Dage Recruit: Rand’s four recruitment campaigns

Graython before the Archfiend

The community route addresses its interlocutor as Master Dage and directs anyone arriving too early to Fiend Past to see Dage's story begin. After the listed Defeat Dage the Lich prerequisite, Commander Rand describes the caves as a spawning ground for Nulgath's forces and asks Dage to clear the neophyte Fiends while searching for Graython, a former friend whom Nulgath might recruit. Rand says Graython could be a powerful ally, but warns that much has changed since Dage's contract with Nulgath.

The five community quest entries describe the search work: clear Dark Makai to make progress, gather Fiend Energy to dispel the sigils, and defeat six Dreadfiends. The party then searches for Graython before the Archfiend can reach him; the location task sends them to Screen 3 after he is found. These are the menu's task purposes, not a claim that every method or objective has been verified in native quest definitions.

In the native scene, Rand reports that the target has been located and already converted to the Archfiend's cause. Dage the Evil calls it too late and laments losing another valuable ally. He says Graython yielded more readily than expected, but decides the Legion cannot allow Nulgath's forces to grow: Graython must be eliminated, then they will move on to another potential recruit. Rand accepts the order. The scene establishes the decision, not the attack or its outcome.

The community quest text says Graython has allied with the Archfiend and must be eliminated before he becomes a greater threat; its completion line says Graython is gone and calls for moving to the next potential ally. The NPC material also contains two distinct blocks carrying the same After Graython Located label: one calls for elimination, while another reports Graython eliminated and the caves mostly cleared. Both reports are retained without assigning either duplicate label to a specific menu entry by array order.

Capturing the Nuckelavee

As the next possible ally, the Nuckelavee is introduced as a creature born of the Underworld that has no master. Rand says it has lived for centuries near these islands, unnoticed by those who might seek its power or destroy it, and proposes bending it to Master Dage's will as an asset against Nulgath. The community quest entries first send the party to find a haunted shore, where frightened wildlife must be cleared before the shore is located.

To draw it out, the party must make a lure from Void Crystals carried by Dreadfiends in Graython's tunnels. Rand says the Nuckelavee will appear only when there is a strong sense of demise nearby, so they gather nearby souls until the lure is charged. Once it is ready, they take it to the shore, where Rand expects the creature to appear; Rand frames defeating it as the way to convert it to the Legion and gain a powerful asset.

The native scene confirms that the Nuckelavee was defeated and captured. Rand says they will immediately begin converting its power to their cause, and Dage the Evil calls a natural force like this an excellent addition to his Legion. The community completion text likewise says the Nuckelavee is theirs and will be integrated. The stated result is capture and intended conversion; neither account specifies a contract, consent, or the conversion method.

Rand asks whether their effort will be enough. When Dage asks whether Rand fears defeat, the Commander denies it and apologizes. Dage calls that fear legitimate because they face Nulgath, then says he has proved he can grow stronger than him before. He plans to make the Legion stronger than the Nation and end the Archfiend. This is Dage the Evil speaking about his own past and present campaign; it is not a measured comparison attributed to the present Hero, and it does not establish how he previously surpassed Nulgath.

Smaras and the Outpost

Commander Rand identifies Smaras as Dage’s old Nation acquaintance and rival, someone who might have become Nulgath’s second in command had Dage not stood in the way. The outpost campaign begins with a direct objective: take the position and eliminate Smaras. The first defenders are Bloodfiends, and Rand then turns the fight into a way to gather unstable Void energy for explosives.

Rand plans to turn that energy into bombs to bring down the outpost. The party searches for its structural keystones, plants four explosives, and then clears the Infernal Fiends blocking the route to Smaras.

The quest text shifts around Smaras's fate: before the confrontation, it says he is too valuable to the Archfiend to be kept alive; afterward, it emphasizes the value of information he could provide in the coming conflict. The scene that follows shows Dage demanding that Smaras be taken alive for interrogation by torture.

Smaras mocks Dage for sounding like Nulgath, accusing him of recreating the master-and-servant order he had turned against. Rand insists Dage and Nulgath are nothing alike, but Dage answers with a threat, and Smaras keeps taunting him.

Dage cuts Smaras off and orders Rand to carry out the torture; Rand agrees, while Smaras gets in one last wish for Dage's war to go well. Smaras is still speaking after the order; the dialogue leaves the torture, the outpost's planned demolition and his later fate unresolved.

Hebimaru and the War

Rand seeks Hebimaru, the Serpent Shinigami, because Yokai are spirits Nulgath knows little about. The Commander describes Hebimaru as a rogue who indiscriminately destroys life rather than keeping its balance. In the Yokai Realm, the party fights Funa-Yurei to learn more, then gathers their energy and local dirt to disguise its souls. Rand expects the disguise to deter lesser Yokai but doubts it will fool Hebimaru.

Hebimaru senses the intruders and sends Shadows after them; the warning then escalates to more Yokai being alerted. Once the defenses are cleared, the party's stated goal is to defeat Hebimaru and recruit him, and the quest text reports that he has been defeated.

Hebimaru rejects the idea that losing a battle obliges him to join, and notes that Nulgath also tried to recruit him. Rand is surprised that he survived refusing the Archfiend; Hebimaru says he barely did and is hiding in the Yokai Realm.

Dage distinguishes his Legion from Nulgath's Nation: he says the Nation serves one master, while his Legion serves its many members. He promises that his power helps each member and claims that if one grows stronger, all do; these are Dage's claims as he asks Hebimaru to join.

Hebimaru agrees to see how the Legion goes, but reserves the right to leave if he judges it too weak; Dage accepts that condition. Soon after, Rand reports that the Nation is attacking an outpost and their troops are outnumbered, so Dage dispatches the Undead Legends against its commander.

An Undead Legend reports that a group has been terminated and the commander is ahead. A later panel reacts in disbelief, followed by an urgent warning to report to Dage: the speaker begins to name the Archfiend but breaks off. The combat artwork places Nulgath opposite a blue-lit armored fighter, with his large sword and several suspended curved blades visible in selected authored poses. Those views do not establish an exact casualty count or a soul-transfer mechanism. Nulgath then taunts Dage for playing master, calls for him to come out, and declares that he will get the war he wanted.

Rand’s closing account says the Legion has gained powerful allies, but Nulgath’s assault has already begun and some of the Legion's strongest Undead allies have been lost. The Commander insists they must defeat Nulgath at any cost. This is the campaign’s reported cost, without identifying or numbering every fallen ally.