D'arce

D'arce Cataliss is a playable character and a potential party member in Fear & Hunger.

Lore
"'The trusted knight of the propheticed one. She seems awfully dim standing next to the blinding shimmer of the one... But it might be wrong to misjudge her potential...' - The New Gods when asked about D'arce."

Born with the soul of domination that makes people around her bend to her will, D'arce is a natural leader, but often ends up blind to self-criticism. If her birth sign was not enough to warrant a future of greatness, she was also born into a wealthy noble family from Rondon, where she served as a gifted holy knight and a valuable asset to her kingdom.

However, as Rondon claimed to follow the will of the gods in its pursuits for more power, the rewards always fell in the laps of the elite and noble while the kingdom expanded its reign, shaking D'arce's devotion and leading her to decide to retire from the army. She eventually defected to join the Knights of the Midnight Sun, a band of mercenaries led by Le'garde, a man who she ended up being deeply in love with. The group would eventually attract the attention of Rondon: first as warriors to be hired, but eventually as a force to be dealt with.

When the Knights of the Midnight Sun lost the battle against Rondon, D'arce attempted to rescue her captain Le'garde once she heard that he was being held in the dungeons of fear and hunger. She was captured and violated by the Cavedwellers after preaching to them the greatness of Alll-mer, a common deity of Rondon.

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.
 * When asking to perform a Marriage, she will reveal that she is actually a virgin.
 * Early concept art shows her as a closet lesbian.
 * She will refuse to perform marriage with Enki but she will gladly accept it with Cahara or Ragnvaldr