Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete
- Thread starter SoaringHawk218
- Start date
- Fantasy
Sorry, already called it. I had been planning to just roll a dice, but since @JAGwin edits my posts, they get to do the tiebreaker.
- Pronouns
- He
Right, then, let's see if I can remember how to do this…
Thank you kindly.
The Battle of Dragon-night (Part 1)
[X] Plan Maniple
-[X] Night
-[X] 3 Forward Strike Groups
--[X] Group 1: Artemis, 13 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
--[X] Group 2: Axton, Lancel, 13 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
--[X] Group 3: Count Sobieski, 14 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
-[X] 3 Support Groups
--[X] Group 1: Ryza, Angela (and her flight)
--[X] Group 2: Phoebe, 4 cavaliers, 1 troubador
--[X] Group 3: Princess Alina, 1 Troubador, 3 cavaliers
-[X] Sister Selinda
-[X] Night
-[X] 3 Forward Strike Groups
--[X] Group 1: Artemis, 13 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
--[X] Group 2: Axton, Lancel, 13 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
--[X] Group 3: Count Sobieski, 14 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
-[X] 3 Support Groups
--[X] Group 1: Ryza, Angela (and her flight)
--[X] Group 2: Phoebe, 4 cavaliers, 1 troubador
--[X] Group 3: Princess Alina, 1 Troubador, 3 cavaliers
-[X] Sister Selinda
"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt!"
-Emperor Sun Wyrmblood
"So, what's the plan?" Melissa asks eagerly as you find her sitting at the edge of the camp's hospice area. "Are we going to fight the Imps? I've been hearing horns blowing and drums beating for ages!"
Forcing yourself not to get distracted by the sounds of groaning men and women and the scent of blood, illness and death, you shake your head. "The decision was only made a few minutes ago, so I don't know about ages," you say. "But yes, the Kingdoms are going to be going and trying to knock out one of the Imperial armies that're threatening to invade us." As your friend perks up, a grin spreading across her face, you fold your arms and frown. "Which means we need to find Sister Selinda. I have to go help Artemis, along with most of my friends, so she's the person I know best who'll be able to stay here with you."
Melissa wilts. "But I can help!" she says, gesturing emphatically with her staff. "From what I've heard from the injured, the False Savior's men are more numerous than the Kingdoms, so there's probably going to be a lot of injuries!"
"We have a plan to deal with that," you say, willing yourself to believe in it completely. Artemis's plan to save Starhelm and defeat the scouting group had both been good, and you get the feeling that the others are smart too. They wouldn't have created a plan that they didn't think would succeed, even if it was more aggressive than you'd really like…
'I know,' your dragon-self thinks, the flickers of your discomfort amplifying into a queasy tone that surely isn't helped by the fact that she's far more in-tune with your sense of smell than your heart-form is. 'But if we don't hurt them, they'll hurt us, and we have to stop that, right? And they should be as weak as they're going to get right now…'
Gently channeling her worry down to a manageable level, heart-you continue speaking. "But I promised your mother that I'd make sure you stay safe, and that's what I'm going to do. Which means we have to find Sister Selinda. Is she here?"
The Solar Knight trainee clearly wants to keep arguing, but as you give her your best imitation of Mother's Look (hoping she ignores the fact she's noticeably taller than you), she sighs. "I think she'd just be finishing up her circuit of the wounded," she says, looking around. "Whenever possible, healers cycle in and out of infirmaries like this, to give us a chance to recover our energy and trade out staves while hopefully preventing us from getting overwhelmed by… by what we see." Taking a deep breath, she hops up on her box to get a better look around before pointing. "There she is, I see her!" she says.
Flapping up into a hover, you confirm that the woman Melissa's pointing to is in fact the troubadour. "Alright, let's go talk to her," you say, hoping that she'll be willing to look after Melissa. You'd considered asking Kelton or Belle, but Belle will be needed to try and keep the night-march going smoothly, and while you trust Kelton completely you're not entirely sure Melissa wouldn't be able to smooth-talk him into allowing her to do something she shouldn't!
Hopefully, Sister Selinda's position as an higher-ranking member of the same faith will keep Melissa in line.
It takes a few minutes to work your way over, and when you reach Sister Selinda you're surprised to see Princess Alina had made it there first and the two were engaged in conversation. "Sorry, are you both busy?" you ask, not wanting to wait and give Melissa time to come up with more reasons she should be allowed to go, or at least left without supervision.
Princess Alina glances over at you, giving a sad smile. "I was just checking to see how the wounded are doing," she says. "Even victories bring their casualties. Is there something you need, Mistress Levinheart?"
Nodding, you look to Sister Selinda. "So, I was hoping I could ask you a favor, Sister Selinda," you say. "While was helping Ar- Lady Cartese up in the Divine Realm, we made friendly contact with some Solar Knights. Melissa here was allowed to come down here and observe what's going on, but I promised to keep her out of danger. I have to go help with the battle tonight, so I can't do it myself. Would you be willing to keep her with you, back here at camp?"
Sister Selinda frowns. "With a major battle upcoming, every healer will be needed," she says. "Her Highness was just commanding that we do what we can for the worst off before handing their care to the mundane medics. I had thought that Cadet Melissa would be accompanying us. She shows great skill in the healing arts, and while she has not gone through formal combat training she does have her upbringing as a member of the Solar Knight to fall back on."
You frown even as Melissa preens happily. While that makes sense it does put you in a bit of a bind. You suppose you could ask some of Sister Selinda's non-magical coworkers to look after Melissa, but you've never talked to any of them, so that wouldn't really fill your promise to leave her with someone you trust. On the other hand, you don't want to dump the problem on Kelton or Belle, and asking any of the Agrithians seems-
Before you can fall too deep into a thought spiral, your other self "pokes" you and directs your attention towards Princess Alina, who you notice is studying you with a frown. "Mistress Levinheart and Lady Cartese told the war council some of their agreement with Knight Corona Mother Marina," she says carefully. "And while it would be my preference to have as many healers on the front line as possible in case something goes wrong, keeping faith with the Solar Knights by ensuring their representative remains safe and informed is important. I will ask, Sister Selinda, that you see to that."
You throw the northern Princess a smile. "Thank you, your Highness," you say, hoping you're remembering the proper titles. Mother, those can get annoying at times…
Princess Alina nods. "You have done well by the Northern Kingdoms, Mistress Levinheart, and Hornglade in particular," she says. "And we will be asking more of you so long as this war goes on. It is only fair that we do our best to support your reasonable requests."
Glancing at Melissa, you're not surprised to see her looking disappointed. "Your Highness, Sister, I can help…" she says.
"Sol Invictus teaches us that there is a time to step forward and to take the lead, and a time to step back and support others in their endeavors," Sister Selinda says, a tiny note of ice creeping into her voice despite her clear efforts to suppress it. "It seems that tonight is our moment to step back, Cadet Melissa. There are people here who need our care still. By your leave, Your Highness?" Princess Alina nods, and the two healers retreat back into the maze of tents.
(???: 6, 20, 18=Partial Success)
…Is it just you, or did they put their heads together a little quickly and lower their voices below your ability to overhear? 'I hope Melissa's not trying to get into trouble,' you think.
'You know, that's a little rich coming from us,' Dragon-you thinks, having apparently absorbed a weird combination of your worry and your feelings of needing to prevent problems. The joys of having a part of yourself following emotions wherever they go. 'What with all the things we do. Mommy wouldn't be happy.'
'We didn't really have a lot of choices,' you remind her. 'We were often the only ones who could do something in time. I'm sure Mother would understand.' You can't dispute, however, that Mother would be very unhappy with some of the stunts you'd pulled, even if she could accept they were necessary.
Before your dragon can respond, Princess Alina puts a hand on your shoulder and guides you away. "We still have a lot of preparations to make," she says. "You have done your due diligence, none can deny that."
Sighing, you look up at the bigger mage, feeling the coils of White magic flowing around you. "I know, but I can't help but worry," you say. "About everything."
"Nothing is ever certain in war," Princess Alina says gently. "But now, you should find Dame Angela and her flight. The four of you are going to be our best defense against whatever wyverns the Empire will put up to defend themselves." She grimaces. "And I have to go find another troubadour to accompany my group. We're going to be the primary source of reactionary healing for any of the strike groups that get into trouble."
"I can help with that too," you say, weaving a quick healing spell in one hand.
The princess glances at it for a second before nodding. "That is true, and if necessary you may be called to prove that. However, your primary focus should be on preventing aerial detection of our attack. While any warning will be bad, wyvern knights will not only have more information, but be able to get it to the Imperial army more quickly and as nobility will likely have the training to recognize what we're doing. Preventing them from escaping to warn the enemy is essential."
You suppose that makes sense. "Alright, I'll go find them," you say. "If I don't see you again before we leave; good luck, and be careful."
Princess Alina nods. "Be careful yourself, Mistress Levinheart," she says. "May Sol Invictus shine on you, even in the darkest of nights."
"And may the First Mother fly with you," you respond, spreading your wings and fluttering off to avoid being trampled by a group of Parvei cavaliers hurrying to their own assembly point.
It takes a few minutes to find the Whitewings. It seems that Angela and Alexandra had gone out to do a sweep of the area to make sure no Imperial observers were watching the preparations for the coming battle, leaving Bucephila to coordinate with Artemis and the others to set up the plan for the attack.
"We'll have three main strike forces, primarily Agrithian with elements of Parvei heavy cavalry," Artemis is explaining to a group of minor nobles and senior yeomen as you arrive. "I'll lead one force, Count Sobieski a second, and Axton and Lancel the third. Meanwhile, Dame Phoebe and Princess Alina will command our reserves, while Mistress Levinheart and Dame Angela will provide air cover." She looks around. "You've all done excellent work, keeping the Empire jumping at every hoofbeat in the forest. Tonight is the culmination of that effort: a chance to smash an entire Imperial army and send the survivors running back to their treacherous Regent with their tails between their legs!" A cheer rose up from the group. "That being said, the Imps aren't going to just roll over and die for us, they're well trained, and they're actually starting to gather into squadrons worthy of the name, and they just need to survive to make a mess of our plan. Your job is to ensure they don't. Hit hard, hit fast, and show no mercy!"
You force yourself not to ruin Artemis's speech with a grimace as another cheer rises from the group before they begin to split up to touch base with their own clusters of men and women. You still don't feel completely comfortable with how eager everyone seems to be to kill everyone who disagrees with them, but you've accepted that it needs to be done. At least until someone sane in the Empire is able to make the Regent stop. Channeling a weave of determination and hope to the fore of your mind, you hurry over to Bucephila.
"Well, looks like we're going to be working together again," the Whitewing says, brushing her pegasus. "One of these days, we'll have to get you that honorary membership Angela's mentioned."
You prevent yourself from rolling your eyes with some effort. "You all really want me to be a Whitewing, don't you?" you ask.
She grins. "Hey, you live in the mountains like us, you love flying, and your mere existence makes the Empire annoyed and uncomfortable," she says. "As far as I'm concerned, you're most of the way there already." This time, you're unable to keep your eyes under control, causing the woman to laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're Lady Cartese's girl through and through, but we can dream, right?" She shakes her head. "But seriously, since we are going to be working together for as long as we're up here, you should probably learn a few of our hand and flag signals to make it easier for us to communicate."
That catches your interest. You've always loved learning new things, and you'd seen Angela and the others convey shocking amounts of information to each other in what looked to you like a few simple gestures. "Sure," you say.
As the rest of the attacking forces organize, you listen attentively as Bucephila walks you through the basics of the Whitewing's signal language, helped by Angela and Alexandra when they return. You can immediately tell this is something that had developed over centuries, and unlike human writing you can't fall back on the similarities between it and Makai to make the learning process easier. Still, by the time the Mother's Gift sinks below the horizon and you're ready to move out, you have enough of a grasp that you should be able to communicate a few very simple ideas.
"This was fun," you say, trying to repeat the comment with your hands.
Angela chuckles. "Unless you meant to say that you wanted to smash someone's head in, you'll need a bit more practice," she says. "But for now, we have a job to to. We've seen a few wyverns around during previous nighttime raids, so we'll probably see some more tonight." She gives a nasty smile.
"Let's show them that their flying lizards aren't the biggest, meanest things in these sky anymore."
'We're not mean!' Dragon-you thinks grumpily as you flap your wings and follow the three into the dusk. 'We are perfectly delightful! Artemis said so!'
'I know,' you think soothingly as you look around. While each of the groups of riders has a few lanterns, you know that they'll be closing them up as soon as they get to the thin, scraggly forest that twists along the border on its way north to the Divine Realm. 'But right now, we need to be scary enough to make the Empire stop fighting.' Your other self shrugs mentally, but doesn't comment with words as you take the lead, your eyes scanning the gathering darkness ahead as your ears lengthen, trying to catch any sound that might point you towards a threat.
Time seems to slow down, and you're reminded of the night you led Artemis, Axton, Lancel, Kelton and Actaeon away from the Talons and bandits on the way to Legerius. How long ago had that been? Weeks? Months? Mother, do you even remember anymore? So much has happened since you woke up, and so much more is at stake. You find yourself wishing Father and Mother were here, so that you could ask them what to do, but they're not. They're with the Mother now, and you have to be strong enough to do this yourself.
"Ryza," you hear Angela hiss from where she and the other Whitewings are hanging a ways behind you, their larger white mounts more at risk of being seen than your small heartform. Looking back, you think she's hand-speaking to ask if you see anything. Clumsily, you respond with a negative before scanning the ground. It takes a minute, but you're able to pick out one, two, three advanced groups in a loose wedge below and behind you, with Artemis's group in the middle. A bit further back, the two squadrons of reserve riders are a bit more lit up, with Alina and Phoebe trying to keep everyone together. Then, you squint and look further back. The infantry are moving, and for the moment they seem to be going in the right direction.
Hopefully Belle's able to keep them on the proper path.
Dragon-you suddenly cuts to the fore of your mind. 'Hey, turn our head to look at that mountain in the distance,' she says, an icy chill overtaking her thoughts as she focuses on your hearing. Trusting your shared instincts, you do as instructed. '…Metal armor… horses… we're hitting the perimeter.'
Nodding, you turn in the direction your ear had been pointed, your eyes scanning the dark ground. After a second, you spot them: a few clusters of men on horses. While your vision is in black and white and you can't read any of the uniform colors or banners… you already know where all your friends are in this area, which means that these must be the Imperial sentries.
Quickly, you turn and flap back to Angela; you don't completely trust your grasp of hand-signal language to convey complex information. "I see them," you whisper as you reach the Whitewing, not caring that there's no way any humans could hear you this high up.
"Where?" Angela asks, her eyes glinting slightly in them moonlight as she pulls her mount into a holding circle.
You point. "I see a few groups," you say. "No wyverns."
Your friend traces your pointing, her lips twisting into a grimace. "Can't get a good count," she says, pulling out a bullseye lantern and turning her body to block it from the east as she starts opening and closing it, aiming at the Kingdom troops. "Any ideas?"
'About fifteen in each group, maybe a few more.' your dragon think. "We could go take a closer look," your heart continues after letting Angela know.
She immediately shakes her head. "Too risky," she says. "If they're following normal patrol patters, they'll have an even mix of cavaliers and mounted archers. You're good, Ryza, but you're squishy. Those bowmen get a look at you…" she shakes her head again. "No, we follow the plan; we point the strike teams at them, then we keep our eyes out for the wyverns. There are going to be a few around, I'm sure of it. It's our job to make sure they don't report back."
You nod, that was the plan. Still, as you look down to see your friends and the Kingdom riders with them (and Count Sobieski) advance towards the Imperial defenders, you find yourself running your finger along your dragonstone. You could make a difference-
"I know you can, Ryza, but we have to pick the right moment," Angela says, causing your face to heat up. Had you said that out loud? "I've spent time with other-you, and… well, no offense, but it's probably best for her to wait until there's a clear, singular course of action for her to take, rather than having her try to adapt to a rapidly changing situation on the fly. She… didn't seem very good at that."
'Rude!'
Before you can decide if you want to protect your dignity from Angela's comment or let them slide for the time being, the decision is taken from your hands by motions in the Imperial groups. "They saw something!" you say worriedly, pointing.
"Heard, more likely," Angela says. "I don't see any riders going back, though; they probably just think this is another raid. We've had enough nighttime skirmishes that they're wary to them, but that means they'll probably stick together and come to fight. Hopefully, by the time they realize that this is a more serious attack, it'll be too late for them to do anything about it."
You nod, but you don't take your eyes off of Artemis's group, your wings flexing and your fingers crackling with lightning as you force yourself not to dive down to help. Artemis is your friend, and you want her to be safe, but she's a big girl and she can take care of herself. You haven't seen any wyverns yet, but their hearing is almost as good as dragons, so if there are any nearby they'll probably come to investigate. You have to be ready for that.
Still, as you watch Artemis's yeomen form their attacking wedge formation, with their cavalier support using them as cover to hide her presence, you can't help but feel your heart leap to your throat.
US:
Artemis: 6s+1s+2a.s.
Battalion: 5Steel 2, 4, 2 =14s Rerolling
13 Yeomen: 5Steel, 5, 4, 5, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3 = 34 Rerolling
1 Cavalier: 3 Rerolling
THEM:
Yeomen: 2, 3, 3, 5 Steel, 5 Steel, 3, 5 Steel = 29 Rerolling
Cavaliers: 6 w. Silver, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6 = 42 Rerolling
RESULT: Win by 1-2: Kill 1d6(5) Yeomen and 1d6(6) Cavaliers, no escapes
Artemis: 6s+1s+2a.s.
Battalion: 5Steel 2, 4, 2 =14s Rerolling
13 Yeomen: 5Steel, 5, 4, 5, 2, 3, 2, 4, 3 = 34 Rerolling
1 Cavalier: 3 Rerolling
THEM:
Yeomen: 2, 3, 3, 5 Steel, 5 Steel, 3, 5 Steel = 29 Rerolling
Cavaliers: 6 w. Silver, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6 = 42 Rerolling
| Us | (6, 9, 1, 5, 10, 3, 1)s // (9, 2>9, 8, 3>4, 2>10, 5>4, 5>3, 5>10, 5>4, 1>1, 6>8, 7)s // (9, 3>5, 8>8, 10, 3>8, 2>2, 5>2, 6>2, 3>8, 2>10, 9, 5>3, 4>5, 4>3, 10, 9, 7>5, 2>9, 7>4, 2>8, 5>10, 2>8, 7>4, 4>7, 6>4, 1>10, 6>3, 9, 5>5, 10, 8>5, 6>10, 8>10, 10) // (3>1, 2>1, 7>6) |
| 23+2=25 | |
| Them | (1>1, 10, 8>8, 3>3, 7>3, 6>6, 2>8, 2>8, 4>4, 9, 8>8, 1>7, 9, 10, 4>1, 4>7, 5>10, 9, 5>3, 8>3, 5>7, 3>6, 1>6, 3>3, 6>9, 8>4, 6>6, 7>4, 4>9) // (5>1, 3>10, 5>10, 7>4, 9, 5>4, 5>4, 5>10, 1>2, 3>3, 4>8, 3>2, 7>1, 3>7, 8>1, 10, 6>5, 9, 6>4, 4>7, 6>1, 5>1, 7>9, 10, 3>9, 3>10, 5>5, 3>7, 10, 7>2, 1>10, 1>7, 7>10, 6>1, 2>10, 7>2, 7>4, 3>8, 2>2, 6>6, 10, 7>8) |
24 |
RESULT: Win by 1-2: Kill 1d6(5) Yeomen and 1d6(6) Cavaliers, no escapes
You faintly hear the whistle of arrows as Artemis and her yeomen shoot into the still-somewhat disorganized Imperials; they'd mounting up but hadn't yet formed their own battle-line. You also faintly hear the cries of men and horses, though you don't think it's loud enough to travel very far for human ears.
However, it seems that the Imperials were not completely unprepared. Their own armored cavalry swirl together, one of them waving a lance that glints bright silver in the moonlight, and charge the approaching Kingdomers. Meanwhile, their own group of mounted archers cluster into their own formation, raising their bows for a volley of their own.
However, just as they they unleash their own arrows, Artemis's whistle reaches your ear, and the wedge of yeomen splits in half, shooting a wave of arrows into the approaching cavaliers. They seem to have aimed for the horses, which were either less armored than the ones you'd seen before or had their armor removed to make them faster. If that was the case, it backfired horribly, as a half-dozen of the creatures fell with pained cries, dropping their riders with them.
The remaining cavaliers, disoriented, try to split to chase after their attackers, but the Parvei cavalier accelerates, dodging most of the ill-aimed volley of Imperial arrows and catching a few on her armor. Then, she cuts across the Imperial cavaliers, and seemingly acting on instinct they turn to chase her as she gallops away, clearly intending to lead them on a merry chase to give the yeomen time to work.
Meanwhile, the Agrithian skirmishers move to engage their Imperial counterparts. Under Artemis's guidance, the Agrithians get another volley off into their opponents before the Imperials can reorient. A bunch of the horse-archers fall off their mounts, including one that had clearly been turning to ride away. It seems like Artemis is doing well
You let out a sigh before turning your attention towards Axton and Lancel's group, which had been a bit further away from the Imperials they'd been going for.
US:
Axton: 5s Rerolling
Battalion: 5Steel 4, 2 = 12s Rerolling
Lancel: 5s Rerolling
Battalion:5Steel, 5=11s Rerolling
Yeomen: 3, 4, 4, 2, 4, 5, 2, 4 = 28 Rerolling
Cavalier: 5 Rerolling
THEM:
Yeomen: 5Steel, 2, 4, 5 Steel, 5Steel, 5Steel, 2, 5Steel, 2 = 40 Rerolling
Cavaliers: 6 Silver 3, 6, 5, 6, 5, 6, 3, 6= 48 Rerolling
RESULT: Tie : Kill 1d6 (2) Yeomen and 1d6(5) Cavaliers, loose 1 yeoman, one potential escapee
Axton: 5s Rerolling
Battalion: 5Steel 4, 2 = 12s Rerolling
Lancel: 5s Rerolling
Battalion:5Steel, 5=11s Rerolling
Yeomen: 3, 4, 4, 2, 4, 5, 2, 4 = 28 Rerolling
Cavalier: 5 Rerolling
THEM:
Yeomen: 5Steel, 2, 4, 5 Steel, 5Steel, 5Steel, 2, 5Steel, 2 = 40 Rerolling
Cavaliers: 6 Silver 3, 6, 5, 6, 5, 6, 3, 6= 48 Rerolling
| Us | (1>10, 8, 1>6, 9, 1>1)s // (4>1, 1>7, 9, 9, 10, 4>8, 8, 5>4, 7, 1>10, 4>1, 1>1)s // (2>5, 3>8, 1>2, 3>10, 5>7)s // (7, 5>1, 3>3, 5>1, 8, 7, 10, 7, 7, 4>1, 10)s // (1>8, 1>10, 7>2, 4>10, 5>3, 6>4, 8>9, 2>10, 8>4, 7>9, 2>3, 8>4, 2>1, 1>10, 5>6, 10, 8>3, 7>10, 3>9, 8>2, 5>10, 2>1, 7>4, 7>8, 4>7, 1>6, 2>2, 6>2) // (6>3, 7>8, 7>7, 3>2, 2>3) |
| 31+1 (Lancel skill a.s.) = 32 | |
| Them | (8>4, 7>5, 1>7, 9, 10, 6>8, 6>2, 10, 6>4, 8>2, 9, 5>2, 4>8, 8>7, 3>1, 10, 2>2, 6>7, 10, 4>2, 3>9, 1>4, 10, 10, 4>8, 3>4, 4>4, 1>4, 4>1, 9, 4>2, 6>1, 9, 2>2, 4>3, 10, 5>6, 2>8, 3>7, 7>9) // (6>9, 9, 6>4, 2>10, 9, 7>10, 8>10, 5>3, 1>10, 3>8, 4>6, 1>1, 3>6, 4>1, 4>9, 4>1, 4>7, 7>6, 8>8, 8>2, 1>3, 1>8, 8>10, 4>9, 3>6, 10, 2>2, 2>1, 2>5, 1>1, 1>7, 5>4, 3>7, 8>6, 7>10, 9, 7>7, 7>9, 6>9, 6>6, 1>3, 7>10, 1>3, 9, 5>3, 5>9, 3>1, 4>9) |
32 |
RESULT: Tie : Kill 1d6 (2) Yeomen and 1d6(5) Cavaliers, loose 1 yeoman, one potential escapee
The slight difference in the time it took this second group to get to their target meant that the Imperials have a few precious seconds more to prepare their counter-charge. Once again, Agrithian yeomen and Imperial cavaliers take the fore of their respective formations, with arrows striking into the melee warriors. The attacks take their toll, but by a combination of greater numbers and a more disciplined leader these cavaliers are able to keep up with the split, forcing the Agrithians to fall back.
A few arrows fly at the Imperial light cavalry, but on the whole they remained relatively untouched, and their return shots injure some of the Agrithians and even send one of the friendly cavalry tumbling from his horse. Your heart catches as you see them land badly, if the arrow hadn't killed them… the way their neck twisted surely would have. Thankfully, you're pretty sure it wasn't either Axton and Lancel, but it was still one of their friends, and that hurts.
Unfortunately, the un-harrassed Imperials seem more able to make a plan. As the cavaliers continue to hound the Agrithians and their archers prepare another volley, you see one of the enemy horsemen hanging back. While they aren't making a break for it yet… it's clear that they're ready to if they deem it necessary.
US:Count Sobieski, 14 Yeomen, 1 Cavalier
Count Sobieski (Lvl 6 Silver): 8 Rerolling
Yeomen: 2, 5 Steel, 5 Steel, 4, 3, 3, 5, 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5= 53 Rerolling
Cavalier: 5 Rerolling
THEM
Yeomen: 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 5 Steel, 3, 5 Steel, 2 = 33 Rerolling
Cavaliers: 6 Silver, 5, 3, 3, 6, 4, 5, 3 = 37 Rerolling
RESULT: Win by 1-2: Kill 1d6(3) Yeomen and 1d6(2) Cavaliers, no escapes
Count Sobieski (Lvl 6 Silver): 8 Rerolling
Yeomen: 2, 5 Steel, 5 Steel, 4, 3, 3, 5, 2, 2, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5= 53 Rerolling
Cavalier: 5 Rerolling
THEM
Yeomen: 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 5 Steel, 3, 5 Steel, 2 = 33 Rerolling
Cavaliers: 6 Silver, 5, 3, 3, 6, 4, 5, 3 = 37 Rerolling
| US | (7>5, 8>4, 5>6, 9, 5>7, 9, 2>3, 1>10) // (1>10, 9, 8>8, 9, 10, 10, 8>7, 6>5, 4>9, 2>3, 3>1, 4>2, 4>5, 3>1, 9, 1>3, 7>10, 10, 8>3, 10, 2>8, 1>9, 5>5, 5>2, 8>7, 9, 8>10, 9, 7>1, 5>5, 6>2, 9, 7>2, 7>2, 5>9, 1>9, 1>4, 5>4, 3>5, 2>9, 8>3, 7>5, 9, 6>8, 7>8, 3>5, 3>4, 9, 1>5, 10, 10, 8>1, 10) // (7>6, 6>5, 6>4, 7>10, 6>7) |
27 | |
| THEM | (7>4, 7>4, 1>2, 8>1, 1>2, 2>9, 9, 6>8, 5>5, 10, 5>1, 1>3, 2>5, 10, 1>5, 10, 9, 8>7, 6>5, 5>3, 2>3, 8>7, 2>3, 3>9, 6>7, 7>8, 6>9, 8>2, 2>10, 3>4, 3>7, 1>1, 10) // (9, 5>2, 7>4, 8>4, 9, 6>7, 1>3, 2>3, 8>5, 5>4, 2>4, 10, 9, 6>2, 5>3, 1>3, 8>6, 4>10, 2>7, 6>10, 7>7, 8>8, 9, 6>5, 3>3, 10, 10, 5>6, 5>9, 8>4, 10, 9, 9, 10, 7>1, 6>1, 9) |
25 |
RESULT: Win by 1-2: Kill 1d6(3) Yeomen and 1d6(2) Cavaliers, no escapes
You almost don't spare a glance in the direction of Count Sobieski's group; while you don't want any of them to get hurt, they're not your friends in the same way as Artemis and Axton and Lancel are. Your dragon-self, however, has already sunk into a hunting mindset as the smell of blood and the sounds of death reach your nose and ears, and she draws your head to at least take a brief look.
Being a more heavily armored knight than your bow-wielding friends, your heart sinks as you see the Count leading his group far closer! True, he had more men than the others, but not by that much! However… as the lines look set to fully clash, it seems that he had chosen his approach well, as you spot the faint line of a fence of some kind that the Count turns his group along, forcing most of the Imperials to break off.
A few are able to compel their horses to make the jump over the fence, but that just brings them into the reach of the two cavaliers that had positioned themselves covering the Agrithian horsemen. Count Sobieski expertly spears one of the enemy cavaliers with his lance before drawing his silver sword and slicing at another who gets too close. That one is able to stay on their horse for a few more strides before the other Parvei cavalier knocked him down with a jab of their own lance. Meanwhile, the Agrithian yeomen were able to send a volley of arrows just before the Imperials could, meaning that while there did seem to be a few minor injuries, all of the Kingdom soldiers were able to keep riding, pursued by the Imperial cavalry. Still, it seemed that the close clash had gotten the Imperials' temper up, as they made no effort to split someone off to warn their camp.
"Things seem to be working out for the most part!" you say excitedly. "We could quickly drop down on the group harassing Axton and Lancel, they're the only ones that seem to be having any real tro-"
Before you can finish, a screech splits the air. Spinning, your eyes widen as you see a pair of wyverns rising from a hilltop further east; you'd missed them! Thankfully, they're both flying towards you rather than trying to go tell the main Imperial army what was going on, but they still represented a greater threat.
"We could, yeah," Angela responds grimly. "But it looks like it's time to earn our pay. We'll have to trust one of the other support groups to go help your friends, or for them to wear the cavaliers out and pick off the Imps' yeomen-wannabes with superior skill. Biggest danger is if the Imps try to run, but if the support groups can get into position fast enough, they should be able to chase down any runners."
You hesitate for a moment, your eyes tracking between the two options. On the one hand, you trust Axton and Lancel, but they're your friends, if anything happens to them… and besides, hadn't everyone said preventing the Imperial sentries from warning the main camp is vital? True, Artemis and Count Sobieski seem to have that handled, and you can see some motion from the support groups moving up to see if they're needed, but in the chaos of a night battle they might not make it in time. On the other hand, the wyverns do need to be dealt with…
You-
[] Go with Angela and her flight to challenge the wyverns. That's something the four of you alone can deal with. Axton and Lancel will be okay, surely, they're both tough, they know what they're doing…
-[] Fight in your heart-form.
-[] Fight in your dragon form (choose an emotion to transform in/how many rounds)
[] You quickly tell Angela to go help Axton and Lancel; you can handle the wyverns, or at least keep them busy. Your Yellow magic will work well against their Red, and you're a better flyer than they are!
-[] Fight in your heart-form.
-[] Fight in your dragon form (choose an emotion to transform in/how many rounds)
[] You just can't abandon Axton and Lancel, not after doing so at Legerius! You go to help them, trusting Angela and her friends to hold the wyverns off. They're good at playing keep-away, and the wyverns will probably get mad enough at them that they'll keep fighting until you get back.
-[] Fight in your heart-form.
-[] Fight in your dragon form (choose an emotion to transform in/how many rounds)
[] Write-in
AN: Well, I'm still alive. Just fighting that old specter of writer's block. I had bits and pieces of the chapter lying around, but could never muster up the motivation to put them together and finish it.
I would like to thank @gamer50018 for motivating me to get my head back in the right place and finish up.
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Nice, welcome back.
- Location
- Florida
Ooooooooh today is a good day!
I'd prefer to stick with our battle group, in dragon form.
- Location
- USA
It's back!
- Location
- in between
No problem - glad to see it back!
So we have two issues here - the Wyverns, and the sentries. One of the yeomen teams (do we know what those promote into? I think they're an original class - never heard of them before) is having trouble, and they include party members so I really don't like leaving them out to dry, but at the same time I recall our PegKnight friends saying that assuming both are pre promotes they usually want three to one odds against Wyverns, and they don't have that unless they get lucky and split them up. However, there is one thing I feel Ryza missed - Siege magic. We have confirmation that in addition to her breath attack working off of our strongest version of Thunder, Dragon!Ryza can still use all other forms of Yellow magic. And we know Bolting.
The plan, therefore, seems clear - first of all, to get this done ASAP, we hand the reins to Dragon!Ryza for three to four turns, initiating the transformation once we're close enough to not need to waste turns flying over. We lead with an Elthunder Breath, and if it still lives, we get in and use our fangs and claws to finish it. Then, once the first Wyvern Rider is dead, we turn and fire a Bolting with full Dragon power towards Axton and Lancel's enemies, prioritising the one who seems to be planning to flee. Once this is done, we return to Ryza's Heart, and take whatever recovery time is needed before joining the Pegasus Knights in defeating the second Wyvern. Does anyone see any flaws in this plan?
The second idea is to simply take the second premade option - have the Pegasus Trio aid the skirmishers, while we handle the Wyverns. This will again likely need Dragon mode, as I don't like the idea of a 2v1 with how fragile Ryza's Heart is. In this case, we will likely need to leave Dragon!Ryza in charge for longer, which may backfire - even in Determination mode, where she's best at following the plan, she's still bad at the whole look before leaping thing.
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Yeomen are basically Nomads from Fire Emblem 7, reflavored to be skirmish cavalry for a more typical mediveal-fantasy kingdom rather than quasi-Mongolian nomadic people. I haven't 100% decided on their promotions yet, but one would be a reflavored Nomad Trooper (gain ranks in sword, will probably have a skill that helps them in close combat) and the other will probably double down on their ranged combat and skirmishing.
As for Dragon-Ryza, she unfortunately doesn't have the mental focus to use spells other than the Thunder line as her breath, so no sadly no Bolting for her. Not that she'd like it much anyways, she's an up-close-and-personal creature.
I'm glad you're liking the quest, even with the long hiatus.
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
So on the one side, Axton and Lancel are the most outnumbered / outmatched; on the other hand Wyverns are a capital-P Problem.
Can we split the difference?
Throw a Bolting at the guy in the Axton-Lancel group who's looking to flee as we close the distance with the Wyverns for some air to air combat in heart form?
Can we split the difference?
Throw a Bolting at the guy in the Axton-Lancel group who's looking to flee as we close the distance with the Wyverns for some air to air combat in heart form?
- Location
- in between
Huh, thought you said otherwise earlier... than again two months, you might've changed your mind. In that case, we switch to Plan B - Dragon Ryza clears the skies, the Pegasus Knights handle CAS patrol.
Ah, that's it. I figured they might promote into Bow Knights or something like that. Honestly a list of the various classes would be handy to have, I can't figure out which ones are in and which ones aren't, hehehe...
[X] You quickly tell Angela to go help Axton and Lancel; you can handle the wyverns, or at least keep them busy. Your Yellow magic will work well against their Red, and you're a better flyer than they are!
-[X] Fight in your dragon form (Determination - "Clear the skies and protect our friends", 6 rounds starting when we are close enough to land an Elthunder Breath).
--[X] Once Dragon Time ends, Heart Ryza uses Bolting to provide siege support.
- Location
- in between
.... erm.
My sincerest apologies for double posting, but I just now noticed that the maps - both Manakete and Human - seem to be broken and are now error images. @SoaringHawk218 , could you, uh, take a look at that?
My sincerest apologies for double posting, but I just now noticed that the maps - both Manakete and Human - seem to be broken and are now error images. @SoaringHawk218 , could you, uh, take a look at that?
You switched from first person to third person and then back to first person.
That semi-colon should be a comma.
That semi-colon should be a period, and that "she" should be "She".
That semi-colon should be a period and that "while" should be "While".
That colon should be a period and that "the" should be "The".
That colon should be a period and that "we're" should be "We're".
That semi-colon should be a period and that "it" should be "It".
That semi-colon should be a period and that "they're" should be "They're".
That semi-colon should be a period, and that "you" should be "You".
That semi-colon should be a period, and that "the" should be "The".
"continues"
"You"
Something is missing here.
"it"
[X] Go with Angela and her flight to challenge the wyverns. That's something the four of you alone can deal with. Axton and Lancel will be okay, surely, they're both tough, they know what they're doing…
-[X] Fight in your heart-form.
Stick to the plan! Our allies are not idiots, and the support groups are already moving to intervene, so we should do our job and clear the skies.
As for fighting in heart-form, Dragon!Ryza is not subtle, and this is currently a stealth operation. Save dragon-mode for when we hit the camp.
If I ever said otherwise, I apologize, I'd always intended for Reza's dragon form to be much more powerful than her heart-form, but more limited. If you remember what post I'd said that the dragon form could use Bolting, please let me know so I can correct it.
...of course they are. Thanks for letting me know, hopefully they're working now.
Thank you as always.
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- Location
- in between
They appear to have switched places while you weren't looking, but they do work.
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Y'all are seeing maps?
- Location
- in between
Check Informational. The Manakete and Human maps are in each other's posts, but they do work now.
Wow I'm out of it
Thanks, they should be in the right place now.They meant the world maps, there aren't any battle maps for this combat. I wanted to force myself to get something out rather than get too fancy.
@SoaringHawk218, is it just me, or is the map for the Marble Hall not working?
Looks like something went wrong with the pictures, I'll take a look at them. EDIT: Okay, I think I figured out the problem, and I'm going through and fixing the ones I suspect of being problematic. Please let me know if you see any more.
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- Location
- in between
Hm.
Some thoughts:
In game terms, we're still on like Chapter 8 of the game, and Fire Emblem is usually like 50 chapters, so we know very little about the main plot. However, we do know a couple things I think might be important:
1. The Manakete responsible for the deaths of Ryza's parents was Shyrlonay, High Elder of the Black Dragons. Given how Ryza's father description of his followers as having all gone mad, as well as the timing, we can assume he is also the Fell Dragon who fought the first Emperor.
2. All human magic invariably involves stealing a dragonstone, grinding it to dust, and using it to amplify the relatively weak level of magic humans can naturally muster. Humanity learned how to do this at around the same time as the war, with the official histories claiming a mysterious Old Master taught the First Emperor and his companions the secret. He also gave them four Masterworks, presumably the Regalia of this setting, which are the only ones powered by a fully intact dragonstone.
3. No history of the war or its aftermath mentions the existence of the manakete heart-form - even the name "manakete" was lost until Ryza woke. Notably, there is evidence of heart form Manakete and humans living together in the Union - which means knowledge of the heart-form was actively lost somehow.
4. A manakete who loses their dragonstone goes completely, irrevocably insane. This feral state is seen as the only justified reason for a manakete to slay one of their own.
5. The Fire Emblem is the dragonstone of the Fell Dragon.
6. There was a prophecy of four shining Wyverns confronting a gigantic dragon over a burning city. Notably, young manakete in dragon form are easily mistaken for wyverns from afar.
From these points, I have two competing hypotheses and one fairly solid theory about the main plot.
Hypothesis the first : The Fell War was begun by humans intentionally as an excuse to murder manakete en masse for their dragonstones, with the Emperor and companions simply being the leader of this greed fueled genocide. All evidence of dragons being the aggressor is manufactured justification post facto.
Obviously, this is a rather depressing theory I hope was untrue, as it implies humans in this world were fundamentally so consumed by lust for power as to genocide an entire species and steal their souls as magic reagents. However, we cannot ignore the possibility the Fell War really was just an excuse. I consider this the less likely explanation though, as it doesn't explain why Mother was so against Shyrlonay - if humanity really did decide to commit genocide for power, I don't see why she would be against fighting them for obvious reasons.
Hypothesis the second : The Fell War was begun as a result of a power grab by Shyrlonay, during which he either intentionally or by accident caused many other manakete to go feral. The resultant rampage of insane, heartless dragons caused the destruction of manakete history and the general hatred of Ryza's people.
I personally heavily suspect this is the case. In the original Fire Emblem games, the reason manakete work the way they do is due to a form of degeneration causing any dragons who remained in their true form to go insane, with sealing their powers into a dragonstone the only way to escape it. Obviously, degeneration does not work the same way here - but a running theme I've noticed, in every post where we're told of dragons committing some crime or another during the war, is how Ryza can't explain why her people would do that - that the actions attributed to them do not make sense, with no rational explanation for why they would do such things.
But if they had been driven feral, they would not need a rational explanation.
This of course comes with questions of it's own - key among them being "Why the hell would Shyrlonay drive his own people insane", but given the track record of Fell Dragons I'm not sure he needed a reason to commit acts of grave evil. And we know that Ryza's father said his followers were mad - perhaps he was being entirely literal.
Theory : The Fell Dragon shall return, with four manakete children standing against him.
This theory is my explanation for the vision the Marble Hall's resident black mage had earlier. As I said, a young manakete, from a distance, is indistinguishable from a wyvern - so long as their forelegs aren't clearly visible, they look about the same. During character creation, we were given four traits to choose from - Ryza's ability to fly in Heart Form, being a hybrid with traits of both tribes, having our dragonstone physically part of our body, or having super empathy. The Promised Princess spoken of in the Divine Realm is supposed to have some form of super empathy, and comes from a land ruled by a White Manakete who was called a queen. I suspect this isn't a coincidence - somewhere out there, there are three other surviving manakete children, and at some point, the Fell Dragon shall attempt to return, with that being what the black mage saw. If I am right, our main objective in the main plot will be to find the other manakete children, determine when and how Shyrlonay plans to return, and find a way to stop him. Of course, all this is mere theory - I won't be confident in calling this definitely true until we find another Manakete child.
Some thoughts:
In game terms, we're still on like Chapter 8 of the game, and Fire Emblem is usually like 50 chapters, so we know very little about the main plot. However, we do know a couple things I think might be important:
1. The Manakete responsible for the deaths of Ryza's parents was Shyrlonay, High Elder of the Black Dragons. Given how Ryza's father description of his followers as having all gone mad, as well as the timing, we can assume he is also the Fell Dragon who fought the first Emperor.
2. All human magic invariably involves stealing a dragonstone, grinding it to dust, and using it to amplify the relatively weak level of magic humans can naturally muster. Humanity learned how to do this at around the same time as the war, with the official histories claiming a mysterious Old Master taught the First Emperor and his companions the secret. He also gave them four Masterworks, presumably the Regalia of this setting, which are the only ones powered by a fully intact dragonstone.
3. No history of the war or its aftermath mentions the existence of the manakete heart-form - even the name "manakete" was lost until Ryza woke. Notably, there is evidence of heart form Manakete and humans living together in the Union - which means knowledge of the heart-form was actively lost somehow.
4. A manakete who loses their dragonstone goes completely, irrevocably insane. This feral state is seen as the only justified reason for a manakete to slay one of their own.
5. The Fire Emblem is the dragonstone of the Fell Dragon.
6. There was a prophecy of four shining Wyverns confronting a gigantic dragon over a burning city. Notably, young manakete in dragon form are easily mistaken for wyverns from afar.
From these points, I have two competing hypotheses and one fairly solid theory about the main plot.
Hypothesis the first : The Fell War was begun by humans intentionally as an excuse to murder manakete en masse for their dragonstones, with the Emperor and companions simply being the leader of this greed fueled genocide. All evidence of dragons being the aggressor is manufactured justification post facto.
Obviously, this is a rather depressing theory I hope was untrue, as it implies humans in this world were fundamentally so consumed by lust for power as to genocide an entire species and steal their souls as magic reagents. However, we cannot ignore the possibility the Fell War really was just an excuse. I consider this the less likely explanation though, as it doesn't explain why Mother was so against Shyrlonay - if humanity really did decide to commit genocide for power, I don't see why she would be against fighting them for obvious reasons.
Hypothesis the second : The Fell War was begun as a result of a power grab by Shyrlonay, during which he either intentionally or by accident caused many other manakete to go feral. The resultant rampage of insane, heartless dragons caused the destruction of manakete history and the general hatred of Ryza's people.
I personally heavily suspect this is the case. In the original Fire Emblem games, the reason manakete work the way they do is due to a form of degeneration causing any dragons who remained in their true form to go insane, with sealing their powers into a dragonstone the only way to escape it. Obviously, degeneration does not work the same way here - but a running theme I've noticed, in every post where we're told of dragons committing some crime or another during the war, is how Ryza can't explain why her people would do that - that the actions attributed to them do not make sense, with no rational explanation for why they would do such things.
But if they had been driven feral, they would not need a rational explanation.
This of course comes with questions of it's own - key among them being "Why the hell would Shyrlonay drive his own people insane", but given the track record of Fell Dragons I'm not sure he needed a reason to commit acts of grave evil. And we know that Ryza's father said his followers were mad - perhaps he was being entirely literal.
Theory : The Fell Dragon shall return, with four manakete children standing against him.
This theory is my explanation for the vision the Marble Hall's resident black mage had earlier. As I said, a young manakete, from a distance, is indistinguishable from a wyvern - so long as their forelegs aren't clearly visible, they look about the same. During character creation, we were given four traits to choose from - Ryza's ability to fly in Heart Form, being a hybrid with traits of both tribes, having our dragonstone physically part of our body, or having super empathy. The Promised Princess spoken of in the Divine Realm is supposed to have some form of super empathy, and comes from a land ruled by a White Manakete who was called a queen. I suspect this isn't a coincidence - somewhere out there, there are three other surviving manakete children, and at some point, the Fell Dragon shall attempt to return, with that being what the black mage saw. If I am right, our main objective in the main plot will be to find the other manakete children, determine when and how Shyrlonay plans to return, and find a way to stop him. Of course, all this is mere theory - I won't be confident in calling this definitely true until we find another Manakete child.