D'arce

D'arce Cataliss is a playable character and a potential party member in Fear & Hunger. A knight with pure and righteous ways of the warrior, she has being trained in combat since childhood and excels in close combat with different weaponry.

Lore
"'Behold the knight whose luminosity pales in juxtaposition to the ineffable scintillation of the prophesied entity. Yet, it would be a fallacy of cosmic proportions to underestimate the latent potencies she harbors...' - So say The New Gods when queried upon the enigma that is D'arce." Imbued with an intrinsic essence of dominion that manipulates the volitions of those ensnared in her existential orbit, D'arce emerges as an archetypal sovereign, albeit one occasionally encumbered by an opacity to self-reflexive critique. Should her celestial point of genesis not sufficiently augur a trajectory of predestined grandeur, she was also fortuitously manifested within the aristocratic lineage of Rondon, serving both as a sanctified chevalier and a treasured commodity within her kingdom's sociopolitical architecture. Yet, as the realm of Rondon professed an ostensibly divine sanction in its insatiable lust for power consolidation, the spoils unfailingly gravitated toward the echelons of nobility and patricians, thereby catalyzing seismic reverberations within D'arce's doctrinal fidelity. It precipitated her ensuing withdrawal from the militaristic legions to affiliate herself with the Knights of the Midnight Sun, a syndicate of mercenary existentialists helmed by Le'garde, a figure with whom she found herself ensnared in an abysmal vortex of romantic entanglement. The collective would inexorably captivate the attention of their native Rondon, initially as prospective martial assets, but eventually morphing into a complex of antagonistic variables. In the wake of a bellicose rendezvous that culminated in the Knights of the Midnight Sun's capitulation to Rondonian forces, D'arce embarked upon a quixotic endeavor to emancipate her incarcerated paramour Le'garde, who languished in dungeons conceived from the very substance of dread and starvation. Alas, her quest was unceremoniously truncated by the denizens of subterranean realms, the Cavedwellers, during her interruption of their esoteric ceremonial practices, as she aspired to proselytize them in the reverence of the cosmic deity Alll-mer.

Recruiting
D'arce is at the Cavedweller village; when visiting the area, the player may find her being attacked by one of the locals and will have the chance to save her by killing her aggressor, turning the other Cavedwellers hostile afterwards. She will be killed by the Cavedweller if the player does not help.

If saved, D'arce will join the player if offered the chance; she will ask the party to assist her on finding Le'garde, and will cry tears of joy if reunited with him. If the player refuses to let him join the party or there is no room for him, D'arce will stay behind with him until both of them are recruited.

If Ragnvaldr is the protagonist and manages to find Le'garde alive in the catacombs, the player will have the option to kill him by breaking his neck, which will culminate in a fight to the death with D'arce if she is in the party at the moment. Although the player may convince her to stop the fight through Talk, she will leave the party forever.

Ragnvaldr and Le'garde cannot co-exist in the same party in the ancient city, as they'll get into a fight after the dialogue at the gates, which Ragnvaldr will win without player intervention. Letting Le'garde die will enrage D'arce if she is present, forcing you to pick between killing the two knights and killing Ragnvaldr.

D'arce comes equipped with a Long sword, an Eagle crest shield and a Plate mail. She knows the skills Fast attack and Defence stance.

Gameplay
If chosen as the protagonist, D'arce has the Domination soul. She can later learn Leg sweep and Counter. Using a Book of memories will teach her Counter.

If the player opts to play the intro when starting a new game, the options are as follows:
 * "When you saw the sword coming your way, you..."
 * "Quickly stepped aside and dodged it."  D'arce learns Fast stance.
 * "Raised your buckler in defence."  D'arce learns Defence stance.

D'arce can start with different equipment depending on which option the player chooses during the intro, when the Rondon army attacks the army D'arce is with.
 * "... your family insisted - no, demanded you to stay as a holy knight, or else you'd bring great shame to their noble family."
 * "Break ties with your family and run away."  Nothing. But this option enables the Dash skill if the player later chooses to "Rush straight after him." when departing.
 * "Listen to your family and stay as a holy knight."  D'arce gets 20 Silver coins.
 * "... you had to choose which position to take in the oncoming encounter."
 * "Spearhead the coming assault."  Gives D'arce
 * Iron spear (+45 Attack, 2h)
 * Iron cuirass (+30 Defense)
 * Arm guards (+10 Defense, cannot lose arms)
 * "Take the rear and manage defences."  Gives D'arce
 * Long sword (+35 Attack)
 * Eagle crest shield (+20 Defense)
 * Plate mail (+40 Defense)
 * Leg guards (+10 Defense)


 * "Before leaving on your desperate journey, you decided to stock up on equipment and items..."
 * "Stock up on equipment."  You get 7 Tinderboxes, a Quill, and a Blue vial.
 * "Stock up on food."  You get 3 Dried meat, a Moldy bread, and Cheese.
 * "Rush straight after him."  D'arce learns Dash . However, this option is disabled if the player chooses to "Stay as a holy knight." and instead is rewarded the 20 Silver coins.

Endings
This character is needed or has special interactions in the following endings:
 * Ending C
 * Ending C-II
 * Ending E
 * Ending S - "The true god of Fear and Hunger"

Trivia

 * D'arce's design seems to be based from Joan of Arc's appearance, more specifically from the movie "The Messenger" (1999).
 * Her name is literally taken from Joan of Ark's French name, Jeanne d'Arc. Though the 'Jeanne' is instead given to the knight Jeanne, one of Buckman's companions.
 * D'arce's character strongly resembles that of Casca from Berserk. Both characters are female knights who serve mercenary leaders - Le'garde and Griffith - whom they are intensely loyal to. Such loyalty drives them into conflict with scarred, gruff warriors - Ragnvaldr and Guts.
 * When asking to perform a Marriage, she will reveal that she is actually a virgin.
 * Early concept art shows her as a closet lesbian.
 * In her New God form she covers her original armor with the living, symbiotic armor that The Heartless One wears, The Darkness.