Daresso Topic /18
NPCName
Lady DiallaThe Sword King. Before my time. Beyond my time. Where is time, anyway, when you need it? Never stands still, that's the problem!

Except if you are Daresso. Petrified with love he is. A love he doesn't realise is long, long, long... gone.
OyunDaresso? Yes, Petarus has spoken of him. The disturbing question is this:

How does a man who, by all accounts, has been dead for over a hundred years end up as a Nightmare monarch in the bowels of Highgate?

Unlike Kaom, there is utterly no trace of his passing, and we have scouted every footstep of this mountain and its surrounds. There is no other entrance. No physical entrance.

Deshret, and now this... Daresso. Yes, most disturbing.
Petarus and VanjaPetarus: Daresso? He's down there, inside the mountain?

Vanja: Are we talking about {the} Daresso? The Sword King?

Petarus: Seems like it. But... how did he get in there? He left Oriath about a century and a half ago, hoping to find a cure for his lady, Merveil. He would have had to fight his way through the Maraketh, but... Oyun's never mentioned anything of the sort.

Vanja: Maybe he didn't go in alive.

Petarus: What do you mean?

Vanja: We live in a land where the dead walk and {things} like Dialla live for centuries.

Petarus: You think he died somewhere else and then the Beast got hold of him?

Vanja: Could be.

Petarus: Well, if the Beast can do that, then... what bloody good was Deshret's Seal?

Vanja: Exactly.
Petarus and VanjaPetarus: You killed the Sword King?

Vanja: Daresso wasn't {actually} alive, Petarus.

Petarus: Daresso must have thought he was alive.

Vanja: True. Thinking and being... a bit of a blurred line here in Wraeclast.

Petarus: Exactly.
TasuniNightmare is not without sophistication.

In life, Daresso was tortured by frustration and shame. In death, Nightmare has erased his past and forged a dream world in which Daresso would remain contented and loved.

What if Nightmare could do that for all of us? Would we really wish to destroy it then?
TasuniDaresso was always a good man at heart, chained to an eternity of love and triumph.

You set him free.
Daresso's Salute"A bit short in the arm, are you?
Then you'll be short of a head soon enough."
- Daresso the Daring
Daresso's Defiance"When your back is against the wall,
And your opponent is bleeding you dry,
There is only one appropriate response:
Unbridled, overwhelming violence."
- Daresso, the Sword King
Daresso's CourageBy tourney's end, Daresso bled and shivered.
Yet even accursed treachery failed to steal the champion's victory.
Daresso's PassionIt doesn't matter how well the young swordsman trains.
All form and finesse are forgotten when blood first hits the ground.
Star of Wraeclast"I offer to you an eternal oath
that binds your heart to mine;
a bond that not even death will break.
Will you accept?"
- Daresso, to his beloved
Perseverance"Some blows must be evaded. Some blows must be endured.
The trick is to tell them apart."
- Daresso, the Sword King
Ring of BladesAt night, as a young Daresso shared his bed with a woman whose name he could not recall,
his thoughts remained in the one place he called his own: The Grand Arena.
Combat FocusStanding behind iron bars,
Daresso thought of his adoring fans cheering his name,
his wife's warm embrace waiting for him,
and of the celebrations that would soon be thrown in his name.
But when the arena gate lifted, he thought only of the fight.
Royale Daresso's Defiance"When your back is against the wall,
And your opponent is bleeding you dry,
There is only one appropriate response:
Unbridled, overwhelming violence."
- Daresso, the Sword King
Daresso Portal Effect
Alternate Art Daressos Salute
The King's Blade{"To know for what you fight. To get up again when you've been struck down. To outmanoeuvre someone faster, trick someone smarter, crush someone stronger. That's what it takes to claim the crown."
- Daresso, the King of Swords}
Daresso FlavourText /58
nameflavour
The King's Blade
BaseItemTypes
{"To know for what you fight. To get up again when you've been struck down. To outmanoeuvre someone faster, trick someone smarter, crush someone stronger. That's what it takes to claim the crown."
- Daresso, the King of Swords}
Ranger27
CharacterTextAudio
The only love you had, Daresso, was for yourself.
Witch49
CharacterTextAudio
I'm sorry to have to break this to you, Daresso, but... she's not real.
Duelist29
CharacterTextAudio
Your glory will be remembered in song forever, Daresso. I promise you that.
Duelist72
CharacterTextAudio
I believe I could give the great Daresso a run for his money, now.
Daresso's Dream
MapPins
No matter how far you climb, you never escape the Pits.
MerveilEnterAnger
NPCTextAudio
I wait for his return... Daresso. I wait... a good wife.
MerveilGlyph2
NPCTextAudio
Daresso gave me the gem, kissed me, promised that he would be by my side forever. I sang for him. I sang for Oriath with his gem at my throat. Kalisa's gem. Kalisa's voice.

I sang in her echo, performing arias that had once made the Empire weep. I listened to Kalisa's lullabies in my dreams. I gave myself to her music. Mind... and body.

Daresso left me, for Sarn, with a promise to free me from Kalisa. I begged him not to go. Tried to show him the wonder of my transformation, the beautiful daughters he would soon meet. He couldn't see. None of them could see. I fled from their hatred.

When Daresso returns I will cast his cure away. I will teach him what true love is.
MerveilGlyph1
NPCTextAudio
Welcome, husband. We knew in our hearts that you would find us. Come, Daresso, Ambrosia and Amarissa must meet their father. Come, my love. Return to your family.
EramirOnChamber
NPCTextAudio
The Chamber of Sins? Apparently the late Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia gave it that title. It was built by Emperor Chitus for one Inquisitor Maligaro.

How do I know this? To my shame, I did Dominus' dirty work in the selfish hopes of scholarly advancement. I scoured fragments of documents brought back by Fairgraves - and Daresso, before his disgrace. I unearthed all I could on the Eternal Empire's masters and mistresses of thaumaturgy, a subject of keen interest to our supposedly devout High Templar.

If I were you, I'd avoid Maligaro's old laboratory. A place of illness infected by a diseased mind.
FairgravesOnNecklace
NPCTextAudio
If the history books are to be believed, Daresso the Daring presented the necklace to Merveil on bended knee. And from the moment he placed that little chunk of Wraeclast at her throat, Merveil began to sing. It's told her sweet voice grew to fill even the largest concert halls of Oriath, and brought warmth to even the coldest of hearts.

But then she began to change. Her mind and body twisted, as did her songs. The sweetness remained while the sanity fled. Knowing what little I do about the powers that lie dormant here in Wraeclast, I'd surmise that if you have Merveil's necklace, you have the Siren's voice.
DiallaGemQuest
NPCTextAudio
You know, Not-a-Cockroach, had I accepted my place, my rapturous role, the Beast would be no more, no less, no anything at all. My selfishness tickled the Beast's fancy and it laughed the world I knew away.

Yet I have had much time to think on my lonesome. Much time to wonder. Wonder if the Rapture really needs to eat a Gemling Queen.

Maybe, something else will get its catastrophic juices slavering. Something like... eyeball soup!

The Eye of Fury. The Eye of Desire. Pretty gems for our pretty designs. But where could they be? Don't fret now. I have my suspicions.

Kaom, the Sovereign of Slaughter. He remains, and suffers his delusions right here in the halls of nightmare. Fury is all he knows, so Fury Kaom will have.

Daresso, King of Swords. Damned by Desire. Oh, aren't we all? He's down here too, and Desire's curse remains his to bear.

Go on, Not-a-Cockroach. Bring me the crown jewels so that we might wake the Rapture and finally put an end to this pestering Beast!
DiallaDaressoGem
NPCTextAudio
Pried the Desire from Daresso's dead hand, did you? Or is it 'dead again' hand? Or 'redead' hand? Or is 'undeath' really just death with benefits?

In which case, you didn't kill Daresso because he was already dead. It's all a bit of a grey area, really. And completely beside the point.
DiallaNoDaressoGem
NPCTextAudio
Yet we're still one gem short. Go, Not-a-Cockroach, and relieve Daresso of his Desire.
DiallaOnDaresso
NPCTextAudio
The Sword King. Before my time. Beyond my time. Where is time, anyway, when you need it? Never stands still, that's the problem!

Except if you are Daresso. Petrified with love he is. A love he doesn't realise is long, long, long... gone.
LeoUpTo8
NPCTextAudio
You probably know me well enough by now to understand that I don't say what I'm about to lightly. So here it is.

You're a better fighter than I am. Better than Vagan, better even than the great Daresso, in my mind at least. And you know why you're better? You just don't bloody give up!

That's what it takes for true mastery, inside the arena and out. Sure, we all know how to put the blood, sweat and tears into something. How to just keep swinging that sword until it hits what we want it to hit. That makes us good. But you, you're different. You're so full of the fight that you've forgotten how to live any other way.

That's why you, my friend, are one of the Greats.
DaressoStatue1
NPCTextAudio
At age thirteen, carving knife in hand, I killed beasts for the amusement of the filthy. At fifteen, they thought me worthy to fight a fellow man.

A butcher he was, twice as big and twice as stupid as I. I butchered the butcher and many like him, earned my way, kill by kill, out of the offal pit and into the Grand Arena.

I thought I would find wealth and glory in the arena. I was wrong. I found something far more precious. My Lady Merveil.
DaressoStatue2
NPCTextAudio
I knelt in the sand of the Grand Arena, awaiting the killing blow. I raised my eyes to look upon my death.

Instead, I saw her. Merveil. Her beautiful eyes met mine, and I knew that she saw me too. I turned my opponent's strike and killed the man with his own dagger.

Fighting had always been about survival. The primal instinct to kill or be killed. Now the fight became about something else. Love.
DaressoStatue3
NPCTextAudio
The previous King of Swords was a giant of a man, both faster and stronger than I. Yet I needed only look up at my Lady Merveil to know that I had no choice. I could not die this day.

I made him shiver under every parry, striking with all my might, so that my arms felt they might snap with every impact. All the while, I studied his face, watching for that moment when he began to doubt. It took an hour, but finally it was there.

Burning with pain, empty with exhaustion, I stepped inside his faltering swing and I slit the giant's throat.

I did not take my victory bow. I knelt in the sand, looked to Merveil, and cried out for my Lady's hand in marriage.

From that day forth, I wore the Crown of Swords upon my head and a ring of eternal love upon my finger.
OyunOnDaresso
NPCTextAudio
Daresso? Yes, Petarus has spoken of him. The disturbing question is this:

How does a man who, by all accounts, has been dead for over a hundred years end up as a Nightmare monarch in the bowels of Highgate?

Unlike Kaom, there is utterly no trace of his passing, and we have scouted every footstep of this mountain and its surrounds. There is no other entrance. No physical entrance.

Deshret, and now this... Daresso. Yes, most disturbing.
OyunOnMalachaiDead
NPCTextAudio
I was right to have faith in you, Curse-breaker.

You have succeeded where we have failed. You have slain a creature that was thought to live forever in the minds of those who came before you.

Voll, Daresso, Kaom, Deshret... the greatest champions Wraeclast has seen in the last three hundred years. You stood where they fell. Now you are the champion of champions, and Wraeclast should bow at your feet in gratitude.

You certainly have my gratitude, and that of my {akhara}. We have been exiled from our land by fear and misguided duty. Now we may return, to ride where we will, live how we wish.

Curse-breaker, Giver of Freedom... we thank you.
PetarusVanjaOnDaresso
NPCTextAudio
Petarus: Daresso? He's down there, inside the mountain?

Vanja: Are we talking about {the} Daresso? The Sword King?

Petarus: Seems like it. But... how did he get in there? He left Oriath about a century and a half ago, hoping to find a cure for his lady, Merveil. He would have had to fight his way through the Maraketh, but... Oyun's never mentioned anything of the sort.

Vanja: Maybe he didn't go in alive.

Petarus: What do you mean?

Vanja: We live in a land where the dead walk and {things} like Dialla live for centuries.

Petarus: You think he died somewhere else and then the Beast got hold of him?

Vanja: Could be.

Petarus: Well, if the Beast can do that, then... what bloody good was Deshret's Seal?

Vanja: Exactly.
PetarusVanjaOnDaressoDead
NPCTextAudio
Petarus: You killed the Sword King?

Vanja: Daresso wasn't {actually} alive, Petarus.

Petarus: Daresso must have thought he was alive.

Vanja: True. Thinking and being... a bit of a blurred line here in Wraeclast.

Petarus: Exactly.
TasuniOnDaresso
NPCTextAudio
Nightmare is not without sophistication.

In life, Daresso was tortured by frustration and shame. In death, Nightmare has erased his past and forged a dream world in which Daresso would remain contented and loved.

What if Nightmare could do that for all of us? Would we really wish to destroy it then?
TasuniOnDaressoDead
NPCTextAudio
Daresso was always a good man at heart, chained to an eternity of love and triumph.

You set him free.
Daresso1Intro
NPCTextAudio
I am Daresso, the Sword King. It was here, in the pits of Theopolis that I made my name, killing rabid dogs and wild boars before I could even be considered a man. In this so glorious of arenas, I care nothing for your past, only your future... and for that, you will have to fight!
Daresso1Combat
NPCTextAudio
People of the gutters, steel your bellies, for the slaughter is at hand!
Daresso1Complete
NPCTextAudio
An adequate performance, challenger, if a little messy. Yet Barkhul and his stinking flock were simply an audition. Let us see how you fare in the Grand Arena of Theopolis!
Daresso2Intro
NPCTextAudio
Welcome to the Grand Arena of Theopolis. It is here that I first laid eyes upon my true purpose, my lady Merveil. It is our inspiration that defines us. What do you fight for, Gladiator? Hundreds of warriors tried to lay claim to the same title as I, but I defeated them all. Victory goes not to the able, but to the ambitious.
Daresso2Combat
NPCTextAudio
Die a death worthy of applause, Gladiator!
Daresso2Complete
NPCTextAudio
A battle worthy of song! The way you fight reminds me of how it feels to be possessed with the ideal of victory. Is your passion enough to claim a crown? We shall see.
Daresso3Intro
NPCTextAudio
A King of Swords is nothing if he cannot defend his crown.
DaressoDeath
NPCTextAudio
Sing for me, Merveil. Sing of glory and love...
VaganReplyToSecondaryDefenderArrivalThree
NPCTextAudio
Daresso's arse, you can't be serious!
LeoPrimaryDefenderStartsFightEleven
NPCTextAudio
Daresso would have been jealous!
VenariusSynthMemoryCaveA
NPCTextAudio
It's him! He sails back to me, my Daresso! I shall sing for him. I shall show him the way.
VenariusSynthMemoryCaveB
NPCTextAudio
It's my Daresso! He sails back to me! I shall sing for him, and show him the way.
ZanaSynthMemoryCaveA
NPCTextAudio
It's him! He sails back to me, my Daresso! I shall sing for him. I shall show him the way. Come, my love. Come to me. We shall be together at last.
ZanaSynthMemoryDaressoA
NPCTextAudio
With one motion, I cleave a man in twain. A kick sends another flying, and the roar of the crowd swells. I am their idol!
ZanaSynthMemoryDaressoB
NPCTextAudio
I was always meant to be at the top of the pile. Nobody else can compare. And this tiny man, this new challenger, Daresso, will fall like the rest to the might of Barkhul.
ZanaSynthMemoryDaressoC
NPCTextAudio
Ha! We know how that ended, don't we?
VenariusSynthMemoryColosseumB
NPCTextAudio
I was always meant to be at the top of the pile. Nobody else can compare. And this tiny man, this new challenger, Daresso, will fall like the rest to the might of Barkhul.
VenariusSynthMemoryColosseumC
NPCTextAudio
From the look of the carnage around that 'Daresso' person, I think that ancient gladiator was in for quite a surprise.
ZanaSynthMemoryColosseumB
NPCTextAudio
I was always meant to be at the top of the pile. Nobody else can compare. And this tiny man, this new challenger, Daresso, will fall like the rest to the might of Barkhul.
TullinaContractOne
NPCTextAudio
Look, as a rule I don't ask for help. I don't need someone getting involved in my business and messing everything up. Unfortunately, I must now break that rule. I need... I-... Ugh. Why is this so hard? Ineedyourhelp. There. I said it.

Before I was exiled, I was romantically involved with a man from a very good family. We kept it secret while he tested the waters with his mother and father -- it's not exactly ideal for the nobility to be fraternising with the 'uncouth', as they say. Less than a week before I was heaved overboard and my exile began in earnest, he proposed.

I know it's crazy, and I know it's almost certainly impossible, but I want so desperately to marry that man. Just taking his name would wash clean my past, and I know I could find happiness.

So I need a dress. When Merveil and Daresso wed, they held a most elaborate ceremony. Merveil was said to be the most beautiful visage ever to walk down the Basilica aisle. It took six people to carry the train on her dress. I want that dress. I need that dress. My beloved deserves to see me in that dress. So you're going to help me get it, got it?
GiannaIntroduction
NPCTextAudio
Hey good lookin'. Huh. Most people recognise me. I'm Gianna. Worked a spell in the Chitus Theatre, back when you could leave your house without being followed by Templar secret police. I was Shavronne in {An Axiom Tragedy}. I played Dialla, the Gemling Queen, in {Purity Tales}, and the fair lady Merveil in {Daresso and Merveil}, for which I was very nearly nominated to receive a 'Tario.

No? Not a fan of the theatre, I suppose? That's-... That's fine. That act of my story has drawn to a close anyway, but I'm always looking for the next great role. Nothing's quite so thrilling as immersing oneself among the people, and seeing if you can, in fact, pass for the real deal.
CadiroOnDaressosDefiance
NPCTextAudio
Daresso's Defiance... A fine piece of craftsmanship, although it didn't get him very far. His fate is one I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.
CadiroOnDaressosSalute
NPCTextAudio
Ah yes, Daresso's Salute. An amulet with history behind it. Daresso wore this into the arena many times during his glory days.
CadiroOnStarOfWraeclast
NPCTextAudio
Ah, The Star of Wraeclast. Daresso gave that necklace to Merveil as a token of his love, and her voice became melodic and pleasing to the ear. Little did he know that it would turn her mind and body into something truly grotesque, ultimately mutating her into a hideous siren – and so Daresso left her, and she pined for the love she'd lost, and fed sailors to her offspring.
Daresso's Salute
UniqueItems
"A bit short in the arm, are you?
Then you'll be short of a head soon enough."
- Daresso the Daring
Daresso's Defiance
UniqueItems
"When your back is against the wall,
And your opponent is bleeding you dry,
There is only one appropriate response:
Unbridled, overwhelming violence."
- Daresso, the Sword King
Daresso's Courage
UniqueItems
By tourney's end, Daresso bled and shivered.
Yet even accursed treachery failed to steal the champion's victory.
Star of Wraeclast
UniqueItems
"I offer to you an eternal oath
that binds your heart to mine;
a bond that not even death will break.
Will you accept?"
- Daresso, to his beloved
Daresso's Passion
UniqueItems
It doesn't matter how well the young swordsman trains.
All form and finesse are forgotten when blood first hits the ground.
Perseverance
UniqueItems
"Some blows must be evaded. Some blows must be endured.
The trick is to tell them apart."
- Daresso, the Sword King
Ring of Blades
UniqueItems
At night, as a young Daresso shared his bed with a woman whose name he could not recall,
his thoughts remained in the one place he called his own: The Grand Arena.
Combat Focus
UniqueItems
Standing behind iron bars,
Daresso thought of his adoring fans cheering his name,
his wife's warm embrace waiting for him,
and of the celebrations that would soon be thrown in his name.
But when the arena gate lifted, he thought only of the fight.
Royale Daresso's Defiance
UniqueItems
"When your back is against the wall,
And your opponent is bleeding you dry,
There is only one appropriate response:
Unbridled, overwhelming violence."
- Daresso, the Sword King
Daresso Text Audio /8
Name
I am Daresso, the Sword King. It was here, in the pits of Theopolis that I made my name, killing rabid dogs and wild boars before I could even be considered a man. In this so glorious of arenas, I care nothing for your past, only your future... and for that, you will have to fight!
Daresso1Intro
People of the gutters, steel your bellies, for the slaughter is at hand!
Daresso1Combat
An adequate performance, challenger, if a little messy. Yet Barkhul and his stinking flock were simply an audition. Let us see how you fare in the Grand Arena of Theopolis!
Daresso1Complete
Welcome to the Grand Arena of Theopolis. It is here that I first laid eyes upon my true purpose, my lady Merveil. It is our inspiration that defines us. What do you fight for, Gladiator? Hundreds of warriors tried to lay claim to the same title as I, but I defeated them all. Victory goes not to the able, but to the ambitious.
Daresso2Intro
Die a death worthy of applause, Gladiator!
Daresso2Combat
A battle worthy of song! The way you fight reminds me of how it feels to be possessed with the ideal of victory. Is your passion enough to claim a crown? We shall see.
Daresso2Complete
A King of Swords is nothing if he cannot defend his crown.
Daresso3Intro
Sing for me, Merveil. Sing of glory and love...
DaressoDeath