Chapter: 23
...Why on earth must a living legend live in a DESERT? I was baking in the heat as we traveled, and I happen to be one of the lighter travelers. I feel bad for those that prefer to leave their armor on even outside of a fight. Hector had some crazy antics with Nils, while Eliwood and Ninian got cozy (despite the heavy perspiration). As we neared what was supposed to be the location, Ninian sensed that some bandits were about to attack a single person. Lyn and Hector hurried off to do what they could, with everyone else following behind them.
It's kind of a shame that we began to fight down in the middle of the sand, instead of making it to the small patch of grass that was to the north of us. That'll make things harder than it could have been.
Hector: Hector was getting really hot from all the fighting, and was very happy to receive a sudden bit of shade...until he realized that it was actually a giant shirtless man. He was Hawkeye, and he claimed to be the guardian of the desert who would drive the bandits out
. I'm not one to turn down help from those who seem capable, and he certainly does.
Serra: Serra had no issues walking around in this environment, and combined with her new Psychic staff collection, she was able to provide useful healing at a safe distance. That Psychic staff would prove to be very useful after Fiora nearly took a mortal blow from Jasmine the Warrior. From a tactical point of view, it's a godsend
to have a healer who can heal people even if they aren't at an armslength distance from you.
Kent: Kent went north towards the grassy patch. From there, he was able to take out many of the southern attackers
.
Lucius: Lucius was able to make use of his new Shine Tome to help out in fighting the bandits
. He and Serra explained to me that the desert air was actually a good environment for their spells, so that's why they were able to move around a little quicker than the other troops...I still don't see how that makes sense though.
Dart: Dart was able to keep up the good work
by taking out some of the enemies to the west of where we started.
Fiora: As a flying unit who rides a beast that's resistant to magic, Fiora was truly in her element. As long as she was careful with the bowmen that were around, she was able to move around the desert with no issues. She used this to her advantage, attacking people
all over the place.
Marcus: Marcus really didn't do anything. What a shame.
Oswin: This was really a bad environment to bring him into, but there were few other choices and I wanted him to train up a bit. It proved to be helpful, because Oswin managed to Level Up
, proving that he had been attacked 100 times on this journey.
Legault: As a light footed thief, he didn't have many problems making his way around the environment. Florina was able to ferry him over to the bones on the far side of the desert, and he picked up a Light Brand there.
Matthew: The locals that live outside of the desert mentioned that between all the mages that train out here and all the travelers that die, there's a lot of treasure that can be found in the sand. Matthew proved that this was true when he unearthed an Ocean Seal, which Dart may soon find himself making use of. He then hitched a ride with Florina, and was able to also find a Body Ring. Near the end, he found an Eclipse Tome, which no one in our party can use, so we'll probably sell it for gold.
Florina: After Matthew picked up his treasure, Florina pulled him onto her Pegasus’s back so they could possibly find more. Ferrying him and Legault to the goodies was basically all she did.
Hawkeye: After he offered to help us out (though it felt more like we were helping HIM out), I told him that he could borrow Dart's Steel Axe. Hawkeye came with a Killer Axe, which looked so strong that I didn't want him to wear it out on petty bandits. Besides, Dart preferred his Iron Axe because the steel one was too heavy for him to use all the time. It turned out that he wasn't able to quite keep up with the rest of the party though, so he visited his house
and met with a young girl that validated the treasure rumor.
Jasmine and Paul acted odd, but they were both deadly. Fortunately for us, the man they were harassing was also deadly. He almost took out Jasmine for us with magic, but was forced to retreat when things got bad. Fiora, who wasn't one to see someone harassed in such a way, took off to make sure Jasmine wouldn't try to finish the man off, despite being at a heavy disadvantage. She suffered a tough wound, but was able to finish off
the powerful warrior.
Paul...was the biggest reason that it took us a while to finish the job. He was hiding out in the deepest parts of the desert, and Fiora was too busy killing baddies to ferry over someone who could do the job quickly, like Kent. To make matters worse, Paul had a Killer Axe, which could take out many of our team members in one blow, and that's BEFORE the chance of a critical hit! Eventually, Fiora was able to get Kent over to Paul, and he proceeded to lay down a decent amount of smack down. The magical stranger took this as an opportunity to rush down and finish the man off instead of killing the shaman near him. Our troop members were not impressed, because Paul was almost dead, and whoever finished him off would have gotten a boatload of exp. The man just smiled, and said that this was payment for finishing off Jasmine earlier. I guess he had a bit of a point there. Anyhow, once Fiora defeated a shaman that had been trying to get away, the job was done, and we were able to finally hold a conversation with the guy.
The man's name was Pent, and apparently he was a friend of Hawkeye's (who still seems to have a habit of scaring Hector). The two of them seemed to know where we would find this "living legend", but they first had some business to take care of in some strange location that was home to even more random artifacts. They actually asked if we wanted to come along, but our group was worn out from all of the desert fighting, so we declined their offer
, instead opting to wait for them to return to our camp so we could go meet this legend together.
That meeting happened the next day. We were taken to a shrine, and inside was a VERY old man, who called Lyn, Hector, and Eliwood "Children of Roland". We talked of the Eight Heroes (and learned that Lyn was apparently not paying attention to her history tales very much when she was younger, because she called Hanon a HorseMAN
, when Hanon was actually female). The old man said that he was the Archsage Athos, one of the 8 Heroes, which made him over a thousand years old. He had been watching over everything that's been going on recently with Nergal. He said that the best chance for us to defeat our foe was to find the Shrine of Seals
in Bern. Hawkeye and Pent also be joining us, along with Pent's wife, Louise. Hawkeye's strength will surely prove useful in our travels, as well Pent and Louise's connections as one of the highest ranking officials in Eturia. Athos was kind enough to give me Afa's Drops, which he said would improve the potential of any combatant. He then used his powerful magic to warp our entire group across the continent into Pharae, Eliwood's homeland, and the closest area to Bern that was safe. As it happened, Eliwood's mother was praying in the courtyard
that we popped up in, nearly giving both her and Eliwood a heart attack. After the shock though, we were treated to good food and hospitality for the night, while the Pharaean's of the group were able to catch up with their friends and loved ones before we left again. The death of the Marquess, along with Lowen's passing much earlier, left a somber tone, but the morale was still the highest that it's been in a long time.
Turns: 9/139 (excluding Chapter 11)
Character Stats:
Hector
Lord Level 20/0
HP: 34 (-2)
Str: 17 (-1)
Skill: 13
Speed: 12
Luck: 10 (+1)
Def: 20 (+3)
Res: 3 (-2)
Axes: A
Serra
Cleric Level 13/0
HP: 22 (-1)
Mag: 5 (-3)
Skill: 10 (+1)
Speed: 13
Luck: 10 (-3)
Def: 4
Res: 11 (-1)
Staffs: A
Kent
Paladin Level 20/3
HP: 40
Str: 22 (+7) (WOW!)
Skill: 16 (-2)
Speed: 16 (-1)
Luck: 6
Def: 11 (-1)
Res: 4 (-3)
Swords: B
Lances: B
Axes: E
Lucius (Lucius really needs help...)
Monk Level 18/0
HP: 28 (+3)
Magic: 12 (-4)
Skill: 12 (-2)
Speed: 15 (-1)
Luck: 6 (+1)
Def: 1 (-2)
Res: 14 (-1)
Light: B
Dart
Pirate Level 16/0
HP: 38 (-2)
Str: 18 (+1)
Skill: 11 (+1)
Speed: 12 (-1)
Luck: 10 (+4)
Def: 8
Res: 1 (-1)
Axes: A
Fiora
Pegasus Knight Level 18/0
HP: 26 (-3)
Str: 12
Skill: 19 (+1)
Speed: 19
Luck: 9
Def: 7 (-1)
Res: 13
Lances: B
Hawkeye
Beserker Level 0/4
HP: 50
Str: 18
Skill: 14
Speed: 11
Luck: 13
Def: 14 (+1)
Res: 10
Axes: A
