Act Five: The War twixt Two Kingdoms

The Bard and Miriam fly east.

The War twixt Two Kingdoms is the fifth act in the game and by far the longest.

## Story

### Scene 30: The Border

The Bard and Miriam fly to a small inn, where they learn about the ongoing war between Rulle, in the east, and Chaandesh, in the west. The innkeeper says there are no empty rooms to stay, aside from a haunted room on the far side of the inn. The Bard communicates with the ghost in the room, who gives them a message for the king of Rulle that will end the war. The Bard returns to the lobby to find Miriam collapsed on the floor. They tell her of the message, and they decide to head for Rulle.

### Scene 31: Forest Monsters

The duo come across a wall, blocking their progress. Miriam busts a hole in the wall. She and the Bard come across the destruction left behind by monsters. The Bard sings away a myriad of ghosts.

### Scene 32: Lumber Town

The duo reach Lumber Town, and are let in to stay the night by Phil. Phil sings an old song about a wayfarer and a witch with the Bard.

### Scene 33: Xiatian

The next morning, the Bard and Miriam fly to Xiatian, to find that Audrey is being praised by the whole town for defeating several large monsters. Miriam and the Bard attempt to go straight to the king, but are stopped at the gate. Lee tells them that only certain people may enter, and the hero is one of those people. The two decide to talk to Audrey, who tells them that the King of Rulle has the Overseer's Song and agrees to let them tag along if they can get her a potion of power. Upon trying to purchase one and realizing they have no money, Miriam tells the Bard that if they can gather the ingredients, she can make a potion of power. The Bard gathers the ingredients. After giving it to Audrey, she agrees to let the two accompany her to Rulle Castle.

### Scene 34: Rulle Castle

The three meet the King of Rulle, who accidentally reveals that they are invading Chaandesh in three days. The Bard sings the message, which ends up being from a Chaandesh Princess. After completing the message, they pass out.

### Scene 35: Across the Border

The Bard wakes up being flown somewhere by Miriam. The message angered the king so much that he had the Bard thrown in jail, and Miriam had to spy on the King and Audrey to learn the Overseer's Song, and then break the Bard out of jail. She flies the Bard to the Nexus Point, the Sky Temple, and plays the song on her piccolo. However, Eyala appears to reveal to the two that there are two parts to the song, and the remaining part is held by the queen of Chaandesh. They decide to fly over towards Chaandesh.

### Scene 36: Spell Squad

Almost immediately after flying over the border, the two get hit by magic which knocks them out of the sky. Miriam's broom gets broken. They are found by the two witches that fired at them: Vivian and Sandra, the Spell Squad, who are hunting monsters on the outer edge of Chaandesh. The Bard and Miriam help the Spell Squad fight a large ghost monster. As thanks, the Spell Squad bring the Bard and Miriam to a river boat which can take them to the capital city, Mohabumi.

### Scene 37: River Boat

The Bard helps a trio of musicians with what they're going to perform on the river boat. After the performance, Audrey appears with a slow clap. She tries to snitch on the Bard and Miriam to everyone on the boat about their crimes in Rulle, but this just makes everyone think that they're cool. The ghost inside the Bard appears in the water's reflection, finally able to properly converse with them. She introduces herself as Hala, the Chaandesh princess who died in Rulle. The two agree to work together so they can speak with the Queen.

### Scene 38: Mohabumi

With help from Hala and her sisters, the Bard learns three different spell songs they can use to navigate the city of Mohabumi. Meanwhile, Miriam buys a new broom, and takes her time getting used to it. She goes around the city, and realizing that even as a witch in a city of witches, nothing is familiar to her. The only thing she finds familiar is the music being played at the local music theater: Manny, Ash, and Viola are on stage with a new singer. She decides to dance while she's there.

### Scene 39: Chaandesh Castle

Upon meeting the Queen of Chaandesh, the Bard and Hala sing to her, trying to convince her that not only is Hala actually dead, but the war that is ongoing is pain for all involved, and there are more important things to focus on, namely the monsters coming from the edge of the kingdom. The queen, however, ignores her daughter's words, calling her naive. The Bard leaves the throne room, and Purnima teaches them the Overseer's Song. They meet up with Miriam, who has mastered her new broom. The two fly to the Sky Temple.

### Scene 40: Eclipse

The Bard and Miriam talk about Miriam's self-reflection while she was in Mohabumi, the city of witches. She tells them that they're the only person she would call a friend. The two arrive at Sky Temple, and duet the Overseer's Song.

### Scene 41: Moonscape

The Bard makes their way to the Overseer's castle... but ends up at the Sun Castle.

### Scene 42: Sunscape

The Bard helps the Moon Fairy rescue the Sun Fairy.

### Scene 43: Collapse

The Bard meets up with Miriam, who helps the two fairies escape the spirit world through the Eclipse, a portal out of the spirit world. Suddenly, Audrey appears and strikes Miriam unconscious with lightning, berating the duo for letting the two fairies escape. She points out that in the short time the Bard has been in the spirit world, the Sun Castle and Moon Castle have moved so close that they are touching. The two overseers fight over the little territory and destroy each other. The Bard learns two parts of the Earthsong, and the Spirit World collapses.

### Scene 44: Harmony

The Bard carries Miriam to the base of the now-ruined Sky Temple, overhearing the disagreement between the King of Rulle and the Queen of Chaandesh. In the middle of the argument, the Bard breaks into song, singing with the voice of all the people in Rulle and Chaandesh. This song manages to convince the two rulers that the war they have been fighting is doing more harm than what good it could ever bring in the long run. The Bard is happy that the war has ended. The Spell Squad offer the duo a ride to wherever they need to go next, but Miriam decides she needs to go home. The two say their goodbyes, and Sandra flies the Bard off to Ichor Mountain.

## Alternate Ending

If the player sings the second part of the Overseer Song while Miriam tries to play her part the first time, the second half of the act will be skipped, and the Bard will enter the spirit world. However, when reaching Scene 44, the Bard will not sing Harmony, and the war will not end. The Spell Squad still helps them and Miriam, saying that civilians need to be away from what's about to happen.

## Trivia

* At first, Act Five of the game was the original plot for the story.

## References

1. ↑ Developer Commentary: *"The plot of Act 5 was originally my idea for the entire game. After I came up with the Earthsong, it made more sense as a sub-story... But that's probably why it ended up so huge. There was no getting around it... the story demanded something epic. After dragging myself out of Act 4, which was full of technical challenges... I thought I would try to push through this one quickly. I wasn't prepared for it at all, to be honest. I had a lot of creative challenges putting it together."*