| BEFORE | AFTER |
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| old screen split | new screen split* |
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| *please note that this feature may not work properly on some MSX models... |
DAWN
The planet Nepentes is a world that revolves around a binary star. Because the
axis of Nepentes is always positioned parallel to the suns, the climate is harsh
with the exception of the area near the equator, so an ancient people called the
Pretarians built an underground civilization. The surface of the south pole is
molten by the scorching heat of the two suns, the north pole is ruined by thick
ice.
The civilization greatly advanced their scientific capabilities and achieved
further development. They actively performed gene manipulation and made it
possible for the Pretarians to even live deep within the planet. The ones on
whom the operation failed were released to the surface. The majority died, being
either burnt alive by the sunlight or frozen. And so people came to live in
every corner of the planet, excluding the poles and the center of the planet.
The effect of exhaustingly digging the interior of Nepentes together with
extreme erosion expedited the decline of the planet.
Scientists made plans to shift the planet's axis in order to make the climate of
Nepentes warmer. On the equator they built a huge wall (the Ring) and installed
a centrifugal particle accelerator. Creating a strong magnetic field they tried
to correct the position of the planet. This project, that cost many lives and
vast amounts of energy, seemed to work well in the early stages. Moving the
planet's axis little by little the planet's temperature began to level. However,
when the project reached halfway, a tremendous spontaneous collapse started. The
volcanoes in the south caused large eruptions, the glaciers in the north melted
at an abnormal speed and unimaginable tsunami swept across the northern
hemisphere. These disasters shook Nepentes and destroyed the underground cities.
A small number of people who survived (later called the Eletrians) came to live
in the dawn area of the southern hemisphere for a long time. The climate had
become a little warmer, but civilization had regressed hundreds of years.
At the same time on the northern hemisphere, separated by the wall when the
climate suddenly changed, people on whom genetic manipulation failed revived
from among the melting ice and by coupling with cold-blooded animals from the
polar regions they gave birth to new species. Most of the inferior species
perished straight away. Two races survived: the Azumural and the Ghouls. Their
reproductive rate and intelligence were surprisingly high. Both the Ghouls and
Azumural had a belligerent nature, but since there was a wide and deep crevice
between both countries they didn't know about each other's existence.
THE AGE OF WAR
It was clear to anyone that King Dois XIV of the Ghouls was the cause. He was
born being a member of the dominant Dji tribe, (the Dji tribe, the cruelest
race, occupied the large majority of the Ghoul troops). Because he went ahead
with self-indulgent policies in support of the military, life of the general
populace became poor and their dissatisfaction kept growing day by day. The
incompetent ruler came up with a simple solution. In short, he decided to turn
the dissatisfaction of the masses outward. So first of all among relatively
docile minority races the Ghoul army was sent to the entire area (the land of
the Eletrians).
Thus the Eletrian invasion by the Ghouls started. The Eletrians who didn't know
about military strategies simply tried to escape and were quickly driven to the
mountainous regions in the south. Though the swift attack was insufficient for
the Ghoul army to settle it, in the blink of an eye one third of the Eletrians
were killed and half of the territory became Ghoul country.
It was 20 months later that the Eletrian counterattack started. They defeated
everyone from the Ghoul army with Guerrilla tactics, moving quickly across the
vast terrain. In a surprise attacks Ghoul soldiers who were completely
unprepared for this, without time to arrange their formations, became prisoners
one after another. The leader of the counteroffensive was the Eletrian prince
Lord Fashua. He is young, intelligent, has abundant energy and there is no one
who has a better sword arm. He is well known for taking the lead and advancing
the fight. He inspired young men to volunteer to become soldiers. This time the
beginning kingdom of Eletria had something of an organized army.
Quickly the natural scientific capabilities of the Eletrians recovered because
their industrial power excelled. The dominance of the Ghouls crumbling away,
they pushed back to near the Ring. The Ghoul army joined the reinforcements
there and was barely able to stop the advance of the Eletrian army. The Ghoul
army which had lost many elite troops temporarily pulled back their soldiers to
reorganize. Since the Eletrians were also exhausted, they didn't chase them far
and they watched the movement of the Ghoul army. Both armies glared at each
other with the Ring dividing them. The Ring became a buffer zone from then on.
Though occasional skirmishes occurred, still the Ghoul army launched a large
offensive once every several years in order to remember them. Each time Eletria
repelled them and this continued for several decades and so it began to change
into a marsh. Because of the constant war, the people were impoverished and the
land had gone to ruin.
THE AZUMURAL
The time had come to put an end to the long and unproductive battle. This was
brought about by the Azumural, the third race that came from the heavens. While
both countries were fighting, the Azumural steadily developed their scientific
capabilities and in the end even acquired aviation technology. They got to know
about the world beyond the Ring. Because of their brutal nature they made a
temporary alliance with the Ghouls and invaded Eletria. The balance of fight
largely deteriorated and the Eletrians barricaded themselves in the last
remaining fortress Nesha Castle. Even though the castle was boasted to be
impregnable, it couldn't withstand the new weapons of the Azumural like the
flying tanks and it surrendered after only three days.
Banutracus, leader of the Azumural, ignored the advice of the Ghouls and
cold-bloodedly executed the captured Lord Fashua, who was a legendary warrior to
the Eletrian people. Banutracus not only persuaded the Azumural soldiers to
plunder, raiding people's homes, he personally took the lead. He went around
laying waste to the area and exhausted the limits of injustice.
Though the Ghouls and the Azumural had cooperated as allied forces, on the
frontline the behavior of the Azumural turned around and became oppressive
towards the Ghouls. Ghoul Division Commander Gui, not having the cruel streak
of Banutracus, betrayed the Azumural. He rescued Fashua's daughter Nesha who
was imprisoned and crossed the desert. They concealed themselves in the depths
of the ancient ruins of an underground civilization that had once flourished
there.
Nesha sure did detest Gui in the beginning, but soon she opened her heart
because of his kind spirit. The couple had a child called Ashguine, who
exceeded the genetic differences between the Eletrians and Ghouls. So he spent
his childhood in the ruins and eventually he became a promising young man.
PLANETARY LIFE-FORM "VIE"
In the end even with the Gui family living hidden underground he stretched out
his grip of suppressive force. Both his parents were captured and murdered by
Banutracus. Escaping the spot reminding of their inevitable deaths, Ashguine
went even deeper underground to the temple, upon which he got into contact with
the planetary life-form "Vie". Being the core of Nepentes, it was the life force
of the planet itself. "Vie" hated the murderer Banutracus who spread
catastrophe across Nepentes which was still restoring itself. So the planetary
life-form informed Ashguine about the teleporters scattered across Nepentes
since ancient times. Promising to support him, "Vie" gave him a powerful weapon.
Ashguine, who now had attained the power of "Vie", has become the warrior of
legends. He starts on his journey to Gizemahl Castle, the castle of his mortal
enemy Banutracus.
Ashguine 2 is an MSX2 exclusive game.
The entire Ashguine series is an MSX exclusive series.