Part 1: Burning
The demon by the name of Alexander Nighshade destroyed a small village, killing all its inhabitants, for seemingly no reason at all. A handful of travelers saw smoke rising up from the village from a distance, and moved in to investigate. Among the travelers was Mikatsu Delanos, a warrior who engaged Alex in battle in an attempt to destroy him. Alex retreated from the battle after being badly wounded by Mikatsu, vowing to destroy him the next time they met.
Some nearby adventurers assisted Mikatsu after the battle, save for Duncan Fox, a blundering knight who attacked him because he thought Mikatsu was the person who had destroyed the village. After clearing everything up, the travelers decided to split into two groups and go after Alex. Marc, a bard, joined up with Duncan, while the other spectators of the battle went off with Mikatsu to search for and destroy the evil demon Alex.
Part 2: The Hunt for Real Fighters
While Mikatsu and his party went to Beritt, a village he suspected Alex would attack next, Duncan and Marc stumbled upon a dark cave which Duncan sensed had a great power inside of it. Thinking the power inside the cave was Alex, Duncan drew his sword and shouted into the cave, but Alex wasn't there. Instead, Duncan managed to wake up Kain, a powerful Dragoon, who attacked him, while Mei Fulcar, a cat... girl... thing, tried to eat Duncan's chocobo. Marc fought Mei off of the chocobo while Duncan attempted to resolve his battle with Kain peacefully. As Marc began helping Duncan battle Kain, Mei wandered off and discovered Alex, who had been watching the entire battle. Having never seen him before, Mei offered to heal Alex, who was still injured from his battle with Mikatsu. Marc walked over to Mei, and Memona, another bard, found his way to Alex as well, and the three of them began helping the demon. By the time Duncan had finally convinced Kain to stop attacking him, Alex had been fully healed and escaped the scene.
Part 3: New Arrival in Beritt
Duncan and Mikatsu met with their respective groups in Ateres, a town to the north, and began planning their next search of the continent for Alex. Alex, however, was on a hunt of his own for Mikatsu, and he confronted Mikatsu in the center of Ateres itself. Not wanting to fight in a populated area, Mikatsu agreed to fight Alex in Beritt Valley, a completely unpopulated forbidden land.
Part 4: The Valley of Darkness
Mikatsu, Mei, Duncan, and Lee, a thief, set out for Beritt Valley, but along the way they fell into a cave in the side of a mountain. The group was shocked to find a fully functional airship there, equipped with more advanced technology than they had ever seen. Duncan managed to figure out how the engine worked, and with his help, the ship was soon out of the mountain and in the air. Kalin Ramirez, a stowaway on the ship, and Connor, a red furry monster who was guardian of the ship, were discovered on board, and they showed the crew how to work the ship. With that, the Airship Duncan (as Duncan named it, or the "Sky Blade," as Mikatsu named it) picked up a hitchhiker, Thom Voltaire, before it took to the skies and was off to Beritt Valley.
Part 5: The Adventures of Sky Blade / Airship Duncan
Upon reaching Beritt Valley, it was discovered that Lee, Mikatsu, and Mei had horrible motion sickness, so Duncan, Kalin, and Calar had to take it upon themselves to battle Alex, who was waiting for them there. K'tal Teremos and Shadow, two other adventurers, became involved in the resulting battle, and the fight between Duncan's forces and Alex raged on until Duncan was completely out of energy. The new group of allies barely escaped with their lives, but Connor maneuvered the airship around and picked them all up before Alex was able to finish them off. Duncan decided the group should travel to the Wilderness Continent in pursuit of a lead Duncan had that nobody else was aware of.
Part 6: Talic: City of Mercenaries
Upon landing outside Talic, a town swarming with bounty hunters, Kalin met up with Calar Ryashi, a resident mercenary, who was subsequently hired to assist the party. Meanwhile, Shadow and K'tal, who were learning they had known each other in the past, met up with Minako Kanzaki, a white mage who was connected to both of their pasts. Marc, a red mage, was discovered as a stowaway on the airship, and Celine Torres, a rather short-tempered girl, demanded that Lee assist her with finding some ammunition for her weapons. Duncan took the growing party and its newcomers to a nearby cave to find that Alex had just killed an Earth Dragon and had become significantly more powerful than the last time they had met. Duncan's forces attacked Alex with everything they had, but Alex managed to kill off Minako and escape with minimal damage taken to him. Duncan realized Alex was after elemental dragons in some twisted attempt to become an even MORE powerful demon, and he and the others sped back to the airship (after meeting a small, fairy-like girl named Altaira, who joined the party), and decided to split up.
Part 7a: En Bord La Skyblade
Lee, Celine, Kalin, and Calar landed atop a plateau in the Forbidden Mountains in a spot with a convenient view from which they could see many landmarks in the surrounding area. Sion Gallant, a new adventurer, met Kalin outside the airship just before a strange monster attacked the group, but Celine and Lee used diluted ether and fire magic to defeat it. Just after the menace was thwarted, an actual Air Dragon attacked the airship. Fed up with the entire idea of hunting demons and fighting dragons, Lee and Celine took over the airship and went to the Great Plateau (with Calar still on the airship), leaving Kalin and Sion to defend themselves against the dragon.
Part 7a (continued): Kalin, Calar, and Sion
After Lee and Celine exited the airship on the Great Plateau, Connor, who was still on board, took control of the airship once again and brought Calar back to the Forbidden Mountains, where he rejoined Kalin and Sion in their epic battle against the Air Dragon. With the help of Connor and the Skyblade, the battle raged on... until Alex showed up. Connor sped away with the airship to pick up Duncan and the others to help Kalin, Calar and Sion, but Alex made quick work of the dragon and absorbed its power before they could stop him. Fortunately, Mikatsu Delanos, who had mysteriously disappeared from Duncan's party long ago, arrived with a fleet of airships, apparently now working for one of the kingdoms on the Wilderness Continent. Alex battled Mikatsu's forces until Duncan and the others showed up, at which point Alex left. Mikatsu scolded Duncan and the others, telling them not to get involved in Alex's affairs, making it perfectly clear that Mikatsu was NOT on Duncan's side. Mikatsu then left, and Duncan and the others went into a nearby town for a long-needed rest from their travels.
Part 7b: The Frozen Quest
Meanwhile, Duncan, K'tal, Shadow, and the newfound Altaira and Marc were dropped off in a field on the Frozen Continent in an effort to find an Ice Dragon before Alex met up with it. Upon arrival, a mysterious creature was spotted that somehow which Marc and Shadow began arguing about how to deal with. There was a brief melee that left Marc utterly destroyed at the hands of Altaira, and the others ended up left with the creature gone. Duncan and the others resumed their search for the Ice Dragon, and Duncan thought they had found it when they found a cave on an island on a non-frozen lake. Duncan used his geomancing powers to freeze the lake, but instead of finding a dragon, the party encountered three rather angry mages who were protectors of the lake. After a brief battle, the mages were defeated, but Duncan was separated from the rest of the party when the lake melted and he ended up on the island with the others left on the bank of the lake. To make matters worse, the protector of the lake, a gigantic serpent, emerged from the water and attacked the party. Duncan rushed into the cave to lure the serpent away as the Skyblade/Airship Duncan appeared over the lake to pick up help for the others on the Forbidden Mountains, but Duncan's party chose to use the ship as a platform to go after Duncan rather than actually board the ship to escape their predicament. After a great battle against the serpent, Duncan and the others escaped from the cave onto their ship before the cave collapsed on the serpent. A large blue spherical object resembling a rock rolled onto the ship as the cave collapsed, and Duncan and the others rushed to the Forbidden Mountains to battle Alex.
Part 8: La fête d'Altaira
Altaira heard about a tournament on the Great Plateau, and Duncan and the others decided to enter the tournament. After a brief battle with some local trouble-making worm monsters in the town, Duncan and the others took off in the direction of the Great Plateau.
Part 9: The Annual Shenglo Fighters Tournament
Duncan and the others arrived and found that Lee and Celine were ALSO entering the tournament, as well as Artemis and Griffon, two evil magi and sworn enemies of Lee and Celine. None of them compared, however, to the most surprising entry in the tournament: Alexander Nightshade himself! After a brief series of battles, which included Duncan himself entering and defeating an injured Lee in the second round, a gigantic Zombie Dragon emerged from one of the tents at the tournament, a surprise climax to the tournament scheduled to fight the final participants in the tournament. Duncan and the others all broke away from their battles and turned their attention on the Zombie Dragon, while Lee, Celine, Artemis and Griffon fought for control of the Skyblade/Airship Duncan, which they were all trying to steal. Lee and Celine defeated Artemis and Griffon and stole the airship, but quickly crashed on the Forbidden Mountains. Fortunately, Connor pulled through yet again and used a small remote device to summon the airship back to the Great Plateau, stranding Lee and Celine indefinitely.
Part 10: Havoc and Destruction
Complete chaos broke out as Duncan ordered everyone to focus his or her attacks on Alex, while the dragon destroyed everything in sight. Multiple bystanders, such as Rayne Kathos, Joshua Rainmaker, and Maverus Raines entered the fray against the demon, but the situation proved too difficult for Duncan to control, and an Ultima spell from the forces of Artemis and Griffon left the dragon dead and Duncan barely alive, with Alex draining the dragon's energy with his last available strength. Alex succeeded in absorbing the dragon, and all seemed hopeless... until Duncan stepped in. Duncan charged his most powerful Trance attack, the Gaia Equilibrium, and hurled it at Alex, nearly ripping the demon apart. Duncan collapsed after the melee, however, and slipped into a coma the likes of which his allies had never seen.
Part 11: The Calm After the Storm
Connor dragged Duncan to a nearby inn, as their party collected themselves and followed them in search of rest. At the inn, they found Kalin, who was somehow entranced by an attack he performed in that day's battle with Alex and the dragon. While in his state of disillusionment, Kalin attempted to murder Duncan in his sleep that night, but Connor and other party members prevented the attack from succeeding. The next morning, the party boarded the Airship Duncan, but no sooner had they boarded than they were attacked by four female armored mages on the bridge of the ship. Connor, Kalin, Shadow, Princess Charlotte Belle, and medic Joshua Rainmaker fended off the attack, however, and a newcomer, Devin Wallace, helped everyone protect the still unconscious Duncan as well.
Part 12: Saving Sir Duncan
A few days after the violent events at the Shenglo Tournament, Connor called a meeting on the bridge of the Airship Duncan to decide what to do next. With Duncan in a coma and the mystery of why four mages attacked everyone still lingering, Connor chose to split the group up. Connor dropped off Devin, Kalin, Charlotte, Januu, and Shadow near a port town, where they took a boat to the Wilderness Continent. Devin said he was from the Wilderness Continent and he had an idea of where the assassins the group had fought on the airship just a few nights prior may have originated. Connor then took Joshua, Altaira, Kiam, Blythie and Sylph to search for some black mages from Duncan’s past who may be able to help them revive Duncan from his coma.
Connor and his group arrived near the northernmost peninsula of the Great Plateau to search for the nomadic black mages that Duncan had somewhat of a history with. Upon arriving at the usual dwelling of the black mages, Connor’s party quickly discovered that the mages – as well as any other monsters in the area – had been completely destroyed by a being known as Ranos, who quickly attacks the party. Ranos quickly turned out to be a demon, similar in origin to Alexander Nightshade himself. Connor and the party fend Ranos off for a short time, when suddenly Alexander himself appears, fully healed from his last battle and unhappy with Ranos’ egotistical dialogue with the party. To Connor’s delight, Alexander and Ranos actually begin battling each other, and Connor and the others retreated to the airship and took off before either demon turned their attention onto Connor’s party.
Part 13a: Return to Beritt
A few days after the decimation at the Black Mage village, Connor found himself just outside of Beritt, the largest city on the Great Plateau, looking for help. He had been abandoned by Joshua, Altaira, Kiam, Blythie, and Sylph, and was stuck transporting Duncan’s comatose body around in the Airship Duncan by himself. Things were not looking good.
He entered a tavern, “The Diluted Tap,” to have a drink, and bumped into Avatare Halar, Saifer Tyrann, and Quizzmo, who all struck up an argument about Avatare’s “chocobo wings” (Avatare was a moogle, which apparently offended Connor). Their conversation was cut short, however, when they learned that a Tonberry was attacking citizens in the middle of the city, and they all moved to intercept it. The four of them jumped into action and began to battle the monster, when suddenly K’tal Teremos, a figure who had teamed up with Connor many adventures prior, jumped in and finished the battle with ease. K’tal had become exponentially more powerful since his last encounter with Connor, and now had a dark aura about him that made everyone around him slightly uneasy. Nevertheless, he agreed to help Connor and his new party find a way to revive Duncan, and the group set off to find Kerwin, an old wizard who Saifer suggested might be able to help the party.
The group arrived at the small village of Baulder and found Kerwin’s home, but a mage living at the hut they found attacked the group. A vicious melee ensued, during which Saifer identified the mage as his old friend Kerwin while certain members of Connor’s party found Kerwin’s hut protected by a magical barrier. During the battle, Saifer was undertaken by a mysterious force and became Dark Saifer, who then tried to kill his old friend Kerwin. After the fierce battle, Kerwin retreated to his sealed hut and Dark Saifer reverted back to Saifer, no longer a threat to the party.
Through his closed door, Kerwin explained to the group that he had only been testing their strength to ensure they were competent to complete a task he required of them. Kerwin then took Duncan’s body to keep safe at his hut while he sent the others on a quest to find the Elixiral Ear of Corn, an ingredient that he required in order to fully revive Duncan. He then sent them to the Mount of Light, near the northernmost tip of the Great Plateau, to recover the Ear, leaving them only with a chilling prophecy that one of them would perish during their journey to the mountain.
Part 13b: Enter the Ninth Vessel
Devin, Januu, Shadow, Charlotte, and Kalin arrived on the Wilderness Continent unharmed by their naval journey. After a short day’s travel, the group arrived at a tower just outside the kingdom Devin suggested they investigate. Upon reaching the tower, the party was attacked by mud-monsters, and everyone fell into a giant trapdoor that opened up in the middle of the courtyard (except for Devin, who became trapped in a cage of mud back on the surface). The group (minus Devin) found themselves in a giant, warehouse-like room, with conveyor belts and crates that made it seem as if they were in an underground factory.
The group met the Doctor and the Professor that ran the so-called “factory,” but the scientists quickly unleashed a giant robotic mechanoid onto the party rather than exchange friendly greetings. Kalin quickly dispatched the gigantic, futuristic monstrosity, but the Doctor and Professor quickly turned their personal attention on the party. Giant blue and pink tiles appeared on the floor of the room and the party used them as teleportation pads while fighting the maniacal scientists, both of whom began displaying supernatural powers and using advanced technology such as shotguns and lasers during the battle. After a long, difficult fight, they finally destroyed the robotic scientists, but four guards rushed into the room to finish off Devin’s group.
Fortunately, Charlotte used her impeccable lying abilities to dupe the guards into believing she was an important diplomat of the kingdom just as an evacuation alarm began sounding throughout the factory. Charlotte and the others were escorted to the flagship of the kingdom, the airship known as the Ninth Vessel. The ship took off, and with everyone else’s help, Charlotte continued to dupe the crew of the ship into believing that she was someone very important. Just after taking off, they realized that Devin somehow found his way onto the ship, but so had a giant, purple Behemoth.
The guards of the ship, so strongly convinced that Charlotte was an important political figure, actually tried to shove her into an escape pod while the others were battling the vicious Behemoth. The rest of the party dealt with the Behemoth pretty smoothly (considering that Behemoths are insanely powerful), but then everyone had to turn their attention on keeping Charlotte on the ship and dealing with a sudden battle with the guards. It seemed that some of the guards on the ship were actually members of “Faineu Rebellion” that was rebelling against the forces of the kingdom that the Ninth Vessel belonged to – and it turned out that the kingdom was run by PRINCE Mikatsu Delanos!
With the guards and Behemoth taken care of, the party focused on its new destination: the headquarters of the mysterious Faineu Rebellion.
Part 14a: The Mount of Light
The party quickly reached its destination and began to ascend the mountain, one of only a few small protrusions into the air above the mostly flat Great Plateau. Joined by a newcomer, Nicholas Reid, whom the group had picked up just before leaving Kerwin’s hut, the party had to focus on recovering the Elixiral Ear of Corn and try not to be distracted by Kerwin’s chilling prediction that one of them would perish during their journey. After a relatively uneventful yet terribly cold trip, the party reached a small cave at the top of the mountain.
They entered and found a short, ugly, impish man with gigantic glowing blue ears. Yes, the man’s name was Corn, and his ears… were Elixiral. The unrealistically fast Corn began attacking the group with bizarre spells and even lasers, but Connor’s party subdued the creature and K’tal managed to extract one of its ears. Unfortunately, a final attack from Corn left K’tal in a great deal of pain, and he lost control of his body and turned completely evil once again. Nicholas summoned Alexander, his holy summon, to bring K’tal to his knees and give the party a chance to escape, and Connor and the others barely escaped with their lives as the powerful and enraged K’tal continued to attack the party while everyone rushed to get back to the safety of the Airship Duncan. The ship lifted off and sped away towards Kerwin, leaving K’tal behind cackling madly.
Part 14a (continued): The Unforgiven
The Airship Duncan landed just outside of Baulder, which, to the horror of Connor and company, had been reduced to a smoldering pile of ash and destruction. Only Kerwin’s hut stood among the devastated village, and Connor found Kerwin barely alive in a puddle of mud just outside of his hut. The party listened intently to Kerwin’s last words, which explained that K’tal Teremos had come to the village and destroyed it in before kidnapping Duncan! After Kerwin lost consciousness, Avatare rushed out of the airship and was able to restore him to life for a few more precious moments, during which Kerwin instructed everyone to go to Korai, a city in the Forbidden Mountains, and seek one named Jadon at the university there. According to Kerwin, Jadon could convert the Elixiral Ear of Corn into a potion that could restore Duncan’s health. Connor and the others decided not to waste any time, and proceeded to the Forbidden Mountains to retrieve the potion.
Part 14b (continued): The Rebellion
On autopilot, the Ninth Vessel delivered Devin and company to gigantic cave in the side of a mountain, concealed by a huge waterfall. Inside the cave was a small, very militaristic city, bustling with soldiers marching up and down its streets and heavy-duty military equipment lining the roofs of its buildings. The Ninth Vessel landed and a battalion of soldiers quickly seized “Princess” Charlotte, but the Behemoth found on the airship earlier unexpectedly awakened, burst through the hull of the ship, and attacked everything in sight. While some of the soldiers turned their attention on the Behemoth, a few soldiers managed to drag Charlotte away to a large building on the brink of the city, and Devin, Kalin, Shadow, and Januu managed to break away from the melee and follow her. They entered the building and found Charlotte inside a large throne room, where she had been flung onto a throne and was being addressed as “the returning princess” by a distinguished-looking gentleman in a black cloak.
The man introduced himself as Captain Jonathan Crow, the new leader of the Faineu Rebellion, an organization established to end the oppression of Prince Mikatsu’s corrupt empire. He explained that the rebellion had been searching for their princess (who they believe Charlotte is) after Prince Mikatsu had kidnapped her, but that now that she had been found, she could supply the rebellion with some sort of passcode they required to aid them in their battle against the evil kingdom. Charlotte obviously didn’t have any idea what Jonathan was talking about, but fortunately Sir Vincent Baldwin, leader of the knight division of the rebellion, made a timely entrance and interrupted the conversation. He suggested the group may need some rest before they discuss military matters, so Jonathan and Vincent escorted the party to a large suite to allow them to retire for the evening. Just as everything looked like it would work out, however, Jonathan surprised Charlotte by revealing a gigantic banner in the middle of the city saying “Welcome back, princess!” with a giant portrait of the REAL princess on it.
Jonathan and Vincent noticed that Charlotte obviously looked nothing alike, but somehow, Shadow, Kalin, and Januu managed to spin together a story that Mikatsu had witches put a curse on the princess to change her appearance and erase part of her memory, so the suspicious Jonathan and Vincent left the group and allowed them to rest that night. Before bed, they warned that some sort of new evil demon had been discovered on the Great Plateau, and rumor had it that the demon was mobilizing forces – possibly to assist Prince Mikatsu in his evil plans.
Part 15a: The Threat of Korai
The Airship Duncan soared over war-torn villages, prison communities, and slave camps before finally reaching Korai, the most sophisticated city on the entire continent. Connor found Jadon at Korai University, and she was happy to lend assistance by starting to transform the Elixiral Ear into a potion. With a little help from Avatare, the process went relatively uninterrupted, save for a failed attack by Rei Tokukami, a nerve reaper with a serious grudge against Jadon, whom he used to work with. Fortunately, Rei waited until after Jadon had produced an Elixim Potion that she gave to Connor for safekeeping before he attacked, and his actions left Connor’s party relatively unaffected, as Rei’s gripe was with Jadon, not Connor’s party. With the Elixim in hand, Connor and the others got back into the Airship Duncan and headed for the Great Plateau, to find K’tal and finally save Duncan.
Part 15b (continued): Bane of Evil
Taking a very slow boat the next morning, Jonathan brought Devin and company to Tzofar, a small port town on the edge of the Great Plateau, to investigate the new threat that may have been collaborating with Prince Mikatsu. Devin, Charlotte, Kalin, Januu, Vincent, and Nathan (formerly known as Shadow) suddenly found themselves participating in an espionage mission, trying to be recruited into this new evil army to infiltrate enemy forces. While the group collected information and spoke with people at a local tavern, Nathan wandered out of the bar and away from the group and encountered K’tal Teremos, the “demon” that everyone was supposed to join in the first place. Nathan and K’tal, whose pasts had a strange connection, had a brief battle before Nathan decided to rejoin K’tal, who in fact had partnered with Duncan many adventures prior.
Back in the bar, Januu managed to score some chocolate bread (his favorite), but Charlotte was the one who actually scored the most useful information. She met a contact with K’tal’s army who told her to meet him just east of Grando, a city near the eastern edge of the Great Plateau. The party meets up at K’tal’s training camp there at midnight, just as his troops suddenly mobilize. Devin and the others find themselves caught in the fray and end up in a huge battlefield, where literally thousands of K’tal’s troops are all targeting one target: Alexander Nightshade!
Part 16: Emergence of the Demon
As if Alexander Nightshade didn’t have enough to deal with while fighting K’tal, Nathan, and thousands of soldiers, Ranos himself appeared and joined the fray, attacking Alex and K’tal’s forces alike! Many of the soldiers were former servants of Xiris, a dark force whom K’tal had intentions of resurrecting once he rid the planet of Alex’s presence. K’tal raised his fallen soldiers into zombies, which would continue attacking Alex and Ranos until they too were obliterated, and just as the fighting began to escalate, Devin and company arrived on the scene.
Before they had time to act, however, a fleet of airships and thousands MORE soldiers arrived on the scene, all led by one man: Prince Mikatsu Delanos. Mikatsu quickly struck an unholy alliance with Alexander, saying K’tal was a thorn in both of their sides and that they should temporarily join forces before turning against each other once again. Alex agreed, and upon seeing the escalating battle, Devin used his summon, Q, to teleport himself, Charlotte, Januu, and Vincent back to the Wilderness Continent and to the headquarters of the Faineu Rebellion – leaving Kalin behind!
Moments later, Mikatsu engaged Ranos in hand-to-hand combat as his forces collided with K’tal’s, and K’tal engaged Alex in battle as Nathan watched intently. That’s when things got even more complicated: the Airship Duncan arrived! Connor spotted a magicite-powered tank near the edge of the battlefield that he insisted must be where K’tal was holding Duncan and landed the ship near it. Upon exiting the ship, Connor and Kalin reunited with each other, but their reunion was short-lived as the battle raged on around them. Together, Connor, Kalin, Saifer, and Avatare managed to break into the tank and retrieve Duncan’s body as a war raged around them and Quizzmo and Nicholas guarded the airship. While trying to save Duncan, Alexander decided to leave the battlefield, leaving Mikatsu to defend himself against K’tal. K’tal made fast work of Mikatsu, whose troops rushed to save their leader’s body as Ranos and Nathan began to fight. Connor and company somehow managed to get Duncan’s body back onto their airship, and escape the battlefield just as Mikatsu and his forced retreated. Not wanting to waste his time with Ranos, K’tal and Nathan quickly retreated to a nearby fortress as their forces dispersed and left Ranos alone and angrier than ever.
Part 17a: The Return of Duncan Fox
As the Airship Duncan cruised through the skies, Duncan recovered from his comatose state and listened as Connor filled him in about the new threats, Ranos, K’tal and Nathan. Duncan explained that K’tal had taken him captive so he could feed off of Duncan’s energy, and Duncan explained that without his power being lent to K’tal, his main concern would be Alex (who put him in a coma in the first place) for the time being. Duncan also explained that because of the nature of his ultimate attack that had ended his last battle with Alex, something had fused between the two of them, and Duncan could now actually feel Alex as if he were inside of Duncan’s head. Because of his new innate ability, Duncan instructed Connor to take the ship to Dragon Isle, an island in the sky and the home of the Divine Dragon, the final dragon that Alex would have to destroy before he could achieve ultimate power.
Part 17b: Return to The Rebellion
Devin, Januu, Charlotte, and Vincent exited Devin’s summoned portal and found themselves in Captain Jonathan’s office back at the Faineu Rebellion on the Wilderness Continent. Jonathan had caught on to Charlotte’s charade, however, after receiving a ransom note from Prince Mikatsu for the rebellion’s princess – who was still in Mikatsu’s possession! Rather than execute Devin and company, however, Jonathan made them a bargain that if they could save the rebellion’s princess and return her safely, he would set them free. Devin, Januu, and Charlotte argued for a few moments, trying to convince Jonathan that they each had been tricked by one another, but the argument deteriorated into Jonathan’s guards attacking them and forcing the group to make a daring escape away from the Faineu Rebellion Headquarters. Januu fell into a river during the escape, and Charlotte had to jump in to try to save him (Januu didn’t know how to swim). Rebellion soldiers poured out of their headquarters and aimed their weapons at the two swimming escapees, when suddenly the Ninth Vessel flew out of a nearby hangar piloted by Devin, and Vincent, Charlotte and Januu grabbed a rope and climbed on board as it flew by.
While en route to the holding place of the rebellion’s princess, Januu has a fit about the destruction of the forests he and his Usakan race inhabited on the Wilderness Continent. Trying to be diplomatic about things, Devin and Vincent agree to take a detour to a nearby Usakan village to assess some of the damage that had been done to it recently. Upon arrival, members of the Usakan tribe tried to convince Januu to stay in the village and abandon his friends and the outside world of humans and their treachery. The elders of the village allowed Januu to leave but prophesized his return, and the party finally departed for their final destination: the Glacier Badlands and the recovery of the princess of the Faineu Rebellion.
Part 17b (continued): Rescue the Princess
The Ninth Vessel landed just outside of a tower in the Glacier Badlands where the Faineu princess was suspected of being held. Devin, Charlotte, Januu, and Vincent entered the tower and climbed a winding spiral staircase to a small chamber. Upon entering, however, Vincent was immediately attacked by Rei Tokukami, who had been hired by Mikatsu to protect the kidnapped princess at all costs. Rei had encountered Connor and his party in the Forbidden Mountains many adventures prior, but had never met Devin or the others before. Rei quickly disabled Vincent by crippling his arm, before turning his attention on Devin and striking him with such force that Devin was unable to cast any incantations for the duration of the battle. Fortunately, Januu stepped in while Charlotte healed her allies, and the party regrouped and gained the upper hand against Rei. While the party fought Rei, Vincent located the kidnapped princess and freed her from her holding place, whereupon she quickly fainted into his arms. Rei cryptically vanished into the darkness and warned of his return as Vincent and the others rushed the princess out of the tower and boarded the Ninth Vessel. The princess having been recovered, Devin and company took to the skies and sped back towards the Wilderness Continent.
Part 17b (continued): Villain Unveiled
As the Ninth Vessel approached the gargantuan cave that housed the headquarters of the Faineu Rebellion, something was obviously wrong. First, the protective waterfall that usually covered the cave from view was blocked off by a dam, leaving the cave wide open and in plain sight. Second, explosions and screaming were clearly audible from within the cave. Vincent orders Devin to lower the Ninth Vessel into the cave, but before even reaching the entrance to the cave, and upon further inspection, the party realized that an army of Prince Mikatsu’s forces were attacking and destroying the base! Before the party had time to act, however, the front wall of the bridge was blasted off and Prince Mikatsu appeared standing just in front of Devin and the others! Mikatsu grinned as he proudly held Captain Jonathan in one of his arms, and with his other arm, he swiftly slit Jonathan’s throat and allowed his lifeless body to drop to the ground in front of the horrified party.
Devin pulled the Faineu princess off to one side as Vincent drew his sword and began to spar with his old enemy Mikatsu, whom he had an extensive history with. After some brief fighting, Januu stepped in and helped Vincent out, which made Mikatsu very angry. By remote, Mikatsu’s troops tapped into the Ninth Vessel’s navigation system and sent it out of the cave before cutting its engines and allowing the airship to slowly fall out of the sky. Charlotte joined Januu and Vincent against Mikatsu as Devin continued to guard the Faineu princess off to the side of the ship. The battle continued for a short time, before Mikatsu made one final demand for the Faineu princess. Vincent stepped between Mikatsu and the princess, whom Devin was still gripping tightly, and it seemed as though the party would never surrender the princess.
And then Devin Wallace shoved a knife into the small of the princess’ back.
He allowed the princess to topple to the side, falling off the ship, and walked over to Mikatsu’s side, where he said a few words to the prince before Mikatsu leapt off the ship and onto a passing airship belonging to his fleet. Devin, who had apparently been in league with Mikatsu ever since joining Charlotte and the others many advantures ago, turned his attention on Charlotte, Vincent, and Januu, who were all shocked by his betrayal. Vincent and Charlotte quickly attacked Devin, but just then, the Ninth Vessel splashed into a raging river, knocking everybody down. Sounds from off in the distance signaled that Mikatsu’s forces would win their battle with the Faineu Rebellion, and it was all but certain that the rebellion was being crushed completely as the party remained helplessly on the derelict airship at the mercy of their betrayer, Devin Wallace.
As the Ninth Vessel floated down the river towards a waterfall, Devin incapacitated the party with one of his incantations, leaving Charlotte trying to con him into letting her free. Devin watched with glee as the waterfall approached and the party members began to bicker with one another. Devin stepped off the ship and onto a rock outcropping alongside the river to watch the airship fall to its doom, but he felt a twinge of guilt and used his powers to freeze the ship in space, leaving it teetering over the edge of the waterfall. He warned the party that they had three minutes to escape their perilous situation before his spell would wear off and the ship would fall to its destruction, and the party sprung into action to save itself. Devin had miscalculated, and the pressure on the ship teetering over the waterfall caused it to snap in half completely and plummet into the river below, but the party had made its way onto the bank of the river just before the destruction of the great vessel.
On the riverbank, however, things didn’t get any easier. Januu tranced and transformed into the Alugro, a werewolf-like form that he had been trying to hide from Charlotte and the others. Thinking the Alugro was a beast that had eaten Januu, the concerned Charlotte and Vincent attacked the beast upon seeing it. The battle was cut short, however, when three giant blue birds with golden tails flew near the three of them, scooped them up in their talons, and began flying off towards Dragon Isle. Back in the hollowed out cave of the former Faineu Rebellion, Devin heard Charlotte’s distinctive shrieking from off in the distance and sighted the party in the clutches of their flying kidnappers. He quickly found Prince Mikatsu and alerted him that they were “on the move,” and Mikatsu and Devin stepped into action as their forces continued to obliterate any memory of the headquarters of the Faineu Rebellion.
Part 18a: The Divine Dragon and the End of the World
“In popular legend and mythology, there was a great war roughly 500 years ago against the Demon Dragons. On one side were the Demon Dragons, commonly described as being terrible beasts bred for havoc and destruction. On the other side were the highly adaptive and numerous Humans, along with many of the Dragon races and clans. Their battles shook the planet to its very core, and left countless numbers of dead and wounded.
Supposedly, in the last major battle two mythical creatures entered into a duel that turn the very earth to ash. The Demon Dragon King fought with the Divine Dragon, each equally powerful. The battle was a stalemate, until the Demon Dragon King struck a mortal blow that crippled the Divine Dragon. At that moment all hell broke loose, with the two armies surging in around their leaders and battling to the death. In the end, every man, dragon and creature was dead, save for the Divine Dragon.
Now, after 500 years this dragon of legend has been located, hidden away on an island floating in the sky. Normally it would be inaccessible due to a magical barrier that protected the island, but for some reason the barrier has been dispelled. And now, after centuries of being hunted down and slaughtered, the Demon Dragons have one hope for revenge. One brilliant light in their bleak existence of pain and despair.
And the name of this light is Alexander Nightshade.”
Duncan, Connor, Kalin, Saifer, Quizzmo, and Avatare stepped off of the Airship Duncan and onto Dragon Isle. On the other side of the Island, K’tal and Nathan stepped off of a winged demon and onto the same island. And already on the island were five powerful forces: the Divine Dragon, Alexander Nightshade, Ranos, and Raii (a fallen angel) and Jamael (a resurrected demon), two ancient allies of Alexander whom he had become powerful enough to summon from the demon dimension. The island was mostly composed of a gigantic temple the size of a large city, and Duncan’s party entered it first. A small “fake” dragon attacked the party, but Raii and Jamael obliterated it within seconds, aware of Duncan’s presence and prepared to distract his party long enough for Alex to destroy and absorb the Divine Dragon.
K’tal and Nathan arrived inside the temple just as Raii and Jamael attacked Duncan and his party. Fortunately for Duncan and company, K’tal and Nathan focused their offensive on Alex, and Ranos appeared moments later and began attacking Alex. The Divine Dragon, in the midst of the melee, angrily attacked everyone in response to its sanctuary being desecrated, but Duncan’s party held their ground amidst the great battle.
An intense fight between Alex’s forces, Duncan’s forces, K’tal’s forces, and Ranos continued until Raii and Jamael retreated to the demon dimension to prepare a ritual that would allow Alex to fully consume the powers of the Divine Dragon. With Raii and Jamael out of the way, everyone hoped to be able to defeat Alex, but Alex reached his peak energy and tranced, unleashing a vicious assault on everyone. As a result, the Divine Dragon was forced to use its ultimate ability: Holy Ultima. As the wave of energy washed over Alex’s body, he could feel his flesh and wings being torn apart, but he used the last of his strength to force one last thrust at the dragon through the wave. The tip of Alex’s blade touched the Divine Dragon’s head, and as he miraculously passed through the wave of the dragon’s ultimate attack, Alex felt rejuvenated as he absorbed the dragon’s powers.
Laughing with a renewed sense of confidence, Alex opened a portal to his demon dimension and entered it, leaving it open for any who dared to follow. Leaving Connor’s nearly dead body behind, Duncan, K’tal, Nathan, Kalin, Saifer, and Quizzmo entered the portal to be pleasantly surprised by a healing wind. Their wounds mostly restored, the newly unified party found themselves standing in a nearly endless field of green grass, with no obstruction within their field of vision other than a solitary tree standing nearly thirty feet away from them.
Part 18b: In Dimension
Charlotte, Vincent, and the reverted Januu (no longer in Alugro form) were dropped off unceremoniously onto Dragon Isle by their three bird transports and surveyed their surroundings. Charlotte, thinking that the Alugro had killed Januu, insisted that Januu’s spirit had brought them to the land of the dead, but she quickly shut up as Januu picked up the familiar scent of Connor somewhere on the island. The three adventurers quickly located Connor’s nearly dead body inside the empty, devastated temple, unaware of where exactly they were. Before they had time to find out what was going on, however, Prince Mikatsu appeared in the center of the room. He had followed Charlotte and the others in order to find the location of Dragon Isle, and Mikatsu immediately demanded that they hand over Connor’s unconscious body to him. Mikatsu explained to the party that there was a portal in the very same room through which Duncan Fox and Alexander Nightshade were waging a battle that could determine the fate of the entire planet, and that he could seal the portal and save the entire world if Charlotte and company handed over Connor’s body. Vincent, and Januu refused, however, and Mikatsu (rejecting Charlotte’s bargain of trading Connor’s body for revenge against Devin) attacked the party. Vincent and Januu quickly gained the upper hand against their adversary, but just then, Charlotte noticed an unwelcome appearance from a former ally: Devin Wallace.
Devin whispered in Charlotte’s ear that he was on her side and she should just play along, but Charlotte also felt Connor’s hand twitch near her leg as she received this new information. Charlotte didn’t buy Devin’s story, choosing instead to invest her trust in the slowly awakening Connor, as Vincent managed to cleave off half of Mikatsu’s arm during their intensely physical melee. Devin also found himself at the receiving end of attacks by Charlotte and Januu, and the good guys had seemingly gained the upper hand in the battle when Connor sat up, awake but sore from his last battle. The fight continued to rage on as Mikatsu begins destroying parts of the temple as attacks against his opponents, but Connor eventually tranced and summoned a roaring flame and unbearable heat to engulf the area. Januu and Charlotte quickly exited the temple to find Devin, who then told Charlotte to heal him because he was really on their side. Vincent then escaped the temple just as the entrance collapsed, sealing Connor and Mikatsu inside.
Devin immobilized Charlotte and held a sword to her stomach, threatening to kill her, and it seemed as though he had won the battle. Back on the Airship Duncan, however, which was hovering alongside Dragon Isle, a stowaway had just woken up and wandered off the ship. The stowaway was Loretta Reid, mother of Connor’s old companion Nicholas Reid, and she had hidden herself on the airship long ago in an attempt to find her son. However, rather than find Nicholas, who had disappeared many adventures prior, she ended up wandering off of the ship and disarming Devin, saving Charlotte from certain doom. Disarmed and surrounded, Devin tried to talk to his opponents, nearly convincing them that he had in fact been a double agent the entire time and was really on their side and only pretending to be on Mikatsu’s side. Loretta, however, didn’t buy the story, and convinced the rest of the party that Devin was only trying to save himself. Just then, Mikatsu and Connor emerged from the ruins of the former entrance to the temple, both battered, beaten, and barely standing – in fact, Connor collapses after only a few steps. Mikatsu, on the other hand, manages to stumble over to the side of Dragon Isle and fall off the edge – right onto an imperial medical ship of his. The ship whisked Mikatsu away, leaving Devin stranded and still surrounded.
Within a shadow of an instant, Devin disappeared in a flash of light and a thin yellow beam of light shot from his location and almost instantaneously nailed Charlotte in her lower abdominal area before shooting through her completely and ending up a few yards behind her, where Devin had re-materialized. Devin then grabbed a rope hanging from a ship of his that happened to fly by just then to pick him up, and he waved goodbye, leaving the party to discover the effects of the incantation that he had been chanting up for the past half hour or so. He also dropped a small item from his airship, a stone tablet that contained a clue as to his whereabouts.
Connor solved Devin’s puzzle after being healed a bit by Charlotte, and the party concluded that Devin must have retreated to Mount Arid, a dangerous summit on Barren Island. Loretta agreed to travel with the others if they would eventually help her find her son, and the party boarded the Airship Duncan to head for Barren Island.
Part 18a (continued): The Divine Dragon and the End of the World
Their easiness quickly left them, however, as Alex appeared near the tree, laughing. He produced a spark of dark energy that raised itself above the tree, and he explained to the group that in mere minutes, the tree would ignite his Spark of Chaos, which would in turn collapse his dimension and escape into the human world, which would instantly be destroyed. He wanted to enjoy one final battle against Duncan and company in order to watch them suffer, and he stood still and allowed a number of attacks by the party to strike him. Alex easily withstood the attacks and laughed at the party, holding his ground as he effortlessly launched powerful attacks against the party. The party continued to assault Alex, but their attempts seemed to be in vain. Then, Duncan had an idea.
Out of desperation, Duncan lured Alex into attacking him, but rather than dodge or parry the attack (as Alex would undoubtedly expect him to do), Duncan instead simply thrust his sword outward and into Alex. Duncan’s sword punctured right through the center of Alex’s chest all the way to its hilt, but Duncan paid dearly for his actions as Alex’s attack landed and cleaved Duncan’s left arm off entirely. With great effort, Alex dropped his own weapon and gripped Duncan’s sword, slowly pulling himself off of the sword before being struck with multiple magic attacks. Down but not out, Alex focused all of his attention on K’tal as Duncan examined the tree. Focusing all of his pain and trying to channel it into the tree, the tree slowly began to wither away. Saifer fortunately noticed what his ally was doing, so he made his way past the distracted Alex and brought his bladed staff down on one of the largest limbs of the tree. Alex sped towards the tree seconds before Saifer struck it, but the demon was too late; Saifer had cleaved off the largest limb of the tree, which feel directly on top of Alex on his way to intercept him. The limb nailed Alex in mid-air, but Alex’s momentum towards the tree continued as he slammed into its trunk, knocking the wilting tree over and directly on top of Duncan.
Alex’s Chaos Spark began to fade and slowly fall, and the fallen Alex desperately reached out and grabbed Duncan’s unconscious body in the moments before the spark reached him. In a bright flash, Alex, Duncan, and the spark reacted and the dimension began to collapse. K’tal, Nathan, Kalin, Saifer, and Quizzmo were thrown into a portal and back into the real world as the demon dimension collapsed, destroyed forever along with Alexander Nightshade and Duncan Fox. As the party fell back onto Dragon Isle and the portal sealed forever, their battle had finally been won. Alex had been defeated.
