Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon Part 3

Prologue IV

So I misread, I thought we'd be on to the first actual chapter by now but apparently there's a fourth prologue. Oops! ^_^;;



This is my first attempt with screen shots. Because I'm playing it on my actual 3DS, I can't take screen grabs of the game, so I'm going to take pictures with my phone and load them up. I apologize for the quality, I may try to improve on this as time goes on.

Marth and co. are hiding in a forest waiting for the enemy watch to slack enough for them to escape the borders of Altea. Marth is distracted with thoughts of his sister Elice. 

Malledus gives our next destination: Talys, a kingdom to the east, where the king was a good friend to Marth's father. This was Elice's idea.

We have to break through a prison to get out (not around? Weird). Malledus advises that we may meet people fighting for Gra against their will, and we should try talking to these people instead of fighting them.

Malledus tells Marth of the plan to go North

Ok, I see the prison is in the middle of the river, and we need to go through it to get across. Interesting.

The map showing the prison

Alright, let's get started! Jagen, go talk to the people in that house up north, and the rest of us will head east to fight these axe guys and archers.

Marth prepares to fight an axe guy

The combat screen showing Marth hitting the axe guy

After the first turn we get a scene with a Gra captain up north, talking to a soldier about us. They're going to set a trap for us, rather than wait for their main force to get here.

Cain levels to 3 on a counter attack! Speed and luck up, not the best level up for him...

Ooh, there's a unique face in the prison. Gordin. This ruffian is taunting him about how fast it took to break him. Gordin is only grunting in response as he's gagged. Ah, Gordin has been dressed in a Gra soldier uniform. I bet this is the trap...

The ruffian describes the plan to Gordin

Yep, this is the trap. "Your prince will say 'Yow! An Ambush!' and then stick you, and then we can call him Marth the Tyrant who kills his own people." Evil plan Gra.

Abel levels up to 3, gets HP, Skill and Luck up. Not bad, it would be nice if my cav could get some more strength though. 

Abel goes up to Level 3

The villager in this house says sometimes sacrificing a soldier is the only way to win a battle, and to accept my losses and move on. Also sometimes losing one friend is the only way to meet another. We'll see. I'd rather keep everybody alive if I can... I'm not sure if I'll reset and replay maps if someone dies yet or not. Might depend on who gets killed...

I open the door to the prison, and then move Marth next to Gordin, and I get the option to talk to him instead of just attacking. Marth sees through the trick thanks entirely to the gag, and only after removing the gag does he recognize Gordin. “I know you! You're one of our archers! ...uh...” “Gordin sire!”

Marth says "Yow! It's an Enemy ambush!" Did that ruffian know Marth personally?

Marth notices that Gordin's been gagged

Yay, Gordin's coming with us! We just have to get him a bow. Fortunately, the enemy archer dropped his bow when we killed him earlier. Who has that now? Ah, Abel. Let's give the boy a bow, Abel.

Oh god, enemy reinforcements! And a lot of them in heavy armor! Malledus says they are Gra's main force, accompanied by the knights of Grust's Sable Order.

Enemy reinforcements show up

Malledus' only solution to get away is to leave a decoy dresses as Marth... Marth is determined to find another way, but Malledus is convinced it's the only option. Well. Let's see what I can figure out. Problem is I only had one key, and I used it on the door to get in. We can't get out the other side.

Shoot, I think I have to lose someone. I like Cain and Abel. Jagen... is a prepromoted character, and I'm trying not to use him, but it might be best if I had him in case I have trouble later? It would be a shame to lose Gordin as he's my only archer and I just gave him that bow. ...and Frey is in the back of the group anyway. Go be heroic Frey! I'm sorry about this. Also Frey has blue hair like Marth, so he makes the best decoy. Though he should shave that goatee first. Frey runs out dressed as Marth, confusing the enemy soldiers. The enemy commander determines that Frey, who ran off map, is the real Marth while Marth, who is staying put, is the decoy. They're after Frey and they're out for blood. 

Frey prepares to be heroic.

Marth wants to go rescue Frey (who in my head overheard Malledus's plan and decided to do this on his own. Marth's reaction makes that more likely). Malledus points out that if we rush after Frey, Frey will die in vain, and we must push on. Marth agrees to go on to honor Frey and his sacrifice. 

Meanwhile the enemy captain up North orders the prison's north door to open so they can crush the remaining soldiers. This will be our chance to get out.

...Shoot, I should have grabbed Frey's weapons before I sent him to his death. Video games have made me callous I guess. 

There's a line of 3 forts just north of the prison. Standing in the forts gives extra defense, and the enemy has foolishly not taken position in them, so let's use that to our advantage. All the enemy spear guys rush straight to their deaths on Cain's lance. Cain hits level 4 and gets HP, Skill, Speed and Luck up. Good! I hope he can get some strength soon though.

Three forts to the north of the prison

Cain goes up to level 4

Malledus recommends Marth visit the village just north of us. And the game gives me warning that enemy reinforcements can show up mid-battle via the forts (well, the graphic shows the forts). I can stop enemy reinforcements spawning if I put a unit on the space the enemy would emerge from.

\Abel defeats the enemy mage, and the north is clear save for the enemy captain. But Marth can't reach the village yet, so let's see about the enemy reinforcements...

Enemy Pegasus knights

Two enemy pegasus knights show up from across the river and fly at us. Archers do bonus damage against them according to the game prompt. Gordin one-shots the first pegasus knight. I send Marth into the village, where a villager gives us a silver bow and urges us to flee before the enemy soldiers return. Gordin kills the second pegasus knight. Let's see how bad the boss is. Hmm, he'll do 7 damage to Cain in return for 6 damage Cain can deal, but Cain has 3 times the HP so he should be able to survive a counter attack, and neither are fast enough to double the other. The boss has a Javelin, so Abel's iron sword is at disadvantage (really should have grabbed that lance off Frey...) but his own Javelin is a 7-7 HP exchange with the boss. Between the two of them they'll make short work of this guy. Let's do it! 

Oh no, Abel missed his first Javelin shot! Cain got him though. Alright, Marth will arrive to reinforce them next turn, just have to survive... Phew, Abel and the boss each missed each other. Eep, Gordin can only do 3 damage and will take 8 of his 14 HP in damage on the return. I'll only move him in if the boss is on 3 HP or less and nobody else can finish him off. And Jagen will do 14 damage while the boss has just 12 HP left. Let's leave that as a last resort here...

Ooh, Marth's rapier is strong against this guy, and will also do 14 damage even though it's at disadvantage from the weapons triangle. Go Marth! Marth levels to 4, and gets strength and skill up. That's pretty good for him actually, he'll hit harder and with better accuracy. The boss dropped a vulnerary (a healing item). Ok, one more turn, as Marth has to seize the “throne” (the spot the boss was standing) for me to win this. 

Marth goes up to Level 4

No enemies appear though, so victory! With a price. Poor Frey. 

A blue armored guy appears after the battle. Draug, one of Marth's knights. Draug has readied a vessel for us to escape by sea, on instructions from Malledus. Cut to Frey, caught by the enemy. Jiol, the enemy commander, is angry at being made a fool of, and orders his soldiers to make poor Frey suffer. Frey says he is honored to die for his prince, and asks that Marth live, and grow strong.

The enemy commander Jiol is not pleased with Frey

On the ship, Marth is in a bad way, feeling he is craven and powerless to save Elice or his people. Jagen reassures Marth that this was the only recourse, and one day Marth will be able to set things right. Marth promises that Gra will assuredly pay for their acts, but for today he wants to wallow in this pain so that he might never forget. The prologue ends with Marth promising to return.

Next time, on to Chapter 1 for real this time!