I do not own fire emblem
AN : This took a while. Originally this was going to be the beginning of the battle for Ostia, but I felt that nothing led up to the fight. This is meant to lead up to the battle. That's next chapter, though I'll be honest, I'm not satisfied with this. Ah well.
Also, for the compounds, Test 48 is the beginning process for making TNT, Test 68 is Black powder
We've almost reached Lycia. It's been a really peaceful journey, to the point of being BORING. My dad supplied us with enough gold to buy everything we'd need, Luke even joked that when he writes his memoires that he's going to make this part more dramatic. Shouldn't be that difficult considering that anything would be more exciting than this trip. We don't know what we're going to find when we reach Lycia, probably nothing. I highly doubt that Bern will invade them while my dad is keeping them busy.
I've been doing what I can to keep from being complacent, but I'm just not used to being so stagnant. Sure, I'm traveling to Lycia but I feel like I'm doing nothing. Of course now that I wrote that something horrible is going to happen.
I wish we were defending Ilia. For now, I'll just try to pick the locks on the two books my dad left with me. They are very well made. Also, who puts locks on books? I almost have trouble believing that my dad was this paranoid.
Jacob sat, waiting for the ink to dry. He gazed up toward the sky and grinned. They were almost there. He had the last watch, soon, he'd wake his people up, and they'd enter Lycia, go to Ostia, and deliver their message to Lord Hector. Then whatever his father's plan was would come to fruition. Everything was going to work out.
Jacob glanced over at the two books. The locks on them were complex, more complex than any locks he had ever seen before. They were probably custom made. Then there was the envelope he was given, it had instructions that specifically stated that those who had the keys to open the books were either Lord Eliwood of Pherae or Lord Hector of Ostia.
Jacob glanced at the rising sun. It was time. "WAKE UP!"
Thoris, Luke, and Snow were quick to pull themselves up, while Koi continued to sleep soundly. Jacob groaned in annoyance, it has been a month, and Koi still didn't quickly rise. Luke pinched her nose, and she flailed about for a moment to slap the swordsman's hand away. "What's going on?" Koi asked with a yawn.
"Wake up. We're leaving." Jacob said as he grabbed his pack. He already had everything ready. "We have five minutes, then we're on the move."
They were just leaving the gates open? Jacob had trouble fathoming the insanity of it all. They were going to be at war soon, and he hoped that they were well enough informed to at least be semi-prepared.
"Strait to the castle?" Luke asked.
"No, I'm going by myself. You all find an inn."
"We aren't staying at the castle?"
"They're going to be at war, and as of yet we are an unknown force. I'm not going to assume that they'll trust me just because I want to help them. Find an inn, I'll send for you if it's safe. If I don't contact you later today, assume something bad happened." Jacob said before they all dispersed.
He made his way through the subdued city. There was an increased military presence, and the people seemed downtrodden. Jacob approached the mighty castle Ostia, said to be impregnable. Jacob paused for a moment, trying to remember the code he had been given. Jacob put a steely look on his face and marched forward to the pair of soldiers guarding the gate.
"What is it citizen?" The guard politely asked.
"I have a message for the highest ranking person in the castle. Tell them the code, Dragons of Dread Isle. Understood?" Jacob sternly said with a sense of desperate urgency.
"What?" One of the guards asked, slight worry in his tone.
"Dragons of Dread Isle? What does that even mean?"
"Look, I..." Jacob swallowed deeply, trying to make himself look terrified. "I need to get this information to your leader soon, I don't care if you have to take all my weapons or strip me down, but I need to get this information in as soon as possible. Give someone inside the code, Dragons of Dread Isle." Jacob said in a pleading tone. He had to keep the look of satisfaction off his face as one of the guards ran inside, shouting the code out as he ran.
Jacob didn't know what the code meant, it probably had some kind of deeper meaning he was unaware of. Still, the orders from his father convinced him that Lord Ostia or Pherae would know what it meant, or barring them someone important in the castle. He knew where Dread Isle was, but didn't understand what the Dragon part meant. As far as Jacob could remember, none of the myths concerning Dread Isle mentioned dragons.
He wasn't sure how long he had waited when the guard returned. "Come with me right away, General Leygance would like to see you."
"Thank you very much, lets hurry."
Koi was pacing through the hotel room. Jacob had been gone for the whole day, and no message had been sent. She was worried. Sure, she didn't like him, always acting like everyone should listen to his every word, but right now she was praying for his safety. She owed the Green Cloaks, and she would do everything she could to help them.
Luke was downstairs, in the pub trying to get a feel for how Lycia was faring, it seems that Bern had invaded this nation as well.
Thoris was sitting on his bedroll, seeming to ignore the bed provided to him. Koi wasn't sure what he was doing, probably praying to the Sacaens "Mother Sky and Father Earth" or whatever it was those nomads believed.
Snow, on the other hand...
"He should have sent something by now." Snow said as she restlessly tapped on the bed frame. "He's hurt, or the knights attacked him! Or maybe he's dead! By Elemine don't let him be hurt!"
Koi let out a sigh, Snow had been panicking for an hour now. "Miss Snow, please, pray with me." Hopefully that would calm the girl down, the last thing she needed was her comrade having a panic attack.
"Why? We should go to the castle and see if everything is alright!"
"Snow, please, just pray with me for a moment." Koi gently requested.
"Koi, grow a backbone, Snow, stop having a Goddamn panic attack. I've got news." Luke said as he marched into the room. "It's not good."
Koi stayed silent, a little afraid of the grim look on Luke's face. "What did you learn?" Snow asked.
"The obvious is that Bern is at war with Lycia, if the timings right about a week after Bern went to war with Ilia. Bad news is that the Lycia Alliance Army has been decimated at Araphen, by an army led by Brunya, Narshen, and King Zephiel. Lord Hector is dead." Luke announced with a deep frown.
"...Then who's in charge of Castle Ostia?" Snow hesitantly asked.
"General Leygance, who has decided to surrender to Bern, and has taken Princess Lilina hostage. Others in the Lycia Alliance have surrendered, like Laus. Most of Lycia has been lost." A silence fell over the group. Koi was waiting for Luke to give orders, hoping that he would know what to do. "So, any ideas?" Koi's hopes were shattered.
"Good news?" Snow asked.
"There's some group led by a boy named Roy. He's from Pherae, and his group is small. He's still fighting against Bern, don't know where he is. However, there are three other Ilian mercenaries in the city, they were hired by Lord Hector to fight Bern. If we find them we should have a few more allies." Luke listed off. "I don't think we should go to Roy for help, his group is small and ill equipped, from what I've heard. I think our best bet is to rally the Ostian forces in the city against the rebels, and join up with the other Ilians in the city."
"No, we can't win unless we have help! Christophe wanted the message delivered to either Ostia or Pherae, we can go to Pherae for help!" Snow shouted. Koi thought her plan was foolhardy, Pherae was on the other side of Lycia.
"Look at the map. Pherae is at least 2 weeks away. We need something closer." Thoris said.
"There's Thria?" Snow asked hopefully.
"Fine, go to castle Thria, I don't care, we'll be better off without you." Luke said. Koi flinched at Luke cruel words, he was no Jacob. Sure, Koi thought that Snow's idea was bad, but Luke just told her to leave!
"Then BYE! I'LL SAVE JACOB WITHOUT YOU!" Snow said as she ran out.
Luke, Koi, and Thoris sat in silence for a moment. "Damn, I really should have dealt with that better. Well, we still need a plan..." Luke lamely said.
"Jacob is better at this than you." Koi said without thinking.
"Yeah, he is. Wonder what he's doing right now?"
Her new cellmate sighed. Again. He hadn't been in the cell for even an hour, but he was radiating a feeling a pure dread. She shared his feelings, even now she wondered what the state of Ostia was, why she was in a cell, what the reason for all this was. Why she was betrayed.
She looked toward him again as he shrank back into his green cloak, the only visible feature his piercing golden eyes. He hadn't said a word since he was locked up beyond annoyed grunts and tired sighs, and he did those fairly often. It was like he was waiting for something.
"Finally, he fell asleep." Her cellmate said.
"Who's sleeping?" She asked.
"The guard, you can tell from the way he's breathing, he doesn't snore, but I'm certain that he's asleep. So, cellmate, got a name?" He asked with an annoyed look on his face.
"I am Lilina."
"The Princess?" He asked incredulously. "Things are worse than I thought. I'm assuming Bern's invaded then?"
"Um... Yes?" He didn't know that Bern invaded? How could someone not know that Lycia was at war? "How do you not know this?"
"I just entered Lycia from Etruria, and most Etrurians don't care. Most didn't know that Ilia had been attacked, or that Sacae had been conquered. Now, Princess Lilina, correct me if I'm wrong. When the war first started, Lord Hector amassed the Ostian army and united the forces of all of the Marquises of Lycia, naturally Hector would be leading the united Lycian army since Ostia is the strongest both economically and militarily, right?"
"Ye-yes!" Lilina couldn't believe it, were they that predictable?
"The most likely place to mass the Lycian army would be Araphen, easy to defend, a natural chokepoint, and it's a nice fort."
"So what happened?" He had been right so far, though Lilina knew that if her father's plan was so predictable that it couldn't mean anything good.
"Do you know about the dragons?" Lilina looked at him like he was insane. "Of course you don't know, so I'll be blunt, Bern has dragons fighting alongside them."
Lilina gasped, this had to be impossible. Dragons were a legend, a creature of the Scouring, something that couldn't be in a real world. "That... How?"
"I don't know, all I can say is that I first saw them on the plains of Sacae, when the Dragon General Brunya and her allies in the Djute tribe attacked. The remainder of my team and I fled to the Green Cloak base at the Sanashen Pass, where we saw an army of thousands led by the Dragon General Murdock ready to attack. We infiltrated our base in time to see my dad pull a victory out of nowhere, and saw two people turn into Dragons, then saw the two Dragons killed."
"People turned into Dragons?" This couldn't be real, her father wouldn't be ready for this, Dragon's just appearing right in front of you, poised to attack. How would you prepare for that? "How...how did your father beat them?"
"He knew about them ahead of time, though I don't know how. I don't know how, but my dad always seems to know."
"What do you think happened at Araphen? Do you think my father knew about the Dragons?"
"Lilina, I'll be completely honest with you. Based on the fact that you're in a cell, Araphen was a devastating defeat that annihilated the Lycean Army, and the reason you are locked up is because enough of the Ostian knight believe that there is no hope of winning. They are trying to hand Ostia to Bern, and they're using you to make sure no one fights."
"That... That can't..." She knew it was right. She steeled her nerves, she was a warrior's daughter, she was the daughter of Lord Hector, and she had been trained to not panic in times like this.
"Uh, that is just one of many possibilities." It was obvious that he was trying to make her feel better.
"But... you think that's what happened."
He sighed again. "Yes, look, I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but, I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. Alright? I hope it isn't that bad, but don't get your hopes up."
"Thank you..." He was honest, no one else was willing to tell her what they knew. They all should have told her.
"Lilina, I have no clue why you're thanking me, and I suppose it doesn't matter. I will promise you this ; I will do everything I can to make sure Ostia doesn't fall to Bern."
"How?"
"I have allies, I just hope they can do something useful without my help. Don't worry, whatever happens, I'm ready."
Roy was marching through Castle Thria. The war seemed hopeless, first Lord Hector had been killed in battle at Araphen while facing 2 Dragon Generals and King Zephiel, then Lord Erik betrayed the Alliance, bandits were running rampant, now Lord Orun had been murdered by his own people. It seemed like he and his forces were all that stood against Bern. Though he had only fought one battle against forces actually employed by Bern.
At that moment Roy saw the graying Marcus running toward him. "Master Roy! A Pegasus Knight has arrived from Ostia with a message for you!"
"Take me to her right away." A message from Ostia, he was certain that it couldn't be good.
Roy followed Marcus into the courtyard, and saw a girl draped in a green cloak standing beside her Pegasus. "My Lord Roy, Ostia is in need of support."
Roy felt a pit form in his stomach, but quickly steeled his resolve. "What happened?"
"General Leygance has taken control of Ostia, and he has taken Princess Lilina hostage."
Roy felt a lump form in his throat. He forced the feeling down. "Marcus, I want everyone ready to move on the hour. We are going to Ostia. Knight?"
"My name is Snow, Lord Roy." Snow said.
"Miss Snow, I want you to tell me everything you know." Roy silently prayed for his dear friend.
Mark's Journal, Defensible Positions, Cities, Castles.
Ostia
Easily defended, very large number of armored knight, slow moving, sluggish. Biggest threat of Ostia's forces are their very active and efficient spy network. To counter Ostian knights, utilize speed and magic. They have next to no protection against magic, and are very vulnerable to flanking maneuvers. The Ostian forces are made to be on the defensive, but are not effective on the offensive. Try to draw Ostian forces toward you, their sluggish pace makes them easy to counter. Castle Ostia has narrow corridors, clearly favoring the heavily armored Ostian knights. If you are forced to attack the castle, be sure to attack from multiple sides. On the east side of the castle Ostia there is a narrow exit, could sneak in 6 or 7 people in before Ostian forces close it off. A good distraction so that a larger force can get in through the main entrance.
Nergal's assault on Ostia
Some kind of mass teleportation magic was used to move a small army into the Castle. The exact method is as of yet unknown, but it is most likely quintessence enhanced warp magic. The small army of morphs he sent devastated the guard, but we were able to eliminate their prescience. The Ostian guard were too aggressive, ill prepared and ill equipped to fend off the assault. The morph army use of magic and arrows designed to pierce armor devastated Ostia's armor. It was especially telling how poorly prepared Ostia was considering the intellect of the morphs.
The morphs were so foolish. Beyond the warp inside and throwing themselves at us, they showed no tactical insight, none of them were even capable of expressing pain. Only one could talk, and it only said "This is a message from Lord Nergal, I await you on Dread Isle." I simply can't understand it, if I had been commanding the morph forces I could have taken Ostia without a single casualty, or injury for that matter. The morphs had surprise, they were physically stronger, and they outnumbered us. Instead everyone who listened to me survived, and all of the morphs were eliminated before reinforcements got orders to come and help. If the remnants of the Ostian guard listened to me they wouldn't have died, but I can't be held responsible for the actions of those who don't follow orders.
AN : Don't have much to say, except that the next chapter will be a battle both in the castle and in the streets. Well, read and review!
This is Lee, and I'm out!