on his parents' shoulders - game-mechanically in the form of inheritance, but he also benefits from Sigurd's reputation and the personal friendships he had forged. Most directly Shanan and Oifey, but there's also Fee who is moved to help Seliph by Erin's stories about Sigurd. I liked that better when there was more subtlety about it.

Well, it's only a secret scene anyway. Deidre didn't even offer a golden axe or anything.

RPGuy96 · April 21

16 hours ago, Jotari said:

Yet he did still try to displace Julius and exile him, which didn't work. That's possibly one of the most interesting lines in the entire game that goes absolutely nowhere. Why didn't that work and cause a schism? Whose backing did Julius get that turned the tide against Alvis? Hilda, perhaps? How complete was that exile. Did Alvis just say the words and Julius laughed at him, or did Alvis successfully force Julius to live in Orgahil or something for a few months? How did Travant react to that? Since we'll probably never know, to fanfiction we must go.

A lot of Saias talk already here, but this seems like another time for him to show up! Arvis tries to legitimize his bastard and place him over Julius after whatever happened with Julius vs Deidre and Julia. But now that Julius has awakened to his power, he (and Manfroy) aren't having it. Arvis goes from proud Emperor to the broken old man we see in Chapter 10 after losing everyone dear to him, Deidre is dead, Julia is missing, Saias is allowed to live but banished from Grannvalle, Julius becomes Emperor in all but name, and the Lopt sect start their child hunts.

Jotari · April 21

The Ghost Scene with Sigurd is, like all Seliph scenes in my view, nice in isolation. Sigurd takes Seliph down a peg, humbles him and stressed that all of this is being done for the common person. But, this just follows the pattern of Seliph:s story beats having little to nothing to do with each other. Like, what the hell? The suffering of the common man? Seliph only lived hunted by the Lopt Sect and the Empire all his life. I don't think we're meant to believe growing up in Tir Na NOg was a resort for him. He has felt the suffering of the common man because he's been down in the trenches with them. And when does he ever display any iota of arrogance that would suggest he thinks his victory over Alvis was single handed? And how would the spirit of Sigurd understand the plight of the common man any better than Seliph? Sigurd grew up in luxury all his life, and even after things went bad for him he still lived in a Castle in Silesse with a close personal relationship with the ruling queen. Sigurd has always had a power base and people looking up to him. Death just bestows enlightenment, I guess.

2 hours ago, RPGuy96 said:

A lot of Saias talk already here, but this seems like another time for him to show up! Arvis tries to legitimize his bastard and place him over Julius after whatever happened with Julius vs Deidre and Julia. But now that Julius has awakened to his power, he (and Manfroy) aren't having it. Arvis goes from proud Emperor to the broken old man we see in Chapter 10 after losing everyone dear to him, Deidre is dead, Julia is missing, Saias is allowed to live but banished from Grannvalle, Julius becomes Emperor in all but name, and the Lopt sect start their child hunts.

I suggest that in addition to that we have another character, let's give the role to the already existing Radan, a powerful and respected bishop of Bragi who dispises the Lopt Sect and Alvis expects to back him, only he never actually consults anyone on his plan. Radan, surprisingly, backs Julius, because elevating a bastard with no Naga blood to the position of emperor is unthinkable to the Bragi clergy, they would rather have Satan than someone not of their divine status. Although Seliph himself has Naga blood so fighting Radan in the finale would undermine that a characterization a bit. So, uh, maybe actually Palmarch himself, actually. Yeah, if we're going to retconned Saias in with the orphans, then let's retool Palmarch to still have use as a popeish figure who had this history with Alvis, and now feels regretful about it and is helping Seliph in any way he can.

Of course, how can all this information be conveyed to the player with painfully on point Kaga style "As you know" conversations? We just let all the villagers do it?

To Become an Elitist [Playlogs FE1-5] [currently playing: Thracia 776]

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Join the conversation

Recently Browsing 0 members