We have taken these fortresses. We have a foothold in Begnion!
We're going to skip a few of these battles. I think making us do Flaguerre and Mugill is to introduce us to the Greil Mercenaries and the laguz properly. Maybe we could do one fogged fortress and Telgam, or maybe the devs felt doing both fogged fortresses was more interesting than a slugfest with just the mercs. Especially since the plot needs this upcoming map to be a slugfest.
Yeah... that feels very possible.
Gaddos is Lekain, but Seliora is unknown. It's either Numida or a generic Senator who appears in the next few chapters, doesn't get a name, but could logically be Seliora because he appears in the Seliora region. One thing that is true is that these red dots are highlighting the Gaddos and Seliora castles.
They organise themselves amongst the nearby forces and assemble something resembling an opposing army.
Ribahn is an incredibly important river in the story coming up. The fact that it's a tributary of a larger river, and indeed the fact that the Miscale exists, will get skimmed over. It's one of those minor details that really is a minor detail.
...Why is the Ribhan a defensive front when the enemy is on the same side of Ribhan as us?
ミスケーレ大河の支流リバン河を防衛線とし
その西側に位置するセストゥール平野で
雌雄を決すべく大掛かりな陣を敷いたのだった
I'm... not sure how much clearer this is in JP.
Hm. Interesting choice in chapter title.
Look at the map, and realise how disconnected Flaguerre and Mugill are from the rest of Begnion. Now that we're in the main body of Begnion, the main Begnion army will be able to engage us more freely, and pose a greater challenge.
Skirmir looks at that statement and goes "bring it".
Divided, the nobles of the north are pretty weak. United, they're a massive threat unchecked.
The Begnion Central Army is the main military force of Begnion, housed in Sienne and no doubt deployed to advance upon us. The Central Army is the one thing Begnion can throw at us that beats an army of mad laguz in a slugfest.
So we need our plans to be as pristine as possible.
Soren, your time to shine.
...You do? I imagine it was mostly you.
ただ…開戦直後から
フェニキスとキルヴァスが
別行動をとっています。
彼らが遊んでいるのでなければ
すでに対策済と見て
よいかと思われますが。
Soren twigged onto the details ahead of time. Namely, what have Phoenicis and Kilvas been up to?
The game takes the "skip the explanation, give the cliff's notes" version. Ranulf plans to have their supply train attacked.
The bird tribes can handle that job. I've been wondering where they were.
A nice little recap for the PoR non-players. Tibarn especially preyed on Begnion ships and Begnion ships alone during his piracy days (...implying they're over, which might not necessarily be the case). Naesala, of course, openly does not consider the flag of his target.
And so the bird tribes will meet back up with us after they've done that.
With the birds on our side, the odds tip back in our favour for "Laguz Alliance versus Central Army".
"We might even win" tells you about how hollow praise "not bad for a laguz" is intended to be. Well, from Soren, at least.
We also get a nice moment with Naesala and Tibarn to punctuate this plan. I believe this is our first time meeting them in RD.
Tibarn is a very honourable and well-intentioned sort of man- the kind of King who would hear the story of PoR and immediately take a liking to the relevant beorc. It's really easy to see how many people don't even think of him as being a villain at all.
- Naesala:
- ！？ …っと！
………ユクの実？
- Tibarn:
- 食えよ。
毒なんざ入ってねえから。
Tibarn offers Naesala a fruit and assures him it is not poisonous. This is a relatively playful touch that... honestly kind of highlights how bad things are between Phoenicis and Kilvas.
Especially when he stands next to Naesala, who is very open about how mysterious he is and how untrustworthy you might find him. Despite Tibarn's wishes.
- Tibarn:
- 昔、セリノスで開かれていた
鳥翼の会合じゃあ――
俺とラフィエルとで、
年下のやつの面倒を見てやってたろうが。
- Naesala:
- まったく記憶にないねぇ。
- Tibarn:
- ……ラフィエルと、
リュシオン、リアーネ。
それにロライゼ様………
セリノスの生き残りは、たったこれだけだ。
Slipped in here is a mention that Tibarn and Rafiel looked after the younger heron royalty during bird tribe meetings in Serenes. Naesala is not mentioned to be part of this.
I'm not sure this is necessarily true, but perhaps there was no distinction between Phoenicis and Kilvas- both islands were considered one nation. I wonder how the division happened- it feels like it should tie into a later plot point, but it doesn't do so in an obvious way.
- Tibarn:
- ……あの時、もっと
早く気づいていればな。
助けられた命も多かったろうによ。
- Naesala:
- …うちのもうろくジジイだけじゃなく、
あんたも大概セリノスびいきだな。
- Tibarn:
- 別にセリノスだけが特別じゃない。
今回のようにキルヴァスが
鳥翼の仲間のために動くなら、
いくらだって手を貸してやるぜ？
- Naesala:
- やめろよ。
こっちは馴れ合うつもりはない。
- Tibarn:
- 鷹の民と鴉の民は、
元はフェニキスで共に暮らしていた。
いわば兄弟みてえなもんじゃねえか。
おまえが隠し事を
洗いざらいぶちまけるんなら、
本気で助けてやってもいいんだがな。
This is a bit of a "we stick together" sort of talk, and also a discussion about how the bird tribes will move forward here. I honestly don't entirely get this one, and I'm going to chalk it up to the language barrier this time.
Tibarn is curious about some of Naesala's secrets.
Naesala is like "I have so many secrets, I can't be expected to keep track of them all." Really sums up Naesala in one sentence there.
Now this is an interesting quote. In addition to being potentially another instance of laguz not actually being as meritocratic as they have been implied to be, it is possible that Naesala's rise to power is indeed the same bloody event that comes up later. It would be a very good narrative decision if this were true, and that's why I'm leaning towards saying it is.
Naesala has a very good reason for leaving it until "after this war" in particular.
Tibarn's hoping that he can get friendship with the ravens back after all.
Naesala has this lovely quote. At what point has Naesala ever been trustworthy?
Tibarn says that, while the hawks and ravens share the goal of looking out for the herons, there is no reason they must pursue different paths. Tibarn actually takes looking out for Rafiel as seriously as Reyson and Leanne, despite how he just turned up one day. I don't think Naesala and Rafiel's connection is ever particularly considered.
"..." while no one else is looking. Never a good sign.
And a check in with the Begnions, while we're at it.
Ooh, a Begnion generic with a different helmet. Of course it's face-concealing. And, well, technically this isn't a substitute soldier, it's a generic knight. At least the game is keeping the appearances of random soldiers fresh.
This is General Levail, of the northern forces. Why he thinks he should have control over this aggregate army isn't clear to me, but he is intended to be a sympathetic Begnion enemy commander. I think he's technically the game's Camus, in a much more traditional "knightly loyalty to his flag" kind of manner, but he doesn't really have that extra oomph that Brunnya, Lloyd, Selena and Shiharam brought to the role. Many don't consider RD to have a Camus at all. I, personally, am of another mind- however, Levail is not my choice.
It is of note that the northern nobles have no particular agreement over who their overall general should be. They all want to shower in the adulation of the position, but none of them want to do the duties. Levail should be a perfect patsy for getting all the stuff, but the nobles don't even want to give him the chance to take the credit.
だめだ。嘆かわしいことだが…
聞く耳を持たれている方は
誰一人としておられないようだ。
諸公の興味は、極力自軍の損害を抑え、
他貴族軍よりどれだけ多く
戦後の褒賞を得られるか…それのみだ。
They are also partially motivated by keeping their own losses to a minimum.
Yeah, uh... if we kick their asses, they get zilch reward. And if they don't accept Levail as a commander and organise a proper plan, that's what's going to happen.
I don't believe Levail is ever said to be a landowner. Zelgius is the Earl of Kadohl, for example, but Levail is no Count, Earl, Duke, or Viscount. Like many works set in sword and sorcery eras that aren't religiously committing to being about politics (ie most video games), RD does not reflect the differences between such titles, preferring to choose the coolest sounding one for the situation.
Considering the fact you're wearing red armour, I don't think you are.
Titania gets another top position. We'll be able to contest that properly this map.
I don't actually know what Boyd and Oscar are talking about. It's just a disposable conversation to be having before being interrupted.
Somehow I get the feeling this is not a true statement.
So this woman is familiar with the Three Brothers. As mentioned last chapter, she recognises Oscar and Boyd if they come to visit, but does not recognise Rolf.
Oscar is terrified.
Boyd immediately goes on the defensive.
Apparently this woman did not go through the proper channels to get this far in. I wonder if she's been running from this Gallian before starting this conversation.
It's certainly terrifying from her perspective to be chased down by the laguz.
"Friend" is... stretching the truth to breaking point. Oscar, as the most reasonable member of the three brothers, at least wants to hear this woman out before anything happens to her.
Yeah, uh... Oscar was honestly probably considering that decision for longer than a few moments.
Considering she thought she was going to be eaten by laguz last map, not a particularly laguz-positive character.
Boyd gives her the tiniest inch he can make.
This woman is here for one person in particular.
Oscar does not believe she has any authority to press this claim.
Despite not (obviously) recognising him in the village conversation, this woman and Rolf have history, and she would like to continue it.
To her surprise, Boyd is not of the same mind.
Right. Time to stop beating around the bush and explain who this woman is and why this conversation is so good.
This woman is Rolf's biological mother. In PoR, we had a few mentions that the brothers' family situation is "Mum left and Dad died". "Mum left" implies Mum can come back.
She wasn't the best mother. In fact, she sounds like a pretty terrible one.
This is indeed a pretty unenviable situation. As I've previously mentioned, I believe the brothers' dad is Tauroneo's younger son and that he is grievously wounded rather than sick, but this conversation doesn't really require one option or the other to be truth.
Dealing with the situation was so bad that she gave up and ran away. Leaving Boyd and Rolf with a dad who can't feed them and no clear caregiver. You'd think there'd be someone in a village who'd pitch in, villages in the time were very much about looking out for your neighbours. This is also another bit of evidence for the idea that they are somewhat foreign, although this could just be the narrative not taking that historical fact into account.
The blink frame. This is the only point in the duology it is ever made explicit, but the three brothers are not all full blooded family- Rolf is the half-brother of Oscar and Boyd.
Oscar and Boyd are this woman's step-children, and the idea of her abandoning them is less repugnant than the idea of her abandoning Rolf, her flesh and blood child. Not, like, less repugnant enough for me to let her off the hook for it, but, well, she did both.
Thoughts and prayers. And no action. Why are you even in Begnion?
Of what, it is never mentioned. There are several good choices. Starvation? His illness catching up to him? His injury caused him to collapse in a way Boyd couldn't save him from? Whatever it is, I feel like we're invited to believe she is at least somewhat responsible. Or perhaps he would've died anyway and she just picked an unlucky time to abandon them.
The reason Oscar abandoned his knighthood? To make sure Boyd and Rolf didn't die of neglect. Think about how the Greil Mercenaries give him a leaner paycheck than the Knights.
Before you point out how useful he'd be as a Knight paying the bills, I don't know at what point in the timeline this was (and get the sneaking suspicion it's possible to place with a keen eye for detail), but Boyd is six years Oscar's junior and it is reasonable that Oscar could be a Knight and Boyd could not have the responsibility to actually pay for the things the pair need. Especially considering Boyd's current personality and how quickly he has to learn.
And whose fault is that?
Now you realise.
The failures of parental figures is a huge theme in Three Houses, although usually it's the father in that game. Parental abandonment does make an appearance, with the case of Gustave. As much as this woman really has done little to earn audience sympathy, she's still honestly better than Gustave.
Boyd tells her to get lost. She had her chance a long time ago. And multiple chances every time she ever thought of the brothers since.
You have some serious guts, lady. There is zero chance you're getting that.
I find it really interesting that last map had a scene where Boyd and Rolf fought to the point of Rolf running away from the conversation. They really wanted to demonstrate how brothers who fought still stuck together when it counted.
Oscar has a different idea.
Although both of these characters have the wrong idea about why.
Oscar still thinks this woman is a piece of work, and probably agrees with Boyd on a personal level.
But it's not his choice to make. It's Rolf's. And he deserves to make it. He's fifteen years old now (if the artbook ages are worth their salt), and we allow children to have a say in their custody arrangements at thirteen today.
Rolf's decision is even more firm than Boyd's.
Rolf had to look real close to even get the impression she was his mother. He was twelve in PoR, and when you consider when this abandonment was likely to take place... Rolf could honestly have still technically been a toddler.
Rolf is far happier here than he could ever be elsewhere. Honestly, even a good mother has an uphill argument to make here.
I think we're meant to assume Oscar is crying, although his expression may not necessarily reflect that they are tears of pride.
Go away and stay away. I feel like a lot of people would feel it justified if Annette got the chance to give a similar suggestion to Gilbert, although she's a very different person to Rolf and is still clamouring for his fatherly attention.
Boyd comes over pretty quick. I think we're meant to assume not much time separates these screenshots, but I wonder who's dealing with Rolf's mother while they're switching brother.
And nice that they really tie in with what I mentioned earlier.
Rolf's family is Oscar, Boyd, and the rest of the Greil Mercs.
And Boyd couldn't be happier for it. I'm sure the players who wanted to try raising Rolf would be having some angry words if anything else happened.
Rolf's mother promptly disappears from the story, and none of the brothers care what happened to her. And honestly, more power to them.
Onto the conversations the main playthrough got, here's Heather flirting with Ilyana. Brom, Nephenee and Haar don't get to appear in Base conversations in this chapter, although Haar gets one later.
Honestly, I don't have much in the way of reason for it, I actually ship Heather/Ilyana over Heather/Nephenee like most people tend to stick to. What can I say, the woman who steals for a living quarters the woman who eats more than her body weight in gold.
Speaking of which, Ilyana getting a conversation is almost entirely for another chance to show off Ilyana's hunger. I mentioned Mia had a fan on the dev team somewhere, but Ilyana is definitely the writer's pet of somebody to get five PoR Supports and spill over into RD significantly.
So how does Heather react to the situation?
First off, she finds Ilyana really adorable.
A scout for her interests.
And decides to use her looks to make some man cook her a meal and then steal it for Ilyana. Considering Heather has a grand total of four conversations to work with (yes, we have now more or less seen the extent of the game's Heather content), she is a very interesting character, especially as a canonical lesbian in 2007- back then, someone actually asked the devs if Heather's preferences were because of a traumatic experience with men! Not unsupported by the text (Brom's recruit convo implies that Heather certainly doesn't have a clean past with men), but that question would (or at least should) be taboo today.
Incidentally, the developers said that Heather was just born that way. Considering they're making the Ninian-equivalent for Ike a male character in the same game, both an encouraging and an expected answer.
I know someone who believes that Ilyana's brand of hunger is an intentional con. Having this moment when the conversation is named "What Goes Around" is certainly good evidence for it, and Zihark's PoR Support implies a certain nugget of truth to it. My main personal counterargument is that I don't really understand what the con is. Clearly this girl has the metabolism necessary to put down so much food and not lose her wiry frame (which is not impossible, I think I could pull it off), but what does she have to gain from eating so much food that she bankrupts people? Free meals, sure, but surely it's more profitable to keep the people able to pay later? Besides, she's travelling with merchants, I wonder what having her around does to their profit margins.
The Japanese version calls this Base conversation "仲間たち", which machines translate to "Friend(s)". Honestly, so many conversations with an interesting title in this version are just "仲間たち", and with multiple titles, you get them numbered- last chapter, for example, was "仲間たち", "仲間たち 2" and "仲間たち 3".
From the sounds of it.
If you take the above theory as true, this is a nice little "ah, totally unsuspicious behaviour here!" moment. It's not a half bad idea, really. It would certainly make Ilyana more interesting- although still not as interesting as her screentime suggests.
Ike honestly believes that Ilyana's head is empty of all but food.
She remembers the people with good food.
That was certainly a base conversation. Although remember "Feast or Famine", and how much food this army was consuming before having Ilyana in it? There is no way this army has not driven at least three Begnion prey animals to extinction for sustenance.
Onto another character who is defined by her character gimmick, Aimee has been reunited with Ike and is ready to resume the hopeless flirting.
Ike, in the three years since PoR, has gathered more of a spine, and has had it up to here with Aimee's shenanigans while he attempts to do shopping.
"...So is that a blank check to take whatever I want for free?
I think shopfics are an entire genre of fanfic.
Switch the genders in this conversation and it would be completely horrifying. Well, it should be. I will say it helps that Ike has so much physical power to protect himself if necessary, but he also has like no social power at all in this conversation.
Ike could probably get out of it if he really wanted to, but not without hurting Aimee and he doesn't think the situation is that bad. Although he is really regretting his life choices in coming here in the first place.
This deal is so hilarious. Other than the idea that our army now includes so many beautiful women that I hesitate to put Aimee in the top five, there's the fact that Ike is making any bargain whatsoever for... access to his hand. Like, not even as an innuendo of any sort, just... he wants his hand back.
Well, that certainly sweetened the deal.
Ike will do anything to get out of this conversation, free stuff is a bonus.
Ike is bailed out of this situation by the one person who a) is prepared to exercise reasoned decisions on Ike's behalf and b) has an incentive to interfere in Ike's love life.
Soren. I think Titania is the only other person who might've intervened on his behalf and been even the slightest bit successful.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, even when it is your hand.
Just look how long you spent in the same area as Elincia and how many people, in universe and out, are calling you meant for each other!
Ike scoffs at the notion.
You've got him on the ropes, don't admit it, Aimee!
Ike, at some point in this conversation, has regained access to his hand, and slams the eject button so hard it breaks.
I can only imagine Soren cracking his knuckles and cricking his neck. Well, assuming he could do either without breaking his bones.
Soren unleashes his secret weapon.
...This is absolutely hilarious, and I'm wondering when and why Soren learned how to flirt. No way it's for use on Ike, the man couldn't tell flirting from capital D Diplomacy.
Aimee's happy with it.
Soren tries to get his hands on that discount.
Considering Aimee only offered it to get in Ike's pants, she really has no incentive to honour it.
Soren really doesn't interact with the women in his company all that much. Even Titania and Mist kinda tiptoe around him in conversations where both are participating. You'd think, with all the scenes in PoR where Titania and Soren both advise Ike, that the pair would have more interesting things to say to each other.
Half price is better than nothing.
And success! Once off, but we did it!
We got our hands on a Silver Card! Fire Emblem has traditionally had two special Cards for use in shops, with the Silver Card being one and the Member Card being the other. With the transition to having shops available at all times while not in combat, the Cards have lost their tactical value and become too broken to continue to include, but they snuck in one last appearance for the Silver Card this time. Ish.
If Aimee allowed us to keep this item, it would just be far too absurd a prize, especially for a Base conversation. If we had to acquire this through, say a random Hidden Treasure tile, perhaps then we would be allowed to keep it.
Soren has successfully scammed our item clerk.
If you're curious, one can obtain the Silver Card elsewhere in the series through the following methods:
- Shadow Dragon and its remakes: Inside a chest in Gra Bastion.
- Mystery of the Emblem: Dropped by a Thief reinforcement in Khaedin.
- Genealogy of the Holy War: An innate skill of Dew, and a reward for visiting one the villages in Southern Agustria. It is less powerful here because of the unique mechanics of this game.
- Thracia 776: The uniquely innate skill of Shanam, who is a mutually exclusively available character.
- Binding Blade: Buried in the desert sands of Arcadia.
- Blazing Blade: Stolen from Aion in a sidequest map, but only available on Hard Mode. There's a second one for people with access to the Mario Kart Double Dash!! bonus disc.
- Sacred Stones: Buried in the desert sands of Jehanna.
- New Mystery of the Emblem: A reward for sparing all of the Clerics in Khaedin (not on the highest difficulty).
- Awakening: A reward for clearing "Infinite Regalia" in the paid DLC.
In this game, it applies to all the shops so long as someone in our party or the convoy possesses it, but in other games (other than Awakening), only the person visiting the shop could benefit from the Card- in other games, "who is visiting the shop" is an actually meaningful thing, since shops are actually map features you have to go out of your way to use. The ability to shop any time you please and without forcing one character in particular to do the shopping is what really breaks the Silver Card.
Also, in the American version, the Silver Card help text includes the line "Does not earn any Training Points". This is a reference to the JP forging mechanic- since items sell for half price, you could theoretically buy as many weapons as you can afford, sell them all, and get a kajillion FP for your efforts at no cost. The "Does not earn Training Points" clause is the game bluntly patching this option. The fact the Americans didn't remove the clause fuelled the belief that there were remnants of the FP mechanic in the INT version of RD (specifically, that access to higher tier forges was governed by selling weapons). This is not true.
Well, if we're actually going to be using the Silver Card, we need actual cash. I notice Ilyana packed two Gems and a Howl scroll I really don't think I'll be using seriously.
None of this stuff, except the Slim Sword, is really treasure, but it's good to possess it.
We're rich! Rich and with discounts!
...Aw, this isn't worth much? I think I wind up selling it anyway. There's honestly not many doors in this game, and having a staff unit cast Unlock on a door is so passe in comparison to just... breaking it down. Or using Heather.
This is also money.
Today's Bargains. I pass on the cheap Arms Scroll, but it's (relatively) important to have at least one Wyrmslayer later and they're only available in Bargains, so might as well grab this one.
Spectre Cards are in the shop, then? That's a bit of a price tag considering the Silver Card is on, though.
I don't show off my purchasing decisions, but I can summarise it as being more or less "10 Steel Blades, 7 Steel Greatlances, 5-7 Steel Poleaxes, some Knives for Heather, a few extra Elfires and Elthunders, and this Iron Blade for Titania's Sword rank."
My money after the fact.
Brom and Haar also brought these Skills for the girls to play with. When they say "drop", they mean "make it no longer equipped"- Heather must Steal the weapon before a Disarmed enemy can be said to surrender the weapon. An enemy "dropping" a red item is slightly different, despite the wording. Disarm is Skill/2%.
Ilyana uses this Discipline for her tomes instead of the Dawn Brigade's. They'll need it for other purposes.
Mia claims both of the Crimean boys' skills. The idea is that any enemy she doesn't kill is being shut down.
Mist picks up Adept.
I usually wind up making this Support in All Girls. Both partners are contributing Atk, and both partners would like some of that. The no Avoid kinda stinks, but both of them have plenty of it anyway.
Ilyana still has her Support with Meg and are you kidding me?
Well, if we're going to lose it anyway...
So how's that battle we fancied?
Not worth talking much about.
Oh, how I have missed this screen.
A casual run is allowed to bring every single character they have recruited to this mission, but after this, you'll be asked to make benches. This is a good mission to figure out who those might be. For us, though, we'll have plenty of room until much later.
Oh yeah, and before I forget, Nephenee gets one of these. Not actually a HP cap.
We'll do the actual fighting next time.
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