Tuesday 9 July 2013

A Tactician's Journal 13 - Unlucky for Some

Red and the Shepherds crossed the desert last time, slowly making their way to the Plegian capital. After defeating the Grimleal and recruiting Nowi and Gregor, they have quite an event waiting for them. There will be spoilers.
Chapter 9: Emmeryn
One of Basilio's spies reported to us that Emmeryn was scheduled to be executed on the morrow, much as I had predicted. Of course, that would be our cue. A fierce battle waited for us, but I intended to claim victory. Flavia offered me some reassurance, as did Chrom.

During the night, I had a dream. Validar was talking with someone, who he called Grima. I woke with a start, and found that Lissa was standing over me. She had come because Frederick said it was time to march.
We arrived at Plegia Castle Courtyard to find Emmeryn mere moments away from being executed.
Our timing was spot on; I gave Flavia the order, and she killed the executioner with a deadly-accurate hand axe throw. With Emmeryn's life no longer under threat, the Shepherds marched into battle.

Our first objective was to defeat all the enemy soldiers; Gangrel would have to wait. Gangrel ordered his men to kill all of us, and then he and Aversa retreated.
To the south, we seemed to have an ally fighting against the Plegians as well. However, before we could get there, there was a group of wyvern riders, soldiers and archers to deal with. With the desert sands as well, our progress was slow, but we made it eventually.
Whilst we were working our way south, a group of wyvern riders appeared from behind us. Fortunately, the few who were lagging behind were perfectly capable of fighting them, so there wasn't too much to worry about.
Also, Chrom had spoken to the axe-wielding ally to the south. Chrom mistook him for a woman, which led to a rather awkward situation... anyway, we gained a new ally in the form of the war monk Libra, who wielded axes and was able to use staves.
After recruiting Libra, we focused on defeating the wyvern riders coming up from behind us. My thunder magic, Miriel's fire magic, Virion's bow and Lon'qu's sword were sufficient to see them off. Nowi was there to back us up on the off-chance that the enemies dodged our attacks.
Whilst we were fighting, Chrom had spotted a reluctant dark mage. Her name was Tharja, and she claimed to have a rebellious side. Chrom asked if she would rebel and fight for the Shepherds, and she agreed to it. However, she was also known of being a backstabber...
Our new ally seemed keen to fight by my side. And by keen, I meant far too eager. Still, having more allies under those circumstances wasn't something to be sniffed at, even if they were of questionable character.
Soon enough, we only had one enemy left; Campari, a general of Gangrel's army. He was clad in tough armour, but this gave him quite a vulnerability to magic. Fortunately, I know a little in the art of magic, and Tharja's aid helped to increase that. Vaike's hammer helped to make a dent in his defences, which Tharja and I took advantage of in order to finish him off.

With the enemy wyvern riders defeated, the skies were clear for Phila's pegasus knights to save Emmeryn. Basilio's men had freed Philia from her imprisonment. Gangrel wasn't appreciative of the pegasus knights, but apparently Aversa had something up her sleeve. A group of Risen, all wielding bows, appeared and surrounded Phila and the pegasus knights. We were unable to act fast enough to save any of the pegasus knights.
Gangrel had managed to pull a complete reversal; we wouldn't be able to do anything without risking Emmeryn's life. He forced Chrom to stay still, and none of us Shepherds had any intent of being responsible for Emmeryn's death. Gangrel offered terms: hand over the Fire Emblem.
Although he claimed no one would be hurt if Chrom done as he asked, Gangrel wasn't the kind of man you would trust. Chrom had to choose between his sister or his duty.
Gangrel offered a countdown, but Chrom cut him off before he hit zero. Chrom was just about to get everyone to put their weapons down when Emmeryn spoke up. She tried to talk with the Mad King, but he wasn't ever going to listen. Chrom had given up and was willing to hand over the Fire Emblem.
This revealed to Emmeryn what she had to do next. She told the Plegians that war would win them nothing but sadness and pain. She told them to do as they must, as she would do; a single selfless act would have the power to change the world.
Emmeryn then took a single step forward, and plummeted to the earth. Chrom and Lissa were distraught, whilst Gangrel delighted in the exalts death. When Gangrel suggested he would put her body on display so Emmeryn would be remembered, Chrom threatened to kill him. Before he could get too out of hand, Basilio and Flavia had arrived. They had secured an escape route, which we took as quickly as we could.
Marth had even showed up, although she lamented that she had been unable to prevent the bleak future she had originally come back to prevent. With no other choice, we fled.

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