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    Fire Emblem (oc) Would pick up FEH again for these two

    November 20, 2019

    Fire Emblem (oc) Would pick up FEH again for these two

    (oc) Would pick up FEH again for these two

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 09:04 AM PST

    I drew a Summer Dorothea!

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 05:21 PM PST

    Holy shit guys the Peppa Pig community is firing back

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 03:31 AM PST

    Death to the Church, Long Live the Emperor!

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 04:37 PM PST

    Claude Fan Art [OC]

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 09:47 AM PST

    This was a meme seven chapters in the making.

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 12:47 AM PST

    Who grades them?

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 09:26 AM PST

    The best birthday wish I've gotten today.

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 11:31 AM PST

    My chrom amiibo arrived to day, ecstatic to have the full awakening set

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 02:54 PM PST

    Edge of Dawn, Crimson Flower Route

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 04:38 PM PST

    Edelgard and Hilda are my waifus.

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 06:00 PM PST

    I made and cosplayed Armored Lord Edelgard at AnimeNYC!

    Posted: 19 Nov 2019 08:58 PM PST

    Dense Childhood Friends (Dimitri and Edelgard)

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 05:17 PM PST

    Dimitri Fanart

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 07:44 PM PST

    Nafana Mauga, another 3H's OC!

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 10:21 AM PST

    [Analysis] The war between Hoshido and Nohr

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 04:53 PM PST

    Foreword: I was actually looking this up a few weeks ago to see if there was already an examination done by other fans to see who would potential be the victor of the fates series, if corrin and storyline fantasy elements were removed. Many threads seemed to view it through the lens of the game's background lore or the lens of character motivations. These are fair views and quite fun in their own right. Well, I wanted to look into it with a more real world militaristic scenario and hey, we haven't had a lot of discussion topics lately so I thought this would be fun. The focus of this would be examining the two nations and putting points on their militaristic prowess, weaknesses and potential victory conditions on a more real-world scale. This is not going to be a quick two sentence post to bash nohr or hoshido. I actually like many characters on both teams. I also would like to use this opportunity to dispel myths which I saw in many threads.

    As this is an analysis, I'm favouring discussion and would love for you guys to point out where I am wrong. It ended up being quite long, so feel free to just pin point certain parts if you prefer.

    Rules: In this scenario, garron, corrin, azura and any major story fantasy set pieces are removed. It is simply the Kingdom of Nohr, lead by Xander, against the Kingdom of Hoshido, lead by Ryoma. There won't be strange interruptions by the 3rd party, no dragon powers, no faceless for nohr and no magic shield for Hoshido. I find those elements to be more plot-oriented because otherwise, we cannot have a proper examination if one side can spam units and the other side can endlessly wait out the enemy. There will be magic, pegasus and beast units. There will be some items drawn from the game or lore if viable (example, pegasi and wyvern being weak to archers, foxes resisting magic).

    War and Conflict: What I find most incorrectly spread is how wars are won. Pure power itself, is not a victory condition. It is an asset. Roman conflicts, Medieval conflicts and even WW1/WW2 shows that it is not who has the bigger sword or heavier armour but overarching complexities. Three of the major complexities are: Logistics, Supplies and Intelligence. Logistics is being able to be at the right place at the right time. Without proper logistics and organisation, you will have your army at base and outflanked. Supplies means food, manpower, steel and so on. You need horses, arrows, men to fight and food to keep them fighting. Poor logistics will also hinder supplies and shatter supply lines to fuel the conflict. Intelligence is also a deciding asset. If you know where the enemy will be, their ranks and their actions, you have effectively won before the battle starts. Intelligence is often labelled as most vital: even knowing you cannot win the battle is crucial to reduce casualties. Heck, breaking the enigma code was said to shave years off ww2. The goal here is to win the war, not every minor battle or skirmish. With that, let's examine the nations.

    Equipment Analysis

    Armour: Let's address one myth out of the gate, European heavy armour (fluted, plate) were superior to the samurai armour depicted for Hoshido. Sorry it is not a contest at all. This goes back to history, armour and weapons are formed from the materials you have access to and the enemies you will be fighting. Europe simply had better access to useful metals where as Japan had access to plenty of other materials like bamboo. Did they use metals in plate-like patterns for samurai armour? Yes. Does that make them equal? No. It would make them equal to lightly armoured units and will assist in stopping arrows/light strikes but not compared to heavier stuff. This is further backed up historically by the need of french and english conflicts to use maces and other heavier weapons to blunt and stop armour. A katana won't be able to find openings in a heavily armoured foe and unlike video games, this type of gear is actually pretty mobile. No, they won't be fast as critlord ryoma, but they would still be able to function army against army. Armour for both nohr and hoshido would be decent at stopping loose arrows (not always but I'll get to that later) whilst in battle, a sword won't be as effective against nohrian armour compared to hoshidan armour. As for every infantry unit wearing "light" armour? (fighters, oni, ninjas, blacksmith etc) lets be honest, they might as well be wearing nothing. I will say the bare minimum would be what Selena wears (looks like gambeson). This would stop lighter arrows and bladed attacks. For hoshido, I will say their master of arms and spear fighters are depicted with at least, what looks to be a japanese cuirass and other guards which I will say can mitigate edged attacks and again, light arrows. The majority of Hoshidan units however, fall below nohr in terms of armour and even their bulkiest units won't be equal to a general.

    Weapons: Basically, in game, sword beats axe, axe beats spears, spears beat swords. In real world? Spears beat everything. Range is superior and when you have non-elite persons, they are simple to use. I will say that both sides are equal in this regard. It is far more important what the material is made off and both hoshido as well as nohr seem to have access to steel weapons. Axes vs Clubs? Nohr doesn't really have a need for axes nearly as much as Hoshido has for clubs. Clubs will be very effective in breaking through the armoured units of nohr. This isn't a point to say one is better than the other, but that Hoshido has an answer to nohrian armour – so its not a total defeat. Swords vs Katana is a lot more controversial I've seen arguments both ways and the inevitable "x is faster y is stronger". To put it bluntly: it matters little in army vs army. You want the pointy end to get to the fleshy bits. Armour is the decider here and we have already examined that from above. Yumi vs Longbow. Now, this is much more interesting. Draw-weight shows the longbow is able to produce more potential but ultimately, that was for punching through armour. It's not going to go past bones like in the movies but it will inflict pain. The Yumi is not as devastating close range but can go the distance. Bows do more than kill, they can force your opponents out of safer formations/positioning, they can hinder enemy mobility and stop advancing troops. For comparison, I will say both are equal in usage. The nohrian's longbow is enough for hoshidan troops and the hoshidan yumi is enough for nohrian troops...except the heavily armoured (great knights and general). Arrows and missile attacks are devastating. Mercenary armour from nohr won't be enough. Magic, let's say, are equal. I will assume them to be like a grenade or small missile in terms of their role: to deal damage in an area. Also, I will note that they are able to deal damage against heavy armour but not against pegasus or the foxes.

    Unit Analysis

    Nohrian units:

    1. Light cavalry and Heavy cavalry: as you may have guessed, I'll be speaking in roles, more or less. To be blunt, horses in war are a ridiculous asset. It dominated ancient and medieval battle and translates directly to modern conflicts. Horses provide two very important things, mobility and transportation. You move troops from site to site faster, without tiring the soldier whilst bringing your supplies. In combat, cavalry is able to harass enemy units, flank them, encircle or, in the case of the true winner (the heavy cavalry, ie cataphract) crush into enemy lines and annihlate formations. Light cavalry had their weaknesses, a disciplined army had many answers (spears were one) and could lessen the charge, sway them or counter them entirely if they still do. Archers were also the bane of light cavalry as volleys could easily dismantle bigger targets like horses. Heavy cavalry(great knights in game) have far fewer direct answers and could be comparing in it's role to the modern tank: punch a hole as your supports do the rest. Nohr is particularly dangerous as they have mounted archers and dark mages(who has armour noting their particular threat level – arrows will have a hard time getting in). They definitely have viable armies to consist only of riders and a ranged unit on a horse is particular.

    2. Foot soldiers: standard affair. I've already spoken about gear in the previous parts and as stated, the true terror will come from the knights and generals, being exceptionally guarded units compared to everyone else. Again, I would like to stress, unless you're on a horse or pegasus, a knight won't be missing and failling to hit hoshidan speedsters every fight like in game. Battles are army vs army, formation applies. Knights were not slow enough to just sit there and let themselves be hit. The wolfssegner will also play a more impressive role. Similar to punching through formation, they would be able to hold and fight, rather than cavalry simply charging in and out. This would be one of the more dangerous foes the hoshidan have to face.

    3. Aerial: now here is where I can make some differences. The wyvern units would play a similar role to cavalry, harassment and will almost certainly win against the pegasus knights. Heavy wyvern riders can also perform the role of GK, punching enemy formations and breaking into enemy lines to deal damage. The malig knight however, would play the role of a bomber – air to ground on targets, living or otherwise (like a house). We know that hoshidan fliers are unafraid of magic, so the best play for a malig knight would be to fly and target core units to blow them apart. Nohrian fliers have the distinct advantage against hoshidan fliers for melee combat. But that doesn't mean they will win all the time (more on that below)

    4. Other: The butler/maid. They...won't be useful. At all. Even assuming they're trained with knives, thats not comparable to having an archer or mage. Sorry but they would be restricted to serving tea. I would not place them on the frontlines. Now, the strategist is an interesting class. A healer who, if the description is correct (and taking measures from the in-game skills) also provides strategic benefits to their surrounding allies. This is, a huge deal. This is doctrine. This is actual real world strategy being applied. In battles, chaos thrives and commanders often have the difficulty of ordering troops to do x or do y. The doctrine of a squad commanders or in this case, strategists, would allow the CO (xander) to tell their guys what the overarching strategy is and then in battle, have the strategist make decisions on a low-level basis with the changing battlefield. This is, simply put, a huge intelligence benefit. Now, the hoshidan units also have something similar (master of arms in japanese is called the military strategist and we can assume he would also perform field duties). This is to say both sides are capable of this level of intelligent fights, rather than two sides running towards eachother. But again, I would give the edge to Nohr here for the simple fact that they get a horse and serve a healer (backline) role where the hoshidan squad commander is a frontline unit on foot. A much more dangerous position with lower mobility. The last unit I want to talk about from norh is the adventurer or 'trickster'. A thief unit, if you will. They can...infiltrate areas along with the outlaw and bypass doors. If I am being honest? Full blown battlefield has no need for this. I can see them being a pseudo spy if you will.

    Hoshidan units:

    1. Foot soldiers: the bulk of their forces. The bulk of hoshidan troops unfortunately are hampered by no horses but they are diverse, I'll give them that. Their sword user may not fair as well but they do have answers to nohrian units. The spear fighter and basara will be excellent in fending off light cavalry charges and against the unarmoured nohrian troops. The oni's also have clubs which will allow hoshidan an answer to the knights. They have potential to fight but the lack of horses and armour do hamper them greatly. The low level troops like the oni savage I fear will be eating arrows before they get a chance to counter the knights, leading more heavy lifting for the blacksmith. I will say the oni chieftain is a good counter seeing as they can use magic as well to break the knights and generals. However, where as the generals do not fear foot soldiers, the oni mind need to be wary of units like mercenaries and heroes. Kitsune, however, would be terrible against wolves or frontline troops. They would be excellent against magic opponents but magic units from nohr would be ranged and in the backlines. So you would need units to cut a path to the mages and then let the kitsune do their work. That's far easier said than done.

    2. Magic: speaking of magic, plenty of the hoshidan classes can use spells and physical weapons. The basara, oni chieftain, the upgraded healers and the upgraded onmyoji is able to use healing and damage dealing magic (the nohrian sorcerer can only deal damage as iago is an exception – possibly game related). That is a big deal. This says flexibility. Flexibility to adapt to your opponent, to change your roles on the fly and to form a counter to what the enemy commands. This is a huge deal and is actually really close to real life. A medieval soldier was supposed to equip a sword, spear and bludgeoning weapon with a shield. Modern soldiers don't run out with just one weapon either, as we see in the past ww1, we have grenades, pistol and rifle being provided (though granted sometimes the pistol was not ) but a knife also was. Adaptability seems supremely on the hoshidan side. The irony here is the kitsune unit would be loved by nohr as hoshido have so many magical units but useless in hoshido since nohr tend to favour brutality.

    3. Aerial: again, this is where it gets interesting. Now, lets tackle the pain point, falcon knights don't compare to wyvern riders. I would put these in a supportive role (harassment and healing) rather than the nohrian fliers who can play a more aggressive role. Now, if the great knight was nohr's super weapon, the kinshi knight is what I propose to be hoshido's. The kinshi knight, is an aerial flier with no clear weaknesses. Yes, both sides will die to arrows but the kinshi knight can directly fend off the archers whilst the nohrian fliers….kind of have to sit there and take it. They don't have a flying counter against the kinshi knight! The kinshi knight, just like the malig knight, can also fight the enemy ground archers if they need to. Kinshi knights alone won't win the fight (and I want to stress, super weapons by themselves almost never do) but for hoshido they would provide invaluable support. Assume nohr doesn't bring support, a kinshi squad can form up and rain arrows on targeted troop formations.

    4. Other: this bit has excellent points for hoshido too. Lets first discuss the merchant and apothecary. These are...non combat roles! Or we would prefer them be. Their usefulness in battle would be hampered but I can see the apothecary being another way to heal units whilst the merchant would allow more diplomatic advantages. But here would be our first point of contention. In war, money is weaker than material. Money cannot make arrows appear from the air, you need to buy them. You can argue the non-combat nations could sell goods to hoshido though so there's that. But if the assumption is that it is all out war and all under hoshido are allied, money is wasted if you don't spend it. The Mechanist however, is an interesting but niche unit. You have a bulky piece of marvel with solid mobility and solid solid range. Arguably comparable to the nohrian mounted archers. But the mechanist seems to be more able, with skills to replicate alongside bows. The problem however is if you put them in a more frontline position, they can tank but not dish out damage. If you put them in the backline, their replicate skill won't be useful. They're pretty flexible though, so I'll give them that. I do have to note, I feel like wood is a poor choice considering how easily it burns. You can set fire to wood more so than you can to steel. Flexibility at a cost of being as durable as the Great knight perhaps. Finally we have one hoshido's defining units: the ninja. This will play an invaluable role to hoshido. Remember when I said intelligence is key? We have a unit here who is terrible on the front lines but amazing out of combat. Even the game(Kaze?) tells you that ninjas kill with poison which is a terrible way to fight compared to killing outright with sword or spear. No, get them out of the frontlines and let them perform intel gathering, assasination, recon. The game has supports showing this is what they do. Real history tells you that is what they do. They are perfect for such a role and would help immensely for hoshido.

    Conflict

    Direct Combat and Doctrines: So with that analysis, lets have a look at what happens when they clash. To put it bluntly, if we assume both sides have equal intel, equal supplies and on even terrain? Nohr wins 9/10. The bulk of nohr's forces have a direct advantage against hoshidan units. The bulk of hoshidan's best counters (magic and archers) will need to be protected by their frontlines. In an open battle, even their front lines will be crushed by horses and archers. Even the more armoured units of hoshidan still can't compare to the armour of nohr and as both sides close in (aka more direct hits), the casualities of hoshido will easily escalate before nohr. Cavalry from nohr allows for cavalry tactics. Harassment, formation breaking or encirclements. If the romans could do this, I see no reason why nohr could not. Horses were a major next break of tech and remember, in real life, they were used in the east as well. Hoshido does not for what I assume, gameplay related reasons. That is quite a disadvantage. Kinshi knights and archers can stall lighter units but in a flat equal army vs army, there won't be enough of them to cause a stir. Let's assume Hoshido takes a defensive approach - mechanist on the front with spears to stop cavalry. Archers and mages on the back with the kinshi to prevent wyverns from breaking in. Well, the great knight can simply punch a hole in those formations or send a division of sorcerers to burn up the mechanist. The problem with defensive formations is all you need to do is breach a gap and then the formation crumbles. Will there be casualties if nohr sends the sorcerers unsupported? Sure, they actually will get shredded by the mechanist. So send the dark knight - your mobile missile. WW2 would be the example I would choose where due to the fast-moving style of combat, once a formation is breached, it is so easy to rush and crush the enemy. Heck, even if we talk about speed and modern tactics, maneur warfare favours nohr with their more mobile units. How about an aggressive stance? Hoshido does have the capabilities to punch a hole if nohr plays too defensively (basara and oni can use magic) but even so, nohr can jut as well fight back with archers and if they get too close. A head to head battle favors nohr.

    So lets talk about fog of war and terrain difficulties. The best counter to fog of war is fliers and scouts. I can see the irony in this as if nohr and hoshido both employ fliers to scout, they will be very effective but they will also...reveal eachother to the enemy and we get back to square 1. Assume they use ground troops to scout, nohr has horses which again, massive advantage. Hoshido would need to perform recon ahead of time - with scouts like saizo or kagero. This means for an advancing nohr, hoshido stands a chance at creating a formation and troop diversity to counter nohr. The flexibility of hoshido favours them against nohrian assaults but only if they react fast enough. Would they be ready in time? If they are? nohr will lose. If not? Hoshido will lose. Like I said, intel in war is needed but so are supplies and so are logistics. Even if you say hoshido can move 1000 troops with pegasus and kinshi, I can say nohr can do 2000 with cavalry and wyvern. If we assume nohr is the invader, if nohr chooses poor targets though? Yeah I can see hoshido diverting troops as needed. It all comes down to where they choose to fight. Aka, intel on nohr's part. If we assume Hoshido is doing the invasion? Then the difficulty is flipped around. Even if we assume nohr has harsher terrain, I already talked about nohr's logistics with horses and wyverns. The advantage for hoshido here is alot of their troops have out-of-combat abilities to potentially resupply (merchants, apothecary) so xander could have pockets of enemies in his backyard. I am 50/50 on the ability of hoshido to hide their troops and nohr to find them though. On the one hand, ground troops are easier to hide in medieval times. On the other hand, this is an army you're trying to hide. In a head to head clash, just as hoshido can settle for defensive formations and bring counters a head of time with intel, so can nohr and nohr can do it faster with horse units.

    Out of combat: Now this is where the shift goes to Hoshido. Nohr aren't slackers themselves, they got strategists and healers with them. But hoshido have units dedicated to non-combat roles beyond serving tea. If Ryoma can use saizo's squad to take out enemy commanders, brush up on intel and focus on espionage, they gain a solid hand whilst nohr has to focus the situation by situation. This makes it much harder for nohr to focus or employ their plans correctly. Sure, nohr has the outlaw/adventurer but as per their description, lockpicking is fairly useless in all out war and scouting is outclassed by the riders. They don't have as many out-of-combat tools as much as hoshido has. In terms of scouting, we have recon by force and covert recon. Assuming both sides can employ both, the advantage of covert recon(undetected scouting) goes to hoshido where as recon by force (scouting by attacking and seeing how the enemy responds before retreating) goes to nohr. You need a strong, faster unit to do recon by force but a more stealthy unit to perform covert recon. Which is better? it depends. Recon by force can potentially sow discord as well - especially when it doesnt matter if you reveal yourself. This works for an advancing nohr. Pre-battle, it would favour covert recon, the hoshidan speciality. Now I know beruka is also an assassin but in the big picture, hoshido has an entire class of them (ninjas and master ninjas).

    Supply Lines, Logistics and food: As any side starts claiming territory, two things must be done. The territory must be held and supply lines drawn to supply the front lines. You lose your supply line? You starve or you get routed. Deeper you go into the territory, the harder this is to do. Now, as discussed, nohr has horses which makes supplying so much easier but what hoshido can employ would be similar to what france does in it's medieval times: destroy usable territory. Farmlands and productions, if they believe they would be losing the fight. This could enforce attrition and starve nohr from having the tools and food to enroach further. Attrition would be a valid tactic and I can see this would be one way hoshido can come out on top. It would mean a lengthy defensive campaign to slowly weaken nohr and choose the right time to strike back. Take too long and nohr will just create working facilities in those territories though (which means the war is over, hoshido still exists but nohr basically grabbed a bunch of land).

    Ultimately, this means nohr is better at aggressive tactics and assaults whilst hoshido is more capable at playing defensively and preparing counters towards a nohrian invasion. Hoshido will have a much harder time invading nohr and claiming head to head fights however. Hoshido would pretty much be forced to employ more covert tactics, assassinations and raiding to whittle down nohr from within to win. Nohr must simply muster and choose the correct territories to invade, in the right order and do it fast. So as we can see, the decider here is can still change based on other influences. Lets look at that.

    Remarkable Units:

    1. Xander and Ryoma: in alot of discussion, I see people say that unless they get bloodlusted, they care too much for their people and would look at peace after some time. I...actually agree. Both are very cool headed and without corrin, I can see a shaky ceasefire. But in our scenario both are capable leaders. For arguement's sake, I will say neither will employ horrific tactics (like sending troops to the grinder). This removes unrealistic orders. Destroying land or buildings is however, within reason.

    2. Camilla and Hinoka: honestly both are shown to be generic frontline units. Just with noble blood. It is shown that xander and ryoma handle the more political affairs.

    3. Leo and Takumi: advantage edges towards leo. We know he is the tactician for nohr. We know from supports with ellie he also attempts to play safer - doing tactics that would keep soldiers alive.

    4. Elise and Sakura: advantage edges towards sakura. Sakura supports show she is knowledgeable with curative tactics and under her command, recovery divisions could benefit greatly. Elise is just a generic healer who wants to play hide and seek.

    5. Other: in several support conversations, we see Jakob noting he is part of a routing unit. (a division to chase and hunt fleeing enemy combatants). As cruel as that sounds, if nohr is willing to do that, thats an advantage towards them. For hoshido, I believe subaki's supports has someone being concerned for enemy archers. If we address this as hoshido being wary about enemy ambushes and taking a more careful approach, we see an advantage towards hoshido's defensive playstyle.

    Myths:

    1. "Nohr is poor and thus will fall the moment war breaks": Untrue. Their army is shown to be, at the start, working. They clearly have at least enough at the start of the war to perform and if they succeed in the first few bouts, they can just pillage or obtain resources from those areas. Silas does mention nohr struggles and I won't deny that give it half a decade, they might start crumbling but their starting point is solid enough to wage war without their supplies being effected.

    2. "Magic will decide the war": yes and no. Not everyone is an archer in real wars, despite archery being a major advantage. You don't just employ 1 type of troop, you employ multiple for multiple roles. Even saying that, its clear not everyone in hoshido or nohr just "knows" magic, they need to be trained as one would train a troop to wield a spear.

    3. "Nohr's army is made up of thieves who will backstab them and Hoshido is made up of poor villagers who don't know what a sword is": yeah definitely no. Firstly, as devious as they are, they still follow the commands of the royals so it doesn't matter if niles loots some soldiers or peri is stab-happy. Same deal with Mozu. yeah, shes a villager - so is literally everyone who just starts off in an army. That's why training matters. You don't grab a sword and gain all it's skills like its Final fantasy tactics. Both sides here will have working troops.

    4. "Nohr will win direct fights and thus the war" : I hope as you can see, direct combat is not enough to win the war, only battles. They still need to hold territory, hold supply lines and push on. They will also risk losing everything without having some form of strategy or intel.

    5. "Hoshido has more allies and thus can incite further offence" true, hoshido has plenty. however, ingame we already see those tribes willing to lend a hand already did and they even had traitors, still. Let's say with garron gone, Ryoma is able to get those ninjas on his side as well as obtain more folks from the fire and wind tribe. Well...Xander could just as easily add the ice tribe and I can see him being far more reasonable than garron.

    In conclusion, there is far more aspects towards war than a direct confrontation. I can see nohr winning via stomping through but I can see hoshido winning by simply outlasting and making far smarter plays. I will admit, it is not looking good for hoshido as they do hold the initial disadvantage. They have to make smarter plays and I don't see nohr making idiotic ones either. But the chance isn't zero, they just need to play a better hand. The question becomes whether you believe nohr can push harder and faster than hoshido can detect, analyse and react.

    Thank you for reading thus far. I probably made grammatical mistakes and actual mistakes. Please, point them out. Like I said, I thought long about this and wrote this for discussion not to 'dunk on weebz' or slap xander and his MLP brigade. Fates does not have fantastic writing. I love the game but won't defend that. But I do think it was interesting how they had two very different oppositions that are comparable enough for us, as players, to think about.

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    i drew hubert!! i lost the file i spent 40 minutes on and had to start again but happy with it

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 03:00 PM PST

    A Day in the Life of Heroes - A New Vocation?

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 07:53 PM PST

    I have a few Fire Emblem Miis made on my Switch. Here's all of the ones that I have made so far. (Crossposting because some people on Shitpostemblem said that these fit better here)

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 03:24 PM PST

    [Commissioned] Waltz of Nature and Bird Whisperers - Three Houses x Samurai Shodown

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 04:10 AM PST

    The Sealed Forest: Lore Analysis, Implications and Theories

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 02:13 PM PST

    What exactly is the Sealed Forest and what does its existence imply? When it's first mentioned, the title comes off as an area in which access to it has been restricted by the Church. But once we arrive there, there seems to be more to the story.

    The Forest Isn't Sealed Off, It's a Place For Sealing Away

    On the map itself, there's a few points of interest spread throughout. The area itself looks like somewhat of an ancient battlefield. There's remnants of ancient golems throughout the area, although at this point in the game we have no clue what these are until a bit later and only on certain routes even. Overall these golems do belong to the Church yet are never seen or mentioned up until this point.

    There's also several ancient structures on the map, the largest being at the center and a smaller one at the very top. At first it seems like these are merely the foundations of actual buildings but I don't believe that to be the case.

    Most notably on the map is the Crest of Flames at the center. Just what in the world is that doing there? It's in front of what appears to be an ancient structure of sorts so perhaps it's a former area of worship? I don't believe so.

    So now for the theory. Why is it called the Sealed Forest? I believe the forest is actually a place that is used to seal things away. During the map itself, Solon activates the "Forbidden Spell of Zahras". It's no ordinary spell, as it summons darkness to thrust the target into an eternal void. It "seals them away". More curiously about the spell is that I believe it can only be performed under certain conditions and more importantly at a certain place. That place being between the 4 sets of pillars of the structure at the center of the forest.

    During the cutscene where Solon casts the spell, the dark energy is seen radiating from the 4 sets pillars at the corners of the structure before surrounding the edges of the structure and consuming Byleth. It makes sense that this area was built for this function considering the above and more importantly the fact Solon had used Kronya as bait to draw Byleth towards the center of the structure. This can actually be seen in the cutscene as well, a neat little detail where Kronya is running away from the forest and back towards the center of the structure (It's almost as if the devs knew most would try and bait Kronya out of her range by hiding in the forest tile areas, at least if you didn't use dance/stride or anything of the sorts.)

    Now why is the spell "Forbidden"? As if sealing someone away in an eternal void was bad enough, from what we see another element to performing the spell appears to be the sacrifice of a life. We see this in how Solon rips out Kronya's heart(?) before casting it. A forbidden spell that trades a life to seal away life. In several other pieces of media, such an exchange is usually taboo and associated with dark magic. It is forbidden.

    Taking all of this into account, my guess is that the Sealed Forest is a site created specifically to perform the "Forbidden Spell of Zahras". It is a place where one seals things away. We have covered how much the site seems to play a role in performing the spell and this line of reasoning also gives an explanation as to why such a powerful spell was only used once in game. It's extremely situational, relying on the preexisting structures built in the forest. It seems to be more akin to a site to open a portal or a trap than it is just some ordinary offensive spell, making replicating it in combat elsewhere tricky. The need for Kronya to act as both bait and become the sacrifice to activate the spell can be traced back to Thales mentioning saving her because he 'still had use for her'. He does mention saving her to preserve the secret of their bodies which can very well be true, but in this scenario, him mentioning 'having a use for her' is far more appropriate to some plan he had concocted to use her as a means to perform the spell. This is further supported by the map being called "The Sealed Forest Snare". The forest is a trap, and for more reasons than just them expecting your arrival. The site itself is of actual importance.

    Theories and Speculation

    So what does this all mean? From here we can speculate and discuss a few things. I've a few theories and parts of these aren't necessarily mutually exclusive to one another.

    Theory 1 - The Use For The Site: The area is being or has been used by the church. For one it's an area recognized by them and is within the territory of Garreg Mach. There are remnants of the golems scattered throughout the area. But what significance do the golems have here? These golems aren't just mechanical contraptions powered by magic, there's an element of life to them. We see in damaging the golems and breaking their armor the writhing limbs within them. They are clearly alive to some degree. What more is that in the penultimate and final maps of CF, we come across altered golems. These seem to be even further enhanced versions of these creatures, and more interesting is on the final map there are some with actual names whom also bear the Crest of Seiros. These golems are clearly the result of experimentation on life, something we learn Rhea had been conducting in secret. And what better area to conduct experimentation on these mechanical abominations than a forest that has the potential to seal them away if things go awry? This area being used as an experimental testing ground can also be seen in Hubert's paralogue where you must save members of TWSITD from Demonic Beasts who they have apparently lost control of during experimentation on this very map. With that said, I really don't know why the site was originally created in the first place.

    Theory 2 - Garreg Mach Rests Atop the Agarthan Capital: This area and another bit of dialogue hint at the implication that Garreg Mach Monastery was built on top of the original home of the Agarthans. Now that might sound a bit insane, but hear me out. This area is clearly ancient, most likely predating the church itself. The Crest of Flames is on the map which strikes me as odd considering this can't have just merely been a religious site for the followers of the Church. Most of the church itself from what we see don't seem to even recall either what the crest is or what it looks like. Also, the Crests themselves weren't even a thing until after Nemesis had done what he had at the Red Canyon. In fact, aside from Sothis, the Crest of Flames has more of a historical relation to the Agarthans than with the Church. This leads me to believe this area was in fact built by the Agarthans using part of Sothis' power after having slain her. We know to some degree they do have a sample of Sothis given they were able to implant her blood into Edelgard even a millennium later. This also explains why Solon knows of the existence of the site and how to use the 'Forbidden' spell. As for the bit of dialogue mentioned earlier, at one point in Part 1, Manuela muses over the peculiarity of Garreg Mach's location. She says that it's reportedly built upon where the goddess was buried but says that it's a bit strange it happens to lie right at the center of Fodlan. Now this area being the original home of the Agarthans makes some sense. Not only because of the existence of the site at the Sealed Forest, but if we were to consider this advanced civilization did have its capital at the dead center of Fodlan then that bears the implication that they had some power or even were the secretive rulers of ancient Fodlan. Sothis then suddenly descending from the heavens(or just migrating from a different country) and being worshipped by the people would have angered them, causing the war itself. And during the coming war, what better way for Seiros to have shown complete victory over the Agarthans than by conquering their home and establishing her own throne of power right on top of them? I understand that Rhea has her own version of this story but as we have come to learn, she does have a tendency to skew history in her favor. I don't believe all she says to be a complete lie, but I do believe there's still more to it than she lets on. More on what Garreg Mach was built on...

    Theory 3 - We Will Learn More in Wave 4: The Abyss ties into all of this. The Abyss is reported to be a cavernous set of ruins beneath Garreg Mach where 'people dwell'. There's hostility between the church and these Abyssions as mentioned by one of the Monks. I believe these ruins to be the remains of the Agarthian Capital. And yet oddly enough the church seemingly hasn't done anything about this group in years? Another theory I have is that if Seiros did conquer these people, rather than wiping them out she subjected those left to live underground as punishment for their crimes. Having this group in check underneath the Church, she would have access to the knowledge for experimentation needed to conduct the creation of the golems and to revive her mother. I also believe these Agarthans to be pretty different from the modern day TWSITD, members of the latter being essentially an offshoot that bear even physical differences given the self experimentation they seem to have done to themselves. This difference can also explain why the church does not immediately seem to suspect the Agarthans early on.

    However, it could also very well be the fact that there are no more Agarthans other than TWSITD. But, the existence of the ruins of the Abyss make clear that Garreg Mach was in fact built atop something more than just the burial ground for Sothis. Either way, I believe there's a lot of little hints scattered throughout the game that hint at a story that's yet to be fully elaborated on. I hope the coming DLC side story does give us a bit more insight.

    EDIT: The second half regarding the theories are just that. Theories. There's a lot of information I might have overlooked or other ideas and details I may have not taken into account. Feel free to point these out and put out some ideas of your own.

    EDIT 2:

    Theory 4: The Site Was Originally A Trap for Sothis

    Upon Byleth breaking out of the darkness of the spell, Solon remarks that it was 'impossible unless...' ...they were the goddess, is what can be assumed he meant. Him knowing this could be attributed to the fact that it this was already attempted once before. The site could have been created as a fake ritual site to draw Sothis in and seal her away. Them failing to do this could have very well been the first act of war from the Agarthans against Sothis. If that's true, it still somewhat supports the fact Garreg Mach is on top of an Agarthan territory just based off the proximity.

    submitted by /u/Snails22
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    I bought these super cute derpy FE3H charms made by /u/chocojax

    Posted: 20 Nov 2019 10:36 AM PST

    Marianne is the MC of Three Houses. Change My Mind.

    Posted: 19 Nov 2019 11:13 PM PST

    She has blue hair and her PRF weapon is a 1-range sword made from a draconic beast.

    submitted by /u/TurboSejeong97
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