World History

General

The world was once victim to a previous scourge of Demons in an ancient past before King Allant came to the throne. The Old One, an entity of unfathomable power, had awakened the bane of existence into the world, unleashing terrible Demons that ripped the land asunder, consequently exterminating half of humankind. Those that would become the Monumentals sought to spare the land from further harm, and combined with their knowledge of Soul Arts, returned the Old One back to its slumber. To divide the lands amidst different regions and to return life to where there was none, they ordered Archstones be constructed and placed throughout the world, all of which were connected to a central Archstone used for inter-regional travel.

Amidst the realm of reality and death exists a place known as the Nexus, a hub for the souls whom traverse the ethereal worlds hoping to reclaim their bodies. Below the Nexus sleeps the Old One, offering the promise of limitless prosperity to any that gives him or herself up to it. King Allant the XII of Boletaria dreamed of bringing eternal wealth to his mighty kingdom, and thus gave himself wholly to the Old One’s will, awakening it from its long slumber. Prosperity did not befall Boletaria, but instead the colorless fog of chaos and calamity blanketed the lands, and those still living were soon no longer among the sane. The many former-citizens of Boletaria once prayed to God to grant them divinity in life. Among the most notable figureheads of the Kingdom’s parish were Saint Urbain , a highly respected man of great spiritual knowledge and an abundance of faith, and the Sixth Saint Astraea, a divine Maiden worshipped for her purity. Urbain’s followers revered him as being in direct communion with God, and through him they believed His message was delivered. It is Urbain’s belief that the Demons were placed into Boletaria, and the fog consumed the Kingdom, as a test from God, and that all must use His miracles to banish the soul-thirsty horde.

Boletarian Palace

The Boletarian Palace became home to the might of two fire-breathing dragons, and the three heroes of Boletaria transformed by the demonic fog. The Kingdom was once privileged to house it's finest heroes: Alfred, the Knight of the Tower; Metas, the Knight of the Lance, and Long Bow Oolan, who commanded a legion of archers. Their physical bodies were twisted and distorted into demonic entities while their souls remained to guard the pathway leading to their False King - a demonic embodiment of the true King Allant.

Stonefang Mine

Stonefang Tunnel was an excavation site under the control of King Allant. The miners who devoted their lives to the soldiers of Boletaria remained stubborn in their fruitless efforts to support the king, and rather than attempt to flee when the fog approached, they remained behind. Now devoid of sentience and soul, they mindlessly continue to chisel away at the tunnels. The caves create a maze-like system beneath the excavation ground worthy of its name “The Tunnel City.” Rumors of the tunnels sitting on the shrine of an ancient dragon are abound; the ancestors of the excavators were said to have worshipped and revered the dragon as a god. At its core sits a temple devoted to a fire demon whose flames are said to be the very essence from which blacksmithing was begun.

Tower of Latria

The Tower of Latria was a shrine devoted to the Ivory Queen in the lands neighboring Boletaria. With her husband, Latria ruled her kingdom - encompassing a penitentiary, a church, and the great tower itself - to the great adoration and respect of her people. Latria banished her husband from the lands for unknown reasons, and when the fog bathed the kingdom, Latria’s husband found himself filled with a terrible and vengeful lust. He soon discovered the source of his mad desires - a beautiful and flowing golden garb that seemed to beckon his name. When he put the robe on, a rage filled within him. The old man returned and ordered his wife exiled from her own kingdom and her family imprisoned in the cells Latria formerly governed. In each cell block, the old man commanded inhuman guards to keep watch over the tortured prisoners for eternity. He oversaw the construction of an idol made in his wife’s image to give false hope to the inmates, and with the masses of flesh accumulated throughout the years, the old man has begun creating his own army of demons, among them the ravenous Man Eaters. Suspended from the middle of the tower is a large, mechanical heart, constructed in an effort to help maintain the old man’s own existence. The souls of the damned inside of the prison are used as life-giving sustenance to keep the heart beating. In time, the old man’s body began to whither and decay, and the golden garb - the true source of the old man’s demonic rage - beckoned a new host. With the old man rid of the robe’s life-force, he breathed his last gasp of air.

Shrine of Storms

The Shrine of Storms was an isolated land where pagans would go to worship the god of Storms, and where legends of fallen heroes were mourned. The colorless fog released a flood of souls from the many catacombs, which soon found hosts in the skeletal remains littered across the island. Tales of great pagan deities and Boletarian folklore gave birth to reality as the Shrine is now home to fiction-made-flesh. Adjudicator , the great Judge of the Deceased, awaits the passing of a new hero to begin the process of purification before the soul is given up as a sacrifice to the great Storm King , a mighty beast that soars high above the island’s ancestral burial ground. The Storm King himself is merely the embodiment of the ideas of an ancient pagan civilization, given corporeal form by the colorless fog. Deep inside the ruins of the Shrine of Storms is a burial ground devoted to the legend of a great and nameless Hero who now blindly continues his lust for power and fame, he as well a legend of a distant generation perpetuated by the pagan rituals.

Valley of Defilement

The Valley of Defilement is a wretched home for the abused and neglected citizens of Boletaria. A dumping ground for the Kingdom’s unholy, the Valley became notorious as a place where one could leave the fetus of an unwanted child to rot in the festering swamps. Hearing of the Valley’s dreadful circumstance, the Sixth Saint Astraea took it upon herself and, along with her companions, The Holy Knight Lizaia, The Moonlight Knight Bito, and Garl Vinland , traveled there in hopes of freeing the depraved souls consumed by the fog. The mindless drones that now remain in the Valley will violently attack any who threaten them in hopes of claiming souls to offer up to the great Maiden who showed them compassion. In the deepest pits of the Valley are born two vile demons out of the putrilage and plague that lingers in the deadly bog. It is said that Astraea pledged herself to the will of a Demon’s Soul to help ease the pain of the suffering, rather than to accept the aid of a cruel God who would allow such a place to exist.

Northern Lands

The Northern Lands were once home to the race of mighty giants. They lived in relative peace with the rest of Boletaria, until the thick, colorless fog swept in and blanketed their domain. The Northern Lands were the first to succumb to the spread of Demons, and in an effort to contain the madness, Boletaria sent hundreds of thousands of its finest knights to the great kingdom to fend off the threat. The effort was for naught, and the Archstone connecting to this land was later destroyed as a last-ditch attempt to contain the chaos. It did not succeed.

Dialogue

All dialogue text is © Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

King Allant the twelfth, by channelling the power of souls,

brought unprecedented prosperity to his northern kingdom of Boletaria.

That is, until the colourless Deep Fog swept across the land.

Boletaria was cut off from the outside world,

and those who dared penetrate the Deep Fog never returned.

But Vallarfax of the royal Twin Fangs

broke free from the fog and told the world of Boletaria's plight.

That the Old King Allant had aroused the Old One,

the great beast below the Nexus, from its eternal slumber.

And that a colourless fog had swept in,

unleashing terrible Demons.

The Demons hunt down men and claim their souls.

Those who lose their souls also lose their minds.

The mad attack the sane, and chaos reigns.

Vallarfax spoke of the enticing power of the Demon souls.

Each time a Demon claims a human soul,

the Demon's own soul is invigorated by the life force.

And the power of a mature Demon Soul is beyond human imagination.

The legend spread quickly.

Mighty warriors were drawn to the accursed land,

but none have returned.

Biorr of the Twin Fangs

Yurt, the Silent Chief

Sage Urbain

Scirvir, the Wanderer

The Sixth Saint Astraea and her knight Garl Vinland

And Sage Freke, the Visionary.

The colourless Deep Fog slowly creeps beyond Boletaria's borders.

Humankind faces a slow and steady extinction.

The Deep Fog will eventually swallow all lands near and far.

But Boletaria has one final hope. A lone warrior who has braved the baneful fog…

Has the land found its saviour, or have the Demons found a new slave?

Narrator Voiced by: Nikki McKenzie