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Warning: Spoilers This section or article may contain spoilers! |
Fifty years after the world was saved from the Tattered Spire, the Hero of Bowerstone has since passed away. In the Hero's place, Albion is ruled by their eldest son, a tyrannical king, whose ruthless will has accelerated Albion's Industrial Revolution at the cost of human dignity. The people are suffering under Logan's dictatorial rulings and the greed of Reaver Industries, out to make more money at the expense of the people. People are discontent and revolution is in the air.
This revolution begins when Logan's younger sibling, witnessing the extent of Logan's madness, turns on their brother. Along with his/her loyal butler Jasper and mentor Walter, the Hero flees Bowerstone Castle and gathers an army of followers, disenfranchised under Logan. Gaining the support of the town of Brightwall, the Dwellers, portions of the Albion military, the Bowerstone Resistance and the naval fleets of Aurora, the Hero dethrones Logan. To his/her horror, however, they soon learn that Albion will be attacked one year later by a dark, supernatural force known as the Darkness, under the leadership of a shadowy creature called the Crawler. They then inherit the duty that haunted Logan – to amass enough gold to build an army capable of withstanding one of Albion's greatest threats.
Life at the Castle[]
The story begins with The Hero, the prince/princess, and their dog being awoken by his/her faithful butler Jasper. Jasper proceeds to tell their royal majesty that their love interest, Elise or Elliot, is waiting for him/her. After choosing what to wear, he/she runs to the gardens and speaks to their love. The Hero is told about the riots occurring in Bowerstone and their brother Logan's tyranny. Taking Elise/Elliot by the hand, the Hero leads her/him to the kitchen and gives a speech, to which Walter congratulates or berates them about. After a quick talk, Walter leads the Hero to the castle's main entrance, only to be greeted with protestors and given the choice to sign Laszlo's petition or rub it on their arse and throw it on the floor.
The Hero is then lead to the weapon room, where he/she fights with Walter and exhibits his/her first real example of being a Hero, in the form of breaking Walter's sword in one flourish. Soon after Elise/Elliot bursts into the room, yelling about the protestors outside starting a riot. Knowing that the protestors are in more trouble than they know, Walter hurries to the Map Room, to try and talk some sense into Logan. The Hero and Elise/Elliot follow closely behind to spy on the argument. Peering into the Map Room, they witness Walter being pummeled to the ground and Logan exclaiming "Don't ever tell me what I can't do". The Hero then bursts into the room to confront Logan, only to be dragged to the throne room along with their lover. As they enter the throne room, a small number of leaders from the protest stand in waiting for Logan. Believing that his sibling wishes to be Albion's ruler, Logan gives him/her one of the most difficult choices in his/her life.
The Hero is then forced to choose whether to have the love of his/her life killed or the leaders of the protest. If they stand in indecision, Logan intends to have both the protestors and their love executed. After making his/her choice, the Hero then confronts Logan and tells him "I will never forgive you for this", to which Logan merely says "Good. Then you will never forget it".
Leaving the Castle[]
Later that night in the Prince's/Princess's bedroom, the Prince/Princess and Jasper are visited by Walter. He tells them that it is time to leave the castle. Eager to leave, the Prince/Princess readily accepts and Jasper follows. Walter leads the two to the old Queen's/King's tomb, and reveals the Queen's/King's most precious possession, The Guild Seal. Cautiously, the Prince/Princess approaches the seal and picks it up.
A bright light suddenly appears and the Prince/Princess is transported to an unknown path, blocked by a gate and a blind woman adorned in red. The woman tells the Prince/Princess that her name is Theresa, "Seer of the Spire", and that they are at the Road to Rule, a sacred path created to guide the Prince/Princess on their way to becoming a Hero and leading a revolution. Theresa then disappears, leaving the Hero with their first spell gauntlet and the power to become a true Hero of Legends.
The Hero immediately finds themself standing in front of Sir Walter and Jasper, being told by Walter to use their new spell to find them a way out of the tomb. The Hero then has to use the gauntlet by channelling their will to create a surround spell on a guild seal pattern located on the floor of the room. A passage then opens at their feet and the sarcophagi are parted; they now have their escape route. The three travel down a narrow passage, and walk into a large series of caverns below the Castle. While proceeding through the cavern, the three are ambushed by bats, and the Prince/Princess has the chance to really use his/her new gauntlet. After disposing of a number of bats and voyaging through what seems to be the Bowerstone Industrial sewers, the trio arrive at a cullis gate- seemingly the last in all of Albion, as stated by Jasper, who believes that all of the cullis gates had been destroyed or lost over time. The Hero, noticing the same guild pattern on the cullis gate as the one he/she used to open the passage, uses his/her fire gauntlet to teleport the three to their parent's former haven, The Sanctuary.
Brightwall and the Dwellers[]
After exploring parts of The Sanctuary and getting acquainted with their new home base, the Hero of Brightwall and Sir Walter travel far to the east, into a broad mountain range known as Mistpeak, with the Hero's butler Jasper to stay within the Sanctuary to investigate further. Within Mistpeak are the Dwellers, an oppressed group of tough mountain people who are cold, poor, and starving thanks to Logan's decree and eager to serve as potential allies for the Hero. After meeting the leader of the Dwellers, Sabine, the Hero is given three tasks to complete. First, they must secure an item from their parent's Reliquary to prove they are truly a Hero, which can be found beneath the Brightwall Academy. Second, they must vanquish the leader of a nearby camp of mercenaries who has been raiding the Dwellers for their meager supplies. Finally, the Hero must ensure that food and aid is delivered to the Dwellers, who are starving and living under terrible conditions. First, the Hero journeys through the dangerous Mistpeak Valley, fighting off deadly wolves and rogue mercenaries. Finally, they arrive in the scholarly town of Brightwall, immediately making their way to the Academy. Stepping inside, the Hero meets Samuel, the custodian of the Academy of Brightwall. The Hero learns that the academy has been shut down by Logan, which has caused great suffering to the people of the mountain town. After the Prince/Princess shows Samuel the Guild Seal acquired in their parent's tomb, they are lead into the depths of the Library, where Samuel bids them good luck.
The Prince/Princess adventures far into the depths of the Reliquary, fighting off hordes of hollow men and activating ancient bridges to solve a series of puzzles. Finally, he/she reaches the end of the Reliquary, finding upon a pedestal the Music Box, which validates their status as a Hero. With the Music Box in hand, the Hero returns to Walter, who can be found in the local tavern. Walter notifies the Prince/Princess that after heavily intoxicating a mercenary within the tavern, he was able to drag him to the upper levels. Walter removes the clothing from the victim, then gives it to the Prince/Princess to wear as a disguise in order to sneak into the local Mercenary Camp and slay Saker, leader of the mercenaries. After purchasing the appropriate tattoos a mercenary would adorn themselves with, the Hero sets out for the Mercenary Camp.
The Prince/Princess makes it far into the Camp, but is caught at the third checkpoint in the camp. The Hero battles the mercenaries, slaying those who stand in his/her way as he/she approaches the camp. Soon, he/she enters a small arena, and finds him/herself attacked by Saker. Upon defeating the mercenary, the Hero either decides to kill him, or allow him to live. Regardless of the decision, the respectful mercenaries vow to stay away from The Dwellers.
Finally, the Hero is tasked with getting the respect and admiration of the Brightwall villagers. He/she embarks on several tasks to help Brightwall and its villagers, which may have included finding an old play, gathering chickens, and recovering a lost delivery for a villager. After getting the support of Brightwall and promising to return the Academy to its former glory, a grateful Samuel promises to send aid to their mountain neighbours and declares that the Hero will from this day forth be known as the Hero of Brightwall. The triumphant Hero then returns to Sabine, offers Sabine the Music Box, and is notified that the shipments of food from Brightwall have arrived. The Hero promises Sabine to return Mistpeak to its former glory and to give it back to the Dwellers, and Sabine pledges his men and support to the Hero for the revolution.
The Hero and Walter then leave the Dweller Camp, heading towards the nearby Mistpeak Monorail Station in hopes of reaching their next ally.
The Hole and Mourningwood[]
After the Prince/Princess and Walter arrive at the Mistpeak Monorail Station, they watch with horror from the platform as one of the monorail cars derails and falls to the bottom of the cave far below. The two immediately travel down to see if they can help the passengers in the fallen car, but after descending into The Hole, they find that the car has been turned on its side and is being attacked by a swarm of hobbes. The two fight off the monsters, but now have no choice other than to proceed through The Hole on foot, which Walter, who has a pronounced dislike of caves, is not very happy about. They are forced to fight off many more groups of hobbes on the way, but reach the end of the caves safely and emerge into the gloomy, marsh-like region of Mourningwood.
Walter and the Hero make their way through Mourningwood, encountering legions of hollow men on the way, and eventually arrive at the castle-like building known as Mourningwood Fort, current post for the besieged men of The Swift Brigade. Upon approaching the fort, soldiers at the entrance shout at them, believing them to be hollow men themselves. An angry Walter proves that they are in fact human, and the two are admitted into the fortress. Walter greets some of the soldiers inside by name, and the Hero is introduced to them all, including two old friends of Walter named Major Swift and Ben Finn. The Hero learns that the fort is slowly being overrun by the local armies of hollow men and the soldiers are being killed off one by one, the latest victim of the attack being the late Lieutenant Simmons. The irritated, tired soldiers are growing angry with Logan's rule and the slow transition of his armies that has developed in his reign, replacing the old Royal Army brigades with the more fanatical and cruel Elite Soldiers. However, before anyone is able to discuss this at length, the soldiers are forced to make preparations for the inevitable arrival of the Hollow Legion.
Ben Finn takes the Prince/Princess to oversee the mortar at the rear of the fort with the local artillery operative, Jammy, asking them to shoot at some previously prepared scarecrows to build up some experience. After the Hero destroys two scarecrows, somebody points out they can't remember setting up the third one; it then becomes obvious that the scarecrow is a disguised hollow man, and the Hero is abruptly forced to oversee the mortar in a real battle situation. They destroy the bands of hollow men at the rear of the fort, but another group then breaks through the doors at the front, and the Prince/Princess is forced to abandon the mortar to help kill the intruding hollow men. After a long battle, the monsters seemingly retreat, only to rise again under the command of the corpse of Lieutenant Simmons. Demonstrating their incredible finesse in battle, the Hero destroys the undead Lieutenant, demonstrating their abilities as a Hero.
After the battle, the surviving soldiers remark that the Prince/Princess was very good in the battle, and after he/she promises Major Swift to restore the armies to their former glory and duty to protect Albion rather than oppress it after the revolution, the soldiers give the Hero their support.
The Bowerstone Resistance and Reaver's Masquerade[]
The Hero's quest to expand their revolutionary forces next leads the group into Bowerstone Industrial, a very dark and grim-looking place taken up mostly by large factories. Here, pollution and poverty are rampant, with very few people or even children to be seen who are not also workers. The two arrive at a protest outside one of the factories; a dark-haired man is addressing the rest of the crowd, telling them to rise up against Reaver and his policies. In the middle of his speech, Reaver, who is standing on the balcony above, shoots him with a crippling shot, replying that, "Lying down is so much easier than standing up." He then proceeds to give his own speech to the workers, continuing to shoot the already dying man at certain points while he talks at length about his new set of oppressive rules, insinuating a similar fate for those who do not obey. The protesters quickly return to work, and Walter and the Hero proceed into the sewers, where the headquarters of the Bowerstone Resistance lie.
The two are then ambushed by angry-looking men with firearms, who believe the two warriors are spies; they threaten to shoot the two, but are then interrupted by the leader of the Resistance, Page. She leads the Hero and Walter into the headquarters, but makes it clear that she does not trust the Hero, as he/she is a prince/princess and Logan's sibling. The Hero now needs to gain the respect and trust of the Resistance by completing certain tasks to help the people around Albion, particularly in Bowerstone.
Once the Prince/Princess has thus proven themselves, they return to the Resistance headquarters to find Page, Major Swift and Ben Finn. Page tells the Hero that she sent a few of her men to Reaver's mansion, but they have not returned; she asks that the Hero accompany her, in disguise, to one of Reaver's weekly masquerade parties, and the two can there attempt to find them.
The two don masquerade suits that they believe will enable them to blend in with the other guests, and in this way successfully infiltrate the manor, passing the guards at the gate. A servant of Reaver's greets them and asks them to follow him to join the other guests, commenting on how late they are as they walk. When Page tries to force the servant to tell them where her men are, he replies that he is in fact a supporter of their cause and will lead them to their men. They enter a room in which they find one of Page's men, Kidd, locked inside a cage; he tells them to get out of the room quickly, but they are too slow to realise what he is trying to say. The room is a trap; the cage that Page's man is in is pulled up from the floor on a hanging chain, and the Hero and Page see Reaver and his dinner guests watching from a platform above, laughing.
The two then notice a large wheel contraption in front of them, Reaver's Wheel Of Misfortune. As the wheel spins, a new exit from the room they are in opens, and they are forced to go through several of these doors to fight hobbes, mercenaries, hollow men and Sand Furies from Aurora for Reaver's guests' entertainment. After they have vanquished these enemies, Reaver's guests transform into balverines and jump down at them, but even they are quickly dispatched.
After dealing with the balverines, Page tries to shoot Reaver, who casually deflects the bullet with his cane, demonstrating his abilities as the Hero of Skill. After Page reveals that the Hero is the prince/princess, Reaver walks away, insinuating that he would work with the prince/princess if they emerged successful from the revolution. The Hero gets Kidd out of the cage and leaves Reaver's Manor.
Leaving Albion[]
Upon leaving Reaver's Manor, a town crier is heard shouting that the King has summoned all citizens to the castle. Page suggests that the Hero should go find out what it is about. The Hero meets up with Ben Finn at the castle and to his horror sees King Logan order his men to execute Major Swift, calling him a traitor to Albion. He orders Albion to remain steadfast under his leadership, and implies that other traitors would recieve a similar fate. A disgusted Ben Finn leaves with the Hero.
After this event, the Hero and Ben meet up with Walter and Page at the Resistance HQ, where it is revealed that Swift left a message for them. It simply reads "You will find allies in Aurora." The group believe that Aurora is uninhabited, but decide to go there nonetheless. The Hero exits the HQ with Ben and start making their way to the docks to steal a boat. Blowing their way past Logan's unsuspecting soldiers, the Hero and Ben fight their way through warehouses and alleys until they arrive at the docks where they meet up with Walter and take a ship, destroying any that may try to follow.
Aurora and the Revolution[]
Despite Page's efforts to stop any soldiers from following the Hero, Walter and Ben, they are still chased by the royal navy and their ship is effortlessly destroyed in the middle of the ocean. Walter and the Hero awake on an Unknown Shore, but find no sign of Ben. Their only way to proceed is through the nearby massive cave, so they start heading in that direction. Just before entering the cave, Walter stops the Hero and yells "balls" as loud as he can, once again demonstrating his passionate fear and hatred for caves and darkness. After making their way through part of the cave, the pair find some ruins and a massive spiral staircase that leads down deeper in to the cave, blocked by an ominous force field. Walter and the Hero search for some way to proceed by looking through some journals and notes found around the staircase. Walter finds a journal containing what he considers to be gibberish and starts reading it aloud. To his surprise, the force field is deactivated by his words and the pair delve deeper into the cave, entering the ancient dungeon of Shadelight.
At the bottom of the staircase, they are met by complete and utter darkness. The Hero's dog runs off and returns with a torch which Walter lights and uses to find his way. After proceeding further through the ruins, they find a chasm with a switch on the other side. The Hero jumps down to a lower level and makes his way around to the switch. When the Hero pulls the switch, a bridge extends across the chasm, making a lot of noise. Walter and the Hero proceed to a doorway covered by a force field similar to the one found covering the staircase. Walter reads another line from the journal he found earlier and disables the force field. However after walking through the doorway, the force field reactivates and the two feel like something is playing with them. The only way they can head is forward so the two set off at a steady pace. Before they get far they hear a voice talking to them and are attacked by shadows. After dealing with these creatures, they hurry through the cave. Walter feels a breeze coming from ahead and starts rushing towards it. That breeze blows out the torch, and an extremely fearful and paranoid Walter claims that the darkness is very near. After lighting it, Walter turns around and comes literally face to face with the leader of the Darkness, a horrible creature known only as The Crawler. He tries to fight it off, but it disappears. Proceeding through the temple together, the two heroes fight off wave after wave of shadows while the Crawler continues to taunt Walter, speaking of the coming Darkness that will completely and utterly consume Albion and all of its life. Eventually confronting Walter in person, the Crawler is seemingly killed when Walter hurls his torch at it, burning it alive. Calmed by the supposed destruction of the abomination, Walter continues through Shadelight with his friend and pupil, arriving at a cliffside. With the Hero leading the way, Walter is taken by the Crawler before he can join the Hero. Frantically, the Hero proceeds to search the dungeon for his friend, only to find Walter in the process of being consumed by the Darkness. Fighting through the shadows, the Crawler has its "children" inhabit suits of nearby armour and become dark minions, but even the unrelenting hordes of these creatures are no match for the Hero. Rescuing their now-blind and crippled mentor, the Hero charges through the shadows and dark minions, eventually finding the relief of daylight, which scatters the forces of the Darkness. Relief, however, turns into horror as the duo realize the extent of Aurora's primary desert, the Shifting Sands. Tired, blinded, and crippled, Walter begs his pupil to leave him – a decision the Hero has to make for themself. Eventually, though, Walter will collapse on his own, leaving the Hero to look for any vestiges of civilization in the bleak, dead land. While running through the desert, the area becomes twisted and contorted by the horrifying imagery of the Crawler, who disorients the Hero with visions, mirages, and illusions. It is one of these illusions, a visage of Walter, that explains the origin of his depthless fear of the dark and of caves, explaining he and a group of soldiers were forced to find shelter in a dark cave for three days, waiting to starve and die all alone. Eventually, even the Hero of Brightwall finds himself/herself succumbing to the disorienting visions and the blinding heat and collapses.
Waking up after an unknown period of time, the Hero finds themself in the cursed City of Aurora, the last remnant of civilization on the continent. Quickly learning that Ben Finn survived and led the search party that found the Hero and Walter, the Hero soon meets the City of Aurora's leader, Kalin. Touring the near-dead city with Kalin, she goes into great detail about the Crawler, revealing that it destroyed all other remnants of Auroran civilization and was attacking the City of Aurora daily, having nearly destroyed the city itself. She also reveals an essential truth – years ago, Logan himself went to Aurora on an expedition and met the Crawler, who promised that it would come to Albion and destroy that land when it was finished with Aurora. In the face of this unimaginable threat, Logan was forced to become a tyrant, hurting and oppressing his people as to raise enough funds to build an army capable of fighting back the Darkness. Promising to restore and protect Aurora, the Hero gains access to Aurora's fleet, which has the capacity to challenge Logan's navy. Returning to Albion with their army, the Hero launches the revolution at last. Fighting their way through Bowerstone Old Quarter with their revolutionary forces in tow, the army manages to blow through Logan's forces and emerges victorious after a long, difficult, and extremely violent revolution. At long last, the successful Hero of Brightwall captures Logan and is crowned the new monarch of Albion to the cheers of Albion's proud and happy populace.
The Weight of the World[]
Once the coronation has ended, the Hero quickly decides Logan's fate, choosing whether to spare Logan and gain access to his army for the upcoming battle against the Crawler or to execute him for his crimes. Soon thereafter, the Hero is summoned to the Road to Rule by Theresa, who explains the true threat of the Darkness – unrelenting and unstoppable, the Darkness would arrive in Albion within a single year, destroying and consuming everything in its path, and completely pitiless to surrender or pleas of mercy. It is then that the Hero embarks on the harrowing and extremely difficult process to raise money for their army, requiring a staggering 6,500,000 gold pieces to build an army capable of completely protecting Albion and its citizens. During this year, it is up to the Hero to decide how much money to put into the Royal Treasury and how to acquire it while choosing to keep or break the promises made to the populace during the revolution. The Hero is faced with new challenges that require funds from the Royal Treasury, and Reaver Industries continuously points out new ways to exploit the populace to earn money for the Treasury. Failure to earn the gold results in a desolate and empty Albion, while breaking the promises made ensures that the populace hates the new Hero King/Queen.
After the year passes, the Darkness arrives in Albion, with the Hero's allies amassed in the War Room confirming the Royal Army's success or failure depending on the funds allocated. Charging into the streets of Bowerstone Market to lead the army himself/herself, Albion's greatest Hero successfully carves through an unrelenting, rampaging horde of the Darkness, including the mighty Sentinels. Unfortunately, during the battle, the Crawler arrives personally to possess Walter Beck, forcing the Hero to fight and kill his/her best friend and mentor. After a final duel, the Hero emerges victorious, and a dying Walter Beck confirms his gratitude and pride in the Hero before passing away.
An unknown amount of time later, the Hero's allies all gather in the gardens of Bowerstone Castle to commemorate and honour the great Walter Beck, dedicating a statue in his memory. During the ceremony, Theresa arrives one last time, reflecting on the Hero's choices and sacrifices and congratulating him/her for saving Albion from its greatest foe, one that would have completely annihilated all of its colour and life. With a final ten-gun salute, the ceremony concludes, leaving the Hero of Brightwall to explore their Albion at their heart's content, safe in the knowledge that the Crawler has been defeated.