Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete
- Thread starter SoaringHawk218
- Start date
- Fantasy
Khona Moshr
Pink Flamingo Cabal Healer(they/them)
- Location
- Alabama
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Plan: Aerial Bombardment
Thanks for the suggestion: I've used that to play D&D, but it could work. I'll take a look.
Khona Moshr
Pink Flamingo Cabal Healer(they/them)
- Location
- Alabama
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Now tbh I dont recommend fire emblem combat for quests its very cumbersome to do in a text format, even with a good map maker.
The only person I've ever seen do it successfully made the maps essentially be puzzles that we took 2~3 turns to kill everyone.
He passed away years ago though and we only got a few fights in on that quest... *Shrug*
Brightflame
Lord of the Dance
- Location
- Inkopolis
[X] Plan: Shining Heaven
[X] Plan: Shining Heaven
-[X] Arcane: From what your parents told you, even among the magically-gifted Yellow tribe, your arcane abilities are remarkable, though you haven't been able to confirm that for yourself. (Incompatible with Tough)
-[X] Mature: Being an only child, the youngest of the loose extended family centered around your mother, you never really had anyone to play with, so you worked to be more like the adults so you could get them to take you seriously. (Incompatible with Energetic)
-[X] A Colored Hybrid: Manakete rarely interact with members of other tribes, and when they do it is even more rare for that to lead to anything more. Your parents, however, were among the exceptions: you are the child of two tribes. Though you are Yellow by nature, you are also (choose your mother's color).
--[X] White
-[X] You dream of a noble lady on the run after an ambush and a betrayal.
-[X] Arcane: From what your parents told you, even among the magically-gifted Yellow tribe, your arcane abilities are remarkable, though you haven't been able to confirm that for yourself. (Incompatible with Tough)
-[X] Mature: Being an only child, the youngest of the loose extended family centered around your mother, you never really had anyone to play with, so you worked to be more like the adults so you could get them to take you seriously. (Incompatible with Energetic)
-[X] A Colored Hybrid: Manakete rarely interact with members of other tribes, and when they do it is even more rare for that to lead to anything more. Your parents, however, were among the exceptions: you are the child of two tribes. Though you are Yellow by nature, you are also (choose your mother's color).
--[X] White
-[X] You dream of a noble lady on the run after an ambush and a betrayal.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
[X] Plan: Aerial Bombardment
[X] Plan: Energetic Empath
[X] Plan: Energetic Empath
- Location
- Nox Castle
[X] Plan: Scout and Sword, in Accord
-[X] Tough
-[X] Mature
-[X] Sky-Blessed
-[X] You dream of a mercenary out to prove herself in the big world.
The constitution to not get one-shot should an enemy archer get lucky or we get stuffed into melee range against our will, the capability to fly up and check ahead for enemies, and the maturity to deal with the merc life.
No, our name isn't Soren, damn it!
-[X] Tough
-[X] Mature
-[X] Sky-Blessed
-[X] You dream of a mercenary out to prove herself in the big world.
The constitution to not get one-shot should an enemy archer get lucky or we get stuffed into melee range against our will, the capability to fly up and check ahead for enemies, and the maturity to deal with the merc life.
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan: Shining Heaven
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
[X] Plan: Shining Heaven
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
[X] Plan: Aerial Bombardment
Proton_Mudkip
A Chicken Dragon
- Location
- US
...no floof dragon, big upset
[X] Plan: Energetic Empath
[X] Plan: Energetic Empath
Vote will close in about 4 hours, so I can hopefully get the update out before I leave on Thursday.
Vote closed
Thank you, @Ryumancer
Ryza. Awaken.
[X] Plan: Aerial Bombardment
-[X] Arcane
-[X] Thoughtful
-[X] Sky-Blessed
-[X] Of a Noble Lady
-[X] Arcane
-[X] Thoughtful
-[X] Sky-Blessed
-[X] Of a Noble Lady
"Kingdoms? Bah, give a dog an inch of leash and suddenly it thinks it's your equal! Only His Majesty's patience and generosity keeps us from crushing those rebels like the worms they are!"
-Lord Commander Gideon Skyhelm of the Wyrmguard, Year 793 since the Fall of the Fell Dragon
Panicked, you try to pull away, but it's already too late, and you find yourself dragged into a new dream.
You take a deep breath at the brisk mountain air; this extension of the Icewall Mountains may be rough terrain, but they mean that you are almost home. Just a few more days.
"I hope Father's well," you say, almost to yourself.
"I'm sure His Lordship is as vigorous as ever," a calm, warm voice comes from beside you. "He will certainly be glad to have his daughter back. And I'm sure he'll be happy to hear of his son as well."
Rolling your eyes, you glance over at Selena, the paladin who had acted as your bodyguard and confidant for as long as you could remember. "Hopefully he won't be too disappointed when he hears that school is making Apollo almost more Imp than Agrithian."
Selena tosses her head, her short, chestnut-brown curls bouncing slightly as she sighs. "The Marble Hall is the most prestigious school of magic in the world. People compete from all nations to have their children learn there. That it is connected to the Empire is a small price, and Lord Apollo seems to be taking to it well."
Smirking at the opening, you guide your horse a bit closer so you could whisper without the yeomen riding escort around you hearing. "You seem especially eager to praise my brother today. Reconsidering your feelings towards him."
"My lady, please, not this again," Selena sighs. "His infatuations were amusing when he was a child, but he's growing up, and it is not proper for him to have such feeling for one of his father's vassals."
You roll your eyes. "Selena, please don't sell yourself short that way. Father trusts you to protect me. Trusts you to lead his knights into battle. You have given our family years of loyal service. You're more than just a vassal to us."
The sound of a clearing throat from behind you causes both you and Selena to turn in your saddles. "As fascinating as this discussion is, it seems that Sir Robert is returning," Alexander Shadebringer, your father's magical advisor, says dryly. "Perhaps he will have found us a place to rest."
"Of course, Master Shadebringer," Selena said, nudging her horse away as her voice became strictly professional. "Let us see what he has to say."
A moment later, four more horses cantered to a stop in front of your party. The leader wore armor that was somewhat less well made than Selena's, but was still an honorable knightly suit. Father always made sure that even his landless cavaliers had the resources to equip themselves properly.
Sir Robert took off his helmet and bowed to you. "My lady, Dame Selena, my men and I have discovered a suitable camp site, just a few miles further into the mountains."
"Any sign of trouble?" Selena asked. "When we passed this way on our way to the Marble Hall, there were whispers of bandits in the region."
Sir Robert shook his head. "My men and I checked the area thoroughly, Dame Selena, and there were no signs of them. Perhaps they moved on. The important thing is that our path is clear."
Selena nods, but you notice the small frown on her face. "Very well; lead the way."
The terrain was rough, but thankfully Agrithian horses were among the best in the world: even after a day's march they were more than capable of some mountain pass. Well, most of them were. You frown as you see Sir Robert's yeomen lagging behind: their less expensive, thus less able horses seemingly exhausted. You suppose it made sense, after all they had been the ones scouting ahead all day, at Sir Robert's insistence. You suppose he just wanted to prove himself; he was new to his title, after all.
Still, you did make it to the spot Sir Robert had found. As Selena calls a halt, you dismount Actaeon and start to tend to him, rubbing the day's weariness from his muscles, causing the horse to nicker gratefully.
Just as your about to stand from checking his hooves, however, you frown as you notice something. Carefully reaching a finger out, you study the footprint. There was something odd about it…
"My lady?" Sir Robert says, coming up behind you.
"Look at this," you say, pointing at the print.
The knight frowns as he looks at it. "That must have been one of my men's," he said after a moment. "We dismounted here for a time; one of the yeomen must have wandered over here. I assure you, my lady, we are perfectly safe here."
The dream seems to… shudder, and for a moment you are Ryza again. What is going on? Why are you seeing this, this has nothing to do with you? You are manakete, and these people clearly aren't.
"Is this one satisfactory?"
Wait, what? What is this strange, empty voice?
"Is this one satisfactory?"
What- who's there?
"Irrelevant. Is this one satisfactory?"
You don't know what-
"Further investigation required."
The dream slams into you again.
Darkness finds you staring at your journal in your tent, the words swimming strangely so as to be illegible, though this does not trouble you. You are too busy mulling over what it was about those footprints that worried you so. Even if you were right, and it was someone other than one of Sir Robert's men; it would be much more likely to be some local mountain man or another traveler passing through than any threat. Even if there were some bandits around, the likelihood of them risking battle with twelve yeomen, two knights, a shaman and yourself was negligible.
So why were you nervous?
Frowning, you reach over and grab your bow, stringing it with practiced hands. Your father always told you to trust your instincts, and right now your instincts were telling you that something wasn't right.
Carefully peeking out of your tent, you counted the men on watch: Sir Robert and three yeomen. The same three yeomen who had ridden with him today. Ridden with him every time he went to scout ahead for the last three days of the trip.
Almost like they were the only ones he trusted.
Before you could step out to confront him, you saw Sir Robert look up into the shadows beyond the campfire. After a moment, he seemed to take a deep breath before standing and walking over, gesturing with one hand. All three of his yeomen stood from where they'd been sitting, drawing their short blades but making no further move.
An armed man stepped out of the darkness, nodding to Sir Robert in a friendly manner and saying something you didn't catch. The knight nodded back before gesturing towards your tent. His men, meanwhile, were turning towards the other yeomen's tents.
For a moment, you were too shocked to process what was happening. It was all so clear, but you simply could not believe that one of your father's cavaliers would do this. Only when Sir Robert turned towards your tent, pointing the newcomer and two more strangers towards Selena's did you final find your voice.
"Sir Robert!" you call, grabbing an arrow from your quiver as you step out of the tent. "What is the meaning of this?!"
Everyone froze for a moment, staring at you. Sir Robert blinked before running a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I suppose it was too much to hope you'd just let it go," he said.
"Explain yourself!" you snap. "What is going on here? Who are these men?!"
"Please, my lady, we both know what's going on here, though I was hoping that we'd be able to do this without any fuss. Please, for all of our sakes, make this easy for everyone and put the bow down. Nobody has to get hurt."
You stamp your foot, trying to draw everyone's attention back to you as you notice a few of the treacherous yeomen and other bandits are stating towards the other tents: you know Selena at least would have heard you, if you can keep them busy for just a little bit… "What I want to know is why! After everything my father has done for you, why would you betray him like this!?"
Robert starts to open his mouth, but the bandit leader shakes his head, gesturing for his men to keep going. "No games, girl. My boys and I are being paid a lot of money to grab you, and we get a bonus of you're unhurt, but don't think we won't rough you up if we have to. Drop the bow, now."
Before you can even think to respond, the air grows cold and the men who were heading towards Alexander's tent collapse as a shadowy rune draws itself beneath them before lunging upwards: you'd forgotten he was a light sleeper. "My lady! Go!" he calls, raising his tome as he steps out. "Save yourself!"
"But-"
Selena bursts out of her tent, only half armored or even dressed by still wielding her silver sword. "Do as he says! Run, we'll hold them off!"
"Kill them!" the bandit leader howls, dragging his blade out as Selena charges.
A glint from above and to the right causes you to turn, instinctively nocking and arrow and drawing it back. Five archers were lined up on a ridge above the camp, aiming for Alexander as he begins another casting. One falls as you put a shot into his torso, but the other four loose. Alexander stumbles and falls to his knees as two of them find their marks.
"I won't leave you!" you cry as Selena lunges forward, meeting two bandits and slaying them with practiced ease. Already, you're reaching for another arrow-
"RUN! My lady, please, RUN!"
You let out a wordless cry of fear as Selena spins and parries; proving herself once again the greatest knight in Agrithe. You watch as Alexander pushes himself up as much as he can, shadow magic spilling from his tome as he strikes down two of the archers above.
"GO!" they both shout together.
You want to stay. You want to fight. You want to save them, but even you can tell the battle is lost. Even as the loyal yeomen spill out of their tents to join the fray, there are just too many enemies. Even as the archers above continue to fall, their arrows tear into your people.
If you stay, they will have died for nothing.
Slowly, you back away. "I'm sorry," you whisper, your bow twanging in your hand to slay another of the enemy archers. "I'm so sorry."
Somehow, Selena turns to give you a reassuring smile. "Don't be!" she cries, blood flowing down an injured arm even as she strikes down another bandit. "Go! Climb"
You instantly understand what she means: you're cut off from the horses, and even if you weren't you'd surely be run down if you tried to ride out. However… Slinging your bow over your shoulders, you run towards the ridge where the archers are shooting from: you'd bet your skills against any man on foot in terrain this rough!
"After her! She's getting away!"
You jump, pain lancing through your fingers as they dig into the stone, but you won't stop, cannot stop. A good man falls behind you as you pull yourself up, the bandits fighting him leaping to try and grab your legs. You feel their fingers brushing the soles of your boots, but you're free to climb to the top.
Just before you reach it, a hand comes down and grabs your wrist. "Got you, brat!" the last of the archers crows, trying to yank you up. Snarling, you dig your other hand into its handhold, plant your feet, and yank. Unbalanced, the man topples past you, wailing briefly before hitting the stone with a wet thump and leaving you free to clamber over the edge, just as an arrow wizzes by your head.
"No, you fool, we need her alive!" the bandit leader yells, but as you turn only have eyes for your companions, your family. Alexander is lying frightfully still, three new arrows sticking out of his chest. He's gone.
Selena, meanwhile, is trying to hold the treacherous Robert off, spitting curses and insults at him. Bleeding from multiple wounds, barely on her feet, she still fights like a lion. However, she's just too outnumbered. As the last of the yeomen either fall or surrender, one of the bandits drives his axe into her back.
Everything seems to stop. "NO!" you hear someone scream, and it takes you a moment to realize that it's you. She can't be dead, she can't be dead, not Selena, not after everything… Your legs start to bend, to leap back, to cut through every one of these bastards and make them pay-
Selena turns. Somehow, with her last strength, she turns to look up at you.
"Artemis… run…"
The spell is broken and you stumble back from the edge. You can seem men dashing in both directions, there must be paths up here, you don't have much time. Sparing one last glare at the bandit leader and Robert, fixing their faces in your memory so you know who you need to kill, you turn and run.
Grief and pain fill you as you are knocked from the dream. That girl… that poor girl…
"Is this one satisfactory?"
What do you mean?
"Is this one satisfactory?"
You try to think what this strange voice is asking. Satisfactory for what? You like her well enough from what you've seen: and you certainly empathize with her loss, but what-
"Is this one satisfactory?"
… Yes?
"Summoning."
Oh now wha-
You slump to your knees. You don't know how long it has been since… since it happened, but you haven't stopped running or climbing since.
You can hear the men behind and around you. You can hear the bandits shouting taunts and threats, you can hear some of the yeomen trying to track you, you even hear Robert once, begging you to make things easy for yourself and just come out, that he promises he won't let them hurt you.
Like you would ever believe the words of a traitor. You stand and keep going.
You don't know what drives you on. All you know is that Selena told you to climb, and you figure that having the high ground would mean that, even if they are able to run you down, you'd be able to kill some of them before they took you.
As you climb, however, desperately using every trick you could think of to avoid being tracked and thanking the spirits that they hadn't brought dogs, something draws your attention. The ground here… it's more even than the rest of the path. Not completely, but it was clearly well-used at one point.
You should avoid that; it would make it easier for them to follow you and your only advantage is that you're in lighter armor than they are and can maneuver more easily… but surely that've thought of that too, and would expect you to take the harder way. You're also so tired, but you need to keep moving… surely a bit of time on the path wouldn't hurt?
Heading up the path, you find yourself at the entrance to a cave of some sort. Only… the cave seems remarkably even, just like the… wait a moment…
This wasn't a cave. It was a door. An ancient door, fallen to ruin and disrepair.
If you weren't currently running for your life, you'd probably be excited at the discovery. Apollo would probably be excited anyways, but he was always more of a scholar than you.
What was important, however, was that this was a place to hide and rest. Let the bandits search it; surely a ruin would have plenty of places to hide. With the sound of the bandits coming from further down the path, you slip into the ruins. It was dark inside, almost too dark to see, but even though you had a flint and steel in a pouch, you didn't risk making some light. Instead, you feel your way along; one hand on the wall while the other uses your bow as a makeshift cane.
Time quickly loses any meaning in the blackness as you make your way along, navigating more by instinct than any particular plan. Finally, however, you pause: the wall you had just touched seemed… important, somehow.
"Come and be welcome."
You yelp as the wall suddenly fades away, causing you to topple to the side with a pained gasp. Cursing under your breath, you sit up, looking to see if you'd injured your hand too badly.
Wait a minute… how could you see? It was dark a moment ago, but now there was a pale light filling the corridor you found yourself in, coming from where the wall had been before. Clambering to your feet, you try to figure out what was going on.
The first thing you realize is that there is a room past the wall, one that must have been hidden by magic. For this first time since this nightmare began, you wish Apollo was here; he probably would be able to explain what was going on. You force that thought away: if he was here, he'd be in danger too, and you couldn't bear the thought of him meeting the same fate as Selena.
The room looked like some sort of shrine, though where there should have been an altar, there is instead a massive, glowing crystal. Faintly, you can see… something, inside, but the light is too bright to get a good look. Frowning, you make your way inside: if the bandits come while this light is shining, you'll never be able to get away. You need to find some way to douse it.
You start to raise your hand to touch it before pausing: was that really the best idea? You have no idea what this thing is; the carvings on the wall are all illegible to you. This could be some sort of trap, designed by whatever ancient sage built this place to blow up intruders. Or it could suck you into it somehow, trapping you forever, or maybe…
"Be not afraid."
You shake your head: you need to find a place to rest, and if you can make the wall reappear, then you'd be perfectly safe. Reaching out, you lay a hand on the crystal. It's warm to your touch, and for a moment you simply bask in your first feeling of calm all night.
There's a massive crack.
"Ryza. Awaken."
You slowly sit up, yawning widely. Ow, ow, your back hurt. Your neck hurt. Really, your everything hurt. Why were you sleeping on a stone slab, that seemed like a really bad idea, and you weren't used to having many bad ideas. You crack your back, seriously, why had you done something this silly?
Stretching, you shuffle to the side of the slab/bed, blinking blearily. Why was everything so dark, normally Father's light runes would have activated by now. Maybe you'd had a bad dream and it was still night time. That would explain… explain…
There was someone staring at you.
A girl, older than you but still not an adult like Mother and Father. She's dressed in dirty but well-made clothes and holding a curved piece of wood with a string attached in one hand, her other outstretched as if to touch you. Her mouth is open slightly, as if she's about to speak but forgot what she was going to say, and other than the slight rise and fall of her breaths she isn't moving.
You stare at her.
She stares back.
You blink.
She blinks.
You both blink at the same time.
You…
[] Scream: Who is this person?! Why are they here!? Why are they staring at you?! Why do they smell like blood!?
[] Fly: You don't like this, you don't like this at all, too close too close you need space!
[] Speak: "Um… hello? My name is Ryza. What's your name?"
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