Drake Castle (ドルク城, Doruku Jou, alt. "The Castle of Dolk") is a location in Legend of Legaia. It is the residence of King Drake and the center of activity in Drake Kingdom. It held many noblemen, peddlers, tradesmen, soldiers, scientists, and even a monk of Biron for a short while.
During harvesting season, Drake Castle would hold a Harvest Festival, though the details of the festival are unknown. The castle was ruled by the family of Drake throughout generations, with the latest ruler being the third generation. The castle controls the flow of the river running through Drake Kingdom by use of its Water Gate to the east of the castle.
Background[]
The arrival of the Mist brought an end to the prosperous Drake Castle. King Drake had heard about the horrors of the Mist from those who had escaped from the Sebucus Islands. Not long after, a mysterious castle was built in the middle of a large valley to the Northeast of Drake Castle. King Drake sent soldiers to the valley in order to investigate the castle but they never returned - presumably they were killed by the ruler of the castle. Five days after King Drake sent soldiers to the valley the Mist began to pour out from the castle and covered the eastern plain, as discovered by one of Drake Castle's soldiers from a watchtower.
Drake had tried everything to get rid of the Mist. He forbade the use of Seru in Drake Castle and had them all thrown into the river. Out of desperation, Drake even sent his subjects to the summit of Mt. Rikuroa to pray to the Genesis Tree. Finally, after research from one of his subjects revealed that those possessed by Seru did not age, King Drake decided that everybody would put on Seru and lock themselves behind massive cages, surrendering to the Mist until the day it would be driven out.
Before doing so, he sent an envoy named Lezam to warn the town of Rim Elm about the Mist. Unfortunately, Lezam was swallowed up by Mist and turned into a Seru monster before he could reach Rim Elm.
Storyline[]
Vahn travels to Drake Castle after meeting Lezam at Hunter's Spring, who had just been freed from being a Seru monster after Vahn revived Rim Elm's Genesis Tree. He lets Vahn know the situation of Drake Castle and asks Vahn for his assistance. Whether or not Vahn personally agrees to help Lezam, Vahn has no choice but to go through Drake Castle as the river's strong current prevents him from reaching the other side of the continent and going to Biron Monastery. Vahn arrives in Drake Castle to find the area gloomy, dark and swarming with Seru monsters.
The doors leading up the castle are locked and force Vahn to search for the keys to them. When Vahn finds the first key he sees his first humans possessed by Seru. Meta explains to him about the Seru monsters and encourages him to continue on so as to destroy the Mist and set the people free. Vahn continues through the castle and finds King Drake locked behind a cage just as the other Seru monsters were. Vahn reads a letter in front of the cage that is signed by King Drake, which explains his plan of succumbing to the Mist and pleading the reader to rid the area of the Mist.
After Vahn finds the final key to open the Mountain Gate, he leaves through the back exit of Drake Castle and travels the fields of Mist to Mt. Rikuroa in the north. Vahn travels up the mountain and reaches the summit, where he finds a young girl being attacked by a large winged Seru creature, called Caruban. After helping her defeat it, he uses his powers to revive the Genesis Tree, which enables her Ra-Seru Terra to transfer herself from the wolf to Noa.
Noa asks Vahn if she can join him and upon his agreement they travel back to Drake Castle. King Drake and a group of soldiers are waiting at the entrance and the King asks Vahn if he and Noa were the ones to drive away the Mist. After Vahn confirms that they are the heroes King Drake expresses his gratituted and invites them to the throne room for a long chat. King Drake hears their stories and gives Vahn the key to the Water Gate so he may cross to the other side. Before Vahn can leave he asks Vahn to remember the others suffering from the Mist and to help them as well. Vahn and Noa agree that that is their plan and bid their leave.
As they reach the castle courtyard Noa becomes enamored with the large group of people outside who set up their businesses once more and rushes to talk with them. After speaking with all the people she can, she and Vahn make their way east toward Biron Monastery.
Layout[]
Drake Castle is located far noth of Rim Elm on the western part of Drake Kingdom. The castle is built into the interior of a large mountain. The rooms of Drake Castle are finely decorated with fanciful rugs, expensive tile, grand tables and chairs, etc. A
large portrait is hung in the first room of the castle, which was painted by King Drake's mother. The walls are adorned with burning candles and crevices in the wall. Each main area is separated by a large set of stairs leading into the other and a large door blocks each set of stairs, needing a special key to be opened. Running through the interior of Drake Castle are two rivers of world-famous Drake Water.