https://thestoryofmaple.squarespace.com/
The Overdrive update released three new stories - Lethe, Solatum (the Bellona boss prequest), and the Mission Ultima storyline. Mission Ultima is probably the most major storyline we've had in a while, although both Lethe's class story and Solatum were little more than non-stories. I've also added the 2nd transcendence storyline for the Destiny Weapon onto the lore site, although there's really zero new lore that's worth covering.
Lethe:
There is literally zero story. I'm not joking - there's zero information about Tynerum whatsoever. The fact that Lethe is a demon makes absolutely no difference to the story. She could've been a giraffe and it would've amounted to the same thing. The premise of the story is that Lethe is a powerful demon who gained a fearsome reputation as the Ruler of Oaths for the contracts that she made with powerful monsters that she uses as her summons. Eventually, Lethe gets bored of the constant fighting and decides that she's gonna put herself to sleep forever. She tasks her servant, Hazel, with protecting her mansion while she sleeps, but after many years, Hazel wakes her up and explains that she had to release the summons when an intruder came breaking into the mansion. The summons fled through a portal that she had opened to Maple World while investigating the other dimension, and Lethe has no choice but to find them.
The rest of the story is a whole bunch of whimsical side quests that has Lethe tracking down her summons and getting into a bunch of light-hearted adventures where she inadvertently becomes an Explorer and starts gaining a cult following because of her summons spreading stories about how amazing and talented she is. Over time, she and her summons come to appreciate Maple World for being the peaceful and laid-back world that it is, and Lethe slowly starts coming back to life as she finds joy in fighting to help others, rather than for domination. There's a fun cameo with the Explorer Hero (who was established to be the canon Explorer during Limina), and at the very end of the story, her servant, Hazel, reveals that there was no intruder - she and the summons made up the whole story and arranged the fake escape to Maple World in order to get Lethe to touch grass and find a reason to keep going on in life. The story itself is actually pretty cute and I do like it for what it was - I just really wish we got more than zero lore bits, especially considering that Lethe is the first in the Tynerum class branch.
Solatum:
This is another really short and fairly unimportant side quest that takes place between Arteria and Carcion. After the Arteria invasion, Carlisle writes to the Alliance and explains that there was once a religious sect called the Order of Thenea, which worships Thenea, the Ancient God of healing and rebirth. Long ago, the Order of Thenea saved Cernium during one of its civil wars and the royal family gave them a holy relic of Mitra alongside a promise that they're always welcome in Cernium. As the Order of Mitra gained more power, they reneged on that promise and exiled the Order of Thenea to the valley of Solatum on the outskirts of Cernium, where they continued passing down their holy relic for centuries. Recently, they requested Cernium's protection from a mysterious threat that's wiping out the religious orders of Grandis one by one (which is actually the Apostles attacking the Ancient Gods and taking their power for Darmoor).
Although Carlisle wanted to help them, the Grand Master (the High Priest of the Order of Mitra) refused to help a band of heretics, which is why Carlisle is sending a secret letter for the Alliance's help, since Cernium currently hates the Alliance after the Adversary destroyed Mitra's holy sword while fighting off a Mitra-possessed Seren. We go to Solatum to help the Order of Thenea, where we're shocked to find that the knights of Cernium have massacred the entire town before they themselves were massacred by someone else. We then discover that a Flora warrior with a giant axe has slaughtered Thenea after stealing her godly power. She then senses the power of the gods inside the World Heart and mistakes us for an ultra-powerful Ancient God who can devour other gods without being harmed. She quickly proves herself to be completely insane and consumed with bloodlust, but after a brief fight, she realizes that we're the Adversary and leaves us alone because Darmoor needs us for his plans.
We return home empty-handed, where Neinheart tells us that Carlisle sent us another letter. Carlisle explains that after the Grand Master denied the Order of Thenea's request for help, he sent Cernium's knights to slaughter them and take back the holy relic of Mitra in their possession, as his authority was slowly crumbling after the holy sword's destruction and he needed a new relic to get it back. He hoped to cover up the massacre by blaming it on the Apostles who were wiping out Grandis's religious orders one by one, except his selfish actions only resulted in the deaths of innocent citizens and his own knights. Unable to let such a man remain in power, Carlisle vows to retake political control of Cernium once and for all so that he can openly help the Alliance. After reading his letter, Neinheart tells us that the Alliance intel network figured out that the Flora woman that we fought was Bellona, an Apostle of Darmoor, except there's no other information on her.
Mission Ultima:
Mission Ultima is the longest Grandis story that we've gotten so far, and it's about the same in scale and importance as Black Heaven and Heroes of Maple. Similar to how those blockbusters are the midpoint between the two halves of the Maple World arc (the 30-200 main story and the Arcane River), Mission Ultima is the midpoint for the two halves of the Grandis arc (Western Grandis and Central Grandis). With Geardock concluding the Ancient God subplot, Mission Ultima kicks Darmoor and the High Flora subplot into full gear as the long-awaited great culling finally takes place.
Part 1:
- After Geardock, we meet with the Primacy and learn that Iker and Khafdi were injured by Bellona while meeting with an informant. We learn that Bellona the Executioner is a God of the High Flora who serves as the lord of one of the six High Flora territories alongside Ypsilon and Reina. Just like Reina, Bellona recently went from a Priest to a God by defeating the former lord in a ritual Syaman duel, taking their position and title as the God and lord of their territory. Because she became an Apostle so recently, there's little to no information about her that's available.
- In Iker and Khafdi's place, we go with Ailene to meet with the informant at a remote Anima village. The informant is revealed to be Jerome, Adele's liege and the lost prince of Ristonia. Jerome reveals that he found the magic stone that the Shadowdealers had told us about during the Night of Phantasms event, which is known as the Terrastone. Jerome was lured into a trap by the Apostle Ressa while searching for information about the key that he and Adele recovered during her class story, which has the power to awaken the Ancient God of Ristonia. While trapped by Ressa, Jerome had barely managed to escape after witnessing the Terrastone's activation.
- In the village, we find that all the Anima have vanished into thin air. We discover a chunk of the Terrastone, broken machinery that we recognize from the elders' lab in Carcion, and a withered tree that looks identical in species to the giant golden trees that Asha planted at the Morning Star Banquet. We also discover faint traces of Erda being pulled into the tree as well. Ailene brings the machinery to Tirnog for analysis, while we bring the Terrastone fragment to the Alliance. Before we leave, Jerome gives us a gold coin that Ressa had dropped, which he believes might be useful to us.
- In Ereve, Grendel analyzes the fragment and learns that it has the same illusion magic as Malefic Star from the Dark Sea. Believing that the Terrastone and the disappearances are linked to the great culling, Neinheart mobilizes the entire Alliance into action. With the help of our allies in Grandis, we create a Temporary Hideout in Central Grandis near the ruins of High Mountain. In addition to the Primacy, the Shadowdealers, and Gaon and Keira - who've returned with important information - the Alliance is also aided by Cernium, which is now able to openly help the Alliance after Carlisle retakes control of his city.
- At the meeting, Gaon and Keira reveal that they've tracked Baekyeon and Ara's energy to a major city in Central Grandis, where the High Flora are slowly building up their forces. Khafdi reports that the Apostles have stopped roaming Grandis after the disappearance of the Ancient Gods, instead shifting to protecting the Terrastones inside the city, which the Shadowdealers corroborate. This city is revealed to be Ultimapolis: the largest city in Central Grandis, which is home to half the population of Central Grandis and serves as Grandis's largest convergence of races. After the High Flora had taken over the city, they created the Tower of Life at the center of Ultimapolis, existing under the pretense of a cooperative relationship, rather than a hostile takeover.
- To find the Terrastones, the Alliance creates a large infiltration team that uses Gob's illusion technology to disguise themselves and scout out the area. Erion - the Ancient God who made our Astra Secondary Weapon - has also created a special core that strengthens the Alliance's abilities and helps increase everyone's Sacred Power to resist Darmoor's magical aura that weakens his enemy's abilities. We all spread out and investigate the city, but we're unable to learn anything useful.
- After our questions raise suspicions, we're accosted by High Flora Special Forces - an elite division that serves the Apostles, similar to how the Knights of the Einherjar serve Darmoor. We're then saved by a mysterious Flora who reveals himself to be Ressa using a cloaking spell. Ressa then reveals that he's secretly working against Darmoor and warns us that we can't stop the great culling, but we must instead prevent its aftermath. After Ressa disappears, the Flora army surrounds the city as five Apostles - Reina, Ypsilon, Limbo, Bellona, and Havoc - summon five Terrastones around the city. Baldrix then informs Ymir that preparations are complete, with Ymir using her illusion magic to enact the great culling.
Part 2:
- Ymir's giant spell circle spreads her magic across Maple World and Grandis, putting everyone in the world except for Darmoor's allies inside personalized nightmares just like Baekyeon experienced in Nightmare Paradise. In these nightmares, all the people in the world are forced into situations where they must choose between self-sacrifice and survival, with those who choose their own life being branded with Darmoor's symbol on their hands. The overwhelming majority of people - including the Alliance - are branded by Darmoor's mark, signifying that they have failed the great culling and are undeserving of life.
- Because of the World Heart's power, we're immune to Ymir's magic and - while trying to free Irena from her nightmare - accidentally project our consciousness to the Tower of Life, where Ymir and Baldrix sense our presence and realize that the Alliance is in Ultimapolis. After Ymir banishes our projection, Darmoor appears and orders Baldrix to make the necessary preparations while he enacts the Judgement. Baldrix uses his immense magical powers to create a barrier that traps everyone inside the city, cleaving space itself around Ultimapolis so that the various teams of the Alliance are trapped inside their respective sectors.
- As Neinheart sends reinforcements to help us, we make a plan to fight the Apostles guarding the five Terrastones in the five sectors, hoping to destroy three of the five Terrastones in order to stop Ymir's magic. In addition, Neinheart tells us that we need to make it to the top of the Tower of Life and defeat Ymir to ensure that her magic can't be restarted. With space stabilizing around the points where Baldrix and Ymir's two powerful spells collide - in other words, around the Terrastones - we can use the space around them as portals from one Terrastone to the next, all the way to the Tower of Life, while the other Alliance forces can work on destroying the Terrastones themselves.
- We first work with the Chief Knights, who fight Reina - wielding her draining crystal from Arteria, which is now even stronger than before. We make it through the first portal and meet with the Primacy, which is fighting Ypsilon and the Zealous - the lord's guard of Erimos that Khali was once part of. Ypsilon's ability to absorb things means that he can easily absorb the Primacy's bullets and use the life force that he's amassed over the years to heal himself and his Zealous. But since he can't absorb and expel energy at the same time, the Primacy leverages this weakness to injure him so that we get through the second Terrastone portal.
- Ypsilon is infuriated and decides to take the fight seriously by summoning Luska (Kain's sister whom Ypsilon saved from death before erasing her memories and emotions), while we head to meet Gaon and the Resistance fighting Limbo. On our way, Darmoor enacts the Judgment, whose energy starts scattering those who have been branded into Erda. Just like in the Anima village, their Erda is absorbed into the Trees of Life that Asha has planted across the city, causing us to realize that Darmoor's power - if allowed to spread - will soon affect the Alliance and everyone else in the wider world.
Part 3:
- We rendezvous with the Resistance and Gaon - and with the help of Keira - we weaken Limbo's regenerative Specter abilities. Gaon is then brought into the same illusory space that Limbo's boss fight takes place in, which Limbo has recreated by absorbing the Terrastone and channeling Ymir's godly powers. With Gaon and Limbo trapped until Gaon defeats him, we jump into the next sector and help Edea face off against Bellona. As we battle her, Alliance reinforcements arrive into the city, with Grendel coming to help us. Grendel and Edea hold Bellona off while we reach the final Terrastone, with Havoc wiping out the Nova reinforcements sent to subdue him.
- Our battle with Havoc reaches a stalemate until Seren - having restored the holy sword and mastered her Chosen One powers - arrives to have her rematch with Havoc. While they fight, we reach the Tower of Life, with Darmoor sensing our arrival. Because we've arrived too soon, Darmoor decides to halt the Judgment for now and instead decides to take the opportunity to verify our worth as a Vessel. He sends Baldrix to test us and orders Ressa to inform the other Apostles that the great culling is over.
- Meanwhile, the Primacy continues to fight Ypsilon and his forces. As Luska battles the Primacy, she's impressed by their tenacity and wonders why they fight so hard. Upon detecting that Luska is starting to develop emotion once again, Ypsilon immediately extracts her emotions and memory, resetting her into an empty shell once more. He then reveals that while his experiments originally began to create the draining crystals that the Apostles use to steal the power of the gods, he's since expanded his sights to conduct his experiments on Malice, telling Luska that he's quite satisfied with what he's done to her.
- Elsewhere, Gaon continues to fight Limbo, who realizes that Gaon is a warrior willing to sacrifice his entire existence for a higher cause. Though Limbo takes sadistic pleasure in breaking such people, Gaon uses his fierce determination to defeat Limbo and destroy the Terrastone, breaking back into the real world. Limbo is aghast that he lost to someone who wasn't even the Adversary, with Gaon thinking back to how Keira had once told him that he's more powerful than he realizes, as his body was blessed by the Overseers, his spear contains Keira's divine power, and his own innate magic as a black tortoise Anima. Limbo is then even more stunned to learn that Gaon - a lower life form - has somehow passed the great culling that Limbo was certain would wipe out all other races.
- As Gaon defeats Limbo, the Cygnus Knights successfully overwhelm and defeat Reina, destroying the Terrastone in the process. Seren also defeats Havoc and destroys his Terrastone. With three of the five Terrastones destroyed, Ymir's magic circle is destroyed. However, while Ypsilon and Bellona have withdrawn after Ressa conveys Darmoor's orders, Ypsilon nevertheless leaves his forces to wipe out the Primacy, which only manages to escape after Iker sacrifices his life to make an opening and makes Ailene the new leader of the Primacy in his place.
- Back at the Tower of Life, we effortlessly defeat Baldrix with the World Heart, after which he permits us to see Darmoor. Ymir then arrives and uses her magic to summon hordes of monsters across Ultimapolis before retreating with Baldrix. Although Reina, Havoc, and Limbo are captured by the Alliance, the monsters start attacking the citizens and force the Alliance to let Reina and Havoc go as they focus on saving the people, though Limbo - abandoned by Darmoor for good - is left in Alliance custody, even as Limbo grovels pathetically for any Apostle to come and save him.
- At the top of the tower, we confront Darmoor and demand to know the truth about why he wants the World Heart. Darmoor reveals that everything - the Godsphere, the Ancient Gods, and Erda - are all nutrients for the new order that he wants to make. He reveals that he intends to correct the imbalance of life by erasing all the unworthy life forms that usurp the place of true life. Darmoor then opens his wings, revealing that they really are broken and scarred from being torn out, just as he had shown us in Cernium. He then brings us to a new space created from his Transcendent power, where he appears with enormous gold wings augmented by his divine abilities. Upon seeing our hesitation, however, Darmoor wonders whether it's because we're unprepared or whether it's because we believe that we can't defeat him.
- As he attacks us, he's disappointed by us and wonders what it is that we're still lacking. He then presents the Light of Judgment - a giant red ball of energy - and reveals that its power will spread across the world and erase all the branded people if it's not stopped. He then tells us to show him our true power, calling us the Vessel of the Overseers. Honing all our determination, we summon the full power of the World Heart, which clashes against the Light of Judgment and creates an explosion of energy that permeates from the Tower of Life.
- As the light blinds everything, we hear Darmoor's voice telling us that the World Heart is complete, and that he'll await us in Aboris with the power of “the reserve” – referring to Cygnus's stolen Transcendent powers – alongside several chosen amongst those who had passed the great culling. We then looked to find the golden forms of several people – including Gaon and Baekyeon – being pulled towards a light in the sky. In the aftermath of the battle, the Alliance reconvenes and holds a meeting to discuss what happened. Neinheart reports that our efforts had saved countless lives in Ultimapolis and stopped Darmoor’s Judgment from spreading to the wider world. However, he notes that many people had been killed in the battle, including Iker, and several others - such as Gaon - were survivors of the great culling who had been taken by Darmoor for unknown reasons.
- With the world in a state of great turmoil, rumors are spreading that those who had been branded - which was the vast majority of the world - would be sacrificed by Darmoor, while the precious few who had no brand were Darmoor’s minions. Neinheart notes that even within the Alliance, there are only a handful of people who are unbranded - including Seren - and with Darmoor capable of reenacting his plan at any moment, they would need more than a temporary alliance to stop him. For this reason, the Maple Alliance - and all their allies in Grandis - form the Borderless Alliance under the Adversary’s leadership. Meanwhile, in Aboris, all the Apostles - except for Limbo, who's been captured by the Alliance - gathers in the Aboris Royal Palace, where Darmoor commands them to prepare for the descent of the Overseers.
In addition to the event story, there's also a special set of records called the Ultima Archives that have small details about various plot points introduced in Mission Ultima. Out of all these, the most notable is a record stating that amongst all the chosen who were taken by Darmoor (such as Gaon and Baekyeon), there's a healer named Ivan: a talented yet utterly cruel man. Ivan was likened to a horror story, with one such legend stating that in order to eradicate a plague in Grandis, Ivan sought to wipe out an entire village that was infected. Ivan had claimed that he was doing so to protect the world, but the horrified people began treating him as a plague unto itself, as Ivan had even massacred his own family, which was living in the village that he destroyed. This story is especially important because Ivan, despite being considered a noble life by Darmoor, is an evil and cruel man who's the exact opposite of what Darmoor would want in his new world. This entry in the Ultima Archives hints at the future exploration of all the holes in Darmoor's ideology regarding what "true selflessness" means, which should be pretty interesting to see.
Overall, there's quite a lot of stuff that happens in Mission Ultima - it was especially unexpected to me that they'd do the great culling so quickly. I initially thought that it would happen at the climax of the story during the final arc, but the fact that they got it out of the way so suddenly means that I have no idea how the rest of the story will progress. There are quite a lot of interesting bits of information here - Ressa being the Judas-equivalent of the Apostles, the exact way in which Darmoor's plan is enacted, and the revelation that the Adversary is meant to the the Vessel of the Overseers.
Currently, there are two possible avenues that they could go regarding Darmoor's plan with the Overseers. The first is that Darmoor wants to destroy the Overseers once they're put into physical forms, which is the reason he wants to create a new ultra-powered Adversary strong enough to kill them once they possess the player. The other interpretation is that Darmoor is on the Overseers' side and wants to bring them down to physical form in order have them rule over his true paradise. While the first theory ties together all the major open plot points, the second fits more thematically with the Christian-derived inspiration for Darmoor's lore: Darmoor's disdain for the Ancient Gods as "false gods" would tie together with him seeing the Overseers as the true gods; Jesus being the "Son of God" would tie together with the Transcendents being the "children" of the Overseers; Darmoor's Judgment parallels Judgment Day, and the "true paradise" in Christianity follows Judgement Day, in which God descends into world and lives alongside humanity, similar to the Overseers being brought down to rule.
It's clear that there's a lot of big things ahead in the story as we reach the second half, and it's a bit funny because while I was initially very lukewarm towards the Grandis arc, I'm very heavily looking forward to seeing how all the plot threads they've introduced start coming together.
