Beginning at Chalphy, Sigurd's home and the point where he began his quest, now shall his son Serlis wage war against Julius and the Grandbellian Empire, in order to protect the continent from an eternal darkness at the hands of Loptous.
At long last, the Liberation Army had reached the end of their journey. Grandbell lay ahead, and their presence has caused many of the oppressed civilians across the empire to revolt. Silesia was the first to wrest control of their home from the empire, soon followed by Agustria. The movements had yet to reach Grandbell proper, and many foes awaited them. The Grauen Ritter axe brigade under the command of Burian of Dozel, the Beige Ritter archers under the command of Scorpio (the kid really takes after his dad in the looks department, I see) of Jungby, and the Gelben Ritter brigade of Freege, under queen Hilda's command, all of whom are in top form, and Julius and Ishtar, as well as the enigmatic "12 Dark Warlords" remained eerily silent within Barhara.
A full year had passed since the Liberation Army had struck out from Isaac, and this final conflict split the 12 crusaders between light and dark as their descendants were pitted against each other.
And thus commenced The Last Holy War...
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At Velthomer, Julius receives the news of Alvis's death from Manfloy, who says that he was of no use anymore, and thus we did them a favor in killing him. Julius seems remorseful, noting how much Manfloy tricked and used his father, only to leave him to die. He replies that it was all for the princes sake, saying that while Alvis was of Loptian blood, he vehemently opposed the old regime, Fala's old beliefs running deep within his descendant. Manfloy believes he would have betrayed them eventually (oOh that would have been so cool. Imagine, Alvis on out side, just sort of wrecking all the enemies with Falaflame alongside Serlis and the gang. Would have been awesome!). Julius notes the possible threat of the rebels at Chalphy, and Manfloy says that Bishop Rodan and General Burian have been sent to retake the castle. Julius suddenly decides he wants to see his sister, and demands Manfloy bring her forth, to which the archbishop loyally complies.
Julius speaks with Julia, wondering if she remembers him. She replies only through his name, and he's amused that her memory is still intact after seven long years. Julia says she remembers the incident as if it were yesterday, and Julius laughs, noting that she must have some fond memories of their mother. Julia simply asks who he actually is, stating that everything changed when Manfloy brought that "eerie black book" in, since that marks the last time she saw her dear brother (so Julius is basically high off of Lopt magic?). She feels that, whoever is now in command of that body, it is not prince Julius, and thus that creature has slain both Dierdre and her brother. She demands to know who he really is, and he explains that he is the inheritor of the Lopt Clan's power, and that this world is his domain. He then states that she inherited his mortal enemy, Narga's power, and thus he must slay her, but Manfloy says he still has a use for her, and will finish her off later. Julius lets him do as he wishes, and then leaves for Barhara, warning the archbishop that one slip-up could lead to very far reaching consequences.
Julius leaves, and now focus shifts to Edda. A priest commands a brigade of priests and mercenaries to hold back all foes, while the Knight brigade shall take back Chalphy. At Chalphy, Levin explains that the final holy war is about to begin, stating that Julius is the descendant of the Lopt Clan, and was planning to restore the dark lord from day one. Serlis asks Levin how he seems to know all of this information, and Levin explains that he picked it up in his travels. He learned that Bishop Galle, the original Lopt crusader, searched all across the world in order to drink the lifeblood of an immensely powerful creature. Serlis pieces together that Galle aimed to absorb the power of the Ancient Dragon Tribe, and Levin confirms this partially, noting that while he can't prove the superstitious "Dragon Tribe" explanation, Galle did return from his travels with unimaginable powers. He then explains that Galle's powers allowed him to influence the minds of the young, and before long he had built up a legion of demonic soldiers who obeyed his every command (oh dear, I think I know what those child hunts and these "dark warlords" are all about now...). Serlis asks how Loptous fits into this, and Levin believes that Loptous was one of the Dragons whom Galle killed, and thus the blood of the dragon and the blood of Galle flow through the Loptian descendants equally. Serlis asks how the other crusaders came to be, if Lopt was born of Dragons, and Levin refers back to divine gifting of the weapons at the "Miracle of Darna". He seems flustered after this, and Serlis urgently asks what happened, only for Levin to tell him to wait until later, since they have an enemy to deal with.
Thus, this final battle begins. Looking at the field, we are already dealing with more early ranged dark mages, this time with the far less harmful silence staves, thankfully. There are some fenrir mages, but Altenna and Fee can clean them up, while the other deal with the incoming foes. A paladin named Robert leads the knight brigade, so this one isn't Burian's group yet, while a swordmaster named Boyce and a bishop named Rodan act as the guards of Edda, with a dark bishop named Yupheel acting as castle guard. Their troops consist of swordsman, ranged mages, healers, archers, and sleep staff users, making their defenses certainly frightening to behold. They aren't an immediate threat though, so they can wait.
First off, time for the final set of preparations. First I start with equipment stuff, and Arthur passes his thunder tome on to Corple, so as to give him a means to defend himself. Serlis sells his redundant Renewal bracelet and purchases a Barrier ring to protect him from magical attacks and staves. Altenna purchases it, since the Gae Bolg's lack of evasion buffs means she's likelier to get hit, and thus she'll need the healing. Hanibal passes his Silver blade to Oifaye, since he (as well as Johalva) are joining Delmud on the bench and will act as Chalphy's guards. Now for the Arena! Those who make it through are Serlis (though he has to use the Tyrfing on the final guy, since he's a scary emperor named Zeus with an Earth Sword. Nasty, all around), Shanan (needed Balmung for Zeus), Scathach, Lakche (these two kids are monsters, I swear), Aless (needed the Mistoltin), Nanna (miracle sword is love), Arthur, Tinny (wrath and wind tomes are delightful), Altenna (Gae Bolg needed for Zeus), Leaf (Master Knights break everything), Fee (so much evasion!), Lester (Killer bows light weight and some luck needed for Zeus), Faval (barely pulled through with Ichival), Fin (Miracle~!), Patty (she used the sleep sword, and I shit you not, put Zeus, as well as a couple earlier foes to sleep before they could kill her), and Sety (the only person who hit him was Zeus, who was swiftly destroyed with a critical). With that done, everyone actually in use begins sortieing.
Leen dances to allow Fee to reach a pair of dark mages on the cliff northwest of Chalphy, and everyone else charges towards Edda, Faval and Lester feathering a couple dark mages as they pass. Altenna impales another dark mage, and everyone else steps out of Chalphy and forms up. Patty speaks with Shanan, taking out a lunch she made for them, while he reprimands her for making light of this fight. They argue a bit, Shanan apologizes for yelling at her, and he gains 3 health and 3 speed.
Robert's men ride closer, and the party engages them. Most of them are defeated, but they are a hardy bunch, and Serlis and Aless need to team up on Robert to finish him, and that's after using the Tyrfing on him! The remainder of Roberts knights are mopped up, leaving the intimidating mix of mercs and mages to deal with before we can take Edda. Before the party takes them on, they wait for Fee to catch up to them, having finally beaten the dark mages, while everyone else gets healed, and Leaf and Nanna wait for the silence to wear off.
Gah, miscalculated ranges and Sety and Lana were put to sleep. No actual damage was done, but that means the party needs to back off a bit and I need to find a way to approach. Looking at them, all sleep staff users have 21 magic, all ranged mages have 33 total might. This means Corple, Aless w/ Mistoltin, and Serlis w/ Tyrfing are the only one capable of approaching without getting knocked out, and only Serlis can take any real amount of ranged punishment. That still leaves the mercenaries, namely a band of heroes and snipers as well as Boyce, to deal with. A tricky bunch, to be sure.
Serlis, Aless, and Corple all approach from south of the line of foes, using the trees for cover to protect them from ranged mages. Aless also provokes one of the heroes, which triggers the rest of the mercenaries to begin charging at the rest of the party. This is actually quite good, since it removes the real threat of being put to sleep, and allows Serlis, Aless, and Corple to go to town on the mages mostly unhindered. Shanan takes down Boyce with the Balmung, and the rest are finished off soon after, Leaf Rescuing Lakche since she killed the furthest foe and was in danger of being put to sleep and sniped.
Not wanting to frivolously waste Holy weapons, I decide to end it quickly and have Aless slay Yupheel, allowing Serlis to conquer Edda and forcibly remove all of the enemies from the field. Everyone else rushes back to Chalphy, since something is likely to come from the nearest castle, Dozel, to the north.
Levin muses as to how happy the reclamation of Edda would make Claude (oh right, this city was Claude's home. And they decide to have a scummy dark bishop run the place...), and Serlis asks if Claude has any heirs despite his death due to the treachery against Sigurd. Levin tells him Leen and Corple fit the bill, and could easily take over the leadership of Edda once this is done.
My guess was right. Burian sends general Fisher to take over Edda, while he rips straight through to Chalphy, pitting the full might of the Grauen Ritter against us.
And he delivers, OH SHIT! He's really damn close to Chalphy, and coming in with a lot of tough foes. He wields the Swanchika, and is a damn fierce opponent as well. They can't reach Chalphy yet, so I have Shanan, Lakche, Scathach, and every other party member who can wield a sword ready to draw them away. Serlis heads north, taking on Fisher's forces alone, but I believe he can do it, since they are all fairly mediocre fighters, including their leader.
Some of the Grauen Ritter don't take the bait yet, and so Oifaye sneaks around (with some Leen dancing help) and guards Chalphy, silver blade in hand, ready to defend his home. Altenna distracts Burian from across a mountain, allowing everyone else to push forward a bit and assist Oifaye while also finishing off the remaining Grauen Ritter, leaving only Burian to deal with on their side. Serlis easily slays most of his opponents, although three hand axe users elude him, and he must spend some time chasing them down.
Burian you fuck, get back here! He ran back to Dozel, likely to refresh his troops, and I can't quite hunt him down with Daggon the Dark bishop guarding the castle. Ah well, this is a chance to approach, and everyone does so, the swordsman trio in the lead.
Ah dammit, Burian ran out and chopped up Patty. Seems I got a bit too close. Reset Counter: 23, if I remember right.
Alright, back to having slain the first line of Grauen Ritter, and Burian still ran off. I leave Shanan at a chokepoint to prepare for the next wave, the Balmung making him more than a match for Burian and his men. Serlis cleans up that area's mooks, and will soon be heading towards Dozel to take down Daggon and capture it while everyone else slays Burian. Burian charges out with another wave, as expected, and I leave Shanan to deal with them, though some of his men circle around the bend, heading towards the villages. I don't know why, since they can't reach us through that way, what with the thickets and all, but eh, whatever suits them. More of his mooks run around wildly, and Shanan and Faval team up with their holy weapons to bring down Burian.
With their leader down, the remainder of the Grauen Ritter fall soon enough, and Scathach and Lakche go towards Dozel to take down Daggon. Serlis will be riding in soon to take Dozel, but first Lana is going to get some money from the towns. One town she visits she is sung an ode to the crusaders (that is, Odo, Hezul, Baldo, and Heim at least). She collects 10000 gold from this, rejoins the party, and awaits Serlis' capture of Dozel.
Levin laments the state of Dozel, finding it hard to believe the Dozel family is of crusader lineage. Serlis asks about where the crusaders got their power, and asks who exactly the "gods" of the legend were. Levin believes that a group from another world knew that the Dragon Tribe was responsible for Jugdral's unrest, and believes that this group appeared at Darna and gifted the crusaders with their weapons just as all seemed lost. Serlis recognizes the tale as the one of "the descent of Lord Narga and the 11 gods", and Levin confirms it. He explains that they all apparently descended in human form, Light God Narga as a young maiden, Fire God Salamand as an elderly man, and they all performed blood rites with each of the crusaders, cutting their fingertips and mixing their blood with the crusaders. Serlis is confused by this, and Levin says that these gods are likely from the same Dragon Tribe that Loptous is, and so the warriors were granted dragon blood just like Galle did through theft, and were reborn as the crusaders, and were gifted their weapon based on which tribe they shared blood with, before the dragons left. Serlis is amazed at the source of his power, and Levin then explains that Loptous still held the most power among them, due to his large theft of dragon blood, and that Narga granted his own blood to the crusader's leader, Bishop Heim. That was the only way to possibly combat the power of Lopt. Serlis asks if the other tribesmen would be able to confront Loptous, and Levin doesn't think they could, saying that they'd still need Narga's power in the end. Levin explains that only Dierdre's children could carry Narga's blood, but since Serlis and Julius don't carry it, only one person possibly could; Julia, Julius's twin sister. Serlis is surprised by this, but Levin explains it, also noting that this explains why she was taken. He says that they must find her, because the group doesn't stand a chance against Julius without her (oh is that right?).
Alright, with Dozel conquered, that will bring an end to this. But before we go, I do believe I will attempt to prove Levin wrong in the final confrontation with Julius. I'll save Julia, but unless I must, I will do my damnedest to have everyone else team up to slay him, only using Narga if shit starts to really hit the fan.
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