It's a nice moment, yeah, though I think the effect is more dramatic on some than on others.

Chapter 14 Preamble
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There is no world map: we are plunged down without preamble. However, I will save the map, and a full explanation of all the sorrows ahead of us, for when we've had some amble to precede us.


Did you see that guy's build? Do you honestly think he was worth a use of the sleep staff to capture him? Aw, heck no.

"Rist directly went against his commander's orders. He only got what he deservered."




Poor fella. I honestly feel some sympathy, if only because he acknowledges that the choices that have led him here aren't good, but...As with his incompotent followers, they're his responsibility. He can't pretend they were someone else's fault, and I respect that.


And, anyway, it's not like there's any getting off this train he's on.
Wait. That's another game.


Did someone say double bosses? Someone said double bosses!



Paulus: "Yes, I will send my forces to aid you once they are ready."


Fuuun.


Standing in the city, it looks li--

Or not. I guess "Whatever units I have scattered about" counts as "the other commanders"? Or do we assume these scenes happen in some other timeframe?
Because I just randomly select units for these; I am not sure Tina should be a commander, she is probably, like, 12.



Dean is actually, on the map, at the south gate; it's a lovely touch.

"After my father was killed, our mansion was taken away, and for two years I was unable to even go outdoors freely. The cruel surrogate would constantly threaten me to tell him where the prince was. The thought of that abuse still sends shivers down my spine...
But then... Dean rescued me from that nightmare. He protected me from the Empire's assassins, and always cheered me up when I was about to break down. He always laughed it off, but I was sure he was a well-known mercenary. I never knew he was working under Lord Arione..."
I forget if we discussed Arione the last time he might have come up, but we probably will very soon, so I won't talk about him much here.








Nah, we've voted, you're not doing anything, Eda. (One of my guides takes a moment of editorial to describe her as "At least she's better than Ronan. Ouch, guide-maker. Ouch.)



Map!
This is an unusual one, given that it's a Defense map! Our first map of a whole new objective, at least as I can recall. We have to hold out and prevent people from getting inside the inner city, where Leaf is now, for 10 turns. We'll be getting pretty much non-stop waves of armors from now until then, making our jobs difficult, but also profitable for, say...Marita, possibly. That's the plan.
We've got about 4 choke points -- the side gates, which'll open, and the broken walls, which'll....um, break. Sady, those are a bit covered by my map: you can juuuust barely see one of them around the bottom terrain info text boxes, though the other's rather clear. Ballista abound for those who get too close to the sides of the map.

The number of houses is strange: some are visatable, most don't offer rewards. However, we need to visit a number (at least 3, but as many, ideally, as 6) of them to get to the bonus chapter. The outer houses, annoyingly enough, are pretty key visits: one will eventually contain a lance for Dean...


And it's guarded by Paulus, who's a formidable threat with some great gear, including the best normal wind tome in the game, and, with his 4 gosh-darned authority stars, is going to be a pain in the rear. He's accompanied by a variety of enemies to make it even trickier.


Baldak has some nice gear, including a brave effect weapon in the Master Lance...that we'd never really be able to take from him. (Tina good, but I'd not call it worth it.)

On the plus side, we have a few new fliers...

Eda, who is useless to us...But this is OK. We have Karin, and...

We have Dean, who is pretty solidly not useless to us. That scroll he's carrying is what Marita's been wanting: +5% Str, -10% Spd, +30% Def, +5% Mov. Defense for Marita!

Alrighty!

I'm brining Safy for staff shenanaigans, Nanna for recruiting someone, Lara for assisting, and Marita for leveling. We have a whopping 14 total slots, so pick 9 more characters!
On musings, it'd be possible to capture Paulus (with staff shenanaigans) with Seram's sleep staff, though that's not vital, and I'd be willing to stamina drink Karin, because movement would be handy, but I'd also call it not essential. It's a rough map, but I think it can be done.

Fatigue
Karin is Fatigued
Fergus is Fatigued
Carion 34/43
Nanna 15/29, but she's coming anyway.
Olwen 5/25
Asvel 11/32