Welcome to the Salmo region! The fact the region is highlighted here is why I suspect the seventh Senator is from Salmo. That Senator would either be Numida or the unnamed fellow I've been calling Seliora, and we're not fighting either today.
Well, that's very nice, but Tibarn/Elincia doesn't seem like a pairing to worry about that. I guess Reyson, probably, but the Daeins would be impressive.
The Daein in this army isn't impressed. World peace isn't that easy.
Pelleas's thought is detached, since he's killable, but he's also worried about things other than what Almedha is worried about. Or maybe they are worried about the same things. Definitely in different ways.
All right, who do we know that is completely unforgivable...
Elincia is still worried about Almedha, as is her nature. No matter what, Elincia will worry about you.
...OK, what happened to get to this point?
Pelleas is exhausted for more understandable reasons. Of course this is a thing that happens and Pelleas would suffer from.
Pelleas and Ashnard are completely not alike one another, and to be honest, that kind of also applies to Pelleas and Almedha. Ashnard and Almedha were like two peas in a pod, and how exactly Pelleas came out from that pairing is looking less and less explainable by the second.
Almedha is very definitely Deg's child, at least. And a chip off the old block, too. Well, aside from the stubborn neutrality.
Elincia also observes that Almedha and Kurthnaga are alike.
Which dovetails into this almost entirely unrelated train of thought.
This is the major introduction to the idea that a laguz can understand a lot about a person just through the nose. Even the birds, which aren't a species of animal typically associated with scent, have this trait.
And as for Almedha... not actually a laguz. Probably? Something about her has changed.
- Elincia:
- 良くない言葉ですが……
俗に”印付き”と
呼ばれる方なのでしょうか？
- Tibarn:
- 黒竜王がベオクと交わったとでも？
それは、天地がひっくりかえっても
ありえねえ話だろうぜ。
”親無し”は、むしろ
ベオクに近い匂いがするって話だ。
それでもないから…分からん。
Elincia asks if Almedha is a Branded. Tibarn tells her there's no way in hell Deghinsea ever so much as looked at a beorc woman. Besides, Branded smell like beorc. Mostly.
This reminds Elincia that Almedha mentioned this to her. This is where a fairly... strange plot point crops up.
Well, OK, Tibarn also knows songs Elincia doesn't. Not that I doubt it, but it's a fairly humourous idea, that Tibarn is more cultured than Elincia.
This part is fairly obvious and fairly reasonable. If Brandeds are a bad thing, then the process that created them is also a bad thing. I'm completely down with this part.
This is the part where I stop jiving with this plot point. This is an actual thing that happens: laguz lose their powers on... well, either conception or birth. And this counts the men, too, this isn't something to do with the actual process of rearing a child in a laguz body. Whatever we're supposed to think of Branded in this setting, it is inextricably linked to the fact that the laguz are inherently threatened by their proliferation.
Both examples of a no-longer-laguz parent are very well done examples of the phenomenon and how one might react to it, but in the greater social context of Tellius, this is a really bad thing for beorc/laguz relations and is only going to end poorly.
We have an eavesdropper!
...
Er, somehow.
Oh, don't worry, it's just Lucia.
...Bastian? Well, on the other hand, Bastian has finally shown up!
Bastian has been off doing his own thing. Although I wonder how he knew where to look to find Elincia. Presumably, him and the company he kept survived due to the "strong" rule (ie named characters), but after that...
Yeah, I think this is the appropriate reaction to Bastian's sudden appearance in the middle of this high-stakes situation.
What are you waiting for?
...Uh, we were talking in a public place before? Reyson is a reasonable request, but this confuses me a little more.
At least he's not speaking in iambic pentameter anymore. Possibly. Maybe he is in JP and the translators this time decided it wasn't worth bringing it back.
I've had the misfortune of knowing plenty of people like such. Bastian is very quick-and-to-the-point compared to them.
- Elincia:
- ユリシーズ、あなたは
いままでどこにいたのです？
突然、連絡を絶ってしまって…
とても心配していたのですよ。
- Bastian:
- デインにて……
長く探っていた”鍵”にめぐり合いまして。
それ故、表より姿を消し、
策謀を巡らしておりました。
全てはクリミアの未来のために……
- Elincia:
- ？？
- Lucia:
- まったく、あなたの悪い癖ね。
回りくどい説明は抜きにして、
本題にたどり着くことは
できないのかしら、ユリシーズ？
While Tibarn's gone to pick up Reyson, Elincia asks Bastian what brought him here. Bastian begins the first paragraph of his answer, and Lucia tells him he really doesn't need to read all fifty pages. Well, more or less, Bastian hasn't actually prepared a long explanation for Elincia. I hope.
And Bastian, on being exposed to Lucia, has abandoned his shreds of political competence and started fawning over Lucia in the creepiest way he possibly could. It's hard to speak highly of this man when we can't leave him in a room with the spymaster.
I wonder if Bastian is just doing this to try and keep Lucia's hands out of Elincia's skirt. Clearly, it's not working.
Oh hey, Geoffrey's here too! He came to help out Bastian at some point.
There's also this cloaked fellow. No idea who this is or why Bastian has him around.
Elincia and Geoffrey share a moment of relief. Geoffrey, you parted ways because someone needed to babysit Crimea. I think Geoffrey was doing that until the Judgment.
...Volke, too. We haven't seen him until now, come to think of it.
Whatever it is that we use to describe Volke's services, they must be preceded by an ellipsis and surrounded by double quotes. Sure, he's a... "fireman".
Geoffrey wants to remind Elincia/the audience about who Volke is.
Volke has other ideas. What were you doing during this half hour... "Fireman"?
- Bastian:
- …例の男がどうしたと？
- Volke:
- 逃げたようだな。
- Bastian:
- 『逃げるのを黙って見ていた』
……そうではないのか？
- Volke:
- 生憎だが、あの男の見張りは
契約に入っていなかったんでな。
Apparently, Bastian did not specifically hire Volke to play lookout on the prisoner, so he didn't do it.
Bastian really wants to keep this mysterious prisoner imprisoned.
Volke, of course, is in Bastian's employ because Bastian has his two favourite qualities:
Pays on time and in full. This better not be Crimean gold, Bastian.
And off Volke goes. It can't be said he's not good value.
Bastian, unfortunately, now has to inform Reyson and Tibarn that he can't have that secret conversation now, he's got to deal with this "escaped prisoner" situation.
Reyson would be glad to go back to sleep. Hopefully not too irritated tomorrow morning.
...Why is he even...
Well, I guess there are a lot of questions one could ask about that man that demand answers.
Answers are not forthcoming.
Which is in itself a question that needs asking. Geoffrey is hiding things from Elincia? I didn't think it was possible.
First thing in the morning: Demand answers.
Yeah, kinda figured. She kicked a lot of it.
Three Base conversations today, all of which have notable viewing requirements.
"Innocent" is a conversation the player can always access, and it stars Calill's adoptive daughter Amy! She came back to contribute to the story!
Elincia knows Amy. Well, she was on polite terms with Calill, but still, she somehow found the time for this kind of a relationship with her. I'm going to assume the nobles gave her all of the crap for that choice.
And this is how we know Geoffrey was still in Crimea come Judgment.
Geoffrey, who had absolutely zero context about anything, was completely confused by a) the sudden petrificiation of everybody and b) the fact it did not include him.
Amy was alive, though. For... reasons that none of these characters know.
Largo is, as far as I can recall, the only named character to explictly be petrified and not employed by Ashera. Apparently losing an arm cost him a lot of "strong points".
I'm going to assume Calill already knew, or at least guessed.
Amy recognises her mother's name.
And yes, she is in fact in the Hawk Army!
And off they go to go say hi to her.
Reyson and Tibarn poke their heads in to pontificate a little bit about what the hell is going on here.
Most people did, mostly because that's the general impression one gets when the sample size of "people who are not petrified" are the more-powerful-than-usual named cast.
There is a concrete explanation for Amy's being spared, but how exactly we got "all of the named characters survived" gets nothing of the sort. Perhaps it's about how Chaotic the person is.
And Amy gets to be reunited with her mother!
Largo being completely unresponsive made an impact on Amy.
But don't worry, Amy, we're going to be right on it! Daddy will be back in action in no time!
Well, isn't that adorable?
Innocent is interesting because there are three variations on the conversation. The other major variation is, of course, how Amy will react if Calill is not in the Hawk Army.
This comes right after "What am I going to tell Calill?" "Mummy is here?"
Would the herons report on deaths over the Sending Stone?
Being unable to return to both her parents is a huge deal for her. Considering she's adopted, I wonder if she remembers what happened to her birth parents.
Ranulf is here to save the day!
...Look, I'll give you Elincia. But when the hell did Calill and Largo introduce Amy to Ranulf?
Mildly implying that if Amy is bad, this is not going to happen.
...Well, you say that...
Mummy and daddy will be back in no time, just let us get to work!
I still can't help but be bothered by the way they phrased this.
Time to put the tiddly-wink to sleep.
Although Amy would like a teddy bear to sleep with.
Ranulf takes it in good humour. My objection to Ranulf knowing Amy is not "why are Calill and Largo exposing this child to strange people" (that ship sailed when Amy got brought to the tavern), it's "when did Ranulf of all people have the time for this".
I've tried this with my dogs. For as long as they've tolerated it, it's been a 5/10 experience. I'm going to assume Ranulf's got something going for him.
Amy is tickled pink.
Ranulf is happy to lend a hand for Amy. At this point Tibarn and Reyson show up and the conversation ends as normal. So what about the third outcome?
Elincia: I’m so sorry, Amy. Your mother is…
Amy: Mommy’s not here?
Elincia: I’m so sorry…
Amy: M-Mommy… Mommy! Daddy! Sniff… Wahhhh!
Ranulf: Hey, don’t cry, Amy! Mommy told you not to cry, right? Remember?
Amy: K-kitty-cat man…?
Ranulf: Good, you remembered me! Listen carefully, all right? If you’re good and travel with us without complaining, you’ll get to see Mommy really soon. Does that sound good?
Amy: Really!?
Ranulf: Would I lie to you, pumpkin? And I’ll tell you a secret… If you’re patient, we’ll even find a way to get your daddy moving around like usual!
Amy: I’ll be patient! I won’t cry anymore! I promise!
Ranulf: Good. That’s my girl!
Lucia: Amy, it’s late. Let’s go to my tent and get some sleep. All right?
Amy: Um… Kitty-cat man, will you come, too?
Ranulf: Sure. I’ll even let you sleep on my furry belly.
Amy: For real? Yay!
Ranulf: Don’t tell anyone, but my belly is super comfortable. You’ll be asleep in no time!
Lucia: Wow, that’s great, Amy. Let’s get going.
Amy: Yes! Kitty-cat pillow! Kitty-cat pillow!
Ranulf: I feel like a horrible person.
Elincia: Ranulf…
Ranulf: It’d be too cruel to tell her the truth now. I’ll apologize to her after we get Largo back to normal. Until then, please don’t tell her the truth. I’ll catch up with you later.
Yeah, as superfluous to 75% of team comps as she is, I'm not killing Calill for this.
Pelleas has a conversation with Tauroneo today. This conversation is, of course, governed by whether Pelleas was spared, with no conversation at all appearing otherwise.
Pelleas would like to discuss something with Tauroneo.
Interesting. So it turns out that, at least in JP and NA, both outcomes bring up the whole "faded blood pact mark" plot point. Us EUR people have to spare Pelleas for it, though.
Pelleas seems about as well informed about what's going on as Micaiah. Which is about to be expected.
Whatever happened, we need to be aware of it.
Pelleas continues to hold out hope they can undo the mistake Pelleas got them all into. Because, quite frankly, what else can he do?
Thousands of deaths were on his head, and the goddess gave him the chance of a lifetime for an "undo" button. He'd be foolish not to take the chance to lighten his burden.
Tauroneo will continue to stand by Pelleas as he works, as Tauroneo is want to do. This man needs to retire.
Well, this is certainly not something the player is missing if they didn't spare Pelleas. Pelleas is the only person able to make meaningful use out of Dark tomes.
Apparently, the artbook has something to say on the matter:
It may seem strange that Water (Ice) and Dark are missing, but it is commonly accepted that it is to maintain hegemony among the people of the modern era. Water was one of the miraculous powers of the Creation Goddess Ashunera, and Dark was the evil power of the Dark God Yune. It is likely due to these associations that it is forbidden for the average person to study these types of magic.
Tauroneo was not the one to source this particular tome, though.
Almedha's still doing everything she can for her son.
Which puts Pelleas in a bit of an odd spot. The things he's been worried about involve his relationship with his mother, and the tighter Almedha clings on, the more conflicted Pelleas feels about what he has to tell her. At least Pelleas is still working on "what that is".
Fenrir is the siege tome. Pelleas started with one of these in his inventory, and these two are the only two you get. Pelleas didn't try throwing any Fenrirs at me in 3-E, but if he did, this might be a nice back-up for that?
"Birds" heavily involves everyone's favourite hawks, Janaff and Ulki. If they're not in Hawk Army, you don't get this reward.
They're fighting over which of them will receive an item from Tibarn, and both are in the position of not wanting to be the one to possess it.
Ah great, personal insults...
Tibarn is getting sick of watching this conversation.
...Politeness or lack thereof in this line, I think this is Tibarn's business.
Janaff? Tibarn might not act like it, but he has feelings too!
...I think. I may also be offending his manly sensibilities by insinuating that, I dunno. I don't think Tibarn is that kind of man, though.
Tibarn, I don't think either of them deserve a reward.
Let's see, you insulted Tibarn to his face and jeered at Ulki multiple times.
Tibarn does tell Ulki not to let Janaff have so many openings. Which isn't the worst thing in the world...
Good question. I don't think they know either.
I wonder how insane this sounds now that one of them has said it aloud.
Reyson certainly finds it insane.
Sure he is, Janaff.
Yune above, you both are pains in the arse.
Reyson decides that enough is enough, give it to somebody.
Reyson seems to be the only person in this conversation who cares about helping Tibarn more than this argument. Honestly, probably counting Tibarn.
Good things are only good if the person you're talking to is of the same mind.
Tibarn is done with these weirdos who may or may not have defected to the Greil Mercenaries 14 chapters ago.
That's got them to stop arguing.
That sounds... reasonable?
Janaff does not seem convincing here. Then again, it's Janaff.
Reyson is glad this argument is over.
And Tibarn tells them how ludicrous it was they just got schooled by Reyson. With that said, Reyson is tough as nails, this isn't as pathetic as it sounds. Although the argument was still pathetic, just for other reasons.
Time for these two to grow up a bit.
It seems they're prepared to focus on what's important at last.
...
Guys, have you forgotten your people were genocided? Please try to stop trying to kill each other, you're running out of people!
This turns up in Janaff's inventory. Honestly, I wonder if the fact this is such a terrible skill is supposed to be a punchline to this conversation. No wonder neither Janaff nor Ulki wanted it!
...I don't want it either.
Today in the Bargains, "Birdfoe" gives Effective damage against Flying types, to complete the trio of Beast, Bird and Dragonfoes. This upcoming map is the only one Birdfoe is good on. I get it anyway, for completeness.
Bastian comes with a Corrosion, which I steal, but it's still not that great a skill.
Laura gets Discipline back, mostly because she's the only person in this party who really cares about her Ranks.
This is my favourite skillset in the game. Just give a level 30 laguz these skills and prepare for some untransformed mayhem. With any luck.
Lucia picks up a few skills of her own to ensure her survival. Sadly, she can't get much for her stats, but Blossom is the only real tool for that.
I had to use at least one of these. And especially one on a Cat. Rend is only available on Cats, so you have to use a Satori Sign to even see it- the laguz royals have all the other ones covered.
30 Capacity fills up most of the bonus she got for being a level 30 unit (she still has 35 free Capacity, more than Reavers and Marksmen), and to be entirely honest, Masteries aren't going to be the greatest thing ever soon, but I practically had to bring it at least once. x5 damage, I don't see anything living to see the shock.
With Rend up, though, this nearly fills up her Capacity. Ah well, she's good enough without more.
And hey, might as well give her that level up. Resistance cap.
...That's four caps, actually. Tempting, tempting...
I went for it.
That's six caps now. And she's guaranteed to omnicap. Ladies and gentlemen, Lyre.
She was fairly close to her next level, I just gave her this anyway. Also fairly close to omnicapping. I think she's actually one stat-up from it now.
Bumping up these two. Elincia/Lucia is only happening if Lucia makes it to Endgame, sadly.
Elincia picks up Dragonfoe. Seemed like the best use of her skills, especially since she's probably already handling birds with ease.
Oh hey, can't forget to remove this skill! Leanne will grab this and not let go, it's not that spectacular on anyone else.
Calill decides to be the Birdfoe user. I mean, she has Wind tomes for that, but also...
Our battle today will be to assist Bastian and Geoffrey to deal with this "escaped prisoner" situation. The fact that Geoffrey specifies "laguz" is interesting.
Tibarn's happy for a dawn battle, unlike Skrimir.
Elincia and Lucia were not invited to assist. For some reason.
And Geoffrey continues to not invite her.
Lucia is not impressed.
Yeah, let's not pretend this is going to stop us.
- Elincia:
- 後を追いかけましょう。
- Lucia:
- エリンシア様？
- Elincia:
- ティバーン様にご協力を願い、
私たちには事情を隠そうとする……
きっと危険なことに違いありません。
- Lucia:
- ええ、おそらく……
- Elincia:
- もう、離れ離れになるのは嫌です。
私たちは同じ隊の仲間……
死ぬのも生きるのも共に。
- Lucia:
- そうですね。
Lucia wonders why Elincia wants to follow them. Elincia knows that, if they asked Tibarn to come, it's probably dangerous work, and she doesn't want her friends to die while she's somewhere else. She and Mist really lean on this fear quite a bit.
...Is that who I think it is? Are those laguz? Are those dragon laguz?
Elincia pops up and asks what the hell is going on here.
Taking responsibility for this broken world, same as you.
Oh, Feral Ones. Well then, this is going to get messy.
These Ferals are all working at the behest of a twisted wizard standing in the centre.
I'm not sure if this is necromancy or if there's still a detachment of Feral Ones somewhere out there that the wizard is summoning into his presence. I hope it's necromancy.
Well, that's convenient. Other than the horde of Chaos-controlled beasts bearing down upon us.
...I thought he looked familiar. So Izuka can finally pay for his crimes from way back at the beginning of the story.
I notice Kilvas is not on this list. But yeah... if Tibarn gets his hands on this man, Izuka will be begging to die.
And he summons even more!
Ah Yune, he's gone completely cucco. Give it up, man.
Elincia finds herself up against quite possibly the only man more deserving of death than Valtome.
And so shall we take arms against Izuka and finally strike back against everything he has done to everyone.
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