 "They say that a thousand years ago, before the Catastrophe, the Kingdom of Arcadia stretched from north to south. There were other Kingdoms as well, and each was protected by a Sacred Emblem." (Kento, OH) |
Arcadia is the kingdom of the humans on Gaia. It has its prime after the Wise Men elect Archimedes as Grand Regent.[1] Under his rule the kingdom prospers[2] and its citizens live in a world where fish fill the ocean and land provides for its people.[3] Arcadia is destroyed during the Catastrophe and all its glory is lost. A thousand years later, humans refer to their former kingdom as Ancient Arcadia.
History[]
Pre-Catastrophe[]
Early days of Arcadia and the Era of Proto Kings[]
The first records speak of the Era of Proto Kings, which laid the foundation for the destiny of the Realm of Arcadia and Gaia.[4] The saga of King Gildas enjoys greater documentation. He is the one who found the new capital of the Arcadian Kingdom, the White City.[5] King Gildas and the Realm are protected by a group of loyal and honorable Knights, the beginnings of the Knight's Order over one thousand years ago.[6][7] One of the Knights, however, turns against his comrades and his King and his actions eventually led to the War of the Gods and require the Guardian of the Realm to take up arms for the first time.[8]
The first documented war against the Direfolk rallies the different Realms of the men together and so Sernoa, Faroah and Arcadia become one Realm, the Realm of Arcadia. The Realm of Arcadia is ruled by Wise Men.[9] The unified Realm of Arcadia now achieves an alliance between the humans, Gillfolk and Owrus.[10] Previously the other races were regarded as 'monsters' and treated as such.[10]
The Direfolk War[]
Main page: Direfolk War
Arcadia is thrown into a full-scale war when Direfolk armies marchs from the Outlands and burn down and attack settlements across southern Gaia, such as Pirta, the Valley of the Warden and Sernoa. When the Direfolk send a fleet to attack the Arcadian capital, the White City, Grand Regent Archimedes uses his latest invention against the Direfolk army: the Shield of Chronos, a shield that can reflect solar rays. He burns down the enemy ships and protects the White City. The Direfolk War come to its definite end, when at the Riskbourne Citadel two knights and a warlock defeat Shadowmaga, the demonic creature behind the war, commanding the armies of ogres and goblins.
For the next twenty years Arcadians live in peace, until darkness begins to rise again.
The Fall of Arcadia[]
After the death of his wife, Calliope, Archimedes begins the construction on a giant machine called the Grand Core. While it does connect the realms and allows energy and information to spread quickly, its true purpose is to harness the power of The Sacred Emblems and raise the White City to the Lunar Tear, an object in Gaia's orbit. His scheme is discovered by Mesmeroth who uses his skills in magic and technology to form an armada to force the Grand Regent to abort his megalomaniacal plan.
The armada is discovered by Trin while doing air patrol and following up on the strange reports by fishermen near the Outlands.[11] The Dark Army discovers Trin and chases her to Arne Village, where she crashes into Warden Woods. Hero leads her back to Master Mayfair and the Knights make their way to the White City to warn Archimedes of the looming threat.
The Grand Regent is aware of Mesmeroth's work but reassures his Knights that he is well prepared. He tasks them to return the Emblems of Creation, so that his master piece, the Grand Core, can finally be completed. After the successful return of the Emblem of Earth, Archimedes reveals his latest inventions, the Living Fortresses. Trin is chosen to pilot Oceanhorn. The Knights soon depart for their second mission, to return the Emblem of Ocean. Just as they begin to make their way back home, the Dark Army passes by Submeria and attacks. Trin is ready to use Oceanhorn and together with the other Living Fortresses the armada is defeated and forced to retreat. During the battle, Mesmeroth is finally faced personally by his former friends Master Mayfair and Gen, as well as Hero. He reclaims his automaton Gen by releasing Sir Corbin's soul and leaves Master Mayfair and Hero to escape from the damaged command vessel.
Archimedes is satisfied with the work of the Knights and fears Mesmeroth even less than before. He sends the Knights onto their last mission: to return the Emblem of Sun. Before reaching the Arcadia Beacon, however, Trin and Hero are abducted by Mesmeroth and the Emblem is taken from them. Even though Master Mayfair manages to pick up the two Knights from the Riskbourne Citadel, Hero and Trin were unable to stop Mesmeroth from rising TRILOTH and departing towards the White City.
The Knights catch up and while Master Mayfair helps to evacuate the White City citizens, Hero and Trin use Oceanhorn to attack the approaching TRILOTH. They are rescued by the Great Chronicler who sends them back into their Arc of Existence. TRILOTH has devastated the White City and the Grand Core lifted parts of the land up into the sky. Oceanhorn in particular has become corrupted and now chases after Trin. The two Knights flee into the White City ruins where they manage to fight and confuse Oceanhorn for long enough to use the sailboat for an escape.
Post-Catastrophe[]
The consequences of the Catastrophe are dire. The Realm of Arcadia ceases to exist and humans struggle for their lives for many years to come. Nothing is known about the thousand years after the Catastrophe until the humble beginnigs of New Arcadia, instigated by the Kid and the collection of the three Sacred Emblems, then unified into one single Master Emblem of Creation.[12]
Landmarks[]
The Old Aqueducts[]
The longest stretch of the old aqueducts.
Several large but broken down, old aqueducts[10] are emerging from the base of Mount Tika and lead away from it. The largest, still standing part begins at Lake Tika and leads across the plains towards the east.
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"These are the old aqueducts and over there is Lake Tika, named after the towering mountain behind it." (Trin) |
The Observatory[]
The Observatory is part of the scenery.
Across the traintracks, south of Faroah is a large cliff on top of which stands a small observatory. Its sillhuette is well visible against the blue skies and Trinity expresses desire to check it out when the Knights travel through the area.[13]
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"I want to go check out that observatory! Look, over there!" (Trin) |
Lake Tika[]
Lake Tika is a large lake by the foot of Mount Tika. It is named after the towering mountain next to it. Master Mayfair used to come here fishing but has since misplaced his fishing rod.[14] When the Catastrophe hits, the Knight's Order establish an evacuation camp near the lake. This settlement develops into what Tikarel is in Oceanhorn.[15]
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"Ah, Lake Tika. I used to come here fishing. Where did I leave my fishing rod again? [...]" (Master Mayfair) |
Mount Tika[]
Mount Tika hiding the Beacon from view.
Mount Tika is a giant mountain north of the White City.[10] It hides the Arcadia Beacon from direct view, which is located on the north side of the mountain. Nearby the Beacon is a settlement known as Source, labelled Ghost Town on Hero's map. Access to Source is locked by a giant gate at the west side of the mountain and only opened up after the Knights receive a key from Archimedes himself.
The broken Pirta Train Station[]
The broken train station.
When leaving the Pirta marshes and entering the World of Arcadia through the gap in the giant Wall of Pirta, a train station soon comes into view. The train there has derailed, however, and since not been taken care of. The Genco Corporation vending machine at the station platform, however, is in perfect working order. The train tracks lead all the way back to a small mountain range just east of the White City.
Laws[]
Arcadia has numerous laws governing it in order to keep civilians safe. These laws include bans on theft, murder[16] and drinking alcohol as a teen.[17] Breaking said laws can result in imprisonment in The White City Prison.
Locations[]
Knights of the Lost Realm[]
Both, Faroah and Sernoa were once their own kingdoms but have united with central Arcadia to become the unified Realm of Arcadia.[9] Faroah still has its former royal bloodline represented by the Corbin family.[18]
There are many cities in Arcadia with boat connections to the White City, which is the largest of them all.[19]
The Terraformed Planet of Gaia
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Capital of Arcadia • The White City
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| Crater's Edge Archipelago |
| Faroah |
| Sernoa Highlands |
Source
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Valley of the Warden
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| Zomon Island |
Monster of Uncharted Seas[]
The locations of OH1 do unfortunately not match the map of OH2, making it impossible for many islands to be positioned in relation to the OH2 regions. Some islands can be identified, however:
Gallery[]
.png "Arcadia Ruins (World Map).png (890 KB)")
References[]
Sources are hidden by default, click expand to view them.
- ↑ "I am almost 70 years old now, and I was just a child when he became one of the Wise Men, who used to govern Arcadia in the absence of a king. When I was ten, he was the first one to take the role of Grand Regent." (Master Mayfair, about Archimedes)
- ↑ "People loved him and your grandmother Calliope. Under the rule of Grand Regent Archimedes, people lived in peace and prosperity." (Master Mayfair)
- ↑ "[...] The Grandmaster of gallant Knights of Arcadia, or what's left of them. He is old enough to have seen a world where fish fill the ocean and land provides for its people. He has seen the prosperity of ancient Arcadia vanish and an ever-rising ocean engulf the earth. [...]" (The Great Chronicler, Journal 2/8, Chronos Dungeon)
- ↑ "Not much is known about the era of Proto Kings, but the destiny of the realm of Arcadia and Gaia was forged in their days." (Tablet 1, Palace Interior, White City)
- ↑ "King Gildas, the benefactor of art and science, left the Old Capital and founded the White City on this shore." (Tablet 2, Palace Interior, White City)
- ↑ "The Knight's Order originates from a group of gallant knights who protected and served King Gildas in the Arcadian legends. They were called the Knights of the Round." (Old Journal, Volume 1)
- ↑ "This is the Knight's Order, the barracks - our home. This is the oldest building in the White City, dating back over a thousand years. Regimes and Kings have changed, but our unshakeable order and building remain." (Knight, Knight's Order)
- ↑ "One of the Knights turned against his comrades and his King. The dagger on the wall of the Knight's Order is a murder weapon. A lot has been forgotten, but the events that transpired ignited the War of the Gods and for the first time, the Guardian of the Realm was called to arms." (Old Journal, Volume 2)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The realms of men united against the dark forces of the Direfolk. Now, the separate kingdoms of Sernoa, Faroah and Arcadia are one realm, ruled by the Wise Men in the White City." (Tablet 3, Palace Interior, White City)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "After centuries of being treated as monsters, an alliance between Arcadians and the non-human races of Gaia is formed." (Tablet 4, Palace Interior, White City) Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name ":0" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ See Before the Lost Realm.
- ↑ "[...] I’ve read through my chronicles, and there Is a chance that they will meddle with the fulfilling of a prophecy that is critical for the birth of the New Arcadia. If they get to the end of World III, that will cut the millions of timelines where the Child collects the Master Emblem… down to one. [...]" (Great Chroniclers Journal, 5/8, CD)
- ↑ "I want to go check out that observatory! Look, over there!" (Trin)
- ↑ "Ah, Lake Tika. I used to come here fishing. Where did I leave my fishing rod again? Well, I'll find it for you at some point. But don't keep your hopes up, it might take some time before I find it." (Master Mayfair)
- ↑ "Master Mayfair and Knight’s of Arcadia evacuated people of the White City to Mt. Tika. These people will survive and form the town of Tikarel from Oceanhorn 1." (Cornfox on Reddit)
- ↑ "Unfortunately, he has an appetite for theft and violence and must be stopped." (Knight Mission Board for Prince Kissinger)
- ↑ "Yep, the bar is open, but we don't serve drinks to underage customers. Hey, while you're here, could you take care of those old jars for me? Great, thanks!" (Roger)
- ↑ "The old texts mention that for centuries a blade of extraordinary workmanship has been passed down the Royal line of Faroah. [...] Few scholars, however, agree that if the weapon exists, heavenly or not, it must be either lost or deliberately concealed in the depth of the earth." (Book in Hermit's Study, White City. It is talking about Astroblade, which is being kept in the Faroah (Corbin) Crypt, and protected by Corbin family members through hard trials)
- ↑ "Boats leave here for other cities, though none of them as big as the White City, of course. Sometimes I think about starting a career as a part time adventurer. I wouldn't even need to go anywhere! The White City is full of treasures and secrets!" (Arcadian Soldier, White City)
- ↑ Graveyard Island has graves of Arcadian Knights. It stands to reason that this was once part of Arcadia. (User:Windmaedchen)
- ↑ Hermit's Island has the Grave of the Great Chronicler, who was himself an Arcadian. In OH2 his hometown was established in a village in Source. While this doesn't have to be the same area, it stands to reason that an Arcadian was buried on Arcadian soil. (User:Windermaedchen)
- ↑ Contains the Arcadian village Faroah. (User:Windermaedchen)
- ↑ The former Palace of the White City, including the Grand Core beneath it. (User:Windmaedchen)
- ↑ Established from the evacuation camp near Lake Tika during the Catastrophe. (User:Windmaedchen)
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