After all, we will be staying in Silesia for a while (likely thanks to Levin and Fury), and are apparently going to Dance in the Skies
◊. I sense lots of Pegasus Knights in my future.
After being denounced a traitor by Grandbell, Sigurd finds refuge in the kingdom of Silesia, just north of his homeland. The country, founded by the wind crusader, Sety, is under the guard of the Pegasus Knights and Wind mages of the kingdom, proving nearly impenetrable by any outside force. Due to this, it has successfully remained neutral for the 100 years following its founding. However, after the kings death, opposition soon arose in the royal family, and signs of civil war rose within the once peaceful country. The young prince Levin, son of the late king and Queen Rahna, is now being opposed by the kings younger brother, Duke Daccar, who protested the prince's succession and confided himself within Zaxon castle. Almost in concert, the youngest brother to the king, Duke Maios, has begun amassing an army in Thove castle. These events were what compelled Levin to leave his home. Silesia was soon to be engulfed by the ever expanding flames of war.
A pair of pegasus knights fly over to Sailane castle, and Oifaye tells Sigurd that Queen Rahna is here to see him. She asks him how he is handling life in Sailane, and Sigurd says he is fine, thanking her for her hospitality. She is sorry that she cannot provide more, and is trying to convince King Azmur of Sigurd's innocence, but has yet to receive a response. Sigurd hazards a guess that Prime Minister Reptor has been hiding them, and is likely the instigator for all this trickery. She asks Sigurd not to hold a grudge against Reptor, since hate will help nothing, and promises that she will find some way to help him. He says that he can't thank her enough, and she tells him not to worry. She mentions some good news from Grandbell, noting that after going missing, Prince Kurth's daughter has finally turned up. She notes that the entire country is bursting with joy, and Sigurds surprise shows that he mirrors that reaction. Queen Rahna explains that the king recognized her instantly, and that she carries the symbol of Narga, proving her heritage, relieving Sigurd of the fear that the royal line will die out. Rahna then mentions that the princess is in a relationship with Alvis, and that the king has approved their wedding. After Rahna accidentally reminds Sigurd of Dierdre's disappearance, he notes that it's already been a year since she's vanished, and Serlis has grown so much in that time. Mahnya warns her queen that it's getting dark, and she warns Sigurd to keep wary of Duke Maios of Thove, since he's had his eye on Sailane for a while now. She is sad that she can't offer troops for fear of attack by Duke Daccar, and Sigurd assures her that he and his allies can deal with any attacks by Thove's army.
Levin walks in, a tad miffed that his mother spends hours speaking with Sigurd, but won't spare a moment for her own son. She replies that her son left two years ago to go to some faraway place, and that she doesn't see him anywhere (ouch, that's cold). Levin asks if she's still mad, and she replies that he has no idea how worried and saddened she was. Levin promises he'll make up for it, and asks her to forgive him now that he has returned in one piece. She still shuns him a little, but mostly turns to leave, and Mahnya assures the prince that she is truly happy for his safety, noting her good cheer upon his return. Levin thanks her, and asks her to take care of his mother for him, and she swears that on her honor as the flightleader of the Silesian pegasus knights. Levin asks if Fury will be staying, and Mahnya says she will, when Fury interrupts before she can say the reason why. Mahnya and Rahna leave, and Cuan tells Sigurd that he's heading back to Lenster, stating that he will round up some reinforcements and meet back up with him. Ethlin and Fin also say their goodbyes before joining Cuan in his return. Sigurd assures them that he is praying for their safety, and they depart.
Now Duke Maios asks a green-haired woman named Deetva how the preparations are going, and she explains that Bishop Cuvuli's wind mages are stationed in a forest near Sailane, awaiting Maios's orders. He gives the order to attack, and makes sure Deetva's pegasus squad knows what to do. She explains that she's supposed to divert the enemy's attention away from the mages, who will focus on taking the castle.
I look at the enemy, and note a few troubling things. Firstly, there are at least four blizzard mages within the area, one hiding in a mountain, and two guarding a path alongside a third who also has a sword and is part of a class known as "Mage Hero". That Bishop Cuvuli fellow also has a sleep staff (thankfully, this time, I have a restore staff to counteract it, although considering he's surrounded by mages, I'm not sure how easy taking him out is going to be. There are also three pirates poised to attack some villages, giving me little time to deal with all of these threats, and finally, Deetva's pegasus group is fairly large, and Deetva herself has both Adept, a silver sword, decent stats, and a miracle ring, meaning I either knock her out of the sky in one turn, or I deal with her soaring over my head, unable to be hit, for at least three. Brigid and her Ichival are going to come in quite handy.
Before all that, I do my preparations, passing the wing clipper that Aideen picked up to Fury, so she could counter flying foes, who she matches in the air. I then had Aideen purchase a Wind tome, and had Azel pass his Fire and Thunder tomes to Claude, to allow him to fight as well, seeing how Azel will mainly be focusing on Elfire to get it the kills necessary for the innate critical skill. I then have Tiltyu pawn her thunder tome to Aideen, and Claude and Aideen begin fighting in the arena to get them money to purchase and repair some staves, seeing as Lachesis's C rank doesn't even allow her to use the Restore that I forgot to get her last chapter (she couldn't buy it since she couldn't wield it). I have Aira send her skill ring to Lachesis so that she can make use of it to buff her terrible hit chances, and send the Leg ring to Levin so he can keep up with Fury. I also send everyone else through the arena, as usual. Those who succeeded at getting through every fight were Brigid (though she needed to use the Ichival on the last guy, 'cause he was just nuts), Aideen (weapon triangle made up for her lack of skills, and she used her winnings to repair her mend, warp, and physic staves, unable still to repair the silence staff), Levin (reached level 19, and bought the leg ring with his winnings), Jamka (thanks to his killer bow and awesome skills), Holyn (barely pulled it off thanks to a double Luna against the final guy), and Aira (her Brave sword saved the day, since he couldn't possibly block every single attack, especially with Astra).
After all that, I have Claude and Aideen pawn their thunder tomes back to their respective owners (Claude didn't make nearly enough money, so I have no clue what to do about the Valkyrie staff, or getting him the Restore). I then have Aideen pawn her Mend to Lachesis (she can wield it, and it provides her with decent healing abilities) and then purchases the Restore, to deal with Cuvuli and his Sleep inducing staff. I also bench Ardan, Noish, Alec, and Midir, since they just aren't up to snuff anymore, and have been more hindrances than help. They will remain at the main castle to hold off any incoming foes until help can arrive.
I now begin sortieing the units, sending everyone out of the castle save the benched units and spreading them around so that they can maneuver towards the first enemy group. I do believe I'll be pairing Brigid with Beowulf, just because he's the only free man who's stats will likely benefit her kids in the next gen (plus, duel on an archer is actually pretty useful). Claude... I'm not sure who to pair him with. Sylvia has poor stats, but she has Blagi blood and she could help him pass down his Valkyrie staff... I think I'll do that, mostly for the sake of a revive in the future. Cuvuli mentions at the start of enemy phase that the orders to take Sailane have just come through, and he commences his attack.
Oh god dammit. If you start something alongside all this crap Daccar, so help me I will kill you with your brothers own body.
Anyways, focus shifts to Zaxon, and Daccar notes that Maios has started his attack, and finds the whole affair interesting, asking if Pamela (oh come on! There are two of the same person, only one has longer hair, active at the same time! That's just lazy) agrees. She does, and notes that we appear to be a real threat, surprisingly, and wonders if the planned takeover of Silesia will succeed so long as Maios takes care of us. Daccar feels he will succeed, stating that he's already made a private agreement with Grandbell, and that some dude named Andre is bringing reinforcements soon. He contemplates his planned kingship, while focus returns to us.
I have Claude lead the charge (thanks to Sylvia's dancing) against the wind mages due to his insane resistance and advantageous magic type, though Cuvuli's troops seem to be taking their sweet time with single space movements. I notice that Aideen can speak to Jamka as I advance my troops, and have them chat. She gives Jamka a brave bow (sweet! He just keeps getting better and better! Although I wonder why Aideen, despite her lack of bow skills, keeps so many bows on her person), noting how powerful the pegasus knights of Silesia are, and hoping it will help protect him.
Lex soon goes after the nearest pirate, and Fury and Levin travel through the forest towards another while Sylvia helps some slower units catch up, and Tiltyu speaks with Azel. She mentions that she's known him all her life, and feels she can talk to him about this, and he agrees to listen. She explains that she feels a bit odd with the group, since she was jut sort of following Claude around, and no one ever mentions her father when she's around. Azel assures her that everyone likes her, but aren't sure how to act around her yet, and he advises her to be herself. She says she's feeling better, and Azel tells her to find him if she ever needs someone to talk to. This gives her 5 more health (something she quite needed), and I'm guessing it also boosted their lover points a bit, which is good.
Levin runs north to take down a pirate nearby (entering the mages range himself), and Lex finishes his foe (reaching level 20, so he'll be returning to the main base to promote), visiting the village to receive 3500 gold. Fury heads east after another pirate, and Claude steps forth to challenge the mages, while Azel also enters their range, Tiltyu waiting just outside it, and everyone else doing the same. After the mages attack Levin and Claude, Cuvuli heals one (good, he prioritizes his troops over sleep inducing), and I have the party swarm over the nearby mages, hoping to whittle their numbers down so that the incoming pegasus knights don't devastate me as badly as I expect them to.
Beowulf hunts down a third pirate, while everyone else finishes off the mages and Cuvuli, and then await the pegasi who are coming in fast. Sigurd is unable to take out Cuvuli however, so he's gonna keep on being a pain in the ass for a bit longer. Dew mugs a mage and a pirate thanks to Sylvia, and Fury begins attacking her own pirate. On the next turn, after the pegasi begin their attack and Cuvuli heals a pirate instead of putting one of my guys to sleep, I have Jamka attack Deetva (who claims to be one of the four "Angelic Knights" of Silesia, guessing Mahnya is one of those, and I'm guessing it's a pretty serious moniker) and miss his shot, preventing him from taking her out. The others struggle with the pegasi as well, but take out a few, and Brigid takes down Cuvuli, unable to reach Deetva from where she was, as Fury kills her pirate and flies up towards the party, and Lex continues his journey to the main base.
No one dead, thankfully, but they did a number on a couple of us, a pair nearly killing Claude while Deetva sliced a chunk out of Jamka. I resort to having Brigid, the third but mostly unaffected target of the winged womens ire, use the Ichival to bring down Deetva. Everyone else struggles yet again to take out the remaining half of the troops, their obscene evasion and light weapons making them absurdly hard to finish off, with the forested terrain making it hard to even reach them, leaving everyone tripping over each other trying to take them out. Thankfully, Sylvia can rejuvenate the two archers, and Brigid soon rids us off the final enemy flier. Claude uses the Fortify to heal the lot of us, that ordeal having taken it's tool, and I feel this is where I'll be leaving off.
I've taken down the two opening forces of the enemy, and now must simply piece through a bunch of siege mages and some knights if I wish to reach Thove. I doubt it will be easy, but I can always hope, right?
Comments
