Morass/Story

AreaStory

Story (Post-Remaster)

Note: The Morass storyline was remastered under the KMS story team's new continuity in the NEXT Update.

Swamp of Memory

Having restored balance to the forest of Arcana, the Adversary continued riding the Flying Fish across the Arcane River. Unexpectedly, the Flying Fish began swimming towards the bottom of the Arcane River into a strange coral reef. The Adversary wondered where they had gone, to which the Flying Fish explained that they were at the edge of the Arcane River. The Adversary expressed their shock that the Flying Fish could suddenly talk, to which the Flying Fish explained that he had gained the ability to speak, since they were near the Morass, where the Erdas were more concentrated. He then introduced himself as the Will of Erda, a proxy for the Erdas created in order to save the world, just like the Adversary. As they headed closer towards the Morass, the Adversary was surprised to find Xenoroids around them. The Flying Fish explained that the Erdas in the Morass could mimic the memories of others as a survival technique, adding that they could become their enemy's greatest fear if needed. Because of this, the Erdas were able to manifest themselves as Xenoroids from the Adversary's memories of Black Heaven. The Adversary fought past the Xenoroids, though they noted that the Erdas would simply manifest anew.

The Flying Fish then told the Adversary that Tana was nearby, whose power was strong enough to affect even him. They quietly proceeded ahead and found Tana standing with Arkarium. Tana's hair began oscillating between dark and light, and Arkarium noted that her mental state was deteriorating. In extreme pain, Tana asked who she was and why she was hurting. Arkarium explained that her name was Tana, and that the Black Mage was waiting for her, offering to stop her pain in exchange for sharing her power with him. Tana was able to recall that the Black Mage was the one who had sealed her away, though Arkarium told her that it had been for her own safety, as freezing her in time had stopped her from feeling unbearable pain and eventual madness. He then told Tana that they had gone over the same information many times and added that they didn't have time to go over it again. The Flying Fish urged the Adversary to get Tana away from Arkarium, promising to explain later. As the Adversary confronted Arkarium, Tana lost control of her powers, causing the river current to grow stronger. Just as Arkarium shielded himself, Tana's powers resulted in a widespread explosion, which the Adversary and the Flying Fish barely managed to escape. In the distance, the castle of Trueffet from Kritias manifested, causing Tana to grow shocked at seeing her old prison. As she wondered how it could have appeared, Arkarium told Tana that her powers had allowed it to manifest.

Some distance away, the Adversary was surprised to see Trueffet and the Flying Fish explained that it was a distorted plane of existence created from Tana's memories. Though they were able to see it as it existed in her mind, it was really just a living coral reef that had been transformed. He explained that Tana's memory had overridden everyone else's, which was why the Xenoroids had disappeared. He also revealed that Tana's power exceeded that of the Black Mage. Because of her unparalleled ability to control the Erdas, the Black Mage had ordered Arkarium to bring her before him so that he could exploit her powers. The Adversary asked if Tana truly wanted to help the Black Mage destroy the world, to which the Flying Fish explained that she likely didn't know what she was doing, as the Black Mage was taking advantage of her weakened mental state. The Flying Fish cautioned the Adversary not to lose themselves in Tana's memories while inside the Morass. Immediately upon entering, however, they were both swept away into Tana's memories of Trueffet in Hekatonian Year 52. In Trueffet Square, the Adversary's body was changed to match that of Shey, a young man hoping to become a priest at the Temple of Time. Though the Adversary was able to remember their true self, they noted how their body and voice continued playing through the memory.

Just then, a thief named Jean stole Shey's money and ran off. After getting caught, Jean threw the money to the alley cats, laughing that he always had a backup plan. While Shey collected his money back, Jean headed back to town, where he saw Tana watching a large anti-magic stone being lifted on a pulley. Deciding to pickpocket her, Jean snuck up behind Tana, but just as he reached out his hand, Tana grabbed him and told him that she hadn't expected him. Tana pushed Jean aside, just as the pulley rope broke, causing the anti-magic stone to shatter and vaporize everyone in the vicinity. Jean and the other survivors then watched in horror as Tana's form rematerializing into a figure with white hair and glowing eyes. The memory loop then flashed forward two years and the Adversary suddenly heard the Flying Fish's voice urging them to snap out of it. The Adversary quickly regained their senses, though they were temporarily dazed from having been immersed in Shey's memories. The Flying Fish explained that they were inhabiting someone from Tana's memories. He told them that Tana was a prisoner of the Morass, just as they were, and warned them that those who became trapped in the Morass would remain stuck in the memory loop, eventually becoming Erdas themselves. Just as he began telling the Adversary how to escape, his voice faded away and the memory loop resumed.

Back in Trueffet, one of the researchers asked Shey to pick up a late shipment for the memorial service created for those who had been killed two years ago by the anti-magic stone. At the market, Shey found the merchant being harassed by gangsters. The merchant loudly proclaimed that Shey was a priest from the Temple of Time and advised the thugs to leave. The gangsters decided to back off, but not before stealing the merchant's apples. After Shey recovered the apples, he asked the merchant whether he knew anything about the crystal disaster and its survivor. The merchant wondered why Shey was asking about it, as the event had happened while Shey had still been in town, before he had left for his studies. However, he told Shey that he didn't know anything and advised him to ask someone else. Shey then met a woman selling pottery, who asked him to teach the gangsters a lesson first. After beating them up, Shey returned to the woman, who told him that the people of Trueffet called the survivor an Angel of Death, and that the soldiers had taken her away, never to be seen again. She mentioned that Jean had also been asking about her, though he hadn't been seen in several days. Suddenly, Shey noticed that there was a glowing journal in his bag and decided to look at it later. The woman then told him that a researcher was looking for him. After meeting the researcher, Shey was told that the High Priest had arrived, and that he had gone to the observatory. There, Shey was surprised to meet Arkarium, the High Priest.

Girl and Boy

The memory loop then flashed forward and the Adversary found themselves in a dungeon. They realized that Tana and Arkarium had to have known each other from centuries ago and suspected that they must have been connected to the sealing of Kritias. Inside one of the research labs, they found Tana shackled inside a large spell circle, with researchers conducting tests. Tana asked Shey if he knew who she was, as she had lost all her memories, except for her name. However, she felt that Shey seemed familiar before crying out in pain. One of the researchers explained that they were testing her daily in order to see if they could transfer her regenerative power to others. They told Shey that upon failure, the test recipients vanished, but her power enabled her body to restore itself perfectly every time. Shey expressed that it seemed inhumane, but the researcher told him that regardless of how Tana appeared, she wasn't human. In order to explain it better, he told Shey to obtain his research journal from the lower dungeons, where another researcher had dropped it while running out in fright. Inside the dungeons, Shey fought the strange shadows in the room and obtained the research journal, from which they learned that Hekaton had ordered the experiments in order to obtain immortality from Tana. While experimenting, the researchers had learned that memories were tied to the body, rather than the soul, as Tana kept losing her memories each time she regenerated. During one experiment in which they had forced her beyond her regenerative capacity, Tana's power had caused the test subjects to vanish in a flash of light, just as the anti-magic stone had done.

Shey returned to the lab and learned that the former High Priest had written the entries before resigning, claiming that they had overstepped their bounds as mortals. Arkarium then entered and began a new test, which he deemed as a success after the test recipient received only moderate damage. The Adversary then wondered whether Arkarium was aware of being trapped in the memory loop. After the experiment, the memory loop flashed forward and the Flying Fish's voice told the Adversary to hide. Shey witnessed Jean break into Tana's prison and attempt to rescue her. When he found that he couldn't break her chains, he had spent every day reading to her and attempting to befriend her, though Tana's lost emotions had made it difficult to read whether she was being positively affected by his efforts. The memory loop flashed forward again and the researcher asked Shey to bring Red Reagent from the dungeons for the experiment.

As Arkarium conducted the experiment, King Hekaton himself arrived and berated Arkarium for his slow progress, ordering the researchers to raise the intensity. Tana's power levels quickly reached critical as she unleashed a flash of vaporizing light, which King Hekaton miraculously survived, though the researchers noted a strange distortion in his spirit. Hekaton then ordered Arkarium to succeed in his experiment by tomorrow, the day of his Ascendancy. The memory loop then flashed forward to that night, where the Flying Fish told the Adversary that the next memory was important. Jean then entered Tana's prison, but Tana told Jean not to come visit her anymore in an effort to keep him safe, as she knew that tomorrow's experiment would likely destroy her. As her power began growing unstable at the thought, Jean hugged her and was able to calm her down.

Destruction of Kritias

The Adversary was pleased to see Tana smile for the first time, though the Flying Fish told them that Jean's rescue attempt would fail and trigger the fall of Kritias. He urged the Adversary to help Jean successfully escape, as changing the story was the only way to draw out Tana's consciousness. He added that he would soon become trapped in the Morass of Tana's memories and told the Adversary that it was up to them to break everyone free. In order to change the memory, the Adversary asked Jean to meet them in the dungeon, telling him that they needed his help to save Kritias. Jean asked them to first find a special gift that he had lost in the dungeons. After searching, they found a necklace made with an anti-magic stone. Jean told the Adversary that he planned to unchain Tana and use the stone in order to break their way out. As the researchers dropped the magical barrier over the castle during their experiments, he believed that they could use that moment to break free. They fought through the monsters in the dungeons and arrived at the Restricted Area in order to obtain the key to Tana's shackles. The Adversary then asked Jean how he had managed to enter the dungeons, to which Jean told them that he had assumed that it was they who had left a note about the secret passageway. The Adversary wondered whether Shey had left the note in between the flash-forwards, and so they lied and confirmed that they had left the note for him, despite knowing nothing about it.

Just then, Arkarium approached them and proposed that they work together to free Tana, as his powers as a Guardian of Time allowed him to foresee that Hekaton's Ascendency would unleash untold horrors upon Kritias. They entered Tana's prison, where Arkarium told her that she would not survive the Ascendency, as failure meant that she would be trapped forever in an endless loop of disintegration and reconstitution. Shey, with his own limited precognition as a Priest of Time, was able to see that Jean's plan would work, though the Adversary knew that Shey was wrong. As the Ascendency preparations began, Jean infiltrated the lab and told the Adversary that the purple eye on their head was getting darker. When they voiced their confusion, Jean noted that it was the same mark that they had left on the note. The Adversary realized that it was Arkarium's mark and turned around to find Arkarium in his present-day form, who then trapped the Adversary inside a magical prison. He revealed that as a former Guardian of Time, he was strong enough to not be trapped in the past. Explaining that he had possessed Shey in the past in order to interrupt Jean, he decided that he would do it himself this time, since the Adversary was in control of Shey's body.

He then made Jean's presence known and the guards immediately arrested him. Realizing that Jean was the key that Arkarium had told him, Hekaton ordered his guards to kill Jean. At the shock of Jean being stabbed, Tana's resistance levels plummeted as Hekaton prepared to become immortal. However, Tana instead shattered the anti-magic necklace in order to stop the ritual. Arkarium told the Adversary that he had allowed the memory loop to play through in order to learn why the ritual had failed centuries ago. He then trapped the Adversary inside a pocket dimension before kidnapping Tana. After breaking free, they found Jean collapsed alone upon the floor. He then revealed himself as the Flying Fish, who had been inhabiting Jean's body throughout Tana's memories. He told the Adversary that there was still one more magical seal where Arkarium was taking Tana in order to steal her powers for himself. Upon going outside, they found Hekaton transfigured into a giant monster, having become immortal at a terrible price. They felt Shey's mind registering how Kritias had been swept forward in time by a dark force. The Adversary then fought through the soldiers, who had been transformed by Tana's influence, and arrived at the magical seal where Arkarium was.

Arkarium revealed that his past self had thought that Tana's powers were eternal youth and immortality, but the Black Mage had taught him that her true power was the ability to manipulate the Erdas. Claiming that Tana's shell of her former self wasn't worthy of the Black Mage, Arkarium planned to steal her powers for himself. The Adversary fought Arkarium and his minions, but they were unable to defeat him fully. Suddenly, Jean appeared and hugged Tana, helping her control her powers. Though Arkarium scoffed at her abilities, he soon found himself a victim of his own hubris as Tana effortlessly vaporized Arkarium and all of his forces. Tana then realized that Jean wasn't truly himself, which the Flying Fish sadly confirmed. However, he warned them that Black Mage of the past, created from Tana's memories, would soon arrive in order to seal Kritias in time. The Adversary asked why the Black Mage's forces had invaded Kritias, to which the Flying Fish explained that it was to cover up any evidence of Tana's existence. He advised that they leave immediately, since the Black Mage created by the Morass, though not as powerful as the real one, would still be incredibly dangerous.

The three of them finally escaped the Morass and were transported to the bottom of the Arcane River, where the Adversary awoke to find themselves and the Flying Fish, who was still stuck in Jean's form. Realizing that Tana must have fallen somewhere else, the Adversary began searching for her in order to convince her not to join the Black Mage. However, Jean told the Adversary that there was no point in trying, revealing that only the destruction of the world would bring an end to her pain. Jean then added that they had bigger problems, as he had no way of taking them to the end of the Arcane River in his current body. However, he noted that there was a chance that Tana may have opened a portal on her way to meet the Black Mage, which they may be able to use in order to follow her. As they prepared to return back to Trueffet, Jean felt something in his pocket and discovered the Arcane Symbol of Morass, which he gave to the Adversary. Meanwhile, in the distance, Tana watched the Adversary from afar, briefly wondering whether she ought to stop them in order to prevent them from thwarting the Black Mage. However, when she saw the Flying Fish in the form of Jean, she ultimately decided against it and walked off.

Meanwhile, the Adversary and Jean returned to Trueffet, where they began following traces of Tana and discovered a portal which she had created. Jean noted that the portal was sucking in all the surrounding Erdas and asked the Adversary to try going through. Upon attempting to do so, however, the Adversary was pushed back and collapsed on the floor. Upon getting up, they turned to Jean and demanded to know whether he had really asked them to go through a strange gateway without knowing what would happen. Jean laughed that the Adversary seemed fine, adding that they must have fallen once or twice before. However, he then wondered why going through the portal hadn't worked. The Adversary attempted to go through the portal once again, though after being pushed back, Jean realized that Tana must have made it so that the portal would prevent them from following her. Suddenly, the ground began to shake as the Black Mage from Tana's memories began to recreate his invasion of Kritias.

As the Adversary and Jean fled, Arkarium - whose body had been destroyed - transferred his life force into his backup snake body, just as he had done when Damien had used Alicia's powers to destroy his body. Badly damaged, Arkarium awaited the Black Mage of the past, believing that Rhinne's power would allow him to enter Kritias of the past and restore his powers. Just then, the Black Mage of the past appeared and told him that the real Black Mage had commanded him to say, “You have done well. Rest.” The Black Mage's echo then killed Arkarium, who had finally outlived his usefulness. Back in the Morass, Jean noted that they had escaped just in time, while the Adversary pointed out that Trueffet still hadn't disappeared. Jean told the Adversary that he planned to return back to Trueffet in order to find a way ahead, as well as to find a way to return to his original form. He then asked the Adversary not to stray too far, promising that he would call them back when it was time.

Kritias: Anthology of Retrospection

Throughout the Morass storyline, various entries are recorded in Shey's journal, which the player can read in order to learn more about the fall of Kritias. Completing the Morass storyline unlocks all six journal entries.

1. Angel of Death

Hekatonian Calendar Year 52

Any story worth telling has an unexpected start.

We lost many lives the day the Anti-Magic Stone fell, and its destruction gave us our first glimpse of her new form.

She took on a spectral appearance as her body reformed before our very eyes. A sinister light surrounded her in a halo of darkness!

Terror overtook us, and many proclaimed this sight was an omen of disaster. Years later, our worst fears became reality.

2. Orphan's Empathy

Hekatonian Calendar Year 54

I've not heard the name Jean in quite some time. The last words that boy ever spoke to me still echo within my mind.

"If I had died in that accident... would anyone have missed me?"

As an orphan with no home or family, it seems his greatest fear was of being forgotten.

Perhaps his own circumstances sparked compassion for the girl within him.

But I could never be sure, and time has clouded my memory of him.

3. Hekaton the Benevolent

Hekatonian Calendar Year 54

"Hekaton the Benevolent"

That is how the people of Kritias saw their king. His strength, wisdom, and compassion surpassed even his extraordinary knowledge of magic. Under his brilliant leadership, Kritias entered into its grand renaissance.

But as the city flourished, the king became weak and frail with age. His once great mind became warped by fear, and his benevolence turned to cruelty.

Even the advanced magical knowledge of Kritias could not stop his aging.

Years later... the king I met in the dungeon was no longer the king of old.

His lust for immortality had turned him into a monster consumed by hate and greed.

4. Dire Repercussions

Hekatonian Calendar Year 54

The most terrifying part of that dungeon wasn't the shadows cast by the flickering torches.

It was the sounds of echoing through the halls... the low, guttural moans, the endless pounding on the thick iron door. Enduring the constant sound of despair and agony issuing from beneath out feet was enough to drive anyone mad.

After exhaustive research, I finally discovered the shocking truth behind it.

We had been conducting experiments to see if we could transfer the girl's power of immortality to another test subject. But the recipient's body always rejected the magic. Every one of our attempts failed, and each time they did, the recipient vanished.

We thought nothing of it until the day a researcher went downstairs to retrieve supplies and discovered the horrifying byproducts of our work.

It was only then that I realized... The test subjects' bodies may have been destroyed, but their souls... their souls remained. what we found in the dungeon were their vain attempts to reform bodies they could never again inhabit.

The horror of what we had done was sickening. We had no choice but to seal the dungeon and turn a deaf ear to the tormented souls hidden below.

But Hekaton was relentless... bordering on inhuman... and the experiments continued for years. How many lives did we doom to an eternity of suffering? 

5. Shattered Kingdom

Hekatonian Calendar Year 54

When I finally came to my senses, it was far too late. The whole of Kritias was nearly obliterated in the aftermath of Hekaton's failed ritual. What's more, the resulting time disruption was forcing the doomed kingdom into the future.

It was then that the Black Mage discovered Tana's existence and invaded Kritias. A burst of magic that intense could never have gone unnoticed.

Ironically, Hekaton regained his humanity only as the failed experiment began to destroy his body. He spent his final moments evacuating the people of Trueffet.

The memory of those lost will forever haunt me.

6. Atonement

Hekatonian Calendar Year 54

So many lives ended with Kritias's demise. How could I remain a priest after being party to such heinous acts?

So I exiled myself...

I intend to spend what remains of my life atoning. I know it is impossible, and I will forever be consumed with sorrow, but it is the only fate I deserve.

Story (Pre-Remaster)

Note: The following is the original ending to the Morass storyline, which was required in order to unlock daily quests. The Morass storyline revamp in NEXT Update removed this questline and adapted it into the story above. This questline begins after the Adversary, the Flying Fish, and Tana escape from Kritias of the past.

The Adversary, the Flying Fish, and Tana finally escaped the Morass and arrived at the bottom of the river. To the Adversary's surprise, the Flying Fish was still stuck in Jean's form. The Adversary began searching for Tana in order to convince her not to join the Black Mage, but Jean told them that it was no use, as only the destruction of the world would bring an end to her pain. Just then, Jean felt something in his pocket and discovered the Arcane Symbol of Morass, which he gave to the Adversary. In the distance, Tana briefly considered stopping them in order to prevent them from thwarting the Black Mage, but when she saw the Flying Fish in the form of Jean, she decided against it and walked off.Meanwhile, Arkarium, whose body had been destroyed, transferred his life force into his backup snake body, just as he had done when Damien had used Alicia's Transcendent powers to destroy his body. Badly damaged, Arkarium awaited the Black Mage of the past, believing that Rhinne's power would allow him to enter Kritias of the past and restore his powers. Just then, the Black Mage of the past appeared and told him that the real Black Mage had commanded him to say, “You have done well. Rest,” before killing Arkarium. Meanwhile, in the distance, the Adversary noted that Trueffet hadn't disappear as expected. Jean noted that he still had to find a way to restore his true form in order to take the Adversary to the Black Mage. He decided that he would return to the Morass in order to find a solution, believing that there had to be a clue to reverting his form there.

Some time later, Jean called the Adversary back to the Morass. At the town square, he told them that he was planning to store his power while looking for a way to regain his old form. He asked them to collect Memory Slivers from the monsters around Trueffet, as the Memory Slivers were capable of gathering and clarifying scattered memories. After obtaining them, the Adversary returned to Jean, who thanked them for their help. He explained that the Memory Slivers felt like a buzz from an energy drink, but on a galactic scale. The Adversary joked that they should find wings for Jean so that he could carry them on his back. They then wondered how Tana had been able to move on, to which Jean supposed that she had used her power to control the Erdas in order to push herself along on an Erda path or an Erda tugboat. The Adversary suggested following her trail of Erdas, as they may be able to pick up clues with their own basic command over the Erdas.

The Adversary and Jean went to the Leaning Tower, where Tana had last been seen when Arkarium had tried to steal her powers. They fought through the thralled soldiers in their way and reached the broken magical seal. There, Jean felt Tana's overwhelming power, though he noted that it was merely an echo. He doubted that she had gone through that way, as the tower was merely a haven for her displaced rage. They returned back to the town square, where Jean believed that they could track her down by finding the traces left by her. In order to find traces of Tana, they went to the research lab, where Jean believed that they would find a clue, as she had been there the longest.

Just then, a researcher appeared and told them that no one ought to be in the lab anymore. He explained that he was the only survivor of the failed Ascendency, and that he had been there ever since. In order to atone for his sins, the researcher looked after the bodies of everyone else so that the failed experiments didn't corrupt them. In exchange for helping him, the researcher offered to tell them about that fateful day. The Adversary fought the Red Shadows and Experiments Gone Wrong in order to make the laboratory quiet once more. During a final sweep of the area, they found a sealed door with strange light streaming through it. Just then, several shadow monsters appeared and the Adversary fought them off before turning back to the door. Unable to force it to open, they returned to the researcher in order to ask him about it. The researcher had never heard of such a door, but noted that pieces of the anti-magic stone that had exploded had been gathered and sealed nearby. Jean wondered whether Tana had passed through it, but the Adversary doubted it, explaining that it was covered in cobwebs, as though it hadn't been touched in years.

Moving back to the main topic, Jean asked the researcher about what he had seen. The researcher explained that he had seen Tana heading towards the outskirts of Trueffet. Jean feared that she might have met the Black Mage of the past, who may have pointed the way to the real Black Mage to her. Asking if they intended to follow Tana, the researcher requested that they give her his apologies for the unforgivable crimes that he had committed. At the outskirts, they found several thralled soldiers along the way. After fighting past them, Jean asked the Adversary to collect Memory Glass in order to examine the traces of memory around them.

With the Memory Glass, Jean was able to discover where she had gone and led the Adversary to a large dimensional gate that Tana had created. They attempted to enter the gate, but were forced back to the outskirts of the Morass. The Adversary found Jean lying face down nearby and gathered Memory Slivers from the Xenoroids in order to revive him. After waking up, Jean noticed that Trueffet was slowly disappearing, as everything was slowly returning back to the way it was in the absence of Tana's influence. As it would mean that they'd lose Tana's trail, they rushed back to the outskirts of Trueffet, where they fought past the evaporating Erdas, which were remnants of the thralled soldiers. Back in the town square, Jean asked the Adversary to help keep the Morass together until they found where Tana had gone, explaining that he would naturally return to his Flying Fish form after Trueffet disappeared.