Marta
| Marta | |
| Dragon Quest VIII | |
| |
| Japanese name | メディ |
| Romaji | Medi |
| Race | Human |
| Family | Marek (son) Boris (dog) Kadan (ancestor) |
| Voice actor | Akiko Takeguchi (Japanese) |
"Besides, to live life is not to walk through a meadow."
—Marta
Marta is a character in Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. A kind old woman who lives in a cottage in Blizzard Peaks, she is also the heir to the sage Kadan.
She has a son named Marek and a St. Bernard named Boris.
Appearances[edit]
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King[edit]
While struggling through Blizzard Peaks, King Trode squabbles with Yangus and pushes on ahead of the rest of the party with Medea. The Hero, Yangus, Jessica and Angelo are shortly buried by an avalanche.
The Hero is awakened sometime later by Boris in Marta's Cottage, and finds that he and all of his companions were rescued by the dog after Trode ran for help and encountered Marta. The old woman gave the party nook grass tea to warm them up, and everyone is recovering nicely from their ordeal. Marta explains that she lives alone in this secluded place to carry on her family's tradition of caring for the ruin behind the cottage, a tradition that she expects will die with her. She insists that the party stay overnight and leave for Orkutsk on their search for Sir Leopold in the morning. As the group departs, Marta asks the Hero to bring a package to a man named Marek in Orkutsk.
The herb doctor Marek is nowhere to be found in Orkutsk, so the party travels to his Herb Grotto to find him. Marek was attacked by wolves, was trapped behind fallen icicles in the freezing cave, and is now too cold to move, so the Hero must send Munchie to create a path to the man. Fortunately, Marta's package contained the same nook grass that she used to make her tea, and Marek chokes down some of the raw grass to warm himself up.
When the party are ambushed by the same wolves, one of them growls that Marek is not the "chosen heir of the sage" that they seek. Marek, well aware of his bloodline and knowing that if he is not the wolves' target, it must be Marta, enlists the party's aid in trekking to Marta's Cottage to check in on the old woman. They venture into the cave behind the cottage and find themselves cut off by the wolf pack; Marta herself ran into the cave to avoid them. The holy power of the ruins projects a barrier that prevents the wolves from harming Marta or anyone else within. The group hear a terrible noise from outside the cave, however, and find that Sir Leopold and his hellhounds have set Marta's Cottage ablaze and captured Marek, who had caught up to the party.
Sir Leopold offers to trade Marek's life for Marta's. The old woman sternly scolds the possessed dog, but complies with his request - though not before handing the ultimate key to the Hero. Marta faces her fate with dignity, but when Sir Leopold announces his intention to simply kill Marek anyway, Marta tosses a bag of nook powder into his eyes, which gives Boris the opportunity to snatch his master's son from the jaws of death. Marta, however, is impaled by Sir Leopold's staff as soon as the fiendish hound has gathered himself.
Marek and the party bury Marta in the cave behind her cabin.