Masteria Conclusion/Story

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Story (Current)

The Barricade Brothers

The traveler was contacted by the Glimmer Man, who asked them to come speak with him in New Leaf City. There, he explained that he had been working on finding Subani's Legacy. When the traveler expressed confusion, he reminded them of the guiding light which had helped Mayor Slimm create New Leaf City. He explained that in order to find Subani's Legacy, he had hired the renowned treasure hunters, the Barricade Brothers. The traveler then asked him why he needed them, as it was clear that he had the resources to achieve his goals easily. The Glimmer Man laughed and explained that he preferred to be the brains of the operation, while leaving the physical labor to others. He then told the traveler that even though the Barricade Brothers were skilled, their progress had been sluggish, with it being difficult to even keep track of where they were, because of which he asked the traveler to help the Barricade Brothers in whatever way they needed. He then instructed the traveler to meet with John Barricade inside Bigger Ben in New Leaf City, reminding them to keep whatever discoveries the brothers had made confidential. The traveler entered Bigger Ben and caught John by surprise, who wasn't expecting to see another person there. He was further taken aback when the traveler explained that it was the first time that they had heard of the Barricade Brothers, and before John could begin listing their achievements, the traveler interrupted him and explained that the Glimmer Man was eager for a status report.

John reluctantly admitted that the investigation was going nowhere, as the only thing he had discovered was that there was a series of chambers below Bigger Ben, though the path was being blocked by strange spider-like monsters that were neither alive nor robots. He then asked the traveler if they knew how to fight, after which he asked them to clear out the Killa Bees, Fire Tusks, Electrophants, and the Wolf Spiders inside the MesoGears. While fighting the monsters, the traveler was surprised to find a tombstone on grassy ground, which was quite out-of-place amidst the stone clocktower. Etched upon the tombstone were the words, “Here lies the Great Guardian Christopher Crimsonheart,” signed only with a ‘V'. The traveler wondered whether Lukan had built the tombstone for Crimsonheart after traveling back to the present, noting that tombstones were considered luxuries in the past. Just then, John arrived and noted that the tombstone, while intriguing, didn't seem like it had anything to do with Subani. He then hoped that his brother, Jack Barricade, was having better luck on his end. The thought of his brother then prompted John to ask the traveler if they could check on Jack, who was investigating Crimsonwood Keep, where Subani had once resided. The traveler agreed and made the perilous trek up Crimsonwood Mountain, where they discovered Jack inside one of the caves.

Just like his brother, Jack was easily startled by the traveler's arrival, as he had thought that one of the corrupted knights had come instead. He explained that he had gotten kidnapped by the corrupted soldiers while wandering around the Phantom Forest and was held captive for several weeks, though both he and Dr. Yoon of the Masteria research team had managed to escape. When the traveler asked if he had learned anything about Subani's Legacy, Jack explained that while he hadn't been able to learn anything about Subani, he had stumbled across something just as important. He told the traveler that a few days after he had been caught, the corrupted soldiers had taken him to the council hall where the Grandmasters used to have their meetings. There, he had been surprised to discover the four Grandmasters, noting that he had never expected to meet them when Crimsonwood Keep had been abandoned for a thousand years. Though he hadn't been able to understand their language, he did catch one word: Antellion. He explained that the Grandmasters had been staring at a mirror-like device with strange, glimmering symbols, which he had been able to memorize before they had made the symbols vanish. He then gave the traveler a journal, in which he had written the symbols and asked them to give it to John, who was an expert on ancient languages, as he believed the symbols to be the key to uncovering what was happening at the Keep. The traveler returned back to the MesoGears and showed the book to John, who noted that the symbols seemed familiar, despite him never having seen them before. Worried about his brother, he asked the traveler to show the symbols to the experts of New Leaf City in order to see if they could translate it.

The traveler went to visit Elpam Gorlab, who immediately went white upon seeing the symbols. He explained that the symbols were in the written language of Versal. The traveler noted that they had never seen such symbols in Masteria before, to which Elpam explained that they wouldn't find the script adorning any walls or written in tomes, as it was the contemporary script of Versal, which had evolved past the ancient form of Versalian which had been used a thousand years ago. He then asked the traveler where they had encountered it, and upon learning that it had come from the corrupted Grandmasters of the Keep, he noted that what he feared had come to pass. He explained that the people whom Jack had seen were not the corrupted Grandmasters, but the followers of Naricain from Versal. He then attempted to translate the symbols, which he believed to have come from a larger passage, and told the traveler that it said, “Obtain… Noille Nalle… Crimsonheart's… resting place… in Olde Sapp Village…” The traveler was surprised to learn that Naricain's followers had learned about Crimsonheart's gravestone, as the traveler and John had only discovered it quite recently. Elpam told the traveler that he believed that the Noille Nalle was at Crimsonheart's resting place, explaining that the term meant ‘Star of Night', referring to the Antellion, which he claimed was an accursed artifact which had brought immense pain to the Versalians. The traveler immediately realized that Lukan was indeed the clue behind the mystery and decided to return to Jack in order to let him know what they had discovered.

Entering the Keep

Before the traveler could head back to the Phantom Forest, they were stopped by the Glimmer Man, who asked them about the Barricade Brothers' progress. The traveler admitted that the brothers hadn't made much progress on learning about Subani's Legacy, though they had discovered that Naricain's followers were attempting to claim the Antellion. The traveler also noted that the gravestone in the MesoGears had only been made recently, and so it didn't make sense why Naricain's followers would be interested in it. The Glimmer Man was intrigued and asked who would have gone to the trouble of making a false grave site, to which the traveler told him that they believed that Lukan, the Antellion's protector, had done it. The Glimmer Man laughed and said that he was right to have hired them, as they had made much more progress than the Barricade Brothers. He then bid the traveler farewell, as he had other business to take care of outside the city. The traveler then returned back to Crimsonwood Mountain and told Jack what they had learned from Elpam. Jack decided that they ought to infiltrate the Keep before Naricain's followers could. Upon arriving at the Keep, the pair found that the entrance was locked and its security system was active. The traveler noted that they knew people who claimed to be descendants of the Shadowknights and wondered whether they knew how to bypass the security.

The traveler then went to Dead Man's Gorge and found the Raven Ninja camp. There, Taggrin told the traveler that Lireni's log had a record of a special sort of quest that all who wanted to enter the Keep had to complete, including Crimsonheart himself. He explained that there were five trials that needed to be completed at Crimsonwood Mountain in order to gain the qualifications necessary to enter the Keep. After completing the trials and obtaining all five pieces of the Keystone, the traveler returned to Jack and used it to open the door to the Keep. Inside, the pair were shocked to find the Glimmer Man, a strange woman with blonde hair and red eyes, several Versalian soldiers, and a wounded Lukan being propped up by the Nameless Warrior. Before them was an enormous, ethereal Dimensional Gate with purple runic marks, slightly ajar, allowing light from a space beyond to seep through the crack between the doors. The Glimmer Man greeted the traveler and told them that they were late, joking that in the process of trying to solve the riddle, the answer had ended up revealing itself. He reminded them about how he had said that he wasn't much for busywork, but explained that he couldn't sit idle when he had people depending on him, as being in charge meant having to make big calls. The traveler demanded to know who he really was, and so the Glimmer Man shed his alien form and revealed himself as a young Versalian man with blond hair and glowing purple eyes.

He introduced himself as Modryn, explaining that he had disguised himself in order to hide his true identity from any Versalians who might have arrived in Masteria before him. He noted that fate was strange, as he and the others had worked so hard to find Masteria, only to have someone happen upon it by pure coincidence due to a malfunctioning device, adding that irony didn't even begin to describe it. However, he told the traveler that he couldn't complain, as he had gotten what he had been after, revealing that the last surviving fragment of the Antellion that Lukan had been guarding was now in his possession. The shocked traveler demanded to know what he was planning to do with it, to which Modryn explained that he had many goals, wondering whether he first ought to begin by rebuilding the broken world of Versal, or by reviving Naricain. He then bid the traveler farewell and told Yurian, the blonde girl with red eyes, to begin preparations. The pair then proceeded to attempt to revive Naricain by opening the door, from which massive black hands emerged from the other side. Just as the Phantom of Naricain appeared, Cayne unexpectedly arrived and began fighting the creature. He enthusiastically greeted the traveler, as he hadn't expected to run into them, but noted that he ought to save the greetings for when they were finished. Cayne then took the traveler, Jack, Lukan, and the Nameless Warrior outside the Keep, where they were surprised to see Dr. Yoon, the other researchers, Garnet, Enneth, Riman, and a squad of Afinas Knights.

Truth About the Antellion

After reaching safety, the traveler asked Cayne what was going on, to which he explained that the leaders of Afinas had also taken an interest in the Antellion. Just then, Lukan groaned in pain, causing the traveler to rush to his side. Pleased to see someone he had missed greatly, Lukan warmly told the traveler that he could now die without any regrets. The traveler admonished him not to say such things, causing him to laugh and say that he was just joking, noting that it would take more to kill the protector of the Antellion, despite him not being in good shape. However, the Nameless Warrior replied that Lukan wasn't the protector of Antellion after having handed it over to Naricain's followers, causing Lukan to jokingly call them a brat. He then introduced the traveler to the Nameless Warrior, revealing that they were a descendent of the Bosshunters, one of the Keep's guilds. He explained that the Bosshunters had roamed the world in small groups, which had allowed them to avoid the consequences of the great war. The Nameless Warrior told the traveler that they had met when Lukan had introduced himself, claiming to have recognized their Bosshunter armor. They then formally introduced themselves as Broad to the group, after which Lukan told the traveler that he had important information to reveal.

He explained that after they had last parted ways since returning back to the present, he had begun researching the changed history that they had experienced after following Dr. Jang through her Time Portal, but he had been shocked to learn that nothing had been changed. He reminded the traveler that when they had gone back in time, they had never seen the Lukan of that time, though he ought to have been there with Crimsonheart and the other Grandmasters. He added that if the past Lukan had truly been there, then he would have sunk deep beneath the sea, along with the rest of Masteria. However, Lukan explained that accepting the past Lukan's existence to be true didn't account for who he himself was. He also pointed out other strange occurrences, such as Subani having met Icebyrd Slimm, despite Subani having been killed by Naricain in the altered timeline, as well as the fact that people still remembered Dr. Jang. Because of those contradictions, Lukan believed that the clearest hypothesis was that nothing had changed, as it was only himself and the traveler who believed that something different had taken place after both of them had witnessed the supposed original timeline in his memories. He then postulated that they had witnessed a fabricated memory, and that the history that they and Dr. Jang had changed was the history that was supposed to have taken place all along.

The confused traveler then asked why those memories had even been inside Lukan's mind and wondered who would want to confuse them and send them back to the past. Lukan then revealed that he had only recently learned the answer, explaining that the light of Subani which had commanded Icebyrd to build New Leaf City, the person who had presented the Antellion fragment to Dr. Jang, the person who had berated him in Subani's voice every day, and the person who had spoken in Naricain's voice in an attempt to try to convince him to cast aside his duty, were all manifestations of the Antellion itself. He told the shocked traveler that the Antellion had tried to return to Versal on its own by manipulating others with illusions. When the traveler asked why it would try to do such a thing, Broad told them that they would have the answer on the day that they could open the Dimensional Gate again, with the same applying for what the followers of Naricain were trying to do with the Antellion, though Broad noted that all they could do at present was wait.

Cayne then added that even though the Dimensional Gate wasn't working anymore, it would at least be under Afinas' control. He then asked how he and the others should react to the news of Subani and Naricain's voices being fabrications of the Antellion. When the traveler asked what he meant, Cayne explained that he and his dispatch had been sent to contact Subani, and though they had their concerns about the Antellion, they hadn't expected to learn what they had. The traveler asked whether Subani was an important figure to Afinas, to which Cayne told them that though he couldn't go into detail, much of it had largely been because of Grandmaster Delgrund. He added that the traveler was also getting high on Afinas' watchlist, and that he would explain everything to them during their next encounter. He then encouraged the traveler and the others to rest, noting that it would be good for their health. When the traveler asked if he would be staying with them, Cayne regrettably told them that even though he wanted to stay and catch up, he felt that he ought to return back to headquarters, as there were ongoing problems there to deal with. He also added that Alika, while doing her best, was utterly exhausted because the problems that they were facing could only be solved through brainwork. Because he knew nothing about Alika's work, and since he couldn't help through strength alone, he had turned to the traveler in order to get their aid. He then promised to contact them shortly when things at headquarters were more sorted out. Cayne then took his leave, promising to tell Alika hello from the traveler, and ordered Riman and the relief squad to give their full support to the traveler, whom he emphasized was highly important.

The Light of Subani

The traveler then returned to New Leaf City and sought out Icebyrd, who greeted them as the savior of Masteria. The traveler immediately cut to the chase and asked the mayor what he was keeping from them. Icebyrd laughed at their bluntness and decided that the time had come for him to reveal the real reason why he had built New Leaf City. He reminded them of how he had made a wish and then asked whether they believed in fate, and whether the choices that they made were truly theirs, or whether fate determined their entire future. He explained that it had only been the very moment that he had decided to take fate into his own hands and shape his destiny through force of will alone that the light had appeared before him, calling itself Subani and prophesizing the coming world of terror. The light had bestowed a vision upon him of a pitch-black sky and a twisted, horrific world, in which all order had collapsed. At the center of the world had been a terrifying beast so large that it was impossible to see the entire thing, slowly devouring the world with countless arms. He shivered as he explained that he could still recall the despair that he had felt in the vision while watching the apocalyptic beast devouring the people and the world that he knew.

However, he explained that the light had told him that he had a chance to stop that future from coming to pass, commanding him to build a city on the land of Masteria, as it was the first step towards securing a better future. He told the traveler that Subani had helped him choose the exact land to build on, as well as which historical sites to excavate, with the light growing more and more faint as they made progress. Upon finishing the city, Subani had told him not to tell anyone about what he had seen until the right time came, instead letting everything unfold as though he had no idea about what was happening. It was then that Subani had disappeared, promising to return again when the need was great. Icebyrd explained that he couldn't be sure if he had been hallucinating, or if he had been hypnotized, wondering whether the light itself had even been Subani. However, he added that he believed in the traveler, and that that they would write their own fate with power, courage, and honor. Because of that faith, he told the traveler that he believed that the ‘right time' that Subani had mentioned was now.

Story (Original)

Note: The original Masteria Conclusion is based on the drafts that NxProse released, which were made available publicly on Southperry (retrieved via the Wayback Machine) by PirateIzzy.

Polis of Krakia

Professor Foxwit reached out to the traveler and asked them to find his assistant, Gori. The traveler went deep into the jungles and discovered him inside the Polis of Krakia. Gori revealed that Foxwit, having gone senile in his old age, would always forget his real name, Rogi. Rogi explained that he wanted to keep Masteria safe by calibrating the continent to remain anchored. In order to do so, he asked the traveler to activate the various beacons around the jungle. The traveler successfully activated the beacons while fighting off the Taru spirits throughout the jungle and returned back to Rogi, who thanked the traveler and directed them to the final beacon. Upon arriving, however, the traveler encountered an enormous cybernetically-enhanced jungle ape named K.K. After a difficult battle, the traveler managed to stun K.K. and flee, though the enraged ape continued roaming the jungle in order to find them. Having escaped, the traveler decided to confront Rogi about why he had led them into a trap. They returned back to the Polis, where they entered his hut and discovered a disguise, a strange device, and a note written in Versalian. They took the note to Foxwit, who asked them to bring it to Elpam Gorlab for him to translate. Upon reading the note, Elpam was horrified and told the traveler that the note said, “Continent now ready for transport, Master. Reporting back to Octoplex.”

Elpam asked the traveler where they had obtained the note, and upon learning that it had come from Rogi, Elpam revealed that Rogi was the loyal servant of the Alchemist, and that Rogi's name would actually be reversed as Igor in Maple World. The shocked traveler then returned to Foxwit and told him what they had learned. Foxwit realized that Rogi was the assistant of Dr. Krakia, meaning that the Alchemist and Dr. Krakia were indeed one and the same. Foxwit asked the traveler to revisit the beacons that they had activated in order to learn what Rogi had really planned with them. The traveler returned to the jungle and fought past the Taru spirits before checking the status of several beacons. Upon reporting back, the traveler was told by Foxwit that Rogi had lied to them about anchoring Masteria, and that the traveler had really calibrated the exact position of the continent for the Alchemist and Naricain to transport Masteria back to Versal. He explained that Naricain would have his army use Masteria as a staging ground, after which the continent would be teleported back to Maple World for their invasion to begin.

Horrified at what they had done, the traveler resolved to make up for their actions by stopping the Alchemist. In order to learn more about the Krakian Jungle and the Octoplex, Foxwit asked the traveler to speak with Corine. Corine gave the traveler a token that would allow for safe passage through the jungle and told them to go back to the Polis of Krakia, where all would be revealed. The traveler then returned to Rogi's hut and turned on a strange machine that they found there. This freed five Taru spirits who appeared before the traveler. The spirit of the Taru Chief explained that they had been attacking the traveler earlier because they knew about the true purpose of the beacons, which had wiped the Taru out, and so they had believed that the traveler was an enemy when they had tried to activate them. After presenting the token and explaining what had really happened, the traveler was marked as an ally. The spirits then agreed to help the traveler find the Octoplex, though they warned that the Krakiatoa, the ultimate weapon which had destroyed Crimsonwood Keep, awaited them inside. The traveler then proceeded deeper into the jungle, where they discovered the Krakian army. Battling through the strange warriors, they discovered the entrance to the Octoplex, which recognized that they were not Versalian and thus denied them entry.

Puzzled, the traveler returned to Foxwit and Elpam, who came up with a plan for the traveler to disguise themselves. The traveler then returned to the Phantom Forest and collected gear from the Versalian soldiers, which they then took to Magatia in order to synthesize. In Magatia, the traveler spoke to Dr. De Lang, who revealed that the Alchemist was a time traveler who had learned from the most powerful scientists and magicians in history, from Professor Foxwit to the Black Mage himself. Dr. De Lang also explained that the Alchemist had allied himself with Naricain in a bid to reverse the destruction of his world. In particular, his plan involved the Antellion, whose immense power had been responsible for teleporting Masteria to Versal a millennium ago. However, Subani had intervened and had made the deal with Icebyrd to return Masteria to Maple World before the Alchemist could finish his research.

DeLang also revealed that the Antellion was only one of the two items that the Alchemist needed to restore his world, with the second item, still unknown, being located at the grave of Christopher Crimsonheart. After Dr. De Lang synthesizing the Versalian gear, the traveler used it to fool the sensors and enter the Octoplex. After infiltrating the Octoplex and entering the Launch Site, the traveler encountered the Krakiatoa, a gigantic robot which had destroyed the Keep. Upon destroying Krakiatoa, the traveler encountered the Alchemist himself, who was furious at their meddling. After defeating the Alchemist, the traveler emerged at the Launch Site and returned back to New Leaf City, where they reported their success to Foxwit. Foxwit told them that he would research on finding a way to break the Alchemist's time travel abilities and asked the player to continue defeating the Alchemist until he could find a solution.

Temple of the Elementals

Soon after, the traveler discovered the Isle of Vigilance, which contained the ruins of the Shadowknights' Watchtower, and encountered Unife, the leader of the Raven Ninja Clan. Unife told the traveler that the clan had found a strange temple in the woods, but they didn't have the numbers to mount an assault, as the Dragon Ninja Clan had additional reinforcements and strange new powers. The traveler then infiltrated the Temple of the Elementals and found a captured Rafael. After the traveler defeated the leaders of the Dragon Ninja Clan, True Ocelot and True Phoenix, Rafael led them to the Chamber of the Antellion, where he decided to become its guardian. He then offered to show them just how powerful Naricain was and gave them a single-use device, which he told them to use after defeating the Alchemist once again.

Upon using it, the traveler was teleported to Versal, where they encountered Elpam Gorlab's father, the leader of the Versalian Resistance against Naricain. However, before Elpam's father could warn them, the traveler was drained of nearly all their vitality and their armor disappeared. Terrified, Elpam's father summoned Subani, who cast a spell on the traveler to send them back to Maple World. However, the instant that he succeeded, Crushmom - the twisted Versalian version of Mushmom who had devoured Versal's sun long ago - appeared and leapt at Elpam's father, leaving his fate unknown. Back in Maple World, the traveler returned to Rafael and told him that they now understood the magnitude of the threat that they faced. Knowing that Naricain would stop at nothing to obtain the Antellion, the traveler realized that they would need Crimsonheart's help to aid the Versalian Resistance in defeating Naricain. Rafael then revealed that he had discovered Crimsonheart's location, and that he needed Foxwit to build a device to bring Crimsonheart from across time to the present. He explained that Crimsonheart's grave was a portal that led to a new land where he had been last seen, and that once the traveler found Crimsonheart, they could have him lead an all-out assault on Versal.

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