The Books of Rona

The story is set within a mystical world in a time far behind our own, more specifically the world of Marthis. This universe is extremely different from the one we live in nowadays. In this strange universe, a magical “force” known as Caeda flows around the world. This Caeda allows those who practice the ancient magic to perform mystical tasks, such as turning animals into wild beasts and turning ordinary swords into magical fire blades, beyond the normal person’s wildest dreams. However, this ancient mythical power was not always used for good. Nobody knows the true nature of how Caeda came to be; however, they do know the story of the first one to contain it. The myth goes that in the year 938 BC, a merchant only known by the name of Rona, living within the town of Midasville was the first to discover the ancient force of Caeda. Rona then became determined to discover how she could harness this power for herself. The myth does not state how long it had took Rona to figure out how to control this magic (later discovered to be 12 years), nor does it explain how she managed to figure out each one of the spells (later discovered that she simply wrote them all herself and then used the Caeda force to infuse them into the words). However, somehow, the myth states, Rona was able to create a series of 10 books, each 500 pages long, pronouncing all the different spells one could perform, how to perform them, and their consequences on the very world itself.

Marsha and the Ancient Ruins

The myth then continues to the year 782 BC (as it was believed that the Caeda was used by Rona to turn her immortal). Before this time period, Rona’s powers had been discovered by her sister, Marsha. Marsha was the only one that knew Rona had learned how to control the Caeda, and although she asked Rona numerous times to teach her how to use it, Rona denied her multiple times, stating it was too powerful of a force to reckon with. Over time, Marsha became more and more determined to figure out how to use the Caeda force, eventually going to the point where Rona called her obsessed, using this determination as a reason of why Rona would not teach it to Marsha. As a result, Marsha spent years traveling throughout the world of Marthis, trying to learn from the locals anything and everything she could about this ancient power. This journey lasted for three years, until in 779 BC, Marsha found herself upon a set of Ancient ruins believed by the locals to be possessed with dark entities. Marsha believed that the “entities” described the locals were powered by the Caeda. No record is kept about what happened to Marsha upon entering the ancient ruins: however, there was also no reports from the nearby locals of her ever emerging. However, within a month of Marsha entering the ruins, it was reported that all of the locals in the town had disappeared. Horrified by this, Rona made her way towards the dark ruins. Eventually, Rona did manage to find Marsha¸ but it was reported that, physically, she looked completely different from how she had appeared before she set out on her journey. She also appeared to be within a coma-type state. Rona decided to take Marsha back to Midasville to help her escape the coma.

The Fight of Rona and Marsha

This plan, unfortunately, did not help Rona or anyone else in Marthis in the long run. About a week after Rona and Marsha made it back to Midasville, Marsha completely disappeared along with Rona’s books of spells. Not much is described of what events in the myth occurred afterwards, but the myth tells of Rona discovering Marsha in a psychotic like state, resulting in a climactic battle occurring between Rona and Marsha, alongside strange dark shadow-type beings which acted as Marsha’s army. The battle is reportedly ended with Rona destroying Marsha’s army and defeating her due to Rona’s more sophisticated knowledge. This led with Rona realizing Marsha used the Caeda energy to turn herself immortal, just like Rona had, only in a psychotic-type state. Unable to reverse this, Rona used Caeda in order to return Marsha to her coma-like state and locked her up within a dungeon far below the crust of Marthis. To stop the books from ever being stolen by a dark force again, Rona locked up all 10 books in 10 highly secure dungeons located within 10 different regions across the world. In order to protect the books, Rona created armies consisting of the most elite fighters across the world and tasked them with guarding the dungeons. Shortly after the order was given, and the fighters took control of protection on the dungeons, Rona disappeared as if out of nowhere, and for over 1000 years, nobody had ever seen her again. The different armies and dungeons are as follows:

The Books of Rona

• [0] Komori Knights: Protectors of the Vault of Marsha in the Underground Dokutsu cave system.

• [1] Kuma Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Seikatsu in the Forest Shinrin region.

• [2] Doragon Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Shi in the Lava Kazan region.

• [3] Sakana Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Sozo in the Flooded Shima region.

• [4] Hebi Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Hakai in the Dune Sabaku region.

• [5] Okami Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Supesu in the Snowy Yuki region.

• [6] Kaeru Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Jikan in the Swampy Numachi region.

• [7] Hitsuji Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Tochi in the Flat Heiya region.

• [8] Washi Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Tenki in the high Sora region.

• [9] Yagi Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Karada in the windy Yama region.

• [10] Kame Knights: Protectors of the Vault of the Book of Maindo in the dense Janguru region.

Life, Death, Creation, Destruction, Space, Time, Land, Weather, Body, Mind

The Vault of Marsha

The story, and the game, then proceeds to the time period of 1093, more than 1000 years following the disappearance of Rona. The game has the player control the character Tamashi, who is one of the Komori Knights. The Komori Knights are known for being particularly secretive about their overall environment, which is why nobody knows where their vault is located. These knights are also known to be dominantly female, with very few male Komori Knights existing in the world. This is particularly due to how both Roma and Marsha were both female, resulting in the first leader of the knights, Yasuki, believing it would be right for the protectors of the Vault of Marsha to be female as well. These knights are known for being dominantly lightweight, which allows them to sneak around their surroundings particularly well. They also are known for being dominant sword and knife wielding fighters. None of the different knight groups speak with each other due to the Knight War of 873, which resulted in most of the Knights dying after a civil war broke out between the groups over whether the books should continue to be contained or not, which the Kuma, Hebi, Okami, Hitsuji, Kame, Yagi, and Komori believed so, but the Doragon, Sakana, Kaeru, and Washi did not.

Marsha's Unleash

The story begins with Tamashi roaming around the vault caves in search of one of her friends, Nasaki, when she stumbles upon the door to the actual vault itself. At first, Tamashi just ignores the door. However, the character notices some strange writing etched into the door. Upon closer investigation, Tamashi touches the writing on the door and begins hearing whispers before suddenly fading out unconscious. Tamashi appears within a dream-type world similar to the town of Midasville, but completely in flames. It is during this time in which Tamashi encounters an entity that appears like Rona, who smiles upon seeing Tamashi. It is after this moment that Tamashi appears out of the dream-like world into the real world, but untouched. However, to Tamashi’s surprise, the door to the Vault of Marsha is wide open. Unsure of what to do, Marsha enters the vault. As she makes her way through, the voices in her head grow louder and louder. She opens several doors on her way through, some of which require some puzzle solving to complete. This continues until Tamashi appears within a room at the end of the hall with a stone coffin in the center, and the whispering stops. Tamashi then hears a voice saying “Let me out…”. Without thinking, Tamashi opens the coffin and sees the supposedly-dead body of Marsha. Tamashi is then yelled at by Nasaki, who followed her through the vault, asking why she went through the vault, before Nasaki is shocked to death with lightning from a force coming from behind Tamashi. Tamashi then turns around to find a completely conscious Marsha standing behind her. Marsha utters “Thank you” before palm-hitting Tamashi in the chest, sending her flying down the hall and hitting her head on the floor, knocking her unconscious.

The Collapse of the Vault

Tamashi then wakes up to a completely destroyed version of the Dokutsu cave system. Tamashi begins making her way towards the main facility. On her way, Tamashi is attacked by a demonic version of one of the Komori Knights, who she is forced to kill. Although this first attack is a surprise/jumpscare, the rest are pretty expected, as the rest begin to scream right before they approach her. Tamashi arrives upon the main facility eventually, where she finds literally everyone in the facility transformed into a demonic type state. Knowing she has no time to lose, Tamashi fights through all the Komori’s she can before she reaches the main entrance to the cave system. Tamashi makes her way through the cave, during which she hears massive amounts of screaming coming from behind. Tamashi eventually sees the army of demonic Komori Knights coming straight after her, but she makes it towards the main exit just in time, as the last surviving Komori Knight, Unisha, who is the leader of the Knights, uses Caeda to break down the cave and crush all the possessed knights. Unisha then leads Tamashi out of the cave system and onto the surface world, which is discovered to be the region of Heiya.

The Journey

This is where the story and gameplay of the actual game begins. Beginning in Heiya, Tamashi and Unisha explore the entire world of Marthis in search of the rest of the Vaults in order to protect the books from Marsha’s army (which she has already taken infiltrated by time they reach it). During their journey, Tamashi is able to unlock new weaponry, such as hammers, bows, spears, ect, and use Caeda to increase the strength of her weaponry. She is also capable of learning new Caeda powers as she enters new regions, the power depending on which book is hidden within the area. During their journey, Unisha and Tamashi form a practical alliance, but Tamashi hides the fact that she released Marsha from Unisha, who she swore she would kill whoever did it. The order in which the characters go is as follows: Heiya, Yama, Shinrin, Shima, Yuki, Janguru, Kazan, Sabaku, Numachi, Sora. For example, while in the Janguru region, the player will learn how to confuse enemies or convince them to fight for them instead of against them. In the Yuki region, players will learn how to teleport. In the Sora region, players will learn how to control the wind to push their enemies away.

Rona's Return

Near the end of the game, in the Sora region, with Tamashi believing she can trust her, Unisha learns Tamashi is the one who released Marsha. This eventually leads to a massive argument resulting between the two and Unisha attempting to kill Tamashi. No matter how much damage the player does to Unisha in the battle that follows, Unisha will always gain the upper hand and almost kill Tamashi. However, right as Tamashi is about to be killed, Unisha is knocked out (and supposedly killed) by an unknown person in a dark cloak. This person ends up brining Tamashi to her house on the highest point of the region. This is where Tamashi learns that the person who saved her is actually Rona. Tamashi explains how she got to the Sora region and how she is the one responsible for the madness. Rona initially becomes frustrated and questions her, but slowly becomes calm and start to debate a solution on how to defeat Marsha. Soon afterwards, Roma helps Tamashi reach the Tenki Vault right as Marsha is invading it. As Marsha is about to steal the book, Roma comes into contact with Marsha. The two break out into a massive fight, which ends with Marsha gaining the upper hand. Knowing she cannot kill Rona, Marsha pulls her into a coma statis. However, right before she does this, Rona uses the Caeda to give Tamashi the same immortality that she and Marsha uses in order to give her the power to stop Marsha. This then leads to Marsha kidnapping Roma and destroying the floating islands of Sora right as Tamashi escapes by teleporting using her newly-learned Caeda powers.

Marsha's Cure

Tamashi ends up teleporting to the town of Minasville and learns that Marsha already is within the ruins, and is now ready to use them to wreak havoc upon the world of Marthis by converting everyone within it into her own army. Right as she hears this, Marsha summons an army of demonic soldiers from all 11 of the vaults and attempts to destroy the city. However, despite Tamashi’s attempts, the city is still destroyed, and everyone within it is killed. This is when Tamashi realizes this is her last opportunity to stop Marsha. Fighting her way through even more demonic soldiers outside the city’s limits, Tamashi makes her way into the same ancient dark ruins Marsha first disappeared in. It is here that Tamashi finds both Marsha and an unconscious Rona. This is where Marsha and Tamashi engage in an epic battle for the fate of the entire world. The battle goes on for some time until Marsha reaches half health. After this point, Marsha attempts to send Tamashi into a coma statis, but accidentally uses the spell on Rona instead, which results in her waking out of the statis. Together, Rona and Tamisha end up fighting Marsha to the point in which Marsha in unable to fight any longer. In a last attempt to stop her, Rona uses her abilities to create a spell that steals the demonic presence outside of Marsha’s body, which cures her of the evil that had taken control of her for over a thousand years. It is this event that not only destroys all of the dark entities Marsha had created, but also how Tamashi learns that Rona simply made all of the spells on her own, and that Rona could use the power to do anything, not just what is stated in the books.

The Continuation

This marks the end of the story of the game: however, if the player wishes to go further into the game, they are able to go into all 10 of the different lands and fight off the remaining members of Marsha’s army. There also will be side quests in which Tamashi will be able to complete, given by the survivors of the disaster, as well as by Rona or Marsha themselves (sometimes, the person that gives the quest will join them on their journey). This allows them to gain all of the different weaponry accessible in the game, as well as upgrade them. Tamashi will also be able to learn all the different spells in the game, which will produce lots of gameplay time.