This is part 2 of my series on Dragalia Lost. I covered the gameplay mechanics last time. Today I’m telling the first part of the story.
So, there’s a lot of story in Dragalia Lost. I won’t be able to cover every event, dragon story, and adventurer story here as it’d just take too much time and space… but I would like to capture the main story story (and a handful of events that are required to follow the plot.) I’m going to try to strike a balance between brevity and immersion here, so this won’t quite be a novelization of the story, but it won’t just be a bulleted list either. I haven’t really tried this before, so please leave a comment if you have thoughts on how I could improve it in the future, if I ever do something like this again!
Note, if you saw the first version of this post, that I initially included this bit with the gameplay, but as I thought about it, I realized that it really makes more sense to keep the gameplay separate, so I moved the story into this post.
Note that there’s also a fun official comic summary of the first few chapters called Notte’s Super Rad Plot Synopsis. There’s also a cute comic companion to the game called Dragalia Life. I really hope that these aren’t lost when the game shuts down.
Alright, let’s get to the story. I’m using both the game itself and the wiki to write this up. Assuming the site is still up, you can also just walk through every line of dialog in the wiki here.
Chapter 1 – The Journey Begins
Our story takes place on the continent of Grastaea and it begins in the kingdom of Alberia, ruled by King Aurelius. In this world, the forces of nature flow with the power of mana, which is comprised of five elements: light and dark oppose one another, flame opposes wind, wind opposes water, and water opposes flame. All aspects of life and nature carry mana, but none more than mighty dragons, who are the custodians of the natural world. The Six Greatwyrms protect the elements (note that there are one more than there are elements and this dragon is dead,) and above these six is the Holywyrm Elysium.
In a perfect world, humans and dragons would live in harmony. Our story begins one thousand years after the First War of Binding, a terrible conflict brought about by a highly advanced human society that sought to dominate the world via technology and magic. To bring the dragons to heel, they summoned a mighty demon – Morsayati, the Other – but this demon quickly proved beyond their ability to control, turning on both humans and dragons. The world may have ended then, consumed by demons, but for the young woman Ilia, who forged a pact with the Holywyrm. The pair successfully defeated the Other and bound him, unable to destroy him fully. Ilia’s pact with Elysium formed the foundation of a new peace with dragons. Ilia became the first Auspex of what would become the Ilian Church.
The world knew a degree of peace for 700 years. At this time, a vile society – the Dyrenell Empire – sought to unbind the Other. They would have succeeded, but like Ilia before, the hero Alberius rose to safe the world. Wielding Ilia’s pactstone as his sword, Alberius formed a pact with the Greatwyrms and rallied the people against the Dyrenell Empire. Yet, just as Ilia and Elysium could not destroy the Other utterly, Alberius could only renew the seal on him. Lacking Ilia and Elysium’s magical power, Alberius resorted to sealing the Other within his own bloodline, to be diluted over generations. Alberius broke the Other into pieces and sealed them across Grastaea, placing a shard of his sword at each location.
Ilia’s pactstone, Alberius’s sword, and the peace between humans and dragons embodied in this relic are all known as Dragalia.
But, at the point where our story begins, this is all history. The Ilian Church still stands, though it has split into the Northern and Southern denominations over a disagreement regarding Ilia’s relation to the Other. The hero Alberius went on to form a kingdom and a royal family that continues to this day. This is where our story begins, in the kingdom of Alberia, ruled by the descendants of king Alberius, who are each capable of forming pacts with dragons. Perhaps the most important duty of both the Church and the royal family is to maintain Dragalia by managing the relationship between their people and dragons. Unfortunately, as we quickly learn, things have not been going well of late: Dragalia is all but lost, and though the world doesn’t know it yet, it will soon need a new hero to rise up and restore the balance.
Enter our protagonist, Euden. Euden’s name in-game is actually whatever name you choose, but in standard JRPG form there’s a default that fans use to keep things simple. Euden is the seventh scion of the royal family of Alberia. He’s traveling with his twin sister, Zethia, who would be the eighth heir if she wasn’t the current Auspex of the Ilian Church. The twins travel alongside their good friend, Notte, who is a fairie. Fun side-note if you play Genshin Impact: Notte and Paimon are practically the same character, though Notte has more of an arc and a deeper role in they story.
The twins are traveling by the order of their father, King Aurelius. The Sacred Shard that keeps Alberia safe is fading and they must find a new one, another piece of Alberius’s sword. Only a human with a dragon pact can safely carry the shard, so Euden must form a pact with the nearby Windwyrm to retrieve the shard. Of course, Euden’s older siblings have already forged pacts, but they’re too busy to assist… or so Aurelius says. It seems more that Alberius was looking for an excuse to encourage Euden to finally form a pact of his own. See, forming a dragon pact is required to make a claim on the throne. Euden’s older siblings all formed their pacts quickly, and most of them also consolidate power in preparation for their succession. Zethia gracefully dodged her claim by becoming Auspex, but Euden has no such excuse. Aurelius clearly values his youngest son’s innocence and love of peace, but he cannot simply ignore his standing forever.
So, Euden is traveling to the Windwyrm’s domain in Mistholt. On the road, the group is suddenly attacked by a mysterious woman wearing a mask who looks a lot like Zethia. This masked person tries to stop them from forging the pact and says some kind of crazy things about making sure “this mistake does not happen again.” It’s… pretty obvious right from the start that she’s just Zethia either from the future or from a different dimension. The masked woman nearly stops the group, but Euden encounters the Windwyrm, who grants him a temporary pact to allow him the strength to fight his way deeper into his domain. The Windwyrm is careful to specify that he is only granting this power out of a concern that fiends – lesser demons – have been flooding in from the Otherworld of late, and something must be done to stop them: the dragon has no interest in merely playing along with the royal tradition of legitimizing a claim to the throne. This is just fine with Euden.
Along the way to Mistholt, our protagonists encounter Elisanne – a paladyn of the Ilian church – being attacked by an assassin. Euden and crew intervene, chasing the assassin off, and Eilsanne quickly enters their party, as protecting the Auspex naturally falls under her responsibilities.
The group quickly picks up yet another party member as they come across a mercenary named Ranzal. Ranzal initially tries to dissuade the group from continuing to Mistholt, as he thinks they look too weak, but when Euden defeats him in a sparring match, he agrees to come along and help. Side-note, this is a really common trope in stories – the hero defeating someone early on who then becomes a close ally – and I like how it was worked into Dragalia’s story with Ranzal… though this pattern does become a bit overused as the story continues.
So, the group moves on to Mistholt. Along the way, Zethia explains that the pactstones are shards of Alberius’s sword, Dragalia. Each is placed in a location where Morsayati’s power is strong, to keep him sealed. Reforging the sword would make an unstoppably powerful weapon, but keeping it separate is a better long-term solution to protect the kingdom by sealing evil away, rather than trying to destroy it all.
They arrive at Mistholt and form a pact with the Windwyrm, Midgardsormr (they really just chose this name randomly here.) Of course, he also challenges them to a battle before joining them. Midgardsormr explains that not only can Euden shapeshift, but he can also grant this ability to a companion, thus giving a reason for adventurers other than Euden to be able to shapeshift (I like that they worked this into the story, even if it’s not all that elegantly done.) Midgardsormr isn’t just any dragon, by the way, but one of the Six Greatwyrms. Not every heir has made a pact with a Greatwyrm, so this is significant.
To help them find the Sacred Shard, Midgardsormr asks Cleo, the Sylvan, to assist. Sylvans live long lives, so even though Cleo looks fairly young, she’s much older than she looks and has worked for Euden’s family before he was born. She happily joins the party as a permanent member.
As they continue on, Cleo explains that Alberius managing to bind Morsayati was an incredible feat, as the First War of Binding had both Ilia – a goddess – and Elysium, whereas Alberius was just a man. He was able to win via a ritual known as Blood Casket, in which he sealed Morsayati into his own bloodline where it could dilute over generations.
The group is finally about to get the Shard when a man who looks like Euden’s father, King Aurelius, appears to steal it from them. They fight him back but he manages to flee… with both Zethia and the Shard in hand. With the evil gone from the place, the mist of Mistholt clears, revealing the castle Halidom, where Alberius founded his kingdom. As Euden cleared it and has a claim on it, he claims it as his own. This will be his base of operations henceforth.
Chapter 2 – The Waterwyrm’s Cradle
(Don’t worry, most chapters won’t be nearly that long.)
Having taken a short rest in the Halidom, Euden’s party begins heading back to the capital. King Alberius will certainly want to learn about the imposter and he’ll likely know what to do to rescue Zethia and the Shard.
Captain of the Royal Knights, the White Sparrow, Leif find the party on the road and informs them that Alberia has fallen. The region is now under the control of the Dyrenell Empire under the same banner that flew 300 years prior in the Second War of Binding. What’s more, Leif explains that Aurelius himself is the Emperor, which is why the change happened so rapidly: though everyone powerful enough to know the king personally can plainly see that he’s not the same man, from the people’s perspective there’s been no change in leadership, just a change in banners and a change in intent as to the surrounding states.
As the party is discussing what to do, the Chief of the Capital Guard, the Black Raven, Harle appears with a group of Dyrenell soldiers in tow. He travels with the sixth heir to the throne, Emile; a jealous, spoiled, and nasty young man who is taking this moment to seize power by ignoring the obvious change in Alberius. They carry an order for Euden’s arrest: he is to be blamed for Zethia’s disappearance (nobody seems to even question how they learned of it so quickly, as this is clearly a sham) but the soldiers will obey. With no real alternative, Euden’s party flees.
Days pass as our heroes continue to flee constant attacks by soldiers and fiends alike, with no real time to form a plan beyond escaping the next attack. Fortunately for Euden, his new allies are loyal and stout. Elisanne’s knowledge of the church and military tactics helps to avoid fights and Ranzal’s comfort with living on the edge of the law keeps spirits from plummeting.
While hiding in a forest, the group is stopped by a Sylvan archer with a bow. The man is angry and in a near panic over some recent attacks. On the verge of violence, fortunately the man simply passes out from exhaustion. Cleo heals the man and he calms down enough to see that Euden’s party did not attack his village: the empire did. His name is Luca, and he was injured fighting Emile in defense of his village. Spoiled and bratty as Emile is, he does have a dragon pact, so Luca is luck to have escaped with his life. Euden quickly offers to help save Luca’s village, at which point Luca realizes that he’s talking to the traitorous seventh heir. Given his gentle treatment at Euden’s hands, he doesn’t need any convincing to see what’s going on here, and gladly accepts the help.
Along the way, Euden talks a bit about his other siblings. He doesn’t actually know them well – they hardly spent any time together – but he believes that they’re good people. Leonidas and Chelle are the first and second heirs and they each rule their own great cities. The third, Phares, is Alberia’s court alchemist. Valyx, the fourth, is a general in the royal army. Each of them has a pactbound dragon which provides their claim to the throne.
Euden’s party reaches Luca’s village to find that they’re too late, all of the people are already gone. While searching for survivors, they overhear Emile questioning a Sylvan woman. Their goal in the village is merely to lure out Euden, but they need hostages to do so. The villagers are merely hiding! The woman is Luca’s sister, Sarisse, and our heroes waste no time in rescuing her. Finding the villagers, Luca must endure a series of scoldings over risking his life. The Sylvans also note that they don’t often meet other Sylvans from outside their forest, Cleo is the first in some time. This is also when the player learns just how long Sylvan lives can be. We already knew that Cleo was old enough to be Euden’s mother, but now we know that she’s old even for a Sylvan, having lives at least a couple of centuries. She may have even been alive to see the Second War of Binding.
With the aid of the Sylvans, who are no soldiers but are still decent with bows, Euden prepares to push Emile’s forces out of the forest. Their counter-offensive is working, but Emile still has his pactbound dragon.
We learn that Emile’s dragon is one of the Six Greatwyrms: the Waterwyrm, Mercury. Mercury cautions Emile that he is risking his men’s lives to stand in the back while Euden commands a dragon: if Emile wishes to be a ruler, then he must join the battle. Emile agrees, and the dragon-on-dragon battle is imminent. Midgardsormr laments that he must fight an old friend, but this may be the inevitable consequence of dragalia – the pact between humans and dragons – being lost.
Euden wins the duel with Mercury, but Emile continues to command Mercury to fight. Notably, Euden is fighting while shapeshifted, but Emile merely commands Mercury into battle as a servant. Mercury is still willing to respect her pact until Emile, being an idiot, lets it slip that he has no intention of following through on his side of the arrangement, which would be to use his wealth and power to aid in causes that affect the oceans. With the pact broken, Mercury forms a pact with Euden. Emile and Mercury both note that the magic of a pact like this is quite powerful, so breaking and reforming it should be fatal to the dragon, yet Mercury – seeing how insincere Emile was – is willing to chance that the pact was never properly sealed in the first place.
The change works and Euden is now pactbound to two of the Six Greatwyrms! While fleeing, Harle notes that this is very unusual: no human has formed a pact with multiple dragons since Alberius the founder. Yet, it’s too late: Aurelius is already moving to slay the other Greatwyrms, starting with the Flamewyrm. Looking off in the distance, the party can see that Mount Adolla is erupting, which could indicate a battle. Emile and Harle manage to escape, but there’s no time to pursue: the Flamewyrm is in trouble and Zethia may be there too!
Chapter 3 – The Flamewyrm’s Abode
Euden and friends arrive at Mount Adolla. From the earthquakes and smoke, the battle is clearly still ongoing. The emperor himself is here to ensure that the Flamewyrm dies, and he has Zethia at his side. She still opposes him as she can, but knows that she cannot escape; yet, she still has faith that Euden will rescue her.
The emperor seems impossibly strong, fighting the Flamewyrm directly without shapeshifting. Zethia ominously wonders whether it’s “time to fulfill my calling.” Euden and his friends are getting close, but they need to fight through many scattered groups of soldiers and fiends, all amidst the chaos of geothermal upheaval and the sounds of the wounded Greatwyrm.
Euden and his friends arrive to confront the emperor. The Flamewyrm is half-mad from pain, beyond words, but still lashes out at the emperor to give Euden a chance. Zethia can see that Euden is no match for the emperor, so she does what she can to save him: she tells the emperor that she will cooperate with his plans and, given that the dragon is already mortally wounded, there’s nothing to be gained by staying. She begs Euden to continue forging pacts to build up the strength to win, but to escape with his life for now. Whether in a show of overconfidence or as part of a deeper scheme, the Emperor agrees.
The Flamewyrm, wounded, retreats further within the volcano as our heroes give chase, hoping to heal her and prevent both her death and the catastrophic imbalance to the region’s mana that would ensue if such a powerful dragon were to die. Euden catches up to the Flamewyrm and protect her from some fiends. Seeing their determination, the Flamewyrm condescendingly agrees to stop the eruption, but will take no aid from mortals. She flies off again, this time to see to the volcano, telling Euden and his friends to flee while they can. Of course, Euden’s response is to literally say “No man or dragon left behind!” so our heroes continue even deeper into the volcano.
Coming across the Flamewyrm, we see that she sounded a bit more confident than she actually is: she cannot stop the eruption, and is merely trying to buy the humans time to flee. Seeing them with her, she’s furious that they’ve wasted their chance to escape and continue to presume that they can be of help to a Greatwyrm. Euden offers to shapeshift and add the mana of a second dragon into her attempt to soothe the volcano… but allowing another dragon to help is an even greater offense. The Flamewyrm agrees to a new pact (after a trial fight, of course.) In the end, Euden’s sincerity wins over the Flamewyrm, they forge a pact, and they stop the volcano from erupting.
Properly impressed by Euden’s character, the Flamewyrm notes that the last man she was willing to follow was Alberius, and she believes that Euden has it in him to be a king just as great. With the pact sealed in a new pactstone, she provides her name: Brunhilda. She then… goes a bit further, shapeshifting into a human form – based on a long-dead adventurer that she once knew – and professes her love for Euden as a man worth her heart. In this form, she takes the name Mym.
Chapter 4 – The Lightwyrm’s Roost
Euden’s party make their way back to the Halidom to rest and consider their next move. With the power of three Greatwyrms, Mym’s advice is to seek out the rest. With that in mind, Euden seeks out the Lightwyrm, Jupiter, in the Dornith Mountains, past the city of Kleifheim.
Along the way, they start encountering imperial soldiers traveling with Emile, who plans to capture Jupiter and force him into a pact now that he no longer has Mercury. This seems like a pretty terrible plan, and Euden – with his three Greatwyrms – could likely just kill them all, but he wants to attempt this without unnecessary bloodshed.
In a side conversation, we also learn that fairies are kin to dragons, though with far less mana. Notte also tells some of the story of how she wound up traveling with Euden and Zethia: she was kicked out, told that she was no kin to dragons and that she should leave. Zethia came across her crying and told her that she is a dragon and that fairies are a treasure to the world. There are more fairies in the world, but Notte hasn’t lived among them in some time.
The group continues to make their way towards where they hope Jupiter is. Mym explains that, as a fire dragon, she could not survive the cold in her dragon form for long enough to simply fly them there (leaving me to wonder why they couldn’t ask Midgardsormr…) They come across Emile yet again, this time at the mercy of some fiends.
Of course, Emile shows no gratitude for being rescued, but Euden’s party continues on. Emile continues to follow behind, clearly still hoping to somehow forge a pact with Jupiter.
Jupiter descends, entertained by the commotion and happy to put both princes to the test for his pact. Euden manages to fight and Emile manages to… take credit for winning without fighting via manipulation, which Jupiter considers a valid strategy. To choose between them, Jupiter demands a duel to the death. Euden wins, of course, but then chooses not to kill his brother. Surprising no one, Jupiter reveals that this was a second test and that Euden passed… but only after letting Euden assert that, if Jupiter is the sort of dragon to demand a human’s death for nothing, then its his duty to bring this wayward dragon back into line. Jupiter is impressed by the audacity and integrity, and happily forms a pact. We also learn in this scene that, among the Greatwyrms, Jupiter is considered a bit eccentric and youthful.
With the pact sealed, Euden prepares to find the last living Greatwyrm, the Shadowwyrm Zodiark. (The sixth Greatwyrm, Chthonius, dies some time ago.) As they prepare to go, the mysterious girl who looks like Zethia appears again, stating that she had hoped to prevent “this,” but with four pacts it must already be too late. Unable to stop Euden, she directs him to the Binding Ruins, where the emperor and Zethia will be. Conveniently, the binding ruins are also where Zodiark resides.
Chapter 5 – Bound
Along the way to the Binding Ruins, our heroes encounter refugees from the Dyrenell empire. Euden offers to shelter them at the Halidom in Mistholt. Euden doesn’t stop to consider that he’s forming his own kingdom, he’s merely trying to help those in need.
The Zethia lookalike continues to lead them, but eventually complains that her mana is nearing its limit, before suddenly winking out of existence. Euden is too focused on saving Zethia to waste time trying to figure this other mystery out.
As they work their way into the ruins, they find that there’s a miasma in the air and a general sense of dread. The Binding Ruins are one of many places that seal away evil with the power of a Sacred Shard, and the Shard here seems to be failing. Though the going is rough, they overhear imperial soldiers discussing how strange it is for the emperor and Zethia to be alone in the bottom of the ruins: Euden’s on the right track!
They face more and more fiends as they head deeper into the ruins. Mym notes that their particular foul mana is familiar to her: this is the power of the Other, the being sealed away in the two Wars of Binding. It seems that the Other has possessed Aurelius.
As Euden gets close to the Other and Zethia, the Zethia lookalike calls out to Zethia, stating that she knows that her plan is to wait for a chance to fully purify the Other with her powers as the Auxpex, but that this will not work. However, with two copies of Zethia present, working together, they may have the strength to do it.
The Other is weakening under the two Zethia’s attack… so this is about the right time for Zodiark to appear. Zodiark, who has a pact with Aurelius; a pact that apparently still holds even while Aurelius is possessed. Zodiark, far more powerful than the other dragons we’ve seen thus far, easily fights off the two Zethias. The “real” one is knocked unconscious and the stranger fades from existence again.
The Other moves deeper into the ruins, making for the Channeling Chamber. Euden follows. We see from Zethia’s perspective that the Other claims that he will shortly free her father from his possession. Given Zethia’s immense magical power, it’s not hard to guess what’s coming…
The Other has possessed Zethia and Aurelius is free… for a few moments, before being fatally wounded defending his son. As Aurelius dies, he tells Zodiark that their pact is ended and the dragon is free to act with his own judgement. Without hesitation, Zodiark explains that they were not merely pactbound but friends, and he will see his friend avenged “not as a vassal’s duty, but as a friend’s mourning.” Aurelius grants the last of his life’s mana to Zodiark. Speaking with his father’s voice, Zodiark warns off Euden from following Zethia now, and gives chase alone.
Before long, our heroes come across Zodiark, broken by the Other and dying. In desperation, Zodiark grants Euden a pact so that – together – they can have the power to avenge Aurelius and stop the Other.
Yet, even with this power, they cannot stop the Other, who was not merely here to possess Zethia, but to let loose the “Flow Eternal,” a twisted flood of fiends that will wash over the world, allowing the Other to remake the world as “it was meant to be.”
The other Zethia appears and uses the last of her power to teleport Euden and his friends to safely. Unperturbed, the Other turns to Harle and commands him to begin proclaiming the ascension of Empress Zethia, Auspex of the Nether.
Interlude
The first five chapters from last time serve as essentially the full introduction to the world of Dragalia Lost. By this point, Euden has taken the Halidom castle in Mistlholt as his own and he now has both allies and refugees living there. He doesn’t fully realize it yet, but this is clearly the start of a new rebel kingdom within the presumed borders of the newly formed Dyrenell Empire. What’s more, Euden has formed pacts with all five of the living Greatwyrms, a feat not seen since King Alberius won the Second War of Binding and formed the Kingdom of Alberia 300 years in the past. King Aurelius is dead and Zethia – possessed by Morsayati the Other – is Empress. We don’t yet know what Euden’s siblings (other than Emile) are doing, but we can assume that they’re not happy with the one sibling they didn’t see as competition for the throne currently holding it. Worse, she’s still the Auspex of the Ilian Church, giving her an unparalleled degree of political power over not only Alberia but all lands south of the rival North Ilian Church.
For players who started the game at launch, like myself, this is also around the time when the first events started and we had grown powerful enough to participate. Although a few of the events actually are directly relevant to the main story, most of them are not, and their timing is somewhat ambiguous. I actually found most of the events to be very charming, and they introduce some really interesting characters… but there are a lot of them, and they’re generally not required to follow the main plot, so I’m not going to cover them here.
It is too bad I don’t have unlimited time to cover them though, as I really did like some of the stories and characters. The first event, for example, was Loyalty’s Requiem, where we meet Celliera, an over-the-top instructor who terrifies her students with her extreme methods.
But, we should really get back to the main story.
Chapter 6 – The Halidom’s Crisis
It took only a few months for Zethia’s ascension and the Kingdom of Alberia’s conversion into the Dyrenell Empire to take hold. Meanwhile, Euden and his companions were left with no option other than to return to the Halidom in defeat. Yet, Euden has not given up, and he now seeks the other Zethia as his only clue as to what to do next.
Midgardsormr has been protecting the Halidom from fiends and Dyrenell scouts with a wall of gales, yet Euden’s planning is interrupted by the notice that a large force of Dyrenell soldiers bearing the crest of the greatbear have pushed past the gales and are nearing the main entrance. Valyx, the fourth heir, has come.
Euden’s forces fight to push back the Dyrenell soldiers. Before the battle can become too bloody, Valyx approaches Euden, demanding to know his purpose here. Euden is shocked to find Valyx siding with the empire, as he has always been a strong and just man who would never tolerate evil. Valyx, however, sees Euden as a threat to the realm’s stability, and suspects Euden of plotting to take advantage of the situation for his own ambition. Moreover, even if Euden is not currently plotting anything, the fact remains that he’s amassing power in a rival kingdom with no clear reason why.
“A shelter for the weak and broken? Perhaps today, but what of the morrow? What do you intend this gathering of yours to become in the end? A charity to shelter the wounded? A collection of mean bandits? This collusion may be aimless now, true, but in time it will find form as a movement in earnest. The Empire will not suffer a potential threat—not even one ignorant of itself.”
Fortunately for all involved, Valyx chooses to withdraw, yet his words force Euden to confront that he really has no purpose. Yet, before he has time to consider his intentions, news of fiend attacks on the surrounding region arrives. If nothing else, Euden’s forces are useful for defending the common people from threats that the Empire ignores.
With the fiends defeated, Euden is celebrated as “Our savior! Our rightful king!” With this, Euden realizes that there is a purpose for him here beyond merely saving his sister: the people need a safe home and someone to build and protect it. The Halidom is currently just a collection of refugees and warriors camping in an old castle, but with some new houses, churches, and fields, it could become a peaceful home for anyone who wishes to live there.
It’s really Valyx who inspired this idea for Euden, as among all of his siblings, Euden learned the most about what it means to be royalty by watching him. He recalls that Valyx saw legitimate royalty as requiring three essential traits, but he never told him what these are. To prove his intentions and start his new kingdom, Euden feels that he must gain his brother’s approval first.
Euden meets with Valyx to explain his purpose, but is met with the declaration that Euden’s “homeland of peace” will be “born into the fires of war.” Valyx demands to know whether Euden is prepared for war. Young and innocent as Euden seems, he doesn’t hesitate to assert that he is ready and willing for war, as Dyrenell’s chaos must be met eventually, and he is willing to be the first to do it.
Valyx agrees to test Euden to determine whether he has the essential three qualities of royalty, but warns that he will not be merciful if Euden fails. The first trait is simple: “a king must be born of the true and rightful bloodline.” Euden is able to demonstrate this quality by shapeshifting into a dragon. The second trait is that royalty must be “strong in both body and spirit.” For this, Valyx invites Euden to chase him into the woods to test him in combat.
As Euden and Valyx fight, Elisanne pauses to consider her own purpose. Euden fight to protect the people while Valyx fights to keep them united. As a Paladyn, Elisanne should be defending the Auspex and clergy of the church. She can tell herself that she’s continuing to fight for Euden with the eventual goal of saving Zethia, the Auspex, but… even before meeting up with the twins, she was lost, having abandoned the church. Elisanne learned of the Scrolls of Perdition, documents accepted by the church as canon stating that the Other is Ilia’s child. Elisanne simply cannot accept this as the truth: her all-merciful goddess simply could not have given birth to such evil. Adding to her confusion, Elisanne thinks back to her friend, Alex, a girl she once saved. When Elisanne left the church, she also abandoned Alex, and the two have not reconciled since.
Back to the trials, Euden proves his determination and strength, so Valyx invites him into the heart of the woods for the final trial. There, Valyx shapeshifts into his pactbound dragon, Thor.
In the face of this danger, Euden sees his inevitable defeat. He thinks back on his friends, glad that he left Notte with the castle so she could organize an escape for the people staying in the Halidom of things went poorly. Yet, as Valyx and the Dyrenell soldiers advance, Euden is surprised to see that Notte’s evacuation is, apparently, leading the people right to the fight.
Upon hearing that Euden wanted them to flee if the fighting went poorly, the people instead took up whatever weapons they could find to defend their savior. Euden quickly organizes his forces to prepare to meet Valyx’s advance.
At this, Valyx reveals the final trait of royalty: “the faith of the people.” Granting victory to Euden, he warns that they will cross blades again in the future, yet he awaits the chance to see what Euden is capable of.
As if to announce the new king, the elemental forces of wind return to the forests surrounding Mistholm, and Midgardsormr explains that they can erect a dracolith to harness these powers for the use of the new kingdom.
Hear me, my fellow countrymen! Our land is small—a narrow thread of light born into a heavy darkness. Even so, this light will not be extinguished. Not as long as the fire of hope burns within us! Alberius the Founder left us these wise words: “A kingdom does not make a people. A people make a kingdom.”
Euden proclaims the kingdom of New Alberia
We stand here today a people united! And so, I now claim this as the first day in the history of New Alberia!
Chapter 7 – Trek to the Aquapolis
News that the kingdom of New Alberia has formed deep in the heart of the Dyrenell Empire spreads throughout South Grastaea. Leonidas and Chelle, the first and second heirs, are particularly curious as to what their youngest brother plans. Yet, each is confident that their demesne can withstand any potential threat. In Dyrenell’s capital, Empress Zethia is amused by Euden’s gall in raising a kingdom well within the borders of her empire, yet Valyx warns that Euden may be more capable than any of them realized.
More than simply amused, Zethia is hesitant to crush Euden altogether, as his abilities and rapport with dragons seem to dwarf that of his siblings. Unwilling to defer to her overcautious advisors, Zethia turns her attention to other matters, though never taking her eyes entirely off of Euden.
Meanwhile, Euden and his friends – now advisors to the king of New Alberia – ponder their next move. Surrounded by the empire on most sides, they are in sore need of allies. Fortunately, the port city of Saint Lotier isn’t too far away, and it seems unlikely that such a prosperous merchant city would welcome the regime of an aggressive empire. Moreover, building ties with a city on the sea would allow Euden to construct a water dracolith to coax the sea’s mana back to the Halidom, empowering Mercury.
On the journey to Saint Lotier, Ranzal seems anxious. Anxious that they’re leaving the Halidom without sufficient defense… anxious that the road to Saint Lotier is too dangerous. The party continues on until guards at the city’s gate make the true source of Ranzal’s anxiety clear: when Ranzal was last here, he went on a “little rampage,” and is no longer welcome. Fortunately, Ranzal also knows a path through a swamp into the city.
Upon reaching the city and finding audience with Zacharias, its ruler, our party learns that there’s still just a bit more of Ranzal’s past to uncover here. Zacharias is, as expected, not a willing ally of Dyrenell, but he’s not willing to form an alliance with a man foolish enough to have a close relationship with his wayward son, who would rather play at being a mercenary than accept his role as heir to Saint Lotier.
Still, unwilling to pass up a potentially beneficial arrangement, Zacharias offers to send a lieutenant to New Alberia to reshape it into a vassal of Saint Lotier. Finding this relationship obviously unreasonable, Euden proposes an alternative: if Zacharias is merely worried that New Alberia lacks the strength and conviction to stand as an ally, then Euden will take on a task to both prove their strength and provide service to make the arrangement profitable. Agreeing – perhaps a bit too quickly – Zacharias tasks Euden’s party with eliminating a particularly dangerous nest of fiends in the swamplands near the city.
Euden’s party makes quick work of the fiends in the swamp, clearing up all threats between Saint Lotier and the Davian Wetlands, an old battlefield devoid of any life. Upon their return, Zacharias complains that there are still fiends coming from the swamp: Euden must travel back out and check the Davian Wetlands for the source.
Pulling Ranzal aside, Zacharias admits that he has no intention of ever ending the list of errands for Euden to waste his time on. Yet, he could be persuaded to cut the charade short and even form an alliance in truth if Ranzal would only return home.
Unsure of what to do, Ranzal reports the new development to the group. Regardless of his choice, Ranzal doesn’t want to let Euden waste any more of his time running meaningless errands. Yet, Euden is determined: regardless of Zacharias’s intentions, there is a threat to the innocent people of Saint Lotier and Euden has the means to help.
Searching the Davian Wetlands for the source of the fiends, Euden’s party finds the wreckage of a truly massive battle. As they examine the damage, Mym points to the clawmarks, explaining that this must have been the work of a great number of dragons brought to a fury. Mym isn’t old enough to remember this particular conflict, but based on the mechanical wreckage and signs of technology in the ruins, she speculates that the humans here were likely disrupting the flow of mana. Back before the peace between dragons and humans brought about by Ilia and Elysium, such a violent response to humanity mistreating nature would not have been unusual… and if humanity ever attains such mastery over nature again, the current peace would likely not hold.
As they fight their way through the fiends, our party is shocked to find Emile waiting to ambush them. Dealing with the attack, Emile boasts that Euden’s soft heart would prevent him from actually killing him, and thus Emile will win eventually. Ranzal, however, offers to kill Emile as a parting gift to Euden. Ranzal will return to Saint Lotier, winning Euden his alliance, and he’ll take care of Emile along the way.
Yet, when the moment comes, Ranzal finds that Euden has already rubbed off on him too much: he cannot kill such a pathetic man in cold blood. Yet, foolish Emile apparently didn’t consider that Euden’s good nature wouldn’t prevent him from simply turning Emile in to Saint Lotier for the crime of bringing hostile forces into the region and stirring up fiends. As Ranzal moves to arrest Emile, another unexpected figure emerges.
Euden knows Phares as a gentle and bookish man, but is surprised to learn that Phares is a general of Dyrenell. Moreover, he is the cause of the fiends in this region: the result of an experiment to observe the machinery in the ruins. Enraged at Phares’ callousness towards the people of Saint Lotier, Ranzal attacks… yet his axe simply bounces off. Full of surprises, Phares reveals that he’s afflicted with wyrmscale: a deadly ailment that nonetheless offers spectacular protection until it reaches too far. The reunion is cut short when a great mechanical weapon, awakened by Phares’ experiment, emerges from the ruins and Phares retreats to simply observe how it fares against his younger brother.
Of course, Euden and friends manage to defeat the ancient weapon. Phares claims to be neutral between Zethia and Euden, merely taking advantage of Dyrenell’s resources for scholarly pursuits. Unsure, but unwilling to kill, Euden allows Phares and Emile to leave unharmed.
Back in Saint Lotier, Zacharias prepares to send Euden on another errand, but Ranzal stops him, openly stating that they all know what’s going on. In response, Zacharias repeats his offer to take back Ranzal in exchange for an alliance.
Yet Euden refuses.
Your son is an irreplaceable part of our kingdom, Zacharias. I know he may have been…impulsive when he was younger, but those days are gone. He is brave and wise in equal measure, and willing to dirty his hands in order to protect others. A New Alberia without Ranzal would be an unfitting alliance partner with a city as great as Saint Lotier. I simply can’t afford to lose him. He is an integral asset of New Alberia. We are a kingdom made by our people.
Zacharias initially responds with a threat to take New Alberia by force… before admitting that he’s simply too stunned to come up with a decent response. He laughs to himself, his demeanor entirely changed, before agreeing to all of Euden’s terms. In exchange for turning his son into a good and decent man, Ranzal can follow his heart and Euden can have his alliance. Further, Euden’s behavior has demonstrated that he is a true hero and Grastaea surely needs that right now. With Saint Lotier’s help, perhaps Euden truly can push back the evil Dyrenell Empire.
Chapter 8 – Entwining Flames
With the support of Saint Lotier, Euden’s allies encourage him to push south and launch an assault directly on Sol Alberia, heart of the Dyrenell Empire and location of Zethia. Though Euden wishes to save his sister as quickly as possible… he fears that, though a quick attack may save her, such a premature assault would likely leave the rest of the people – his people – at the mercy of the Empire. Instead, Euden proposes traveling north, to the City of Flame, Valkaheim, and the Radiant City, Chanzelia, ruled by Crown Prince Leonidas and Euden’s sister Chelle, respectively. Neither of these siblings has taken a stance either for or against the Empire as of yet, and they would make powerful allies.
Valkaheim’s army, in particular, is the largest on the continent, so reaching out to Leonidas first seems the best available option: with Leonidas’s support, Euden’s cause would have far more legitimacy.
Hearing this proposal, Elisanne steps forward with recent news that she hadn’t yet found time to relay: there’s been an attack on the Ilia catehdral in Valkaheim and many people have been driven from the city, into a region called the Forsaken Way. With both a strategic goal and a moral duty to respond to a call for aid, Euden and his guard move out.
Upon finding the refugees, Elisanne quickly steps forward to defend them as a Paladyn. Yet, at this moment, the shadowy assassin who was chasing Elisanne way back when Euden first found her steps forward.
Alex accuses both the refugees and Elisanne of apostasy, claiming that the people of Valkaheim trampled on the goddess’s teaching and Elisanne abandoned her duties as a Paladyn. Outnumbered, Alex flees into the tunnels, vowing to pick the group off from the shadows.
Throughout this confrontation, Elisanne has been troubled. She explains that the schism in the church due to the Scrolls of Perdition, the documents claiming that the evil god Morsayati is Ilia’s child. Elisanne does not believe the documents… but she finds it difficult to ignore that they were sealed by the archbishop from that time. Though not spoken out loud, it’s clear that Elisanne’s support of Euden has served as a rationalization to stall making a hard decision, yet Elisanne remains conflicted. However much Elisanne is personally conflicted, Alex’s attack on Valkaheim’s church makes no sense to her: what has changed recently?
Turning back to the refugees, a woman explains that many of the people have been bewitched by some spell and led into the tunnels. The same magma-filled tunnels that Alex fled to. With so many dangers, Euden’s party charges into the tunnels to safe the refugees.
Along the way through the tunnels, Ranzal recounts what he knows of Valkaheim – and its people – from a time when he stayed in the city. Leonidas, and thus Valkaheim itself, is fervently meritocratic, offering possibilities usually restricted to nobility to anyone who earns them, but death and ignominy to those who fail. A man, and a city, of endless ambition… and little mercy.
Euden’s group finds the refugees barely in time to stop Alex’s attack. Ready to recklessly throw herself at Euden, Alex is stopped by the command of Leonidas… and his guard of Dyrenell soldiers.
Leonidas claims not to know Euden as a brother, as any sibling not in competition for the throne isn’t worth concern, yet he has heard passing mention of a young man who set out to forge a kingdom with the assistance of multiple pactbound dragons, much like the Founder King.
Euden offers to help with the refugees, only to learn that the troubles in Valkaheim were by Leonidas’s design. He’s come not to help or hurt the refugees, but to find a piece of Morsayati: this is another Binding Ruin. Leonidas sees Morsayati as a path to Ilia’s power and the Dyrenell Empire as the first step towards a new era that surpasses dragon worship.
Leonidas threatens to unleash his pactbound dragon – Mars, the Blazewyrm, who is said to be Mym’s equal in power – and Alex states her intent to protect Leonidas on his mission to restore the church to its former glory (though this hardly seems his goal.) Leonidas begins to move deeper into the tunnels, but Euden’s party pursues.
Leonidas calls forth Mars. Mym is initially confident that she can stop him, until he fully manifests. The Blazewyrm has been warped by alchemical devices. His initial attack devastates friend and foe alike. Mym was only able to reduce the flames enough to barely save Euden and his friends. Leonidas leaves Alex for dead, but Euden saves her.
Confused, but grateful, Alex explains her zealous wish to restore the church. Orphaned as a child, Alex was brought to the church by Elisanne and loves it deeply. When the bishop decreed that Morsayati must be loved as Ilia’s child, Alex faithfully complied. She cannot accept that anyone would want to sunder the church by breaking with the bishop’s command. So, she aims to punish the apostates and welcome back any who admit their mistakes, restoring the church… and bringing Elisanne back.
The group pushes deeper, after Leonidas, and finds that he’s already begun the ritual to free the fraction of Morsayati.
Alex moves, again, to protect Leonidas, and Elisanne confronts her. Elisanne reminds Alex of the time they spent together after Elisanne saved her from the streets. Conflicted, but unmoved, Alex reiterates her wish to see the church and the children of the world protected, even if this means freeing the Other. At this, Euden empathizes with her desire to restore something precious… but explains that fixating on the past will prevent her from building something new, and that restoring a tarnished version of paradise accomplishes nothing.
Alex is finally moved by Euden and Elisanne, but it’s too late. Leonidas released the fraction of the Other and has absorbed the excess mana. The explosion of mana and darkness also created a manticore and damaged the Flow Eternal. Leonidas opens a rift, traveling outside and leaving the rest to die at the manticore’s claws.
Of course, Euden and friends make short work of the manticore and pursue Leonidas. Encountering him at the exit of the tunnels, he moves to bring forth Mars again. Elisanne and Alex argue over the right to sacrifice themselves to allow the group to escape, but Mym cuts them short, chastising the humans for always jumping directly to self-sacrifice and drama. Pitying what’s become of Mars, she asserts that the alchemical power coursing through him adds nothing so long as his spirit is broken in servitude. Bolstered by her love, Mym absorbs the Blazewrym’s attack and counters, defeating him. Leonidas is forced to flee.
Though Leonidas escaped and the fraction of Morsayati was freed, the group survived and protected the refugees. Moreover, the mana Mym absorbed will allow her to construct a flame dracolith, further empowering Euden’s forces.
As should be expected by this point, Euden convinced Alex to join him and redirect her power to helping people.
Back in the Dyrenell Empire, Leonidas reports to Empress Zethia, already enjoying the greater power she’s received.
Chapter 9 -The Princess’s Party
Not long after recovering from the trip to Valkaheim, Euden receives a letter from his sister Chelle. She has invited him to a gala hosted by her on the northernmost tip of Alberia. She promises food, drink, and dancing – a chance to relax, not unlike when the two would play when they were children – but she also hints at a surprise guest. Hoping to speak with Chelle about the Dyrenell Empire and form an alliance with Chanzelia, Euden accepts, quickly heading for the gala’s location with his usual retinue, plus Jupiter, who is feeling cooped up.
The group is hesitantly optimistic, but notes that the remote location would be a great place for a trap.
For a moment, this fear appears to be realized as an enormous boat approaches from the desert.
Chelle emerges to welcome Euden and his friends to the Gran Fiore, pride of the Radiant City and host to the gala. Chelle is a far more welcoming sibling than Leonidas, though she does manage to quickly embarrass Euden by reminiscing over the games they played as children, in which Euden serves as her faithful horse.
As promised, Chelle provides entertainment and fun, even coaxing Cleo into a stunning dress and convincing her to dance with Euden. Yet, the mood quickly changes when Elisanne notices the other entertainment for the day: Chelle has two soldiers fighting fiends outside the ship for her amusement. What’s more, Euden recognizes them. Leif is the captain of Alberia’s royal guard, the White Sparrow, and the man who taught Euden the sword. At his side is his vice captain, Patia. Without hesitation, Euden and his friends move to assist.
With Leif and Patia safe, the group returns to the Gran Fiore, furious with Chelle, who reacts coyly, as though this were perfectly usual. She also lets it split that she heard through one of her “curious little cats” that Patia has been discussing striking at Zethia and the Dyrenell Empire. Despite Chelle’s frustrating behavior, Leif is ready to get down to the business of discussing the Dyrenell Empire.
Leif knows that Zethia is possessed, but doesn’t fully understand the power that’s doing so. He has, however, learned that there may be a clue in Clave Loy’elune. Leif argues that the scions of Alberia should through their support behind Euden as the only organized enemy of the Dyrenell Empire.
Chelle, however, is still aloof, and refuses to show any overt support for an enemy of the Empire. At least, not without some potential gain for herself. She has the resources to fund an army, as Chanzelia is quite wealthy from materium mines, but making an enemy of the Empire would interfere with her galas and the people would only be disheartened at seeing those of noble birth brought low. Everyone is already disgusted with Chelle when news arrives that there are fiends in the region. They aren’t powerful enough to threaten the Gran Fiore or Chanzelia, but they could cause massive casualties in the relatively unprotected villages. Furthering everyone’s disgust, Chelle proposes that Euden’s group takes care of the fiends, as this “might” sway her.
Of course, no one is willing to let the villagers die simply to spite Chelle. They make short work of the fiends.
Upon their return, Chelle brings Euden forth for a speech.
Though everyone is still a bit disgusted by Chelle, they must begrudgingly admit that her statecraft was an effective way to spread the message that Euden is a protector and a heroic member of the royal family, despite what the Dyrenell Empire claims. Moreover, Chelle agrees to support New Alberia. Her support will be secret, but her resources and intelligence network are vast, and she asks nothing in return. With the business out of the way, the gala resumes, with Euden’s party open to celebration.
Throughout the festivities, both Leif and Jupiter note that Chelle is overly guarded of her true intentions. In particular, Jupiter feels that Chelle and he are quite alike, and although he rather likes her, she’s clearly hiding something. Moreover, he senses a strange mana coming from the direction of Chanzelia’s materium mine.
Heading to the mine, Euden’s party quickly finds that it’s infested with fiends without any workers in sight. Worse, a strange and ancient weapon awakens at their approach. Leif and Cleo determine that the ruins must yield materium specifically because they are, in fact, ancient ruins from a more advanced age. Worrying that the weapon may be too powerful to stop, the group is surprised when Chelle appears, explaining that she has named this weapon the Gran Criminale, and will use it to conquer the continent and squash the Dyrenell Empire, slaughtering its people. Cleo’s horror that Chelle’s disdain for the lives of commoners is met with a statement of abject cruelty: “Those of low birth should think only of devoting themselves to MY just rule. The continued existence of any who refuse to bend the knee holds no value..”
Having seen the weapon and learned her secret, Chelle offers to allow Euden and his friends to leave only if they agree to fight the Empire on her terms. Having seen how evil those terms would be, Euden declines, and our heroes battle the ancient weapon.
As usual, the weapon proves no match for Euden’s party.
With it defeated, Euden turns on Chelle, who throws an uncharacteristic fit in frustration. Having seen through her ruse, Leif demands that Chelle drop the act and explain herself.
Giddy with having successfully manipulated Euden, Chelle explains that the weapon was actually sent by the Dyrenell Empire to disrupt her mining, and she simply wanted it taken care of without putting herself into Euden’s debt. Not wanting to anger the greatwyrms, Chelle offers Jupiter the necessary mana to construct a light dracolith, and Mym… her official recognition of the relationship between Euden and Mym.
Frustrated with Chelle’s games but ultimately happy with the arrangement, Euden and his friends return to Chelle’s gala. There, Chelle dances with her brother and cautions him that he will need a determined resolve in the war to come.
Chapter 10 – Resurgent Despair
In the throne room of the Dyrenell Empire, Empress Zethia announces to Harle that the Auspex has finally reached the limit of her resistance, allowing the Other to begin bringing their true body forth, “undulating and squirming furiously from the gate.” Without delay, Morsayati departs for the greatest binding ruin – “resting spot of the fallen king’s fleeting dream” – to complete their reemergence into the world.
Having been warned by Leif of Empress Zethia’s departure for the greatest binding ruin, Clave Loy’elune, Euden gathers his friends and hurries to intercept. Zodiark, who rarely emerges from the Halidom, joins the group, explaining that Clave Loy’elune is a place of nostalgia and remorse – of determination and despair.
Fighting through the miasma, Euden’s party eventually comes across a monument to Alberius and the War of Binding. As Euden touches the monument, his dragonblood grants all present a brief vision of the past, of the moment when Alberius and the Greatwyrms moved to seal Morsayati.
As the group attempts to piece together the vision they saw, Empress Zethia and Harle approach, briefly taunt Euden, then hurry deeper into the ruin. Only Zodiark’s resistance to the miasma allows Euden’s party to pursue.
Deeper in the ruins, Euden is surprised to encounter his siblings, Emile and Phares, who are responding to an invitation from Empress Zethia. Emile, as usual, doesn’t really understand what’s happening, but Phares seems to know far more than even Cleo, who – despite being a companion of Alberius – was kept away from the worst of the fighting. His research has caused him to doubt the official story as to how Alberius sealed Morsayati away three hundred years past.
Awakening his dragon blood, Phares digs deeper into the vision, past the moment when Alberius struck at Morsayati. Though Alberius had the strength of the Greatwyrms and a holy blade granted by Ilia, his defeat of Morsayati merely breaks the vessel the Other had been using, revealing its true form – a form utterly alien to the world and beyond the touch of mortal strength.
Having seen that Morsayati proved beyond Alberius’s strength, all present wonder how the War of Binding truly ended. Through this discussion, Euden beseeches Phares to aid in finding a way to truly defeat Morsayati, saving the world from the chaos and suffering that the Other would bring. Phares, however, questions whether a world ruled by Morsayati would truly be a wicked one.
As they continue towards Zethia, Zodiark explains that Clave Loy’elune was once the capital of the Dyrenell Empire. More significantly, the Dyrenell Empire was founded by a group of devout followers of Ilia who started a new kingdom out of a desire to practice their faith. Zodiark doesn’t know when or why they turned their backs on the teaching of Ilia, but he does know that even before this turn, their goal was ever to “reform this warped world.” Euden realizes that his view of the world has been childish: no matter how evil the Dyrenell Empire was, the people who lived there had faith, family, and lives. Regardless of the outcome, they must have believed in the truth of their convictions.
Deeper still, the group encounters Chelle and Valyx as well. With more of the royal family – and their dragonblood – gathered in one place, yet more of the vision is revealed.
Having survived Alberius’s attack, Morsayati claims that Alberius’s sacred sword is “naught but a symbol of slavery!” “To treat that as a ‘gift’ from the goddess… You are a fool too stupid even to feel shame at his own ignorance.”
Out of options, Alberius resorts to a secret art he had learned for this very contingency: Blood Casket. Impaling himself on his sword, he binds Morsayati into his own bloodline. For a normal person, this would merely gift new vessels for the Other, but through the power of dragonblood and the blessings of the Greatwyrms, Morsayati’s will is sealed within the blood of Alberius and his descendants. Over generations, Morsayati will gradually blend into Alberius’s blood and fade to nothing.
Back in the present, everyone argues over the vision’s meaning for them. Chelle cares only that her father lost his battle to the Other. Valyx cares only that the kingdom remain intact, under a single power, even if that power is the Other – though he gives the choice of what to do about Zethia to Euden.
Zodiark recalls that the sacred shards used to protect the kingdom are formed of the shards of Alberius’s sword, which he shattered after defeating the Other. Given that these shards are also located at binding ruins, Zodiark theorizes that even Morsayati’s body wasn’t fully destroyed, but was shattered by its defeat and spread throughout the kingdom. After the battle, Alberius must have traveled to each location housing a part of the Other and placed a sacred shard there. In this way, Morsayati’s body was bound by the sword to the land and its will or spirit was bound within the royal family’s bloodline.
Yet deeper, Euden’s group hears Mars’ roar in the distance: Leonidas is battling Morsayati. Yet, even Mars fails to so much as inconvenience Zethia. Ever pragmatic, Leonidas is happy to stand down, as Morsayati’s goals don’t necessarily hinder his own. With the family reunited, Alberius’s final days are revealed in another vision.
Searching for the final portion of the Other’s body – its core – Alberius finds that even with its soul bound within him, Morsayati’s body retains the strength and will to devastate the kingdom. With no other choice, other than to give in to the Other and become a vessel, Chthonius merges with Alberius, sharing the blood curse. Even together, they cannot hold Morsayati forever, but they have the strength to buy humanity time. The merged being seals itself away deep in the earth…
…in the very ruins everyone is assembled in. Only moments of sad reflection on Alberius’s fate pass before the sounds of Chthonius, tortured by centuries of isolation and miasma, emerge from the depths beyond Zethia. Despite the torment they’ve endured, Alberius retains his sanity and sense of individuality enough to beg his descendents for death and the destruction of Morsayati’s core.
Cleo attempts to stop his the battle, having waited three hundred years for his return. Yet, Alberius explains that his true death would be the loss of the will to destroy the Other. Seeing that Euden has become the “Bearer of Dragonlight” and the kingdom is left in capable hands, Alberius is content at being surpassed by his successor.
Defeated in battle but victorious in intent, Alberius grants the mana held by Chthonius to Zodiark, to be housed in a shadow dracolith.
No one seems to have noticed that Zethia made no move to interfere. With the last portion of its body released, Morsayati can finally gather all of its power. The mere sensation of the Other’s mana, fully housed within Zethia, awes most of Euden’s party into frozen terror, yet Euden still moves to restrain Zodiark from harming his sister. But, the effort is pathetically meaningless: Morsayati is far beyond any of them now.
Empress Zethia, generous in victory, offers its siblings life in exchange for fealty. Horrified, Euden finds that every one of his siblings takes the offer, each rationalizing their cowardice with an excuse. Leonidas claims to care only for tearing down the old order of the world and striving for the greatest power. Phares cares only for knowledge. Chelle simply makes the more pragmatic move. Even honorable Valyx claims that he must stand with Zethia to prevent the kingdom from being sundered. Emile… doesn’t even offer an excuse, happy to leave the world to the Other out of vengeance for imagined slights.
Outnumbered but unconvinced, Zethia doesn’t give up on convincing Euden. It explains that its goals have nothing to do with mortals, for good or for ill. If it will persuade him to join, Morsayati is content with granting the mortals of the world a free and happy life, as this easily within its power to grant.
Even Euden’s friends are convinced, and Euden himself considers the offer. Yet, accepting it would mean abandoning his sister.
Zethia means absolutely everything to me, and I could never live in a kingdom built on the bones and ashes of her sacrifice. I desire to live in a world where people protect those they love! I won’t live in a world where people are forced to crawl upon their knees in order to seek out YOUR protection! I’ll never agree to a world like that!
Laughing, Morsayati notes that Euden truly sounds like Alberius now. Euden’s resolve is firm, but with both the Other and all of his siblings arrayed against him, Euden has no hope to even survive the hour. With his last breath, Alberius expends the last of his mana to teleport Euden’s party away.
Back at the Halidom, Notte is surprised to find that Euden needs no encouragement. Though defeated, his resolve is strong.
Note, in case it wasn’t obvious, that none of the artwork here is my own: everything is either a screenshot or an image taken either from Nintendo’s site for Dragalia Lost or the Dragalia Lost fan wiki. I would normally just link to the images, but I’m not sure whether they’ll stay up after the game is shut down.
Update: I think I’m going to end this series here due to a lack of interest. If anyone’s interested, let me know, and I’d be happy to continue. Otherwise, I’m going to focus on other projects.