FE Quest: Silver Scales of the Past - Part 2 Summary

Chapter 2 Link: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/46208468/

Chapter 2 Summary (Samson - An Upset in the Calm)

 -Samson had a bit of a late morning after spending the night at his parents' house, oversleeping and only being awoken by the machinations of his unfed cat. The student's parents fight quite often, and this led to him unable to get to bed at a reasonable hour when he decided chilling with his old cat was worth the hassle. His mother, apparently intoxicated by the late morning, was no help in enabling him to figure out what time it was, so all he could do was hurry to Holmstead's central plaza for his prior engagement: helping another acquaintance of his, a dancer named Millicent/Millie, by singing for a show she and Raleigh have been putting together. Upon arrival, she was naturally displeased with his cutting his arrival so close, but Raleigh defused the situation, Samson was a bit of a weirdo, and the show went on.
 -Raleigh and Millie were met with far more applause than his singing, which he internally blamed on everything but himself, but mostly the ignorance and poor tastes of commoners. Afterwards, the trio had a bit of a lunch at some waterside cafe, followed by just loitering a bit, boatwatching as Millicent reflected upon the sorts she had seen. Conveniently, she mentioned Alfred and his crew right as they arrived with the smuggled Wyrmite to deliver further North, provided exposition amounting to "Director Waldrick and his fleet are seven days behind my kick-ass ultra-fast ship," and left with the red and green cavaliers who spoke with Samson and Raleigh the other day.
 -Raleigh's overzealousness in keeping Holmstead free of outsiders reared its ugly head again, even with the implication that this delivery was integral to King Augustus no longer considering outright invading. Hearing of Samson and Millicent's intent to get the hell out of Holmstead with their respective families, he initially berated them for refusing to stay and fight. A heated argument ensued which ended in Raleigh apologizing and asking that Samson show King Augustus his play should he be unable to live long enough to do the same. From there, he left his friends to prepare for the near-future. Samson chose to spend it performing at a certain tavern his mother has frequented since he was very young, Millie coming along for the ride.

BRIEF UPDATE ON EACH OF OUR HEROES' STORYLINES/CURRENT STATUS

Samson: Happy to learn that, despite needing to take refuge within a week, his chances at romance are not completely shot.

Dyrus: Having arrived in August's Reach, he and his grandfather intend to meet King Augustus Noba on behalf of his mother's rebellion.

Rene: Accompanying her adoptive father on a mission to conquer the independent city-state of Holmstead.

WITH SAMSON
 Samson: Bard (songs+tomes), level 1, +Luck/-Def. A singer, poet, and all-around rich boy who spent his life educating himself in the arts to mild-moderate success. Thinking not of continental politics, he is content to know that he'll probably be able to write a great song about the victors.
 Raleigh: Bard (tomes only, FE4-style), level 10, +Def/-Luck. A playwright and humanitarian in his own time, Raleigh is something of a local celebrity, the kind of guy who'll call anyone his friend, but probably isn't too close to any of them. Has had the privilege of meeting with King Augustus up North in Noba, and even taken enough of an interest in him to write a play about his life, but his heart beats and bleeds for his homeland, Holmstead. Has very high expectations for others and their growth, though it comes from a good-natured place.
 Millicent/Millie: Thief (wants to learn dancer skills), level 2, +Spd/-HP. A dancer in the sense that she does so as her foremost hobby, Millicent was born among a less privileged crowd than her other artsy friends. Between dancing and associating with unsavory seafarers when boatwatching, she's amassed quite a set of odd talents, several of which she's a bit embarrassed to admit to, preferring to project the image of the pretty young rising star of the stage. While she can be vexed easily and hates being kept waiting, she has a good heart and is, by default, quite sweet.

WITH DYRUS
 Dyrus: Lord (axes), level 5, +Spd/-HP. The son of noblewoman and revolutionary Hauteclere. Quick-thinking and quick-reacting, one would be hard-pressed to get the drop on him, but he can sometimes make bold or brash statements. Despite this, however, he is said to be typically courteous towards common folk, and is an enthusiastic hard worker. Twin brother to Laurise, older by seconds.
 Darren: Warrior, level 1(+20, presumably), +base/-grow. Paternal grandfather of Dyrus and Laurise, Sir Darren has many facets. He's a stern combat instructor, a doting grandfather, and a reflective old man. As a retired Gerxel army guy and long-lived rich man, he has fostered many connections to pockets of dissent in the Gerxel Empire for his daughter-in-law to appeal to. When his son, also named Dyrus, was presumed devoured in Garou Valley, he grew to find the Empire's expansion pointlessly imperialistic.
 Via: Maid, level 1, +Mag/-Str. A caretaker in the employ of Darren, around his grandchildren's age if not a year or two older. Dutiful and kindhearted, but immensely dislikes rudeness.
 A couple of other people: Possibly purposeless and generic guards, but they exist in case Octo wishes to make more characters.

WITH RENE
 Rene: Huntress (Bows+Lances), level 1(+20), +Skl/-Res. Abandoned by her birth family at infancy, inheriting nothing from them but her name and her blue hair, Rene grew up in a Gerxel Orphanage, which was often underfunded despite the best efforts of those who ran the place. In time, however, she was adopted by Waldrick, a Director of the Gerxel Empire, and grew up to be a very promising young official-to-be. Capable of putting her emotions aside for the sake of a mission, as was demonstrated when she effortlessly killed one of the smugglers assaulting her and Veiz, whose own first kill immediately affected her.
 Veiz: Archer, level 12, +Mag/-Spd. The biological daughter of Director Waldrick, she feels as though she just sort of inherently deserves greatness. That's not to say that she would even consider not working hard at it, but she does have a hell of a competitive and jealous streak to her. She does, at the end of the day, have a caring heart for her friends and family, though some would be hard-pressed to get her to admit it. Her romantic tastes lean heavily towards roguish, edgy sorts.
 Cicero: Butler (+Locktouch), level 5, +Spd/-Def. Childhood orphanage-buddy to Rene, he was sponsored to undergo a very wide variety of types of training after saving the life of Waldrick and several other Coastal Gerxel officials by uncovering a mass assassination attempt. He now loyally serves as his old friend's bodyguard, to the extent that she even needs one. He has a talent for snooping out secrets and sniffing out criminals.
 Hera: Berserker, level 5(+20), +Str/-Res. Native to the Southern Archipelago, Hera grew up forced to fight and kill for amusement in combat arenas that Director Waldrick immediately abolished upon the islands' introduction to the Gerxel Empire. Regardless, he figured, it was a poor decision to let their best fighter go to waste, so he offered Hera a genuinely paying position as his personal right-hand/bodyguard, which she initially accepted purely due to the gold and being out of her old livelihood. In time, however, she grew to view herself as part of Waldrick's own family. Always up for a good scrap, either fond of showing off her impressive arm muscles or just REALLY not fond of sleeves (perhaps both), and tending to lug an axe around, she's a fearsome enemy to have.
 Waldrick: General, level 8(+20), +Def/-Spd. A philanthropist holding the second-highest rank in the Gerxel Empire: Director, specifically in control of Coastal Gerxel, the name of the sections of the Empire along the Southern Coast+the archipelago below. A proud, doting father of two who nonetheless pushes his children to do great things. To his enemies and subordinates (besides Hera), he deliberately projects the image of a stern, terrifying, no-nonsense general. Friends and family, however, see him as a big softie, albeit one who is not easily pushed around.

FACTION: INDEPENDENT CITY-STATE OF HOLMSTEAD
 (A port city-state famous for its fishermen, under the boundaries of which also fall bountiful forests full of very delicious game. While the land has maintained its neutrality and independence even in the face of expansion from two neighboring forces, only time will tell how long this will last.)
 Lord Gaspen: Civilian Class. The most recent in a long line of familial leaders of the bountiful city-state. Has no intent of simply giving up his land to just anyone.
 Aligned Party Members: Samson (halfheartedly), Raleigh (patriotically)

FACTION: GERXEL EMPIRE
 (A ruthlessly-powerful empire run by, well, an Emperor, directly beneath which is a set of regional "Directors," who have control over a full region of the ever-expanding empire. Infamous for their shows of brute strength in combat, their oftentimes-draconian justice system, and their pleasantly thorough social services and infrastructure. Very, VERY large leaps in the progress of their conquests were made through the power of an exceptionally bloodthirsty monster of magical origin, whom the current emperor has had sealed away in an attempt to take steps towards reform. Their capital city lies in the mountains, just North of Garou Valley.)
 Emperor Ximeno Gerxel: Silver Knight class, level unknown(+20). The Emperor. An avid hunter who misses his days as a prince, when he could properly lead a battle from the front, but recognizes the importance of the head of state not ending up beheaded in some random skirmish after his elder brother, Xerxes, died in a similarly random manner when both were young men.

SUB-FACTION: COASTAL GERXEL
 (Led by Director Waldrick, this encompasses the Southern coastline of Teege, as well as the archipelago to its South. Naturally, this place is a vital hub for trade and naval-related actions among the Gerxel Empire, as well as its comparatively large amount of Berserkers
 Aligned Party Members: Rene, Veiz, Waldrick, Hera

SUB-FACTION: WOLFSKIN SOCIETY
 (A massive valley, due South of the capital of the Gerxel Empire, is known as Garou Valley due to the dominant species there, a type of wolf-shapeshifter known as a Garou. Willingly acting as enforcers of the Gerxel Empire, Wolfskin Society, as the Garou culture is called, is infamous for its systemic mistreatment of the humans equally-native to the land, the Tarvosian Nomads, though rumors about the sheer EXTENT of their abuse of humans are oft exaggerated. Regardless, there is a disturbing sub-sub-faction of unknown size among them that revels in the outright consumption of human flesh, which even the Wolfskin Director is attempting to flush out as immediately as possible.)

FACTION: HAUTECLERE'S REBELLION
 (While the Gerxel Empire isn't a complete cardboard cutout of the word "EVIL," their history of human rights violations, harsh treatment of those who fail to submit, and countless loopholes in Gerxel law that, by design, give each Regional Director the ability to basically do whatever they damn well please-and there've been some real bastards in some parts of the empire-have only created a very short list of things that have created dissent in the empire. A noblewoman of said empire, a woman by the name of Hauteclere, has thus taken to rallying and unifying these dissenters, as well as seeking outside help from the Kingdom of Noba and Ice Authority, to cut this empire down to size.)
 Hauteclere: Wyvern Monarch (Axes+Staves), level 5(+20), +Res/-Spd. A woman of noble upbringing, mother to Dyrus and Laurise, a woman with quite a lot on her plate for her early 30s. Currently the leader of a soon-to-strike rebellion, she begins the story traveling North to negotiate the aid of the Ice Authority.
 Laurise: Tactician class, level 4, +Mag/-Skl. Younger twin daughter of Lady Hauteclere, she can at times be slightly petty, but much more easily puts on a well-behaved face by distinguished guests than her brother, and is better at assessing situations from afar. Due to this, she fancies herself a tactician in the making, perhaps not unfairly, but she still has quite a ways more to go than she realizes.
 Aligned Party Members: Dyrus, Darren.

FACTION: KINGDOM OF NOBA
 (The Southwesternmost chunk of Teege was, for many years, the only place not united under any one banner. There was a large number of independent city-states, certainly, but the Gerxel had yet to envelop it. Then, one day a few years ago, a man by the name of Augustus Noba appeared seemingly out of nowhere, earning the title "the Matchmaker" for his talent in uniting these places under powerful political marriages, rapidly climbing the ranks to become an exceptionally charismatic king of the second-largest civiliazation in Teege. Still, though, he has plenty of reason to fear the Gerxel Empire's reaction to this sudden unification and expansion...)
 Augustus: Great Knight, level 1(+20), +Skl/-Res. The Matchmaker-king of modern legend, and an enigmatic figure to those outside of Teege. Unable to seize control of Holmstead the same way he did most of Southwestern Teege, it is very likely that he'll up and try to conquer the place before Gerxel can, in an attempt to secure his newfound civilization's future.
 Alfred: Myrmidon, level 10, +Spd/-Res. A nimble swordsman with a reserved and impatient demeanor, open in speaking his mind when he does speak. Notable for always carrying around a parasol and wearing a set of dark glasses due to a distaste for sunlight (between that and the platinum-blond hair, he might have a bit of albinism). Operating a small ship and commanding its crew, he prides it for being several times faster and more maneuverable than any Gerxel naval ship... Which is convenient, since he was able to successfully fulfill a Wyrmite-smuggling operation for King Augustus, directly under the nose of Coastal Director Waldrick. Abhors the idea of taking hostages, and is willing to kill his own men for failing to live up to his moral code.

STATUS UNKNOWN
 August: Probably not a child by this point. Rene's "big brother" when she was in the orphanage, of similar origins in that his parents abandoned him there as opposed to dying. He left to seek his fortune shortly after Rene's adoption, and neither she nor Cicero has heard from him since. He showed a very ambitious side a brief time before Rene left said orphanage, and teased that he would need to find a position in life that could outclass even "Director's Daughter" if he wanted to be a good big brother.
 Red and Green Cavaliers: Having been spotted in Holmstead at first, they then lent their immediate hands to Alfred once he reached the city's shores. While this would imply that their loyalties lie with the Kingdom of Noba, it's not unquestionable that they're well-meaning Holmstead citizens, agents of the anti-Gerxel resistance, or something else entirely.

DECEASED CHARACTERS
 -Dyrus, Sr. (pre-quest) Father of Dyrus and Laurise, husband to Hauteclere, son to Sir Darren. He was an internal affairs investigator for the Gerxel Empire, looking into the pretty-well-founded rumors of unidentified Wolfskin-region officials outright perpetuating the consumption of human flesh. He soon vanished, and the bones of a person of his general build and stature were anonymously dropped off at the Tarvosian Nomads' metaphorical front door. The assumed conclusion seems obvious.