- "Surrender yourself not unto silent dusk. For the light shall fade. And soon, night shall fall." —Words of the Moonshade Order from the Book of Night
The Moonshade Order are the primary antagonists of Octopath Traveler II. They are a death cult that worships the dark god Vide, and work behind the scenes throughout the game to revive him. Each of its members and associates serve as either supporting characters or main villains in each of the main traveler’s stories.
History[]
The Moonshade Order was founded by Archmage D'arqest, though at some point after his death, Arcanette assumed leadership of the group. Their primary goal is the resurrection of their god Vide, so that he may bring an end to all things. To that end, the Order seeks to locate and extinguish Solistia's four Sacred Flames, the barriers keeping Vide at bay, through human sacrifice. Throughout the game, the Moonshade Order work mostly behind the scenes, manipulating people and events alike, all to facilitate the acquisition of the dark tools required to carry out their mission.
The Order gained a large following in the city of Crackridge, where many of its devotees can be found meeting at night and wearing crescent moon necklaces. Thirty years ago, the Moonshade Order massacred the Kal people in the neighboring Fellsun Ruins.
Story[]
The Moonshade Order indirectly influenced all of the travelers' journeys in the following ways:
They massacred the Kal Clan and exploited Kaldena's vendetta in order to the restore the Book of Night. Arcanette taught Kaldena a purposely flawed rite to gain the power of the Shadow, which required the Book of Night's restoration. Kaldena lost her humanity and life as a result after a confrontation with Temenos in Rifted Rock, allowing the Order to take the Book.
They chose Claude, grandson of D'arqest, for the intended purpose of serving as Vide's vessel. However, he rejected his task and went into hiding, establishing the Blacksnakes in the hopes that one of his many children would fill the role, though this failed and he was killed by his daughter in Lostseed Castle.
They, through Claude, drove the apothecary Trousseau mad to kill people with his Black Blood poison purple rain, which was derived from the Shadow. While he succeeded in eradicating all of the townsfolk and most of his former comrades in Healeaks, he was eventually stopped and killed in Timberain by his former chief Castti Florenz, ending the threat of the poison rain.
The scientist Harvey was recruited to restore the Book of Demons. To this end, he abducted Osvald V. Vanstein's family and broke into D'arqest's tomb to use his remains and the blood of the Lumina Clan. While the Book itself was completed, Harvey was defeated by Osvald, though he apparently managed to escape alive. Both the Book of Night and the Book of Demons would be fused into the Darkblood Grimoire.
The Order tasked the hunter Petrichor to capture the animal Ochette didn't choose as a child. The animal was given to Harvey, who transformed it into the Darkling of the Sorrowful Moon with his science. Both the Darkling and Petrichor were also killed; the former by Ochette, the latter by the Darkling as a sacrifice to quell the Sacred Flame in the Tomb of the Wardenbeasts.
Tanzy was inducted by Arcanette in the guise of Sister Mindt after the death of her fiancé. She assisted in tracking down the locations of the Sacred Flame under the guise of a troupe manager. However, she was later unwillingly used as the sacrifice by Arcanette to extinguish Flamechurch's Sacred Flame with the Darkblood Staff.
The Order also inducted Oboro and his sister Ori to their cause. The former, under the identity of Kazan the strategist, manufactured the civil war in Ku, manipulating both General Mugen and Prince Hikari, all to acquire the Darkblood Blade. The latter used her position as a scrivener to help find the locations of the Sacred Flames as well as collect and relay information to the Order. Oboro killed Ageha with the Darkblood Blade to snuff out the Sacred Flame at the Tranquil Grotto, while Ori stabbed herself to smother the flame in Fellsun Ruins using the Darkblood Grimoire, but miraculously survived the attempt.
The Order was also most likely responsible for the murder of Alpates. Belonging to the Lumina Clan who worked against the Order, she was presumably killed to prevent any chance of the Sacred Flame's rekindling. She was able to hide her clan's mirror prior to her death.
By the conclusion of the eight traveler's stories, the Moonshade Order had succeeded in their preparations. With the Sacred Flames extinguished, the world was plunged into an endless night to herald Vide's arrival. However, the eight travelers were able to rekindle the Sacred Flames with Alpates's mirror and slay the Order's leader, Arcanette. They reached Vidania just in time to watch Oboro sacrifice himself to become Vide's vessel, reviving the dark god at last. In the end, however, the dark god was vanquished by the travelers, undoing the entirety of the Order's schemes.
The Order itself became heavily crippled following Vide's defeat and the death of many of its members.
Main Members[]
Associates[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Like the travelers, the main members of the Moonshade Order has the first letters of their first names spell "OCTOPATH".
- Their corresponding protagonists' names spell "OCTOPATH" backwards: Oboro for Hikari, Claude for Throné, Tanzy for Agnea, Ori for Partitio, Petrichor for Ochette, Arcanette for Temenos, Trousseau for Castti, and Harvey for Osvald (albeit with the protagonists themselves having a different official lineup regarding Ochette and Osvald being first and fourth and with Throné and Temenos being third and seventh respectively).
- It is currently unknown if the Moonshade Order disbanded after the death of the group's leader. To note, there are townspeople in different towns that are adherent to them, and Harvey may have survived in the English language dub (assuming Ori is not mistaken).
- The Moonshade Order plays a similar role to the Obsidians in the original Octopath Traveler, as both groups operate behind the scenes to further the goals of their worlds' dark gods.
- The Moonshade Order adherents in Crackridge refer to Temenos as "an adherent of another fire" (the Sacred Flame), claiming that such fire brings destruction. However, their mention of "another" fire implies that they may worship a flame of their own, potentially referring to the Accurst Flame.
- During Osvald's final chapter, after the people along the Path to the Duskruin Shrine have begun going mad, the player can talk to a couple of townspeople in Gravell to learn more about the Moonshade Order. One townsperson says that Moonshade Order was founded on the western continent; another explains that although the afflicted people are adherents of the Moonshade Order, they're not evil, merely following an ancient rite. Once Osvald's chapter ends, this dialogue no longer becomes available.
- It is unclear whether the Moonshade Order adherents in Crackridge and Gravell are aware of their leader's plot to end the world by resurrecting Vide, as they do not actively seek to snuff the Sacred Flame in the Fellsun Ruins (despite knowing of its existence) and do not appear to be involved of any of Arcanette's overarching machinations (apart from the massacre of the Kal).