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Crumbling League (Japanese: 同盟の崩壊Collapse of the alliance) is the fourth chapter of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. While traveling to Ostia, Roy's army is attacked by Laus' forces, which are lead by none other than Marquess Laus himself.
Roy's forces enter Laus, the territory of Lord Erik, on their way toward Ostia. In the meantime, Narcian confers with Erik about the latter aligning himself with Bern. He also retrieves Erik's "gift" for him - an Etrurian noblewoman, Clarine. Narcian tries to talk to Clarine, but she only laughs at him and insults him. Their interaction is interrupted by a soldier who barges in to tell the Wyvern General that Slater has been defeated by Roy at Araphen. Narcian, annoyed by the interruption, orders Erik to imprison Clarine and to block the road toward Ostia, then leaves.
The battle begins, and during it, Rutger visits Clarine in her cell. He takes her away from the cell, and Clarine initially resists him, but she soon realizes that he is leading her out of the castle. He gives her a previously prepared horse and tells her to run, claiming that his actions are motivated by his hatred of Bern.
Clarine eventually makes it to Roy and talks to him, ordering him to protect her from Laus's soldiers. Merlinus protests against her joining the army, but she declares she can help by healing wounded allies, and Roy accepts her inclusion.
In the meantime, Rutger is ordered by Erik to prepare for battle and eventually enters the battlefield. After he is deployed, Clarine can talk to him. When she does, she convinces him to join Roy's side by revealing to him that Roy is fighting Bern, a nation Rutger hates.
The battle concludes with Erik's defeat. Roy expresses his disbelief that Erik would betray Lycia and fears there is no peaceful solution to this conflict, then asks Guinivere if she intends to return to Bern. Guinivere says she wants to stay, because she disagrees with her brother's method of 'freeing the world.' She must stop him somehow, even though he believes in his cause.
• Does not attack Clarine. • The northern one moves to attack units in range. • The southern one begins moving unprovoked when he can attack a unit within two turns.
• Does not attack Clarine. • The northern one moves to attack units in range. • The southern one begins moving unprovoked when he can attack a unit within two turns.
Stats with two figures separated by a ~ are presented as a range, representing stats that vary due to random growths. The figures to the left and right of the ~ are the stat's minimum and maximum possible values respectively.[1]
This section details unofficial strategies that may help with completion of the chapter. This may not work for everybody.
This chapter presents four new classes and two recruitable characters. The new possible members are Clarine, a troubadour, and Rutger, a myrmidon. The troubadour girl will talk to Roy on her own, so the player does not have to send anyone to rescue or recruit her. In fact, Clarine can be used as a shield during this chapter, because most enemies will not attack her. The only exceptions to this are the pirates and Erik. The other new unit, Rutger, must be recruited with Clarine.
The four new classes are troubadour, myrmidon, nomad, and pirate. Troubadour is a cleric on a horse; they have great mobility, but sadly, they lack the Canto skill seen in the Jugdral and Tellius games. They must be treated carefully. Myrmidons are a somewhat frail, but very fast sword-wielding class. Once they gain some levels, their speed and skill will cover for their poor strength and defense. Nomads are quick and have a good avoid rate, but since they are locked to bows, they can be surrounded and defeated. The last class, pirate, uses axes and its main trait is being able to cross water bodies.
Now, onto the chapter at hand. This chapter's main difficulty is the high mobility of the enemies. They will reach Roy's party soon, so it is recommended to put the units with the most defense on the first line. Elen and Shanna should not be on the second line, though, as the nomads can kill them in one or two hits. It is important to cover the three bridges near the party's starting point.
Reinforcements will come from the southern forts and the castle: two pirates after turns 4, 6, and 8, while Rutger and his team leaves the castle after turn 6. However, once the first wave of enemies has been cleared, the chapter becomes easier. The pirates do not pose any threat; any unit with good avoid (for example, Chad or Lance) can defeat them.
The player can send Marcus to the southern village and Merlinus to the nearest village; the northeastern village can wait until the first wave of enemies has been defeated and Shanna is free to go and visit it.
Erik is quite easy to defeat. Recommended weapons are Roy's rapier, the poleax obtained in Chapter 3, and Lugh's magic. Once Erik has been defeated, Roy can seize the castle and the chapter will end.