Walkthrough

Introduction

This walkthrough is not intended as a substitute for playing the game, but as a supplement to assist anyone where they feel the need for more information or guidance. Because the game frequently provides the player with choices of serious importance, the resources provided here are intended to help you make the decision that suits you best. There is no optimal or "correct" path through the game. The developer has written several diverging paths of potentially equal merit, depending on your point of view, and beyond that the game is still under development.

To assist players in deciding what path they want to follow, this guide will inevitably include some spoilers up to the latest public release (See Version History). While we will endeavor to spoil as little as possible without providing some warning, the wiki will also have as complete information as possible for those who desire it. In some cases, this will require following a link to a specific page for more details.

General Advice

1. Complete Optional Content: In this game, it is probably better to think of anything "Optional" as "Missable" instead. At every opportunity, you are going to want to complete any optional content available. Not only do you see more of the characters and the story that way, but you also will usually obtain benefits that will aid you in the main story as well, whether that be gold, equipment, experience, or relationship increases. This guide will highlight relevant bonuses as much as possible, but being thorough is never a bad thing in this game.
2. Fight All Enemies: You will find that the number of enemies available in the game are strictly limited, and thus it is in your best interest to fight every one of them which is available. If you do not, you will be missing out on experience that the characters could use when they face the mandatory bosses down the line. To make collecting all the experience easier there will be links to the Experience Guide at regular intervals. The guide shows the maximum possible reachable amount of experience that can be gained to that point. It shows several branches for some decisions that can influence how much experience can be gained, so beware of spoilers.
3. Save Often and Keep The Saves: Because the game is still in development, we do not know the outcome of many of the decisions we face in current content. We have been given 200 save slots, but if you do not make saves or keep them, then you may find that you have no easy way to backtrack to any decisions you wish to change.

Prelude: The Calm Before the Storm

But first, an interactive cutscene plays with a brief introduction to the combat of the game where you get to play as the King of Versalia: Antiochus the Victorious.

Avalonia

The once mighty capital is now but a sleepy snowbound college town. You can follow the hints and Quest system to get through all of this content easily enough.

A Lady Distressed

Once you've visited the Bursar, go talk to the redhead on the far west corner of town for an invitation, before grabbing a meal in the inn. After you've ruined the Count's dastardly plans, you'll have a few errands to run.

Experience Target

The Cave of Trials

Introduce Ligaea to Ariadne (if you don't you lose -1 Loyalty from Ariadne), grab her gear, then go back for that meal you skipped out on.

DECISION CORNER: You'll see one of the goons you fought earlier watching the dancers, and you have a choice to make if you confront him.

"Never help Renaud again"	"Ask Ligaea."
Nothing	+1 Loyalty for Ligaea

Expand the table to view the results.

The cave is intended as something of a tutorial to the new combat system (don't forget to equip the Diadem from Renaud to Ariadne's headgear slot), which you can find more details on here: Gameplay. We recommend fighting every enemy, however optional they may seem, because experience is a limited resource in this game and you'll only be making future fights more difficult for yourself if you starve the characters of their EXP.

The final boss isn't too hard, but you can find more information here: Bosses After that just follow the quest log for some cutscenes.

Experience Target

Ancient Avalonia

Now that we're hunting down some enemies, we have a reason to visit the ruins of Ancient Avalonia.

OPTIONAL BONUS: Make sure to complete the optional objectives on the way for a +1 Loyalty bump for Ligaea.

Once you get there, there's effectively two buildings of interest.

First, the one directly north at the top of the map, which has a Star Ruby in the chest on the east, a rare material that will come in handy later.

Then we can proceed to the actual objective, which is the building on the northeast with a jammed door. There's a second door that works just next to it, and inside you'll find some roaming enemies to fight.

These enemies aren't too challenging if you play your cards right. Head left first for the Flame Brooch in the chest and equip it to Alexander, or he might get frozen too much against the Frosttails up above. After that, simply fight your way up and take care of business. The floor above contains a Kyriaestrian Amulet in a chest, and you can get a Kaelveri Bow for Ligaea to equip if you interact with the one on the ground in the tent.

Chapter 1: A City In Shadow

Avalonia

Now that Alexander's planning to return home, it's time to prepare for the journey. This is all cutscenes and dialogue, so just follow the quest log if you get lost.

Experience Target

On the Highway

DECISION CORNER: Almost immediately out of the gate, you are confronted with your first real choice: do you side with Ligaea or Ariadne in an argument? ...what, did you think you were going to avoid the bandits? You're heading that way anyway, so you might as well take care of them. No, the real question here is who do you favor?

"I agree with Ariadne, but..."	"I agree with Ligaea"
+1 Loyalty for Ariadne	+1 Loyalty for Ligaea

Advice
While we do not intend to play favorites in this guide, it feels incumbent upon us to warn you at this time that this decision may be the deciding factor later on between meeting a loyalty check for Ligaea, or missing it by 1 point. For this reason it is generally recommended that you side with Ligaea in this specific choice.

After that it's all easy bandit slaying (in the chests you can find 10 Aether Draughts, 540 Darics and an Archer Ribbon: equip it on Ligatea ASAP). Ligaea gets a little free loyalty for sparing the failed Knight (Alexander does that automatically), and after beating the boss you make camp overnight for some pleasant conversation.

Experience Target

Hypernia

Ariadne. Tempting fate.

While Hypernia is a pleasant enough place for those with coin, there seem to be troublesome rumors afoot. People have been going missing from the River District.

But, well, our heroes aren't here to deal with that anyway, so it's no cause for concern. Just buy your tickets and ride the airship out of here without a care in the world...

Exploring the City

There are a number of items to take care of while you wait for the airship in two days time. You'll find the inn by heading southwest, then all the way to the bottom of the subsequent map. From there, just explore the city and you'll hit all your objectives. There's some neat worldbuilding in the sanctum and bank (you get +10,000 Darics there too).

At this point we are also introduced for the first time to a new feature of the game:

Sidequests:

Sidequests are not required to progress the story, and are in that sense optional. They are, however, strongly recommended to do well in the game, and every one of them is fully integrated to the plot. Each sidequest will reward you in various ways, with gold, or Darics rather, equipment, relationship increases, or increases of other variables that control outcomes. To obtain the best outcomes in the game, you need to complete the sidequests. There is usually one or two per chapter.

While Ariadne expresses a desire to investigate the disappearances, you can avoid this sidequest by staying out of the River District, found to the Southeast. However, if you complete it instead, you will receive some nice bonuses. You can find the details here on the Quest page: spoilers.

Loyalty Gains: Talk to the Cyridaen in the customs office for a +1 Loyalty bump for Ariadne

Experience Target

Whatever you decide, once you have made your rounds, head back to the inn, then grab some dinner and call it a night.

Alcinian Festival

Most of the city is closed down for the day, so the party is resting. Ligaea has some errands to run though, so you still get to explore a bit for a short interlude. Almost everything is closed, but there's plenty of new dialogue for just Ligaea all over the place. You have to visit the Sanctum first between the two mandatory stops, but otherwise take this at your own pace, and you'll switch back over to Alexander when it's done.

Following Alexander now in the evening, you need to make one final round of the city. You need to talk to at least 5 of the following:

• The Paladin in the sanctum (she gives you an Alcinian Amulet)
• The cloaked information dealer behind the dress shop in the market district
• The woman behind the counter at the dress shop
• The guard in the guardhouse, on the west behind the counter (Gives you +10,000 Darics)
• The brothel Mistress
• Lord Caliphras (Only available if you've done the side quest)

Once you've collected enough conversations, you'll be prompted to visit the Noble District, where you'll find the butler is now willing to admit you to see Lady Salissa.

Cultist Tunnels

This was probably not the secret you expected the farm to the north of the city to hold, but here we are now. You don't need a bone for the dogs, which won't get in your way. Kill the cultists and rifle through their stuff. Thanks to their incompetence, it's easy enough to figure out what you need to do.

The enemies here don't roam, showing up as sigils on the floor instead, but in return they're almost entirely unavoidable. Pace yourself well and you'll manage them easily enough. You have to take out the green pedestal alongside the mandatory ones if you want to get the item in the chest (Cultist's Cowl, equip it on Ariadne and the Diadem in Alexander), but other than that it's relatively straightforward. There's a gargoyle on the wall near the stone pillar which you can press to make it disappear and avoid walking all the way back around.

After you disable the magic barrier, take the stairs on the right to pop back out where you started, and then avoid the swinging traps (just walk carefully) to make it to the end. You have a couple of fights ahead, and some cutscenes.

A Dark Choice

After the initial fight and the cutscene, Ligaea is free (for which you get +10 Ligaea) and you find yourselves in an unexpected predicament. You now face an important choice.

DECISION CORNER: Ligaea is saved, but a Demon has been summoned in the process! Amazingly, he has chosen not to immediately attack you, but has instead offered you a deal. Let him go free, and he will help you catch up with Grand Magister Xinthos. If you refuse and attempt to kill him, Xinthos will likely escape while you're busy fighting. You now must decide what is more important: Banishing this demon here and now? Or bringing the diabolical Xinthos to justice for his heinous crimes?

Experience Target

Accept Contract	Fight

Unlike the previous choices offered, this one will have large and unpredictable consequences. For future reference, we'll call choices like this a Breakpoint. Each choice leads down a separate path, where the game is different for the decision made here. The table below will contain the immediate relationship effects of the decision for Ligaea and Ariadne, and a link to another page with long-term spoilers, for anyone who wants the added context. If you want to avoid any spoilers, then don't click on the links.

Accept Contract	Fight
+4 Ligaea -3 Ariadne Gain Magister's Staff	-4 Ligaea +4 Ariadne Gain Dreamwalker's Robe
Long-term Spoilers: Here	Long-term Spoilers: Here

Whatever you decide, We highly recommend holding on to a copy of the save immediately preceding this decision. You may find that you want to play the other path some day.

With your decision made, you will either fight Somnus or Xinthos next. Once you've fought one or the other, you'll proceed through a series of cutscenes that wrap up your stay here in Hypernia. It's time at last to board that airship.

Experience Target

Chapter 2: The Long Journey Home

On the Airship

Well, with that disaster behind you it should be smooth sailing from here. Hopefully.

The trip on the airship actually is pretty peaceful. There's a sidequest available, but it's pretty calm. In addition, there's an optional boss. A certain young samurai wants to test your mettle with a little wager on the side.

DECISION CORNER: You can choose to fight the samurai with Alexander or, for double the reward, you can let Ariadne fight him instead. it is absolutely a tougher fight for Ariadne, although if you give her the right equipment she can do it.

Outcome	Alexander Fights	Ariadne Fights
You Win	+1 Ligaea +5,000 Darics	+1 Ligaea +1 Ariadne +10,000 Darics
You Lose	-1 Ligaea -5,000 Darics	-5,000 Darics

Once you're satisfied that you've done everything you want to do, go ahead back to your cabin and move on to the next segment.

Delphin Pass

Border Village

Alexander manages to pass through a hostile kingdom with remarkable ease, and almost as if by magic you find yourselves at the last village before the border. There's some signs of a military build-up that look concerning, and rumors of bandits in the pass. There's a decent amount of fighting in your future, because those rumors are "true". From a certain point of view anyway.

But before you head into the pass make sure to stop by the northwest house to start a useful sidequest.

In the meantime, if you find yourself getting run down, you can eat an infinite number of meals ( 500 Darics the first time) at the inn to heal the party, and the wishing well in the center gives a status boost that's useful for a few fights, all for the cheap, cheap price of 1 coin.

For the second "ambush" you'll need to climb some stairs behind a tree that are somewhat hard to spot. Here's a picture of Alexander looking right at them:

It blends in

Fight your way through the pass, clear out the cave on the north (the chest contains a Dueling Blade) and the Saboteur for the EXP, and return to the village to complete the sidequest, then check to make sure you have all 17 letters of Marque before heading on across the border. At long last, Alexander is heading home.

Experience Target

Nightvale

Inauspicious Beginnings

...but first, a fortuitous encounter! Alexander's father's Assassin has been cornered by Paladins from the Order of Alcina. They think he's guilty of murdering the King on the Prince's orders! Thankfully it seems that Prelate Lorena is willing to listen to reason but...

What timeline do you find yourself in?

Branch Somnus Lives	Branch Somnus Died
Explain Yourself? Unavailable	Explain Yourself? Result Yes Lorena knocked out +10 Alcinian Support (in chapter 8) Lorena is automatically spared No Fight Lorena with the rest +2 Noble Support

DECISION CORNER: Once again, you face a Breakpoint or decision of great import. Regardless of your previous choice, you will be fighting at least some of the Alcinians. The important decision once you have achieved victory is: what to do with them?

Spare all of them	Spare the leader		Finish them
	Did You Explain Yourself?
	Yes	No
+4 Ariadne -3 Sindarion +1 Popular Support	+2 Sindarion	-1 Ariadne +2 Sindarion	-3 Ariadne +4 Sindarion +1 Noble Support
Long-term Spoilers: Here	Long-term Spoilers: Here		Long-term Spoilers: Here

Just like the previous decision, this one has the ability to lead the story down two entirely different paths. If you want to avoid any spoilers, then don't click on the links.

Whatever you decide, the party leaves the Alcinians behind with haste, and you are soon at your destination. The journey home has finally ended.

Experience Target

Chapter 3: In the Halls of Legend

Shadowreach

Countess Veronica

With Alexander's successful homecoming we are now introduced to his closest ally in Versalia: Countess Veronica. His father's mistress, and an old friend of his mother, the Countess essentially raised Alexander and has served as his Regent for the duchy he inherited from his mother. And now she is ready to support his cause.

This is a minor interlude, so take some time to enjoy the story, and talk to all of the characters for some easy Loyalty gains. (+2 for Ariadne and Ligaea)

Elysios

The Ducal Palace

Elysios is the seat of the duchy, where Alexander can pick up an army to support his claim. While you're here though it's time to start planning for the future. Visit the throne room up the stairs for a look at the bigger picture.

Once you've done that, you should visit the Library and Alexander's private room for some interesting worldbuilding. Make sure to talk to Sir Ketros near the entrance for a new Military Longbow for Ligaea too. There's not much to see out in the city other than some shops on the east, so just talk to Sindarion on the balcony when you're ready to move on.

Spreading Rumors

Sindarion may not be exonerated yet, but there's work for him to do anyway. While you're controlling him, there's an interesting conversation to be had with Ligaea in the library, and then after that you will want to head out into the city to spread some rumors.

You will need to spread 5 rumors to complete this quest.

• Talk to the redheaded man at the outdoor cafe.
• Talk to the man wandering the street to the east
• Hop the fence to the northeast at the sparkling point, to talk to the cloaked figure
• Speak to the man on the bench below the posting boards
• Slip around the back to the guard in the southwest corner

When you've finished, you can head back to Alexander's room and talk to him to complete the segment.

Castle Kharos

A Secret Path

Alexander has a daring plan to take Castle Kharos by surprise. Naturally, this means its time for some more combat! But first, you have to find the secret entrance.

Here's a picture of it:

Click on the wall here

Now that you've snuck your way in, the combat here is a little different from before. In keeping with this being a surprise attack, you have the option of "ambushing" your enemies, and winning yourself a free round of combat before they can fight back. All you have to do is initiate the fight while they're facing away from you, and you should be set. The rest of this segment is pretty straightforward.

The more enemies you defeat the better off your army will fare in the process of sweeping in after you:

Number of Enemies Defeated	Impact
14 (Alexander Dialogue says that's enough)	+10 Army Morale, potentially more some day?
12 or more	+10 Army Morale
8 or more	+5 Army Morale
less than 8	No benefit

Fight and defeat 14 soldiers across the castle, then make your way to the Guard Captain's office down the stairs on the east. Once you've beaten him, it's all over.

Experience Target

Castle Town

Now that you've taken the castle, it's time to settle in. Since this will be your base of operations for quite some time, Alexander needs to make some rounds and put things to order. Visit Stelianos, the quartermaster, the mayor, and find the secret dungeon (the top right bookshelf in the library). You might want to check all of the bookshelves while you're there: there's an item in one of them, and some conditional dialogue dependent on it.

Make sure to complete the Allaying Fears sidequest while you're in town for a nice cloak.

Once you've finished, return to the throne to greet Veronica, and prepare for your next move: a visit to Ariadne's father in Calistrae.

Chapter 4: The City of Water

The City of Water

Castle Town

The Silver Envoy

With Alexander and Ariadne headed off to Calistrae, we'll be following Ligaea for a brief interlude. The chapter will jump back and forth between them a couple of times, to push forward events in both locations. To start, just follow the prompt and head to the market, the tavern, and the guardhouse.

The Northern Pass

Avoiding the Barricade

Because nothing can ever be simple for Alexander, you're going to have to make your way through a cave. You'll find the entrance to the north behind a tree, surprisingly close to the blockade. Just enter. There's a couple enemies here. You can ambush the soldiers, and there's a Grimoire of Sand in the chest on the right. After all that, fight the boss, and when you come out the other end you'll move on to the next segment.

Experience Target

Castle Kharos

To Clear the Pass

Back at the castle, Ligaea is getting to know the rest of the retinue. Veronica shares some interesting worldbuilding, and after that it's time to check in with Stelianos.

Completing this section isn't exactly hard, but if you need assistance you should find it here: Bosses. Then, it's back to Alexander.

Paraliapolis

Exploring the City

Initially, there's not much to do here. Talk to the following people to get some clues confirming Alexander's suspicion:

• The guy selling armor at the stall near the entrance
• In the tavern, on the eastern edge of the bar the guy in green

Once you've done that, it's time to head north to the palace. After a cutscene, don't bother exploring just yet. Just head north past the extravagant fountain to meet Ariadne's youngest sister Amalia. You'll get another cutscene, then briefly left to your own devices in a nice guest room.

DECISION CORNER: Of course, first you have to decide how you plan to dress! This isn't a major decision, but it will have a small impact on who approves of you, either commoners or nobles.

"Formal Attire"	"Current Attire"
+1 Noble support	+1 Popular Support

Now, first things first, go grab the Stormfeather Charm in the corner, and equip it if you want. Then go ahead and walk down the hall to the east for an interesting encounter.

With that bit of intrigue finished, you can meet Ariadne's mother downstairs in the center of the hall for the next cutscene. After which you get to see Ariadne's room for a brief discussion, then Alexander will be left to his own devices the following morning. Now you are free to explore the city.

There's plenty to do in Paraliapolis. You can visit the shops in the market district now, collect Sir Leonidas from the gates, and even start a useful sidequest: Telosian's Concerns.

OPTIONAL BONUS: If you pay a visit to the guild for Knights Errant you can fight a duel for a wager against one Sir Kythrias.

Outcome	Make a Wager
You Win	Gain Ornate Rapier
You Lose	-5,000 Darics

If you don't want to make the wager, you can purchase the rapier you would win instead for -12,000 Darics, the next time you roam the city.

You can head to the gardens by the palace doors when you've finished everything you want to get done and are ready to talk to Princess Lorelai.

Ariadne's Request

After a tumultous day and shocking night, it's time for another adventure with Ariadne, after you drop by into Anselm's guest room for some free gear, a Warding Necklace. Ironically, Ariadne's request here is actually a sidequest. Albeit one you don't want to miss, because if you don't even find 1 clue in the Smuggler Hunt you will lose points with Ariadne. Finishing it will boost your economic status too, so it's a worthy endeavor.

Experience Target

Beyond that you should visit Telosian, to wrap up Telosian's Concerns, and then drop by the Knights Errant guild to cash in your Letters of Marque for a nice +17,000 Darics (1000 per letter, max 17). Make any other last minute stops to shops and things, because you won't be back here for a while. When you're ready, head over to the palace doors to initiate the next segment.

Pacts and Vows

Talk to everyone for some interesting dialogue. You'll want to make sure to get Liliana (the maid), Gavril (Lysander's Son-in-law and heir apparent), and Zenovia on the balcony (the reasonable one of Lysander's consorts). Then dance with Ariadne for some fun cutscenes, and we're done with Calistrae for now.

Castle Town

A New Shadow

Meanwhile, back at Castle Town something dark is stirring. This is a very straightforward section. Make your way to the tavern, rescue Veronica, then confront the sorceress. She has some interesting things to say...

Experience Target

Chapter 5: The Lords of the West

Castle Kharos

Catching up

As you might expect, after such eventful days apart our protagonists have some stories to tell one another. Most of that happens off screen rather than make you relive it, but there's an interesting scene and some good conversations to see in a brief interlude before we dive into the meat of this chapter. After you've spoken with everyone in the conference room, we move right on.

Castle Town Customization

Despoina has an agenda for you, since she's been working hard. Make the rounds as directed (the visit to the forge will give you the Mythril Scale Armor for Alexander and a Steel Armguard for Ligaea) and make sure to stop by the Castle Town guard for some Training.

Loyalty Gains:

• Talk to Calysia in the Kyriaestrian shrine for a +1 Loyalty increase.
• You can also pay a visit to Sindarion in the private rooms for +5 Loyalty.

Customization: Once you're done, Despoina is going to ask you to select a new look for the castle. You can just go with the default options, of course, but where's the fun in that? Don't feel too concerned about not having any idea what the items you're picking look like: you'll get to change it later as many times as you want.

From here you run through a number of cutscenes covering a brief time skip, before we move on to the next segment which will introduce an entirely new aspect of the game.

Royal Funds and Holding Court

As a game about a ruling Prince, Noblesse Oblige provides multiple mechanisms for making decisions on a larger scale. In addition to tracking and adjusting specific Key Factors according to the decisions you make during the story, there are two primary mechanisms for this aspect of the game: Investments and Petitions. Upon returning from Calistrae, you are introduced to all three of these new elements of the game.

For both of these mechanisms, the game gives you a direct readout of the impact on the relevant variables while you are considering the decision. Because the game is so transparent, there is little need to include those details here. For Investments we won't usually bother, since we have collected them on their respective pages, where you can view the impact on loyalty as well as other factors. The Petitions will be listed in this walkthrough though, since you they are usually not optional.

Investment Advice: While investments are generally intended to be purely beneficial, your Royal Funds are still a limited resource. Most Investments will provide a benefit of +1 Key Factor for every 5% Royal Funds spent, but some may be more or less efficient than this, such as Professional Soldiers. Due to this inefficiency and high cost, the Professional Soldiers investment is not recommended at this time, although you should consider this choice for yourself of course.

Petitions

---

First Petition: Advertising

	Captain of the Elysios City Guard	Merchants
Petition	...to forbid bellicose advertising.	...to allow bellicose advertising.
Outcome	+1 Popular Support +1 Noble Support	+1 Economic Status +1 Army Size
Loyalty	+1 Ligaea	+1 Ariadne +1 Despoina

Second Petition: Old High Versalian

	Count Sylvandros Representative	Ekestrian Immigrant	Option C
Petition	Allow Language Requirements	Forbid language requirements	Create an Academy
Outcome	+1 Noble Support	+1 Popular Support	+2 Popular Support +2 Noble Support -10% Royal Funds
Loyalty	+1 Stelianos	+1 Despoina +1 Ligaea	+1 Ariadne +5 Ligaea

Third Petition: Old Knights

	Sir Lyndros	Sir Ketros
Petition	Train our soldiers	Recruit more soldiers
Outcome	+1 Army Quality +5 Army Morale	+2 Army Size
Loyalty	No effect	No effect

---

Prepare for the Dukes

Now that you've assessed your position, considered potential investments, and held court, it's time to finish preparing for the Dukes. Alexander's finally managed to put his room in order, so feel free to check the flavor text. The important thing is to check the map for information on your approaching visitors. You can click on everything else on the map too, but you only have to inspect the dukes as directed. After that, the option to use Fast Travel inside Castle Kharos and Castle Town is unlocked.

Once you've done that, it's time for one last round of preparation. You will also want to stop by the Sparring Room (found in the same menu that leads to Alexander's room). This room will be available each time you return to the castle going forward, so you will want to check it regularly in case anyone has reached a high enough loyalty score for skill improvements:

• With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, Ariadne will appear. Interacting with her will improve the skills of both characters:
  • Ariadne's spell Fireburst upgrades to Flameburst (more damage, more percentage of inflicting the burn status, and increases the duration of burning period from 3 to 5 rounds)
  • Alexander's spell Air Slash upgrades to Stormblast (the damage is now not always based on the target's defense stat, instead it is based on the lowest stat of both the target's Defense or Magic Defense)
• With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, Ligaea will appear. Interacting with her have the following effects:
  • Ligaea gains the ability to cast the Wind Veil spell herself (it costs 50 MP from Alexander's MP pool but Ligaea can cast it without Alexander in the party or consuming a turn for either of them)
  • Alexander creates the Wind Wall spell (similar to Wind Veil, but can only be cast on himself and it protects Alexander from other types of damage, not just ranged)

Loyalty Gains: Talk to Calysia in the library for +1 Loyalty.

Make any investments you plan to for now, and head down to Castle Town to Clear the Wards. Once you've done all of that, go ahead to the east wing and commission some special equipment. Then, make any last stops you want before heading back to the throne to move on.

Experience Target

Highpass Bridge

The Duchess of Antioch

This is a relatively straightforward segment. Alexander's new skill will make the combat somewhat easier, but be wary of using it too much: you can run him out of mana if you aren't careful. Make it through the fights to meet the Duchess of Antioch: Cynthia.

Experience Target

Castle Kharos

A Banquet of Trouble

After that eventful night, the Dukes finally arrive. You get to enjoy a fine banquet. Talk to everyone present on the main stage with you, then you'll be done with that segment and you'll see a couple of cutscenes.

To represent the change in your circumstances from meeting with the Dukes and also adding Cynthia's remaining forces and resources to your own, you see the following improvements:

• +5 Economic Control
• +20% Royal Funds

• +7 Army Size
• +7 Army Quality
• +10 Army Morale

But now with their support secured, for the moment, it is time at last to head for the Elysian Groves.

Chapter 6: The Forest by Moonlight

Elysios

Before we get to the groves, we get the chance to explore some new sections of this city. There's a couple of optional objectives you'll want to complete here. First though, take a moment and open up the items menu. Select the "Religious Orders of Velonia" book for a menu prompt that lets you read it. You'll want to at least select each option to fully complete the quest.

The Market District

To the east, you can find three things of note:

• A brief cutscene with Ariadne and Ligaea, triggered to the left of the arena, where you get a rare material: Falcon Feathers.
• A shop to the north with new equipment on offer (for Cynthia)
• A tournament for Cynthia to participate in. If you win, you get a Black Knight's Helm, +5,000 Darics and 2,300 Exp

The Noble District

You'll find an Investment proposal and a sidequest both here. For the investment, just talk to Count Icarus. For the sidequest Threatened Sisters, enter the local grove for the Order of Alivae.

Once you're done with everything, just head to the east palace, where you can move on to the next segment.

Experience Target

Camping on the Road

Have a couple of nice conversations with everyone, then call it a night.

The Elysian Groves

Defending the Order

Get ready for a lot of fighting, because you're heading into one of the longest combat sequences in the game now. The Order of Alcina has attacked the Elysian Groves, in an effort to wipe out the Order of Alivae once and for all. Naturally, we can't let that happen.

You'll need to clear out the groves one section at a time, but to put you a little bit at ease here: this is in no way timed. You can take your time exploring each individual section without consequence, and the game will let you know once you've got all the enemies you're supposed to.

Experience Target

The Grove of Phantasms

Once you're past Grove Town, you'll be introduced to a three part dungeon, split into 3 'Paths'. The first and second part can be done in whatever order you like, with the central and final path left locked off until the other two are done. Once you have completed at least one path, a priestess will appear at the beginning who can heal the party for you.

Path of the New Moon (Right Hand Path)

On the right hand, this path includes a number of optional bosses, or wards, in addition to the wandering Alcinian invaders. You can return to fight the optional bosses later if you wish, and at that later point you would be fully healed between each attempt should you lose. Otherwise, this path is pretty straightforward. Defeat the enemies, and make your way north to empower the altar.

OPTIONAL BONUS: While the optional bosses are tougher than your average fight, you do not lose the game if they defeat you (although you aren't fully healed either at this point). You can try them as many times as you like, and behind each one you'll find some valuable items:

• Moonring's Grace which can decrease MP cost by 10%,
• Ars Athanasia which is a good boost for Calysia's offensive magic,
• Chest with a ton of rare materials, which will save you a lot of Darics when you need them for the customized equipment Lucian's going to make,
• Pin of Deflection, deflects a good portion of ranged damage.

Path of the Full Moon (Left Hand Path)

On the left hand, this path includes one optional ward fight, with a reward of +12,000 Darics in the chest. Otherwise just defeat all the enemies, activate the various altars, and make your way north to empower the altar.

Path of the Eclipse (Center Path)

The screen is going to be very obscured for this section, but if you take it slowly you can avoid any trouble. Don't worry too much about stepping off the path though. The damage for any misstep is really really small, and you can run from the pointless fights. Just make your way down the path as smoothly as you can, and you'll have two more Boss fights to go to complete the dungeon, with a couple of cutscenes of course.

Experience Target

The Elysian Groves

Dealing with the Aftermath

With the fighting done, it's time to do what Alexander originally came here for. That is: negotiate relations with the Order of Alivae and also test Sindarion's claim of innocence. Since things are pretty hectic right now, you've also got the chance to help the order out, and naturally you might as well explore the town while you're there right? There's a free Tome of Spellwarding lying around in the northeast corner of Grove Town.

New Investment:

• Mooncloth: Visit Galatea, the shopkeeper, for another Investment proposal. She wants to look into reviving a special material called Mooncloth that will probably be quite useful for custom armor in the future. We strongly recommend that you head over to Despoina in the inn and invest in this before the end of the chapter, as that will begin an important timer for certain customized armors to become available sooner.

Despoina is available to discuss investment proposals in your room in the inn. You can also find Ianthia in the administrative hall, where you can begin the Discontent Baron sidequest to help her and the Order out. You'll be called upon to make a decision during the quest if you do so:

...pay a fine commensurate with the crime	...publicly renounce any claim upon the village
+2 Cynthia +2 Despoina +2 Sindarion +5% Royal Funds	+2 Ariadne +2 Calysia +2 Ligaea +1 Popular Support

After that, pay a visit to Lorena (if she's alive), the Library, and Ophelia, make sure you've invested in anything you want to with Despoina in the inn, and you can return to the inn to move on to the next segment. We highly recommend you make a save here, because the next segment is going to be another Breakpoint.

To Share the Sky

The remainder of this chapter consists of some big cutscenes, and a number of important choices for you to make.

DECISION CORNER: First of all, the Elysian Groves normal defenders have largely been slain by the Order of Alcina. Alexander can't stay, and Duke Cleon's support is too untrustworthy to rely on, so you'll have to deploy a force of your own from Castle Kharos for a more long term defense. The question is: how many should you deploy?

Deployment	A Large Contingent	A Moderate Contingent	A Small Contingent
Outcome	+4 Noble Support +20 Alivaen Support -20 Army Morale	+1 Noble Support +1 Popular Support +10 Alivaen Support -10 Army Morale	+1 Noble Support +5 Alivaen Support -5 Army Morale
Loyalty	+5 Ariadne +10 Calysia	+5 Calysia +5 Despoina +2 Ligaea	+5 Cynthia +5 Sindarion -2 Calysia

With your deployments decided, it's time to face your next choice. Only here, just as in chapter 2, we must ask:

What timeline do you find yourself in?

Branch Lorena Lives

Branch Lorena Died

DECISION CORNER: If you let Lorena live in Chapter 2, then she's going to offer to form a new reformed Order of Alcina in your service, if you'll give her a chance. This decision will lead to such large differences going forwards that it is a Breakpoint. As usual, the immediate costs are listed below, with a link to spoilers for later chapters. Choice Accept Lorena's Offer Banish the Order of Alcina Outcome +20 Alcinian Support -10/5 Alivaen Support IF "Spare them all"/"Spare the leader" -1 Noble Support +2 Popular Support Recruit Lorena Miss out on a choice which offers either +10 Alivaen Support, or +5 Ligaea Miss an optional Scene with Calysia -100 Alcinian Support +10 Alivaen Support +2 Noble Support -1 Popular Support Exile Lorena Don't miss out on a choice which offers either +10 Alivaen Support, or +5 Ligaea Potential Scene with Calysia Loyalty +5 Ariadne +5 Cynthia +5 Despoina +20/15 Lorena IF "Spare them all"/"Spare the leader" -5 Sindarion -10/5 Calysia IF "Spare them all"/"Spare the leader" +5 Ligaea +10 Sindarion Calysia's Base Loyalty Score of 20 is not diminished -5 Cynthia -5 Despoina Long Term: Spoilers: Here Spoilers: Here

DECISION CORNER: With Lorena dead, you have no choice but to expel the Order of Alcina for their crimes. The decision you face instead is: how soon do you announce this? Announce it immediately Hold Off +2 Noble Support -1 Popular Support No Change Either way, you gain +10 Sindarion and +10 Alivaen Support for banishing the Alcinians

With your momentous decision made, you now meet with Ophelia. Most of what Alexander needed to discuss with her has become somewhat moot due to recent events, however. So there's not really any big decisions to make here. As noted above however, if you have rejected Lorena's offer, she does decide to offer a closer relationship between the Order of Alivae and the Crown...

What timeline do you find yourself in?

Branch Lorena Accepted	Branch Alcinian's Banished
Accept the Pact? Unavailable	DECISION CORNER: There's a traditional ritual to renew the pact between the Order of Alivae and the Sorcerer Kings. Because of their traditions, it's a tantric ritual, and Alexander must decide if that's something he's willing to do, even with Ariadne and Ligaea's assurances. I will accept the pact I must decline the pact +10 Alivaen Support +5 Ligaea

Once that decision is complete, you'll have some more cutscenes and then finally you gather for a certain ritual for Sindarion. There's nothing to miss here but dialogue, so just talk to everyone and enjoy the show! In the last conversation between Ophelia and Alexander she gifts him a Sacred Wood.

Chapter 7: The Fate of Riversmeet

Castle Kharos

From now on, when you return to Kharos, we’re going to separate the content into the following categories:

• Unique Content: Content that will only be found during this chapter. This section will usually be named the same thing as the Main Quest
• Petitions: This chapter’s round of petitions at Kharos
• Variable Content: Content that may first be found during this chapter, depending on different factors. May not be present for you until later, or possibly never at all.
• Checklist: A (possibly redundant) list of items you should really make sure to get done before moving on

This new organization is required as the game proceeds to provide increasingly variable possibilities for what you might find upon returning to Castle Kharos from any given excursion, depending on your choices, investments, and other factors.

A Day of Rest

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After such a long and arduous journey, it's good to be back at Kharos once more. As always, it's time to make the rounds.

BRANCH NOTES: If you recruited Lorena, you can get a +3 Loyalty bonus from talking to her in the throne room. You'll also be prompted to search town for a suitable location for her new Order's first Sanctum. You'll be using the house that's up for sale, so go ahead and get that settled with the owner before moving on.

There's a chance to work on your army's Armor Standards as a sidequest. Then move on to the rest of your tasks. Talk to Despoina about potential investments, pick up your custom weapon from Lucian and commission another.

Petitions

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There's some new petitions to be addressed too:

First Petition: Caravans

	Lord Michael, Mayor of Castle Town	Calistrian Merchant	Option C
Petition	More strictly regulate mercenaries.	Prioritize the protection of trade.	Have the merchant caravans protected myself.
Outcome	+1 Popular Support	+1 Economic Status	+1 Popular Support +1 Economic Status -5 Army Morale
Loyalty	+1 Calysia +1 Cynthia +1 Ligaea	+2 Despoina +1 Sindarion	+1 Ariadne +1 Calysia +1 Cynthia +2 Despoina +1 Ligaea +1 Sindarion +5 Stelianos

Second Petition: Banners

	Duke Heraclitus' Representative	Count Stelianos
Petition	...allow the use of ducal banners.	...unite the soldiers under the royal banner.
Outcome	+1 Noble Support	+5 Army Morale
Loyalty	+1 Calysia +1 Cynthia +1 Sindarion	+1 Ariadne +1 Despoina +1 Ligaea +1 Stelianos

Variable Content

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Sidequests:

• If you visit the market you'll find the opportunity to meet Melissa the Tanner for the first time.

Investment Returns:

• Kharos Grounds: If you invested in the Kharos Grounds proposal, then Count Icarus's son, Lord Soren will show up waiting just outside the front door for you. He gives you an option to customize the exterior grounds.
• Mooncloth: if you invested in Galatea's Mooncloth proposal then she'll show up in the East wing, preparing to get to work
• Kharos Defenses: If you invested in the Kharos Defenses proposal, you'll find a number of ballistae set up on the castle roof, with a number of new soldiers to man them.

Sparring Room:

• Calysia: With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, Calysia will appear. Interacting with her will improve the Echo of Light Skill in two ways:
  • The attacks against foes afflicted by it deal more damage
  • Alexander now recovers MP when he attacks enemies under Echo of Light
• Sindarion: With a Loyalty of ≥ 30, you can interact with Sindarion, and he will learn Wracking Poison.
• Sindarion: With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, talking to Sindarion a second time will encourage him to develop the Acidic Shiv skill, and Alexander's Blitz skill will penetrate armor more effectively.

Custom Gear:

Lucian has been hard at work, and some new weapon designs are introduced for both Cynthia and Sindarion.

• Oathkeeper: For Cynthia. A halberd to boost both her attack and defense, and provide extra bonuses for every stack of fury.
• Black Wind: For Sindarion. Twin daggers that boost Sindarion's attack. They also come with a new quite strong poison option.

Checklist

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If you haven't already you should make sure to:

• Collect and Commission a Custom Weapon with Lucian
• Complete any sidequests left pending
• Make any investments you intend to
• Check the Sparring Room for any loyalty bonuses

Finally, head to the throne to plan for Ariston's rescue.

Riversmeet

Before you can rescue Ariston, however, it seems that you have a problem closer to hand. Count Hektor of Riversmeet.

Count Hektor

After the cutscenes, feel free to explore the castle. There's not much to see really, but you'll have to talk to all of Count Hektor's children before you can start the meeting, so you might as well talk to everyone.

After the meeting, you'll be making camp with your army outside for the night. If you missed the cutscene in Elysios city about the bird, you can see it here, or a second one if you've already got the Falcon Feathers. The next session allows you to make fights significantly tougher for more experience. If you want all the experience, equip Ligaea and Sindarion with your best accessories now. My recommendations without having bought anything are: Kyriaestrian Amulet and Ligaea's Charm for Ligaea. Vesterion's Amulet/Crown Loyalist Pendant and Pin of Deflection for Sindarion.

Loyalty Gains: Talk to everyone to get these

• +1 Ariadne
• +2 Cynthia
• +1 Ligaea
• +2 Lorena
• +3 Sindarion
• +5 Stelianos

Once you've spoken with everyone, head northeast for the command tent and hold the strategy session.

Infiltration

For this next segment, don't worry overmuch about getting caught. You'll just end up back at the beginning. It can be a hassle though, so avoid any street that runs north-south. To make your way northeast, start by going straight west to the Brothel. Pass through it to the back door. From there, head all the way east to the armor shop. Feel free to buy what you want, but once you're done just head around the right hand side.

Pupping out on the street, you should see a sparkle on the fence to the north. Click on that, pass through the gate on the north side, and head for the carriage for a cutscene.

DECISION CORNER: Just past the cutscene, you'll be called upon to make a decision regarding the sabotage Sindarion does. Do you set up the catapults to explode when someone tries to launch them? Or do you just cut the ropes for a relatively easy repair, but less impressive show?

...rig them with firebombs	...cut the firing cords
+5 Army Morale	+1 Army Quality

Whatever you decide, it's time for a little sneaky ambushing. When you hit the enemies from behind, as usual you get a free round. Sometimes they'll call for aid, and if you let them get the call out then you'll be fighting 7 more enemies just for that fight, so don't let them succeed unless you're confident you can handle it. The extra enemies do provide additional experience, if you're willing to suffer for it. You have to take out all 6 North-facing catapults, then make your way to the stairs on the west side of the north gate.

Max Experience Guide

In order to get the max possible experience in this section, you need to allow all 8 engineers to call for reinforcements. These reinforcement add 3 or 4 new enemies to the fight, which makes things quite tough with just Ligaea, Sindarion and Simon. Here I will explain in which order you should take the various enemies, what equipment you should use for Ligaea and Sindarion as well as general combat strategies to make the fights easier. First the equipment. This is the equipment I used without buying anything in the game and without choosing to forge Falconstrike during the first round of custom equipment forging. You might have stronger alternatives if you bought equipment at any point.

Equipment Guide

Ligaea	Sindarion
Military Longbow	Soldier's Dagger
Steel Armguard	Soldier's Dagger
Archer's Ribbon	/<Empty/>
Huntress's Armor	Assassin's Vest
/<Empty/>	Traveler's Cloak
Kyriaestrian Amulet	Crown Loyalist Pendant if available. Else Vesterion's Amulet
Ligaea's Charm	Pin of Deflection

The Wall contains 6 towers with a catapult each. The different towers have different amounts of engineers on them and only the engineers call for help. So it's better to take out the towers with 1 Engineer first and then take on the towers with 2 engineers after all your characters have leveled up once. There are also two soldier groups patrolling the walls. These are the easiest enemies since they don't have engineers with them. You should avoid them for now and take them on if you need the opportunity to heal back up before one of the two engineer towers (Since Simon can provide free healing each battle). The following tables show which enemies are in which towers. The towers are numbered from left to right, the order in which they appear in the game map. Since you start at the rightmost point of the map, tower 6 is the one nearest to you when you start this section.

Tower Guide

Tower 1	Tower 2	Tower 3	Tower 4	Tower 5	Tower 6
1 Engineer 1 Watchman	2 Engineers	1 Engineer 1 Crossbowman	1 Engineer 1 Watchman	1 Engineer 1 Crossbowman	2 Engineers

Lastly some general combat advice. Remember to attack enemies from behind to get a vanish on Sindarion and a turn of stunned enemies. If you fight 2 Engineers use Sindarion's Ambush and Simon's Desperate Slam to stun one of them (After the initial stun wore off), so that the reinforcements arrive staggered by one or ideally two turns. This allows you to thin the reinforcements a bit before the rest of them arrive. Try to focuss down singular enemies, aside from Sindarion's Fan of Knives ability. You should take out enemies with the following priorities: Crossbowman > Blade > Watchman > Engineer Don't hesitate to finish off a low health enemy though.

Ligaea

With her amulet, the cover ability and the wind veil Ligaea will be your tankiest unit in this section. Don't hesitate to use cover, use barbed arrows to inflict bleed and use Power shot as soon as you can, since it can take out almost an entire enemy in one shot.

Sindarion

Switch to Wracking Poison for this section. Reducing incoming damage by stunning enemies with it is very useful. Use Fan of Knives to spread your poison around. Use Ambush to stun enemies. Use Firebomb as often as possible. It does a ton of damage and damage over time (Don't waste it on almost dead enemies, though). Use Improved Potion if anyone gets low.

Simon

Simon isn't the strongest, but he's not weak either. He doesn't have as much defenses as the other two so he's the most likely to die in combat. Try to keep him alive, but don't sweat it if he dies. You can heal him back up with his High Potion skill while fighting one of the patrolling soldier squads. Use Desperate Slam often. Use High Potion the first time when he gets around 500 HP. Afterwards use it every time it becomes available. Use Heroic Stand in the battles with 2 Engineers once all reinforcements have arrived. Otherwise use Piercing Shot's and Double Shot's when available. He will likely die in the battles against 2 Engineers. Try to keep him alive, but don't worry too much about it, he's useful but your weakest fighter.

Down in the winch room, open the chest for some free potions, then save before you click on the winch to move on.

Experience Target

The Battle for Riversmeet

With your sabotage and infiltration, the attack is a success. Your forces proceed down both avenues, but there's nothing for you to see to the east, so just head west for a quick succession of battles as you push your way forward. You'll be getting different support characters at various points here, so feel free to check their status if you want to make best use of them.

Once you've made it all the way to the front doors, Cynthia will cut them open for you. Have fun storming the castle!

There's a number of enemies inside. You can find an Amulet of Bladeturning on the 2nd floor up to the east.

OPTIONAL BONUS: If you find and talk to all 3 of Simon's sisters, you'll earn +5 Ligaea. They're all in the castle, one on each floor, starting with the first. They're not exactly hiding, so you can find them easily enough if you want to.

When you're ready, head up the stairs to the 4th floor for for a final fight to deal with the Count once and for all.

Experience Target

You'll meet briefly in the throne room, where Stelianos informs you that the army saw minor casualties (-2 Army Size) and the chapter comes to an end.

Chapter 8: A Myrmidon's Honor

Riversmeet

The Battle's Aftermath

With the battle won, there is plenty of work to be done and Alexander is bad at sitting on his hands. Since most of the party is resting, Alexander will only be accompanied by one person. You'll be joined by either Calysia or Lorena, depending on whether or not you banished the Alcinians.

BRANCH NOTES: If you have Lorena with you, you can get +5 Loyalty for her by reading the Southeast bookshelf in the castle library.

You'll want to complete the Public Relations sidequest, visit the Alcinian Sanctum, then complete the Smuggler's Den sidequest which starts by talking to the guy there. Once you've finished those, just return to Alexander's room in the keep to go rescue Ariston.

Experience Target

Demetrius' Estate

A Daring Rescue

As in previous segments of the game, this is one for sneaky ambush combat. It's especially important to not let any enemies sound the alarm, because that is game over. You can stop them by silencing (with Sindarion) or killing them of course. As usual, we recommend beating all of the enemies for the experience.

Head in through the west entrance, then follow the only available path to the main hall. Defeat the wandering enemies and the two sentry knights, then head to the northeast corner balcony and move towards the center to spy on Demetrius' banquet for a fascinating peek on the inner workings of Antipater's faction.

Ransack the armory, with a tough boss fight (and some nice rewards: Crucible Steel, Superb Leather, Myrmidon Plate and Myrmidon Shield), on the balcony to the southeast. Then head down the stairs to the ground floor and find the northeast stairs leading down to Ariston's prison. Once you're ready, fight the boss, and you're done except for some cutscenes.

Experience Target

At this point, your infiltration is discovered, but if you completed the optional objectives, then you've successfully covered your tracks. See the results below:

Optional Objectives	Distraction Points
Spy on the banquet	+0
Defeat the sentry knights	+1
Ransack the armory	+1
Total Distraction Points	Result
2	+2 Noble support
1	+1 Noble support
0	-1 Noble support

Riversmeet

The Wake of Dishonor

There won't be any exploring in this section, but there are still some important decisions to be made. First, we have a new round of petitions.

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First Petition: Soldiers in the Inn

What timeline do you find yourself in?

Spoke with the Innkeeper	Did not Speak with the Innkeeper
Innkeeper Ariadne's Honor Guard Petition ...to bar the honor guard from the inn. ...that the soldiers should be treated normally. Outcome +1 Popular Support +5 Army Morale Loyalty No effect No effect	No Petition

Second Petition: Free or Favored Trade

	Lady Kara	Riversmeet Merchant
Petition	...end the trade agreement.	...continue the trade agreement.
Outcome	+1 Popular Support +2 Economic Status +1 Economic Control	+2 Army Quality +5 Army Morale Extra materials
Loyalty	No effect	No effect

Third Petition: Alcinian Sects OR Disposition of the Sanctum

What timeline do you find yourself in?

Branch: Lorena Accepted	Branch: Alcinian's Banished
Lorena Eugenios Petition ...forbid multiple sects. ...allow multiple sects. Outcome +10 Alcinian Support +1 Popular Support +5 Alivaen Support Loyalty No effect No effect	Iris Former Alcinian Priest Option C Petition ...fund a sacred grove. ...fund a healer's guild. ...fund both. Outcome +10 Alivaen Support +2 Popular Support +2 Popular Support +10 Alivaen Support -10% Royal Funds Loyalty No effect No effect No effect

However, because Ariadne is calling the shots there are no loyalty changes as a consequence. Afterwards there are a couple of cutscenes and then some more business.

DECISION CORNER: Now it is time to decide the fate of Lord Kadmus. After talking with his family and retainers you must decide between accepting him into your service, risky as that may be, or exiling him to possibly return as your foe again someday. Whatever you decide, Kadmus will not be joining your Hetairoi so this is not a Breakpoint, but there is still potential for long term consequences in later chapters:

...accept your service	...decline your service
+1 Popular Support +1 Elite Units	+1 Noble Support +5 Army Morale

With that decision made you gather once more with your retinue, to decide upon what garrison you intend to leave in the city. Before you begin, you can chat with your Hetairoi for some additional loyalty:

Loyalty Gains:

• +1 Calysia
• +1 Cynthia
• +2 Lorena
• +1 Sindarion

DECISION CORNER: Now you have to decide how many soldiers you plan to deploy to Riversmeet. There are obviously pros and cons to each option so you'll have to decide what you think the best choice is.

Deployment	Key Factor Check	A Small Contingent	A Moderate Contingent	A Large Contingent
Outcome	Army Quality >21	+1 Economic Status	+2 Economic Status +2 Popular Support -5 Army Morale	+3 Economic Status +3 Popular Support -10 Army Morale
				+5 Despoina
	Army Quality >16		+2 Economic Status +1 Popular Support -5 Army Morale	+2 Economic Status +2 Popular Support -10 Army Morale
			+3 Despoina (more, for a total of 5)
	Army Quality <17		+1 Economic Status +1 Popular Support -5 Army Morale	+2 Economic Status +1 Popular Support -10 Army Morale
Loyalty	Regardless	+1 Ariadne +2 Sindarion -2 Cynthia -1 Ligaea	+2 Calysia +2 Cynthia +2 Despoina +2 Lorena	+5 Cynthia +5 Lorena +2 Ligaea -1 Ariadne -2 Sindarion

You'll note that Despoina favors a different size deployment depending on the quality of your army, because a large contingent is more efficient with a high quality, and Despoina likes efficiency.

Castle Kharos

Relentlessly Onward

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Upon returning to Castle Kharos, you get +3 Economic Control for seizing Riversmeet. You also get your first round of monthly income, with an increase of +28% or +29% Royal Funds! Depending on your Economic Control score. Once you're free to roam, you should visit Despoina in the vault to discuss her plans for the funds seized at Riversmeet.

BRANCH NOTES: If you recruited Lorena, the Alcinian sanctum will be ready for you to examine now.

Make sure to visit the Alivaen grove, as well as stop by the Sparring room for Ariadne and Ligaea's newest skill, the Blazing Shot (both need to be in the battle for Ligaea to use it).

Petitions

---

This time at least, Ariadne took care of the petitions for Alexander in Riversmeet. However, you do have some visitors from Hypernia...and due to the decision you made all the way back in Chapter 1, you may be facing a very different outcome:

Branch Somnus Lives

Branch Somnus Died

If you let Somnus live in Chapter 1, you now face a second Breakpoint decision from the same individual, as Somnus offers you his services. Choice Accept Somnus' Service Decline Somnus' Service Outcome Recruit Somnus -3/-1 Popular Support (Lorena Accepted/Banished) -10 Alcinian Support Exile Somnus +5 Alcinian Support Loyalty +2 Ariadne +2 Calysia (IF Lorena banished) +5 Despoina +2 Ligaea +5 Sindarion -2 Cynthia -10 Lorena -1 Stelianos +5 Cynthia +10 Lorena +2 Stelianos -2 Ariadne -5 Despoina -2 Ligaea Long Term: Spoilers: Here Spoilers: Here

Accept Somnus Service? Unavailable

Alexander accepts Lady Salissa's offered service regardless of which branch you are on and what you decide. Whether Xinthos lived or died, it seems Hypernia bids fair to offer diplomatic complications for the future, one way or another.

Variable Content

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Sidequest:

• Visit the tavern to meet an Old Friend of Cynthia's.

Investment Returns:

• Grove Restoration: The work is underway, and if you funded this you receive a Sacred Wood from Iris in the grove in town when you visit.
• Mooncloth: Galatea should be one step closer to producing custom armor for you. If you invested in her proposal at the earliest opportunity, she can take your first request.

Sparring Room:

• Ligaea and Sindarion: They hold a mock battle, officiated by Alexander, and both make improvements:
  • Ligaea's TP loss when she takes damage in combat is reduced from 10 TP to 5 TP
  • Sindarion gains a +15% increased hit rate if he is stealthed and additional +15% when using his Throwing Dagger skill.

BRANCH NOTES: If Lorena has joined the hetairoi, Ariadne and Lorena learn to coordinate her magic schools.

• Ariadne and Lorena: Both get access to Thermal Shock: stacks of Burning increase Frost damage and stacks of Chilled or Frozen increase Fire damage.

Custom Gear:

Check in with Lucian to pick up whatever you commissioned last time. The weapons are all the same, but if you are far enough along Galatea's investment, and have introduced Melissa to Lucian, there will be some new options.

Weapons

• Waning Crescent: For Calysia. A staff that boosts her spellcasting and gives her basic a SP regen rate per turn.

Armor

BRANCH NOTES: If Somnus is dead, Galatea will propose upgrading the Dreamwalker's Robe for Ariadne's use, but she'll need some time to make it feasible. If Somnus is not dead, she will instead provide a design to commission:

• Regal Mooncloth Coat: For Ariadne.

• Sacred Mooncloth Robes: For Calysia. Caster robe
• Crucible Mail: For Ligaea.
• Lamellar Huntress's Armor: For Ligaea.
• Lamellar Assassin's Vest: For Sindarion.

Other:

• If you got your social factors high enough, Veronica will mention that she has something for you when you discuss business with Despoina. Visit her in her room:

SOCIAL CHECK: If you've done well enough, Veronica should prompt you to pay her a visit in her personal room.

Key Factor Checked	Value	Result
Noble Support	>9	Gain Prince's Regalia
Popular Support	>11

Take a look at the Key Factors page to consider your options if you want to plan for this, although beware of potential spoilers if you don't want to risk peering ahead.

NOTE: The visitors from Hypernia may pose a choice for you that could diminish your Popular Support. You may want to check in with Veronica before you talk to them, to get this check out of the way first.

BRANCH NOTES:

• If Lorena is dead or exiled, you will instead find a man named Dion standing before the house that is for sale. He will give you a proposal to fund a Healer's Guild.

• If you continued the trade agreement with the Riversmeet Merchants, you can speak to the vendor in the east wing to choose your bribe some rare materials. The options are as follows (choose 1):
  • +1 Crucible Steel
  • +1 Sacred Wood
  • +1 Star Ruby and +1 Imbued Emerald
  • +1 Star Sapphire and +1 Imbued Opal
  • +2 Superb Leather

Checklist

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Make one last round:

• Collect and Commission a Custom Weapon with Lucian
• Commission armor with Galatea
• Complete any Sidequests left pending
• Make any Investments you intend to
• Check the Sparring Room for any loyalty bonuses

With everything taken care of, return to the throne for a discussion of Alexander's next move: A visit to Strategos Theseus.

Experience Target

Chapter 9: Fateful Encounters

The Shadowwood

Encounter On the Road

After a few cutscenes you're on your way to Castle Salericos, but on the way you come across a caravan that's recovering from an ambush! They claim a group of bandits came out of the woods, and now they won't be able to deliver Duke Cleon's taxes since the bandits took it all...

Naturally, you're going to investigate. Talk to Ligaea, Kara, and Calysia then return to where you started to set out in pursuit. There's a free set of Sharptooth Arrows on the ground to the south of the wagons if you care to pick it up first though.

BRANCH NOTES: If you have Somnus with you, you can get +1 Loyalty by talking to him.

A Village in the Woods

There's no rush to get things done here, so take your time exploring. When you talk to the village Elder, a lot of people move about, so I recommend you check anything you want to first before you speak with her. As a note, you can't catch the little kid, so don't bother trying.

There's a sidequest Mending Fences that can be done anytime, and a second sidequest Building Goodwill that you can only start once you've spoken with the village elder. After your conversation with her, you can find Galene on the north side of the village talking to her father. Once you've done everything you want to, go ahead and leave the village by the western exit to fight the bandits.

On the Trail

This segment isn't exactly difficult, as it's intended as somewhat of an introductory section for Somnus, should you have accepted him into your service. You'll be fighting the bandits and their trained hounds, so there's a lot of ranged and large group fights ahead. The important thing to avoid though is walking into any of the ambushes you could have avoided. They'll be clearly signposted by some dialogue, so there's no reason not to ambush them instead. You'll find 4 chests along the way, containing some consumable items and equipment (Woodsman's Cloak, Heavy Poleaxe, Hi-Potion (x2), Smelling Salts (x2)). Collect them all, fight the enemies, and make your way to their leader for the final confrontation. Afterwards, the game will evaluate how well you've done in the background before we move on.

Experience Target

Ambushes Avoided	Result	Alexander reaction
3	+2 Somnus +2 Sindarion	(We did an excellent job of avoiding the ambushes they set for us. It's good to see our skill at that hasn't dulled since Delphin Pass.)
2	-3 Somnus -3 Sindarion	(...we could've done a little better at avoiding the ambushes. We should be more careful in the future.)
1 or less	-3 Cynthia -5 Somnus -5 Sindarion	(...we could've done considerably better at avoiding the ambushes. That was careless.)

Albion

The Hero of Another Tale

Surprised? Well, it looks like you're going to be playing as a party of one for the moment. Go ahead and let him have the shield, since it's not like anyone else can use it, and let's get this show on the road!

First, head over to the stalls to the east for some new clothes, then head over west to the tavern to pick up both sidequests: Soldier Side, and A Lady's Honor. Once you've begun those you'll need to make your way around the district, talking to the following people. The sidequests will take you to a lot of the same places, so it's useful to start them at the beginning.

Proceeding clockwise from the entrance:

• The Inn: Rahim, the man behind the bar
• The Pub: Interact with any of the soldiers around the central table
• The Alcinian Sanctum: One of the maids on the west 2nd row
• The Weapons Shop: The man behind the eastern counter
• The Sketchy Alchemy Shop: The cloaked man to the west between shelves
• The Alivaen Temple: Listen in on Priestess Eris's conversation with Baroness Elara

You don't technically need to visit the library, but there's some familiar faces and fun worldbuilding inside.

Once you've collected your clues, head back to the entrance for a tutorial duel with the adventurer from the weapons shop, which will get you some armor. If you picked up the sidequest you can also make more money from that other duel to the west. Once you've finished everything you want to do, head back to Rahim's tavern to move on.

Experience Target

Reckless Valor

Now that you've infiltrated the castle, make your way east to get a look at those secure files. Feel free to explore and talk to anyone along the way as there's no risk of getting caught and it gives a very interesting peek into the state of Antipater's army. The files you're looking for will be in the fourth hallway to the east, but there's lots of other interesting reading, so make sure to do a little browsing.

The Lady's Luck

The meeting between Medea and Antipater that has been in the making for the last three chapters has come at last, and thanks to our good friend Ariston we're going to get a front row seat. This is mostly a lengthy cutscene, so watch closely as our antagonists sit down together for a fascinating discussion.

...surprised again? Well hopefully now that you've finished the cutscene you're ready for a bit of action, because you have a number of fights ahead of you. Once more these aren't going to be the toughest fights, because this is more of an introduction to your new party members, but hopefully you can enjoy the novelty of working out how the two of them take on their various opponents to escape the castle.

Follow the story to the end of this chapter and you'll find out whether or not they succeed.

Experience Target

Chapter 10: A King's Legacy

Elysian Groves

We return to our regular heroes as they arrive at the Order of Alivae's headquarters once more. This time just for a quick visit, of course, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to do here. In addition to a conversation with Ophelia, the local commander and the innkeeper, there's another opportunity to take care of some Lingering Wards, which is a sidequest with some tricky new enemies.

Loyalty Gains:

• You can also get +1 Loyalty for Calysia by speaking with the priestess sitting on the library rooftop.

BRANCH NOTES: If Lorena is with you, you can get some loyalty gains and new equipment for her here too:

• Speak with the Alcinian priest (he can be found in the graveyard) to recruit him and gain +2 Loyalty
• A Grimoire of the North can be purchased in the Library.
• Lorena also gains +1 Loyalty from participating in Calysia's discussion with the priestess on the roof

Once you've done everything you want to do, head back to the inn to depart for Castle Salericos.

Castle Salericos

The King's Legacy

At long last, we've made it to Castle Salericos. This visit has been a long time coming, and from the beginning the game is on to convince Theseus and the Royal Army that Alexander is the right man to support.

Loyalty Checks: During this chapter, there's going to be a couple of Loyalty checks to determine if your party members make a special effort to support the cause. It is worth noting that it can be very difficult to pass all of these loyalty checks, as several of the hetairoi's preferences run counter to each other. However, it is possible to achieve them all by the slimmest of margins on every branch.

BRANCH NOTES: There will be a recruitment bonus from Lorena and Somnus each that is mutually exclusive however. You always get Somnus's if you have him, but Lorena's only if you don't have Somnus.

Loyalty Check:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If Ariadne's Loyalty is ≥ 75, she'll perform some impressive sorcery to answer Theseus' theatrics.

After a couple of cutscenes, you'll be delivered to your rooms and informed of the existence of a letter, that has been waiting to be read by Alexander since five years ago. Once that's done, make sure to speak with some of the party members for some loyalty gains, then head out to explore the castle.

Loyalty Gains:

• +1 Ariadne
• +1 Sindarion
• +1 Lorena

There's a lot of castle to explore here, and a huge number of people to talk to. The main quest, given by Theseus requires you to explore 6 locations, but you can explore more to earn extra benefits. To impress Theseus, you also can poke your head in on the Kitchen, Dungeon, Balcony, and Armory Clerk. Here are the potential outcomes:

Number of Rooms Explored	Impact
8 or more	+1 Royal Army Support
less than 8	No benefit

Once you're done, just head back to Alexander's room to get changed for the banquet. After a couple of cutscenes, you'll be invited to observe a tournament the Royal Army puts on for Alexander's benefit.

BRANCH NOTES:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If Lorena is recruited and Somnus is dead or exiled, she will ask to fight in the tournament on Alexander's behalf. Much like Cynthia back in Elysios, this will involve 4 one-on-one fights. Winning will impress the army.

After the tournament, you return to your rooms where you can, before calling it a night, once more check in with your party.

Loyalty Gains:

• +1 Calysia
• +1 Cynthia
• +1 Ligaea
• +1 Somnus

Once you're ready, call it a night.

The Challenge of the Strategos

The next day you'll be brought to a weapons store to buy whatever equipment you desire (and have the money for) and then you will immediately head to the Whit Canyon Training Ground which the Royal Army has prepared for Alexander. Here your party will be split in two and the object will be to proceed along the separate routes defeating enemies while supporting each other along the way.

If you've recruited Lorena or Somnus, or both, you can assign them to either party as you please, but not both together. If you have neither one, the game will add Leonidas as a playable character once more, who you can give to either party.

What timeline do you find yourself in?

Lorena Recruited				Lorena Exiled/Dead
Somnus Recruited		Somnus Exiled/Dead		Somnus Recruited		Somnus Exiled/Dead
Party One	Party Two	Party One	Party Two	Party One	Party Two	Party One	Party Two
Alexander	Cynthia	Alexander	Cynthia	Alexander	Cynthia	Alexander	Cynthia
Ariadne	Calysia	Ariadne	Calysia	Ariadne	Calysia	Ariadne	Calysia
Ligaea	Sindarion	Ligaea	Sindarion	Ligaea	Sindarion	Ligaea	Sindarion
Lorena (or Somnus)	Somnus (or Lorena)	Lorena		Somnus		Leonidas

The combat is really the main focus of this segment, so beyond figuring out how the enemies fight, the trial is relatively straightforward. Make your way down the paths.

Optional Objective:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If you clear the camps (Just the 4 of them. The individual chests with extra stuff don't matter for this.)

When you reach the end, each party will have a separate boss to defeat, after which there will be a surprising cutscene, followed by a choice on how you want to fight the final boss.

DECISION CORNER: Do you fight Theseus all together? Or send Cynthia's party to help Leonidas and the Honor Guard fend off Tychus?

Despite the urgency of the situation, the actual risks are not high here, you are essentially deciding between an easier or tougher boss fight, with a reward for the more difficult one.

Decision	Face Theseus Alone		Face Theseus Together
Party Composition	If you choose this, Alexander will reassign Calysia to the party, unless you recruited Lorena, in which case you get a choice:		If you choose this, the entire party will be available to fight Theseus's Boss Party as you please.
	Who will you bring?
	Lorena	Calysia
Outcome	+1 Royal Army Support (and steam achievement)		No special reward, but an easier boss fight for having a 5th party member and the freedom to build whatever party you like.

Once Theseus is defeated, Tychus and his lackeys will retreat in disgrace, and you will be returned to Castle Salericos.

The East and The West

With Theseus oath of fealty the Royal Army is Alexander's at last, but as Tychus and countless others have already shown not everyone is likely to be happy with that. So at last the time has come to explore the castle once more, and tackle the many sidequests therein to impress the troops and ensure a successful integration with Alexander's other forces.

To inspire the ranks to fall in line, you should speak to the Royal Officers (for a round of Petitions), seek out Antipater's Supporters, fight some Instructive Battles, and win the Siegecrafter's Respect. Each of these quests you complete will grant an additional +1 Royal Army Support. In addition, you can check to see if you've successfully passed some Loyalty Checks for Ligaea and Sindarion.

Loyalty Checks:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If Ligaea's Loyalty is ≥ 75, she will participate in an Archery tournament in the training arena. Her victory will impress the army.
• +1 Royal Army Support: If Sindarion's Loyalty is ≥ 54, you can find him sharing drinks with some soldiers in the outdoor cafe, where he's regaling them about Antiochus and winning them over on Alexander's behalf.

In addition to the sidequests and loyalty checks, there's also a couple of available loyalty gains for Cynthia:

Loyalty Gains (Cynthia):

• +1 for discussing the Bloodplate in the Armory with her
• +1 for visiting the War Room with her
• +1 for discussing Halberds in the Weapon Store with her

You can also find a number of new investment proposals by talking to the right people around town:

New Investments:

• Talk to the Merchant in the Administration building for "Guild Trade Routes"
• Talk to Leonidas in the infirmary (north of the Alcinian Sanctum) for "Elite Honor Guard"
• Talk to the loyal Baron's son at the outdoor cafe for "Path to Safety"
• Talk to the southeastern bathhouse attendant for "Kharos Bathhouse" to be added later (Unmissable)
• Complete the Siegecrafter's Respect sidequest for "Siege Weaponry"
• On Lorena's Branch: Visit the Alcinian Sanctum for "Alcina's Faithful"

You're also required to visit both the Alivaen Grove and the Alcinian Sanctum before you relax for the night, and what you see in both of those places will depend heavily on the decisions you've made previously. Fortunately, no decisions need to be made today. But there's definitely important things to learn for the future. After all of that, you can relax for a pleasant evening at the baths. After which, we'll have a couple more decisions to make and a few concerning developments...

DECISION CORNER: While scrying with Veronica you need to decide: do you denounce Ariston's actions? Or question Antipater's claims?

Decision	Denounce Ariston's Actions	Question Antipater's Claims
Outcome	+3 Noble Support -2 Popular Support	-2 Noble Support +3 Popular Support
Loyalty	+3 Ariadne +3 Calysia +3 Ligaea +5 Somnus -1 Cynthia -1 Sindarion -3 Lorena	+3 Cynthia +3 Despoina +3 Sindarion +5 Lorena -1 Calysia -1 Ligaea -3 Somnus
Long Term:	Unknown	Unknown

After all of that, you're given a chance to direct Despoina to invest in any proposals you've come across, or that you haven't before.

BRANCH NOTES:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If you invest in Alcina's Faithful by this point.
• +1 Royal Army Support: If you invest in the Healer's Guild by this point.

Once that's done you'll be urgently called away by a new development. It seems Tychus has finally shown his hand...

BRANCH NOTES:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If you recruited Somnus, he'll assist with the rescue operation to make it go so smoothly the Royal Army is impressed. Otherwise, you still succeed, but there's no special bonus.

With Menander disavowing Tychus and leaving his fate in your hands, you face yet another decision.

DECISION CORNER: While Tychus has certainly earned an execution for his crimes, should you hold off to obtain more information from him first? Whatever you decide, his fate is in your hands.

Decision	...that he shall die.	...that he shall live, for now.
Outcome	+ Royal Army Support	+ Possible Information
Loyalty	+2 Ariadne +5 Cynthia +2 Lorena -1 Ligaea -1 Sindarion	+2 Ligaea +5 Sindarion +2 Somnus -1 Ariadne -1 Cynthia
Long Term:	Unknown	Unknown

Once you've decided Tychus's fate, all that remains is to hasten back to the castle and have Theseus make his announcement as soon as possible.

With the end of the chapter, you've done all you can to win over the Royal Army. Now there's nothing left to do but to let the chips fall where they may.

Chapter 11: The City of Merchants

Castle Salericos

Royal Army Support

First, there are a number of cutscenes to wrap up the results at Castle Salericos. Depending on your choices, there may be further benefits to accrue:

BRANCH NOTES:

• +1 Royal Army Support: If you did not recruit Lorena or Somnus, then Leonidas's more prominent performance in the trial impresses some of the soldiers you fought.
• +1 Royal Army Support: If Cynthia's Loyalty is ≥ 60, she may attempt to persuade nobles in the Royal Army to support you so long as you have not both exiled Lorena and recruited Somnus (you can do one or the other of those, but both together upsets her). See the table below:

Requirements to Obtain Bonus	Recruit Somnus	Exile/Kill Somnus
Recruit Lorena	Pass the Check	Pass the Check
Exile Lorena	Not available	Pass the Check
Kill Lorena	Pass the Check	Pass the Check

Depending on your Royal Army Support, Menander will lead away a small or large group of soldiers. Theseus and your advisors will then discuss the impact in more practical terms.

The Royal Army Support determines the changes to your Army Size and Quality directly according to the following schedule:

Royal Army Support Score:	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Army Size Increase:	+8	+8	+8	+9	+9	+9	+10	+10	+10	+11	+11	+11	+12	+12
Army Quality Increase:	+16	+17	+18	+18	+19	+20	+20	+21	+22	+22	+23	+24	+24	+24

After that, there are a few more discrete benefits:

Royal Army Support	Outcome	Theseus Loyalty Increase	Theseus Reaction
13	+3 Noble Support -10% Recruiting Sorcerer's Cost (refunded if you already invested in it) +1 Crucible Steel +1 Royal Knight's Signet +15000 Darics + Steam Achievement + Antiochus Armor Appearance	+20 Theseus	(...I don't think we could have asked for a better result than this...)
12	+2 Noble Support -10% Recruiting Sorcerer's Cost (refunded if you already invested in it) +1 Crucible Steel +1 Royal Knight's Signet +15000 Darics + Steam Achievement + Antiochus Armor Appearance
9	+1 Noble Support -10% Recruiting Sorcerer's Cost (refunded if you already invested in it) +10000 Darics	+15 Theseus	(...I think we did reasonably well in winning them over...)
6	+1 Noble Support	+10 Theseus	(...it really is a pity that many of the men were swayed. Still, I think this is an acceptable outcome...)
3	+1 Noble Support	+5 Theseus	(...We could have done considerably better in swaying the men...)

The only difference in outcomes between 13 and 12 Royal Army Support is +1 Noble Support more, so whether or not you want to max this out will depend on how much you value that trade-off given how costly it can be to obtain all of the possible points.

Arkos

By Way of Arkos

When you first arrive in Arkos, Alexander makes his usual detour to the local markets to do a bit of investigating. You will get another opportunity to explore here later, but feel free to look around if you like. There's a couple unimportant interactions that do change slightly.

When you're ready to move on, talk to these four people and then head north.

• The cloaked man on the southeast
• The right hand guard by the entrance to the main path leading north
• The elf looking at the signboard just west of the guards
• The older noblewoman sitting under an umbrella on the path north

After a few cutscenes, Alexander will get the chance to change his clothes. Do so, then once you're left to your own devices, leave the room for dinner. Another couple of cutscenes, and you'll be back in control, this time with some new objectives.

Visiting Arkos

For your day trip in Arkos, there's a number of things you'll want to be getting done. First, in the Palace district:

• Make sure to talk to Nausicaa, if you have Somnus recruited
• There's a young Lord Meston sitting on a bench who Ariadne might just convince to support your cause more fully
• There's a Cyridaen Alcinian priest on the temple roof to the east, who Lorena has a good conversation with

Loyalty Gains:

• You can get +2 Loyalty for Ariadne by visiting the shrine for Luciaea
• You can get +2 Loyalty for Ligaea by visiting Vesterion's shrine
• You can get +2 Loyalty for Lorena by talking to Master Laios, the head priest of the temple

You can browse the markets which are full of new equipment options for you to consider.

Gifts: There's a new type of unique item that can be used to gain a loyalty increase, or other benefit, from the recipients. Gifts are unique items intended for a specific person, which you can give to them from the Key Items screen, in order to view a conversation. There are currently four available:

• Death River Toxin: Sindarion's gift gives +5 Loyalty, AND Sindarion will have a new poison option for his Alchemy
• Moonsilver Ring: Calysia's gift gives +5 Loyalty, and in certain branches +1 CalysiaEvents
• Sravi Lamp: Despoina's gift gives +5 Loyalty, and may have other benefits in the future
• Sunshadow Pendant: Lorena's gift gives +5 Loyalty, and may have other benefits in the future

Beyond the new Equipment and Gifts, there is a sidequest to help Phoebe track down some Shady Business. If you intend to spend money, you may want to do this sidequest first, as it will provide you with a lot of funds.

There are also some other notable interactions you may wish to observe:

• The party has an interesting discussion while viewing the statue at the center of the park
• There's a confrontation on the south end of the park you should interrupt for the pleasure of meeting Lord Cylon

Once you're satisfied that you've seen all you care to see and done everything you need to, including visiting with Lord Jirou and Sindarion's contact Kithrendrian, then go ahead back to the palace room to move on.

During Alexander's discussion with Cleon that evening, he'll propose an alternative to sending his taxes along with you back to Kharos.

DECISION CORNER: Cleon proposes to provide you with Airships instead of taxes for two months. He appears to be overvaluing them to some degree, however it is unlikely you can expect to get all the taxes you ought to in the same timeframe given his tendency to scheme...

Decision	Accept the Offer	Decline the Offer
Outcome	Forgo a nominal 70% Royal Funds for Airships	+35% Royal Funds
Loyalty	No effect	No effect

Whatever you decide, the stay in Arkos is complete, and you are headed once more to Castle Kharos.

Castle Kharos

The Airship Landing

Before we get down to business, there's a small interlude at the new Airship Landing. To see all the content, just talk to everyone and walk as far south as you can. When you're ready head north to return to the Castle.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

From now on, when you return to Kharos, we’re going to separate the content into the following categories:

• Unique Content: Content that will only be found during this chapter, this section will usually be named the same thing as Main Quest
• Petitions: This chapter’s round of petitions at Kharos
• Variable Content: Content that may first be found during this chapter, depending on different factors. May not be present for you until later, or possibly never at all.
• Checklist: A (possibly redundant) list of items you should really make sure to get done before moving on

This new organization is required as the game proceeds to provide increasingly variable possibilities for what you might find upon returning to Castle Kharos from any given excursion, depending on your choices, investments, and other factors.

Triumphant Return

---

After catching up, we first have a check on your Economic status.

Economic Check: Due to your actions the economy may have grown to some extent

Key Factor Checked	Value	Outcome
Economic Status	16	+11 Economic Control
	12	+7 Economic Control
	8	+3 Economic Control
	<8	No effect

Once that's complete, you'll receive a report on what's happened while Alexander was away, and then be given a long list of things to do. Visit with Theseus and Stelianos for some clarification of the new military hierarchy. Visit Salissa to decide what work she'll be doing going forward.

BRANCH NOTES: If you've recruited Lorena, you can visit the Alcinian Sanctum to see how their new organization is coming along.

There's a new feature introduced:

Spending Time: In the future, if you meet certain checks and requirements, some individuals may show up in the throne room that Alexander can choose to spend time with. There will likely be various benefits to this, but to a degree it appears to be mostly geared around rewarding you with further characterization. For this first visit, Ligaea is automatically going to be available, and you'll be required to spend time with her before the day is through.

And finally, you can visit a new establishment in town to help an old friend who needs A Common Touch.

Petitions

---

There are two petitions this time. For the first time though, one of them is not a choice, but rather a Social check.

First: Baron Milon's Fate

Social Check: Baron Milon's fate is the same no matter what, but you can enlist more of his followers if you have greater Popular Support

Key Factor Checked	Value	Outcome
Popular Support	26	+2 Army Size +1 Elite Unit
	20	+1 Army Size +1 Elite Unit
	<20	+1 Elite Unit

Second: Sytheros Imports

	Lord Soren	Calistrian Merchant's Guild
Petition	...to ban sytheros imports	...to allow some sytheros imports
Outcome	+2 Noble Support	+1 Popular Support +1 Economic Status
Loyalty	+2 Ariadne +2 Calysia +2 Ligaea +4 Somnus	+2 Cynthia +2 Despoina +2 Sindarion +4 Lorena

Variable Content

---

Investment Returns:

• Bathhouse: If you've invested in the Kharos bathhouse, Despoina will have finished that already for you to visit it.
• Sorcerer's Tower: If you've invested in Ariadne's proposal to Recruit Sorcerers, the new Tower will be ready for examination. You'll also be invited to participate in a Tournament.

BRANCH NOTES:

• Healer's Guild: If you've invested in the Healer's Guild, you can visit their building to discuss their progress with Dion.

Spending Time:

• Sindarion: If you've invested in the bathhouse, and Sindarion has a Loyalty of ≥ 60, you can learn more about his past.

BRANCH NOTES:

• Calysia: If you exiled Lorena, and have obtained ≥ 5 CalysiaEvents, you can see the beginning of what looks to be a potential romance path

Sparring Room:

• Cynthia: With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, talking to Cynthia will upgrade Alexander's Lunge skill with a 33% boost against armored enemies, and she will learn the Sanguine Guard skill.
• Despoina: With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, talking to Despoina will upgrade Alexander's Momentum skill with a 66% boost.
• Stelianos: With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, talking to Stelianos will upgrade Alexander's Bastion skill with a 5% increase in Damage reduction.

BRANCH NOTES: There are two loyalty checks that are mutually exclusive, depending on if you are on the Alivaen or Alcinian branches.

• Lorena: With a Loyalty of ≥ 50, talking to Lorena will:
  • Inspire Alexander to develop the Grace of Air skill, which grants him 30% increased Evasion, and immunity to Stun, Chill, and Freeze effects for 4 rounds.
  • Grant Lorena a passive Parry skill with a 10% chance to negate most physical attacks.
• Calysia: If Calysia has a Loyalty of ≥ 75, and you have exiled Lorena and renewed the pact in the traditional manner, AND you have the Ars Athanasia, talking to Calysia will:
  • Help her complete her work on the Searing Moonlight skill, an AOE Sacred Art developed from notes in the Ars Athanasia spellbook.
  • Lead them to develop a joint-casting skill Arcane Swiftness, which grants Alexander an extra action, but costing Caysia 40% of her MP in addition to Alexander's 500 up front.

Custom Gear:

You should pick up anything you commissioned back in Chapter 8 and commission new gear if you have the funds, rare materials (you should), and inclination.

BRANCH NOTES: If you have recruited Lorena, some new options will be available for her.

• Dawnfrost: A greatsword for Lorena's weapon slot that improves both ATK and MAT
• Mooncloth Sunsworn Garb: A more caster focused armor for the bodygear slot
• Suntouched Crucible Plate: A purely defensive focused armor for the bodygear slot
• Untarnished Spellplate: A decently defensive armor that doesn't halve Lorena's MP for the bodygear slot

Other:

Loyalty Gains:

• You can get +5 Despoina if you gift her a Sravi Lamp purchased from Arkos, and this may have more benefits in the future.

Checklist

---

If you haven't already you should make sure to:

• Collect and Commission Custom Weapons with Lucian
• Collect and Commission Custom Armor with Galatea
• Spend time with anyone waiting in the throne room
• Give any gifts you've been holding on to for the right opportunity.
• Complete any sidequests left pending
• Make any investments you intend to
• Check the Sparring Room for any loyalty bonuses

Once you've done everything, head back to the throne to finish the chapter.