Every good hero needs a place to call his own. In Suikoden II, you acquire one about a third of the way into the story in the form of the Borth Window Castle. That is, you acquire it as a temporary shelter after defeating the Neclord's minion, Abomination. Recruiting Shu and defeating Solon Jhee are all that are needed to turn North Window Castle into the "official" Headquarters of the New Alliance Army.

Your Headquarters grows and gains more services and comforts as you progress through the story and recruit more people. There are four levels to this growth, and they occur once you meet the following requirements, the criteria are based on the number of people you've recruited and also certain plot events. For example, you may have more than 63 characters recruited, but your Castle will not reach Level 3 status until after you recruit Klaus and Kiba.

Level 1: Recruit 1 - 30 characters. Lasts until the defense of Two River City.
Level 2: Recruit 31 - 61 characters. Lasts until you recruit Klaus and Kiba
Level 3: Recruit 62 - 100 characters. Lasts until the liberation of Greenhill
Level 4: Recruit more than 101 characters. Lasts until the end of the game.

While the majority of people who join your army do so to fight next to you, many are happy tending to livestock, running games, entertaining the troops, or running shops. These "Support" characters make your time at home both profitable and fun, so recruit them as early as possible. The advantage to recruiting shopkeepers is that the items found in shops in your Headquarters can be given to any member of your army, not just those in your party at the time.

The following maps (and the section that follows) detail the locations of all of the services and peculiarities possible in your Headquarters.

No. 1 Telescope
On top of the watchtower next to where Sid likes to perch, you'll find a telescope to view the surrounding area

No. 2 Appraiser
Once you recruit Lebrante, he'll open up an Appraisal Shop in your Headquarters. At 400P a ? item, however, you may want to find a cheaper solution.

No. 3 Rune Engraver
Recruit Jeane when she appears at the Rune Engraver in Two River City and she'll open this store for you. The great thing about this is that you can embed and remove Runes on all of your characters, not just the ones currently in your party. The merchandise available is what you've found sold in every Rune Engraver you've visited so far.

No. 4 Armorer
While staying at the inn in Two River City, be sure to check the rooms for Hans. Hans dreams of opening his own Armor Shop and will gladly do so in your Headquarters if you ask. The merchandise available is identical to that found in all of the Armorers you've visited so far.

No. 5 Blacksmith
Tessei appears in the Blacksmith's Shop in Kuskus late in the game after the liberation of Greenhill City. Take Viktor to see him and he'll open a Blacksmith's Shop in your Castle. Then all you have to do is supply him with the special Hammers found throughout the game and his skills will grow. Tessei is the only Blacksmith who can sharpen your weapons to LV 16, but only once you've brought him the Golden Hammer.

No. 6 Magic Scrolls Shop
Raura can be found wandering around Tinto City looking for her friend Jeane. If you've already recruited Jane to be your Rune Engraver, Raura will be glad to join as a Scroll Scribe. This shop is unique to Hero's Castle along and comes in quite handy if you're a fan of Magic Scrolls. Bring your extra Runes to Raura and she'll convert them into Magic Scrolls for you.

No. 7 Trade Center
Complete Gordon's trading challenge and he'll open a branch of his successful Trade Center in your Headquarters. The inventory of this shop depends upon which characters you have recruited.

No. 8 Librarian
In the back room of the Library, you'll find two special services. Emilia watches over the castle's collection of Old Books and is the person to speak to whenever you acquire one on your journeys.

No. 9 Cartographer
Follow Templton from the ruins of the Mercenary Fortress to what used to be Toto Village and he'll present you with his helpful Suiko Map. Then he'll take up residence next to Emilia in the library, where you can speak to him about any of the cities and towns in the Alliance-Highland area. His map provides an image of the town as well as information about the town's shops and services.

No. 10 Warehouse
Barbara cheerfully follows the mercenaries from the ex-Mercenary Fort to Hero's Castle where she keeps the neatest warehouse in town. Talk to Barbara whenever you need to deposit or withdraw spare equipments or items. In addition, Barbara can sell items in storage for you as well as strip unused characters of their armor and equipment.

No. 11 Party Management
Leona is a woman of many talents! She not only runs Hero Castle's tavern, but she is also responsible for managing your party's contents. Talk to her whenever you need to change your traveling party's construction.

No. 12 Item Shop
Upstairs above the tavern, you'll find Alex and Hilda running an Item Shop and an inn. Alex sells the same wares that you've seen for sale in all of the Item Shops that you've visited so far.

No. 13 Inn
Extending her services from the White Deer Inn, Hilda is glad to let you and your party rest and save your progress in one of her clean and comfortable rooms. All you have to do is ask!

No. 14 Elevator
Once you manage to recruit Adlai from South Window, he'll grace your castle with one of his inventions. His elevator ferries you quickly from the top to the bottom of your castle with the greatest of ease.

No. 15 Guardian Deity
To construct a Guardian Deity for your Headquarters you need two things: the sculptor Jude and a collection of plans. Scattered throughout the world of Suikoden II are 16 plans detailing the Head, Body, Legs and Tail of a Dragon, Unicorn, Rabbit and Turtle. You can combine any of the parts to create your own unique statue or just play it straight. The first (and only the first!) statue you build, however, will bestow a special gift on you. Some of the more rare items you can receive (and the combinations you need to get them) are listed below:

Note: The Abbreviations are as follows: D = Dragon, U = Unicorn, T = Turtle, R = Rabbit. The numbers refer to the plan number, example: D4 refers to Dragon Plan 4.

No.16 Stone Tablets of Promise
To celebrate the founding of the new Alliance Army Headquarters, Leknaat sends you the Stone Tablets of Promise and her apprentice, Luc. These tablets chart your progress in recruiting the 108 Stars of Destiny. To read them, merely speak to Luc.

No. 17 Teleporter
Viki may be a bit of a ditz, but she's the only user of Blinking Magic you've got. Speak to her whenever you need to be teleported to another location. Successful trips are punctuated with a "Shazam!" while failures rate an "Oops." Between her talents and the Blinking Mirror you receive in Gregminster, you can travel to any location that's sympathetic to your cause in the blink of an eye.

No. 18 Journeyman's Crystal
Outside of the Main Hall is a Journeyman's Crystal so that you can save your game before heading into the next campaign. Be sure to use this often so that you won't have to reply too much in the unfortunate event that you die in battle.

No. 19 Suggestion Box
Next to the elevator on the second floor is a Suggestion Box where your allies can register their complaints and compliments. The letters left there are pretty amusing, so be sure to empty the box regularly.

No. 20 Troop Management
In the same manner that Leona helps you organize your traveling party. Apple helps you out with your army troops. Although the default order of the troops is adequate for the first few major battles, you may find that some rearranging is necessary in later ones. With Apple's help you can create troops that have super high Attack levels or super high Defense levels. You can move all of your magic users to one troop or spread them out over several units. Be sure to check our the unassigned soldiers because some of them have unique skills that may help you win the next battle faster and easier.

No. 21 Bronze Statue
Once your Castle reaches Level 4, you'll find a new statue on the 4th Floor Terrace. This statue commemorates the characters who's been the most active in all of the battles in the game so far - Viktor!

No. 22 Window Settings
Give all of the Window Sets that you've collected to Tenkou and he'll allow you to change your window settings. You can alter the color of the windows as well as their shape. The more Window Sets you have, the greater the selection.

No. 23 Sound Settings
Connell is the proud phonologist responsible for managing the game's sound system. Speak with him whenever you want to change the sound effects for the game's menu operations. Each Doremi Elf has its own set of sounds, and the number of elves grow as you find and present Connell with more Sound Sets.

No. 24 Boat
On the left side of the docks you'll find the castle's boat. Walk up to it and you'll be given the opportunity to board.

No. 25 Fishing Game
On the right side of the docks, you'll find Yam Koo, the main fisherman of the Castle. Speak to him about playuing the Fishing Game. For 100P you have the opportunity to catch fish for the resaurant or profit. Cast, and when the tension bar appears on the right side of the screen, reel the fish in by pressing X quickly or slowly enough to keep the bar within the center of the sliding gauge. The bat at the top screen indicates how close you are to reeling the fish in. the following table lists the average value for each type of fish. Only Salmon, Shrimp, Shellfish and Whitefish are used in the restaurant.

Salmon (4500P)
Shrimp (1200P)
Blowfish (900P)
Shellfish (600P)
Rockfish (300P)
Whitefish (200P)
Squid (50P)
Boot (10P)

No. 26 Garden/Whack-A-Mole Game
Recruiting Tony enables you to start growing the vegetables needed for your restaurant. Collect seedlings and seeds for Tomatoes, Cabbage, Potatoes and Spinach on your journey and bring them to Tony to cultivate. Tony is also in charge of the Whack-A-Mole game. Clear four different levels of play and you can win a complete outfit of Mole Armor.

No. 27 Ranch
Once you've recruited Hix and Tengaar, a young shepherdess named Yuzu will appear in Kobold Village. Help her round up her sheep and she'll bring them all to your castle. After you recruit her, you'll find livestock popping up all over the place. Buy it or capture it and then bring it back to Yuzu to raise. This little ranch supplies the restaurant's Poultry, Lamb, Pork and Beef needs.

No. 28 Baths
Tetsu in Lakewest is a renowned builder of Baths. Recruit him and he'll build one in your castle. When you take bath of reasonable length, your characters will become Toasty. There are also special bathtub toys that you can bring into the baths, as well as special things that occur when you leave artwork and other curios around.

No. 29 Climbing Game
Through the gates opposite the restaurant (where Yoshino can often be found washing everyone's laundry) is another of the castle's games. Talk to the man straight ahread to play the Climbing game. There are three Leages you can register yourself in, each with its own admission fee and set of prizes. To win you must be the first climber to successfully make it to the top of the cliff. On the way up, you can choose to climb/roll the dice or set a marker. If you roll a one, you fall all the way down to the bottom or to your last marker. The prizes are randomly chosen from the following list:

No. 30 Restaurant/Cooking Game
Hai Yo's restaurant serves two purposes. It is the home of the Cooking Game, and it is also just a restaurant. Gather recipes (40 in all), ingredients and the five seasonings, then talk to Hai Yo about creating your own menu and purchasing food, or just to find out how much money the restaurant has brought in. to create a menu, first choose a recipe (your supply of homegrown ingredients dictates which recipes you can use at any given time). Then you are given the opportunity to alter the recipe by adding a seasoning like Salt, Soy Sauce, Mayonnaise, etc. From each recipe, up to sex different dishes can be made. As you set your menu, remember to choose items that are not only delicious, but also have decent healing properties. You can purchase menu items in place of the more conventional recovery items.

No. 31 Singers
Annallee, Alberto and Pico wait patiently at the backstage for their turn to perform. Talk to them and they'll be happy to play any of the BGM in the game.

No. 32 Dance Game
Karen's Dance game continues once she moves to the castle. The rules remain the same, but the prizes now are a collection of Karen Statues and Portraits.

No. 33 Chinchirorin
Shilo has set up a shop in one of the barracks in the West Wing. Talk to him whenever you feel the desire to play Chinchirorin.

No. 34 Informer
For a small fee, Richmond will search out information on how to recruit certain characters and also tell you their secrets. He is a bit slow, but the information he finds will certainly help you out in a jam if you can't seem to figure out what it takes to get someone on your side!

No. 35 Taki
Everyone's favorite grandma, Taki, stands right next to Richmond and dispenses advice and good cheer for free!