Update 14: The Mighty Parrot of Shanty Pete (Pirate Fort)
Welcome back folks, I know last update may have not been the most interesting overall but hopefully this will make up for it. We've got story
and combat.
No use in delaying it, let's get going!
Music: Battle Preparations - Pilgrimage | 
YT 
KHin
So this map's a bit of an interesting situation.
That's a lot of pirates. Pretty normal affair.
But this is where it gets interesting.
This jerk is our boss, and is reasonably strong. The 6 SPD and 11 ATK is what sets him apart from the others, massive HP bar aside.
But to
steal our kills help us out is this trio of greens over here.
This is Valbar. He's awesome and is the best. He's so good, he was even on the cover of Gaiden.
People to this day still writhe in frustration as to why he's there and not, say, Plot Grandpa, but I personally think they're just denying what everyone knows on the inside:
Valbar...is the best.
But we'll get to that.
(And yes, he's at a slight stat deficit as well but I don't care)
Next to him is Kamui, another Mercenary with sub-class minimum stats. But honestly, I can roll with an extra 3 ATK and 2 DEF at the cost of 2 SPD.
No offense to him though, he's cool.
And we have Leon, a character I imagine may be rather polarizing throughout the FE communities. I don't actually know for sure though, I'm just guessing.
We'll get to why that may be later, but for now I'll say I quite like him.
Anyways, if it's not already apparent, we'll be recruiting them soon enough.
Nothing much to really to change in preparations aside from making sure Saber gets off the boat first.
Music: The Incorrigible | 
YT 
KHin
As always, the pirates have goofy lines.
I wonder if Shanty Pete's Mighty Parrot is related to the Budgie in some way.
I don't know how many people know that reference, but I'm making it anyways.
Yar har ho! Looks like more little mice be squeakin' into me keep!
I order you to halt your piracy and leave these waters at once!
Gar har har! I’ll do no such thing, ye shrill woman! No one enters the lair of the Pirate King and starts squawkin’ orders but me!
Yar, bold words from a fool man. Well, I’ll put yer steel to the test! Have at ’em, boys! Take the man’s guts for garters, but leave the wench alive.
Redemption is a lost cause for a man like you, Barth. Your reign as pirate king ends here!
*The camera shifts over to the other group.*
Music: March | YT KHin
Heh. Must be our lucky day.
From where I’m standing, our odds look somewhere between grim and dire.
What, you mean because we’re horribly outnumbered?
You two better stop gabbing like hens and start fighting like you want to live. Now, if we can take Barth out of the picture, his goons should scatter…
(At least IntSys is admitting up front the greens are going to kill steal you.)
Perhaps this is his crew? Let’s advance with caution and try to aid their cause.
Player Turn Music: - With Mila's Divine Protection (Prologue)| YT KHin 
NES
Enemy Turn Music: Disquieting Steps (Prologue) | YT KHin NES
Battle Music: A Blade on the Wind (Celica Combat Theme) | YT KHin
Boey runs to the left on the ship to draw some aggro over there while Saber moves up to bring pirates in to weaken them immediately.
Boey's got this, don't worry. He's just going to trick some pirates into charging him, but still being out of range.
That whole thing about proceeding with caution really isn't necessary on Normal. Whoever has the leather shield will tank the pirates fine (likely Saber), while your other units can just melt pirates quickly.
While two pirates do charge Boey, the others go for Saber. Well, except for the ones that charge Valbar's team.
You want to split a bit of the pirates off anyways, both to slow down Valbar's team from charging Barth and to let up on your units a bit.
The ally turn opens with Leon shooting an approaching pirate and just casually removing 2/3rds of his HP.
Gonna take more than that!
Valbar just deletes the salty dog.
Aww, wanna try that again?
Kamui's high starting Def lets him tank the pirates as well. The only person in this group even remotely at risk of going down is Leon.
Back to our turn, Celica takes advantage of all the supports possible here to put the hurt on this pirate.
Celica gets a good level from it. She can make up for SPD in time, but I'm never going to complain about Def on a mage.
I did this, really because I had no reason to heal anyone yet.
Here I come!
Mae takes care of it anyhow.
And gets SPD and RES for it. The SKL and LCK doesn't hurt either. Overall. a pretty good level. Would like her to get some more HP at some point, but it's fine.
I opted not to move Saber here, but it really doesn't amount to much. Genny could've took the hits and been fine.
Eh.
Boey does okay holding off the pirates boarding our ship.
Celica defends herself. That low HP pirate begins to run around the ship in order to try and get to the oranges on our ship.
Actually, it looks as if Genny is at a doubling risk. This leaves her on 3 HP, reminding me that past me had the right idea then.
Won't work on me!
The pirates attacking the Valbar crew eat dirt for it.
Leon deletes this pirate's HP as well.
On the Ally turn, he chases down a fleeing pirate with his range.
Like this?
It's unfair how good I am.
We don't get experience for anything they do, by the way.
Gonna take more than that!
The pirates leaving Barth's little corner are stronger than the others.
Unfortunately, these pirates approaching means that Valbar'n'crew are being led towards the boss.
...Oh, no, I'm not worried about them. I'm worried about the boss. You see, I want that EXP.
I actually have to attack with Genny this round because she direly needs the lifesteal.
The gambit pays off.
Boey moves up and takes out this pirate that's been weakened.
You're finished!
This pirate is a goner. He's so much of a goner, I'm not even going to bother showing the finisher.
In hindsight, I should've had Mae just focus down that pirate next to Boey, but eh.
Celica needs to charge the boss though. I want her to get the EXP, and Valbar is going to move in on Barth real soon.
This is a stronger pirate though.
This exists.
I will forget about it forever, unfortunately.
Onto enemy turn!
You can fall down now.
Immediately, a pirate charges Kamui and this happens.
It's not enough to kill the pirate, but it's enough to shorten my time to take out Barth.
Argh... got sloppy.
This gains a bit of that time back.
Boey does some work at tanking the pirates on our backsides.
Here it comes!
Luckily, he's tough enough to handle even the stronger pirate hitting him.
That all they had?
As I said last update, Boey starts putting in real work here.
And a last pirate makes a bad last decision.
So sorry!
Ally round, Leon deletes one pirate with arrows.
Just in case you thought there was a lack of crits in this update.
Alright, alright.
This is the crittiest LP, mind you.
Another one bites the dust.
All right! Bottoms up!
This pirate is the last one distracting them from Barth, and he won't amount to much.
Out of the way!
What did I say about this LP?
Complete overkill.
Genny heals Boey, Mae and Celica move up.
The last boat pirate makes a sad attempt to fight Saber.
Leon finally misses a shot on the last pirate to the north, but it's not enough to save him.
In an immense stroke of luck, this pirate dodges another attack, buying me even more time.
RNGesus must be present, I swear
Say good night!
I can't even begin to write words here
On our turn, we can finally start attacking Barth, with the green crew luckily out of the way.
That's a lot of spit.
That's one good hit in.
Celica's unfortunately just barely outside his attack range.
Last normal salty dog is gone.
not even going to say anything
The crew finishes moving up and I end the turn.
Leon moves in on Barth with his crazy range, but misses. It's to be expected given those hit chances.
Unfortunately, Valbar and Kamui move really fast.
You know, IntSys really has a way with making the greens act in the most frustrating ways. I've been rooting against our allies this entire fight.
Another big hurty lightning in.
Celica can almost roast him as is.
But past me waits on doing that for... I guess apprehension that Leon would hit and take the kill?
Hell if I know, but it's the move that ruined this.
Oh, right. Spoilers, this doesn't go our way.
Genny does get a nice level though.
Smugface here hurts.
Leon can't get a shot in on Barth anymore, but really neither can Mae.
Really should've just Turnwheeled.
Off by one point of damage.
Moving back onto the oranges, he dodges another Leon shot.
Okay, so it's only a 49% chance, right?
I was a fool
only a fool would doubt Valbar's power
And you know what? Valbar's so cool, I ain't even mad.
(Funnily enough, this exact same thing happened on the Gaiden playthrough I did with a friend.)
And before the map ends, we get this nice note.
If we hadn't saved them (incredibly unlikely on this difficulty):
We couldn’t protect those men… Please, forgive us…
Needless to say, there's a good bit of incidental dialogue following this depending on if they survive or not.
We're gonna hop right into the fort and the story. I'm not waiting until next update for this, heck with it.
I've been waiting on some more good story stuff.
Music: March | YT KHin NES
Ah, here they are.
Talking to Leon or Kamui before talking to Valbar gives us some incidental lines.
I’m sorry, what did you need? …Ah yes. Apologies, but I’m not going anywhere without my dear Valbar. Go talk to him if you’re looking for recruits.
Sorry, but I’ve got a contract with Valbar. If you want to negotiate with me, you need to go through him first.
Had Valbar died, we'd get these instead:
*sob* Valbar… How could you go and leave me all alone like this? How do I go on without you? This is on your heads! All of you! And I’m coming with you to make sure he didn’t die in vain.
(Refusal)
Selfish dastards! Try thinking of someone else for once! Enough. Just go. …GO already!
I can’t believe that damn fool Valbar is dead. What happens now? Not to be crass, but we had a contract, and now there’s no way to collect.. …Say, any chance you lot want to hire me on?
(Refusal)
Yeah, I figured it was a stretch. I guess this is goodbye, then. Best of luck.
So... yeah. Rather depressing. On Normal, it's very hard for Valbar to actually die though. It does reveal some aspects of the characters here we'll see soon enough though.
With that covered, let's do this the normal way.
You really saved my bacon back there.
…Er, right. Sorry. Got a little emotional there for a second.
I’ll be honest—I’m not good at much besides crackin’ skulls. But if you NEED skulls cracked, I’m your man! What do you say?
(If by some inconcievable mistake we refuse)
Well, that’s no fun. But hey, come see me if you change your mind.
(On return)
Hey, you’re back! Decide you have room for me after all? Find a skull or three that needs bustin’?
Let's be honest, there is no other option here.
Well, they’d better make room, because I go where you go!
(If not on the same page)
Ugh! Now you’re just being petty. Your beauty is going to make you a tyrant someday if you aren’t careful. Honestly, I don’t even have the words.
(If you talk again)
Oh. It’s you again. Decided you need me after all?
Recruited.
(If you talk to Kamui after recruiting Valbar)
Well, it’s your call—I don’t have a preference either way.
If not, then you’d best stay clear of the Seabound Shrine. Necrodragons are the one thing I absolutely refuse to tangle with.
This is why I've been trying to level Celica by the way. Thanks for spilling the beans, Kamui.
(Refusal)
Yeah? All right. I guess we part ways here, then. Good luck.
(Return)
Hmm? What is it? Now you want me to come with you?
He's coming with as well, something that triggers this:
I go where you go—that’s the deal. And I don’t care who doesn’t like it.
You jokers are a couple of real class acts. You ever stop to think that maybe you’re being rude to the priestess?!
To be fair, we never specifically told him what we were doing.
It’s an honor and a pleasure to have such capable company. They’ve both proven their skill, and can be rather amusing to boot. So I thank you one and all for brightening our journey.
We should be the ones thanking YOU!
My my, that was some praise…
Did you jokers hear ANYTHING I just said?
Hee hee!
But yeah, this bunch is great and is personally part of why I like Act 2 so much.
...I can't help but feel the way this chain of events is structured oddly though- it seems like they originally intended for them to all join together regardless. Having to individually talk to each one of them (while they're all in the same room) and getting a "Wow, you're going? I'm going too" and then getting it again once all three are recruited is a bit jarring.
I guess it's just a side effect of them wanting you to have the option of recruiting them or not. I appreciate it's still in the game, but it's also just something you'd really not usually do outside of self-inflicted challenge runs.
Eh, I can ponder the mechanical aspects of the game all day. Let's get to inspecting.
I don't suppose anyone bothered to tidy the place up recently.
I mean, given they werre raiding merchant ships, I imagine they were stealing the food from them as well.
Speaking of, there's a ton of food on this table. Nothing of particular note though.
Well, this sure is a lot of money. None of it's actually useful to us though.
And a jarring reminder to break the joking mood.
I've never seen some of these coins before. How interesting...
This is probably hinting at it being Rigelian money, but I like to think this means it's Archanean currency. After all, Altea and all that stuff is just across the ocean.
I wonder if there's any way to return this to it's rightful owners...
Now this is the kind of loot I'm looking for.
There happens to be this cog up here alongside some Ram Wine, and Iron Sword, and a Rusted Shield.
This here is also hiding in the gold piles. It's basically a free level up on whatever character we use it on. It's still going on Celica regardless to speed up getting Seraphim.
Oh, I’ve heard tale of a wondrous treasure that sleeps there… but while I like a bit of coin as much as the next, I’d urge you to reconsider.
Steel won’t even tickle its hide. They say it scoffs at all but Seraphim magic.
While this may seem redundant, (and it kinda is,) but this guy's mostly here just in case you couldn't recruit Kamui. It's kind game design, though perhaps a bit overbearing.
We owes you our freedom! Zofian pirate scum ride the sea like they owns it, but what’s our emperor do?
Just what kinda man’s he become, anyway?
I'm not sure why this guy's got such a heavy accent given nobody else we will meet has accents like this. Guess it's just a quirk.
Also, it's worth mentioning that even if this group of sailors had been traveling from the southeastern part of Rigel, it's been a REALLY long boat ride.
But since ascending to the throne… Well, something has certainly changed. Still, I continue to place my faith in him, as must we all.
I can't remember if the game tells us at some point, but Rudolf is only distantly related to Rigel III, the previous ruler. The Empire prioritizes strength over direct lineage, and Rudolf was the strongest around out of the people in line for the crown.
None of this is really important yet, but it provides nice worldbuilding.
As a side note, the story for this game makes way more sense when you have the timeline to look at. I'll cover some of it's details in time, but it's mostly spoiler material presently. They seriously don't go over enough of this stuff in the game.
Also, the Rigelian Empire is called an empire, but is under total control of the emperor with no sub-kings or lesser rulers, so it's kind of more a dictatorship than an empire, I think.
We're not done yet though! That's right, it's a bonus, lengthy update!
There's base conversations to see. I actually remembered this time!
Look, I know you set out on this journey with a solemn purpose and junk. And WHILE I know that… I can’t help but feel super crazy excited about it! I mean, I’ve barely even been off the ISLAND before! But I feel terrible for feeling this way. It seems so disrespectful, you know?
Then I guess I’ll take that as permission to be super excited! You should try to have some fun with this too. It’ll do you good! Oh, but the whole “solemn purpose” thing is still top priority, obviously.
I cannot begin to express how good the VA work is on this.
Didn’t think I’d be storming a pirate fort today when I got up this morning. When you decide to do something, Milady, you really go for it. Times like that, it really hits home how we were born into different stations.
I hope this journey will teach me to see things with a broader perspective.
To my great detriment, I'm the opposite in this regard. I'm always considering the long-term all the time, but never spending enough time looking at the short term. I also never look ahead far enough for my long-term thinking to help that much.
Basically I'm bad at planning.
...but to be honest, I’m more than a little afraid. I’ve always been the type to stay home and read rather than go on adventures. Guess I’d rather write a story about an epic quest than be on one myself. Though I imagine being left out would feel even worse…
This is about the point where Genny's trope starts to show. It's a bit ambiguous before now, but this should give you the idea of what her direction is.
I didn’t think I’d be bum-rushing a pirate fort as soon as I took this job. Doesn’t exactly bode well for the future, if I’m honest.
Unfortunately for you, Saber, you're right on the mark with that prediction.
If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word. I’m serious! No need to hold back. I owe you my life, after all. Gives me chills to think how I could have died before getting revenge.
Valbar is just the best. Mae is also the best.
Me, I can’t imagine giving my all for a gig that doesn’t pay. No one asked you to solve this mess— let alone paid you—yet here you are. Seems like your job is a tougher one than I’m willing to take on.
Luckily for Kamui, Mila and Duma aren't necessarily omniscient or even omnipresent. Kamui's also notably one of the few characters who attributes nothing/nearly nothing to the two gods of Valentia.
I’m nauseous, I’m sunburned, and I’m wind-beaten. I look like death’s damp leftovers. But YOU look fresh as a daisy, Priestess! What’s your secret?
But you look like a dew-dappled angel! Augh, that’s so annoying… Well, youth is great and all, but don’t expect it to last.
This is always one of the most agitating things to hear. Natural beauty has it's penchant for being jealousy-inspiring by the pure matter of the situation.
I suppose it's a good reminder to not put stock in physical appearance, and while I learned my lesson there and haven't in a long time, this is still way too relatable for me. 
Anyhow, that's all for today. 51 extra screenshots to make up for that holiday break.
See you next time!
Next Time: The Plot Thickens A Bit
----------------------------------
CHARACTER PROFILES:
Name: Valbar
Original: Valbo
->
Growths:
HP:60 ATK:40 SKL:40 SPD:30 LCK:25 DEF:50 RES:1
This man. Just, this man. How can you not love him? Leon knows where it's at.
...Okay, okay, I'll give you a real profile here. Valbar brings along with him not only his jolly, dorky personality, but a presence as the team's first real tank unit. Though Saber, Kamui, and Boey can all try and claim that role, Valbar is a very needed wall at this point. While his stats may be notably a bit below the normal for a Knight, his comparatively massive DEF growth lets him hold this role as long as you'll probably need it. Mages will still tear through him, as is to be expected, but he comes really early and that's what counts so much for me. He's also not a bad candidate for reclassing either; those stats are still very useful in Cav or Merc. That, and his slow movespeed isn't any slower than Boey or Mae's so, it's not as noticeable.
Design-wise, Valbar is pretty much similar in all regards. His present appearance is a mix of his sprite and the box appearance, while his personality is has the same valiance to it, but with the added side of family man and dork.
Valbar only has one loved food, meats, he likes bitter and refined, and actually hates nothing. That's actually three characters who hate nothing on this route. There actually seems to be 4 in the game overall, because I can't count apparently.
He also has the highest fatigue tolerance at 0.65. You can't get any better than this.
Name: Kamui
->
Growths:
HP:50 ATK:40 SKL:30 SPD:40 LCK:25 DEF:30 RES: 0
Kamui loves money and that really seems to be it... on the surface that is. He's got a bit more depth to him than just that, but he'll evidently let you know what it is he says he's in for. He's from a nomad group originally, though he never specifies as to where. Kamui's also notably one of the least religious characters in the game, which is possibly why his LCK is so low. None of his level-up lines mention a god of some kind, and his line for a level with mostly LCK in it attributes "at least half of it to skill".
Speaking of his mechanical applications, Kamui continues the trend of the oddly statted/growing characters that show up early on here with his tradeoff of SPD for a beefier ATK and DEF. Honestly, can't complain about that. His growths are nothing special, but he'll keep a good spot on the team regardless.
Compared to his original look, he also got quite the overhaul in design and the new look is honestly quite more inspired than his original one. Personality-wise, he didn't originally mention money and was in general just really casual. He did actually mention his dislike of necrodragons and the need for Seraphim (then Angel) magic though.
Kamui's favorite foods are either rich (:V) or anything with meat. He likes refined food, but hates anything sweet.
Name: Leon
Original: Leo
->
Growths:
HP:45 ATK:30 SKL:50 SPD:30 LCK:30 DEF:30 RES:4
I'll be honest and say I don't know what the general consensus is on Leon given he plays to the flamboyant gay man stereotype, but at least it's far less offensive than previous representation in the series. Honestly, I really like Leon. The game doesn't go out of it's way to throw a big fit about him, the personality's not overdone, and he's just generally entertaining. Though I say this with the caveat that he also reminds me greatly of a friend of mine from years back.
(I suppose on the negative side there's also something to be said regarding the fact his relationship with Valbar remains at "unrequited crush" the whole time. They didn't really give Leon an actual romance arc with anyone, though there's plenty of others in the game. At the very least, he's better done than Heather from Radiant Dawn.)
Mechanically, while Leon's growths aren't the most stellar, the SKL growth really does help for the poor accuracy of bows, and his base stats are just stellar compared to the bases for Archers. He's the only one we get on Celica's side, and he really does do his job well. He even comes with an Iron Bow, so we don't have to equip him, but he is likely to double some stuff.
Compared to his Gaiden counterpart, Leon's visually not all that different, though I do have to say I like the new hair color a lot. Personality-wise, he's a good bit less grim, and his original regard of Valbar as a "sworn brother" is now changed for his present crush on Valbar.
He loves sweet foods, likes rich and bitter, and hates meaty foods.
