Narration today. We're off to the mighty Begnion Empire, on a months-long voyage.
Two months, rather than the "several" that came up earlier. This is still more timeline information than many Fire Emblem games, including this one, have.
The filled in blue line represents what we have done. Looks like we'll be stopping in those unexplored country's waters.
We are introduced to two of them now. Phoenicis and Kilvas are the homes of the bird tribe laguz, with Phoenicis housing the hawks and Kilvas housing the ravens. It is implied that it's not possible for a beorc to visit these countries by ship.
At this point in the story, the birds make their claim as the Shipless Pirates.
And now for the last nation of Path of Radiance, that land on our other side.
Goldoa is famous for its secrecy. The dragon tribe Does Not Talk To Others. And as a not particularly intelligent man once said:
With enemies you know where they stand, but with Goldoans, who knows?
This title is a little on the esoteric side, but logical. Just keep it in mind for later.
Ike's not been feeling too good.
Wrong place to put your pause, Ike.
Ah, I understand that feeling. In my household, I'm the one who doesn't get regular sick. I never try to get out of things using that, though, that's new.
Mist is the best sister.
They linger on the Toha incident longer than I remembered. More power to them. That's a heavy plot point to throw.
[citation needed]
This is the sort of thing that happens when you get someone so utterly divorced from a conflict introduced to it. Ike has no idea about the sociopolitical factors of the beorc/laguz divide, and without those, it looks even dumber than it is.
People that can turn into giant cats, can haul multiple times their body weight around and can communicate with impressive roars? Being scared of them is natural.
But Mordecai's such a fluffy kitty! Ranulf is, too, when he wants to be. Mist/Mordecai is a good Support.
Not everyone can snuggle with Mordecai.
As sad as it is, you are the odd one, Ike. Please never change.
See, Mist, the thing about peace is that there are some things whose presence in a society is inherently unpeaceful. The treatment of the laguz is one such thing. Sure, the laguz could decide not to cross claws with the beorc (actually, they're characteristically quick-tempered, maybe they couldn't...), but that would mean admitting that living in a society that hates them is tolerable, and that is something that just isn't doable.
...Sorry, wrong meeting.
Nasir comes for his turn to drop truths.
Ike asks what makes Nasir side with the laguz. I don't think Ike is asking out of any malice, just curiosity.
I like how Nasir lists "laguz money is as good as beorc money" before "actually, I'm a laguz too".
This line comes across as fairly reasonable, but once you learn more about Nasir's laguz heritage- and see his Radiant Dawn design- you wonder just how much he's done. I mean, we can see his pointed ears pretty clearly...
Nasir's goal is the coexistence of laguz and beorc. I think this has root in his history. There is an element to it that makes it curious, though.
Ike is impressed. After seeing Toha, the idea that beorc and laguz can cooperate is just... so far away.
Why are the people you oppose doing the things they are doing? If you cannot answer that question, then you cannot do anything but continue fighting.
This is a bit of a curious line. Considering the timeline we have a firm understanding of (which goes as far back as when the goddess walked the earth), there's no real place in the timeline for this to fit. I'd suggest that maybe this laguz dominion came before the goddess's departure, but even this explanation has holes. I think there's a non-zero chance Nasir is just testing Ike by saying this. It's not exactly out of the question for him.
If it was a test, Ike passed with flying colours.
Nasir gives him a hearty thumbs up and a bit of a harsh outlook. Ike is young, naive, and still barely understands the beorc/laguz conflict that defines the lives of thousands of people of both races. Who's to say the Ike at the end of this story will be the same one that stands here?
Nasir is definitely hoping for him to keep that earnest spirit.
Honestly, he's easier to understand than Ranulf, even if the things he says are less pleasant.
Nasir ends with a much more pleasant reaffirmation that he's going to make sure we make it to Begnion OK. He's the ship expert, we'll need him.
Nephenee earning her keep getting some kill EXP.
Our first F/F Support! And it's Titania/Mist? I was totally expecting Mia/Ilyana. Here are the other ones.
It's laundry day in the middle of the ocean. Well, I guess it beats the stench.
Mist is doing everyone's laundry, not just her own.
That blink frame makes her look so smug about it.
Just keep getting hit with weapons and you'll wind up with your shirt in tatters.
That almost sounds like a threat, from Mist.
Not that she's not in a glass house. Her own shirt could do with replacement.
"Plus, we're on a boat."
Ah, that sounds like someone else I know...
Now this is a threat. Anyway, it's time to talk about what Supports actually do...
(Mist is higher levelled in this screenshot because I wanted the bonuses to display and they're weird about that in the Base. We'll see her BEXP levels later.)
Supports in the Tellius games grant stat bonuses to Atk, Def, Hit and/or Avoid when the participating pairs are within three spaces of each other. How much of each stat is governed by the Affinity (or Attribute on this screen, apparently). Mist is Water, so her bonuses are [Atk +0.5, Def +0.5]. Titania is Light, so her bonuses are [Def +0.5, Hit +2.5]. These bonuses are added together, and for each rank of Support, the whole set is added again, before finally being rounded down. As such, Titania/Mist's bonuses will be:
C Rank: [Atk +0., Def +1, Hit +2.]
B Rank: [Atk +1, Def +2, Hit +5]
A Rank: [Atk +1., Def +3, Hit +7]
Only 5 ranks of Support can be acquired for a single character for a single playthrough (although if you kill a participant, the other one can refill those spaces). As such, Mist/Titania will only reach B in this playthrough, since I want Mist to get A Support with her other F/F pairing. A lot of pairings actually peak at B Support, especially those where one and only one participant is contributing +Atk.
Supports are really important to the Fire Emblem fanbase, and in terms of the conversations they allow, they are rather tremendous. But to this day, Fire Emblem still hasn't really figured out how to make the mechanical side stick.
Speaking of means for Fire Emblem to have character-building conversations, we have four Info conversations today, including one that gives us something!
Ike gets thrown the fantasy equivalent of a quick-time event.
It works.
Well, isn't that lovely?
He kept mum about... everything, so Ike resorted to cruel and unusual means to get him talking.
Don't get on his bad side...
Because of the limited means of this portrayal, exactly what kind of grip Ike had Sothe in is a bit of a mystery. I honestly thought he was tugging Sothe's hair until this line about the face.
"Thief" is a job in a lot of RPG universes. I think Mother 3's is the funniest.
Ike has RBF. He smiles a few times, sorta.
"Looking for someone". It later turns out that this someone is the girl on the boxart of Radiant Dawn. Sothe's just running around being a walking sequel hook, really.
Non-blood family for the win!
...Honestly, I actually kinda like the "Don't Aid" version. I don't think that would let Radiant Dawn happen, though.
"He'll join all the other people on the bench."
"But don't tell him that." So what if we didn't aid him?
Ike: I wish we could help you, but we have our own troubles to deal with.
Nasir: I see your point...This is a very difficult time for all of you.
Sothe: ...
Nasir: I see no other option. I'll take you on as a junior member of my crew.
Sothe: Really?
Nasir: It's either that or I toss you overboard, and I suspect you'd prefer I didn't.
Sothe: Thank you! I'll repay you somehow! I swear it!
Nasir: Don't worry about the boy, Ike. We'll take care of him.
Ike: It's your ship. You can do as you please.
Nasir: Well then, it's settled. Sothe, was it? Come, and I'll introduce you to the rest of my crew.
Sothe: Sure!
Ike: You're a lucky boy.
Sothe: I'm just happy I don't have to hide anymore!
Sadly, the adventures of rigging monkey Sothe is on the low end of my fanfic priority list. Anyway, speaking of thieves hiding below decks...
If I had a gold coin for every time I found a thief below decks, I'd have 2 gold coins.
Ike wants Volke to make more regular appearances in company lineups.
Specifically, mealtimes. Mist makes it her responsibility to make sure everyone is following proper lifestyle habits. Weird shady guy her father may or may not have hired for "...intelligence"? He's gotta eat, same as everyone else.
Volke wonders what the problem is now, compared to when we first hired him.
When Ike is funny, he is hilarious.
"Is that so hard?"
Yes, yes it is. It's a character trait of Volke's that if he doesn't want to do something, he'll throw out an unreasonable price tag and hope the other person goes away. I wish he had more screentime so he could do it more often, he does it like three times ever.
The plight of the introvert.
Ike is just legitimately making that face. It's amazing.
So what's the new guy's deal?
He wears the fact he's pro-laguz proudly, for one thing.
What Zihark is talking about is finding out that Crimea is an allied nation with Gallia. In terms of Zihark's character, this is not the natural conclusion to come to. Honestly, I don't often hear countries called women- that's normally a boat thing for me.
The artbook seems convinced that Zihark is from Daein. How he came to be the man he is as a Daein citizen is an open question.
Both Ike and Zihark looked at the world and decided laguz intolerance was just not acceptable.
I find it interesting that Ike names his Gallian birth as a reason for his compassion for laguz. This thought might be worth coming back to.
Zihark chooses not to explain his reasons for his characterisation off hand. Zihark's backstory does get brought up, usually tangentially, in Support conversations, but it is very full of holes because there isn't really a Support where Zihark gets to sit down and say "this is what made me who I am". Discussing it is a sore spot for him even now.
Ike doesn't care about the specifics. He just wanted to know what kind of man Zihark was.
This is the same sort of thing that happens in the Nasir conversation in the main plot, and I feel like we're supposed to take away the same reasoning from it.
One day, Zihark. One day.
And finally, we get a chat with our adorable little thunder mage.
Not where I thought this was going. Ilyana is infamous for having one character trait, but they're surprisingly restrained with it in Path of Radiance's main Ilyana conversations- her recruitment and her Base.
Since she travels with a merchant group, she regularly dealt with boats. Seems she doesn't have the sea legs for it even still.
This is probably the most we ever get of Ilyana's backstory.
Even then, we don't really know why she left. I almost have to imagine the village couldn't support her anymore.
They had to pack as much comic relief into her Supports as possible, so all the heavy stuff leaked here, apparently.
Not from the fandom. It must be exciting, being Ilyana.
We'll make a girl wonder out of her yet.
Ilyana says this, sort of leaning into her One Joke, but getting properly hungry is a good sign of getting over your seasickness.
Stay healthy, OK, Ilyana?
Time for our levels.
Everyone was on like ~97 EXP after last map. I think furthest was Nephenee at 86. Nice to see Marcia getting some Defence, but I'm worried about Ilyana on multiple levels now.
Mist's levels, as promised. I'm no longer giving Mist a ton of levels- as much as I want her to level up quickly, I also want her to still be unpromoted for Chapter 15. Trust me on this one.
---
Ooh boy, more sea shanties!
...Oh.
"Is it a bird? Is it a plane?"
"What's a plane?"
This isn't even a racism thing with Soren, Kilvas does have that reputation.
...That's what you're surprised about?
Why does that never occur to us?
Considering what we've seen of Gallia, an almost easy assumption. There is something to be said about Phoenicis and Kilvas in particular, though.
The screen tremors violently before this.
So much for outrunning them.
Who likes boat maps?
Another area I didn't realise had a name.
At least it turns out the Kilvans planned exactly this.
Yeah, you guys probably want to avoid that. Don't think we can bring it about, though. Also, Kilvas generics. You lower those headbands any further and you'll be blind.
Of course you'd know that, Soren. "Vulnerable to Wind" is a bit hilarious, though.
This we could use... if we were actually using Rolf. Rolf's your only archer even casually, too.
Well, that explains why we're not deploying the whole army.
Though that contradicts your last advice.
Our deployment roster. Somehow, Chapter 11 messed it up too. Maybe it has to do with that "used to be an Escape map" thing.
This is our map. Despite the fact there is actual land scattered around, the only place characters other than Marcia are allowed to walk on their own power is the boat. We have to let the enemies come to us.
Today's boss. That Demi Band allows him to stay permanently transformed at the cost of half his transformation bonuses. The pictured numbers are before the minuses (ie he has 14 Strength), which is slightly annoying. Yes, we can get a Demi Band for ourselves later.
I've never seen this guy proc Corrosion before. He has a Skill% chance (14%) of reducing your current weapon's durability by either 2 or 7, depending on how laguz are treated by the Corrosion formula. Miracle, on the other hand, is an 11% chance for him to become a Problem depending on your kill strategy.
Since Mist has the Staff rank for it, I start casting Ward when there's no one to heal. Ward gives 17 EXP and raises the target's resistance by 7, which deteriorates by 1 each turn. This is a holdover from the very first Fire Emblem and is barely worth it these days, but the EXP makes it a mainstay of staff grinding. If you ever wanted to use a staff user in the GBA days (looks pointedly at L'Arachel), you used this staff.
Marcia fights a raven, and makes me ask pointed questions about this ocean we're stuck in. Radiant Dawn would make it so two fliers fought dramatically in the air, which other than being a huge flex, would get around this animation issue.
Marcia vs Raven. I think this is her second one and she dodged the first? Regardless, she can handle herself against ravens. She can't double them, though.
Mia has her ways.
Mist takes a hit and asks the raven for seconds. Fortunately, she's not doubled.
Titania gets a kill. She can double Ravens and this one had no other targets. She gets tolerable EXP from it, but I'd like to avoid doing this again in the future.
Oh, hello there. How long have you been following us? I think we've been at sea for a month, or at least a few weeks.
She notices we're being attacked by bird tribes, and her racism gear takes over her "finish the job" gear.
And joins as an Other unit before the Other Phase. Reinforcements on this map are categorically same-turn reinforcements. This is presumably for the player's convenience, since reinforcements can't reach anyone but Marcia on that free turn.
I bet Fire Emblem veterans weren't expecting the words "Same turn reinforcements are for the player's convenience" to be uttered, did you?
Wind magic versus bird tribes. Since Effectiveness is double Mt, the Wind tome has 4 effective Might (2x2). You know what other tome Ilyana has that has 4 Might? Thunder.
If you can use it, Elwind does do more damage to birds than Elthunder.
Right now, there are no enemies in range. I feel like Jill's line is specifically written with this part of the battle in mind.
Both of those blink frames are perfect.
Ike declines aid from Daein. Presumably he doesn't know there's already a Daein person in his army. There's a second Daein character Ike recruits later that has a much different reaction from Ike, and I wonder when that shift happens.
You can say laguz can do anything and a bigot would believe it.
This is a more reasonable reason not to accept help from Jill.
In one ear and out the other. At least we now have another female recruit?
Jill is exactly the same as we saw her in Chapter 11, but now holding a Wyvern Band. Ike was holding the rest of the stuff to help shore her up. She has accuracy issues this map, and will also get doubled by all the ravens. That Laguzguard halves damage from laguz, rounded down.
Even when she does land a hit, it's not amazing. It is a way of getting EXP, though.
Not impressive, but now Marcia has as much Resistance as Defence. Pegasus Knights are traditionally high-Res units, but Marcia's usually got this sort of deal going on.
Marcia engages Seeker. Naesala may have given you his blessings, but what about literally everyone else involved?
Ilyana gets more Skill and Speed. We're working on her.
Lethe is not fond of laguz that make them look bad. Speaking of, Seeker's boss quote with Mordecai is amazing on Mordecai's end.
Stealing is bad. You learned that today.
Jill needs some Skill and Speed to become as amazing as wyverns have a historical reputation of being in FE. I usually get my Jills off the ground, but the other games' wyverns? Not so much.
Mist got so much EXP today that she got a level up on the map itself!
Kill goes to, who else, Mia. I think that might be her last boss kill for the time being, she's about to promote.
What a level to end on. Once you hit 100 EXP on the "21st" level, you stop gaining any EXP you might otherwise be entitled to. So I'm probably going to be pretty cautious about her gaining EXP. Good thing next map starts out "all hands on deck", pun not intended.
And the map is over. There's a few reinforcements beyond when I ended, but I think I acquired all the treasure there is to acquire. There's quite a lot of good drops from enemies this map beyond Seeker's Blue Gem- mostly statups.
Well, yeah, I guess.
Just because we're no longer being raided by pirates doesn't mean that reef thing is now over.
Ike does what Ike does best: Charge recklessly into solving the problem.
I couldn't see why not. It does turn out that Ike should've thought about this more.
I wonder what Ike could do from this position. I can understand wanting an idea of how badly your hull has been breached, but Ike is no nautical expert.
Nasir realises that Ike has just gone on land and decided it is a Big Deal after all.
An ambush!
By more laguz. You can tell they're laguz because they keep covering their eyes with those headbands.
Nasir decides to make himself scarce. No, seriously, he goes below decks.
Goldoans are Neutral, and they will enforce that by any means necessary.
Yeah, uh, we're not leaving. Sorry, that's just how things are.
Tell me, Goldoan, what makes a man turn neutral? Is it gold? Lust for power? Or were you born with a heart full of neutrality?
I was kidding earlier, but now I'm genuinely curious.
Well, OK, I know what drives the Goldoans to neutrality, this is a question that gets answered, but that is a very aggresive way to go about it.
"Oh no, I'm surrounded by dragons! This is mildly inconvenient!"
Ooh, hello, a new person!
His name literally has "Naga" in it. Yes, there's probably an etymological reason, but still, Naga is a very important Fire Emblem name.
Third prince, incidentally. Although the other two are currently... "otherwise occupied". I find it interesting that there is no reference to them in Kurthnaga's title.
This is a choice of words.
Ike is starting to get a little frustrated this isn't getting any better.
Kurthnaga throws a "..." at him. Ike gets worried.
No, that's on Kurthnaga's end.
Ike realise he might have put his cause in trouble, and apologises.
Kurth isn't particularly bothered. He's more than prepared to focus on the important bit.
It seems like the ravens are starting to try even the dragon king's patience. Or at least just Kurth's. I wonder how often this shipping route is used, though. Presumably there is a port trade, but the only person who really needs to use this route is Begnion. Which, admittedly, is the biggest one.
This is Gareth, Kurthnaga's retainer. He has two lines of dialogue in Path of Radiance, both of which are "at once". He is playable in Radiant Dawn, and failed to grow much more of a personality.
Compare the dragons in this picture to the dragons in gameplay, especially in terms of height. They don't really sell how screwed Ike must have looked when the dragons transformed in front of him.
Look at that majesty, though.
I forget at what point this gets revealed, but in the "ancient war" that Fire Emblem always references, King Deghinsea himself was one of the legendary heroes. How many other Goldoans were around at the time goes unanswered. We do know how old Kurth is, but not, say, Gareth (bad example, but he's the only other Goldoan we know of).
Goldoa has kept its vow of neutrality almost as long as the goddess has been absent from the world. Almost. There was a time, no longer than a century or two, where Goldoa's borders were less closed than they are today.
The Mist sass is back in full force!
The vessel is safe! Well, we can at least make it to Begnion without further investigation.
Ike's working on his politeness.
And Kurth extends the same in response.
And whose fault is that? Looks at Mist doing laundry.
It's a bit of an interesting question, that. On top of all the minor little logicistical quibbles, would this set a precedent that the King might not like?
Kurth is fine to hand it out for free.
Kurthnaga did the bare minimum and Ike feels he owes him. A real mercenary train of thought.
...I think I need the sentence itself explained first.
Kurthnaga, the prince of an isolated nation, is remarkably lonely. Just as beorc have never had the chance to talk to Goldoans, Goldoans have never had the chance to talk to beorc.
That's Deghinsea for you.
Ike hems and haws about it, but eventually accepts the gift. And a bond with Kurthnaga that he shan't soon forget.
I find it interesting that Titania calls him "Captain Nasir" here, rather than just one of those titles.
And that was the prince of Goldoa.
The difference between beast, bird and dragon is really quite distinct. Much more so than the difference between Crimean, Daein and Begnion.
Hold on, let's go grab the "Racism is Bad" anvil.
The dragons of Goldoa were definitely plenty honourable when they were threatening to turn you into new and exciting forms of matter for leaving your shipwrecked boat.
You haven't even met Phoenicians!
Of course! This is an equitable exchange!
...Oh yeah, those guys. If there are bad Crimeans, perhaps there are bad Gallians, good Kilvans, and good Daeins. And so on.
There is indeed not much sense in calling factions good and evil. There are good and evil actions, and most actions fall somewhere in the middle, where it is possible to do good for evil causes and do evil for good causes. Which people you support comes down to what evils you can overlook and what goods you expect to get done. Failing to consider this can lead to brushing aside people into "definitely good" or "definitely evil" boxes and being surprised with how they turn out later.
Oh yeah, something about Nasir going below decks while the dragons were around?
Soren was still on the map scenes, though! It makes as much sense for Soren to hide as Nasir, so I'd say the map was wrong.
Nasir's off, and advises the same of these two.
Pictured: Not a blossoming romance.
Maximum turn count and all the treasure? Don't mind if I do!
Next time: We meet best girl.
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