Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume Poster Nintendo DS Square Enix Lenneth

Description

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One(s)) is the third installment in the Valkyrie Profile series of role-playing video games developed by tri-Ace. It was published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS in 2008 in Japan, later released in North America, Europe, and Australia in 2009.

The story uses Norse mythology and involves a ten-year-old boy named Wylfred who becomes involved in a civil war that is at the same time a war with the gods. The game debuted at number two in Japanese video game sales, and was generally well received by critics who cited its dark tone but noted its high degree of difficulty.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is based loosely on Norse mythology. The roots of the tree Yggdrasil contain the three realms of the world: Asgard, home of the Æsir and Vanir, Midgard, the realm of humans, and Niflheim, the realm of the dead where sinners suffer an eternity of torment by the death goddess Queen Hel. The souls of noble warriors who fall in combat are collected by Valkyries and brought to the Hall of Valhalla as einherjar to aid the Æsir in their struggle against the Vanir. The game takes place mostly in Midgard in the kingdom of Artolia, located between the neighboring nations of Villnore and Crell Monferaigne.

The story is based on the misotheistic idea of “vengeance on the Gods”. The protagonist, Wylfred, holds a grudge against the Valkyrie Lenneth, who chose his father Thyodor to become an einherjar. Without a provider, Thyodor’s family is left impoverished, for which Wylfred blames Lenneth. Wylfred becomes a mercenary, hoping to one day meet the Valkyrie to exact his revenge. A dispute between the princes Kristoff and Langrey over the throne of Artolia provides Wylfred with the chance to carry out his plan.

Ten-year-old Wylfred lives in the village of Tourque with his friends Ancel and Tilte, sister Elsie, mother Margot, and father Thyodor, a soldier. One day, Thyodor’s friend Duwain arrives with news that Thyodor has fallen in battle, a Valkyrie’s plume on his corpse indicating he was taken as an einherjar, which Duwain gives to Wylfred. Thyodor’s death leaves his family in poverty, Elsie dies of starvation, and Margot goes mad from grief. Wylfred becomes bitter and cynical, vowing vengeance on the reaper of his father’s soul.

Years later, Wylfred leaves his mother and becomes a mercenary, hoping that he may also become an einherjar and get his revenge on the Valkyrie. Ancel follows him, hoping to divert him from his quest. During a battle at Aullewyn Keep, Wylfred is mortally wounded and hears Queen Hel’s voice, asking if he will do anything for revenge. Wylfred says yes and awakens to find the Valkyrie’s feather in his hand, not fully understanding what he has done. Wylfred and Ancel are called upon to fight again and, outnumbered and outmatched, Wylfred invokes the Plume upon his friend. The incantation increases Ancel’s strength and they defeat their opponents but Ancel dies afterward. Hel then delivers to Wylfred a woman named Ailyth, who is to accompany him and act as a contact between Wylfred and Hel.

Guilty over killing his friend, Wylfred abandons the keep and is ambushed by Cheripha, an Artolian assassin and deserter. The magician Lockswell tracks her down and after being defeated reveals that he is Cheripha’s father. Father and daughter reconcile and decide to join Wylfred in his quest. Wylfred returns home to see his mother, though he does not tell Tilte about’s Ancel’s death.

A rebellion against Artolia’s government begins in Camille. Wylfred must choose to side with one of the three factions in the rebellion, each choice leading to the deaths of the characters in the other two:

the rebels, led by the peasant Natalia and knight Earnest
the Artolian suppression force, led by Wylfred’s old captain Heugoe and the sociopathic twins Mireille and Mischka
the mercenaries Darius and Gwendal, sent by Villnore to assassinate Natalia and Earnest

In each case, the rebellion fails. The story then branches depending on how many times Wylfred has used the Destiny Plume: two uses results in the bad path, one use leads to the normal path, and no uses leads to the best path; future use also affects which path the story takes.

The recent death of the king of Artolia had led to a dispute between the Princes Langrey and Kristoff over the succession to the throne. Lord Cennair, archmagus of Artolia died mysteriously; the court magicians Rosea and Lieselotte accused each other of murdering him and both were banished. Meanwhile, Cennair’s adopted son Ushio tried to track down Rosea and Lieselotte to avenge his death. On the bad path, Wylfred meets Rosea, who kills Lieselotte after Lieselotte attempts to assassinate Prince Langrey to avert a war. On the normal path, Wylfred meets Lieselotte, who kills Rosea. On the best path, Rosea and Lieselotte kill each other after being tracked down by Wylfred and Ushio.

With the death of his brother Nicolas in the fighting, Lord Valmur of House Haughn is pressured to support either Prince Langrey or Kristoff, giving one of them a major advantage. On the bad path, Valmur goes insane after his sister Phiona is killed and their parents Auguste and Reinhilde join Wylfred. On the normal path, Valmur and Phiona join Wylfred after Auguste and Reinhilde are killed. On the best path, Valmur’s friend Fauxnel has him assassinated after he refuses to take a side in the conflict. Fauxnel reveals that he was the one who assassinated Lord Cennair so that he could redeem his disgraced House.

War finally breaks out between Langrey and Kristoff. On the bad path, Wylfred sides with Langrey and defeats Kristoff. On the normal path, Wylfred sides with Kristoff and defeats Langrey. On the best path, the Margrave Rouienbourg and Wylfred are forced to lead troops against both princes after diplomacy fails. They capture them both, though Rouienbourg is killed by Langrey, who later commits suicide in prison.

The climax of the story comes with the end of the war. On the bad and normal paths, Wylfred’s actions have attracted the attention of the Valkyrie, who is sent to stop him. On the bad path, Wylfred defeats the Valkyrie and his soul is condemned to Niflheim to be devoured to suffer for all eternity. On the normal path, Wylfred defeats the Valkyrie but Thyodor’s soul intervenes and takes his place in Niflheim, leaving Wylfred to contemplate his sins. On the best path, Ailyth reveals that she orchestrated the war in Artolia and that she is actually Garm, Hel’s demon hound, and attempts to devour Wylfred. Ancel appears, having been allowed by the Valkyrie to assist his old friend and together they defeat Garm. Ancel forgives Wylfred for killing him, telling him to live a wonderful life before leaving him with a message from Thyodor to fix Elsie’s music box. Wylfred returns home and finally tells Tilte that Ancel is dead and upon fixing the music box, Margot’s sanity returns and the three live happily for years to come.

Lenneth is generally a kind person, but is merciless against her enemies. She is stoic but determined when it comes to tending her duties as a Valkyrie, and then as Lord of Creation. Unlike many of the Aesir, Lenneth does not hold humans in contempt. Rather, she enjoys their company, and eventually becomes their protector. However, those who show little kindness or compassion to others are disliked heavily by Lenneth, who acts very indifferent towards them. She despises those who would disturb the souls of the dead, or those who manipulate humans in general. Lenneth also holds a deep hatred for the undead, particularly Vampires, which she considers abominations. Towards the end of Valkyrie Profile, Lenneth abandons her allegiance to Odin and the other gods as she vows to prevent Loki from destroying Midgard. Lenneth wields one of the Four Treasures the Demon Sword Levantine.

Near mint condition.