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Hope will never die : a Fire Emblem Awakening quest

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Chapter 2-25: Morgan
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    • [x] Go talk to Morgan directly.
    For a moment, you hesitate to simply go to Nah and ask for advice. But in the end, you've always been in favour of the straightforward approach - except sometimes when Tharja is involved. Since the eight year old manakete is quite a bit less intimidating than the dark mage, you might as well see what she wants right now.

    As you thought, Morgan is the one hiding behind the pillar. As she realizes she's been discovered, the young girl seems to consider potential escape routes, apparently settling down on the nearest window - making you slightly panic until you remember she can fly - and is in the process of going through it when you gently put a hand on her shoulder.

    "Please wait. Can we talk for a bit?"

    The girl freezes, but doesn't try to bolt, which you take as a good sign. Slowly turning around, Morgan does her best to appear innocent, a guilty smile on her face.

    "Um. Hi?"

    She's clearly nervous, and by now, you have observed her enough to know you seem to be the cause of that, even if you're not sure why or how. Unlike Yarne, who always seemed to struggle with his fears, Morgan seemed to be a naturally cheerful girl with a somewhat reckless side, as long as you didn't enter the picture. Meaning you have to be careful to not spook her off now. Removing your hand, you make a point of taking a step back to give her space not let herself feel cornered - sometimes you think your interactions with Yarne might have given you too much experience at those kinds of situation.

    "Don't worry, you're not in trouble" you reassure her. "Am I scaring you?"

    To your surprise, Morgan immediately nods. "You've a scary face."

    Huh? Well, not quite what you expected. You're not sure if that's the whole truth, but you suppose that compared to someone like Cynthia or Owain, your more stern demeanour might come off as intimidating to an eight-year old, not to mention the size difference. Still, it kind of stings.

    On the plus side, your dismayed expression is enough to make the young manakete giggle. Progress, you suppose?

    "I... see. I'll... try to work on that then?" No idea how to do that, but that'll be a question for later. "Still, if you think I'm scary, why did you follow me?"

    Morgan seems to consider your question seriously, looking at you as if you were an enigma to solve. Given the previous comment on your face, you can't help but feel a little self-conscious. Finally, she answers with disarming honesty. "I wanted to find out why dad likes you more than me."

    "... What?" If her first answer took you by surprise, this one seems to come out of nowhere. "I... I don't understand. Why would you think-?"

    It's hard to sort out the emotions you're feeling right now. Having a little girl thinking her parent favored you more than her is a rather depressing situation, but it doesn't quite match up your own experience with her father. And of course, the fact that she's talking about the one who ended up killing your own father leaves you less than happy with the declaration either. Taking a deep breath, you do your best to compose yourself and try to find out what she meant.

    "Okay. Why do you think Robin likes me more than you?"

    "Well, dad spends most of his time here, right? And he told me once he was teaching you stuff. Tactician stuff, I mean. So if he's here more than with me, that means he likes you more."

    She seems almost proud of her reasoning, and you can't really fault her internal logic. Of course, that Robin stayed in Ylisstol had little to do with you, and him teaching you was only a tiny part of his week, but for Morgan, the facts she knew could only lead to that conclusion.

    "But your father didn't stay here just to see me."

    "Eh?" Morgan seems doubtful. "When he's home, he says it's just to see me! And big sister." she adds almost as an afterthought.

    "Well, you are his daughter" you do your best to explain. "But he had work to do here. He only taught me when he had a little time and wasn't too busy."

    Come to think of it, why did he? Given what happened later, it didn't really make sense that it'd take some time in his schedule for you, if he planned to betray you all from the start. Was it a whim? Was there a hidden purpose to it? You suppress a groan; it's usually hard enough to think about Robin without your vision turning red, but right now it's even harder due Morgan being here. You don't think that 'by the way, I want to kill your dad for what he did' would endear yourself to her.

    "Oh. That makes sense. You're sure it's not because he likes you and Laurent more?"

    "Certain." Well, that's a lie - you're not certain of anything when it comes to Robin - but that's the only answer you can give right now.

    "Yay! Okay then!" And just like that, Morgan seems to cheer up. How she can be so carefree given the circumstances, you have no idea. But then again, what does she know of the circumstances? You doubt Nah simply told her 'by the way, our dad is a traitor now'.

    You decide to test the waters. "You know your father isn't here right now?"

    "Yup!" Morgan proudly answers. "Big sis told me he couldn't come home right now. It's okay though. It happens a lot with him! I'll just study hard and show him what I learned next time I see him!"

    You try hard not to scowl. Of course she doesn't know. And since she seems used to not having her father around for long periods of time, him being missing won't strike her as unusual. For now at least. "And... what about your mother?" Even just asking makes you feel like a bully, but you want to understand where Morgan is coming from.

    "Oh, it was so cool! She helped us by fighting bad guys! She turned into a dragon and grawr! She breathed fire and all! I can't even do that! Yet."

    You feel a cold shiver going down your spine. What?

    "It'd be cool if she was here... But she always forget the time. It's because she's veeeeery old, you know? It's like, a month later, and she thinks it was yesterday! I hope she comes soon."

    That... feels wrong. Morgan is a lot of things, but you don't believe she'd be that oblivious, not after witnessing at least part of what happened. And you don't think Nah would lie to her - though obviously she wouldn't say Nowi was dead either, not without definite proof. This situation was a complete mess, and having this young, happy girl in the middle of it was the epitome of unfair.

    "Anyway, thanks! I guess I was worried for nothing. See ya!" All traces of her earlier apprehension gone, Morgan cheerfully waves at you as she begin to walk away.

    [] Let her go.
    [] Propose to spend a bit more time together...
    -[] ... to talk about how she's doing.
    -[] ... to show her around the palace.
    -[] ... to play a strategy game together.
    [] Write-in
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Propose to spend a bit more time together...
    -[X] ... to show her around the palace.

    Good way to fish for info
     
    [X] Propose to spend a bit more time together...
    -[X] ... to play a strategy game together.

    Well Lucina is very much her father's daughter, and well she gave her word that she'd look after Morgan/Nah.
     
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    [X] Propose to spend a bit more time together...
    -[X] ... to play a strategy game together.

    Oh Morgan is pretending to be ignorant, trying to convince herself nothing is wrong. Poor kid.
     
    Zedman7054 said:
    [X] Propose to spend a bit more time together...
    -[X] ... to play a strategy game together.

    Oh Morgan is pretending to be ignorant, trying to convince herself nothing is wrong. Poor kid.
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    Alternatively an eight year old kid with a prodigious tactics skill, but lacking in common sense comes up with a overly clever way of acquiring help that most people simply write off as childish denial. Although perhaps it is simply the fact that she is used to using them against Robin who see through them with ease?
     
    Well... So far this seems fairly Unanimous :lol:rofl::lol:rofl:
    Anyhow... I wonder If we could recover all 5 jewels in this quest (We wouldn't need to to go through the whole debacle of time travelling as we could seal grima away, or failing that we take our versions of the orbs to the past (we wouldn't need to search out all of the stones so would save on headaches)
     
    Deltamaster said:
    Well... So far this seems fairly Unanimous :lol:rofl::lol:rofl:
    Anyhow... I wonder If we could recover all 5 jewels in this quest (We wouldn't need to to go through the whole debacle of time travelling as we could seal grima away, or failing that we take our versions of the orbs to the past (we wouldn't need to search out all of the stones so would save on headaches)
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    I doubt it. Grima has at least... three of them I think? Along with the Fire Emblem itself. If Grima isn't keeping at least one of the orbs on either of his bodies at given time I'll be very disappointed in him.

    Not to mention he's awake and recovering from his long nap, when the thing worked as well as it did in canon because he had only just woken up and was still somewhat weak.

    As I've stated before, the guy's already in his victory lap stage and he knows to be wary of Falchion and any plucky hero that might be wielding it this time around hence why the first thing he did when he revived was shank dad.
     
    ShadowAngelBeta said:
    I doubt it. Grima has at least... three of them I think? Along with the Fire Emblem itself. If Grima isn't keeping at least one of the orbs on either of his bodies at given time I'll be very disappointed in him.

    Not to mention he's awake and recovering from his long nap, when the thing worked as well as it did in canon because he had only just woken up and was still somewhat weak.

    As I've stated before, the guy's already in his victory lap stage and he knows to be wary of Falchion and any plucky hero that might be wielding it this time around hence why the first thing he did when he revived was shank dad.
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    Well Tiki is outright confirmed to have Azure, and the leader of the apocalypse cult should have Sable. For the other three Basilio had Gules until Walhart killed him so Chrom might've had it except for the whole lacks a Fire Emblem to justify carrying it into battle, Argent was held by Ylisse so same uncertainty as the previous one, and for Vert Say'ri passed it onto Chrom in canon except he has no Fire Emblem to justify that so she probably still has it. So depending on various factors Grima has between 1-3 orbs within his sphere of influence, and unless I'm remembering wrong he needs all 5 alongside the fire emblem to go evil dragon mode. This is why Naga noted that Grima might never actually awaken, because in the current situation he's reduced Robin to what amounts to a puppet, and is using that as a means to unseal himself.

    Nah he was defeated, sealed, and now his doom dragon form has an intrinsic weakness of having a squishy part. :V Simply put just as sealed Falchion will do a perfectly fine job at slaying his puppet/container before he goes doom dragon, and an unsealed Falchion will do the job worst comes to worst canon Lucina simply wasn't able to pull off the unsealing in her timeline. Also the only thing weak about canon Grim was that he'd lost power due to time travel, but that was more than regained by the local Grima lifeforce that was absorbed iirc.

    Hm. This war is just getting started, and Grima is nowhere near his victory lap stage. Also the reason he had Robin shank Chrom had mostly due to with the fact that Grima is an asshole, and a tiny bit of pragmatism as it had a side benefit of it breaking Robin badly enough that it turned him into what amounts to a puppet with a few caveats.

    Frankly at a minimum crashing Grima's return party to grab the Fire Emblem plus stones, and boarding the express train to the nearest Naga holy site should work... it'll be heartbreaking as the rear guard will presumably be comprised of the remaining first generation parents. So hopefully Lucina will perform well enough to avoid such an outcome.
     
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    Yun said:
    Well Tiki is outright confirmed to have Azure, and the leader of the apocalypse cult should have Sable. For the other three Basilio had Gules until Walhart killed him so Chrom might've had it except for the whole lacks a Fire Emblem to justify carrying it into battle, Argent was held by Ylisse so same uncertainty as the previous one, and for Vert Say'ri passed it onto Chrom in canon except he has no Fire Emblem to justify that so she probably still has it.
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    Argent was left in the Fire Emblem so they have that, they explicitly have Vert as well, Sable's been in their hands for a long time now, so it's just Gules that's in limbo, but most like Validar retrieved it along with or before Vert, and Tiki still has Azure.

    Three in their hands with one unsure, but likely in their hands and only one for sure in our hands. Unless Tiki actually lost to those guys trying to ambush her in which case they have that one too, but that's doubtful.

    And no one knows it's important to have them nor do anyone realize just how many of the gems Plegia has other than maybe Tiki.

    So fine, it's all but a victory lap at this point.
     
    ShadowAngelBeta said:
    Argent was left in the Fire Emblem so they have that, they explicitly have Vert as well, Sable's been in their hands for a long time now, so it's just Gules that's in limbo, but most like Validar retrieved it along with or before Vert, and Tiki still has Azure.

    Three in their hands with one unsure, but likely in their hands and only one for sure in our hands. Unless Tiki actually lost to those guys trying to ambush her in which case they have that one too, but that's doubtful.

    And no one knows it's important to have them nor do anyone realize just how many of the gems Plegia has other than maybe Tiki.

    So fine, it's all but a victory lap at this point.
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    Fair enough, it can either be the cultists got it, or Robin arranged for someone else to grab it while being careful to avoid knowing the details, which is what I'd lean toward seeing as Tiki comments that if she'd given it to Chrom they'd have it regardless, and this is true for Gules as well.

    Two confirmed, two with a question mark, and one with Tiki.

    They're a part of history so plenty of people should know about them cough Robin with an A in it cough, but it's not like Tiki won't tell people about it. Also Naga should know where they are seeing as they're part of her sacred artifact, but retrieving them will be bloody at best.

    We apparently disagree.
     
    Chapter 2-26: In the shadow of war
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    • [X] Propose to spend a bit more time together...
    -[X] ... to play a strategy game together.
    "Actually, I was thinking... Would you like to join me for a moment? I have this board game I used to play with your father, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to find a suitable partner these last months."

    A minor lie. You do occasionally play with Laurent, but those moments are few and far between, and becoming rarer as of late. Nonetheless, your offer is met with unexpected eagerness.

    "Yes! Yes yes yes! Man, this is awesome! Since I left my stuff at our last home, I thought- hey, can we go now?"

    Well, your plan to have an ice-breaker is working well enough. Almost too well in fact, with Morgan almost bouncing up and down all the way to your quarters, her earlier shyness apparently entirely forgotten. And the way her eyes shine when you pull out the strategy board... Well, it seems you managed to find one of Morgan's passions. It's clear she's familiar with the rules and is quite eager to start, though you're not sure you trust her grin.

    You expected Morgan to be good at this, and in that respect, you are not disappointed. The first game turns out to be an all-out contest that you barely manage to win. You're kind of glad no-one was around to see you struggle to defeat someone four year your junior at something you believe to be reasonably good at. Morgan's pout at your victory is not unlike your sister's, but is quickly replaced by a newfound determination and another challenge. This time you manage a bit better, shamelessly exploiting the fact the quality of her moves seems to go down the more impatient she gets by slowing down your own rhythm. She clearly notices your ploy, but interestingly doesn't call foul play, though it doesn't help with her frustration.

    Then she asks to play another round.

    This is karma, you realize. All of these times you pestered Robin for one more game until you could manage a win, and now you're on the receiving end. Except that while you never came close to defeat the Grandmaster, you're actually worried that his daughter might not need that long to catch up. The wise move would be to call it a day, if not for your extreme reluctance to turn down any kind of challenge. You also could end it by throwing a round, but every fiber of your being protest at the very thought.

    So you do what any reasonable person would, and conjure up all of your skills to beat a eight-year old at a game, which in turn makes her all the more determined to keep going.

    In the end, you are saved by Nah coming to take her younger sibling for dinner. She almost manages to hide her snort at Morgan's outraged expression and your relieved one. However, if you had any doubt on the temporary nature of your salvation, Morgan's next words make things clear.

    "This isn't over."

    Nah shoots you an apologetic grin. Gods above, what have you done?

    [X] Visit on the frontlines

    The day of your departure doesn't come a moment too soon. Granted, you have better reasons to visit the frontlines than simply to escape an obsessive manakete, but it's a nice bonus.

    Cynthia is here to see you off, doing her best to put a strong front. Still, you can't blame her for being nervous at the thought of you and Mother leaving the palace for the eastern border while leaving her behind. You know she's keeping herself busy these days, both with her flying lessons and that secret project she's keeping quiet about, but you're nonetheless glad Owain will be here to lift her spirits if the need arises. You also know your sister has become good friends with Inigo and Morgan too, so that might help...

    "Hey, don't worry about me, I'll be fine! Just stay safe, okay?"

    "Was I that obvious?" You smile and hug your sister goodbye. She's right. You just need to focus on your goals, and make sure to come back to her in one piece.

    In the end, it was decided the safest path to the border remained the skies. You and Mother are flying together, escorted by Lady Cordelia and a small retinue of pegasus knights. Cu seems overjoyed at the chance to stretch her wings further than Ylisstol and its immediate surroundings, and you have to admit, you end up enjoying this three-day journey quite a bit. Seeing Ylisse from the skies like that is a unique experience, and the evenings spent around a bonfire talking to Mother, or asking Cordelia how Cynthia's training is going (while giving news of Severa in exchange) is kind of nice.

    The last day is unfortunately a grim reminder of why you're here. Even from the skies, the signs of war are unmistakable. Burnt down villages and ruined fields are becoming a common sight, and you can only pray that the inhabitants were evacuated in time. Meanwhile, armed columns slowly make their way through the snowy roads toward the Dragon Range, the natural border between Plegia and Ylisse. In other circumstances, you'd have enjoyed the sight of those tall mountains. But as they become larger with each minute of flight, you can only wonder about the threats that might emerge from them.

    A few hours later, you finally arrive at the army's main camp. Even in the middle of winter, the place is bustling with activity, thousands of men and women standing guard and preparing for the future battles. Amidst this activity, a familiar blue-haired figure makes his way toward your group as you land.

    "Miladies, you are as always a sight for sore eyes" Virion exclaims himself. "And allow me to welcome you to our humble encampment, princess Lucina. I apologize in advance for the somewhat rustic accommodations."

    "That's quite alright, uncle Virion. Or should I call you Grandmaster Virion now?"

    That got a groan out of him. "Please don't. It's not even my official title, just something I'm being referred as for convenience sake. And to this day, I still have no idea why I accepted this horrible position to begin with."

    "You seemed the one best suited for the job" half-apologized your mother. "And no-one can criticize the job you've done so far."

    "Then I pray you won't have causes for regrets in the end" the Duke of Rosanne answered. "But enough about that. I'll have someone show Lucina her quarters. as I said, rustic, but I'm afraid there's little to be done about that."

    "It's quite alright" you say. "It is only fair that I share the conditions of everyone else here."

    "Ah, truly your father's daughter, then. Personally, I'm afraid I never got used to this sort of life. That is truly something I didn't miss from our Shepherd's days..."

    "Has there been news these last days?" asks Sumia. "Any losses?"

    "No losses so far, though we got a couple injured soldiers on patrol. They got caught into a rockslide." he answers. "As for news... Nothing major, but there is something. It can wait for the meeting tomorrow, however. I assume your daughter will join us?"

    You nod. While finding Gaius was your main reason from coming here, being able to attend some of the war meetings at least was something you definitely intended to do.

    "Excellent. For now, I suggest you rest after your day of flight. Or you could explore the camp if you wish. Not all Shepherds are here, but I imagine you may run into a few familiar figures."

    That might not be a bad idea. While you are quite tired, maybe beginning to familiarize yourself with the place might be a good idea, especially if you're to spend the next weeks here. Though from what you saw, the place is quite large, probably too big to explore before the sunset. For now...

    [] Find the stables. You might as well see how Cu is finding her new accommodations.
    [] Go observe the outer perimeter. It might give you an idea of where the danger might come from.
    [] Look for the infirmary. It'll give you a sense of how bad the situation might be.
    [] Seek the supply depot. While you know the theory of how an army operates, seeing it with your own eyes cannot hurt.
    [] Visit the barracks. You're curious to observe the soldiers routine.
    [] Just rest. You'll need your strength for the days to come.

    Late AND shorter than what I wished for. That's a busy week for you, I suppose.
     
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    • Macros said:
    [] Look for the infirmary. It'll give you a sense of how bad the situation might be.
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    This cannot end well.

    [X] Seek the supply depot. While you know the theory of how an army operates, seeing it with your own eyes cannot hurt.

    Amateurs study tactics. Veterans learn logistics. You can't understand how confusing and nightmarish supplying an army is until you've seen a clusterfuck of a depot with your own eyes.
     
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    LonelyWolf999 said:
    This cannot end well.

    [X] Seek the supply depot. While you know the theory of how an army operates, seeing it with your own eyes cannot hurt.

    Amateurs study tactics. Veterans learn logistics. You can't understand how confusing and nightmarish supplying an army is until you've seen a clusterfuck of a depot with your own eyes.
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    If we want to learn logistics, Cordelia is the obvious choice. She kept track of the entire inventory/armory/etc of the Shepherds (in her head?)
     
    [X] Seek the supply depot. While you know the theory of how an army operates, seeing it with your own eyes cannot hurt.
    Adhoc vote count started by Noname1 on Mar 16, 2019 at 8:54 AM, finished with 978 posts and 10 votes.
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