PART III: AFTER THE UNSEALING OF THE BLACK MAGE

Chapter 26: Twilight Perion

(A/N: The Gate to the Future storyline was revamped in Fall 2023 in KMS. Compared to the previous two storylines, Twilight Perion received a more in-depth revamp, which even added a small portion of Future Sleepywood. Pretty much all of the original Twilight Perion storyline was preserved, and the revamp was just more story added in-between. However, if you want to know what the old storyline was like, check out the pre-Destiny update page.

The Milestone revamp established a chronological ordering to the story based on level, which means that Detective Rave’s Case Notes, as level 175 content, should be set before Twilight Perion, which is level 180. However, I shifted the two around because it makes more cohesive sense for the three Gate to the Future sections to be grouped together.)

Soon after the investigation into the Gate to the Future, the Alliance held an emergency conference, which was attended by the top leaders of the Alliance, as well as the Alliance member who had first entered the Gate to the Future. As Athena Pierce began the meeting, Claudine impatiently noted that the proceedings were taking forever, and that so many had not attended. As she wondered whether theirs could truly be called a proper meeting, Neinheart testily replied that everyone had their own work to do, and that it wasn’t as easy to gather all the warriors of Maple World in one place as she believed.

Claudine retorted that it was the duty of the Alliance to carry out the impossible, as otherwise, there was no point to their existence at all. Neinheart replied that Claudine was talking without thinking, reminding her that the Alliance had been created through the hard work of many people vowing to defeat the Black Mage, to which Claudine sarcastically asked him whether she was actually hearing a lecture about promises from the Cygnus Knights.

Athena Pierce then cut in and urged them both to stop their wasteful debate. Cygnus agreed and added that the purpose of the Alliance was to protect the future of Maple World, with internal bickering being inappropriate for their mission. She then explained that the reason why they had gathered was to discuss the grave events happening as of late – nightmares of the ruined future plaguing the people of Maple World.

Lady Syl noted that the Alliance had already proven that such a future was merely an illusion, which Neinheart confirmed, though Claudine pointedly added that the possibility wasn’t completely zero. Mihile angrily demanded to know how dare Claudine could insinuate that they would be involved, to which Belle asked Mihile what he planned to do about it. Athena once again ordered everyone to stop fighting, while Claudine added that she simply meant that they needed to keep all possibilities in mind. The Alliance member then noted to themselves that it would take some time before the Alliance could start working together properly.

Athena explained that the situation was quite serious, for while she had already warned the people of Henesys about the false rumors at Neinheart’s behest, she had never thought that she herself would experience such dreams. Neinheart added that the situation was much different from when rumors were merely circulating, as the false future within the Gate to the Future was actually flowing into the dreams of Maple World’s people.

Grendel the Really Old wondered whether such a thing was even possible, as that kind of dream control would be next-to-impossible for even the most highly-trained magician, which made him wonder how powerful their enemy really was. Cygnus then explained that it wasn’t just Henesys that was being affected, as the nightmare was spreading like a plague.

(A/N: There’s a cutscene here that shows different groups of people in Maple World being affected by the nightmares. One of those groups is the elves in Elluel, and it’s shown that many of the elves have been freed from the ice. However, this is a continuity error because the Heroes of Maple blockbuster confirms that only the elders and Moonie, the child who was kidnapped by Orchid in Mercedes’ storyline, have been freed. I’m actually a bit surprised that they didn’t fix that in the revamp.)

Athena noted that while the enemy’s purpose in spreading the nightmares throughout Maple World was unknown, they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. She added that Perion, in particular, had an unusual atmosphere, surprising Claudine, who believed that it would have been Henesys. Athena explained that the people of Henesys had already been prepared for the nightmares involving their ruined town, but the people of Perion had been having entirely different nightmares altogether.

Evan asked Athena what measures the Alliance was taking to remedy the situation, to which Athena explained that the Silent Crusade had already begun taking measures, though she feared that it wouldn’t be enough. Neinheart added that the Grendel - who was an expert on magic - was joining together with the Cygnus Knights, Claudine, and Athena Pierce to investigate the matter, adding that it was the least that they could do to justify the Alliance’s existence.

He then turned to the Alliance member and explained that the Alliance was still planning to continue investigating the Gate to the Future, and that he hoped that the Alliance member would continue lending their support. As the meeting concluded, Athena asked the Alliance member to speak with her about their mission, explaining that she hoped that in the meantime, the other Alliance leaders would take care of their respective regions and calm their citizens.

After the meeting ended, the Alliance member spoke with Athena, who told them that their first order of business was to calm their citizens from the nightmares plaguing them, and that Perion, especially, was their top priority. She explained that the people of Perion were steadfast and great warriors, and that they were especially sensitive to such omens. As their nightmares were different from the one plaguing the rest of Maple World, she believed that Perion would be even more on-edge than expected. She then asked the Alliance member to visit Dances with Balrog and hear his story about the nightmares.

In Perion, the Alliance member met with Dances with Balrog, who told them that while the warriors of Perion were fearless, the nightmare continually plaguing their minds was exacting its toll on them. He explained that though he had already received Neinheart’s warning about the false future, their nightmares were completely different, as they had been seeing a sunless, bleak Perion under the subjugation of the Black Mage, which was making them doubt whether such a future was truly an illusion or not. He then asked the Alliance member to help prove to their people that their nightmare of the future wasn’t real.

The Alliance member then reported back to Athena Pierce and told her what they had learned from Dances with Balrog. Athena realized that the only way to put Perion at ease was to return back to the Gate to the Future and see Perion’s future for themselves, as they could prove that the nightmare was false if it matched up with the illusion within the Gate to the Future. The Alliance member then traveled inside the Gate to the Future, which warped them directly into Twilight Perion.

The Alliance member noted to themselves that they must have reached the false future of Perion, which was filled with the sound of hard labor and pain echoing through the rush of cold wind. They also noted that the city itself was covered in soot and dust, causing them to wonder what had happened there in order to learn the truth, the Alliance member first met with an older, exhausted Christopher and asked him what had happened to the town, to which Christopher explained that the whole town was being forced to build an enormous statue of the Black Mage, which towered over them in the distance.

He told the Alliance member that Perion was the highest area in Victoria Island, and that the completed statue would be visible from anywhere. He also told the Alliance member that thousands of Perion citizens were working on it, and that he himself – though originally an Explorer – was helping its construction so that he could make enough to eat and scrape by. He then told the Alliance member to talk to someone else to get their questions answered, as he would be punished for slacking off.

The Alliance member then met with Stands with Bulls and asked him about what had happened to the warriors of Perion. Stands with Bulls noted that based on their phrasing, they were someone who remembered Perion when it used to be a town of warriors. As he began coughing, he apologized and explained that his tuberculosis made it difficult to speak. He then began telling the Alliance member that after the Black Mage had seized control of Maple World, the warriors of Perion had fought bravely until the very end.

Because of their resistance, the remaining townspeople had been enslaved as punishment, conscripted into hard labor by building the Black Mage statue, while the rest were living in shelters, barely surviving and attempting to keep the culture of Perion alive. He then revealed that Dances with Balrog had perished in the final battle, survived only by his young son, Wrestles the Wolves. Looking closely at the Alliance member, however, Stands with Bulls noted that they didn’t seem to be old enough to remember Dances with Balrog.

(A/N: A lot of Perion and its NPCs are based on the novel “Dances with Wolves”, which is where Dances with Balrog and Wrestles the Wolves’ names come from. The novel is about a soldier from the Civil War finding himself stranded in the wilderness before coming to live with a tribe of Lakota Sioux people, after which he takes the name Dances with Wolves. Dances with Balrog’s name in KMS and JMS is actually Stands with Open Fist, which is a reference to a character named Stands with A Fist in the novel.

Stands with a Fist is the white adopted daughter of the tribe’s medicine man and her story was actually adapted into Ayan’s backstory in the game. While the quests detailing Ayan’s backstory have now been removed, the gist of it is that Ayan is actually Bruce’s daughter in Henesys. At a young age, she was attacked and injured by a Golem, which caused her to lose her memories and forget her past. She ended up being found by the warriors of Perion, who brought her to live with the tribe, which is why she’s the only white person in Perion. Bruce came to believe that the Golems killed his daughter, which is why he decided to dedicate his life to researching the Golems in the Golem Temple.

This backstory was slightly modified several times through the game’s history, as an earlier iteration actually said that Mushmom attacked Ayan, and that Bruce was studying the wildlife of Henesys in general as a result, rather than just the Golems. Regardless, the rest of the backstory is still the same, which is that Bruce eventually discovers that his daughter is actually alive. He then asks you to give Ayan a toy sword from her childhood in order to jog her memories. After Ayan gets her memories back, she asks us to give Bruce a letter from her, after which she and her father end up reuniting.)

The Alliance member then headed to the Warriors’ Sanctuary and met with Wrestles the Wolves, who greeted them and explained that after Perion had been taken, the Warriors’ Sanctuary had been torn down in order to destroy the memory of Perion’s brave fighters. He told the Alliance member that he had been unable to protect the sanctuary, and that he hadn’t even been able to die honorably on the field of battle, as their destroyers had believed it more beneficial to let him live in shame than to kill him, adding that the Alliance member would see for themselves if they took a look around the town.

After exploring Perion, the Alliance member was shocked to find Claudine and Elex sitting at the top of the rocky mountainside, adorned in gilded clothes and overseeing the construction of the Black Mage statue. The Alliance member asked Claudine in surprise whether she was still part of the Resistance, to which Claudine laughed and noted that there was a time when it used to be called the Resistance, though in order to properly meet the demands of the changing times, she preferred to think of herself as a pioneer.

She explained that after the Black Mage had taken over, their world was finally changing for the better, pointing out how even Perion – which she described as a barbaric place, far from the reach of civilization – was also starting to evolve. She added that by betraying the Alliance early-on and siding with the Black Mage, they had been able to garner all sorts of special treatment, laughing that while the miserable laborers below aged away with such little dignity, she would stay young and beautiful forever. The Alliance member was shocked to realize that the Resistance had betrayed the Alliance by siding with the Black Mage, wondering how Claudine would react.

(A/N: Resistance classes (minus Xenon and the Demon) get some exclusive dialogue in place of the dialogue above. After talking with Claudine, they note to themselves that despite knowing that it’s just a dream, seeing the Resistance betray the Alliance and join the Black Mage is quite a strange sight. They then wonder to themselves whether this is how the Cygnus Knights must have felt after seeing Henesys being destroyed.)

With their investigation of the town complete, the Alliance member decided to look into the monsters around Perion in order to see whether they had mutated like the ones around Henesys. At the outskirts of town, the Alliance member fought the Swollen Stumps and realized that the monsters of Perion had indeed mutated like the monsters of Henesys.

With Perion enslaved and its monsters turned into vicious creatures, Alliance member realized that it was no wonder that even the brave warriors of Perion had grown afraid of such nightmares assailing them. They then returned back to the real Perion and met with Dances with Balrog in order to assure him that the future in his nightmares wasn’t real. In order to see whether Twilight Perion truly matched up with their nightmares, Dances with Balrog decided to quiz the Alliance member to make sure.

(A/N: Dances with Balrog asks us four questions to quiz us. He first asks us what was being built in Perion, and we have to choose between a giant Pig Statue, a giant Siege Weapon, or a giant Black Mage Statue. He then asks us what happened to the Warriors’ Sanctuary, with the three options being that it was destroyed, it was expanded, or that the Black Mage’s minions reside there. His third question is whether his child is a boy or a girl, and the last question is which group is occupying Perion, with the choices being the Resistance, the Black Wings, or the Commanders.)

After the Alliance member answered all his questions correctly, Dances with Balrog was convinced that they had indeed seen his nightmares, which finally put his fears to rest that the ruined future of Perion was nothing more than an illusion. However, he noted that even though they could be sure that the nightmare wasn’t real, the fact that the nightmares were continuing was still causing anxiety throughout the town.

(A/N: This is around where the revamped Twilight Perion story adds an expanded questline to give a proper conclusion to the story.)

Soon after, Athena Pierce contacted the Alliance member and thanked them for finishing their investigation into the Gate to the Future. However, she explained that the situation had taken a turn for the worse and asked them to meet her at the Magic Library in Ellinia. At the Magic Library, the Alliance member met with Athena, Neinheart, Claudine, and Grendel, who told them that while the Alliance member had been investigating the Gate to the Future, people all across Maple World had begun exhibiting serious symptoms of dream addiction, which left them unable to discern dreams from reality.

Athena explained that the people were repeatedly declaring that there was no future for them as long as the Empress still lived, and that they were convinced that the Resistance had betrayed them, as well as that the Alliance couldn’t be trusted. Neinheart added tha he had been concerned about such a phenomenon, and that he had been hoping that proving that the nightmare wasn’t real would prevent such symptoms from manifesting. Athena reassured Neinheart that it was likely because of his efforts that the symptoms had been delayed until now, though Claudine pointed out that the situation had reached a point that they could no longer stop it.

Grendel explained that dreams were the realm of the subconsciousness, and that no matter how actively one tried to reject it, the subconsciousness could become an effective tool in steering one’s conscious mind. He noted that by being inflicted with the same nightmare over and over again, many who didn’t possess strong mental fortitude could be hypnotized into believing things such as the Empress being evil or the Resistance being traitors.

Neinheart asked whether there was a cure for dream addiction, to which Grendel explained that the only cure was Lucid Matter, which could only be harvested in dreams. Athena then asked the Alliance member to return to the Gate to the Future, to which they immediately agreed. Grendel told the Alliance member that he would instruct them on how to harvest Lucid Matter, though he asked the other Alliance leaders to try and calm their people in the meantime.

Grendel then told the Alliance member to return to Twilight Perion and collect Lucid Matter from the monsters around the area, adding that he would reach out once they finished. After the Alliance member finished gathered the Lucid Matter, Grendel told them that it would help them treat the dream addiction. However, he explained that it was only a temporary solution, as the only way to truly stop the nightmares was to cut them off from the people of Maple World, though he admitted that he had no idea how to do so.

He told the Alliance member that if they had more information on the Dream Master, they might be able to learn more about the dream. However, as the Dream Master was neither a known Commander nor a member of the Black Wings, he had no clues as to their identity. Just then, Grendel had a realization that there may be some trace of the Dream Master within the dream itself. He explained that dreams were a reflection of the subconscious mind, such as how a scary experience with a sparrow in one’s childhood might result in sparrow monsters appearing in their dreams.

Because of this, he believed that the Gate to the Future – which was made from the dreams of the Dream Master – may contain their subconsciousness, for which he asked them to obtain Slumbering Fragments from the monsters around Twilight Perion. After the Alliance member obtained the Slumbering Fragments, they returned back to the Magic Library and gave them to Grendel. Using the fragments, Grendel crafted a Piece of Memory, which he explained would allow the Alliance member to see a small glimpse of the Dream Master’s mind, though he warned them to take caution, as accessing another’s subconsciousness was a dangerous technique.

Upon using the Piece of Memory, the Alliance member was transported into a dreamscape. Wandering through the area, the Alliance member though to themselves that it felt as though time and space were meaningless where they were. Suddenly, they began to hear the voice of a girl crying out, which they recognized as that of the Dream Master. The distraught girl wondered to herself how long she would continue sleeping for, lamenting that she couldn’t stand the frustration of being trapped any longer.

Suddenly, the Dream Master felt a powerful force guiding her somewhere. She called out to the presence and asked whether they had been watching her the whole time. The Black Mage’ voice then called back out and noted that the girl had an interesting talent. The Dream Master asked the Black Mage who he was, noting that he didn’t seem to be from her dreams. The Black Mage told the girl that she had accidentally stumbled upon his subconsciousness, to which the girl asked whether that meant that she had entered his dream.

The Black Mage then ordered the Dream Master to come to him, promising that he would grant her eternal life, infinite knowledge, and everything that she could ever want. The girl noted that his energy seemed ominous, but nevertheless, she wondered whether he was the one whom she had been waiting for. The Alliance member then watched as the Dream Master went deeper into the Black Mage’s subconsciousness, finally looking upon his towering form for the first time.

(A/N: When Twilight Perion first came out, the image of Lucid that we saw in this quest actually showed her as a human girl. This was the first iteration of what she was concepted as before they changed her to be an elf in Shade’s storyline. The concept of there being a follower of the Black Mage who could manipulate dreams was first established in 2010 during the Chaos patch, which released the Gate to the Future. Three years later, Twilight Perion came out in January 2013 during the Cygnus Awakens patch, which is when we saw the image of a human girl who had stumbled into the Black Mage’s dreamscape.

Interestingly, Lucid was first named and retconned as an elf in Shade’s storyline, which came out in December 2013 of that same year, meaning that the decision to make her an elf was fairly last-minute. Lucid’s appearance was quite different in Shade’s storyline, which actually featured her wearing a green and black checkered dress, as well as long lavender hair that covered her eyes with her bangs.

Three years later in 2016, Lucid’s design was updated to her current look with the release of Lachelein, which was also her introduction to the wider MapleStory community who hadn’t played through Shade’s story. The Gate to the Future revamp from 2023 finally made Lucid consistently appear as an elf in every appearance which she makes in the game. Here’s a picture of what Lucid originally looked like as a human if you’re curious:)

Suddenly, the memory was cut short as a Wightmare appeared and cursed the Alliance member for daring to trespass upon his master’s memories. The Alliance member then fought and defeated the Wightmare, who once again cursed them for looking into his master’s memories. The Alliance member asked the Wightmare whether his master was the girl from the memory, to which the Wightmare simply replied that it would back down for now, though it promised them that with his master putting her plot into motion, they would not sleep comfortably again, laughing that they could look forward to that in the future.

The Alliance member was then expelled from the memory and appeared back in the Magic Library, where they told Grendel everything that they had learned. Grendel explained that dream magic was a benign form of magic, though it was quite difficult, with only a few people being capable of handling it. He told the Alliance member that his theory was that the Dream Master had just been an ordinary girl who could use dream magic until the Black Mage had given her his dark power.

He explained that he had wondered whether the Dream Master was a being beyond their comprehension, such as the Black Mage, though from the sound of it, that didn’t seem to be the case. He noted that because of this, there had to be limits to the dream world created by the Dream Master, which meant that by identifying those limits, they might be able to break the link to the nightmares. He asked the Alliance member whether they had gone to any other places in the future aside from Ereve, Henesys, and Perion, believing that there had to be a clue to breaking the nightmare in a place yet unvisited within the dream.

Recalling their time in the Gate to the Future, the Alliance member recalled seeing a path to Sleepywood at the Six Path Crossway Ruins. Upon entering Future Sleepywood, the Alliance member found themselves in a barebones, disjointed version of Sleepywood, which was composed of just the entrance to the jungle, which led to a dreamscape, and a glowing, fragmented version of the Rememberer meditating at the top of the entrance. The Alliance member was surprised to find Sleepywood in such a state, as it seemed as though the area had just been made, causing them to wonder why this was the only place which appeared to be so.

They decided to speak to the Rememberer, who immediately realized that the Alliance member wasn’t a resident of the dream, though he nevertheless wondered how they had managed to arrive in Sleepywood, adding that he had never thought that anyone would come there. He explained that they were in the back of the dream, which was a part of the dream which had not yet been created. Because of this, residents of the dream could not enter such a place, which had led him to realize that the Alliance member was not a dream resident.

When the Alliance member asked why the back of the dream looked so fragmented, the Rememberer explained that it was because the dream world was limited in size because of its creator, who was only mortal, which meant that it was beyond their power to create an entire world by themselves. Because of this, they had only been able to replicate a small part of the world by drawing upon the subconsciousness of others, resulting in the back of the dream being highly imperfect.

The Rememberer told the Alliance member that he was a resident of the dream and explained that most residents had no idea that they were part of a dream, which made him believe that he was either lucid dreaming, or that his realization came from a manifestation of his subconsciousness from the outside world, adding that he was likely not the only one experiencing such a thing.

He noted that the fact that the Alliance member had come this far meant that they, too, wanted something from there. He noted that since there were things that couldn’t be achieved, even in dreams, it meant that that they had essentially reached the back of their own dreams. However, he was surprised to know that there was nothing that the Alliance member wanted aside from find a way to break the link between dreams and reality, which he noted was perhaps beneficial for all of them.

He explained that as the nightmare of reality grew, the dream world also grew worse off, for it wasn’t just reality being affected by dreams, but dreams being affected by reality. He told the Alliance member that if the link between the two were cut off, peace would return to both worlds. He added that while dreams and reality were connected and inseparable, it was still possible to weaken that connection without separating them. He noted now dreams, no matter what happened in them, were often forgotten like a fog in the morning.

He explained that there was a Fog of Oblivion between dreams and reality which made them forget each other, though that fog was not currently not present, which was why the dream world was affecting reality. He then asked the Alliance member to obtain the Fog of Oblivion so that those in the real world would forget their nightmares.

Believing that the Fog of Oblivion had something to do with time, the Alliance member traveled to the Temple of Time and met with the Temple Keeper, who was relieved to learn from them that the Gate to the Future hadn’t actually opened, and that the future within was merely a fabrication. When the Alliance member asked him whether he had the Fog of Oblivion, the Temple Keeper explained that the temple didn’t have it, as they had no need of it, though he added that he knew who could craft some for them.

He told the Alliance member that the Sorcerer was an expert in crafting things, particularly things related to oblivion, and suggested that they speak with him. The Alliance member met with the Sorcerer, who told them that he had Fog of Oblivion, and that he would be willing to give it to them if they helped him with his research. However, he was surprised to know that they needed enough Fog of Oblivion to cover several towns, adding that nobody had enough fog with that level of potency.

After learning that the Alliance member needed to spread it across the dream world, he explained that in order to create such powerful Fog of Oblivion, they would need to craft it from scratch. He then led them to his refinery, where the Alliance member began harvesting Pieces of Oblivion from the Eye of Time monsters in the smelting room. After placing the Pieces of Oblivion in the magic refiner, the Sorcerer crafted a highly-potent Fog of Oblivion, which he described as the Essence of Oblivion itself.

The Alliance member then returned back to Future Sleepywood and met with the Rememberer, who told them to spread the Essence of Oblivion throughout the dream world, adding that only someone who wasn’t part of the dream could handle touching the fog, as residents of the dream would simply forget. The Alliance member then spread the Essence of Oblivion across Future Henesys, Ereve, and Perion, after which they returned back to the Rememberer.

The Rememberer told the Alliance member that when those in the real world woke up, they would forget everything about the nightmare, including the residents of the dream. He added that though he wished that the Alliance member could forget them too, doing so would be difficult, as the dream world was like another reality to them. He then asked the Alliance member not to leave the dream behind, and to face reality. The Alliance member then met with Grendel, who congratulated them on breaking the link with then nightmare and invited them to attend another Alliance conference.

At the conference, Athena told the Alliance member that the nightmare was slowly fading away from the minds of everyone in Maple World and asked them how they did it. The Alliance member explained how they used the Fog of Oblivion, to which Grendel noted how impressed he was by their solution. Claudine told the Alliance member that they had gone through a lot of hardships trying to stop the nightmare, adding that their efforts had taken the Alliance one step closer to stopping the Black Mage.

Neinheart – and a reluctant Claudine – both admitted that it was fortunate that the Alliance had been able to successfully save Maple World, with Cygnus noting that their people could finally stop believing in the false future and suffering from nightmares. She added that she believed that she would have good dreams that night, thanking the Alliance member for all their help.

However, Neinheart noted that though the incident had been resolved, there was still the matter of the Dream Master, whom they could conclude was a new Commander of the Black Mage. He added that despite the Alliance forming and growing stronger, the Black Mage was also steadily gaining strength by recruiting new Commanders on top of his old ones. He added that the Alliance would continue looking into the identity of the new Commander and thanked the Alliance member for helping them with their initial investigation.

(A/N: This marks the end of the official Twilight Perion storyline, but just like the Henesys Ruins and the Knight Stronghold, there are a bunch of optional side quests which you can complete. These quests were originally the large bulk of the Twilight Perion story, with the parts involving gathering Lucid Matter and Dream Fragments being intermittently scattered throughout it all.)

In Twilight Perion, the Alliance member decided to try and help the townspeople suffering under the rule of the fallen Resistance. They first met with Christopher, who told them that he was quite dehydrated, as the guards refused to give him a drink until he finished his work. In order to help him, the Alliance member obtained Fresh Sap from the Swollen Dark Stumps.

Next, they met with River, who told them that Perion had gotten much colder since the Black Mage had taken over Maple World, which made it difficult for him to sleep. In order to feel warmer, he asked the Alliance member to obtain Giant Firewood from the Swollen Dark Stumps and Swollen Axe Stumps. The Alliance member brought the firewood to River, who thanked them, adding that he now wished only for dreamless sleep, as even his dreams about better days wore him out.

After helping River, the Alliance member went to see Wrestles the Wolves, who lamented that monsters continued attacking his people, while he remained unable to help. In his stead, the Alliance member fought and defeated the Swollen Axe Stumps and Pillaging Wild Boars terrorizing the townspeople. The Alliance member then met with Sophia, who apologized and explained that she didn’t have much in the way of hospitality, as they barely had enough food for themselves after the recent famine. She told the Alliance member that the Resistance kept them working night and day, never giving them enough to eat. To help the townspeople, the Alliance member obtained Giant Porkchops from the Giant Boars.

Soon after, the Alliance member caught the attention of Elex, who noted that he hadn’t seen them before. He began complaining about how the townspeople were making no progress on the Black Mage statue, but upon seeing that the Alliance member appeared to be able-bodied, he ordered them to obtain Strong Armor Fragments from the Pillaging Iron Hogs. When the Alliance member asked him whether he truly needed as much as he was asking for the statue, Elex began stammering about how it wasn’t for the statue before stopping himself and ordering them to hurry up.

After the Alliance member brought back the armor for Elex, they met with Claudine, who noted that their face seemed vaguely familiar. However, she decided to ignore it and told them that they would be of use to her in turning Perion into a tourist town, with the Black Mage statue as its crowing jewel. She explained that thanks to the foolish warriors of Perion, the Black Mage had destroyed the town for its resistance, because of which, there was nothing useful to make for decent souvenirs.

As there were plenty of ‘sentimental fools’ who still remembered the old Perion, Claudine believed that obtaining a stock of Strong Wild Boar Teeth from the Pillaging Fire Boars would sell well with those tourists, laughing that one of the Perion ‘savages’ could carve faces into them to make them more appealing souvenirs. After the Alliance member brought her the fangs, Claudine told them that she would put the tribeswomen to work on decorating the fangs, though she noted that having just one type of souvenir seemed rather pathetic.

The Alliance member soon met with Wrestles the Wolves, who told them that he was thinking about what he could do to help his people. He explained that his father, Dances with Balrog, knew how to protect his citizens, though his secrets had been lost in the final battle. As he began wishing that there was a warrior from that era whom he could speak with, the Alliance member realized that an elder from the Henesys Ruins might know something.

They traveled to Henesys and spoke with Chief Alex, who told them that he was unsure how Dances with Balrog protected his people, though he added that his father must have known. The Alliance member then spoke with Chief Stan’s ghost, who explained that monsters had once raided Perion when he had gone to visit, and that Dances with Balrog had chased them away by playing a flute.

The Alliance member returned back to Wrestles the Wolves and told him about the flute, which Wrestles the Wolves recognized from the elders’ stories as a tribal treasure called Pachamama’s Quena, which had been taken by Ghostwood Stumpy. The Alliance member fought and defeated Ghostwood Stumpy before bringing the flute back to Wrestles the Wolves, who thanked them profusely for helping him keep his people safe, adding that it was the first glimmer of hope which he had experienced since his father’s passing.

Soon after, Wrestles the Wolves asked the Alliance member for help in protecting the town once again. He explained that with the flute, Perion was relatively safe from monster raids, with the guardsmen setting up a better defensive position. He told them that he believed that the flute cloud be more useful in a more dangerous area, for which he asked them to bring the flute to Ayan at the Tribal Refugee Camp, which was home to the weak and old members of their tribe.

At the Tribal Refugee Camp, the Alliance member met with Ayan, who was grateful to them for bringing them the flute, which would finally turn away the monster raids on their camp. She explained that the camp was quite dangerous, as they had no idea when the nearby monsters would attack, causing them to live in fear. In order to better protect them, the Alliance member obtained Cursed Planks from the Sinister Wooden Masks to build fences around the perimeter.

The Alliance member then spoke with an elderly Blackbull, who told them that he used to easily destroy monsters in his prime. He then laughed that the Alliance member seemed quite scrawny, to which they replied that they were an experienced warrior. In order to have them prove their words, Blackbull told them to fight Sinister Rocky Masks. After the Alliance member returned, Blackbull noted with impressment that looking at them made him feel like he was staring back at his old self. He told them that they were a great warrior like he once was, and that they should be proud.

After proving themselves to Blackbull, the Alliance member met with Stands with Bulls back in Perion, who told them that his granddaughter, Hard as Stone, would be having her birthday soon, adding that his late son had named her. He explained that he didn’t know what to get her for her birthday, and as he wasn't able to see it, he asked them to speak with her at the Tribal Refugee Camp on his behalf.

The Alliance member met with Hard as Stone, who told them that she missed her grandfather dearly. She explained that for her birthday, she wanted to hear her grandfather’s bedtime stories about the great warriors of Perion. The Alliance member returned to Stands with Bulls and told him about his granddaughter’s request, to which he explained that before Perion’s fall, he used to tell her countless stories on his lap by the campfire until she fell asleep.

As he wasn’t permitted to visit the Tribal Refugee Camp while he was still able-bodied, he explained that he wouldn’t be able to see his granddaughter at all. However, he then realized that he could make a storybook for her, noting that there was a book containing tales of Perion’s greatest warriors, which had been stolen by the monsters in a raid.

The Alliance member then collected the missing War Journals from the Sinister Steel Masks and brought them to Hard as Stone, who looked crestfallen upon receiving the gift. She thanked them for the book, though she explained that she didn’t really want the stories so much as just seeing her grandfather again, as he was the only family he had left.

The Alliance member returned back to Stands with Bulls and told him what his granddaughter had said, to which he told them that he felt ashamed for being forced to work for the Black Mage, though he added that working was the only way that he could take care of her, as he needed to pay for her medicine. As he began crying, he told them that he had thought that he had shed his last tears while watching his allies fall in the final battle, though he thanked them for showing him that his heart was not yet turned to stone, though he began coughing once again from his sick lungs.

Soon after, Elex told the Alliance member that he needed more materials to complete the statue and ordered them to obtain Thick Cursed Plates from the Sinister Steel Masks, insisting that he only needed them for the statue. After the Alliance member brought the metal to him, Elex began admiring the plates, noting to himself that they would fetch him a handsome sum, though he quickly told them to leave, promising that he would make sure to tell everyone how much they loved the Black Mage in exchange for their service.

The Alliance member asked Elex whether the money was for Edelstein, to which a confused Elex asked them what Edelstein was before dismissing them. This caused the Alliance member to realize that Elex not knowing about Edelstein was because of him being a pawn of the Dream Master. The Alliance member then met with Claudine, who told them that she had decided that no one would want to visit a gift shop with just one souvenir, and so she told them that they needed to come up with a new item. She then ordered the Alliance member to obtain Radiant Ancient Rubble from the Ancient Golems, noting that decorated fangs and old rock fragments would be fitting souvenirs for a remote warrior settlement.

However, after the Alliance member brought back the Radiant Ancient Rubble, Claudine noted that the rock seemed more unpolished than she had expected, though she decided that she could put someone to work on it, believing that the tourists would enjoy the rustic look of it. She then had another idea and explained that they could sell the same product, but in different colors, which would drive up sales by having a limited quantity of each.

In order to stock up, she ordered the Alliance member to obtain Radiant Dark Rubble from the Dark Ancient Golems. After the Alliance member brought back the rubble, Claudine noted disdainfully that the rocks were quite boring, though she nevertheless resolved to find a way to earn money with them, after which she dismissed the Alliance member. The Alliance member asked Claudine what she was planning to do with the money, to which a confused Claudine asked them why that mattered before explaining that she didn’t need to think that far ahead. She added that they all had their roles, and that the less they thought about them, the better.

Some time later, Ayan contacted the Alliance member and told them that Manji had been protecting the Tribal Refugee Camp for some time by guarding the entrance to the Spirit Zone. As she was worried about his condition, she asked them to check in on him for her. In the Spirit Zone, the Alliance member met with Manji, who noted that they seemed to be quite powerful and asked them to help him with the area.

He explained that Stumpy used to guard and protect Perion until the Black Mage had corrupted it into Ghostwood Stumpy, which began threatening their borders. In order to protect the town, Manji asked them to defeat Ghostwood Stumpy. After the Alliance member returned, Manji noted with impressment that they seemed to be strong enough to help him further. He explained that the Golems in the area were endless, and that they needed to be eliminated regularly, for which he asked them to defeat the Ancient Dark Golems.

After the Alliance member returned, Manji told them that he had realized that the reason why the Golems were causing so much trouble was because of the spirits of Perion’s fallen warriors, which persisted after the final battle. He then asked them to obtain the Warrior Hearts of the fallen Perion warriors from the Ancient Mixed Golems, and to bring them back to Blackbull. The Alliance member brought the Warrior Hearts to Blackbull, who thanked them for their help and used the hearts to conduct a memorial service for the fallen warriors and put their spirits to rest.