Today is a very special occasion, ladies and gentlemen. You see, every character in the game has a birthday that corresponds to our calendar. Regularly, this doesn't affect much; birthday celebrations can be mentioned in A-Rank supports even if they shouldn't be celebrating for months, and the characters do not show any signs of age. But April 14th is Maribelle's birthday. And when we go to the Barracks, we are greeted with a special message confirming this (rather than some random unit greeting Yukari and making some kind of remark about the time of day your'e playing the game, as per usual). On the list of events we will witness in the Barracks, the first is a one-unit conversation with a very noticeable present icon attached to it. This is Maribelle's special birthday event, which is similar to three ordinary events taking effect simultaneously.
Maribelle: I declare, I am in fine form! Perhaps only natural for a woman of my breeding. (Gained a surge of Str and Spd.) I managed a quick bit of violin practice. I try to stay abreast of the noble pursuits. (Gained 24 EXP.) Hmm, what's this? ...Well, I see little point in just leaving it here. (You got Eirika's Blade.)
And that's what we get for playing on a unit's birthday. And as soon as the event was over, instead of the birthday reminder, Kellam appeared and asked why I'm playing so late (for I was playing at midnight to make sure I didn't miss the event). Other possible Barracks events, if I have not mentioned them before, are as follows:
- One randomly selected unit randomly finds a random item (ranging from tree branches to A-Rank magic), receives a stat boost that will last until the end of the next battle, gets bonus experience points, or...absolutely nothing. No special icons are involved.
- Two randomly selected units that cannot support each other have a conversation. No icons are involved.
- Two randomly selected units that CAN support each other have a conversation. Usually, this is represented by either a heart icon or a handshake item, with the former only occurring if the characters are different genders and have not reached an S-Rank support with another possible love interest. There's a third icon that could also be used, which I have seen before, but the odds of it occurring are extremely low, as you need two specific characters to be randomly selected of an army more than twenty people large. Also, it's impossible to see these events before the end of the chapter where Henry joins our ranks.
Most of those events are the same as landing on an Event Tile on a battlefield, save that characters can only gain stat boosts in the Barracks, and can only gain weapon aptitude on the battlefield. With that celebration over as quickly as it began, and with two rather challenging battles up next in the plot, I've decided that now would be a good idea to do a DLC mission. It's a complete Mood Whiplash when it comes to tone, even more so than Paralogue 4 would have been, but most of our brigade is at the perfect level for the challenge (and everyone else is a tad over-levelled). This first DLC mission was free for the first month or so that the game was released. The catch was that Awakening was so popular, getting your hands on a physical copy of the game was next to impossible. On the bright side, if you have roughly 8000 bits of space left on a SD card, you can do what I did (well, what I did after having an argument with the store I pre-ordered from that falsely claimed that my copy came in) and buy the full game from the Nintendo eShop. But enough about the past being bothersome; let's go and bother the past! ...Well, bother characters from past Fire Emblems, at least.
XENOLOGUE: CHAMPIONS OF YORE 1
Yukari wonders where the army currently is, and while Chrom isn't exactly sure, he can see strange soldiers readying for battle up ahead. An old man runs up to us, wheezing and coughing while claiming that the assistance he foretold was coming has finally arrived. He then asks if we have a lovely lady healer that can help him catch his breath after running to meet us, but quickly discards that thought, as he needs plenty of soldiers right now. Chrom's curious as to who this guy is, and we're introduced to Old Hubba, a fortune-teller living in the Outrealms. He then asks us to save him from an army of Einherjar, phantoms (of a sort) that are out for his blood. And he'd much prefer that his blood stayed inside of him. Chrom states that he'd be glad to assist, but Old Hubba would prefer that the Shepherds fought for him instead of alongside him, claiming he has poor eyesight and a trick knee that's only gotten worse from his running. He will, however, summon some Einherjar of his own to fight alongside us. He then summons the spirit of Marth, the Hero-King, though we end up with merely his princely form from Shadow Dragon. Chrom is utterly confused as to what is going on, and then we are taken to the battle preparation menu. All three Champions of Yore maps take place in the same area, which is an exact replica of Chapter 1 of the original Fire Emblem, and the background music matches. Fighting alongside us as NPC allies for this battle are Prince Marth the Lv. 8 Lodestar, Alm the Lv. 9 Mercenary, and Ike the Lv. 8 Mercenary. Our enemies are the main female protagonists of various Fire Emblem titles, such as Eirika from Sacred Stones and Nanna from Thracia 776.
After selecting and preparing the seven units I want to bring, which must include Chrom, I start the battle. Eirika introduces herself as Ephraim's sister, and Old Hubba recognizes the fair maid from Magvelian lore. Eirika dislikes Hubba's leering and supposes she should have expected such behaviour from the brigands she's come to stop, but Chrom states that she is mistaken and that the Shepherds are not even of this realm. Hubba states that Chrom's wasting his breath talking to living weapons, but it turns out that Eirika was actually listening to the Lord and apologizes. Hubba wonders how that worked, and then remembers how gullible, innocent and sheltered Eirika was in legend. Obviously, this provokes Eirika into wanting to kill us again. Hubba states that he knew the Einherjar were irrational and that we have no choice but to fight against the delectable ladies. Chrom can only let out a pained moan. Now, let the battle start!
- Chrom & Lissa: They head down on their first turn and talk to two of the NPCs. Lissa and Alm talk about how Alm is surprised to see women in our army, which Lissa takes as an insult. Alm adds that one of his closest comrades is a woman and remarks that women seem oddly resistant to magic, and Lissa states that maybe his chauvinism is just highly flammable, which Alm will keep in mind. Chrom asks Marth if he realizes what's going on, and Marth states that he is merely the Prince of Altea, and does not understand the significance of Chrom's question. Chrom apologizes and states that it was a silly thing to ask, and after Marth leaves, Chrom says that Marth doesn't seem to realize that he's been summoned from a card. Chrom then visits a village that knows we're not a band of brigands, which gladly gives us an Arcthunder. As you can redo DLC missions, I'm not sure if Village gifts are randomized, but this powerful Thunder-type magic is certainly appreciated. They then tried to catch up to everyone else, and Lissa did a bit of healing when they reached Gregor and Marth, though Ike was too far ahead to heal with anything other than a staff Lissa currently lacks the aptitude to use. Lissa spends her last turns healing Marth and Alm after Lyn and Julia give them a few wounds, and stopping by an Event Space to pick up a Superior Edge.
- Yukari: Yukari spends her first turn talking to Ike, who realizes that she's a tactician and that we're from another world. Yukari compliments his perception, and when Ike asks if we fight in a similar manner as he does, Yukari states that as far as she can tell, they do. Ike's glad that it shouldn't be hard for him to adapt, but states that if he gets in our way, we shouldn't be afraid to say so. She then transfers Kellam from herself to Donnel, as Miriel heading towards Elincia left the farm boy a tad exposed. Yukari then assisted in Micaiah's elimination, and after transferring Miriel back to Gregor, didn't really play a role more significant than standing next to others with her weapon unequipped in order to boost their hit rate without stealing any experience. Except for the final turn, where she somehow wound up partnered with Donnel and gave him the chance to kill the boss.
- Gregor, Miriel, Donnel & Kellam: They all head left on their first turn, save for Kellam, who began as Yukari's partner. Gregor and Miriel are in Eirika' range at the end of the turn, and after she calls us brigands, they almost kill her with a Dual Strike. Donny sneaks in for the kill and the bonus experience it grants, while Miriel manages to get a shot at the flying Elincia with some Wind magic. While Kellam & Donnel head further into enemy territory to get some special dialogue, the other duo strike at the nearby Micaiah, killing her by the end of Turn 3 (thanks in part to Yukari doing some Pair Up shenanigans and letting both Gregor and Miriel attack at the cost of her own overpowered assault). When Caeda attacks Kellam, she asks why he casts his lot with brigands when he appears to be kind, and asks him to lay down his arms and make peace. Kellam's a bit upset that the first person in a week that notices him thinks that he's a brigand, and then his thick armour prevents Caeda's attacks from doing any damage to him. Miriel weakened Cadea to let Donnel strike another killing blow, and then everyone spent a turn just heading forwards while the enemy stayed still. On Turn 6, Miriel senses voluminous reserves of magic amalgamating within Lilina, and thinks it would be quite elucidating to dissect her piece by piece. Lilina states that she's not some frog for her to pick apart, and while Miriel kind of misses the point and states that she's not interested in frogs, she dares Lilina to come at her and see whether or not she croaks. Lilina dies in two hits from Elwind, and then Miriel transfers Gregor to Kellam in exchange for Donny so that I can see another interesting conversation. Lyn states that she is from the Lorca tribe and that she will give brigands no quarter, and Gregor cannot believe his situation, wondering what part of his gentle self resembles a hairy brigand. 'The unwashed part' is Lyn's reply, and after Gregor asks if she 'make the joke' with him, he misses with his steel sword (though Kellam does some damage in a Dual Strike). Lyn's strike is then dodged by Gregor on her turn as some sort of karmic payback, though she nearly kills Alm when the NPC goes after her. Kellam (with Gregor still as a partner) then takes off slightly more than half of Nanna the Troubador's HP, allowing the quickly-improving Donnel (with Miriel as a partner) to finish her off. Kellam gets a Waste tome for heading to the other village on the map, while Gregor, Miriel, Donnel and Yukari went after and killed Celica, the chapter's boss, with the farm boy dealing the final blow.
- Marth, Alm, & Ike: Marth gets attacked by Dierdre after politely asking her to stand down, but she misses. Alm approaches Dierdre on his turn, and after remarking that she isn't the strongest woman that he knows, he doesn't want to take any chances. He and Marth then work together to vanquish Deirdre, with only Marth taking a hit from her Flux tome. With the added defence that Kellam gave Donnel, the two enemies that could have attacked the farm boy on Turn 2 went after Ike instead. Elincia was one of them, and Ike repaid his queen by killing her on his turn. Two of the Einherjar then spend a few turns just trying to catch up with my squad, while Ike pretty much blazed past them, getting himself killed after doing a bit of damage to Lyn. Because Lyn keeps dodging attacks, she does a ton of damage on Alm on his turn before Marth finishes her off with a critical. Alm and Marth then kill Julia the mage
- Turns: 9 (Your best turn count for a map actually gets listed when you select a DLC mission)
After the battle, Old Hubba comes up to Chrom and thanks him for returning the Einherjar to him. He's glad that we're so strong and skilled...not that it's a surprise to him, since it's just as he foreseed...foreseen...had foreseen...foresaw...predicted! Chrom wants to 'pretend' that Hubba's been spouting nothing but gibberish thus far and explain just what's going on here. Old Hubba states that the cards that can summon Einherjar are a family heirloom that his ancestors have guarded for generations. Each card contains a record of one of history's glorious heroes, and can conjure up a mirror image to the actual man or women they represent. Chrom asks why an heirloom would attack its owners, and Hubba reveals that an evil temptress...sorceress stole them from him, and that the Einherjar will follow their summoner's orders. In the wrong hands, they could conquer all of the Outrealms, and Hubba asks us to help get them back. Freddy comes by and reminds Chrom that they have their own campaign to fight, and while Chrom agrees that it should be their first priority and that they probably shouldn't assist Hubba, the old man starts lying his...I mean, has a vision. As Chrom once again has a bad feeling about the words that will come from the coot's moth, Hubba sees our whole party in the future, having gotten all of his cards back and looking really happy at doing the decent thing. We're also victorious at whatever our other problem is, but only because Hubba lent us heroes. Chrom states that the old man can spare the theatrics and that they'll help him in exchange for legendary soldiers, which makes Hubba happy. Hubba adds that we don't need to rush to get all of the cards, since time flows differently in the Outrealm, and we can choose at any time to abandon him like an old shoe, cold and alone.
Before he forgets, Hubba also gives us our reward: the "Hero-King Marth" card we worked well with in that battle. We then get to talk to Marth, who asks if we've heard of him. I state no (even though I do know), and he explains that he is the heir to the Altea kingdom. Some call him the Hero-King, but maybe we should temper our expectations, as he considers himself merely a man that was inspired by his comrades to fight. Yukari tells him her name, and he asks the tactician what she would do if she had to choose between a narrow victory or saving a fallen comrade, putting the victory of all above the life of the one. Considering what we just went through with Emmeryn, I state that I would put victory above saving an ally. Marth states that we would be making the right choice as a tactician, and that every army should have somebody that can do what must be done without sentiment blinding them. Those judgments might be considered cold by some, but not by Marth, who understands that calm, wise decisions are motivated by their own kind of love. Now as a comrade-in-arms, Marth wishes to know all he can of us and our plight, and we recruit him into our squad. We then save, leave the Outrealm Gate, and return to the World Map.
And now, Supports. Need I say more?
- Chrom & Sully (A-Rank): Chrom and Sully are just ending a sparring match. Chrom's impressed by Sully's bear-like ferocity, while Sully likes Chrom's rock-hard defence. Sully likes how he hasn't been slacking, and Chrom says that the best shortcut is the one you never take. Chrom then reveals to us, the audience, that his friendship with Sully goes back to when they were kids playing games and walloping each other with sticks. Sully remarks how things both have and have not changed, fondly regarding the times boys and girls alike played rough. They've come a long way from climbing trees in the woods, but Chrom states that Sully's still an even match for him. Sully remarks that part of the reason she trains is so some cheese-eating royal like Chrom won't have the satisfaction of leaving her in the dust. Chrom hopes that she never changes, since she's the only woman he can still spar with and speak as an equal to. Sully replies that it's because all of the other women decided to become a bunch of frilly ladies instead, and when she's about to say that she might end up similarly one day, Chrom says that she's perfect just the way she is. Sully blushes, but since their relationship is one of the few things that hasn't changed over time, she promises to not change for anyone but him.
- Yukari & Sully (C-Rank): Yukari notices that Sully is holding her side and groaning, but Sully insists that it's nothing and wants to be left alone. Yukari's persistence leads Sully to admitting that she's put on a little weight and she feels bad for getting a gut in the middle of wartime. Yukari thinks that she looks fine, and is surprised at seeing this new, self-conscious side of Sully. Sully states that the problem isn't about appearance; it's about her muscle mass dropping, which could affect her combat ability. Luckily, Yukari just happened to have bought some dried seaweed in the last town they were in, and while it smells horrid, it's supposed to have an insane amount of fiber. The shopkeeper was also insane, but that was probably just a coincidence. Sully's a brave woman and decides to try it out, and since Yukari bought it for her own weight issues, they decide to have a competition to see who can get in shape faster.
- Virion & Panne (B-Rank): Virion is surprised that, after the way their last conversation went, that Panne would come and start a conversation with him. But Panne is curious how Virion can match her in combat despite not considering himself a warrior. The archest of archers state that while words were his forte, he's talented in other matters as well. Still, he cannot say that he is a true warrior, for he has failed to protect people that were close to him before (which, as you may remember, Panne brought up in their past conversation). Panne asks why he ran and abandoned his duties, and Virion admits that he had planned to sacrifice himself, but his men preferred to die for Virion instead of handing him over to the enemy. Virion thought that if he ran like a craven coward, the others would no longer have the motivation to fight and die for him, and states that Panne's observations of him cannot be defended against. Panne takes back her harsh words, as she now knows they have both felt the pain of losing their kin. Virion interrupts her and states that their losses are not equal, for most of his people are still alive and in enemy hands, while Panne's had her friends taken away for good. The taguel asks if Virion pities her, but Virion knows that she would take pity as an insult, and just hopes that her heart can recover from the emotional wounds that cover it. Panne accepts his words.
- Donnel & Maribelle (B-Rank): Donny gives Mari her book back, having now memorized its contents. Mari is surprised, since not even she has committed the entire code to memory, but Donny claims that he's good at memorizing stuff and is a quick learner (which explains how his Aptitude skill works, I guess). Mari tests this claim by quizzing him about the contents of certain sections, and after a brief time skip, we see that Donny passes with flyin' colours and (not counting his accent) has answered everything verbatim. Donny adds that, since the book was really important to Mari and it was nice of her to teach him, he spent as much free time as he could to make her proud of him. Mari apologizes for having underestimated him, and now sees that he is a diamond in the rough. Mari now desires to remove all roughness and turn Donnel into the perfect gentleman, and while Donny's never been one for fancy clothes, Mari states that this matter is not up for discussion.
- Gaius & Nowi (A-Rank): Nowi's still confused and thinks that Gaius likes tall women, then asks what else he looks for in a woman. The manakete thinks that they're 'besties' by this point, while Gaius is wondering how much longer she's going to follow him around. The thief asks if she'd like a delicious candied fig in exchange for standing a really long distance away from him, which Nowi accepts. However, she quickly comes back in order to give Gaius a flower that she had picked for him, and then runs off again. Gaius mutters to himself about how he was near the point of scaring her off with his sword, and all Nowi wanted to do was express her thanks. He then decides to pick up some more figs.
- Virion & Panne (A-Rank): Virion comes across Panne gazing at the moon. Virion has heard that Taguel belive that the souls of the departed return to the moon, and Panne verifies this. Virion then pulls out some blackberry wine, and asks if Panne would like to join him in a toast to the moon. Panne accepts, and asks what Virion plans to do when the fighting has ended. Virion dreams of ending the suffering of his people, and Panne says that she might help Virion with this dream. Virion lets out a light giggle at the thought that Panne is offering assistance to him, and states that their bond might be stronger now than he had realized. Panne states that it might just be the wine, and they take a drink for the peace yet to come.
- Yukari & Donnel (C-Rank): Yukari comes across Donnel struggling to make a decent fishing hook. The farm boy notes how the fish seem to keep slipping off the second they start fightin', and Yukari suggests adding a barb on the inside. Donny says that he owes her one and asks how she knows about fishing hooks, and the tactician says it's just something she read about in one of her various books. Donny wishes to return the favour, suggesting that he's a pretty good trapper and knows some things about snares. Yukari knows nothing about trap-making and suggests that Donnel could teach her, which Donny thinks is a mighty fine idea.
And that's all for now. Next time, we will hopefully get back to the really depressing main plot. See you guys then!
