World of Darkness
| World | |
|---|---|
| World of Darkness | |
| Japanese | 闇の世界 |
| Rōmaji | Yami no sekai |
| Game | Dragon Quest VIII |
The World of Darkness is an alternate world that exists in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King that exists parallel to the world inhabited by the main characters, known as the World of Light. Nearly everything in this world is colored in shades of black and grey, including humans and monsters.
Story
In the distant past, Rhapthorne, the Lord of Darkness, grew unsatisfied with simply ruling over the World of Darkness and intended to conquer the World of Light, as well.[1] To that end, he created a gate between the two worlds. He was thwarted by the Seven Sages and Empyrea who were able to seal him away in the Godbird sceptre. Unfortunately, this drained the energy of the godbird and she was unable to return to the World of Light and chose to remain in the dark world. The only thing that remained of her was her shadow, which was visible to the people of Empycchu, who worshipped her. Her shadow is able to create a gateway to the World of Darkness known as the Dark Eye.
The Hero and party learns about this from the chief of Empycchu in the World of Light and they journey to the World of Darkness by following Empyrea's shadow on the ground, eventually finding the Dark Eye. There in the dark world, the party is limited to exploring the Isolated Plateau, as they do not have access to the ship. They reach the village of Dark Empycchu, where the inhabitants are shocked by the party due to being colorful. The chief speaks with the party and invites them to his residence, where they speak about their plight.[2] Empyrea has been attacking the village, but the chief does not believe that she does so maliciously and asks the party to find out her true intent.
Outside of the village, the party journeys to Empyrea's roost, where she attacks them. After defeating her in battle, Empyrea commends the party for their bravery in following her to the World of Darkness and states that she was testing them to see if they were worthy enough. She reveals that she laid an egg at her nest, but as she had drawn the enmity of Rhapthorne's minions, it is being held hostage by the evil Gemon, who forced Empyrea to attack Empycchu. She beseeches the party to rescue her egg for her, as she is not able to retaliate against the monsters herself. The party holds on tight to the wagon and she carries them to the base of the eyrie in her talons since she cannot approach without alerting those who serve the Lord of Darkness.
Although the party is able to defeat Gemon at the top of the mountain, he sacrifices himself before dying and destroys Empyrea's egg. Empyrea is struck with grief at the loss of her child, but nonetheless she is grateful to the party for helping her. Before she takes them back to their own world, the soul of Empyrea's son appears and explains that he can still help them by turning into the Godbird's soulstone, which will allow the party to fly in the World of Light. Empyrea then returns the party to the World of Light through the Dark Eye. It is possible to return to the World of Darkness whenever simply by revisiting the portal.
Treasures
Monsters
Boss
Landmarks
References
- ↑ NPC in Dark Empycchu: "Long, long time ago, the Lord of Darkness, Rhapthorne, ruled the complete World of Darkness. Once he tried to reach to the World of Light. But Empyrea stopped him. Since then, we have worshipped her as the Godbird. Is why now, the situation is so sad, so unfortunate. If she attacks us again, we have no choice to fight her. It is shame. But no choice."
- ↑ NPC in Dark Empycchu: "Chief told us. Your world and our world are like two sides of the same coin. He said that those two worlds are very, very close in distance. But still none may travel freely. Except Empyrea. If Chief speaks right, how you manage to come to this world!? I don't understand."
