When we last left Chrom, Yukari, the Shepherds, and Virion, they had witnessed some kind of space-time anomaly and stabbed the heck out of the zombies that spewed out of it. As today's installment opens, the group has finally reached Ylisstol, the capital city of the Ylisse haildom. After expressing relief that the chaos from the forest had not spread out, we catch a glimpse of the exalt, Lady Emmeryn. She's a symbol of peace, a reminder of the first exalt that joined forces with divine dragons (nice ones) to defeat a fell dragon (an evil one), and...Lissa and Chrom's big sister. Yukari's a bit startled that she could remember Chrom's name but not the fact that he's a prince instead of an actual shepherd, and the metaphor is more or less explained to her.
The scene changes from Ylisstol's streats to inside its castle, and we get to meet Emmeryn (and Phila, pegasus knight leader and Emm's sidekick) face-to-face. To make a long story short, the Plegian bandit problem should be watched, Yukari is inducted into the Shepherds because Chrom trusts her more than Frederick doubts her 'amnesia' story (though Frederick is thanked for his prudence and dedication to protecting Chrom and Lissa), and reports of more Risen have been popping up across the haildom. While Chrom and Emm go off to discuss important matters, Lissa urges us to follow her out, and away we go.
Back at the World Map screen, we can now access Northroad, which is clearly a road to the north of Ylisstol. More importantly, Supports can finally be accessed from the main menu! We still can't access Inventory (move items between characters and into/out of storage), Skills (where we can manage special abilities that characters earn while leveling up), Barracks (which picks units at random and gives them the same bonuses as a shiny Event Panel would), or Wireless (where we can download free sidequests, fight against cameos from previous Fire Emblem titles, and gain rewards for our skill at beating said cameos). But now, we can get some interesting dialogue between the people we've Paired Up for the past two battles!
- Chrom & Frederick C-Rank: Frederick is revealed to be slightly crazy in his devotion to Chrom, having patrolled the area for enemies, inspected all the weaponry and separating items with exceptional wear so that Chrom can choose to sell or repair them, reinforcing tents near areas where Chrom trains so that he can cause as much of a ruckus as he needs, procuring blankets to counter the nights getting colder (and arguing with himself over what colour Chrom would look best in), and...raising troop morale. With posters of Chrom. Without a single piece of clothing on. As Chrom rushes to tear the posters out of every single tent in camp, I can only wonder how Frederick knew what to tell an artisan to paint...
- Yukari & Lissa C-Rank: After Lissa interrupts Yukari's nightmare of Risen riding wolves (the first time 'Risen' has been said by a character, I might add) by plugging her nose, the princess gets slightly emotional when asked if that's how her parents raised her. After Yukari apologizes for her heartless comment, Lissa apologizes for wrecking a new book of strategy Yukari owns, which Yukari hesitantly accepts. The apology, that is.
And with that out of the way, let's step onto the Northroad and officially begin the next chapter!
CHAPTER 2: SHEPHERDS
So, the mysterious place that Lissa wanted to take us to is the Shepherd garrison, currently featuring a man we can only view the right shoulder of in the very first second of the scene, Maribelle (the overprotective friend of Lissa), Vaike (AKA "The Vaike", and "Teach"), and Sumia (the klutz that the game keeps implying is Chrom's canon love interest). Introductions are made, personality traits are quickly identified, Maribelle runs out of the room when Yukari plays along with Vaike's disgusting habits, Sumia trips on some papers lying on the floor when Chrom enters the room, and our blue-haired lord tells the gang that our next destination is Regna Ferox. It's a snowy kingdom to Ylisse's north (hence, NORTH-road) where warriors thrive, and the exalt has decided to send Chrom as an ambassador to request help while she stays in the capital and stops the citizens from worrying. It's voluntary, but everyone still in the room volunteers (including Kellam, whose shoulder we briefly saw, but whose most notable trait is how often everyone somehow ignores the giant of a man). Sumia's in a bit of a pickle, since she can't actually contribute in combat yet, but Chrom says that she can just watch the main group and learn from them if she wants to tag along.
Right before we head out, Stahl (a ludicrously average guy) catches up to the main group, having only just found out about this mission because Vaike forgot (well, didn't remember, technically) to tell him. After Vaike promises that he didn't 'not remember' anything else, especially his weapon of choice, Stahl is introduced, and tells us that he heard about Yukari from Miriel (another Shepherd, and a mage that should be catching up soon). We then see the battlefield, and Chrom notes how there are Risen awaiting them. Since this is the first time 'Risen' has been said in the main plot, Freddy explains that it's the name given to these zombies by the Ylissean council, presumably because they WOSE FWOM...oh, I already did that joke. Also, Vaike has inexplicably lost his axe, but can still be useful in Turn 1 as a Pair Up partner. Let the battle commence!
- Frederick & Lissa: After Sully spends her first turn giving Freddy her Bronze Lance, Lissa Pairs Up with the Great Knight and Freddy spends a few turns weakening some Risen with it. As I said before, the game gives you plenty of opportunities to train weaker characters (especially since I've bought all of the DLC currently available), and this will give them some relationship points without stealing the bonus from killing. Once people started to approach the northern half of the map, with the exception of a single turn where Freddy weakened a foe, Lissa swapped in and healed somebody every turn, getting her first level-up (only two stats, sadly).
- Chrom & Vaike: Chrom kills off the Risen that Freddy weakened in the southern section. Repeat this sentence about three times, then replace 'Freddy' with 'Yukari' and 'southern' with 'northern', and repeat it some more. Add in that Vaike weakened the boss, and you now have their role in the battle.
- Yukari, Virion, & Stahl: Stahl was the odd one out, as with Miriel joining on Turn 2, there are nine controllable characters on the field. Still, by standing right next to Yukari (who was getting a skill boost from the archer), he could take advantage of Dual Guard (when an ally blocks an attack; see 'Prologue'), Dual Strike (when an ally attacks alongside you; see 'Premonition'), and Dual Support (not explained before, but hit rate, the odds of avoiding a hit, critical attack rate, and critical avoidance rate all increase when standing beside allies). Together, the three of them handled the right side of the field, and did a heck of a job with the northern forces, though Stahl was separated from the pair for a turn. Oh, and at one point, Virion and Yukari got relationship points from an Event Panel. Yukari and Virion then weakened the boss a little, Vaike weakened it a bit more, and then Stahl finished it off and leveled up.
- Sully & Miriel: Sully spent her first turn giving away her only weapon to make sure that Freddy didn't kill (well, re-kill, considering that these are Risen) anything he touched. Miriel the overly logical mage popped in on Turn 2, instantly finding the axe that Vaike lost. The two girls then teamed up, gave Vaike his axe back (with Miriel threatening to graft it to Vaike's arm if he continues to be an ignoramus), and torched Risen that Freddy weakened with Fire magic (slightly more damaging and less accurate than Wind, but slightly less damaging and more accurate than Yukari's Thunder). They almost got killed in the 2nd turn, but Sully performed a Dual Guard just in time. After getting an Event Panel that gave Sully experience, they headed north, and Miriel reached Level 2 by dealing with foes that Yukari and Frederick weakened.
- Turns: 7
- Heroes: Yukari & Virion
Chrom and Frederick decide that they need to be careful, if Risen are already getting in their way. After a save prompt, there's a scene of Chrom, Yukari, and Lissa coming across a hurt pegasus. One with a saddle and with some kind of blue cloth draped around it, strongly hinting that it's on our side. Still, it riles up when Chrom tries approaching it, only for the klutzy Sumia to trip into the scene and showing that she's surprisingly talented at calming the beast. After everyone admits how cool Sumia's talent with animals is, Sumia asks to stay behind to clean the pegasus's wounds and promises to catch up later, saying that Ylisse is in danger and it wouldn't be wise to wait around just for her. We then head back to the World Map, and not only can we access the Longfort area, we can also view a bunch more supports!
- Chrom & Vaike C-Rank: Vaike insists on pairing with Chrom when it's time to train, insisting that they're rivals and that he came close to winning last time. Chrom wants to mix things up, but rather than let him pick a different partner, Vaike offers to spice things up with a wager, with everything they own on the line. Chrom points out that wartime is a bad time to gamble with the royal treasury, and Vaike's counter-offer of 'loser has to pull down Frederick's pantaloons' is seen as a death sentence. Still, like Marty McFly from the second and third Back to the Future films, Vaike calling him chicken is enough to make Chrom go along with the bet.
- Frederick & Lissa C-Rank: Lissa tries and succeeds at finding Frederick, who was busy inspecting the armory. Lissa wants to help, but Frederick's duty-bound to protect her and Chrom, and she could hurt herself in the process. Lissa then reveals that she was looking for Frederick so that she could be trained as well as the other Shepherds, and wants to hold her own. Frederick thinks that it's a fine idea and agrees to help, but warns her that he's not a gentle teacher.
- Sully & Miriel C-Rank: Sully needs assistance from Miriel, who's an egghead good with research and investigating things. Sully wants Miriel to investigate...well, Sully. The red cavalier isn't exactly like most women, especially when it comes to martial prowess and general attitude, and wants some help at trying to fit in. Miriel's job is to analyze how Sully interacts with others, and suggest behavioural changes that will help her fit in. Miriel says it might take some time to set up this experiment, but Sully's willing to wait.
- Yukari & Virion C-Rank: Virion notices Yukari struggling with practicing strategy on a game board, presumably some version of Chess. Virion's impressed with her dedication, and when Yukari says that her methods aren't effective when she controls both sides of the battle, Virion requests that he take on the role of her opponent. Yukari accepts the offer, and states that they'll take turns moving units until one player claims the other's commander. Virion states that it sounds fun, and allows Yukari to make the first move. A quick flash-forward, and after a move Yukari wishes to retract, Virion states that enemy generals in real life wouldn't allow mistakes to be redone, and Checkmates her. Yukari admits defeat, but finds Virion's strategy to be dishonorable. She does appreciate the practice, but won't stick around to hear Virion gloat, while Virion wishes to play again soon.
Now, I know that Yukari/Virion was not one of the proposed pairings. But as long as they don't max out the support, letting them talk and having them boost each other in battle occasionally shouldn't cause too much harm. And with that, I suppose that the only thing left to do is to properly introduce the units that have joined this chapter, using the descriptions one can get by clicking on their name:
- VAIKE (the axe-wielding Fighter): A scatterbrained Shepherd who insists he's in control.
- STAHL (the green Cavalier, since there's a red and green Cavalier in every Fire Emblem): A hard-working Shepherd who is always a beat behind.
- MIRIEL (a mage that, at the time of this installment, is five levels behind Yukari): A meticulous, methodical Shepherd with high standards.
In my previous play through, Vaike hooked up with Sully (as I have already alluded to), Stahl played beautiful music together with a perfectionist Pegasus Knight, and Miriel found through experimentation that the only way she can constantly keep track of Kellam (who, as you may have noticed, isn't actually in our roster yet) is if he was constantly by her side. Feel free to keep suggesting pairings, but remember that even if every lady gets a husband, not every obtainable guy will be able to find a wife. Will Vaike or Stahl be designated to this sad fate? Will Sumia and the pegasus she's helping come back in the near future, and with a grand entrance? And will we fight something other than Risen in the next battle? Find out next time, viewers!
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