So that the Dragon Girl
◊ doesn't fall into the hands of Bern or the Etrurian rebels, we have to go through all of these enemies. At least the boss is a wimp.
Having saved the village of Arcadia from enemies, they are led out of the desert by Igrene and head towards Etruria to confront the forces of the coup d'etat. We then learn from the elder of Arcadia that Fa has run off after Roy. If she were to be captured by the coup d'etat forces or Bern, it would be disastrous. To search for her, Roy heads towards a fort near the Etrurian border...
I make sure everyone is well equipped, hand off a Guiding Ring and a sleep staff to Clarine (Ellen would normally have gotten it, but I want Clarine to be able to hurt Narshen whenever he should show up, and I lack light magic to give her, so part of the utility is gone), and bring Lilina into the party as per warning of a reader, and then begin the chapter!
A soldier talks to Raeth about a captured girl, who had been scurrying about the castle exterior, who says to just throw her out. The soldier shows him what Raeth believes to be a dragon stone. After this discovery, Raeth decides to inform Zephiel of their discovery and keep the girl captive.
Roy asks Merlinus whether Fa is in the castle they're nearing, to which he replies yes, stating that the villagers have seen it themselves. Igrene apologizes for Fa's misbehavior, and Roy takes the situation in stride. Igrene mentions the dragon stones and explains them when Roy asks what they are. They're what allow dragons to take human form, being their draconic power condensed into a stone due to the energy needed to stay transformed in this world.
Now that we've begun, let's look at Igrene. She's a level 1 sniper, with some pretty good bases. Good strength, skill and speed make her a strong fighter, and decent defense and an enviously high 10 resilience give her some staying power along with good health, although her luck is a bit low. I won't be using her, since my party is already large enough as is, and I likely won't be adding any extra people. She seems pretty good though.
I send the main party and Lilina over the shorter pathway above the village, while sending Igrene to visit the village, as well as take down the nearby archer. Miledy breaks off from the group, flying towards the mountains near the enemy castle, preparing to intercept a dragon rider and then lay waste to the enemy troops. Percival, Lance, and Sue challenge the first group of foes, while everyone follows close behind as they advance. Igrene enters the village and receives a Divine tome, while the party advances and crushes the first group of enemies, and Percival and Lance charge forward to go visit the second village, while also preparing to engage the second main platoon of foes. Miledy impales the sniper waiting near the main castle, taking out the main threat as she prepares to crave a path down the hill and back to the party.
Suddenly, a berserker appears near the top of the mountain area. He talks with his bandits and decides to ransack the villages before the army gets to them. He then makes sure to tell them not to do any unnecessary killing.
Miledy easily crushes the enemies who attack her near the castle, finishing off the second archer nearby while awaiting the troop of cavaliers and the valkyrie making their way towards her. The party push forward crushing the second group of forces, with Percival and Lance being the only wounded, and even with Percival taking a critical from a killing edge merc, he still comes out with over half health. As Garret approaches, Clarine knocks him out with the sleep staff since Lilina isn't in range, and lets Dieck deal with his entourage while Lance and Percival get healed. Miledy retreats to the mountain, the valkyrie proving to be just a bit too strong for her to take on easily, and brandishes her javelin while healing, since the valkyrie is the only one who can hurt her.
Miledy flies away from the castle, unable to take on the valkyrie without risking her own life, and flies off to get healed, while Lilina walks up to Garret and... can't speak with him, because I forgot that you can't recruit a sleeping unit. Ah well. I have Sue (who is surprisingly durable), Percival, and Dieck all surround him, swords in hand, so he can't get into any major mischief when he wakes up. Lugh visits the village and receives a Hammerne staff. Roy then waits right next to Percival and Sue, baiting a hand axe attack once he awakens, and Clarine heals Miledy so she can take another crack at dealing with the cavaliers currently coming at us from the north. The cavaliers Miledy left behind come down from the mountain and go after Dieck, while Miledy hunts down one straggler and tries to draw in the valkyrie, but to no avail. Garret wakes up, attacking and missing Roy as expected, and Lilina recruits him after Sue takes down the valkyrie who had gone after Clarine (nothing really happened because of it, although Clarine blasted her with a vicious critical dealing 6 damage).
Garret is... pretty average. He's a level 1 berserker, and as expected his strength is high. His speed is low, his skill is average, and his defense and resilience aren't the greatest, although they aren't terrible. His luck is pretty nice though. Won't be using him either. Miledy returns to the group, preparing to draw out a pair of dragon riders, as a soldier tells Raeth that the reinforcements are ready. Garret buys some lighting tomes for the future, and the rest of the party climb up the bend to meet with Miledy and face the reinforcements. I get Ellen and Lugh up to B support right now, while they await the enemies at the top of the bend, right before turning towards the castle, and make sure everyone is in tip top shape.
As the cavalier reinforcements come forth, the party advances and pushes through them bit by bit. Miledy flies over the bend, attacking the cavaliers coming directly from the castle and preparing to distract the once coming from the nearby fort so that the party can advance. The party quickly crushes the reinforcements, and then go after Raeth.
Raeth is pretty weak, so not much fanfare is needed to beat him. I have Lance go after him with an iron axe, and he barely lasts two fights, not even hitting Lance before he's taken down. Roy then conquers the castle, while I awe at the fact that Lance looks like he's going to ram his strength, skill, and speed cap.
After searching the castle, Merlinus finds a rather scared Fa, and Roy asks why she had followed us. Fa says she just wanted to see the outside world, and Merlinus chastises her, before she says that she's never allowed outside due to the elders feeling she needs to be hidden. She's always locked up in her room all alone, and Roy sympathizes with her. He makes sure she understands what she's done and that she sincerely apologizes for it, and then lets her join us, saying that it'd be better for her to be with us, where we can protect her, than to send her off to Arcadia where she could very well be captured. Fa is elated at this, and agrees to promise not to run off anymore.
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