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Dragon’s Dogma 2has quite a few places for you to visit, from volcanic islands to elven groves. But the two most prominent areas are Vermund and Battahl, centers of government and trade for the land, and key pieces for the game’s main story.
Yet these two realms are not on friendly terms, something you’ll quickly learn if you attempt to cross the border to Battahl. Their backstory isn’t something you need to learn in order to finish the game, but they do give an understanding of how the world came to be how it is today.
The Dragon Cycle
The cycle of a Dragon choosing an Arisen exists frombefore people even remember, and it certainly existed before either Vermund or Battahl were formed. One day, an Arisen came to bethat was so mighty, no one else compared to him;that is, of course, Rothais.
Since Rothais is a Beastren, he could have come from the region of Battahl, traveling north to ultimately create Vermund.
Rothais fulfilled his quest as Arisen, but in his time the cycle worked like it didin the first Dragon’s Dogma. This means that, after defeating the Dragon,Rothais faced off against the previous Arisen, earning the role of Seneschal once he was victorious.
This role is incredibly dull, as players of the previous game know, since all you can do is run around as an invisible ghost without interacting with anything. Yet the force of will of Rothais was so strong thathe managed to manifest himself in the real world, looking for the next thing he could conquer.
The Founding Of Vermund
Since Rothais might know no equal,he managed to amass an army in no time, forming a city where he would be crowned Sovran.This was Vermund, a land where the Arisen is worshiped almost like a deity, with the people following their every command; the citizens of Vermund were, in practice, not so different from Pawns.
Rothais always hungered for more, so he led a bloody campaign to expand his territory.His greatest weapon was Talos, a stone giant that obeyed only him, being able to cross great distances with ease, and crumble cities in a matter of minutes.
It is likely that Talos was controlled by Rothais’ main Pawn, or that it literally is his main pawn. That would explain why your Pawn can control it in the Unmoored world.
The Conflict Between Vermund And Battahl
Since the Brinedoesn’t allow anyone to leave the continent, Rothais’ conquest was limited to places connected by land. So it was only natural that, in time,his forces clashed with the ones in Battahl, although no kingdom was a match against Rothais, his Pawns, and the giant Talos.
We can only speculate as to how that conflict ended, since Battahl is still independent of Vermund.Considering the state Rothais ends in, we can assume thatthe Pathfinder had a hand in Rothais’ downfall.
We know for a fact thatthe Pathfinder used to send Arisen to fight Rothaisfor the title of Seneschal, since Rothais himself tells us that much. Said Arisen could’ve been the one’s fighting against Rothais alongside Battahl, giving the realm a fighting chance.
It could also be thatthe Pathfinder simply trapped Rothais on his Seneschal throne, unable to interact with the world anymore.The Pathfinder has the power to rewrite reality, so him being able to pluck Rothais out of the picture isn’t unthinkable; he probably didn’t do it sooner to see if the people of the land could deal with the problem on their own.
Vermund And Battahl After The War
Once the dust settled,each kingdom was able to tend to their people as they saw fit, and they had their own version of what happened with Rothais and his Pawns.Vermund remembered him as a noble soulthat founded their city, the Pawns being the faithful servants of their rightful ruler.
Battahl had a different story to tell, since to them, Rothais was the Mad Sovran, a bloodthirsty conqueror that nearly wiped them all out. In turn,they saw Pawns as tools of mass destruction, unable to question their masters when asked to do unthinkable horrors.
This also evolved intothe racial prejudices each land has, with Battahl hating the Pawns on one side, and Vermund treating Beastren poorly on theirs. Vermund’s perspective on Beastren was likely an answer to Battahl’s hatred of Pawns, since to Vermund said Pawns are sacred.
The pushback towards Beastren was such in Vermund, thatthey chose to remember their founding father as a human, even though Rothais was clearly a Beastren. This doesn’t change how they treat the player if they choose to be Beastren, however.
You can see these prejudices in the game, through several side quests in both Vermund and Battahl. The end tothe Wilhelmina questlinedeals with the poor treatment of Beastren, and you just need to take a stroll through Battahl to quickly be harassed about your Pawns.
Vermund And Battahl Today
Whilepolitical tensions are still present, both kingdoms still maintain communication, trade, and plans for the future. After all, the game’s main plot revolves around the Queen Regent of Vermund, Disa, working in tandem with the lead researcher of Battahl to fight the Dragon cycle.
In Vermund,Disa might seem like an antagonist, but her plans to abolish the Arisen rule aren’t unfounded; after all, giving control of the country to any heartless person doesn’t seem like a wise curse of action. One of the better endings of the game has, in fact,her son becoming Sovran of Vermund.
Meanwhile,Battahl used their unique perspective of Pawnsto make them work in their favor. Since they already know what happens when Pawns fall into the control of an evil Arisen, having a way to control them would give them an edge in the future, hence why they developedthe powerful artifact known as the Godsway.
