I can't think of anything amusing to put in this bit now, so let's just get to the fight.
Battlefield 11A: Black Rose Domain
Obviously, if you killed Roswell you'd be heading to the White Rose Domain (battlefield 11B) instead.
Black Rose Suburbs: Check Point!
- Roswell: Black Knight... Why have you turned your blade against me? Once again: you're stupid for trusting him in the first place. Especially after another Dragon General showed up on Rosary's side.
- Leon: *chuckle* Don't you get it, smart-ass? You've outlived your usefulness! Kill 'em all, boys!
Deception! -Betrayal of trust.-
- Heavy Knight: With pleasure, Sir!
- Roswell: What...? You used me!? Curse you! Yeah, who knew that Leon was going to do something villainous?
S. Grasslands: Check Point!
- Milanor: Hey! Isn't that Roswell those troops are chasing? I wouldn't know. All necromancers look alike at a distance.
- 'Roswell: *pant* *pant*
- Heavy Knight: There he goes! After him!
Victory condition:
- Help Roswell! (Move an ally next to Roswell)
Defeat condition:
- If Yggdra, Milanor, or Roswell dies...
- If you use up all your cards...
As previously suggested, Milanor eats the Berserk. He finds evil murder axes of evil delicious, you see. Yggdra and Durant then consume the remaining Imperial Warfare books, which are a bit of an acquired taste, but whatever.
At any rate, there's not much I can do with items this time, so I just proceed to character selection. This time I can only bring one of my spear users, so Nietzsche gets to take a break.
My ten cards of choice are:
- Steal
- Bloody Claw
- Shield Barrier
- Necro Gate
- Banshee's Cry
- Revolution
- Mind Change
- Flame
- Blizzard
- Banish
- Milanor: Oh, man, this is bad... That Black Knight is chasing him.
- Yggdra: First, we'll save Roswell. Once he's secure, we strike back!
Now, before I can even move, a griffon rider named Emilia gets a turn, which is used to move next to Leon.
- Emilia: Leon, I'm here to pick up the goods!
- Leon: Took you long enough, Emilia. This is from Zilva. Here.
- Emilia: I just need to deliver it, right? Leave it to me!
- Leon: Better not drop that thing on the way home. You know what'll happen if you do... I don't know where Leon gets the idea that he can possibly defeat a named griffon rider, but whatever.
- Emilia: D-Don't worry! I'll keep it safe!
Escape! -Fleeing the battlefield!-
- Emilia: Bye-bye!
Emilia is the Emperor of Carnage's kid sister, who also happens to be a Dragon General.
I don't know about you, but my first instinct when a 14-year-old girl I have custody over asks if she can fight in the war would most definitely not be to give her a giant spiky club and a division of soldiers.
Anyway, after a Roswell turn of nothing happening, I get to act. Most of the enemies are knights, which isn't exactly good for Yggdra's usefulness here. Leon himself is a fair bit better than his men, but he's equipped with a spear that drains his morale. Emilia, meanwhile, isn't worth worrying about, because she's going to use her next turn to escape.
So, I use Banshee's Cry to get Milanor and Durant up to Roswell's assailants. They both win against their opponents, but Roswell (who was drawn into the union) doesn't.
On Leon's turn, he has a knight attack Roswell, who loses (though Milanor immediately hits his assailant hard).
My next turn involves using Necro Gate to send Yggdra and Durant closer to the battle, which involves moving Yggdra onto a town.
Town of Broy: Check Point!
- Elder: The Lord's manor has been occupied by the Imperial Army. And the Lord is missing. I wish I knew if he were safe...
- Yggdra: We must save Roswell!
I then move Milanor next to Roswell.
Rescued! -Saved the day!-
- Milanor: Alright! Looks like we made it!
Strategy Succeeded! -Successfully rescued Roswell!-
- Milanor: That was a close one.
- Durant: Lord Roswell, what happened?
- Roswell: ...As soon as the White Rose lost, the Empire betrayed us. They suddenly turned on us...
- Yggdra: That was most likely their intention from the start. I mean, they sent Leon to do this. Leon! How could you not figure this out?
- Roswell: How dare he betray me...? I must return to the manor. I'm concerned for my land... No, for my people.
- Yggdra: Don't worry. We shall accompany you.
- Milanor: Let's hurry and send the Imperial Army packing!
Victory condition:
- Retake Black Rose Manor! (Move Roswell to "Black Rose Manor")
- Milanor: There he is! The Black Knight...
Black Rose Manor: Check Point!
- Yggdra: We shall recover this domain from the Empire! Charge!
All right, here we go. Let's start by checking Roswell's stats.
- Morale: 2836/5180
- Gen: 3.4
- Atk: 2.3
- Tec: 3.2
- Luk: 2.6
- Abilities:
- Advantage against Skeletons
- Void Dark
- Weak against Holy
- Void Dark (from equipment)
Yes, Roswell's equipped with an item that gives him an ability he already has and isn't impacting his stats in any way. Good going, Sting. Anyway, his natural stat caps are:
- Gen: 5
- Atk: 4
- Tec: 4
- Luk: 4
In other words, he's just begging for a few stat-boosting items. That's exactly what I intend to give him, too.
So, on my turn I use Shield Barrier on the odd hunter out, with intent to kill him before he can go on a rampage through my forces. This also lands Yggdra on a village.
Magician Village: Check Point!
- Resident: It looks like you're doing well. By the way... Isn't that a Rune Crystal? Let me see it. I'll make you something useful... Here you go. (Item trade: Rune Crystal for Crystal Rod)
I then move Milanor to support Yggdra (and Roswell), and they (plus Durant who was in the union already) take the hunter down while damaging a witch up at the manor. I then move Durant to support Roswell. This proves unnecessary, though, as the knight goes after Milanor instead.
Shield Barrier proves quite handy here, allowing Roswell to win a fight he otherwise would've had significant trouble with.
After Leon's turn ends, another force enters the battlefield.
Reinforcements! -Help has arrived!-
- Zilva: Sir Leon, I am at your command.
- Leon: Oh, there you are, Zilva. I gave the goods to Emilia.
- Zilva: Then your task is complete.
- Leon: Great! Now I can kill those Royal pains in the ass! *chuckle* Man, just thinking about it gets me going!
Zilva sends a valkyrie forth as a sacrifice to the Royal Army. Yggdra and Milanor accept her tribute.
Anyway, both Elena and Zilva have items I want (the Lightning Bow and Murderous Mask), so I send Milanor in to steal them. It being noon helps a lot.
This also depletes all of Elena's morale, as you might expect.
Withdraw! -Forced to retreat.-
- Elena: Master Zilva... I'm sorry!
After that, some more movement. Yggdra moves to block a valkyrie from reaching Milanor, Durant moves up past the knight threatening Roswell (and next to Leon, though more importantly on a road), and Roswell moves to support him.
On Leon's turn, his knight criticals Durant. However, my ingenious union setup ensures that this only makes Roswell angrier!
Also, Zilva moves to fight Milanor.
- Milanor': You show up at the worst times...
- Zilva: If I do, it's only part of my mission.
Both Zilva and her valkyrie win, but this is merely a minor setback. She goes down to her own card, as does the valkyrie.
Pull back! -Time to regroup!-
- Zilva: ...Shameful...
The rest of the turn consists of me setting things up. Durant then kills Leon's last knight. For my next illusion, I use Blizzard with Durant and Milanor, allowing them to fight Leon and a generic witch quite effectively (actually, Durant doesn't need it—he's got road advantage on his side).
On Leon's turn, he takes advantage of a tactical blunder on my part to fight Yggdra with all his remaining troops. Amazingly, the last fight is the one she wins.
Anyway, on my turn, Roswell decides to show Leon what he can do magic-wise. I use Flame against him with everyone not named Yggdra. It works well enough, though he managed to Chariot Durant. Then he took Roswell (but not Durant) down on his turn.
At this point, I decide to use Revolution to bring Milanor in for the finisher (3 turns after the Quick Clear bonus expired). He brings Durant and Roswell, but they really aren't needed here.
Pull Back! -Time to regroup!-
- Leon: ...Dammit! Fall back!
Before moving Roswell onto the manor to finish the battle, I send Yggdra to the last village on the map just to hear what they have to say.
Celim Magic School: Check Point!
- Magic Researcher: Thank goodness the Lord is safe. You've done a lot for us. The main force of the Imperial Army is inside the manor. Not anymore! Be careful in there.
Roswell then returns to his manor, claiming Leon's Brascendo as he does so.
Black Rose Manor: Check Point!
Liberated! -Freed from enemy control!-
- Roswell: We've recovered the manor!
Mission Completed! -Reclaimed Black Rose Manor!
- Durant: The Imperial Army is in retreat! Shall we give chase?
- Yggdra: No... Our first priority is the people of the Black Rose.
Good enough. Milanor gets another Luk MVP he doesn't need.
- Milanor: So what exactly was the Empire trying to do here? You've probably already figured it out, honestly.
- Durant: Just generally causing havoc isn't their style. This makes more sense with Russel, because generally causing havoc is Leon's style.
- Roswell: About that... I've grasped their true intentions now.
- Yggdra: You... have?
- Roswell: It should have been obvious. They were after our Ankhs. Well, what else would they want from you two?
- Milanor: What!?
- Durant: So that's why they approached both houses as allies...
- Milanor: So what are you saying... The White Rose's Ankh is...?
- Roswell: I ordered a search. I'm afraid they've already gotten to it.
- Milanor: Fantastic... Now the Empire has two freakin' Ankhs! I love this line.
- Roswell: I have a favor to ask: I want to recover the Ankh. We have a common enemy... Let me travel with the Paltina Liberation Army. I don't recall us ever calling ourselves that. ...And I will swear never to use the Ankh for war again. I've been a danger to my people... It was rash of me.
- Yggdra: Roswell...
- Roswell: I vow to discover the true power of the Ankhs. For the sake of the descendants of Valois... both of them. And this line makes more sense for Roswell than Rosary... With my magic, I'd be a useful ally, if you'd have me.
- Yggdra: ...Of course. We'd be honored for you to fight alongside us.
Acquisition! -Help has arrived!-
- Roswell: The Ankh was stolen... but I can still give you this. (Card get: Poison Breath)
- Milanor: Alright, but we'll be counting on that magic of yours!
- Roswell: Ha... And I will rely on your strength.
New Card:
- Poison Breath: Poisons enemy.
- Movement: 10
- Starting power: 1650
- Ace type: Lump
- Skill type: X
- Success requirement: User's Tec must be greater than or equal to the target's Gen
- Requirements: Skeleton only
- Notes: Worthless. Since poison doesn't affect the enemy during battle you have to severely disadvantage yourself to use it, and the skill can only be used and aced by a unit type that brings no allies and has horrible stats (not to mention you have to wait through a turn of them doing nothing to actually use the things).
New items:
- Brascendo: A demonic spear that slowly eats the user's soul.
- Stats: Atk Up, Tec+4, Luk Up
- Ability: Morale Down slowly
- Duration: 2 maps
- Used by: Spear
- Notes: If only it didn't drain morale every turn... also it's worthless for morale recovery so I don't know why I even got it.
- Crystal Rod: A staff with a polished crystal attached to the top.
- Stats: Atk+4, Tec+2
- Ability: Ice Attack Up
- Duration: 2 maps
- Used by: Staff
- Notes: Kind of underwhelming statwise, but element boosting can be very nice.
- Lightning Bow: A magical bow with electric attributes.
- Stats: Atk+4, Tec+2, Luk+2
- Ability: Lightning Attack Up
- Duration: 2 maps
- Used by: Bow
- Notes: This thing plays right to the strengths of the bow as a weapon, and its ability works with a card only bow users can ace. I'd say that's a definite plus.
- Murderous Mask: A mask that conjures images of death for those who see it.
- Stats: Gen-6, Atk Up, Tec+6
- Ability: Lowers Gauge
- Duration: 1 map
- Used by: Elena
- Notes: Everything on this item is fine, except for that ability...which may well be impossible to overcome.
Well, that concludes Chapter 2: Yes, They Really Recycled the Same Scenario for Two Consecutive Arcs.
I don't have much else to say beyond that, so I'll finish by saying that this game's take on magic is incredibly underwhelming. I mean, what's the point of making a mage class if they're going to spend all their time just hitting enemies with their walking sticks?
Other than that, I've got nothing.
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