#Rune Factory Native Dragon

[thunderberryz]

So wait a second...

In official Rune Factory 4 lore, Ventuswill was supposed to die many, many centuries ago. It's uncertain how many, but it's generally accepted that Leon likely became the first Guardian around 1000 years ago. The big thing is that, in theory, Ventuswill's natural lifespan could have been much longer with no need for Guardians or Rune Spheres, but she was born in a land where the runes were beginning to die out and was thus weak. The Earthmates creating the Rune Spheres was as much about restoring runes to the land as it was saving Ventuswill because while the world can go on without Ventuswill, the world cannot go on without runes. Without runes, the land becomes barren, crops won't grow, and all life eventually ends.

Now, I don't know much about Rune Factory 2 since I haven't actually played it (and anyone who has is free to correct me on the below points), but from what I've read online in terms of the lore, Fiersome's apocalypse would have happened a thousand years ago had the ancient Earthmates not placed their seal on him--roughly when Ventuswill was originally supposed to expire. And every thousand years, the seal on him has to be renewed; if not, the world is destined to be destroyed in Fiersome's raging apocalyptic hellfire, after which Terrable will awaken and restore life to the charred landscape at the cost of eliminating whatever remaining life has survived--in other words, a total rebirth of the planet.

Between the close timing of these two past events--the point that Ventuswill's life was originally supposed to end and the point when the seal was placed on Fiersome--and the fact they were to occur when the world's runes were starting to dry up, the Earthmates both past and present have been staving off the inevitable End of the World for centuries. The world, as we know it, could have been destroyed a thousand years ago as it was supposed to, but the Earthmates said "Nope! It's too nice to let it all die!" and have done everything they can to extend its lifespan.

And that's when we get to Rune Factory 5 and an incredibly dark statement from the main antagonist, Gideon. According to Gideon, Alice/Ares is the last known Earthmate--not the last, but there are so few Earthmates that if there are any others left, they're most likely in hiding and are on their way to becoming an extinct species. Now, Ventuswill's longevity has been ensured thanks to the actions of Lest/Frey during RF4 and she'll probably still be munching on pancakes in 1000 years, but if the Earthmates wind up going extinct, there's no way to restore Fiersome's seal because only Earthmates are capable of renewing the magic used to keep him locked up. And Fiersome is not the only godlike creature capable of causing the world's inevitable destruction; Tides of Destiny gave us the Legendary Golem, whose cataclysmic battle with the Native Dragons led to the creation of the current world, and RF5's potential apocalypse was that of the Fathomless Dread, an eldritch abomination that literally had to be sealed in another dimension to prevent it from destroying the world.

The Rune Factory world has brushed time and time again with total annihilation and the only reason it has managed to avoid catastrophe was because there was an Earthmate around to stop it. What happens when there are no longer any Earthmates to stop the end of all? Or is it possible that the Earthmates are going to experience a revival of some sort? Besides a castle-esque design, the logo for Rune Factory 6 does suspiciously feature a seraph/halo motif, after all...

[violasarecool]

rune factory: native dragons are sapient beings with complex thoughts and motivations

rune factory 4: ....and you can own them as pets!

[runefactorynonsense]

Spooktober - Day 7 - Zombie/Undead

That's right, Earthmate! I JUST WANT TO SEE YOU SUFFER

[cozmostreet]

so uhm hey yall im working in a fantasy interactive novel which is called The Heir Quest and it would mean a lot to me if you gave it a chance! 😭😳

ill be posting about it on this blog, where you can find the details

it's actually inspired by a lot of things i simp about here lmao like dragon age, bolas, percy jackson, tabletop rpgs in general, rune factory, etc... so yeah give it a try

in advance, sorry for my english, it isnt my native language

signal boosts are really appreciated and ty for you attention 😭💞

[yvesaffection]

One of my fav rune factory fics is https://archiveofourown.org/works/5074438/chapters/11669320

It's super long so it's fine if you aren't into it but the story has so much love and worldbuilding put into it that it's one of my all time favorites (it's not centered on any one character really and will switch povs in diff chapters and sometimes backtrack to events in an earlier chapter but what was happening to a different character during it.) And it introduces other earthmates and fledgling native dragons <33333

Ooooh Excellent. I’ll take a look! Thank you! <3

[thinwatermelon]

rune factory 5???

i wonder what marvelous inc. and neverland will do for rune factory 5 in terms of bosses, monsters and maybe even characters like............. they put all 3 games into rune factory 4!! all the bosses and monsters, native dragons,, they’re done!! will they add like a fifth dragon or sumn?? it might be possible since the terrable, fiersome, aquaticus and ventuswill only rule over like (iirc) life, destruction, resurrection and time so it’s kinda flexible but it’ll be pretty funky if they do add another dragon

also all the bosses and monsters appear in rune factory 4 at some point like it was their last hurrah (it pretty much was unless you count lord of magna) so won’t they have to make up a BUNCH of new monsters so that rune factory 5′s not just another compilation project/game? i bet marvelous and neverland can pull it off tho! just kinda worried but kinda excited at what they’ll put out at the same time

[lazzledazzler]

RUNE FACTORY 5 I WANT SUM FUK?????????????

SOME AMNESIAC PROTAGONISTS?????

SOME GOT DAMN EARTHMATES??????

SOME DE SAINT COQUILLE??????????

SOME NATIVE DRAGONS??????????????

SOME SUSTAINABLE FARMING????????

SOME RUNIES??????????????????????

[beardycarrot]

Rune Factory 4 has me pretty confused. In the first two games, the idea was that it’s Harvest Moon, but with dungeons... this feels more like it’s an RPG, with a farming mechanic as an afterthought.

In the older games, when your crops reached the point at which they could be harvested, little glowing spheres (the titular runes) would pop out of them. These could be used to restore your Rune Points, the games’ form of an energy meter, which was important because basically everything you did depleted it. Each of the dungeons contained several farming plots, allowing you to both grow crops outside of their normal seasons (the lava cave or whatever maintained summery temperatures even in winter), but more importantly, they provided runes. That’s why the game is called Rune Factory... You’re basically using this magical earth energy that’s naturally released through the process of farming to turn plots of soil into little rune factories so that you can venture deeper into the dungeons.

Rune Factory 4, so far, has none of that... I’ve beaten two little tutorial dungeons, and not only were there no farm plots, they would’ve been completely unnecessary. Maybe things will change when I find more expansive dungeons and am using more advanced tools, but at the moment, I’m struggling to even expend my Rune Points. Restoring RP seems to be less common this time around... When crops mature, they don’t automatically generate runes, the runes are just something that occasionally appears when they’re harvested. They don’t stick around for very long, either; if you don’t collect them within about a minute, they disappear, so I’ve just been shooting off my magic spells over and over to use up RP (and level up my skills a bit) before collecting them. Every night I have a bunch of RP leftover, so cook some super fancy onigiri or pickled turnips to use up as much of it as I can.

I hope that this is just a clumsy handling of the early game. Who knows, maybe the better tools will make RP feel meaningful, and the later dungeons (presumably four seasonal ones, each associated with one of the Native Dragons) will be better. At the moment, though, I’m just kind of plowing through and... tolerating, the game.

All that said, I have to remind myself that I really didn’t like Rune Factory 2 when I started it. Yeah, despite preordering it, despite it eventually becoming my second-favorite farming sim, I was complaining just as much then as I am now. I’m not even sure what it is I didn’t like, but I started playing it within minutes of finishing the first game, and I really wasn’t into... whatever changes they made. I ended up only playing for a few hours, and then not touching the game again for five years. Obviously, I’m pretty resistant to change... and I tend to complain about fairly minor things. With my luck, it will immediately stop being an issue the next time I pick up the game, just to make me feel stupid.

[forestofbeginnings]

Another idea for a potential Rune Factory 5: I'd like it set outside of Norad. I consider 4 the end of the "Native Dragon" arc and I'd like to see the rest of the world explored. They could pull a Sen no Kiseki / Trails of Cold Steel (all four games being set in the Kiseki series's military empire) and have it set in the "evil empire" of the series aka the Sechs Empire post RF4, particularly where technology with farming VS Earthmate affinity with the land will be explored as a central theme.

I agree with you there about 4 being the end of the “Native Dragon” arc, since we’ve already hit all four main dragons. And the next Rune Factory game being set in the Sechs Empire is actually on the top of my wishlist! I think it would be really interesting to finally see what the empire looks like from the inside.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

the thing that really fucks me up about rune factory is... how sentient are the monsters anyway? in rf3 in one of raven’s heart events, a wooly briefly talks to her, but usually they just seem like regular sheep. in rf4, ambrosia seems like another mindless boss but you can have multiple extended conversations with her in amber’s event. sano and uno are not only fully sapient but also apparently serve a dedicated purpose? especially if we are to assume they’re the “temple foxes” leon occasionally refers to.

the green fairy you save in idra cave (i. think that’s idra cave. i might be wrong) talks to you and will attempt to pledge their service to you, but the silver wolf in sechs territory acts like a normal dog, and you can’t talk to green again if you accept. it’s not like you can talk down any of the bosses. but the native dragons are unquestionably sapient, does that mean their clones are too?

and what WAS the thing that showed you the first rune sphere shard? and told you to tell venti “we’re all watching over you”? is that the collective consciousness of everything in yokmir? some sort of other entity, maybe terrable, acting through them? 

[chigau-mirai]

(Rune Factory 4 Spoilers)

The final boss of arc 2 is really well-foreshadowed, I feel. The Sechs grunts use the power of the Rune Spheres to cast Etherlink and combining themselves with monsters, and you fight the Native Dragon clones - one of them at the bottom of a research facility, no less! In retrospect, it’s obvious that Ethelberd was going to combine himself with Venti.

[runefactorynonsense]

Spooktober - Day 19 - Ruin

Thousands of years ago, Fiersome was sealed away...

[gemees]

Rune Factory 4 Special

Rune Factory 4 Special

Welcome to Selphia, a region ruled by the Native Dragon Ventuswill…and you! Journey to the vibrant world of Rune Factory and experience the legendary fantasy farming adventure like never before. After falling from the sky and landing on the back of a friendly dragon, the young hero or heroine is invited to live in the local castle and, as a newly designated ruler, begins their life anew while…

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 12

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: Another update for the day and the relation between Lest and Frey is finally out!

Chapter 12 – Reunion

The airship carrying the three Selphian had lowered into its dock in front of the king’s castle with a pair of soldiers guarding the castle gate. The soldiers donned identical armor which was made of enhanced steel, colored in bright silver. The identical-colored steel helmets covered most of their faces, leaving an opening for their eyes to see. The two soldiers had their silver spears crossed against each other, blocking any unauthorized people from passing into the castle.

The three got off from the airship with Lest carrying a bigger backpack for his and Dolce’s need to stay while Arthur had brought an old scroll in his hand and walked in front of the couple, heading towards the soldiers on guard.

“Lord Arthur! We have been waiting for your arrival,” The soldier on the left side of the gate spoke up.

“And the two people who have come with you are Sir Lest and Lady Dolce, correct?” The soldier on the right side asked.

“Yes. They have come to attend the party this evening,” Arthur replied firmly.

“You may pass, milord,” The soldiers moved their spears away, unblocking the way towards the gate.

Arthur turned to the couple behind him with a smile, “Come, let me show you to your room.”

The three of them went through the gate and into the gigantic grey building. The first room to greet them was a huge room with dark red paint coloring the walls, which were decorated with various paintings of people dressed in formal clothes. A big chandelier, which was decorated with small but detailed golden bird sculptures, was hanging on the ceiling. The ceiling was also painted in four different color schemes, each representing one of the Native Dragons. On the left and right sides of the room, statues of various monsters were lined up neatly.

Arthur stopped in his tracks and turned to the couple, “This is one of the castle’s art rooms. You can see the royal family’s statue collections as well as their portraits.”

“Wow… this is amazing…” Dolce looked around the room in amazement before walking towards a statue of a wooly near the entrance, “I can see a lot of details in this one as well.”

“Oh, that’s actually a gift from one of my clients,” Arthur started, “Her husband is the one who provided the big woolies for our De-Fluffing Festival every year.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lest let out a laugh, “I think she gave the statue because of the order for woolies.”

Arthur responded with a nod, “I assumed so as well. Now, shall we get going?”

As they went through the room, a few women dressed in maid uniform were pacing through the room from and to the paths on the left and right sides of the room between the statues. Some of them were cleaning the statues, but quickly stopped their work for a moment to bow to Arthur as he went through the room and towards the big black doors across the room. He pushed the doors open, letting the sunlight shone straight into their faces.

“The guest chambers are here, surrounding this garden in the middle of this castle,” Arthur said as he continued ahead, “Your chamber should be up ahead.”

As Lest and Dolce were following behind Arthur, Pico had showed up in front of the two while floating to follow their pace, “Are we there yet…?”

“You shouldn’t show yourself here anytime you like, you know,” Dolce commented, “If people see you here, you might get kicked out as an intruder.”

Pico let out a sigh as her pace slowed down enough for her to be floating behind the two, “I just never know it’ll be this far to reach our room…”

The sound of footsteps was heard coming from behind the group, but they were too occupied in their conversation to notice.

“You’re a ghost. You don’t have to walk,” Dolce replied flatly.

“Yeah… and you don’t need to carry anything with you,” Lest let out a sigh before turning to Dolce while ignoring the fact that the sound of footsteps was getting closer, “Dolly, what did you put in here anyway?”

“I put our clothes in it and I added some food in case we get hungry,” Dolce replied as Lest let out a laugh, “W-What?”

“I think I already expect it coming…” The footsteps were heard coming from behind Lest before the vision in front of him suddenly went dark as a pair of gloved hands covered his eyes, “Hey!”

“Guess who!” A female voice was heard before she giggled.

“I… don’t know…” Lest removed the hands covering his eyes to reveal that the group had stopped walking with their gazes at the figure behind him. Turning around, Lest was greeted by a smiling green-haired young woman in twin tails before she threw her arms around him in excitement.

“It really is you, Lest!” The woman pulled him into a hug, leaving Lest looking at her in confusion.

“Miss Frey, what brings you here today?” Arthur called out to the woman, who had released the confused Earthmate from her hug.

“Lord Arthur!” The woman, Frey, noticed the approaching noble and lowered her head slightly, “I apologize for not recognizing you.”

“You can just call me Arthur,” Arthur gave her a smile, “We’re not speaking in front of other nobles, so you don’t have to be too formal with me.”

“Sorry,” Frey let out an embarrassed laugh before turning to Lest with a sad smile, “I was so excited to have seen Lest again at last…”

“And you are?” Dolce asked bluntly, looking slightly annoyed as she grabbed Lest’s hand tightly.

“Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Frey, and Lest over there is my little twin brother,” Frey introduced herself politely, getting shocked looks from the three of them.

“Is Lest your brother whom you had mentioned before?” Arthur asked in surprise, getting a nod from Frey before his lips curved into a frown, “Unfortunately, Lest seems to have lost his memory.”

The shocked look turned to Frey as she looked at her long lost brother sadly, “Really…?”

“Sorry… I really can’t remember anything other than my name,” Lest apologized, “I can’t remember anything before the attack on the airship when I first came to Selphia.”

“I see…” Frey forced a smile before pulling a piece of folded paper from her pocket and handed it to Lest, “You might not remember this, but this is yours.”

Lest took the paper and unfolded it, revealing a drawing with notes written on some parts, “Is this some kind of map?”

Frey nodded in response, “Yup, it’s the map of this castle that you drew many years ago when you first came here.”

“Wait,” Dolce interrupted, “Lest had been here before? Shouldn’t anyone here already recognize him when we arrived?”

“That was over fifteen years ago,” Frey shortly replied, “Lest only came here once and it was only at that time.”

“I see,” Arthur started, “Even if there are anyone who had met him, that person would have already either retired or left the castle. Or in another case, they wouldn’t recognize his face now.”

“I guess so,” Lest’s response caught the attention of the others, “But it’s okay, at least I know that I still have a family,” Lest turned to Frey with a smile, “I don’t remember you, but I’m glad to know that I have a twin sister.”

The smile returned to Frey’s face, “You lost your memories, but you’re still the same old Lest to me,” Frey turned to Arthur, “Please excuse me, I should be going. The king requested for an audience with me regarding the party tonight.”

“Very well,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “Please let him know that I would be seeing him soon as well.”

“I will,” Frey turned back to the others, “I’ll see you later then. I’ll give you two a tour around the castle once I’m done.”

“Okay, see you,” Lest saw his sister taking off before noticing the stares coming from Arthur and Dolce, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just need some rest, that’s all.”

Arthur took a few seconds to study Lest’s face before nodding, “Very well. Your room is up ahead.”

The group continued their walk through the same scenery, where the lines of red doors on their left were decorated with gold symbols shaped like a dragon. A brown vase of cherry grasses was placed on the left and right sides of the door. The same scenery came to a stop and Arthur turned to the couple while pointing the door on his right.

“This will be your room during your stay,” Arthur pointed out, “You may rest here while waiting for Miss Frey and I to be done with our meeting. I will see you two later.”

“Okay,” Lest turned to Dolce, “Come on, let’s go in.”

Giving a silent nod, Dolce followed Lest into the room, which was bigger than their room back in the castle in Selphia. The curtains were left wide open, revealing the big windows on the left wall of the room leading to the garden outside the castle walls. A black tall vase was placed in the left corner of the room, but it had autumn grasses instead of cherry grasses. The king-sized bed was placed on a round green carpet and at the center of the wall across the door with a nightstand on the right of the bed.

Lest let out a tired sigh and put the backpack he was carrying on the bed, “Finally!”

Dolce came over to the bed as well, sitting silently next to the backpack with Pico floating in front of Lest, “You wouldn’t believe how much Dolly packed in there…”

Lest let out a laugh before sitting down on the bed as well, “I don’t really mind, though. I don’t go out of town much to fight off monsters lately, so I consider this some kind of training.”

“Sweetie,” Dolce called out and turned to Lest worriedly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Huh?” Lest looked at Dolce in confusion.

“You didn’t look like you’re feeling comfortable when you saw Frey,” Pico explained.

Dolce nodded in agreement, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well…” Lest rubbed the back of his neck, “It feels… kind of strange actually. I never knew where I was from or who my family was and suddenly I have a sister…” Lest let out a sigh, “And I feel bad for not being able to remember her…”

“I see…” Dolce let out a smile, “You could try asking her about how both of you used to live. Maybe that will help you remember.”

“I’m not sure how much that’ll help, though,” Lest put a hand on Dolce’s as he smiled at her, “But thanks for worrying about me, Dolly.”

“She’s not just worried about you,” The couple turned to Pico, who was grinning slyly, “You should’ve seen how Dolly looks so jealous when-”

“No,” Dolce slapped a talisman on Pico’s head, making her wince in pain.

“D-Dolly…”

Lest let out a laugh, “I can tell by the way you’re holding my hand.”

“S-Shut up…” Dolce turned away in embarrassment, only to make Lest laugh even more.

A knock on the door was heard, “Excuse me.”

Lest opened the door, revealing a man in a black suit carrying two boxes in his hands, “Can I help you?”

“Sir Lest, isn’t it?” The man asked, getting a nod from Lest before he handed over the boxes to Lest, “The king had ordered me to give you these clothes and shoes to be worn at the party.”

“The clothes and shoes? Okay, thank you,” Lest took the box from the man, who had bowed slightly before leaving.

Dolce rose from her seat on the bed and saw Lest putting the boxes down by her feet, “Are those the clothes we had to wear tonight?”

“Seems like it,” Lest took a peek at one of the boxes, “Yeah, and the shoes too.”

“Oh,” Dolce replied shortly, letting out a defeated sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Lest asked, noticing the sigh coming from his wife.

“It’s nothing,” Dolce let out a smile, “Let’s take a look at them first.”

[karnakian]

meta: dragon priests + how/if their traditions should return

META TIME!

ooh, that’s a good question!

the way that i’ve set up dragon priests in selphia differs greatly from the other examples of dragon priests/priestesses seen throughout the rest of the series — as selphia is home to one of the four native dragons themselves, i imagine that the town would have had a much larger emphasis on organized religion, to the point where it served as the base for its entire society. 

this translates into the community being headed by an order of priests, with the high priest ( a role passed down to the firstborn sons of the house of bastet from generation to generation ) serving as a community leader of sorts. 

after leon, the eighth and last son of the bastet family, sealed himself into leon karnak in an attempt to use his own body  to generate runes as a kind of battery ( or factory ba dum tsss ) to save the dying god, the traditions that had upheld the order of selphian dragon priests for generations suddenly collapsed. this, in turn, led to the natural dissolution of the order over the course of the following years.

now that leon’s returned, i suppose it is a possibility that the order could make a revival, ie if he ever has a son and chooses to train him in the ancient traditions and carry on the family name etc etc. 

however, i don’t think that he would really want to. 

although he wasn’t around to be able to see it, he knows how hard his family and friends worked to build selphia into a town that they could all be proud of. he doesn’t want to disrespect their memory by disregarding all of their efforts and the amazing community that it has now become. he knows what it’s like to be trapped in the past - it’s not something he would ever wish on anyone. it wouldn’t be fair to drag the town back thousands of years for the sake of his own selfish desires.

he is content just to take comfort in the land built on the hopes and wishes of the people he once so dearly loved, even if he’s the only one who still remembers them.