Chapter 24:
After many days of travel we arrived in the Kingdom of Bern. This land no longer had casual relations with Lycia, so the nobles were all forced to downplay their attire and status so as not to seem suspicious. Everywhere we went, we were hearing news about the Prince of Bern's coming-of-age ceremony. Hawkeye had told us that the Shrine of Seals is North of Bern, but the royal family is probably the only people that know its true location. Pent, being one of the highest ranked Eturian officials, said that he could speak with the Queen of Bern privately before the ceremony, since his wife Louise is a distant relative of the queen. He would try to see what information he could gather about the Shrine of Seals during his visit. Honestly, the plan seemed pretty loose and I worried about them being seen as suspicious, but it was the best chance we had in such a short time. Hawkeye talked to the couple privately before they left, but when he came back, he just assured me that he would stick with us, and that they'll be sure to come back when it's time. Legault suggested that we should try to gather information on the Black Fang in the meantime, since they're based in Bern. Lyn and Hector went off on their own (with more bickering), and Eliwood and Ninian also found some time together
. As for me, I'm stuck with Legault and Erk for a bit, I guess. Unfortunately, instead of finding info on the Black Fang, the Black Fang found us. Apparently, one of the main Fang leaders was with them too.
Because it looked like things were going to only get tougher. I quickly took the time to distribute the special artifacts we had gathered on our adventure. I gave Fiora the Angel Robe because her HP was lower than I would have liked, and she was going to be doing some dangerous missions as a flyer. She also got the Body Ring we recently pulled up from the sand, because even though she's very quick, her CON still has the potential to hold her back with heavier things. Hawkeye got the Speedwings, which combined with his MASSIVE CON should get him more double hits. I gave Dart the Secret Book to read, so hopefully he'll be a little more refined with his axe'ing. The two Goddess Statues were split between Lucius and Kent, who were the unluckiest of the combat squad. This left me with the Afa's Drops, the potential increasing item that Athos gave me. After a whole lot of thought, I decided to give it to Lucius, in hopes that his luck on the battlefield would turn around.
I'm not even going to list what happened, because it all ended so fast. Kent
went north to attack a Monk, only to be suddenly ambushed by their leader much earlier than I expected. He was a Swordmaster
that held a Light Brand, a light magic casting sword. This moment of surprise turned into a blessing, when Kent was able to recover and strike back, with help from Fiora. Then it just took a throw of Dart's
Hand Axe to finish things up. We were lucky though. The man was obviously VERY strong, and things could have ended up much worse.
We approached the beaten leader to get some answers, but it apparently he was in much better shape than he looked, and he managed to grab Eliwood. Before he was able to finish the job, Eliwood mentioned that he reminded him of Uhai, who also didn't like taking hostages. Apparently this made the man have a change of heart
, and he said that he would not attack us again until he got the answers he needed. He also warned us to beware of a woman named Sonia. Seeing men of the Black Fang act honorably like this made Eliwood and Lyn wanted to talk to Brendan Reed, the leader of the group, but Hector seemed to be a bit angry about the idea. That night, we met up with Pent and Louise, as planned. They told us that we had a job that Queen Hellene
wanted us to do, and if we did it, she would hear our request. The plan seemed to have turned out better than we expected. We also heard that some lumbering knight was seen fighting the Black Fang up north before making his way towards Lycia. This has nothing to do with us of course.
Turns: 2/141 (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 20/4
HP: 41
Str: 22 (+6) (WOW!)
Skill: 17 (-1)
Speed: 17 (-1)
Luck: 8 (+2)
Def: 12 (-1)
Res: 4 (-4)
Swords: A
Lances: B
Axes: E
(Luck is 2 points higher due to a Goddess Statue)
Lucius (Lucius really needs help...)
Monk Level 18/0
HP: 28 (+3)
Magic: 12 (-4)
Skill: 12 (-2)
Speed: 15 (-1)
Luck: 8 (+3)
Def: 1 (-2)
Res: 14 (-1)
Light: B
(Luck is 2 Points Higher due to a Goddess Statue, he was also given the Afa Drop's, which increases all growth rates by 5%)
Dart
Pirate Level 17/0
HP: 39 (-1)
Str: 18
Skill: 13 (+3)
Speed: 13
Luck: 10 (+4)
Def: 8
Res: 1 (-1)
Axes: A
(Skill is 2 Points higher from due to a Secret Book)
Fiora
Pegasus Knight Level 19/0
HP: 33 (+4)
Str: 12
Skill: 20 (+2)
Speed: 20 (+1)
Luck: 9 (-1)
Def: 7 (-1)
Res: 14 (+1)
Lances: B
(HP is 7 points higher due to an Angel Robe)
Hawkeye
Beserker Level 0/4
HP: 50
Str: 18
Skill: 14
Speed: 11
Luck: 13
Def: 14
Res: 10
Axes: A
Comments
