Age of Destruction: Fire Emblem CYOA

Clean up and let's move on to supports, then the final chapter of arc 1!

Oh, I guess I can start on the boss' custom sprite while I wait... Yeah, I got stuff I can do.

Allune drops back behind Shep.  The Falcoknights try to follow her.  Hawke cuts one off, smashing her out of the sky.  The other makes it past the others and stabs at Allune.  She dodges out of the way, then clips her shoulder.  The wyvern lord drops down at Stella as Shep heals her wounds.  Stella waits until the last second, then flips out of the way.  She flicks her tail and smirks.  "Gotcha!"  A beam of light pierces through the sky and blasts into the wyvern's rider.

Carin goes to work to heal Kelly.  "Her wounds aren't particularly serious," Isana observes.

Carin notices her with a start.  "A-are you following me...?"

Isana winks.  "What can I say?  I like watching you work.  So I'll keep watching your back so you can concentrate, 'K?"

Carin blinks in surprise.  "R-right."  She gallops over to Fei's side and waves her staff over the wound in her chest.  "All better!"

Rhett steps back, winds up, and chucks his hatchet at the pegasus knight.  "Oh, I actually hit her," he says as it leaves a gash through her chest armor.

"Nice job, Rhett!" Nevyn calls out.  He uses the distraction to swing up on the pegasus' neck and bashes the rider across the head with his axe.

Fei dashes forward with a roar and swings at the sniper again.  He uses his bow to deflect her first strike, but then she kicks him and brings her axe down while he's still reeling.  Lily draws her rapier and charges the mercenary.  She lunges with a thrust of her blade.  He shifts back, and the blow barely pierces the skin.  He flings his blade in an upward slash.  Lily steps to the side, slashing the mercenary as she does.  He drops to a knee, then collapses.

Kelly sets her lance and charges the dancer.  The dancer tries to parry the blow, but deflects it straight into her own thigh.  Eun'ji and Alice advance and attack her before she recovers.  Alice knocks her forward with a burst of shadow as Eun'ji's arrow strikes her in the chest.

The heavily-armored wyvern lord swoops in.  Her wyvern lets out a fearsome shriek as she dives at Kelly.  She slams into Kelly and knocks her from her horse, though Kelly manages to raise her lance and stab into her as she attacks.  It penetrates her armor and she lets out a soft grunt, but doesn't relent in her attack.  Her wyvern screeches in Kelly's face as it towers over her.

Lily calls out and gets her attention.  "I'll be your opponent!"  A shadow erupts from beneath the wyvern.

The rider barely reacts to the attack.  "...You.  Princess Lily...  HRRAAAAGH!  DIE!"  She winds back and hurls an axe at her.  Lily ducks the attack.

While the two fight, Eun'ji takes time to line up the perfect shot.  "Saaaaa..."  She forcefully exhales, then fires.  The arrow flies under the wyvern lord's arm, right into a weak joint.

"Nnngaaaah!" the knight bellows.  She's bleeding badly from the wound, and seems to be struggling to even move her arm.  She grabs the arrow and tries to pull it free, then realizes it might kill her and stops.  She calms down and spurs her mount into the sky, turning north in the same direction the fox fled.

Most of the ones who can fly are still engaged with enemies.  Rand starts to try to intercept her, but Lily calls to stop.  "You're in no condition to fight!  Besides, we need to destroy these corpses before they turn into Risen!"

Rand watches her retreat and growls.  "You're right..."

---

---

A few moments later, all the enemies have been taken care of.  None of the bodies were able to revive as Risen.  Lily brings her team south to help her mother, only to find the enemies already in full retreat, with a few knights riding after them to pick off what stragglers they can.

"Lily!  Rand!  Are you two OK?" June asks.  She nearly bowls them over as she grabs them into a hug.

"We're fine, Mother," Lily assures her.

"Just a few scratches..."  Rand winces.  "Well, this is a bit deeper than just a scratch, but I'll live."

"Thank the gods..." June sighs.

"Did you learn anything?  Some of those people attacking us were members of the Carcinan army!  And some of them were Valerian troops - I'm sure of it!" Rand insists.

June tenses up.  "No.  I didn't recognize any of them, and we failed to capture any alive.  Unfortunately, we'll need to end the peace talks here.  I need to return to Tartarus immediately, and you two as well."

"Ah, waaaaiiiit!" an excited voice calls out.  Stella runs over, out of breath.  "I...  Sorry!  But I ran all the way to Sefa Forest and back in the last day, and-"

"You went that far in a day?" Lily asks.

"Yep!  I ran as fast as my little kitty paws could carry me to request some reinforcements!" Stella says.

"That's... impressive," Rand admits.

"Ah!  But!  They need reinforcements!  The laguz village is under attack!"

Alice overhears the mention of the village and runs over.  "What!?" she demands.  "By who?"

"Monsters!" Stella yelps.  "But not just any monsters - they've got crazy red eyes, and the guardian says they're being led by a really powerful spellcaster!  There's even a few mindless laguz mixed in with them!"

"You mean Risen laguz?" Alice asks.

Stella shakes her head furiously.  "No, this is something completely different.  I've never seen anything like this!"

"Does Mom think this... spellcaster is responsible?"

"Probably.  But this isn't the time for that!  They've been under siege for a day - two now!  We have to hurry!"  Stella nervously bounces up and down.

Alice nods.  "Right - we'll leave as soon as we've treated our injuries."

"But-" June starts.  She stops herself.

"...Sefa is under our protection.  It's our duty to help," Lily says.  "I'll lead the reinforcements while you return to Tartarus."

"I'll go, too," Rand says.

June beams with pride.  "OK.  Be safe, my children.  Don't worry, I'll explain everything to the archbishop and the representatives while you make preparations.  And I'll arrange an escort to bring them back to ports to return home.  You need to hurry - just focus on the battle ahead."

"Right!"

---

The support list on the status page is up-to-date. Stats from leveling up this chapter are not - someone might want to remind me to do that tomorrow.

Choose 13 supports.

Lily/Mina B
Lily/Zenia B
Rand/Alice B
Rand/Judoc B
Mina/Nevyn B
Storm/Hawke B
Storm/Zenia B
Gale/Shep B
Gale/Hawke B
Shep/Kelly B
Shep/Hawke B
Alice/Allune A
Alice/Rhett B
Alice/Carin B
Allune/Rhett B
Nevyn/Fei B
Nevyn/Judoc B
Nevyn/Rhett B
Fei/Judoc B
Sylvia/Rhett B
Sylvia/Suarrure B
Rhett/Suarrure B
Rhett/Sorina B
Suarrure/Carin B
Harv/Zenia B

Any C support

I'll give Emmpy/X/anyone else a bit more time to get in their votes. Until I'm done with getting stuff ready for the next chapter. Which, with everything I have to do - make a map, stat updates, move stat updates to the roll20 thing, tokens for new characters and the boss - means either really late tonight or in the morning.

You have... mmm... 70% of your final roster? I think? Really cloese to it.

I finally got all the maps and sprites and summaries and everything for the next fight done. Definitely not going to write any more tonight. So let's see how the standings look.

2:
Alice/Allune A
Lily/Zenia B
Storm/Hawke B
Rakim/Quinn C

1:
Nevyn/Rhett B
Gale/Shep B
Sylvia/Suarrure B
Fei/Judoc B
Rand/Judoc B
Mina/Nevyn B
Lily/Mina B
Allune/Rhett B
Nevyn/Fei B
Nevyn/Judoc B
Harv/Zenia B
Sorina/Carin C
Gin/Stella C
Keith/Isana C
Gin/Isana C
Nevyn/Shep C
Gale/Sylvia C
Sorina/Carin C

Huuuuh... X. Fix it.

I agree with Mystic

"Storm?" Hawke calls out.  "Do you have a moment?"

"Huh?  Oh...  Yeah," Storm answers.

"Are you OK?  You seem distracted."

"Sorry," Storm mutters.  "Just thinking about what that assassin said.  Nevermind that.  What did you need?"

Hawke frowns.  "Right.  I've been thinking about what you said.  About how I need to be careful how I behave.  Because it reflects on my employers."

Storm looks a bit surprised.  "Oh?"

"You're right.  But court manners are still... foreign to me.  You were raised as a knight from birth, right?  So that sort of thing's probably second nature to you."

"I suppose I'm rather practiced, yes."

"Do you think you can help me get better?"

"Really?"

"Just a few lessons during our free time.  If you don't mind."

"Sure.  Of course I don't mind."

---

Rhett finds Nevyn cleaning and polishing his axe.  "Hi, Nevyn."

Nevyn doesn't look up.  "Hello, Rhett.  Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes."

"And what is it?"

"I have a question."

"Alright.  You don't need to warn me when you want to ask questions, you can just ask."

"OK.  You're using an axe now instead of turning into a wolf.  Why?"

"Oh, well...  Turning into a wolf is exhausting.  If I run out of stamina while I'm surrounded by enemies or something, it would be a problem.  As for why an axe, well, my father uses an axe, so I just felt drawn to it."

"Oh.  You're already better at it than I am," Rhett says.

Nevyn isn't really sure how to respond.  He scratches his head awkwardly.  "I'm sure you could bet better.  Maybe we could train together some?"

"That sounds like a good idea.  Can we start now?"

Nevyn's tail wags subtly.  "Sure, but we'll need to make it a quick session.  Remember we need to be ready to go soon."

"OK."

---

Carin spends her time tending to her mount, brushing her fur and cleaning out a few spots of blood.  "Sorry, girl.  You did good, though."  Her horse snorts at her, but seems content to be brushed.  She turns around at the sound of clanking coming from the barn door.

Sorina gives her a nod and walks over.  "Taking care of your horse?" she asks, even though she can clearly see the answer.

"Oh, yes.  Of course.  I'm going to take Alice's advice to heart and really bond with her," Carin smiles.

"I see."  Sorina pats the horse on the snout.  "If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask.  I grew up on a ranch, after all."

"Oh, that's right!  So did Rhett, huh...?  Your parents raise a lot of the pegasi the Holy Knights use, don't they?" Carin asks excitedly.

Sorina nods.  "They can be kind of difficult to raise, but Rhett's mom is amazing."  She quietly pats the horse for a bit.  "I guess we accomplished our mission after all, huh?  Getting Hyun'ji here..."

Carin's smile fades.  "Right...  It's just a shame we lost so many to do it..."

An awkward hush falls over the room.  Sorina shakes her head.  "I wish we had some time to rest, but..."

"Yeah..." Carin agrees.

---

Hector seems to have disappeared.  After several minutes of looking around, Rand finds him with Judoc.  "What are you two up to?" he calls out.

Judoc jumps and turns around.  "Oh, hey Rand.  I was just talking with Hector and wow that sounds kinda crazy now that I say it out loud."

Rand shrugs.  "Not really.  I do it all the time.  Sometimes he even answers."

"You understand what he's saying?  Er, roaring?"

"More or less.  Sometimes, anyway.  I can usually at least guess.  Didn't you ever have a pet like that?"

"...I had a fish," Judoc admits.  "I can't say I can relate."

"Oh.  Well, Hector seems to like you, at least," Rand says.  Hector roars in agreement.

"Oh.  I think I understood that."

"Huh.  Guess you're a natural!"

"You don't mind me talking with him sometimes, right?"

"Oh, no, of course not.  I'm not the jealous type."

---

Keith finds Isana wandering around the garrison and stops her.  "Hello, there!"

She hesitates for half a second, then turns and smiles at him.  "Hello, sir."

Keith smiles warmly.  "Your name's Isana, right?  Did I pronounce that correctly?"

Isana giggles.  "Perfectly, sir knight.  May I help you?"

"Please, there's no need to be so formal," Keith tells her.  "I wanted to thank you."

"Oh?  Whatever for?"

"You saved Gin, didn't you?  Back at the fort near Mala?  I wanted to thank you for that."

"Oh, no, there's no need to thank me," Isana responds bashfully.

Keith shakes his head violently.  "But if it weren't for you, then I would've been the only survivor.  You risked your life!  One wouldn't normally expect that sort of valor from a mere dancing girl."

Isana's smile vanishes and anger flashes through her eyes, but she repairs her mask in an instant.  "You flatter me," she says, her voice as calm and placid as before.

Keith frowns slightly.  He's unsure whether or not he imagined that flicker of anger.  "R-right, well, that's all I had to say.  Um...  I owe you one, so just let me know if you need anything!

"Thank you!" Isana says.  She gives a small wave as he retreats.  As soon as he's gone, she quickly whirls around, one hand on a knife's hilt.

Kurt, standing just behind her, raises his hands in a placating gesture.  "Easy, there.  I just noticed you were wandering around and seemed a bit lost.  Unless you were looking for the commander's office for something...?"

"Oh, no, I'm just looking around," Isana assures him.

"Hm.  I see.  Well, how about I show you around?  I have some question for you, anyway."

"Oh, that would be lovely.  How can I help you?"

"It's just that I'm curious what you're doing here.  I mean, my sources say you're one of the Great Khan's favorite courtesans.  So, first of all, I have to ask why you're masquerading as a travelling dancer?

"Oh, more or less the same reasons you like to play at being a simple pickpocket rather than spouting your titles to everyone," Isana assures him.

"I can't imagine he would send his favorite, though."

"The Great Khan merely needed someone he could trust - and he does trust me - to deliver a message to Zenia.  With a slight change as to what she may offer your country."

"But why a dancer?" Kurt asks.  He flaps his cloak to show his meaning.

Isana grins with understanding.  "You'd be surprised what people will say in front of the help.  It's like they think I can't dance and eavesdrop at the same time.  Especially if they're a bit drunk."

"Clever.  But you must draw a lot of unwanted attention, as well?"

"Oh, but who says it's unwanted?  Perhaps I merely want people watching me, rather than something else..."  Isana smirks at Kurt.

Kurt frowns.  "...Excuse me."  He slinks off without another word.

---

Alice paces back and forth near the forest.  "I can't believe this.  I should've noticed something was wrong."

Allune, floating nearby, has been watching her for some time.  "Alice..." she says quietly.

Alice freezes in her tracks and turns to look at her.  "Allune?  Yes?"

Allune bites her lip, then smiles.  "Close your eyes for a minute."

Alice does as she was asked, and feels herself being scooped up.  "Oh?"

"You made me walk a mile in your shoes - or lack thereof - the other day.  Very literally.  Now it's your turn.  Keep your eyes closed a bit longer."

"Alright."  Alice wraps an arm around Allune's neck and lets herself be carried up into the sky.

"OK.  You can look now."

Alice opens her eyes to find Allune holding her hundreds of feet in the air.  She can see the landscape stretching out for miles.  "Wow...  It's really beautiful."

"I know, right?"

"...Thanks.  For showing this to me.  I appreciate it."

Allune smiles.  "You get it now, right? Why I prefer flying, I mean."

"Yeah.  And I can only imagine how this looks to you, with that hawk eyesight..." Alice trails off.  "Still, it's nice to have you join me down on the ground sometimes."

Allune laughs.  There's a hint of bitterness.  "And here I thought you didn't like me.  You seem to ditch me every chance you get."

"Oh...  It's not that I dislike you, Allune, I just like being alone sometimes.  To commune with nature?  And you can be a bit distracting.  And I guess sometimes you're a bit uptight.  And you can be pretty harsh sometimes..."  Alice hugs Allune a bit tighter and stares her in the eyes.  "But I'm glad you're my bodyguard.  You're dependable, devoted... not to mention drop-dead gorgeous."

Allune blinks and looks away.  "I, um...  That's...  O-oh, hey!  Looks like everyone's just about ready to go, let's... uh... go."

---

---

Before the next chapter, here are units that have learned all skills in their current class and are ready to promote.

Gale (Can class change, can't promote) - Taguel, Myrmidon, Mercenary, Barbarian, Soldier

Allune (Can class change, can't promote) - Hawk, Archer, Myrmidon, Soldier

Rhett - N/A

Sorina - Knight, Pegasus Knight, Fighter, Cavalier

Carin - Troubadour, Nun, Fighter, Pegasus Knight

Rakim - Mercenary, Brigand, Thief, Myrmidon

Harv - Pirate, Outlaw, Mercenary, Wyvern Rider

Kurt - Thief, Priest, Monk, Brigand, Mercenary

Quinn (Can class change, can't promote) - Fox, Tactician, Mage, Dark Mage, Knight

Keith - Cavalier, Barbarian, Myrmidon, Soldier

Gin - Soldier, Tactician, Dark Mage, Archer

Stella - Nun, Cat, Brigand, Mage

(Also you can class change Isana if you want) - Dancer, Dark Mage, Barbarian, Cleric

So-o-o-o... Nothing?

At the very least ya'll need to pick between barbarian, mercenary, and fighter for Rhett.

Er... Allune's already a hawk. The first class is their default. Which they all are.

They can also promote to... Y'know what, give me a sec and I'll add it.

Gale (taguel) - Myrmidon, Mercenary, Barbarian, Soldier

Allune (hawk) - Archer, Myrmidon, Soldier

Rhett (journeyman) - Brigand, Fighter, Meece

Sorina (knight) - General, Great Knight, Pegasus Knight, Fighter, Cavalier

Carin (troubadour) - Valkyrie, War Cleric, Nun, Fighter, Pegasus Knight

Rakim (mercenary) - Hero, Ranger, Brigand, Thief, Myrmidon

Harv (pirate) - Berserker, Warrior, Outlaw, Mercenary, Wyvern Rider

Kurt (thief) - Assassin, Trickster, Priest, Monk, Brigand, Mercenary

Quinn (fox) - Tactician, Mage, Dark Mage, Knight

Keith (cavalier) - Paladin, Great Knight, Barbarian, Myrmidon, Soldier

Gin (soldier) - Halberdier, General, Tactician, Dark Mage, Archer

Stella (nun) - Bishop, Sage, War Monk, Cat, Brigand, Mage