Dharma

Dharma is an island southwest of Estard Island in the game Dragon Quest VII. It holds the familiar Dharma Temple.

History

Dharma Temple was a temple that allowed people to change classes to suit their personalities. They were protected by the Dharma Guard, an elite group of warriors. The temple is run by High Priest Fosse.

The Demon Lord understood the importance of the temple because of its potential to create a Hero. The Demon Lord sent Antoria to take over Dharma. He commanded monsters and overtook Dharma. Many of the Dharma Guardsman were killed. Fosse was captured by the monsters and imprisoned in the Dharma prison, encased in a pyramidal energy field, powered by two magical conductors.

With the monsters finally taken over Dharma, Antonia comes up with an ingenious scheme. Knowing that travelers would come to Dharma Temple to change classes, Antonia decides to steal their skills. How it works is simple. The traveler comes to Dharma Temple coming to change classes. The monsters, disguised as priests, pushes class change onto the unknowing traveler, telling them about the advantages of changing their class. When the traveler is sold on the idea of changing classes, they go to the High Priest, which is actually Antoria in disguise. Antoria asks a unsuspecting traveler what class they wish to become. When the traveler makes their choice, Antonia first asks the traveler to bathe in a pool behind him. When the traveler bathes in the pool, Antoria reveals his ruse. Bathing in the pool seals the travelers abilities. With the traveler powerless, he is sent to Penal, a town filled with the tricked travelers. It is cut off from Dharma Temple by mountains and connected by a long cave.

In Penal, the travelers are trapped by the monsters with no way out. Pushed to the brink, the trapped people turn against each other. Those who relied on strength before being tricked by Antoria and the monsters usually attack the people who relied on magic. Should a person try to leave Penal, the only way out would be to go to the cave. It is a long cave, covered in marshes. On the fourth floor, two powerful monsters, Inopp and Gonz, guard the floor. They are given some of the power stolen by Antoria which makes them near unbeatable.

To further torture the people, the monsters tell them that the only way to recover their stolen powers is to use a weapon known as a SoulSword. A SoulSword is the manifestation of a person's soul made into a weapon. It allows the user to harvest the souls of the trapped people in Penal. However, continued use of the SoulSword will cause dementia. The only way to cure the dementia is to have their SoulSword returned to their bodies. The people of Penal, in order to protect everyone from soul harvesting, band together to prevent people's souls from being taken. As a result, many bosses have emerged in Penal, using strength to rule the town.

The monsters require that the wielder of the SoulSword harvest five souls before they would return their powers. In order to harvest a soul, the wielder of the SoulSword must run the sword through the target. The person run through with the sword loses their souls and turn purple. The loss of their soul causes them to become like mindless zombies, making them easy to be controlled by the monsters. However, if a person is lightly cut by the SoulSword, the victim doesn't lose their soul. They become very withdrawn and lose all drive. The people whose souls were harvested are taken to a settlement cut out of the mountain. There they guard the priests who weren't killed in the battle for Dharma.

The people whose harvested the five souls required to return their stolen powers are taken into a battle arena under Dharma. There they are told that in order to gain their freedom, they must fight in five battle matches against others who have had their powers restored. They must win five matches and then defeat the current champion. Should one person complete this task, monsters arrive and escort them into Dharma temple's interior. There, they are taken before Antoria.

Antoria reveals why he did what he did. Stealing their powers strengthens the Demon Lord. Furthermore, the battle arena increases the rate that the Demon Lord gains strength exponentially. Antoria reveals that he will not allow people to escape and those who complete the battle arena are destroyed by Antoria personally.

Past

The party goes through the warp and reaches the last inn before Dharma. One of the people mentions that how unusual it is that people haven't returned from Dharma after changing classes. The party decides to investigate. They enter Dharma Temple and talk to the High Priest. Unknown to them, he is actually a monster in disguise. He asks them to bath in the pool behind him before he changes their classes. When the party bathe in the pool, their powers are stolen from them. Antoria reveals his ruse and sends the party to Penal afterwards. They drop into a nearby pool. After talking with some of the people there, they learned about what happened in Dharma long before they arrive. One of the trapped prisoners, a warrior in pink armor, becomes enraged at the loss of his abilities.

Heading into a bar, they find Flower talking to Kasim. Kasim thanks Flower for obtaining WorldDew for him. Flower tells him that he didn't do it for nothing. He wanted to join the Dharma Guard. Kasim tells him that there is only one more task that he needs him to do first. The party leave the bar to see monsters asking people to take up the SoulSword. Suifu, the current boss of Penal, chases the monsters away. He sees the party and proceeds to fight them with his gang. Without their abilities, the party is defeated.

When they come to, they find that they are in the residence of Neris and Zaji. Neris took them in after the party was defeated and cared for them. Zaji complains that Neris is pushing herself too hard. Kasim enters the residence and hands Neris the WorldDew. Zaji gets jealous that Kasim is getting his older sister's attention. He tells Neris to lay down, which she does reluctantly. Zaji tells Kasim to stop bothering his sister to which Kasim replies that Neris can do whatever she wants. Kasim leaves.

Zaji tells the party to leave. When the party leave, they witness a conversation between Flower and Kasim. Flower pesters Kasim into making him a Temple Guard. Kasim reminds him that as long as High Priest Fosse is captured and the monsters control Dharma Temple, there is no Temple Guard. He charges Flower to find Fosse and leaves.

Flower sees the party exiting the residence and talks to them. He tells the party that they fought well against Suifu and propositions them.