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Xerxes' journal, at least 16 years past its being written with the hopes of immediate discovery, has put hope back in the hearts of the Imperials, Rene's group especially. Putting it in Kris' hands for safekeeping, what with her having the Witch Pendant, Rene and the rest feel a far stronger motivation to survive this upcoming battle and drive off the rebels. If they can just do that, they can begin looking into the mystery of these heirs, and who on earth could've taken the most vital pages.

Samson and his fleet have had to quickly get used to being bossed around by a brat who's brutal with a blade. His mind wanders more to just how hard he'll double-cross the Dories once it comes time that he's returned to his father, how he'll see to it that the new authorities of the land smoke them and their benefactors out as many times as it takes. Director Hera awaits the forces of the Holmstead Resistance, barely able to stay her axe as she and her army-nay, her friends, brothers, sisters-in-arms-prepare for an all-out assault on Briggid Island. This tropical island paradise's fate hangs in the balance of this one battle.

Dyrus and the rest, meanwhile, bid the Wolfskin region and Garou Valley, soon to be renamed, behind them, accompanied by an impressive horde of Tarvosian Nomadic warriors, more than have been gathered in one place in years. A few days' passage through a single mountain range is all that's keeping them from the final... Well, no, it won't be the final battle of their journey, with Central's situation having worsened despite General Taniel's hardest efforts, but it will be THE decisive moment of the war, of the years of secretive planning beforehand, of all the lives senselessly lost along the way...

>A. Be Samson
>B. Be Dyrus

>>47614221
Er, vote time renewed.

>>47614531
Renewed again.

Probably should've expected this coming off of a hiatus, but it was this or oxidized charger wires possibly burning down the house.

A far less pleasant experience than hearing the talking heads song, real life housefires, I'm sure.

>>47614777
Renewed again.

Is it because I was pessimistic about when my charger would arrive? I did say it SHOULD have arrived yesterday (which it did), only saying it MIGHT show up later...

>>47615038
Renewed once more.

>>47614221
>A. Be Samson

>>47614221
>A. Be Samson

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>>47615299
You are now Samson.

You're being irritated by Adelais' rattling on and on, trapped in a conversation-heavy dinner by the vague terms of "play nice." Edwyg was the only member of your inner circle Adelais also allowed in on the things, as an "interest tied more directly to the prisoner population."

At least she hasn't ACTUALLY hit any of you yet, you guess.

"...and then it turned out he was just trying to secure a foothold for HIS family's pirate gang to mooch off our resources. Cornelius was furious when he found out, but by then I'd already strung the traitor up by his entrails on the side of..." She lowers her fork down into her salad, made of fresher vegetables than you've even SEEN since you've entered the archipelago. "What's the matter, not hungry?"

"Eh, guy just gets squeamish when he hears about entrails, y'know?" Edwyg says, trying to cover for your disdain with an... Admittedly correct point. "Lightweights, these mainlanders, y'know?"

"Eheh, you're telling me," Adelais responds, "say, though, you've never told me why you were in Fort Dalshin to start with..."

Honestly, you've only heard the vague "they said I killed someone, don't matter if I did or not" summary Edwyg has briefly told you, so you have always been... Mildly curious.

"Ya wanna know what?" She asks, before nodding. "Yeah, 'bout time I talked about it for once... See, I ain't gonna say I was a paragon of a former arena-slave. I'd actually done a couple years before the big one for gettin' into scraps with the wrong folks, but... This one time, me an' this other ex-arena-rat I met in jail are... Breakin' a couple parole rules by pallin' out, passin' a couple back, havin' a bit of a private party, y'know? Anyway, I black out, an' morning after, wake up next to an Empire hotshot's wife's body, an' I never seen my friend since."

"How'd the body get there?" Adelais asks.

"Ain't it obvious?" Edwyg asks. "Murder!"

>A. Horrifying...
>B. Did she DO it?
>C. Write-in response

>>47615642
>A. Horrifying...

>>47615642
>A. Horrifying...

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>>47615793
"Gh... That sounds terrifying," you say with a grimace, "I'd hate to have to go through that..."

"Yeah, was a far less pretty sight than who I was expectin' to wake up next to, that's for damn sure."

"Er... The two bites I've had of this salad were very lovely, Lady Adelais, but... I'm not terribly hungry," you say, gazing back at your "gracious" host.

"Wait, but... My chefs worked super hard on this whole dinner!" 'Ada' objects, glaring at you. "This is only the first course!"

"I've always gotten seasick badly," you faux-confess, "makes it impossible to keep even the nicest lettuce and tomatoes down..."

"Aren't you from a BIG portside town?" Adelais asks.

"That doesn't mean I'm a sailor," you respond, huffing. "I don't have sea legs or anything... I mean, I went out by the harbor to boatwatch with Millie and Raleigh back home once or twice, but that's different..."

"Still, though," Adelais responds, "you've got a big day ahead of you as subcommander! The two of you are pillars of these forces, so I want you to be hale and healthy!"

"Yeah, and I don't want you leavin' me here with her alone!" Edwyg adds.

"Hey!" Adelais objects.

"Appreciate the honesty, daddy's-girl, because no one else in the world'll give it to ya."

This'll be a long meal...

>A. Continue this interaction (write-in dialogue preferred)
>B. Skip to afterwards (spend time with someone besides those two)
>C. Skip to next morning

>>47615916
>A. Continue this interaction (write-in dialogue preferred)

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>>47616099
Well, you figure you might as well put the whole of your mental energy into trying to stay invested in this conversation and dinner.

"...you're saying I'm intimidating," Adelais says to Edwyg.

"Well, you got a real scary gang backin' you up, not even talkin' bout that sword you wave 'round. That's from, uh, what's that other continent called?"

"Oh, so you're interested in the origins of my wo dao! An astute fighter you are to have such an eye for quality..."

You're 90 percent certain that most of what Adelais says about her sword is either an exaggeration or an outright fabrication.

"And then, its next owner slaughtered his whole family just so he might carry this legendarily deadly blade," she says, having since taken her beloved sword out to wave it around during storytime. "He would hold the blade for years on end, relinquishing it only as he died in his cabin on a boat to Teege."

"...we don' really get people from other continents," Edwyg says, beating you to the comment. "On account of the asshole smugglers makin' sea travel livin' hell... Not that you'd know about that," Edwyg says.

"You're really pushing your luck, Edwyg," Adelais responds, pointing her sword at her. "I'd hold your tongue before I cut it off and made it your next breakfast!"

"Whew, ain't heard that one in about a decade," she says. "You get that from, uh, Gertrud? How's that ol' shithead doing?"

"You knew Gertrud?" Adelais asks, eyes widening. You don't know who the hell Gertrud is. "She served me well as a bodyguard awhile, but... Age makes victims of us all, no?"

"Ah... Guess I owe Eddy a hundred gold. Bastard never lost a bet..." Who the hell is Eddy?! "Wait, no, right, I cut 'im down."

"Small world, right?" Adelais asks.

"Hah, yeah... Man, it was the coolest shit first time we heard the tongue line, but it gets silly."

"I still think it sounds really ominous and cool!" Adelais responds, turning to you. "Isn't it?"

>A. Yeah
>B. Nah
>C. ...
>D. Write-in response

>>47616470
>A. Yeah

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>>47616630
"I mean..." You shrug, "I wouldn't wanna be fed my tongue."

"See?!" Adelais responds, "it's ominous, you're just jaded and boring!"

"No, Samshrimp's just an anxious wimp!" Edwyg yells back.

"Er... Thank you for the vote of confidence, Edwyg," you stammer.

"Anytime, bud!" Edwyg throws a thumbs-up your way.

The rest of the dinner is a series of nearly-avoided fights, almost instigated by both of the boisterous battlers while you could only awkwardly chip in once or twice, but your few token efforts of participation reflected well on Adelais' opinion of you.

You immediately retire to your newer cabin without speaking to anyone afterwards, even Millicent.

She does, however, wake you up the next morning anyway! "C'mon, Sam, today's the day!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sAMZFmDShs

Briggid Island is approaching fast, and you and Adelais' combined forces are ready to take it.

"Alright, everyone!" Ada says to her bunch of seafaring scum, "now's not the time for mercy! Cut down anyone who might raise a blade against us, and see the Empire fall off the face of our island home!"

Millie, Edwyg, Fabrice, Dinah, Adam, and Norman only sort of listen due to proximity to the speech, before turning their eyes towards you.

>A. Give them encouraging words of your own! (suggestions, please)
>B. ...let's just get this over with!
>C. ...what she said!
>D. .........

>>47616769
>A. Give them encouraging words of your own!
Today we take down the head of the empire oppressing our region! And afterword we will make sure the islands of this region are able to live freely!

>>47616769
Prior vote deleted, supporting >>47616909

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>>47616885
"...I know, and I agree," you say to their unspeaking faces of distaste, swinging into the positives immediately after, "but... We're taking down the Gerxel Empire that plagues our fair home, the Empire who took Holmstead from us, who took the lives of King Augustus, of Raleigh, of my mother, turned those two into their undead puppets... Honestly, there've been more people forced to suffer by the Empire's hand than I could list off in a day, but the archipelago will live on in safety after this!"

Your speech isn't particularly inspirational, but your friends clearly appreciate your effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mKWQb1KmGw

Near-immediately, pegasus knights fly towards your locations, dozens of them rushing each of your ships. Speaking for Ada's boat alone, her assorted ranged attackers and Norman are doing all they can to repel the attacks, Millie dancing for your group and you tossing Wind Magic their way.

Suffice to say, the lot of you finishes off their assaulting pegasi first, sustaining thankfully-minimal injuries as your ship rides ahead towards Briggid, the others slowly following suit as they deal with their pegasus problems less swiftly.

"Looks like Director Hera's waiting for us right at the docks!" Adelais observes the island through a telescope. "She's got the entire might of the region at her back, but she's waiting there ahead of the curb... Probably itching for a good one-on-one scrap, packing a... I think it's a Swordslayer, a Short Axe, and a Killer Axe?"

>A. Does she want to handle her?
>B. Offer to take care of Hera
>C. Then we all rush her at once!
>D. Write-in response
>E. ...

>>47617139
Whoops, deleted the wrong reply link thingy. That update was meant to reply, obviously, to >>47616909

>>47617139
>A. Does she want to handle her?

>>47617139
>A. Does she want to handle her?

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>>47617198
"Did you want to take care of Hera?" You ask the smuggling heiress. "She'd surely accept a one-on-one duel if someone asked..."

"That's... not half a bad idea!" Adelais agrees, holding up her sword. "HEY, HERA!" She calls out to the shore, flailing it madly. "I'M GONNA FIGHT YOU ONE-ON-ONE! DUEL TO THE DEATH!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFGvTu_2BQ

"...OKAY!" The woman's voice shouts back. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO LET OTHERS INTERFERE, THOUGH!"

"I MAY BE A SMUGGLER, BUT I HAVE PRIDE AS A WARRIOR!" Adelais calls back.

"ALRIGHT, THEN, I'LL-" There's a quietness, Hera covering her mouth for a moment. "SORRY, SWALLOWED A BUG."

As you land, Hera immediately approaches you, Adelais, and your allies. "So..." She looks the lot of you over, clearing her throat. "I don't assume it was Bard here unless he's gone up a few octaves since we last met..."

Adelais steps forward. "I am your opponent, Director Hera! Adelais Dory, perpetual thorn in your side, about to infect the wound... In your side, that I am a thorn in. Thus killing you!"

"...I'm not one for banter," Hera says as she hoists her Swordslayer, a few of her men approaching, as do some of Adelais' entourage. "These folks will make sure there's no foul play in this duel. No... unwelcome assistance."

"Likewise here!" Adelais responds. "Not that I'd even think about doing such a thing, but... At least this forms a circle between us and the rest of this big battle."

That being said, all the other axe-attackers, sword-slingers, archers and lancers in the archipelago's forces are marching towards your location, and now your "real" commander is distracted by her duel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Nmc84Noos

>A. Order everyone to charge!
>B. Order everyone to hold, wait for them to come to you
>C. You're honestly just watching the duel
>D. Immediately interfere in the duel
>E. Write-in action

>>47617529
>>B. Order everyone to hold, wait for them to come to you
These empire types are typically are orderly, probably won't attack if unprovoked and unordered.

>>47617529
>B. Order everyone to hold, wait for them to come to you

>>47617580
I'm not so certain they'll wait around in this case, but keeping a defensive formation and letting the enemy charge to their demise is generally a safe bet in Fire Emblem regardless.

>>47617635
Also true and a strategy I have used many times.

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>>47617635
"Alright, everyone, let's wait for them to come to us," you order as more ships reach the harbor, more men disembarking across the impromptu battlefield. You figure, their commander distracted, these Imperials won't attack without their orders from-

Wait, no, they're all rushing at your group, assorted sharp objects ready to start hurting.

You barely swerve out of the way of a hand axe, meeting the thrower with your Wind tome and knocking him into a set of crates.

"These aren't your run-of-the-mill imperials, disillusioned with their constant losses," Fabrice reminds you, "Director Hera's soldiers love and admire her like a sagely aunt, and won't hesitate to fight for her."

"Still, though," you say, "we just need to hold out while they run over and die, then!"

"Simple enough," Dinah responds, walking up ahead of your number, backed by Adam, several other pirates, and Edwyg, always quick to the side of her... Well, you mean, you're about 70% certain that's what the situation is, but you'd rather not ask and be wrong, after that near-mishap with beating around the bush with Fabrice, and...

Enough losing your train of thought, though! The little ring around Adelais and Hera's duel stays in the center of the action, moving around to accommodate everyone else's fighting as the heiress keeps barely swerving away from swordslayer strikes.

>A. Keep holding the line! They'll keep coming and dying no matter what you do.
>B. Begin to push in, slowly. Give 'em less room to squirm
>C. Interfere with Hera and Adelais
>D. Write-in action
>E. Put Fabrice in charge of decision-making and focus on fightwork

>>47617822
>A. Keep holding the line! They'll keep coming and dying no matter what you do.
Until they're down to just combatants with ranged attacks, anyway.

>>47617822
>A. Keep holding the line! They'll keep coming and dying no matter what you do.

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>>47617972
"Keep letting their frontliners come to us!" You suggest, to which you and Adelais' men all generally comply, bar one or two idiots who seem not to understand what a defensive position is, falling as tragic casualties.

Alright, alright, the battle is moving slowly, but you're unquestionably beginning to take the advantage! Just keep rigid in your defenses, pray your weapons don't shatter at the wrong moments, and you should be-

"Agh-!"

That wasn't a good noise.

"L-Lady Adelais!" One of the pirates shouts as your attention is turned back towards the duel.

The Dory daughter's headband has been slashed into two, falling in bloody pieces on the dirty ground, but more importantly, the Director's axe quite rather deeply through her head and through her right eye, leaving a nasty-looking, VERY bloody cut. It's a miracle she's still conscious, let alone standing and wielding her weapon.

"No, no... D-don't interfere!" Ada raises her sword again, arms shaking, glaring at Hera through her good eye.

"...are you just eager to die?" Hera asks, leaning against her axe a moment after stepping out of the way of a slash.

>A. SURELY she can handle it. Just focus on the battle proper
>B. Interfere! (specify what you do)
>C. Offer/insist to take her place!
>D. Write-in action

>>47618140
>C. Offer/insist to take her place!
Don't we have to keep her alive to keep father alive?

>>47618409
"Adelais, stop it," you say. "Please, your life's too valuable to us for you to give it up for your pride. Let me take your place."

"But... How can you say that after..?"

"You're rough around the edges, but you're a good kid," you lie through your teeth, "and everyone looks up to you, even if we rib ya a bit."

"Samson..." Clutching her face in pain, Ada sheathes her sword. "Hera, I'm tagging out!"

Hera shrugs. "I've been hoping to give this guy a piece of my mind. Go on, patch yourself up. Don't even think about ditching the guy who stepped in for your ass, though."

"No, I... Won't," Adelais promises, being shown away to her ship by some of her men.

Hera, meanwhile, stares you down, noting your currently-equipped Wind tome and switching to her Short Axe. "Why're you doing it? Before, I thought it was just your mom's influence, pressuring you and putting you in a place you really didn't belong. That you could see that I, too, appreciate peace and beauty, even as a bloodthirsty warrior. Yet you organized a prison riot, started taking over islands left and right... And to top it all off, you went and became the Dories' lackey. Gotta say, I'm disappointed."

>A. You don't need to justify yourself
>B. They have your father
>C. Attack! (specify if not with Wind)
>D. Write-in response
>E. ...

>>47618655
>B. They have your father
Though the riot was because the empire killed my mother.

>>47618655
>B. They have your father
The riot and initial rebellion were sparked because of the whole "prison death arena and turning our mother into an undead monstrosity" thing, though.

>>47618948
"Oswald Dory kidnapped my defenseless father after he'd sworn never to fight again, so I had no choice but to turn us against our common foe."

"...sorry to hear that," Hera says, twirling her axe in one hand. "Tell ya what. After we've killed you, Oswald's next. He'll pay for this, but that doesn't make you any less of an enemy of the Empire."

"When the Empire left my mother dying and in pain, with no choice but to be put down, they made an earnest enemy out of someone who was just trying to survive this. When your boss tortured a brilliant writer and visionary to death and handed his corpse over to serve the very thing he hated... They made someone who would've preferred to hang back in Noba until this blew over carry on his friend's spirit. When someone you called a close confidante tried to have a teenage girl killed for taking offense to her turning noble warriors into undead monstrosities and sending prisoners to die in a fighting pit, someone who was just a prisoner with time on his hand realized how full of filth and corruption even this 'noble,' 'better than it used to be out here' Coastal region is."

"Don't you DARE talk like you have any authority on what this place used to be like!" Hera bursts out, angrily chucking her Short Axe at you. You step just back out of its range, avoiding becoming matching face-scar buddies with Adelais.

>A. Hit her with the Wind tome!
>B. Go for the Elfire!
>C. Rush in with your Iron Sword!
>D. Write-in action

>>47619008
>B. Go for the Elfire!

>>47619008
>B. Go for the Elfire!
I had a different sort of plan, but that comment about range has made me wary of charging towards her (which it relied on) and the Elfire tome would be really fitting after that speech for more than a few reasons.

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>>47619181
You respond by cracking open Elfire, figuring that you've had enough fun chatting for the moment, immediately directing the impressive flames of the tome towards the berserker.

"Urgh..!" She catches her axe just as she's set ablaze by it, bracing herself as her outline is visible through the magical fire.

You hold your fire (har har) a moment or two to see how she reacts, eyes widening a moment as you realize she's NOT reacting by going down in flames, but instead throwing her Short Axe again, harder this time, but also sloppier, even easier to sidestep as you repeat the step.

This time, Hera doesn't retaliate, in fact dropping her myriad weapons to the ground as the flames dissipate. "Damned... Dory girl took a lot more out of me than I'd..."

She drops to her knees, and her surrounding entourage closes in. "D-Director!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q582qWn7bok

"Hey, hey... I said not to interfere."

"But... Halfway through the match, someone else took the opposite's place!"

"And I allowed it... Quit focusing on me and save this island!" The injured axe-wielder insists. Immediately, they go on to try to support their brothers-in-arms, and you stand over the Director struggling to stay on her knees. "You... Really scorched me there. Can't even lift an axe like this."

"You got distraught too easily," you say, holding open your Wind tome in case you need to perform a coup de grace. "But it shows that you... really value these islands."

"And you haven't just decided to set me on fire and be done with it," Hera replies, wincing from her magical burns once more. "I see it now... You fight with the same conviction as your mother apparently did, as I do, but it's not natural." Her eyes shut, head lowered. "I've always said there must be no greater pain than a warrior who can't enjoy themseves in a fight..."

>A. [Suggest a response, then finish her off]
>B. End this wordlessly
>C. Write-in action

>>47619435
Vote time renewed.

Damn weather has me feeling yucky. Probably gonna wrap the thread up with this next update however it pans out.

>>47619435
>A. [Suggest a response, then finish her off]
>"Even if I hate it, I won't stop fighting. Not until the coastal region is free and it's people are safe, until there is peace that isn't reliant on the tyranny and depredations of the Empire. Farewell, Director Hera. Die knowing I will do everything I can to protect these islands."

>>47619435
>A. I don't enjoy this fighting, but I fight so that I and the one's I love don't have to fight again. I hope you enjoy your peace.
feel free to have a response to this, Hera probably has a response

>>47619720
"Even if I hate it, I can't just... Stop fighting," you tell her, "not when the coastal region's 'better alternative' is a tyrannous empire. Its people need to be free and safe from them."

"You say that, but you're cowed by smugglers... Mark my words, with the Empire out of the picture, it'll become a hive of crime and decadence again..."

You lean down, tome still open. "The moment my father is out of the Dories' clutches, I'm gunning for them," you promise Hera, "Director Hera, you sound like you've never had a day's rest in your life either... Die knowing peace, that we'll see to it that your home stays in good hands."

"Quit trying to sweet-talk me and finish this," she insists.

You oblige.

Shutting your Wind tome, you stand, going to join the rest of your men in fighting off the remaining Coastal soldiers.

They cow easily, and Adelais, lacking proper healing magic, is brought to the finest medical attention Briggid Island can offer, after subsisting on Vulnerary.

Her eyesight's gone from 20/20 to just /20, judging by the wraps over that half of her face, but they insist that she'll be fit for fighting again in a few short days.

In the meantime, you have her men send word to her father that Director Hera is dead and Briggid Island is actively being secured, rather overtly putting your own fleet in charge of the securing and delegating more Dories than is necessary to the message-sending.

>to be continued next thread
Denouement could probably have lasted an update more, but... Like I said, I'm feeling really ill all of a sudden. Should still be good for post-thread chats/questioning if you're so inclined, but not to keep the chapter going.

Thanks for playing, as always. Update twitter/ask.fm are qmgrandflocto, and I'll be around in-thread to chat for awhile. After I grab some water or something.

>>47619850
Thanks for running.

I feel sorry for Rene and Veiz, this news is going to hurt the two of them, Veiz especially given who killed Hera and her previous encounter and sympathies towards him.

>>47619915
Always a pleasure.

Yeah, though, and Veiz was already beating herself up over her previous sympathy toward Samson without this cherry on top.

This'll probably be the first thing the survivors of the battle alongside the Emperor find out, too, so if that goes disastrously.