Bastian

Crimea's Keystone
Bastian
Species	Beorc
Class	FE 9 Sage FE 10 Arch Sage
Affiliation	Crimea
Hair color	Blonde
Base	Crimea
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Bastian is a playable unit in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and its sequel, Radiant Dawn.

Background

Bastian was a count who served as a retainer of House Crimea. He was one of the few who knew of Princess Elincia's existence. Bastian was a talkative fellow, but he spoke in an eloquent manner like a poet reciting poetry. He often hit on Lucia, a fellow retainer of Elincia, but she rejected his advances. Bastian also sometimes argued with another retainer, Geoffrey, who was quite stressful and blunt compared to the more calm and elegant Bastian. He may have had some shadiness in his past, as he knew the assassin Volke.

In Path of Radiance, Daein invaded Crimea. Elincia went missing after Geoffrey's men were defeated in battle. Afterwards, Geoffrey and Lucia posed as merchants, while Bastian posed as a street performer, to hide from the Daein soldiers. they used the cellars of Castle Delbray as their hidden meeting place. During this time Bastian mourned his fallen country and longed for the day that Crimea was restored.

Eventually, word came that Elincia was alive and bringing a Crimean Liberation Army to liberate Crimea. Lucia and Bastian set out with a group of soldiers to investigate. They eventually found the Crimean forces in "Chapter 23: The Great Bridge". Bastian then returned to Castle Delbray to alert Geoffrey, and together they prepared a celebration of Elincia's return. However, this backfired when Daein forces began advancing on Castle Delbray in "Chapter 24: Battle Reunion". Geoffrey was left behind as a decoy, while Bastian returned to Lucia and the Crimean Liberation Army to alert them of the attack and redirect Elincia to a new hiding place.

However, Elincia disagreed with allowing one of her men to sacrifice himself. The army's leader, Ike, also agreed and lead the Crimean Liberation Army to save Geoffrey and defeat the Daein forces at Delbray. Bastian and Lucia remained behind to watch over Elincia, but they eventually saw the wisdom in Ike's words and joined in on the battle against Daein. Afterwards, they decided to follow Elincia's request and to ensure that they lived to see the new tomorrow alongside Elincia rather than offering their lives to make Elincia's lives easier. The three retainers rededicated their vows to Elincia and to restoring Crimea. After the war ended, he cheered for Crimea's victories and praised the goddess for sending Ike to save their land.

Support Conversation Summaries

Bastian is capable of having Support conversations with three other characters.

• Lucia- In the first conversation, Bastian attempts to sweet-talk Lucia into dating him, but she reminds him that she knows his tricks and advises him to give up. However, Bastian decides to redouble his efforts. In the second conversation, Lucia comes to Bastian because she had heard that a funny-looking man with a mustache had been injured. Bastian says he was not the one injured but takes this as a sign that Lucia cares about him, but Lucia had told him already how she felt, but Bastian refuses to listen to her reasoning, much to Lucia's chagrin. In the third conversation, Lucia admits to Bastian that he is not so bad and notes that his psychotic behavior appears to be just an act, at which point she decides she might consider Bastian's proposal after the war's end. Lucia then quickly excuses herself to help Elincia, at which point Bastian foresees a bumpy road ahead for them.
• Makalov- In the first conversation, Makalov meets Bastian and thinks of him as nothing more than a comedian street performer and laughs at everything he says. Afterwards, a Crimean soldier approaches Makalov and chastises him for laughing at Bastian, saying Bastian is actually a count of Crimea (possibly the only time a third character appears in a Support conversation). Makalov is intrigued by this news and decides to use his charm to get Bastian to give him money. In the second conversation, Makalov attempts to convince Bastian to join him in going to a gambling den together since they have become close friends. But Bastian says he will only watch and refuses to play games while Crimea is suffering. In the third conversation, Makalov had lost everything he had gambling to Bastian. Bastian claims he did not lie about never having been to a gambling den, but he says that he played a similar game with other nobles. Bastian had no need of the money, and against Makalov's demands he decides to contribute it to the army's funds. Makalov says Crimea doesn't need the money with someone as lucky as Bastian on their side, and Bastian promises to shower Makalov with gold if Crimea wins the war, prompting Makalov to take his fighting more seriously.
• Volke- Volke finds Bastian following him around and apparently the two knows each other and are quite familiar with each other. Bastian inquires about Volke's current job, and Volke says only that he is serving Ike and will say no more unless he is paid ten thousand gold. Bastian decides to investigate this manner himself. In the next conversation, Bastian indicates having heard some secret knowledge to Volke, but instead of appearing interested, Volke asks Bastian if, with all his sneaking around and playing the puppeteer, he ever considered a change in employer, at which point Bastian says he is happy serving Crimea's royal family. In the final conversation, Bastian asks Volke when his contract with Ike expires, claiming he wants Volke to take care of some delicate job for him. Volke says his business with Ike will end after the war, and that he will find Bastian afterwards to take up his job. Bastian warns him not to dawdle, as his job is a manner of utmost urgency.

Bastian also has inbuilt Support bonuses with Geoffrey (which increases his chances of delivering a critical hit when Geoffrey is nearby and vice-versa) and Elincia (which protects Bastian from enemy critical hits when Elincia is nearby).