G3 Main Storyline Part 3
story
This post is based on “Dark Knight”, the main storyline behind Mabinogi’s G3 Storyline Quests. If you do not wish to find out about what happens next, feel free to return to the previous page and view other strategy guides.3. The True Meaning of Emain Macha
In the previous episode, you were briefly introduced to the name ‘Macha’, who is said to be the Goddess of Destruction. She is the figure Morc the Kobold from the Other World was terrified of, and her name was mentioned along with Cichol and his wrathful scheme. Who is this goddess? And how is she related to Emain Macha?
In this episode, you will speak with the residents of Emain Macha to find out what they think of Macha.
1) Macha, According to Emain Macha Residents
To complete the collection book you have received from Tarlach, collect the necessary memos that can be obtained by talking to the residents of Emain Macha.
You must speak with 11 residents of Emain Macha.
Use the [Macha the Goddess of Destruction] keyword to speak with the residents to find out what they think of her, and you will receive a memo from each resident with his/her thought on Macha written on it.
Ah, the name you will see on the first page of the book is Galvin. Let’s go find Galvin at the Watchtower and ask him what he thinks.
Galvin, do you know anything about Goddess Macha?
[Galvin]
Haha... I'm not all too familiar with that because I'm not originally from here, but I did hear something about it before. The Goddess named Macha... They call her the Goddess of War but I heard she was incredibly beautiful... And full of passion~
They say she was so beautiful that whoever laid eyes on her would instantly fall in love... It's no coincidence that this city was named after her! That's right~ Haha~
Oh, but you know what? There is a rumor that... Macha was reincarnated as Rua, that beautiful girl in red. Doesn't that seem pretty believable?
Rua is the reincarnation of Goddess Macha? Hmm, then you should go find Rua.
Rua is the beautiful lady who owns the Bean Rua Pub.
If you can’t find Rua in Bean Rua, try looking for her at her house.
*You can only enter Bean Rua at night when Eweca is up. To enter Rua’s House, you must first complete a quest that rewards a gift that Rua likes.
Rua, do you know anything about Goddess Macha?
[Rua]
Mm… I'm not trying to be bigheaded, but I hear this often from other people. They tell me that I must be the reincarnation of Macha because I am so beautiful... What do you think...?
...But you know what I'm different from Macha. Even though Macha was a goddess, she gave herself too much to love, and was betrayed in the end... She left her position of divinity so that she could be with the man she loved and became a human...
...It was a foolish mistake...
From what I've heard, Macha is able to read human minds... That means she was deceived even though she knew what would happen all along...
...Don't tell me you didn't know about this? Oh no, it's nothing important. It just happens all the time. The girl loves the guy so much that she sacrifices everything but the guy ends up leaving her...
As a woman, I can understand... but I would never do something foolish like that. Hehe... That's not the point anyway. It just reminded me of something from my past...
You’re making good progress finding the unknowns regarding the goddess one step at a time.
Tyron at the Paladin Training Center is also one of the people with whom you will be speaking.
Shall we go find out what his thoughts are on Goddess Macha?
[Tyron]
Are you asking me about Goddess Macha? Oh, I've heard about her since I was young… It's the story of how she fell in love with a mortal, but got betrayed and then cursed humans all together, right? If you ask Nele over at the Square, he could probably sing you the song of that curse.
But you know what, I feel like the curse hasn't even actually started yet... They say the name of this city was changed because of that curse, but I'm afraid that bad things will begin happening once the curse actually starts... Well, let's just hope that I'm wrong. Hehe~
It’s a relief to hear that the curse of the goddess doesn’t seem to have begun, but his forewarning shouldn’t be taken lightly.
When you’ve collected the memos from the residents of Emain Macha, you will be able to see the summary of their thoughts on Goddess Macha.
The Collection of Memos: the Legend of Macha as told by the People of Emain Macha
| Galvin of the Watchtower | - They say that Macha was a great beauty. - Apparently, her beauty was comparable to that of Rua. - Emain Macha is a beautiful city, on par with Macha’s beauty. |
| Priest James | -Macha was one of three Badhbh Cath goddesses of war. -Macha had the ability to read people's thoughts. -They say that Macha could manipulate the fears and anxieties of the warriors in battle so it is said that whenever she intervened during battle, warriors are known to act out their mania on the battleground. |
| Chef Gordon | -Macha is the goddess of destruction. -She is also the goddess that provides solace and comfort to warriors on the battleground. -Because of love, she crossed the biggest taboo that a goddess could, and became a mortal. -It is amazing that mortals are that beloved, even by the gods themselves. |
| Agnes the Healer | -Macha was a goddess but she became human as a result of her love for a mortal man. -The mortal man betrayed the goddess and married another mortal woman. -Stricken with grief, the goddess cursed mankind and threw herself into the lake unto the hands of death. |
| Del the Flower Girl | -They say that the city was named Emain Mach after a goddess who had been betrayed by a mortal. -There was a time this place was stricken by a severe drought. -They say that the city was renamed Emain Mach and the drought left soon after the city was named after the goddess. |
| Captain Aodhan | -After the drought, the previous Lord of the manor became the city's Lord of the manor. -The previous Lord had earned a meritorious distinction along with the Grand Wizard, Mores, during the War against the Fomors in the final spell, and for that distinction, was given dominion over the city's estate. -The city, Emain Mach was named by the previous Lord of the manor. Emain Mach has enjoyed great prosperity ever since. |
| Delen the Flower Girl | -The city's name, Emain Mach means "Macha's incarnation". -The city was named after Macha the goddess. -The city was named so with the idea that the goddess would not carry out her own curse on a city named after her own name. |
| Tyron the Paladin Trainee | -The goddess left her curse in the form of a song. -It is possible that the drought that afflicted this city before being named after the goddess was not related to Macha's curse on mankind after all. In fact the details of her curse do not correlate directly with the city's drought. -I hope that the curse left by the goddess is never carried out. |
| Nele the Bard | - The Goddess' Curse, passed on in the form of a song Dé Danann's warriors on the other side of Heaven Do you see the world that you have earned through your blood, your life, your courage? Soon enough, heaven and earth will be holding hands in peace and harmony. There will be strength amongst your men and new life amongst your women and amongst your women and men there will be love. But such peace will not last forever as immorality amongst you mortals, rising from an ungrateful heart, for the things that you have been given, will start to eat away the peace, prosperity, strength, life and love of this world. There shall be no flowers blooming, even in summer. Trees shall no longer bear any fruit. There shall be no more fish in the lake. Women will no longer feel any shame. And men will lose their strength. People will no longer trust each other, in fact, they will begin to hurt each other. Man will not trust any other man, and betrayal will spread across the earth. No longer will there be any trace of virtue left in this world. Amongst yourselves you will no longer find any person of courage. The world as you know shall perish. The day that your world perishes, you will grieve just like I am grieving, and you will feel the despair that I feel. To you, I bequeath my sorrows. Aaaaaaaaaaugh, mortal love~ How could it be so worthless? |
| Bishop Wyllow | -Emain Mach's emblem, the mermaid, was designated with the belief that Macha must have reincarnated as a mermaid. -Even though Macha was a goddess of War just like Morrighan she is not as well known, for some strange reason. -The tragedy was that a perfect goddess had chosen to love an imperfect mortal. -The goddess' curse remains today in the form of a song. |
| Craig the Paladin | -Some say that the goddess Macha appears in the form of a siren or a mermaid from time to time. -It is possible that this is related to the fact that Emain Mach's emblem is in the image of a mermaid holding a shield. |
| Ailionoa the Designer | -Macha became a mortal to consummate her love of a mortal even though she was aware of the thoughts of the mortal man. -I don't understand this goddess who becomes a mortal, knowing all that they are capable of, then blaming the man's weakness, all to kill herself in the end. Fraser the Assistant -Macha is the goddess who gave up her divinity for love. -The mortal man is to be blamed for forsaking the goddess. -It's because of that man that the curse remains. |
| Lucas the Owner of the Club | -If you are curious to see just how beautiful Macha was why don't you go meet Rua. -The goddess Macha was driven to place that curse on mankind. It is all because of the mortal man's mistake. |
| Jocelin the Bank Manager | -Women are always forced to countlessly sacrifice themselves for men. -I have to say that the Legend of Macha is another example of such sacrifices. |
| Osla from the Weapon Shop | -I just don't understand why the goddess would kill herself just because she was betrayed by a man. -Aren't there available men everywhere? |
| Rua | -The goddess had the ability to read people's thoughts. -But she still allowed herself to be betrayed by the man she loves for the sake of love. I think that is simply idiotic. |
| Shena the Waitress | -I think the goddess' will to believe in the man that she loves, despite the knowledge of what he would do, is quite amazing. -What the man did, despite Macha's pureness of heart, was clearly a despicable act. -I don't know why grown-ups try to make excuses for such things. |
* Look in the book if and when you’re not sure whose memo is needed to complete the collection book.
When you have finished colleting all of the necessary memos, click on [Receive Reward]; when you click on the said button, the page of your collection book will indicate 100% completion as shown above.
Let’s read the collective information you were able to gather from the residents of Emain Macha.
[Macha According to Emain Macha] Long, long ago, it was before all the Wars and Battles between humans and the Fomors began. Macha was one of the three Badhbh Cath goddesses of war, a beautiful goddess with crimson hair. Morrighan was the goddess that provided protection for the warriors, and Macha was the goddess that brought the warriors together as one. Macha was the one to provide solace to their hurt spirits. She could read peoples' minds, and she could chase away fears and anxieties that paralyzed peoples' hearts. She excelled in martial arts, so her favorite warriors displayed excellent martial arts skills in battle. One day, Macha falls in love with a mortal man. But a goddess is not meant to love a mortal. The love between an immortal goddess and an imperfect mortal was probably a bad idea to start with. But she did not want to give up. By becoming a human herself Macha sought to consummate her love. But it is not an easy feat to leave her divine place as a goddess, to become a mere mortal. And it was even more so for Macha, the goddess who could read others' inner thoughts. She became human, a woman who sacrificed her all for the man that she loves as she awaited to meet with her lover. But... her wishes were forsaken. The man broke his promise to Macha and married another woman. Of course Macha already knew that this would happen. She had known that her lover would betray her. But she had told herself that such doubting was in and of itself a betrayal of his love, and entrusted herself to the love of this man, for the sake of the perfect love. She believed that that was the power of mortal love. Betrayed by her lover, Macha told herself that human love is utterly worthless and fell into deep sorrow and grief until she threw herself into the lake unto the hands of death. Right before she threw herself into the lake, Macha cursed the world and all of mankind. Her curse remains today in the form of a song. After Macha's death here, this land was afflicted by drought for many years, and not a single fish was caught in the lake. The lake turned crimson, the color of Macha's hair, and the dried up trees could not bear a single fruit. As people watched the drought overtake the land, they became paralyzed by the fear that Macha's curse would indeed come true. Since then, Macha was no longer known as the goddess of war, but rather became known as Macha, the goddess of destruction. ...The previous Lord of the manor who had a meritorious distinction from the Battle of Mag Tuireadh received dominion over this land, and those who were making every effort to undo Macha's curse found a way to use the one lingering attachment that Macha had left in this world. By naming the city Emain Macha after Macha's name, she was commemorated and was immortalized for future generations to remember her forever. And it was only then, that this place became free of Macha's curse. However, it seems that her soul has yet to redeem herself from her sorrows. It is said that she disguises herself in the image of a mermaid or a siren and appears once in a while. That may be the reason why the emblem of the city of Emain Macha is a mermaid. |
Goddess Macha was betrayed by human love and cursed all of humankind. Although it might take some time to digest the story, you must take the completed book to Tarlach now.
2) Two Interpretations of the Legend
Tarlach, here is the completed book.
[Tarlach]
...Well done. Thanks for such a comprehensive report.
Read what’s in the book. It seems that there is some kind of correlation between Goddess Macha’s curse and Cichol’s wrathful scheme.
[Tarlach]
...I see... I was kind of suspecting this, but... so Macha actually has a vendetta against humans...
...While you were busy collecting information on Macha, I, too, did some research on it.
...You're aware of the legend on the Advent of the Goddess, right? Yes, the legend that the moment Morrighan arrives at Erinn, it'll be transformed into a paradise.
Yes, I’ve looked into that legend when I was trying to save Goddess Morrighan.
[Tarlach]
...The legend also states that even the dead will come back to life, so needless to say, lots of adventurers tried their hardest to bring Morrighan to Erinn, myself included... What people don't know... is that it's just one of the interpretations from the legend itself. There's more than one, actually. The other one states that it's actually not Morrighan, but rather... Macha...
Macha… instead of Morrighan…?
[Tarlach]
The difference between the two is that... while one states that Morrighan, the Goddess of Love, descends upon Erinn and transforms Erinn into paradise, this one states that Macha, the Goddess of Destruction, descends upon Erinn and transform Erinn into a living hell.
...I used to think it was simply a difference in the point of view when interpreting this legend, but... with the Statue of Goddess at the dungeon being destroyed, and the stories of the possible Second Coming of Macha being floating around... I think it's just a matter of time before something catastrophic happens.
Based on the information you've given me, I have decided to delve more into the Second Coming of Macha. I'll be here researching, and if I find something significant, I'll let you know.
...I don't like where this is headed... Please take care of yourself...
I will…
Upon completion of your conversation with Tarlach, open the Quest window and click [Complete] to finish the [Macha, according to Emain Macha Residents] quest.
Based on the information you have gathered, it seems that Goddess Macha is somehow related to the Cichol’s scheme. But it has been said that Goddess Macha threw herself into the lake and ended her life… So how probable is the Second Advent of Macha?
And the brief appearance of Ruairi…
In the following episode, you will delve more into the statue of the goddess that is being destroyed while Tarlach continues with his research on the Second Advent of Macha.