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

[BrightBow]

17 hours ago, ping said:

Those are significant boosts. I'm not very good at making use of supports in GBAFE and PoR, so I'm not too optimistic that I'll get too much value out of this, though.

There are other ways to deal critical hits too.
Once a weapon reaches 50 kills, it grants the Critical skill, just like the Killer Bow. Also effective damage works by guaranteeing a critical hit.

On a related note, since critical hits and effective damage are the same thing, Nihil blocking the Critical skill means it protects you from effective damage as well.

Nihil doesn't actually block that many skills here. Just Astra, Luna, Sol and whatever could deal critical damage.

[ping]

FE4 Prologue: Birth of a Crusader

Jungby --> Evans

Spoiler

Sigurd could visit Jungby castle after seizing it, but there's not much of a point. There't no arena or vendor yet, and repairing his Steel Sword at the Blacksmith would even be counterproductive, I think. He's about to get the Silver Sword from Arvis and there's not much reason to hold on to the Steel Sword after that. And if I understand this correctly, it is overall simply more expensive to repair a weapon before selling it to the Pawnbroker. It should be a zero-sum deal for Sigurd, while whoever might buy the Steel Sword will have to pay more to buy it back.

Speaking of, the Pawnbroker is a system that I kind of appreciate, but also kind of not. I don't think it's a bad idea to replace trading in the field with a system that only allows trading at castles - but it is rather silly that it costs money to have Sigurd hand over his sword to Alec or Arden. But I can see why free swapping around wouldn't work with Genealogy's other mechanics, namely the stat rings. Free swapping would mean that everybody could just go into the arena with a ring on every finger, with no cost for doing so. Still, I think I would've preferred a different method of limiting that. Maybe instead of the rings, put a priest into every castle who can cast a temporary stat boost on a character, at a high price and with limited uses per chapter. Depending on the limits, this could even be weaker than the current mechanic of swapping rings while making the Pawnbroker filthy rich, but I think I would've appreciated the lower level of silliness and money given to that dirty capitalist.

: "I just couldn't stay away when I heard of Verdane's attacks... It's such a relief to know you're okay."
: "Oh, come now. Did you really think I was about to lose to Verdane?"
: "I'd heard that Chalphy barely has any soldiers left behind, given that most of the army is away in Isaach. And let's face it, I can't remember the last time you didn't just leap straight into a crisis without thinking. With Father away at war... I knew I had to come. Someone has to save you from yourself, after all."
: "Heh heh. Wow, it feels as if I was getting this very lecture only yesterday! I swear, after Mother passed away, it was you who single-handedly kept us in check. Once you went off to marry Quan, we could've sworn that Father finally had a proper lady for a daughter... But now, nothing's changed at all! I feel so sorry for Quan... Ahahaha!"
: "Sigurd, I'm only what you and Father made me! If I'm a fusspot, then it's squarely your fault! Perhaps if the two of you hadn't been so unkempt..."
: "Heh, perhaps you're right. Listen, Ethlyn... We might not act like it, but everything you've done means the world to us. I'm so sorry for all the trouble I've always caused you... And thank you so much for coming."
: "Sigurd..."

I believe that is what some would call "foreshadowing".

I also believe that Ethlyn is going to have a moment of "leaping straight into a crisis" of epic proportions herself, but we shall go there when we get there.

And because I've been restarting anyway, might as well do it again to undo the Talk so that Ethlyn can walk forward a few tiles instead. Bit silly, but hey.

And speaking of restarting - Midir missed two 84s against the already weakened Brigand on the Speed Ring village. Might as well RNG abuse a bit for that.

There we go.

__

And yet another instance of battle save abuse - Alec with a risky fight to set up a kill for Noish. 12% is a rather high risk in a single-RN game, but Alec manages to not die in the first attempt.

And the two are still just barely outside the range of the approaching group of enemies.

Overall, most of the small groups converge again at this point. Lex comes from the north, joining the Xmas cavs coming from the east, and Sigurd's main group coming from the south.

Quan made use of the Church healing, since Ethlyn's can't quite keep up with the damage everybody's been taking. 20 damage, costing 100 gold. Not the biggest deal.

And Midir grabs the Speed Ring. It was between him and Finn, really - the two Pursuit cavs with weapon types heavier than swords, and I figured that Midir was close to the village anyway after killing the Brigand plundering it.

: "Oh? You came to save us? I was so sure this was the end! Take this little trinket. It's the least I can do. They call it a speed ring. Slip this magic band on and you'll be as nible as a feather! Go on, try her out! Your enemies'll be too slow to hit you!"

(2500 gold)

Next turn, Quan (weakening two) and Sigurd (killing one) start engaging the enemies on EP.

And Arvis gets one kill steal in. I could've swapped Quan and Sigurd's positions, in which case he might've prioritised talking (well, actually, Sigurd would've killed his opponents, so there would've been nobody in range for Arvis to attack anyway), but I wanted Sigurd to heal up at the church, too.

This second wave of enemy Fighters is already a little tougher than the previous ones. Notably, Azel is just short of one-rounding them, despite having gained a point of Mag with his first level-up, which isn't a great sign of things to come for (or from) him. Between these Lv.5 enemies are also a couple Lv.10 Brigands with Hand Axes, who are even bulkier, but don't hit as hard and with even less accuracy.

____

With an Adept proc from Quan, cleaning up this half of the remaining enemies would've been possible, but I decide to send Finn to the northeast instead, where the village is still unclaimed. The village here was grabbed by Ethlyn thanks to a little Canter sidestep:

: "The master archers of House Jungby all bear descent from the archery god, Ullur. Our noble duke, Lord Ring, has twin daughters as well as a younger son. Alas, the duke lost one of the girls to pirates, years and years ago... She was just a little lass... Lady Aideen's still here, but the son Lord André is away with his lord father on the Isaach campaign. Rumer has it, though, that the two aren't getting along well now that the boy's grown..."

I actually don't remember what role exactly André is going to play. If I had to guess, he'll be an evil uncle to Aideen's (and Mystery Girl's) kids in Gen 2, but don't spoil that for me, please.

__

Sigurd got into the range of the Hand Axe brigand guarding the village last turn, which also causes the castle guard to charge (or at least I assume that was the trigger). Before we get to that, Arvis is in range to chat to Sigurd on his turn:

: "It's been too long, Master Sigurd."
: "Lord Arvis?! Why are you-"
: "His Majesty is concerned with the crisis here, and he bade me come and observe. He also entrusted me with this - a gift for you."
: "This is... a silver sword! A gift from His Majesty? Oh, what an honor! Lord Arvis, be sure to pass my deepest gratitude for this onto the king!"
: "Very well. Incidentally, Sigurd, rumor has it that my brother, Azel, is among your forces. I presume this is true?"
: "Mm, sorry about that. It sounded as if he came behind your back, but I couldn't turn him away. If at all possible, would you mind if he remained with me for a while longer?"
: "I see... So long as you keep him safe, then. He and I may have different mothers, but Azel is still my only brother. I'd prefer if he remained by my side, but perhaps this is how it must be... I'll entrust Azel to you, Sigurd. Be sure that he learns from this experience."
: "You can leave it to me, Lord Arvis. Once we're done here, I'll do what I can to convince him to go home."
: "Good to hear it. Now, I must return to His Majesty's side in the capital. I'm entrusting this crisis to you, Sigurd."

And Arvis off. And I only now realise that I forgot to screenshot his stats. Good thing I rotate my saves...

70 Attack. Fair and balanced.

And something seems slightly odd about this screen...

Crazily, the Lv.10 Brigands are tanky enough to survive a round of combat vs. the Silver Sword. Very impressive!

__

But some very easy XP for Ethlyn, too, who can then canto out of the way of the approaching enemies. In this position, Azel can only be attacked by the Hunter (but he attacks Sigurd - seems like the AI prioritises not taking a counter over damage output in this game); Sigurd can remove two Iron Axe Brigands on enemy phase.

__

And at the end of the player phase, only a single Hunter remains. The only character he'd be able to kill would be Alec, who prudently stays out of range.

Instead, he attacks Midir. What a fool one would have to be to think that "the AI prioritises not taking a counter".

At this turn, Finn reaches the village:

: "Oh, thank the gods! We're saved! We can't thank you enough! Here - the whole village did their bit to raise some money for you. It's not much, but we hope it helps out there. Be sure to lend the other villages a hand, too. I bet they'll be happy to help you out right back."

(+4500 gold)

(as a small note: The minimap even shows what villages you already saved by turning them from pink to blue. Neat little feature.)

For the boss kill, Sigurd goes ahead and attacks on player phase. He needs four hits to kill, so he'll take two counterattacks no matter what and there is no point in letting Gerrard attack first. If he gets hit, Sigurd can simply canter away to safety, and towards Ethlyn's Mend staff.

: "Go to hell, you Grannvale dogs!"

Perfect.

Perfecter...

...because this is just about the most beautiful boss kill set-up one could ever ask for.

__

And with his follow-up shot, Midir manages to connect the killing blow.

: "Ahahaha... Too bad for you... Killing me ain't gonna free your dame... Prince Gandolf's already... Urgh..."

And there we go. 14 turns spent on this map, which is a number that I assume will only go up in future maps.

But, with the power of battlesaves, here's the remaining Talks - none of them give any game-mechanical benefits, and I had to move Sigurd backwards for Azel to reach him, which would've worsened my oh-so-precious turncount, so they're technically not canon for this run. Well, Azel's clearly was meant to be done before Arvis got a hold on Sigurd, anyway.

: "Lord Sigurd! I'm so relieved to see you're unharmed."
: "Azel? Azel of Velthomer? What are you doing here?"
: "I'm here with Lex. We want to do whatever we can to fight the Verdanite invasion. Please, allow us to fight by your side. We won't let you down!"
: "Of course! I couldn't ask for better help. But what of your brother, Lord Arvis? Is he alright with you helping out?"
: "No... He's been tasked with command of the Royal Guard. He made it clear that I wasn't supposed to leave Belhalla at all."
: "Did he, now? I can only imagine the scolding that you'll be in for later!"
: "I know this is a dreadful thing to say, but to be honest, I'm terrified of Arvis... Sometimes, when I'm around him, I... I feel as if I'm only a nuisance to him."
: "Is that right... Well, whatever your reasons, I'm just glad that you're here, Azel. You're more than welcome to stay for as long as you want."
: "Thank you, sir!"

...foreshadowing? Well, depends on what attributes exactly Azel is talking about here.

: "Yes, Azel dragged me into it. I swear, I can't say no to that twerp!"
: "Hahaha... You haven't changed a bit, have you, Lex? But what about your father, Lord Langbalt? Does he know you've come here?"
: "Oh, hell no! You know as well as I how much my father loathes yours. There's no way he'd ever let me help House Chalphy, even if his life depended on it. I had to slip out behind his back. Just so we're clear, Sigurd, I'm not here for you. Azel's my best friend, and he really wanted to help. That's all."
: "Heh. A bit harsh, but thanks for coming all the same. Any help is greatly appreciated."
: "Well, I'll do what I can. Those Verdane dogs had their run of our land for long enough!"

I wonder if Lex and Azel are a popular ship. Not saying that they were intended to be roommates by the writers, but Lex's teasing when they arrive and the line "I swear, I can't say no to that twink twerp", plus the "manly man and sensitive guy" vibes they give, seem like things one could see as "hints".

Back to the canon timeline...

: "She was most likely taken deeper into Verdane before we arrived. ...I hope she's alright."
: "Gah... I won't let them get away with this... They can run, but until they surrender Aideen, they won't escape me!"

: "Sire, an envoy from His Majesty is seeking an audience with you."

--

: "Lord Sigurd, your performance in this battle was outstanding. His Majesty is highly pleased, and has thus proclaimed your ordination as a paladin of the realm."
: "I hardly deserve such an honor, sir! I pledge my undying fealty to His Majesty."
: "From here, it is imperative that you hold Evans. We can ill afford to lose such a valuable defensive point to the enemy. You and your men shall be handsomely paid for your service. Provided, of course, that our territory survives unscathed. Best of luck, Lord Sigurd. Grannvale expects every man to do his duty."

And there's that.

Sigurd's elevation to the status of a paladin is... underwhelming, really. You'd expect a grand ceremony for that occasion, not a random old man basically treating it as an off-hand remark before giving Sigurd some orders from the capital. The orders that he gets are interesting, though, in that Grannvale's leadership seems awfully cavalier about just seizing territory from their neighbor. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Random Old Man does say "our territory" and not "the occupied territory".

What he says about the handsome pay means that every character gets some money after every map; 1000 gold after this one (I skipped past the cutscenes of the next chapter to check this, as well as kill/death records at the Augury). I don't remember how the formula works, but I think that your reward is reduced if an enemy recaptures a castle that you've already seized. That does not include the home castle, since you lose the game if that gets captured.

The Team:

	  Lv.	  HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res  Funds  XP    W/L
Sigurd	  10.24*  40  16   0  14  14   9  11   3  5930	 +524  19/0
Quan	  5.80*	  35  17   0  10  11   5  10   3  5900   +180  4/0
Noish	  4.44	  33  12   0   8   8   4   8   0  3000   +144  4/0
Alec	  2.49	  32   9   0   9  10   4   7   0  3000   +49   0/0

Lex	  5.96	  34  11   0  10  11   8  10   0  14000  +196  2/0
Finn	  1.68	  32   9   0   8  10   8   7   0  7500   +68   1/0
Midir	  4.48	  33   9   0   8   9   4   7   0  5500   +248  6/0
Arden	  3.86	  36  13   0   5   4   3  13   0  3000   +86   2/0

Ethlyn	  3.40	  29   6   8  11  13   8   4   6  7500   +240  4/0
Azel	  2.35	  31   1  11   7  10   2   2   6  6000   +135  3/1

• XP gain is for the entire chapter, not just the update, and I think I'll keep it that way for the following chapters, too.
• In an admirable show of constraint, Sigurd only collected 42% of the available kills on the map. He gained +2 in Str, Spd, and Def in his 5 level-ups, which is pretty close to the expected values.

 

Answers!

Spoiler

  

  

19 hours ago, Jotari said:

I'll take a moment to defend the rapist Verdanians... narratively speaking that is (obviously rape is morally indefensible, don't do it kids!). Yes, the prologue is very much setting up a Grandvale good, Verdane bad set up. And yes, rape is a cheap way to make the bad guys obviously bad. But that's to Genealogy's advantage, not detriment. Since things do get turned on its head, or, dare I say it, the narrative subvert expectations. That's kind of the entire point of Gen 1. Despite being still really early in the series it is a subversive Fire Emblem narrative and remains probably the most non traditional Fire Emblem story in the series (well, other than TMS). Because Grandvale are the bad guys. Not Sigurd as an individual, but the nation as a whole. We see these cracks in the very next chapter with Shannan, prince of the country Grandvale is at war at and he's just an ordinary kid. Then we see Verdane's king itself and learn it's not just random banditry and that they did have reason for it even if the Verdane princes had a bit too much fun with the rape and pillage. We also get to see Jamke firmly reject the notion the Verdanians are inherently things (and Dew too? Is Dew from Verdane? I never questioned his origins). So yes, making the bad guys rapists is a reductive story telling mechanic to show they're bad, but it works well here because the story wants to seem simple as it starts out and then gradually get more complex both politically and morally.

Hmm... I'd offer the counterpoint that "Verdanians are rapists" is something that we directly see, not just a part of a sterotype the Grannvalians have made up. We see one of their princes act as such, and the other two speaking roles of Verdanians go along with it, and not just in a "he's the prince, so I have to keep my mouth shut" kind of way. Of course, we can't extrapolate from these three assholes to the entire population of Verdane, but we're shown a country in which it is treated as perfectly natural for its prince to abduct and forcably marry a woman.

I don't remember much of the other side of Verdane that you're alluding to, other than Jamka being a rather swell guy, so I'll try and keep an open mind when it comes up in the next chapter(s). But what I suspect is a situation similar (if less cartoonish) to the EvilMcEvilface country in Awakening (Plegia?). It's brought up that Plegia (?) has genuine grievances against Ylisse because, I think, Chrom's father had it occupied, or something along those lines... but because King McEvilface is so cartoonishly cackling evil, it's very difficult to see Plegia's actions as understandable revenge against an oppressor instead of evil for evil's sake.

15 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It seems like Verdanians might be very proud of having the Spirit Forest though. Someone else pointed this out to me recently.:

Honestly makes it sound like it might not have been the best place to hide someone of a cursed lineage. Too much veneration. An obscure fishing village in the boondocks someplace else might've been better. 

I shall not click the reddit link until we're done with Verdane (assuming that we will be done once we move on to Agustria - I really don't remember these details about the plot), but hopefully, I'll remember to do so afterwards.

2 hours ago, BrightBow said:

There are other ways to deal critical hits too.
Once a weapon reaches 50 kills, it grants the Critical skill, just like the Killer Bow. Also effective damage works by guaranteeing a critical hit.

On a related note, since critical hits and effective damage are the same thing, Nihil blocking the Critical skill means it protects you from effective damage as well.

Nihil doesn't actually block that many skills here. Just Astra, Luna, Sol and whatever could deal critical damage.

The skill selection that Nihil counters does seem kinda fitting - skills that modify an attack vs skills that add additional attacks like Pursuit and Accoste. Astra would be the odd one out, although it can maybe be rationalised as being one attack move consisting of five strikes, or something like that.

I did know about the 50 kills --> Crit weapon thing. I think it's often brought up when talking about Sigurd's Silver sword, and why it's the real legendary weapon of Jugdral, although I vaguely remember hearing or reading that in the minmax/LTC crowd, other weapons are considered to be even better to build kills on.

 

[RPGuy96]

37 minutes ago, ping said:

And Arvis gets one kill steal in

Yikes, is that Valaflame in the Prologue?  After scrolling down more, yes, yes it is.

39 minutes ago, ping said:

Sigurd's elevation to the status of a paladin is... underwhelming, really. You'd expect a grand ceremony for that occasion, not a random old man basically treating it as an off-hand remark before giving Sigurd some orders from the capital.

It feels like he could get a story promotion here, but then starting him off unmounted surrounded by mounts would be kind of underwhelming.  Maybe it would reinforce that horses = gods in this game.

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, ping said:

70 Attack. Fair and balanced.

Although 15 weight is even heavier than standard fire tomes. He also doesn't have Pursuit or a horse. 5.5/10 unit.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Sigurd's elevation to the status of a paladin is... underwhelming, really. You'd expect a grand ceremony for that occasion, not a random old man basically treating it as an off-hand remark before giving Sigurd some orders from the capital.

I'm sure there were others bothered by that too.

 

Edited February 21 by BrightBow

[Saint Rubenio]

1 hour ago, ping said:

Speaking of, the Pawnbroker is a system that I kind of appreciate, but also kind of not. I don't think it's a bad idea to replace trading in the field with a system that only allows trading at castles - but it is rather silly that it costs money to have Sigurd hand over his sword to Alec or Arden. But I can see why free swapping around wouldn't work with Genealogy's other mechanics, namely the stat rings. Free swapping would mean that everybody could just go into the arena with a ring on every finger, with no cost for doing so. Still, I think I would've preferred a different method of limiting that. Maybe instead of the rings, put a priest into every castle who can cast a temporary stat boost on a character, at a high price and with limited uses per chapter. Depending on the limits, this could even be weaker than the current mechanic of swapping rings while making the Pawnbroker filthy rich, but I think I would've appreciated the lower level of silliness and money given to that dirty capitalist.

Honestly, as annoying as it might be, I think it'd be better to let trading happen between units in the castle. Heck, let both options exist - if you don't want Sigurd to wait for a couple turns for someone else to take his steel sword, leave it at the pawnbroker, incur a bit of extra cost but you get to just leave immediately with Sigurd.

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "I see... So long as you keep him safe, then. He and I may have different mothers, but Azel is still my only brother. I'd prefer if he remained by my side, but perhaps this is how it must be... I'll entrust Azel to you, Sigurd. Be sure that he learns from this experience."

And then he never mentioned his dearest brother ever again. Oof.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Crazily, the Lv.10 Brigands are tanky enough to survive a round of combat vs. the Silver Sword. Very impressive!

Ladies and gentlemen, man who is apparently more broken than Seth.

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Lord Sigurd! I'm so relieved to see you're unharmed."
: "Azel? Azel of Velthomer? What are you doing here?"

...Hold on, what? Why are you surprised? You seemed so sure of yourself earlier when talking to Arboy!

1 hour ago, ping said:

...foreshadowing? Well, depends on what attributes exactly Azel is talking about here.

Arvis can't lift, he's a nerdy boy with noodle arms. Sigurd, however, does lift, and his arms are muscular and bulging.

I hope jealousy doesn't spark anything between them.

1 hour ago, ping said:

 

I wonder if Lex and Azel are a popular ship. Not saying that they were intended to be roommates by the writers, but Lex's teasing when they arrive and the line "I swear, I can't say no to that twink twerp", plus the "manly man and sensitive guy" vibes they give, seem like things one could see as "hints".

It's probably out there. People have built ships based on less.

1 hour ago, ping said:

Sigurd's elevation to the status of a paladin is... underwhelming, really. You'd expect a grand ceremony for that occasion, not a random old man basically treating it as an off-hand remark before giving Sigurd some orders from the capital. The orders that he gets are interesting, though, in that Grannvale's leadership seems awfully cavalier about just seizing territory from their neighbor. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Random Old Man does say "our territory" and not "the occupied territory".

I do feel that's probably intentional. The king basically just has some mook bestow a strictly symbolic title upon Sigurd so as to butter him up before ordering him to conquer his neighbors. Think corporate higher-ups "encouraging" their subordinates by mean of promotions that increase their responsibilities but not their salaries.

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

I'm sure there were others bothered by that too.

...Of course, even then, Berwick Saga manages to do a similar concept with much more oomph to it. But Berwick Saga's just built different.

Edited February 21 by Saint Rubenio

[BrightBow]

8 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Arvis can't lift, he's a nerdy boy with noodle arms. Sigurd, however, does lift, and his arms are muscular and bulging.

I hope jealousy doesn't spark anything between them.

Although Alvis' 15 strength are more than Sigurd's 14.

In fact, he has his strength capped.

[ping]

20 minutes ago, RPGuy96 said:

Yikes, is that Valaflame in the Prologue?  After scrolling down more, yes, yes it is.

Meteor would've been too on the nose.

20 minutes ago, RPGuy96 said:

It feels like he could get a story promotion here, but then starting him off unmounted surrounded by mounts would be kind of underwhelming.  Maybe it would reinforce that horses = gods in this game.

Even then, the timing would've been very odd. Story-based promotions tend to be at very dramatic points of the games - Roy finds the Binding Blade and is about to face Zephiel; the Wonder Twins just liberated Renais; when Ike is promoted, Crimia is done running away and goes on the offensive... Even the Gaiden promotions, despite that game's rather minimalistic writing, have more weight than "You completed the tutorial mission. Have a promotion."

Purely mechanical, I think it could work, though. Sigurd wouldn't have to be a horseless whelp; being in Alec and Noish's Sword Cav class would be perfectly appropriate, too. But it's just not a very epic moment in the narrative.

4 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Although 15 weight is even heavier than standard fire tomes. He also doesn't have Pursuit.

Well, Gerrard has 55 HP and 2 Res. Arvis doesn't need Pursuit

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Honestly, as annoying as it might be, I think it'd be better to let trading happen between units in the castle. Heck, let both options exist - if you don't want Sigurd to wait for a couple turns for someone else to take his steel sword, leave it at the pawnbroker, incur a bit of extra cost but you get to just leave immediately with Sigurd.

You could argue that trading in the middle of the fight is a bit silly in itself. People are busy, they probably don't have the time to check their saddlebags to see if they have a vulnarary around that they can toss over to their wounded comrade.

Generally speaking, I like the mental image of the knights preparing for the upcoming campaign at the castle, instead of passing around the Armourslayer like a blunt so that everybody can take a swing at their respective opponent with it.

6 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

And then he never mentioned his dearest brother ever again. Oof.

If he's already planning the big BBQ party at this point (which I don't know if he does), the implication is pretty cold, too. "I'd rather he didn't die along with you, but eh, needs must".

7 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Ladies and gentlemen, man who is apparently more broken than Seth.

I can see this is becoming a theme in your replies I haven't followed Quetzal's playthough very close at all, because, well, this thing I'm doing, but I assume he is also fully informed about Sigurd's incapabilities already.

9 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

...Hold on, what? Why are you surprised? You seemed so sure of yourself earlier when talking to Arboy!

It would have made sense to alter this conversation when it happens after Arvy's talk to Sigurd. But hey, old game.

10 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I do feel that's probably intentional. The king basically just has some mook bestow a strictly symbolic title upon Sigurd so as to butter him up before ordering him to conquer his neighbors. Think bosses "encouraging" their subordinates by mean of promotions that increase their responsibilities but not their salaries.

That does seem plausible. And in that case, Sigurd is eating it right up, too.

1 minute ago, BrightBow said:

Although Alvis' 15 strength are more than Sigurd's 14.

In fact, he has his strength capped.

Well, *my* Sigurd has 16 Str, thankyouverymuch.

[BrightBow]

16 minutes ago, ping said:

Well, *my* Sigurd has 16 Str, thankyouverymuch.

Although Knight Lord has a strength base of 10 while Sage has a strength base of 0. So in reality it's more Alvis' 15 vs Sigurd's 6.

Class caps are always 15 points higher than class bases. And promo gains are the difference in bases between the two classes. So if you have a stat capped before promotion, it's also going to be capped after the promotion.

It's really strange how FE6 decided that all 1st tier classes should have caps of 20 in everything. Because of that you had you had to suddenly worry about bottlenecking your stats when this was never a concern before.

Edited February 21 by BrightBow

[Interdimensional Observer]

1 hour ago, ping said:

And something seems slightly odd about this screen...

The dirt-filled pot of Velthomer (iron-rich soil, making it appear red) bears the purple seed?🤪 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Speaking of, the Pawnbroker is a system that I kind of appreciate, but also kind of not. I don't think it's a bad idea to replace trading in the field with a system that only allows trading at castles - but it is rather silly that it costs money to have Sigurd hand over his sword to Alec or Arden. But I can see why free swapping around wouldn't work with Genealogy's other mechanics, namely the stat rings. Free swapping would mean that everybody could just go into the arena with a ring on every finger, with no cost for doing so. Still, I think I would've preferred a different method of limiting that. Maybe instead of the rings, put a priest into every castle who can cast a temporary stat boost on a character, at a high price and with limited uses per chapter. Depending on the limits, this could even be weaker than the current mechanic of swapping rings while making the Pawnbroker filthy rich, but I think I would've appreciated the lower level of silliness and money given to that dirty capitalist.

Genealogy was before you could actually "equip" things as in "have an "e" on the object indicating it is armed". If things were like Tellius or Berwick or modern FE, you'd only be able to get the benefits of a single ring at any given time.

1 hour ago, ping said:

I wonder if Lex and Azel are a popular ship. Not saying that they were intended to be roommates by the writers, but Lex's teasing when they arrive and the line "I swear, I can't say no to that twink twerp", plus the "manly man and sensitive guy" vibes they give, seem like things one could see as "hints".

Genealogy is too obscure and too old for this.

That said, both generations give you more guys than gals. So some men have to end up as bachelors, might as well imagine they scratched each other's itch in the barracks.😛 Although Azelle and Lex are likely to one or both get stuck with women.

1 hour ago, ping said:

though, in that Grannvale's leadership seems awfully cavalier about just seizing territory from their neighbor. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Random Old Man does say "our territory" and not "the occupied territory".

I can imagine, in line with an element of "realism", that Grannvale has occupied Evans on-off in the past.

It's on the border with "barbarians", and wouldn't it be nice if you had a fort in "worthless" lands beyond the territory you actually want to protect from raiders? Of course, probably nobody would want to be assigned there, though low troop morale is ignorable. And it'd cost extra maintenance holding the castle on the frontier, while any possible savings from thwarting raids would be "invisible", so when Grannvale wasn't in the mood, it'd pack up and leave Evans for lack of political/financial will.

Edited February 21 by Interdimensional Observer

[RPGuy96]

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

It's on the border with "barbarians", and wouldn't it be nice if you had a fort in "worthless" lands beyond the territory you actually want to protect from raiders? Of course, probably nobody would want to be assigned there, though low troop morale is ignorable. And it'd cost extra maintenance holding the castle on the frontier, while any possible savings from thwarting raids would be "invisible", so when Grannvale wasn't in the mood, it'd pack up and leave Evans for lack of political/financial will.

Evans is also strategically useful against - and exposed to attack from - Augustria, the consequences of which we'll see in the next two chapters.  In a time of upheaval across the continent, it definitely benefits an expansionist Grannvale to hold it.  Especially since Jungby and Chalphy are awkwardly positioned to defend an attack from the west, as shown in the Prologue.

Soon there will be invincible yellow units that can hold chokepoints like the bridge between Verdane and Grannvale but maybe the Grannvalians haven't invented yellow yet.

[BrightBow]

2 hours ago, ping said:

(but he attacks Sigurd - seems like the AI prioritises not taking a counter over damage output in this game)

The devs did want enemy squads behave differently depending on how capable their leader is.

In practice this seems to mean that AI behavior is extremely random if the enemy leader is poor.

I do wonder if Leadership stars are an reliable indicator of the AI the enemy squad is using. Not to mention how the leader dying fits into all of this.
Can't say I've ever seen someone do a really deep dive on the topic.

There is also an AI setting in the options that becomes unlocked after having beaten the game ones. Presumably that sets every enemy squad to the hardest AI.

Edited February 21 by BrightBow

[Jotari]

I really like the trading mechanic and don't really get why people are so turned off by it. Is it really as simple as "different to what I'm used to" and "Curse you capitalism!"? Because for me the pawn broker is a great feature. I'd get the complaint if trading just arbitrarily cost money like using the convoy in FE1 (though the charge there is so small and money so abundant it basically doesn't exist), but the individual gold inventories really sells the pawn broker for me. It makes assigning weapons a more weighted choice, you need to plan things more carefully in advance, up to and including who rescues what villages. It also synergizes really well with the individual weapons system. Sure they're might be more than one steel sword in the game, but each of those steel swords are unique. They remember how many kills they have and if they're not inherited into Gen II then each one if found in a different place with the kills still remembered. If you could just trade willy nilly then you would just canto trade the brave sword to every cavalier to rack up kills and make a super weapon immediately. Finally, it adds a sense of realism to the game like the stuff people are suggesting on a thread that's been popular these last few days. Every individual person has the money and weapons that they own. That's cool! They have their own little lives and things that are precious to them. It's not something I'd like to see just pasted on any other game, but for Genealogy it works because the game is designed around it. But, two suggestions for making it more palatable

*Make lovers (and maybe siblings too) able to trade like traditional Fire Emblem. Shared economy, shared ownership, that's what marriage is after all.

*Introduce a calendar system like Three Houses with days passing each turn. Every character has their own individual birthdays where characters can each gift them one item for free. There are also made up holidays and feast days like Blaggimas where everyone can gift one item to each other. That way if you're really against donating money to the pawn broker you just have to wait until the right turn and you can give them a birthday present.

 

Off that topic, random guy who made a Sigurd a paladin (is that really the best translation? Feels weird given Paladin is already a class. In my day Sigurd was made a holy knight. Why did they go with Crusader for the chapter title and Paladin for that line, surely it's the same phrase in both instances) actually has a name. He's called Filat, and there's two other characters just as minor as him that, in my opinion, he should have been merged with.

Edited February 21 by Jotari

[ping]

10 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

That said, both generations give you more guys than gals. So some men have to end up as bachelors, might as well imagine they scratched each other's itch in the barracks.😛 Although Azelle and Lex are likely to one or both get stuck with women.

Well, I think Lex specifically won't remain a bachelor in many people's playthroughs. Monkey brain says big XP go big up is big good.

But I shall make my first FE4 remake prediction: If Lex and Azel get more dialogue, and the vibe of their interactions stays the same as in OG Genealogy, they will be that game's Ike and Soren.

11 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I can imagine, in line with an element of "realism", that Grannvale has occupied Evans on-off in the past.

It's on the border with "barbarians", and wouldn't it be nice if you had a fort in "worthless" lands beyond the territory you actually want to protect from raiders? Of course, probably nobody would want to be assigned there, though low troop morale is ignorable. And it'd cost extra maintenance holding the castle on the frontier, while any possible savings from thwarting raids would be "invisible", so when Grannvale wasn't in the mood, it'd pack up and leave Evans for lack of political/financial will.

Certain Rome/Germania vibes. I can see it, considering how the Verdanites are seen as savage brutes by the Grannvalians.

10 hours ago, RPGuy96 said:

Soon there will be invincible yellow units that can hold chokepoints like the bridge between Verdane and Grannvale but maybe the Grannvalians haven't invented yellow yet.

And if I remember correctly, the Thracians (or some other faction that appears in that game) have managed to develop green paint that still allows the wearer to attack blue units. Jugdral really is at the cutting edge of weaponised chromalogy.

10 hours ago, BrightBow said:

There is also an AI setting in the options that becomes unlocked after having beaten the game ones. Presumably that sets every enemy squad to the hardest AI.

Which would make the game easier because enemies would be more predictable. Ahhh, good ol' Old Game Jank.

Reminds me a bit of "smart AI" in Pokemon RBY, if a lot less extreme. "Smart AI" knows the effectiveness table, but doesn't know that it doesn't matter for status moves, which can allow a Beedrill to safely set up to max Attack and Speed against the first Pokemon of the first Elite 4 trainer, since it will only ever use Rest against it.

8 hours ago, Jotari said:

I really like the trading mechanic and don't really get why people are so turned off by it.

One reason that I forgot to mention - it's also somewhat of a "the rich get richer" situation because of the Arena. A character that is good at beating the Arena (although that doesn't necessary make them good units in general (hi Ayra)) will earn more money that way, which means that they have an easier time affording stat rings and so on, which means that they'll have an even easier time in the next chapter's Arena, or to save villages.

All this is second-hand knowledge, of course, so I'll see how this really shakes out. I can see that it makes money management a lot more involved, of course, but I'm a bit worried that this might result in an added barrier to using and training up weaker characters.

[Jotari]

1 hour ago, ping said:

One reason that I forgot to mention - it's also somewhat of a "the rich get richer" situation 

That's capitalism, baby 😎

[Eltosian Kadath]

Finally to Genealogy...alright I will finally jump into to this little playlogue/discussion.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

I think if he procs Spd once, an unequipped Alec doesn't get doubled by Ayra!

Ah the classic Alec distraction for Ayra.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

so even the Warp staff might not save poor Arden.

With how nerfed the warp staff is in this game, Arden is getting no help there. Admittedly it is kind of fum that he gets A rank Sword and Lances together with B rank Axe and Bow on promotion.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

 

And it's always a nice touch when enemy stats are tuned so that your own new characters can precisely get a kill.

I do like that about this prologue, how clearly tailored to your units enemy stats are.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

 

Gandolf then proceeds to crit Midir, who of course pulls a Cecilia and miraculously survives that.

To be fair Gandolf shouldn't be able to proc a crit anyway given his stats, and weapons.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

Yeah, sorry Azel, you're going to stay a bachelor.

That is a bit of a shame, as the only mention of Jugdral's Fire Emblem requires a child of Azel to make it to the end of the game.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

 

Lex does have very focussed growths, so in conjunction with his doubled XP gain from Paragon, I can imagine that he can become fairly tanky despite his bad Avoid. And I know that he's an excellent father, because more XP is better than less XP.

Plus that +30% Def growth to all his children is another nice boon on top of that. There is also the option to have him breed a meme-y Wrath+Vantage combo, but his stats aren't the best for the magic children that results.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

 

Also, I just looked up the stats on tomes and... why exactly is Fire strictly worse than Thunder and especially Wind?

Yeah, tome balance in this game is very silly.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

 

Like Noish, Quan needs a skill proc to do more than hit the enemy once. His chances are a bit lower than Noish's (Adept has a [AS+20]% proc rate, so that's 18% right now), but Quan comes with the rather significant advantage of having Sigurd-like stats - even more Str and Def, and slightly lower numbers elsewhere.

He also gets the opportunity for some lover crits from the start. Also, a bit of a side note, but Ethlyn also has a sibling crit with Sigurd, one of the only ones available in generation 1.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

I vaguely remember that there's some sources of avoid that the AI doesn't register - presumably, Sigurd providing Sigurd with his leadership is one of them?

Yeah, I think leadership is one of them, so that would make sense.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:15 AM, ping said:

 

__

...especially because DiMaggio goes ahead and reminds me that 1RN is a thing.

That is a scary position for Sigurd to be in.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 7:46 AM, Jotari said:

 

Wait Oifey is fourteen. That would make him seventeen by the end of the First Generation! More than old enough to hold a lance and die for his country. Hell by Chapter 3 he's already older than Roy!

That is why Sigurd trust him with his child's life in chapter 5...

 

On 2/20/2024 at 8:45 AM, BrightBow said:

Could be more elegant for sure. But you can most certainly see that they wanted to do something about the starting squads in FE3 not getting a proper introduction.
Although this starting knight squad still feels somewhat neglected. Like, Alec has a convo with Sylvia in chapter 2 and I think that's about it. Arden at least has his events, though

They do also all have potential for two different lover's talks each as well, which is something.

 

On 2/20/2024 at 2:23 PM, Jotari said:

Why is Ninian alive if Eliwood is wielding Duruandal!? Freaking hack artists don't even play the game *grumble* *grumble* *continuity* *grumble* *grumble*

Because Bramimond revives her just before the Fire Dragon fight, so clearly this image is from the last half chapter with a Dragon camera man 😛

 

On 2/20/2024 at 7:36 PM, Interdimensional Observer said:

 

Personally, I'll just fanfict that

I like that little fanfict-splanation.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 10:32 AM, ping said:

 

And Arvis gets one kill steal in. I could've swapped Quan and Sigurd's positions, in which case he might've prioritised talking (well, actually, Sigurd would've killed his opponents, so there would've been nobody in range for Arvis to attack anyway), but I wanted Sigurd to heal up at the church, too.

Ah its fun to see some Valflame used in the prologue. Arvis gets to show SIgurd how it is done.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 10:32 AM, ping said:

Before we get to that, Arvis is in range to chat to Sigurd on his turn:

Fun fact, Arvis has different dialogue if Azel managed to die already under Sigurd's command.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 10:32 AM, ping said:

(but he attacks Sigurd - seems like the AI prioritises not taking a counter over damage output in this game);

Really its that the base AI is kind of random. Some enemies have the more logical (and thus consistent) "clever AI" (Kaga specifically notes that this occurs with Eldigan's Cross Knights in an interview), but after a completed run you unlock an option in the menu to set all enemy AI to "clever AI". Clever AI is a lot smarter, but is also a lot more consistent, and thus more manipulatable with things like miracle (as miracle's avoid is something the AI doesn't consider).

 

On 2/21/2024 at 10:32 AM, ping said:

 

But, with the power of battlesaves, here's the remaining Talks - none of them give any game-mechanical benefits, and I had to move Sigurd backwards for Azel to reach him, which would've worsened my oh-so-precious turncount, so they're technically not canon for this run. Well, Azel's clearly was meant to be done before Arvis got a hold on Sigurd, anyway.

You really are taking full advantage of them this run.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 10:32 AM, ping said:

 

I wonder if Lex and Azel are a popular ship. Not saying that they were intended to be roommates by the writers, but Lex's teasing when they arrive and the line "I swear, I can't say no to that twink twerp", plus the "manly man and sensitive guy" vibes they give, seem like things one could see as "hints".

 

I could definitely see that.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 10:32 AM, ping said:

The orders that he gets are interesting, though, in that Grannvale's leadership seems awfully cavalier about just seizing territory from their neighbor. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Random Old Man does say "our territory" and not "the occupied territory".

All Sigurd has to do is read the room to realize that Grannvale is not really the good guys of this conflict.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 11:47 AM, ping said:

You could argue that trading in the middle of the fight is a bit silly in itself. People are busy, they probably don't have the time to check their saddlebags to see if they have a vulnarary around that they can toss over to their wounded comrade.

Generally speaking, I like the mental image of the knights preparing for the upcoming campaign at the castle, instead of passing around the Armourslayer like a blunt so that everybody can take a swing at their respective opponent with it.

On 2/21/2024 at 2:44 PM, Jotari said:

Every individual person has the money and weapons that they own. That's cool! They have their own little lives and things that are precious to them. It's not something I'd like to see just pasted on any other game, but for Genealogy it works because the game is designed around it. But, two suggestions for making it more palatable

I think you both summed up a fair number of the reasons I am a fan of Genealogy's weapon and money system.

 

On 2/21/2024 at 11:41 PM, ping said:

 

Reminds me a bit of "smart AI" in Pokemon RBY, if a lot less extreme. "Smart AI" knows the effectiveness table, but doesn't know that it doesn't matter for status moves, which can allow a Beedrill to safely set up to max Attack and Speed against the first Pokemon of the first Elite 4 trainer, since it will only ever use Rest against it.

Smart AI in Pokemon is such a funny mix of good and terrible ideas. How it handles not very effective moves is the funniest in context, it will deincentivize moves the game thinks are not very effective (this is a bit bugged, as each type are checked individually in order, which leads to a priority system that fails to understand how multiple types effect the with the opposite order as the glitch that displays the not-very/supper effective text), unless they have an alternative, and the code for identifying an alternative is actually smart enough to both check for an attacking move of a different type, and that moves with a special damage calculation (like Seismic Toss, Bide, or Psywave) are effectively a different type move. It does have the issue of recognizing other not very effective attacking moves as valid alternatives (so if it only has not very effective attacking moves, and a normally effective status moves it will just use that normally effective status move), so even this smarter part of the code is flawed, but it actually can recognize attacking moves here.  The code for what to do with this information falls flat on its face, as it de-prioritzes not very effective status, will de-prioritize all not very effective attacking moves if there are attacking moves of multiple types (which is an issue if all their attacking moves are not very effective), and it also deincentives not very effective special damage calculation moves (which are treated as moves of a different type for identifying alternative options), leading to things like Sabrina's Alakazam only ever using Recover against a psychic type.

[Jotari]

24 minutes ago, Eltosian Kadath said:

All Sigurd has to do is read the room to realize that Grannvale is not really the good guys of this conflict.

Well Verdane does have a noble lady, the current ruler no less, in captivity. Sigurd's well within his rights to go rescue her. Once he has her safe (or she and Dew just die), whether he should continue conquering the country is a bit more questionable. But he's just so gosh darn good at it and the last two castle's are right there!

[ping]

FE4 Chapter 1: The Spirit Forest's Maiden

Evans --> Genoa

Spoiler

Sigurd's capture of Evans Castle comes too late. Aideen is not there, instead already well within Verdane's borders. Verdane's territory is blanketed in a thick sweep of forest. The nation is widely dubbed a "barbarian kingdom" by Grannvale's people, owing to their constant raids on Grannvale's soil.

However, the reign of King Batur has seen an end to Verdane's infamous border raids. A pacifist, King Batur has long worked to build a lasting peace with Grannvale, while also keeping his aggressive sons appeased. Ultimately, however, it was Batur himself who violated the peace he held so dear. Batur's three sons have unexpectedly launched an assault on Grannvale. Kinbaith, the second son, lord of Genoa... Gandolf, the eldest, lord of Marpha... And Jamke, the youngest of the three. Lurking deep within Verdane territory, the three now await the arrival of Sigurd.

Aideen's fate... Batur's sudden belligerence... Sprawling before Sigurd lie the great forests of Verdane - and within them, the answers he seeks. He prepares to take his first steps into the spirit forest of folklore...

I wonder how much Sigurd is "seeking an answer" and how much he's just reacting to what's in front of him. There has been the hypothesis in this thread that Sigurd is somewhat of a Camus, i.e. not very smart. Well, OK, "in service of the Evil Empire despite being a noble soul himself". We shall see - until now, I don't think he has done much to refute the "just reacting" accusations against him, but to be fair, he hasn't had much time to reflect.

From the castle of Nordion, a lone rider makes his way towards Evans, passing the world's greatest guardsman on his path:

: "You're doing a fine job, soldier. I leave the border's defense to you."
: "Yes, milord!"

And on he rides.

: "Sigurd! It's been a long time. Pray tell, why do I find you suddenly occupying Evans? You couldn't possibly be declaring war on Verdane, could you?"
: "Eldigan! Am I glad to see you. Listen. The Verdanites have abducted Lady Aideen of Jungby. They've made it amply clear that they don't plan on releasing her. Taking her back by force is our only option."
: "Ah, I see. That makes sense. Well, whatever you do, you cannot afford to leave Evans unattended. My fellow Agustrian lords have been ofa rancorous sort of late... Ah, I know. I'll ensure they don't threaten you from behind."
: "I'm sorry to involve you in this as well. Say, Eldigan, once I'm done here, what do you say to a catch up? You, me, a fine bottle of wine... Just like old times."
: "Mm. I'm looking forward to it. I trust I'll see you later, then. May luck be with you this day, Sigurd!"

Eldigan out.

If I recall, his promise to watch Sigurd's back means that I *can* leave Evans unattended. Maybe Arden can have some adventures in this chapter, too.

Over to Genoa, to the south of Evans...

: "Listen up, Ayra! You know the deal. While I'm out, you guard the palace, right up to your very last breath. Remember, first sign of funny business, and it's the brat's head."
: "Ayra! Ayra, I'll be alright! Don't give in to these thugs! Don't let them boss you around!"
: "Shanan... Look, Kinbaith, you have my word. So long as you leave Shanan alone, you'll have no trouble. But I do wonder if, once this battle is over, you actually plan to return him to me."
: "Ahahahaha! You got nothing to worry about. If we get Evans back, you get him back."
: "I understand. But be warned, Kinbaith: if you break your promise, you'll deeply regret it. Cross me, and I will pursue you to the very depths of the inferno itself, till I take your head. Remember this well!"
: "Wh-whoa, settle down there! I don't believe it... Such a cute face, but you only use it to spew bile like that! I'm not about to make an enemy outta someone with a sword arm as fine as yours. I can promise you that."
: "Shanan, sit tight. Be patient for just a while longer."
: "Ayra, no! Don't do it! Don't go! AYRA!!"

__

And here we see the classic FE4 "scrub rectangle" formation.

This map is extremely straightforward for now: Go south to seize Genoa. Can't go west, the awesome guardsman will block our path.

There's three villages on the map; one on our path (and immediately threatened by a Brigand), one between Genoa and the next castle, and the last one in the southwest corner of the map. I'll get back to the latter two later, but you can spot a Brigand roughly halfway between them.

__

The scrub rectangle is led by Kinbaith, who's pretty much a logical continuation of the prologue bosses: DiMaggio was a Lv.10 Fighter, Gerrard a Lv.20 Fighter, and now Kinbaith is Lv.10 in the advanced class (although I know that promoting doesn't reset a unit's level in FE4). With his Silver Axe, he hits really hard, but is slowed down to -3 AS, slow enough for every character with Pursuit to double him. Only Azel needed a Spd proc to achieve this.

[HP 70% | Str 30% | Mag 5% | Skl 60% | Spd 30% | Lck 20% | Def 20% | Res 5%]
Skills: Pursuit, Nihil, Astra
Weapon Level: Swords (A)
Minor Odo blood

And since we all know that Ayra is recruitable, might as well go over her right away, too.

She seems... honestly about as I would've expected. Fast, decent Strength (higher base than Alec, Midir, and Finn), and both the reliable Pursuit skill and the proc-based Astra to potentially dish out funny damage numbers. However, she's also relatively frail (same HP/Def bases as the three Pursuit cavs) and, of course, doesn't have a horse. Still, just combat-wise, I'd gauge her as second only to Sigurd himself, honestly.

Growth-wise, she doesn't seem that great. Her innate growths are all 30 or lower, and her Odo blood only increases her HP and Skl growths, making her growths in the "big three" Str/Spd/Def a bit underwhelming. I suppose that, with Astra having a Skl% chance of activating, she will at least get that satisfying slice and dice increasingly often.

In Ch.1, the town fully opens up, so that's going to be the first order of business. And the first of the first shall be the Arena, of course.

Between a bit of RNG manipulation (you can save the game between bouts in the Arena, as long as you didn't take a "real" action, so you can do things in a different order, hopefully finding a better string of RNG for the more questionable fights) and being a badass, Quan actually managed to clear the whole thing. I assume Sigurd would be able to, as well, but since a won Arena fight restores a unit's HP, I was thinking of using the first, very easy for Sigurd, battle in that fashion later.

The opponents in the Ch.1 Arena are:

Gazzak (Axe Fighter | Iron Axe): 22 Atk | 73 Hit |  -8 AS | 36 HP | 8 Def | 0 Res
		    | Hand Axe): 18 Atk | 53 Hit | -10 AS

Clotore (Mage | Fire): 16 Atk | 104 Hit | -5 AS | 30 HP | 1 Def | 6 Res

Weissmann (Lance Knight | Iron Lance): 21 Atk | 96 Hit |  -4 AS | 37 HP | 8 Def | 0 Res
			| Javelin):    21 Atk | 76 Hit | -10 AS 

Tiburon (Sword Fighter | Steel Sword): 20 Atk | 106 Hit | 10 AS | 40 HP | 8 Def | 1 Res
	-or-
Hood    (Hunter        | Steel Bow):   24 Atk | 96  Hit |  5 AS | 40 HP | 8 Def | 1 Res

Bacchus (Axe Armor | Steel Axe): 30 Atk | 86 Hit | -12 AS | 53 HP | 13 Def | 1 Res
		   | Hand Axe):  22 Atk | 66 Hit | -14 AS

Emile (Wind Mage | Elwind): 25 Atk | 100 Hit | 16 AS | 42 HP | 2 Def | 9 Res

Dulles (General | Steel Blade): 31 Atk | 82 Hit | 4 AS | 59 HP | 17 Def | 4 Res
		| Steel Bow):   29 Atk | 92 Hit | 2 AS

__

The only opponents with skills are Tiburon (Pursuit) and Dulles (Pavise), making the former a big roadblock and the latter a right bastard. Quan had enough good luck in his first round against Tiburon, but Dulles took a few rerolls.

And the same is true for Emile, who, in a mutual two-hit-kill, hits first and with greater accuracy.

Overall, these are the results:

• Stopped by Weissmann (3): Ethlyn and Noish. Ethlyn with her noodle arms honestly needs not bother; Noish would've had a decent shot if I had tried a bit harder. It's a mutual three-shot and Noish hits first, but he has to connect three less then ideal chances.
• Stopped by Tiburon (4): Alec, Azel, Lex. Pretty straightforward. Maybe Lex has a chance with the Brave Axe, but I didn't even try without it.
• Stopped by Emile (6): Arden, Finn, Midir. I'm quite thrilled that Arden got through Tiburon without too much hassle. He took Sigurd's Steel Sword for the Arena (before passing it on to Alec), but I don't think the odds were particularly good for him regardless. The same is true for Midir, but for Bacchus - I really didn't expect him to get this far with his Iron Bow, but he managed to dodge enough hits to get his nine-hit-kill. Biggest surprise is Finn, though, who just randomly managed to beat both Tiburon (who doubles him) and Bacchus (who two-shots with 80 hit and gets 5-shot by Finn in return)

And honestly, I might be able to set up a Miracle win against Emile at a later castle.

As you can see, Finn grabbed Quan's Steel Lance (and gave him his Iron Lance in return). Since Finn doubles fairly reliably and Quan does not, this might be better not only for Finn, but for the damage output in general. Depends on how much enemy phasing Quan will be able do, of course.

Finally, on the way out, Arden lets Emile blow him a kiss so that Ethlyn has somebody to heal. I immediately have him retreat from the fight, since that's enough damage to require two Heals.

And first thing to do after all that arenaing is, of course, Quan's talk with Finn:

: "Finn, this will likely be a very long battle. My apologies for bringing you into it."
: "I am but your humble servant, milord. I would go anywhere, should my master will it."
: "Thank you, Finn."
: "Even so, I am but a page... It honors me to have your confidence, but I doubt I'll be of much use to you."
: "Is that so? In that case, what better time than now is there for a spot of hands-on training? Draw, Finn!"
: "Yes, sir!"

[+1 Str/Skl/Def]

Finn honestly hasn't been much of a character thus far beyond "but your humble servant". I'm expecting a lot more from him, unless all his fanboys and -girls come from Thracia.

__

During the enemy phases, one red unit and two blue units appear from Marpha castle:

: "Come on, Aideen! Take the brat and get out of here, and quickly! You need to get as far away as you can before Gandolf finds out!"
: "Pardon me, Prince Jamke, but are you not joining us?"
: "No. I won't stand for my brothers' vile ways but I just won't betray my father, either. I'm going back to the capital. I'm going to try, one more time, to convince my father."
: "You're right... We must do all we can to to end this war as soon as possible. Prince Jamke, I would sooner not burden you alone, but you are our only hope to persuade King Batur to end this."
: "Aideeeeeeen! C'mon, hurry up! We're still in serious danger here. If they catch me this time, then Gandolf'll rip my tongue out for sure!"
: "Dew, you're a thief. You got caught in the act. Any tongue rippings you get are your own fault. If Aideen hadn't insisted on letting you go too, you'd still be sitting in chains. Now, what did you promise to do?"
: "I know, I know. I promised Aideen, too. I'm washin' my hands of thievin' from now on. Can I go now?"
: "I'll take your word for it. Now, go already!"

Jamke then leaves to the northwest, after looking after Aideen another time. I wonder if he potentially, maybe, possibly, might find her not entirely repulsive. We may never know.

(I'm joking, I don't think there's anything wrong with this scene... well, maybe the part where any tongue rippings are Dew's own fault. That line can work if the kid in question can safely assume that it's a humerous exaggeration. Here, though...)

: "What?! Jamke let the broad go andwent scurrying back to the capital? Gah! Damn my rat of a brother! Boys! We're taking the wench and the brat back! If they put up a fight, kill 'em if you have to!"

Good thing Dew has weapon triangle advantage, eh?

With this, Gandolf is on the field, or more specifically on the castle, and he has made the questionable decision of not bringing a proper melee axe. He frankly almost seems a bit harmless as a result, with Kinbaith hitting for +9 damage compared to his brother. He does at least have a truckload of HP and good Def; enough that Sigurd doesn't even quite two-round him.

[HP 50% | Str 40% | Mag 10% | Skl 40% | Spd 40% | Lck 40% | Def 40% | Res 10%]
Skills: Steal, Sol, Bargain
Weapon Level: Swords (C)

I mean, base 3 Str and 1 Def tells the story. C rank in Swords adds some flavour. Dew's growths are actually pretty decent, especially considering he has no Holy Blood, but it's clear that his role is to swipe some money from enemies with his Steal skill and leave the part where you reduce the opponent's HP to zero to the actual fighters.

One thing I don't want to rule out are magic swords - apart from Ethlyn, all swordies thus far have had non-existant Mag, so maybe Dew can actually get somewhere that way. 2-range would certainly help with his stealing, assuming he doesn't have to be up close for that to proc.

[HP 70% | Str 20% | Mag 30% | Skl 20% | Spd 30% | Lck 60% | Def 20% | Res 5%]
Skills: -
Weapon Level: Staves (B)
Minor Ullur blood

Pretty high Magic, especially compared to Ethlyn, but that's about it. Low movement, not even some weak-ass weapon to occasionally snag a kill like Ethlyn can. She'll get Warp on this map already, but even that is a fairly modest spell compared to what it does in other FE games. It might have some use in making it easier for Arden or Azel or Ayra to get closer to the action, but they'll still get outrun by Sigurd if you do this. I dunno, if we get Physic soon, maybe that's something for her to do.

Aideen is also the first marriageable woman on the team. Her kids are another healer and, more befitting their Ullur blood, a Bow Knight, which means that it's not really possible to find a father who greatly benefits both. I'm going to go with Midir, which I believe is the most basic-bitch option to make the Bow Knight kid better. While the stats that Midir passes down aren't anything special, he can also pass down Pursuit and any non-legendary bow (read: the Killer Bow).

Beside all that - @Punished Dayni requested this pairing all the way back on page 1, without anybody's objections, as far as I remember.

____

To sum up Dew and Aideen's excellent adventures: For a single turn, Dew stays forward a little bit to grab a little bit of extra gold at a small risk of death. Afterwards, he first chokes one point, and then, when one of the enemy Fighters loops around for a flank, he chokes another point a little further back.

I didn't make a screenshot of him, but the commander of this little troop cleanly one-shots Dew, so there's really no incentive to keep him forward at all.

Of course, Dew gets hit in the very first round of combat of his career, giving me a little scare, but he luckily dodged the other attack on that enemy phase.

And this is the very last screenshot of Dew, taken during enemy phase one turn after seizing Genoa. This is, of course, still the very first of the Fighters. Dew is not very quick at fighting them.

At some point, I do remember to have him talk to Aideen, too:

: "Hey! Miss Aideen! I got something good to give you. Look, I picked up this odd cane. It won't do much good if I just hold on to it, will it?"
: "Oh? This is a Warp staff. Where did you find it, Dew?"
: "Oh... er... I... I found it just over there! Yeah! That's right. Weird, isn't it? I betcha one of the gods left it over there. Juuuuust for you!"
: "Oh Dew... Having a staff like this ought to be a great help for everybody. Thank you. I'll cherish it."

Oh Dew. You're just incorrigible.

Most of the time, unless Dew gets hit by the Fighter, Aideen stays two tiles away from him. Let's be sure that she doesn't accidentally start hitting on a twelve-year-old.

__

With that, we can leave Dew and Aideen alone for the rest of this update. In the main group, Sigurd does Sigurd things, charging ahead of the unwashed masses, although this time, Quan charges with him. I plan to lure Ayra westwards with him because he ties Sigurd for highest movement, so he's going to stand in the line of fire for this turn. Everybody else is staying far enough back that only two Fighters can attack an unpromoted Cav.

Not a whole lot of progress on the next turn, owing to Kinbaith standing there, menacingly. I want to avoid giving in an opportunity to gang up with anybody, or at least force him to use the much weaker Hand Axe.

__

The enemies are being a little dumb again, with two of the Hand Axe fighters deciding to attack Midir. I think it's because they couldn't hit Sigurd, so they didn't consider him as an option despite his inability to counter? Or the AI is just being random again. In any case, Midir gets an Accost proc, allowing him to one-round the first one.

To avoid the boredom of Sigurd-stomping everything, some of the weaker character get a shot at Kinbaith:

: "Pointing your little stick at me? That's precious, that is! I'll cave your head right in!"

__

...that is a 96% miss preventing Finn from taking the kill. I think that is worth a little RNG reshuffling...

There, that's better.

Of course, this puts the Hand Axe into the hands of somebody who can't really axe with it. But to be honest, I don't know how useful this is for Lex, anyway. 50 base it really isn't a good look for a weapon.

Aaand another >90% miss. Lovely.

But it doesn't matter too much here. This Hunter is the only survivor of Kinbaith's little group, and he makes another very smart decision.

The one thing this does do is wear down Midir's Iron Bow. I didn't have it repaired, thinking that Midir is going to grab Jamke's Killer Bow soon anyway, but it's actually getting pretty low on durability with all the enemy phase action he's getting.

Next turn, operation Go West commences. The way this works, I believe, is that Ayra will start moving once somebody enters the range of the Fighters around her. So, Quan stands one tile outside of her range, Javelin in hand to try and counter the incoming Hand Axes.

__

: "So it's finally time... Woe be to all who cross me!"

Success!

__

: "You stand between me and Shanan's future... Farewell!"

Failure!

Also a misconception. I thought that Sigurd would be able to Canter after Seizing, despite the Prologue already teaching me otherwise. I hope the message will stick now that it had dire consequences.

So, one more turn of irriating Ayra.

The reason why I would've preferred a faster solution to the problem is this Brigand, who starts the map just north of Marpha. I think he initially moves east towards the village next to Dew, but with all the other red units blocking that one, he then made a turn west. By the end of this update, he'll have burned down the first 1000 gold pieces, and I'm not sure how much money from that village, if any, I'm going to be able to get. At least there's no item reward from it.

____

After Sigurd's first round of combat (and an unnecessary risk by letting Midir attack, too - I forgot Accost for a second)...

...it is time for Ayra to go east again. I'm a little amazed that it's possible to direct her with one character being just one tile futher out of range.

____

This does mean that Ayra will still have one round of combat as an enemy. However, 67% of her options are well thought out:

• Alec has Nihil and while he didn't drop his Iron Sword to avoid getting doubled, he has enough HP to survive two hits.
• Finn has Miracle. Two hits by Ayra would bring him down to 4 HP, and between that +70 avoid and the weapon triangle, he should have at least good chances of surviving an Astra onslaught.
• Arden is in range because I forgot about road tiles and moved him down before moving all the Cavs away from between him and Ayra. Derp.

: "Genoa has fallen to Grannvale?! No! I... I must get to Shanan!"

Luckily, Ayra goes for Alec - makes sense, since his HP/Def is lower than Arden's and he doesn't have Finn's weapon triangle advantage. But before that, Sigurd of course seized the castle:

: "Sire, we've found this young boy in the dungeon."

: "You're not one of Kinbaith's lot... Are you?"
: "We've dealt with Kinbaith. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."
: "Oh! So Ayra doesn't have to keep fighting! My Auntie Ayra was forced to fight 'cause Kinbaith had me! Please! You've got to help her!"
: "That swordswoman? Huh. I thought there was something amiss about her... Very well! I'll let her know that you're safe. Now, what's your name?"
: "Shanan. ...I'm Shanan, the prince of Isaach..."
: "Isaach's prince, you say... I can barely begin to imagine what you've been through, Shanan. For now, though, you're welcome to stay with our army. Don't worry. One day, you'll make it home. I'll do all I can to ensure that."
: "Pardon me, sire, but we're currently at war with Isaach. If we're going to harbor its prince, shouldn't we inform the king?"
: "He's a child, Oifey. That war has nothing to do with him. I'll find a way to get him home safely, but for now, we need to look after him."
: "Understood, sire."

Honestly, I like this dialogue. It shows how Sigurd is always ready to do the "right thing"... but also hints at how he isn't necessarily thinking a step ahead about what consequences the "right thing" might have down the line. Not to say that helping Shanan is a bad decision - but it's definitely risky to protect the prince of an enemy nation, potentially a valuable hostage, without informing the king, who might see such actions as a tad traitorous. A more cunning hero might be more careful about hiding Shanan's identity from anybody who doesn't absolutely need to know.

Seizing Genoa will also spawn a new group of enemies, near Eldigan's Nordion castle.

: "Men, here's our chance. Evans is ripe for the plucking, then it's straight for the Grannvale border!
: "Is that... No! That's the Heirhein army! Lord Eldigan won't like this..."

__

Elliot's is overall not terribly scary, although going from weapon triangle advantage to disadvantage would definitely cut into Sigurd's survivability. But their raw stats, including Elliot himself, are all pretty modest.

Before finishing the update, I want to finish the last dangling thread connected to Genoa...:

: "Hold, Lady Ayra! Prince Shanan is safe with us! You needn't keep fighting!"
: "What? You saved Shanan? Do you speak the truth?"
: "I do. Prince Shanan told me everything: that you are the daughter of the late Isaachian king. Listen. You detest Grannvalians. You've made your hostility perfectly clear. But you can't neglect your duty to the prince. You can't afford to waste your life now, not on a battle as senseless as this."
: "My brother, the crown prince, entrusted Shanan to my care knowing that his death was inevitable. You're right. After all this time, I refuse to die for Verdane's sake. Until I've seen Shanan rise to the Isaachian throne, my life is not mine to forfeit to such dogs."
: "I will aid you all I can, if you lower your sword. On my honor as the heir of Baldur the Crusader, I swear I will not betray you."
: "Very well. I'll place my trust in you, as well... Such is the way of the warriors of Isaach. For now, I pledge my blade in your service. However, this does not change that Grannvale is my foe. Beware, for if one day that includes you... I will not hesitate."
: "Mm, war can be truly cruel. Ayra, Isaachian warrior... I pray that day never comes."

Not entirely sure how Ayra had "made her hostility perfectly clear". Did I miss some of her dialogue along the lines of "Mwahahahahahh, die, Grannvalian scum!"? I do like the opening of the conversation though, with Sigurd laying out some knowledge that he wouldn't know if Shanan hadn't told him.

I've talked about Ayra as a character at the top of the update already, but not about her role as a mother. Her children are another two Myrmidons, so unless there's some viable magic sword memes, they appreciate a physically inclined father.

I initially planned to go for Holyn as Ayra's husband, for Luna, overkill Skl for even more skill procs, and inheritable swords for their son. However, some shuffling around to account for more requests has freed up Lex as a father, so unless anybody has another suggestion for him, I'll probably go for him for Paragon and the a nice Def bonus.

Now, one more cutscene, since I can't save after recruiting Ayra:

: "Ugh... I should've known Elliot just couldn't keep his nose out of this. Take care of the castle, Raquesis. Sigurd is in dire need of my help."
: "Of course, brother. Please do all you can to help Sir Sigurd."
: "Right! Cross Knights, move out! Our foe is the Heirhein army. I don't expect a challenge, but stay aleart nonetheless!"

: "Elliot! Ambushing them like a common thief, are you? A cowardly act, ill befitting the honor of a knight! Withdraw immediately, or I will take action. We both know you're no match for me."
: "What's this? Eldigan?! I should've known you would side with Grannvale!"
: "In doing this you are crossing not just Grannvale, nor me, but your very liege! We bow to the reverent King Imca, who desires only peace with Grannvale. Would you truly cross His Majesty?"
: "You fool! Only you would still seriously heed that senile old fool's word. The lords of Agustria are united against both Grannvale and any peace with them!"
: "Wrong, for I woll not stand with you! Agustria cannot afford the crippling tolls of war, and nor can Grannvale. Our past stands as a testament for this. Learn well, Elliot: we, the nobility, know not the suffering of brought by war. War cripples only the powerless, our subjects. I will not abide your lust for glory at the expense of our people!"
: "A pretty little speech, but that won't save you now. I knew all along: you and I were always fated to clash, Eldigan! Today, we settle this, once and for all! Men, the enemy is now House Nordion! I want Eldigan's head on a platter!"

__

Surprisingly, this does not work out very well for Elliot.

__

The spooky part is that Elliot is canto-ing pretty far towards Evans, so... let's hope for the best, shall we?

We also get a glance at Eldigan and his Mystletainn. Pretty strong. I should hope that he'll stab Elliot quickly enough.

The Team:

	  Lv.	  HP Str Mag Skl Spd Lck Def Res  Funds  XP
Sigurd	  11.24*  41  16   0  15  14  10  11   3  2280   +100
Quan	  9.01*   39  19   0  12  12   7  11   3  23190  +321
Noish	  5.27	  33  12   0   8   9   4   8   0  5500	 +83
Alec	  3.76	  33  10   0   9  10   4   8   0  4500   +127

Lex	  8.60	  37  14   0  11  12   8  13   0  18500  +264
Finn	  4.14	  34  12   0  10  12   9   8   0  13990  +246
Midir	  6.91	  35   9   0   8   9   5   8   1  20500  +243
Arden	  5.88	  37  14   0   6   4   3  14   0  12310  +202

Ayra	  4.00	  32  11   0  16  17   3   7   1  3000	 --
Dew	  2.64	  28   7   0   7  15  12   1   0  17000  +164
Ethlyn	  5.42	  31   6   8  12  14   8   5   6  10000  +202
Azel	  3.54	  31   1  11   7  11   2   2   7  10500  +119

Aideen	  3.80	  28   0  13   8   9  11   1  10  5000   +80

 

Answers!

Spoiler

  

On 2/23/2024 at 2:47 PM, Eltosian Kadath said:

To be fair Gandolf shouldn't be able to proc a crit anyway given his stats, and weapons.

Since he only has a Hand Axe in Chapter 1, I assume that he was using a Killer Axe against Midir, but lost it somewhere between Jungby and Marpha. And that's why there is no Killer Axe in FE4, as I just learned from quickly checking the main page.

On 2/23/2024 at 2:47 PM, Eltosian Kadath said:

That is a bit of a shame, as the only mention of Jugdral's Fire Emblem requires a child of Azel to make it to the end of the game.

Hmm... I don't really want to change my plans for Aideen or Tiltyu, but how does Lachesis/Azel sound? More magic for Nanna can't be bad, and maybe the Sword Cav kid could do some magic sword shenanigans to make use an increased Mag staff...

On 2/23/2024 at 2:47 PM, Eltosian Kadath said:

Fun fact, Arvis has different dialogue if Azel managed to die already under Sigurd's command.

Well, Azel isn't that far away from dying at the hands of a careless player Nice that that eventuality is accounted for, though, with the Azel/Sigurd convo already being unchanged when Arvis leaves the map.

On 2/23/2024 at 2:47 PM, Eltosian Kadath said:

You really are taking full advantage of them this run.

Absolutely! When the game officially gives me the tools, I'm going to use them. If you look at the team in my PoR Maniac playthough, you'll also find that most of them are a little "RNG"-blessed, too.

On 2/23/2024 at 2:47 PM, Eltosian Kadath said:

I think you both summed up a fair number of the reasons I am a fan of Genealogy's weapon and money system.

And I hope I didn't come across as entirely negative. As I said, I think the restriction that you can't trade at all outside of the castles is very interesting, but I'm a bit worried that the individual money system makes it more of an investment and a hassle to try and make bad units good.

On 2/23/2024 at 3:15 PM, Jotari said:

Well Verdane does have a noble lady, the current ruler no less, in captivity. Sigurd's well within his rights to go rescue her. Once he has her safe (or she and Dew just die), whether he should continue conquering the country is a bit more questionable. But he's just so gosh darn good at it and the last two castle's are right there!

Up until now, Sigurd hasn't really done anything drastically stupid, I don't think. At most, not bothering to hide Shanan's identity. I'm looking forward to see why he's going to continue to the third castle after seizing the second, though. Going after Gandolf still makes some sense, I'd say, since he's actively trying to recapture Aideen (and Dew).

 

Edited February 26 by ping

[Saint Rubenio]

On 2/21/2024 at 8:47 PM, ping said:

I can see this is becoming a theme in your replies I haven't followed Quetzal's playthough very close at all, because, well, this thing I'm doing, but I assume he is also fully informed about Sigurd's incapabilities already.

I will scream it at anyone within hearing distance.

11 minutes ago, ping said:

Maybe Arden can have some adventures in this chapter, too.

Arden can have adventures all the time. Defending the castle isn't that big of a deal. You could always have someone else do it, too. Like a peggy sue, or Sigurd--

13 minutes ago, ping said:

Tiburon

S H A R K

14 minutes ago, ping said:

Finn honestly hasn't been much of a character thus far beyond "but your humble servant". I'm expecting a lot more from him, unless all his fanboys and -girls come from Thracia.

Well... Sort of? It's more of a "sum of the parts" situation with him.

16 minutes ago, ping said:

Aideen is also the first marriageable woman on the team. Her kids are another healer and, more befitting their Ullur blood, a Bow Knight, which means that it's not really possible to find a father who greatly benefits both. I'm going to go with Midir, which I believe is the most basic-bitch option to make the Bow Knight kid better. While the stats that Midir passes down aren't anything special, he can also pass down Pursuit and any non-legendary bow (read: the Killer Bow).

Fair. I married her to Arden in my run, and it was one of two pairings that survived the generation.

17 minutes ago, ping said:

: "Pointing your little stick at me? That's precious, that is! I'll cave your head right in!"

_

That's not a stick, Kinbaith, that's a book! You silly goose!

18 minutes ago, ping said:

However, 67% of her options are well thought out:

• Alec has Nihil and while he didn't drop his Iron Sword to avoid getting doubled, he has enough HP to survive two hits.
• Finn has Miracle. Two hits by Ayra would bring him down to 4 HP, and between that +70 avoid and the weapon triangle, he should have at least good chances of surviving an Astra onslaught.
• Arden is in range because I forgot about road tiles and moved him down before moving all the Cavs away from between him and Ayra. Derp.

Pah. Arden can take it.

19 minutes ago, ping said:

: "My brother, the crown prince, entrusted Shanan to my care knowing that his death was inevitable. You're right. After all this time, I refuse to die for Verdane's sake. Until I've seen Shanan rise to the Isaachian throne, my life is not mine to forfeit to such dogs."
: "I will aid you all I can, if you lower your sword. On my honor as the heir of Baldur the Crusader, I swear I will not betray you."
: "Very well. I'll place my trust in you, as well... Such is the way of the warriors of Isaach. For now, I pledge my blade in your service. However, this does not change that Grannvale is my foe. Beware, for if one day that includes you... I will not hesitate."

I like the color change. Nice touch.

19 minutes ago, ping said:

Not entirely sure how Ayra had "made her hostility perfectly clear". Did I miss some of her dialogue along the lines of "Mwahahahahahh, die, Grannvalian scum!"? I do like the opening of the conversation though, with Sigurd laying out some knowledge that he wouldn't know if Shanan hadn't told him.

Maybe Sigurd assumes there's no possible reason anyone could fight him if they didn't hate him? He's simple-minded like that.

20 minutes ago, ping said:

've talked about Ayra as a character at the top of the update already, but not about her role as a mother. Her children are another two Myrmidons, so unless there's some viable magic sword memes, they appreciate a physically inclined father.

I initially planned to go for Holyn as Ayra's husband, for Luna, overkill Skl for even more skill procs, and inheritable swords for their son. However, some shuffling around to account for more requests has freed up Lex as a father, so unless anybody has another suggestion for him, I'll probably go for him for Paragon and the a nice Def bonus.

Or, you could get subs.

[ping]

18 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Pah. Arden can take it.

He can actually survive 4 hits from Ayra (23 Atk vs. 37 HP / 14 Def). Unfortunately, she would've had 87 hit on him, so dodging two out of six strikes (normal hit + Astra) still would've been unlikely.

18 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I like the color change. Nice touch.

Thank you. ...unfortunately, I just now notice that her portrait is off-center by a pixel. Darn. We'll see if I can edit the post.

It was editable! Incredible!

18 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Or, you could get subs.

Listen, there's already one bachelorette planned, and Mr. Bones still hasn't challenged you about adding a second one. And if that gets though, it would even fulfill a third request of yours. Don't get greedy, now.

Edited February 23 by ping

[Saint Rubenio]

6 minutes ago, ping said:

Listen, there's already one bachelorette planned, and Mr. Bones still hasn't challenged you about adding a second one. And if that gets though, it would even fulfill a third request of yours. Don't get greedy, now.

Or, you could do everything I say without question.

Haha, just kidding. Funny joke. Hahaha.

[BrightBow]

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "I understand. But be warned, Kinbaith: if you break your promise, you'll deeply regret it. Cross me, and I will pursue you to the very depths of the inferno itself, till I take your head. Remember this well!"
: "Wh-whoa, settle down there! I don't believe it... Such a cute face, but you only use it to spew bile like that! I'm not about to make an enemy outta someone with a sword arm as fine as yours. I can promise you that."

Rare sight of a bandit and a woman being in the same scene and there are no allusions to any hypothetical sexual assault. This guy is a real professional.
Nothing about goats either, come to think of it.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Growth-wise, she doesn't seem that great. Her innate growths are all 30 or lower, and her Odo blood only increases her HP and Skl growths, making her growths in the "big three" Str/Spd/Def a bit underwhelming. I suppose that, with Astra having a Skl% chance of activating, she will at least get that satisfying slice and dice increasingly often.

No need to worry about her speed growth. She uses swords and starts with 17 speed. She could only ever increase her speed by 8 points anyway.
She also tends to be ahead of the level curve anyway because it's so easy for her to brute force the arena. No need to worry about being stuck at 1 HP after losing when you just need to get a lucky dodge once or twice until you manage to trigger Astra.

The problem with her is that she just can't really hold any formation because she is inclined to kill herself with Astra. So if you don't want her survival to be a matter of RNG, she is mostly limited to cleanup.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

The only opponents with skills are Tiburon (Pursuit) and Dulles (Pavise), making the former a big roadblock and the latter a right bastard. Quan had enough good luck in his first round against Tiburon, but Dulles took a few rerolls.

Cases were enemies have personal stats are extremely rare. Practically all of them have generic stats. Even bosses.

The enemies in the arena are still generic, but it's nevertheless quite rough for a lot of characters because a lot of enemies there have classes with built in skills. Most notably Swordfighters with Pursuit. Like, on the map Arden rarely has to worry about his low speed getting him doubled, but in the arena it's another matter entirely. They chip him down while dodging his attacks.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

One thing I don't want to rule out are magic swords - apart from Ethlyn, all swordies thus far have had non-existant Mag, so maybe Dew can actually get somewhere that way. 2-range would certainly help with his stealing, assuming he doesn't have to be up close for that to proc.

Problem is, he still doesn't have Pursuit. But yeah, you can steal at range.

Thief Fighters do actually get Pursuit as a class skill. So if you could get him all the way up to 20 somehow, he could be salvaged. Not recommended, though.

Sol on him is also quite a meme. Not like it's gonna heal much when you can't deal any damage in the first place.
It's not terribly useful being passed down either, because it can only be inherited by sword-wielding foot units. In practice this means that it can only be inherited by Ayra's kids and... Patty. Who is also a thief, so she is not gonna do much better than Dew.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Pretty high Magic, especially compared to Ethlyn, but that's about it.

Well, the important thing is the higher Staff rank.

Ulir blood is also really funny. I mean, it boosts Luck. Luck only improves avoid and by only half the amount that speed does. That's literally all. It does not boost accuracy or anything.
Nevermind that you would think that the archer holy blood would improve your offensive stats.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Aideen is also the first marriageable woman on the team. Her kids are another healer and, more befitting their Ullur blood, a Bow Knight, which means that it's not really possible to find a father who greatly benefits both.

Of course Lana would not change much either way. Not like there are any skills that boost staff ability. And any combat she might do would have to wait until level 20.

But yeah, poor Lester. Any parent besides Midir is gonna give him some headache. Because bows have terrible availability early in Gen 2, so he really wants someone to hand him down some.
Midir is the only one who can give him Pursuit AND bows. Jamke can't because his Pursuit is only a class skill. And Lester really doesn't want that 10% skill growth when bows are already so inaccurate.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Most of the time, unless Dew gets hit by the Fighter, Aideen stays two tiles away from him. Let's be sure that she doesn't accidentally start hitting on a twelve-year-old.

Speaking of, that conversation just now gave them 50 lover points.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Of course, this puts the Hand Axe into the hands of somebody who can't really axe with it. But to be honest, I don't know how useful this is for Lex, anyway. 50 base it really isn't a good look for a weapon.

Although since Lex is a mounted unit, he can attack with it and then immediately switch over to a different weapon. Because mounted units get to do 2 actions in 1 turn and all that.

Of course Lex is also someone who isn't all that afraid of melee combat in the first place.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

Also a misconception. I thought that Sigurd would be able to Canter after Seizing, despite the Prologue already teaching me otherwise. I hope the message will stick now that it had dire consequences.

It's really only Attack and Staff that allow Canto. Every other command ends the turn right then and there.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

The reason why I would've preferred a faster solution to the problem is this Brigand, who starts the map just north of Marpha. I think he initially moves east towards the village next to Dew, but with all the other red units blocking that one, he then made a turn west. By the end of this update, he'll have burned down the first 1000 gold pieces, and I'm not sure how much money from that village, if any, I'm going to be able to get. At least there's no item reward from it.

The real reward is the big lore dump, if I recall.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "Pardon me, sire, but we're currently at war with Isaach. If we're going to harbor its prince, shouldn't we inform the king?"
: "He's a child, Oifey. That war has nothing to do with him. I'll find a way to get him home safely, but for now, we need to look after him."

Okay Sigurd, but that doesn't exactly answer the question.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

: "What's this? Eldigan?! I should've known you would side with Grannvale!"

Also most lords generally don't like it when you lead an army through their territory.
 

1 hour ago, ping said:

The spooky part is that Elliot is canto-ing pretty far towards Evans, so... let's hope for the best, shall we?

Yeah, that can happen. But if worst comes to worst, you do have the Warp staff.

Edited February 23 by BrightBow

[ping]

5 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

No need to worry about her speed growth. She uses swords and starts with 17 speed. She could only ever increase her speed by 8 points anyway.
She also tends to be ahead of the level curve anyway because it's so easy for her to brute force the arena. No need to worry about being stuck at 1 HP after losing when you just need to get a lucky dodge once or twice until you manage to trigger Astra.

The problem with her is that she just can't really hold any formation because she is inclined to kill herself with Astra. So if you don't want her survival to be a matter of RNG, she is mostly limited to cleanup.

Yeah, that seems about right. Player phase nuke (especially if you abuse battle saves to rig an Astra proc), but sketchy on enemy phase and, of course, no horse.

8 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Thief Fighters do actually get Pursuit as a class skill. So if you could get him all the way up to 20 somehow, he could be salvaged. Not recommended, though.

Sol on him is also quite a meme. Not like it's gonna heal much when you can't deal any damage in the first place.
It's not terribly useful being passed down either, because it can only be inherited by sword-wielding foot units. In practice this means that it can only be inherited by Ayra's kids and... Patty. Who is also a thief, so she is not gonna do much better than Dew.

I was considering Lex!Patty to maybe experience a Thief who is competent at fighting, but as you can see, I moved away from that plan.

RE: Magic Thief - Azel/Bridget sounds like a really funny, dumb idea. Probably ruins the Sniper kid, but I think it would give Patty Pursuit and somewhat of a Magic stat. I think Azel would even be able to pass down swords after promotion. Dang it, now I'm tempted

19 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Ulir blood is also really funny. I mean, it boosts Luck. Luck only improves avoid and by only half the amount that speed does. That's literally all. It does not boost accuracy or anything.
Nevermind that you would think that the archer holy blood would improve your offensive stats.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. I guess it's appropriate because Archers are awful, too.

20 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Okay Sigurd, but that doesn't exactly answer the question.

I think the implication is that Sigurd assumes that the king would take Shanan hostage. The way I read it, although I might read too much into it, he knows that he's doing something that the king wouldn't approve of, and that he doesn't want to say that openly.

23 minutes ago, BrightBow said:

Yeah, that can happen. But if worst comes to worst, you do have the Warp staff.

Well, Quan is already close-ish to Aideen and Dew. I think he's warpable next turn.

[Interdimensional Observer]

On 2/22/2024 at 2:41 AM, ping said:

Certain Rome/Germania vibes. I can see it, considering how the Verdanites are seen as savage brutes by the Grannvalians.

I was also thinking of dynastic China. I know at least one or two dynasties tried addressing the northern barbaric border by settling soldiers and their families in the less-than-lovable Central Eurasian landscape and attempting to farm it. Though these efforts for self-sufficiency/minimizing border upkeep costs fell short in practice.

2 hours ago, ping said:

In Ch.1, the town fully opens up, so that's going to be the first order of business. And the first of the first shall be the Arena, of course.

Considering how unique, polarizing perhaps, the Genealogy incarnation of the Arena is...

Spoiler

Officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, after the imperial dynasty that had it constructed between 72-80 AD. The nickname “Colosseum” comes from having been built near a large statue -colossi- of the god Sol (originally of Emperor Nero). Arena refers specifically to the fighting pit at the center.

The Colosseum could accommodate 50,000-70,000 people. Rome at its height had a population of about 1 million, so ~5% of the populace.

The number of games per year could greatly. An emperor in a good mood with abundant resources could do something like 123 consecutive days of games (107 AD). The minimum at the Colosseum that was far more common was just games to celebrate the Roman holidays.

Tickets, little lead tokens or pottery shards (with entrance gate, seating level, and row number) called tesserae, were free. To get some, you either had to know someone important, or ask a guild, both of which would’ve been given a pile of tesserae to distribute as they wished. Scalpers existed too.

The Colosseum had 80 entrance gates. Two gates were reserved for use by the imperial family and other very high elite. And two -the Door of Victory and the Door of Death- were for gladiators only.

All seating in the Colosseum was marble or wood. Although the emperor, senators, and other VIPs were expected to bring their own, more comfortable plush chairs.

Sunstroke was a problem at the Colosseum, though there was a large canopy called the Velarium which could be stretched to shade everyone but those closest to the center (that being the Senators, they could always ask a slave to bring a parasol for their personal sun protection).

Vendors outside the Colosseum sold food- pastries, sausages, fruits, vegetables, basically everything. (Most commoners in Rome were banned from having kitchens, for fear of setting Rome ablaze.) The market stalls also sold reed cushions so your butt didn’t ache so much during the games, and various souvenirs, like little statues and vials of gladiator sweat (a Roman aphrodisiac). Shops could also be found inside the Colosseum itself.

Sometimes, perfumed water would be sprayed over the Colosseum. Bathing the attendees in a lovely fragrance in a world that we must remember was probably a lot stinkier than ours’.

Other times, little wooden balls would be thrown with abandoned into the seats, each ball inscribed with words to serve as a voucher for a prize you could collect. You could win free food, or clothes, or silver or gold objects, livestock of many species, slaves, an entire apartment in Rome. -But do be careful because fellow Romans in the stands might go crazy over the free stuff and show a willingness to murder you if you don’t hand over your voucher-ball.

As for the breakdown of the seating arrangements.:

• The Podium was where the Senate and priests (including Vestal Virgins) sat. At the center on one of the long sides was where the Emperor, his family and guests sat.
  • (WARNING! If you’re sitting anywhere near the Emperor, don’t say anything that could possibly get you tossed in the arena and killed by dogs on the spot, not all Emperors can tolerate criticism.)
• Maenianum Primum- The tier directly above the Podium. Occupied exclusively by members of the Equites class, which would be below the Senators in rank but still very wealthy and privileged. Got a nice big wall behind them to keep some space from the riffraff of Rome.
• Maenianum Secundum Imum- For male Plebeians/commoners.
• Maenianum Secundum Summum- For the very poor, non-citizens, and slaves. Both Secundum tiers would’ve likely been less roomy, featuring fewer sellers of wine and snacks going up and down the aisles.
• Maesianum Summum In Legneis- 15 stories up, the very top of the Colosseum. Terrible views. Usually not enough seats so people would have to stand the entire time. The only place where 99% of women could sit. Roman misogyny for ya!

As for the day’s events at the Flavian Amphitheater, the schedule, starting from morning to the afternoon.:

• Pompa- A parade around the arena. Featuring: musicians, dancers, acrobats, animals, priests with statues of the gods, chariots, the city’s elite, soldiers, gladiators, and the Editor- the man who arranged the day's games.
• Venationes (Hunt of the Wild Beasts)- Animals exotic and common alike would be released into the arena. Some would do tricks or skits as ordered by human handlers, with elaborate scenery set up. And then those animals and or other critters would be hunted and or murder their would-be hunters.
• Meridiani- The “halftime show” of the Colosseum, held around midday. Public executions! Would feature the Damnatio ad Bestias, wherein the condemned would be killed by wild animals. Alternatively, the death-sentenced would be forced to fight and kill each other until they were all dead.
  • The Colosseum’s seats were usually pretty empty during the Merdiani. As most people would use this time to take get some grub, use the bathroom, or visit one of the many prostitutes in the Colosseum’s lower levels.
• Munera- The last part of the games at the Colosseum. Many didn’t even bother arriving to the Flavian Amphitheater until it got to this. The Munera was several dozens pairs of gladiators fighting each other, sometimes to the death, often not if the crowd loved them. The celebrities of ancient Rome.
  • Odds of dying at an arena like that of the Colosseum were 1 in 5 games. Average life expectancy for a gladiator was 27.
  • Though an average gladiator fought in an arena only 3 or 4 times per year. The rest was spent in training, very rarely irregular military service, and fighting other gladiators at private events like dinner parties.
  • The night before a match, gladiators would be treated to a feast. Though those with families seem to have often spent it with their loved ones instead, considering they could very well become dead tomorrow.
  • Typically, a gladiator would be paired against someone judged to be of similar fighting capabilities, for an even-ish match.
  • If the editor or Emperor, often taking the will of the people into account, ordered the defeated be slain, the loser would traditionally accept their fate and put forward their neck, which would be given a relatively quick & painless fatal slice.
  • Music would play during a gladiator fight, complete with a blast from the horns every time a hit landed.
  • Female gladiators -gladiatrixes- existed, but were usually the poorest of women and the subject of great ridicule.

The first gladiator fights are recorded by ancient Roman writers as having begun in 264 BC, during the First Punic War. The official end to gladiators is dated to January 1st, 404 AD, when a Christian monk named Telemachus tried breaking up a match, only to be stoned to death by the crowd. Emperor Honorius declared Telemachus a martyr and for gladiator fights to come to an end.

...some IRL factoids on the Roman Colosseum.😛

2 hours ago, ping said:

Hmm... I don't really want to change my plans for Aideen or Tiltyu, but how does Lachesis/Azel sound? More magic for Nanna can't be bad, and maybe the Sword Cav kid could do some magic sword shenanigans to make use an increased Mag staff...

I didn't do it myself, but Azel does work quite well for Lachesis. Hodr blood is +Str, so Lachesis's son won't be castrated like Edain's boy. I have read that there is a Skill issue -but a big promotion increase will fix that for Diarmuid. Azelle provides Pursuit too, which is very important for his combat usefulness.

Sure, Diamuid might not get as big physical growth or other neat skills, but I'd think that tolerable. Plus he'd become a good magic sword user, so it'd be a fair tradeoff.

27 minutes ago, ping said:

RE: Magic Thief - Azel/Bridget sounds like a really funny, dumb idea. Probably ruins the Sniper kid, but I think it would give Patty Pursuit and somewhat of a Magic stat. I think Azel would even be able to pass down swords after promotion. Dang it, now I'm tempted

Once you see Yewfelle, you'll see that "ruining" is relative.😛 Although a Skill Ring might be desirable.

2 hours ago, ping said:

I've talked about Ayra as a character at the top of the update already, but not about her role as a mother. Her children are another two Myrmidons, so unless there's some viable magic sword memes, they appreciate a physically inclined father.

I initially planned to go for Holyn as Ayra's husband, for Luna, overkill Skl for even more skill procs, and inheritable swords for their son. However, some shuffling around to account for more requests has freed up Lex as a father, so unless anybody has another suggestion for him, I'll probably go for him for Paragon and the a nice Def bonus.

Between their guaranteed Pursuit, their use of swords, and their mommy's Astra, Ayra's kids fall squarely into the "unscrewable" pile. Even if you gave them the worst possible father they could have, they'd still be quite competent. -With the harsh ceiling that nothing can fix their lack of horse/pegasus/wyvern.

[RPGuy96]

1 hour ago, ping said:

I was considering Lex!Patty to maybe experience a Thief who is competent at fighting, but as you can see, I moved away from that plan.

Holyn!Patty is a surprisingly good pairing for her if you want her to fight, since it gives her access to the Brave Sword.  But, of course, there's other units that might have a better claim to it.

57 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Once you see Yewfelle, you'll see that "ruining" is relative.😛 Although a Skill Ring might be desirable.

Absolutely, Faval doesn't care who his father his.

[Jotari]

I think Arya's clear hostility to Grannvaleine might be more about Isaach as a whole. Aka Sigurd is going the whole "you people" route.

3 hours ago, BrightBow said:

Rare sight of a bandit and a woman being in the same scene and there are no allusions to any hypothetical sexual assault. This guy is a real professional.
Nothing about goats either, come to think of it.

He does still refer to her pretty face, which is not professional conversation in a modern work place.

3 hours ago, ping said:

RE: Magic Thief - Azel/Bridget sounds like a really funny, dumb idea. Probably ruins the Sniper kid, but I think it would give Patty Pursuit and somewhat of a Magic stat. I think Azel would even be able to pass down swords after promotion. Dang it, now I'm tempted

Faval as a holy weapon, so it's probably pretty difficult to actually fuck him up.

3 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I was also thinking of dynastic China. I know at least one or two dynasties tried addressing the northern barbaric border by settling soldiers and their families in the less-than-lovable Central Eurasian landscape and attempting to farm it. Though these efforts for self-sufficiency/minimizing border upkeep costs fell short in practice.

Considering how unique, polarizing perhaps, the Genealogy incarnation of the Arena is...

  Hide contents

Officially known as the Flavian Amphitheater, after the imperial dynasty that had it constructed between 72-80 AD. The nickname “Colosseum” comes from having been built near a large statue -colossi- of the god Sol (originally of Emperor Nero). Arena refers specifically to the fighting pit at the center.

The Colosseum could accommodate 50,000-70,000 people. Rome at its height had a population of about 1 million, so ~5% of the populace.

The number of games per year could greatly. An emperor in a good mood with abundant resources could do something like 123 consecutive days of games (107 AD). The minimum at the Colosseum that was far more common was just games to celebrate the Roman holidays.

Tickets, little lead tokens or pottery shards (with entrance gate, seating level, and row number) called tesserae, were free. To get some, you either had to know someone important, or ask a guild, both of which would’ve been given a pile of tesserae to distribute as they wished. Scalpers existed too.

The Colosseum had 80 entrance gates. Two gates were reserved for use by the imperial family and other very high elite. And two -the Door of Victory and the Door of Death- were for gladiators only.

All seating in the Colosseum was marble or wood. Although the emperor, senators, and other VIPs were expected to bring their own, more comfortable plush chairs.

Sunstroke was a problem at the Colosseum, though there was a large canopy called the Velarium which could be stretched to shade everyone but those closest to the center (that being the Senators, they could always ask a slave to bring a parasol for their personal sun protection).

Vendors outside the Colosseum sold food- pastries, sausages, fruits, vegetables, basically everything. (Most commoners in Rome were banned from having kitchens, for fear of setting Rome ablaze.) The market stalls also sold reed cushions so your butt didn’t ache so much during the games, and various souvenirs, like little statues and vials of gladiator sweat (a Roman aphrodisiac). Shops could also be found inside the Colosseum itself.

Sometimes, perfumed water would be sprayed over the Colosseum. Bathing the attendees in a lovely fragrance in a world that we must remember was probably a lot stinkier than ours’.

Other times, little wooden balls would be thrown with abandoned into the seats, each ball inscribed with words to serve as a voucher for a prize you could collect. You could win free food, or clothes, or silver or gold objects, livestock of many species, slaves, an entire apartment in Rome. -But do be careful because fellow Romans in the stands might go crazy over the free stuff and show a willingness to murder you if you don’t hand over your voucher-ball.

As for the breakdown of the seating arrangements.:

• The Podium was where the Senate and priests (including Vestal Virgins) sat. At the center on one of the long sides was where the Emperor, his family and guests sat.
  • (WARNING! If you’re sitting anywhere near the Emperor, don’t say anything that could possibly get you tossed in the arena and killed by dogs on the spot, not all Emperors can tolerate criticism.)
• Maenianum Primum- The tier directly above the Podium. Occupied exclusively by members of the Equites class, which would be below the Senators in rank but still very wealthy and privileged. Got a nice big wall behind them to keep some space from the riffraff of Rome.
• Maenianum Secundum Imum- For male Plebeians/commoners.
• Maenianum Secundum Summum- For the very poor, non-citizens, and slaves. Both Secundum tiers would’ve likely been less roomy, featuring fewer sellers of wine and snacks going up and down the aisles.
• Maesianum Summum In Legneis- 15 stories up, the very top of the Colosseum. Terrible views. Usually not enough seats so people would have to stand the entire time. The only place where 99% of women could sit. Roman misogyny for ya!

As for the day’s events at the Flavian Amphitheater, the schedule, starting from morning to the afternoon.:

• Pompa- A parade around the arena. Featuring: musicians, dancers, acrobats, animals, priests with statues of the gods, chariots, the city’s elite, soldiers, gladiators, and the Editor- the man who arranged the day's games.
• Venationes (Hunt of the Wild Beasts)- Animals exotic and common alike would be released into the arena. Some would do tricks or skits as ordered by human handlers, with elaborate scenery set up. And then those animals and or other critters would be hunted and or murder their would-be hunters.
• Meridiani- The “halftime show” of the Colosseum, held around midday. Public executions! Would feature the Damnatio ad Bestias, wherein the condemned would be killed by wild animals. Alternatively, the death-sentenced would be forced to fight and kill each other until they were all dead.
  • The Colosseum’s seats were usually pretty empty during the Merdiani. As most people would use this time to take get some grub, use the bathroom, or visit one of the many prostitutes in the Colosseum’s lower levels.
• Munera- The last part of the games at the Colosseum. Many didn’t even bother arriving to the Flavian Amphitheater until it got to this. The Munera was several dozens pairs of gladiators fighting each other, sometimes to the death, often not if the crowd loved them. The celebrities of ancient Rome.
  • Odds of dying at an arena like that of the Colosseum were 1 in 5 games. Average life expectancy for a gladiator was 27.
  • Though an average gladiator fought in an arena only 3 or 4 times per year. The rest was spent in training, very rarely irregular military service, and fighting other gladiators at private events like dinner parties.
  • The night before a match, gladiators would be treated to a feast. Though those with families seem to have often spent it with their loved ones instead, considering they could very well become dead tomorrow.
  • Typically, a gladiator would be paired against someone judged to be of similar fighting capabilities, for an even-ish match.
  • If the editor or Emperor, often taking the will of the people into account, ordered the defeated be slain, the loser would traditionally accept their fate and put forward their neck, which would be given a relatively quick & painless fatal slice.
  • Music would play during a gladiator fight, complete with a blast from the horns every time a hit landed.
  • Female gladiators -gladiatrixes- existed, but were usually the poorest of women and the subject of great ridicule.

The first gladiator fights are recorded by ancient Roman writers as having begun in 264 BC, during the First Punic War. The official end to gladiators is dated to January 1st, 404 AD, when a Christian monk named Telemachus tried breaking up a match, only to be stoned to death by the crowd. Emperor Honorius declared Telemachus a martyr and for gladiator fights to come to an end.

...some IRL factoids on the Roman Colosseum.😛

I didn't do it myself, but Azel does work quite well for Lachesis. Hodr blood is +Str, so Lachesis's son won't be castrated like Edain's boy. I have read that there is a Skill issue -but a big promotion increase will fix that for Diarmuid. Azelle provides Pursuit too, which is very important for his combat usefulness.

Sure, Diamuid might not get as big physical growth or other neat skills, but I'd think that tolerable. Plus he'd become a good magic sword user, so it'd be a fair tradeoff.

Once you see Yewfelle, you'll see that "ruining" is relative.😛 Although a Skill Ring might be desirable.

Between their guaranteed Pursuit, their use of swords, and their mommy's Astra, Ayra's kids fall squarely into the "unscrewable" pile. Even if you gave them the worst possible father they could have, they'd still be quite competent. -With the harsh ceiling that nothing can fix their lack of horse/pegasus/wyvern.

I think Verdane is a pretty direct analogy to Germany, as Grannvale itself is a pretty direct stand in for Rome. The timeline at the beginning gives some absolutely irrelevant lore about the founding of Grannvale which predates Emperor Galle and is basically just broad strokes early Roman history, including a republic! In Fire Emblem! How novel.