Suikoden II/A new alliance

A messenger
The next day, near the castle entrance, you will meet Sheena. You had already glimpsed him before taking the boat to Kuskus. Sheena will enter the castle. Follow him and enter the great hall. Just as you're being told how many soldiers you currently have and prompted to seek an alliance, Sheena will enter the hall. He will tell you that he is the son of the president of the Toran republic. Shu will then say that allying with the Toran republic, which replaced the Scarlet Moon empire, would be a good idea. Reply with the second option to agree. Shu will then ask Freed Y, initially against the idea, to accompany you to the Toran republic. Freed Y and Sheena will join you and Freed Y will ask you to stop at South Window first.

Choose the rest of your group and then go to South Window. Near the city hall Freed Y informs you about lord Granmeyer's past and tells you that to reach the republic of Toran you will have to take a boat to Radat. Then go to Radat. Before heading to the port, if you have already more than 60 recruits, go to the appraisal shop. The owner, Lebrante, will ask you to bring him a Celadon Urn. If you already have found one, bring it to Lebrante and he will join you. If you don’t have it, fear not, you can buy one soon, in Gregminster.


 * Lebrante recruited

Then go to the port. At the bottom left you will meet another character, Simone, who, however, will not follow you for now. Then talk to the fisherman on the right, who will say he is willing to give you a lift by boat to the village of Banner, from where you can reach the republic of Toran. Drive the boat south along the river until you reach the village of Banner.

Banner Village
There's not much to do here right now. You can explore the village, talking to the inhabitants and buying what you think you need in the shops. You should stock up on healing items, as you'll have to travel a long path full of powerful enemies. In front of the inn you will find Ellie, the innkeeper's daughter, who may appear to be a recruitable character, but in reality she is not. In the item shop, among the rare finds, you should find a Rose Brooch for sale, for 14.000 potch. Purchase it and talk to the fishermen near the boats to have them escort you back to Radat. In Radat, talk to Simone. If you have the Rose Brooch with you, he will join you.


 * Simone recruited

Then go back to the Banner village and this time take the Banner Pass, north.

Path to Toran
The enemies you will meet along the Banner Pass are quite tough and could initially put you in difficulty. On the other hand, these enemies, once defeated, will leave you with many experience points and large sums of money, which will be very useful to you soon. Follow the path and at the first fork go north. You will find some Mega Medicines. Go back and take the other path. On the next screen go right at the fork, you will find a Full Helmet. You then reach the following screen. Here there is a kind of small labyrinth of stairs. Climb the ladder on the left first. In the chest is a Stone of Luck. Go down and then go up the other ladder, the one to the right. Go up the ladder on the left and then up the ladder on the left again. To the left you can go down another ladder. This will bring you to a chest with a Magic Ring. Go up the ladder and go down the one on the right. Then take the other ladder that goes up, to reach a Wing Ornament. Go down two ladders and then up the ladder to the right. Here you will find a Poison rune. Finally, climb the last ladder and proceed north.

In the next two screens just follow the path. You'll then come to a small clearing with a save point. From here, take the northern path first to find a Gold Shield and then the southern path to reach a Silveret. Save your game if you like and finally take the middle path to the right. On the next screen, after a short distance, you will encounter a boss.

Boss Fight – Worm
HP:4200

This boss shouldn't cause you much trouble, especially if you've kept your most powerful magical attacks. In fact, it attacks only once per turn and has only two types of attack. Most of the time the boss will jump hitting a column of your characters and doing them little damage. Other times, however, he will use electric shocks that will hit the whole group and do a fair amount of damage. Keep the group healed with the hero rune, use your best attacks and you should defeat the boss in a few turns.

Once the boss is defeated, go north, follow the path and you will soon arrive at the border with the Toran republic. Talk to Varkas, guarding the border and Sheena will explain him the situation. Varkas will agree to accompany you to Gregminster, capital of the Toran republic, but only under his surveillance. Choose the first option to accept.

Gregminster
You will find yourself in the waiting room of Gregminster palace. You will soon be admitted to the throne room. Before entering, you can find an Old Book vol. 7 on a shelf and get the Copper Hammer by talking to a man. Then enter the hall to speak with President Lepant, who will ask you about the purpose of your visit. Tell him you are there to create an alliance. Lepant will be reluctant at first, but Freed Y will convince him it's the best thing to do. He will ask you why you keep fighting, answer with the second option. Lepant will tell you that you remind him of McDohl, from the first game in the series. He will then agree to create an alliance and assign you one of his generals, who will join you. You can then choose between two attractive generalesses, Valeria and Kasumi.The choice is free and definitive: if you choose Valeria you will no longer be able to have Kasumi and vice versa. The best fighter by far is Valeria, however, with Kasumi in the group you can get two more characters earlier. To you the choice.


 * Valeria/Kasumi recruited

Lepant will also give you the very useful Blinking Mirror. Using this item while on the world map will teleport you directly to your castle, next to Viki. Lastly, Lepant will ask you to take his son with you and educate him.


 * Sheena recruited

You will then find yourself back at the border. Speak with Varkas to have him escort you to the town of Gregminster. Note: whenever you want to go to Gregminster later, you will have to walk the Banner Pass and then ask Varkas to accompany you; you cannot be teleported to Gregminster by Viki.

Gregminster is a very big city, full of shops. Take advantage of them to stock up on supplies and improve your equipment. There are also two new characters you can recruit. In fact, you will find Lorelai walking down the street and you can ask her to join you. If you already have more than 60 recruits, she will accept.


 * Lorelai recruited

Then go to the trading post, where you will meet Gordon. You can ask him to join you. He will tell you that he will come to your castle if you can earn at least 50.000 potch by trading. However, your earnings are still calculated from the start of the game, not from now, so if you've already earned 50.000 potch, talk to Gordon again and he'll join you right away. Otherwise, you will have to come back here later, once you have earned the required amount.


 * Gordon recruited

Don’t forget to buy a Celadon Urn here, if you don’t have already given it to Lebrante. When you're ready, talk to Varkas again, who is waiting for you near the entrance to the palace and he will escort you back to the border. You will now have to cross the Banner Pass again until you return to the village.

Rokkaku
You can only take on this side quest now if you have Kasumi in your party and already have more than 60 recruits. If you have instead chosen Valeria you will have to wait until you have more than 100 recruits. On the screen before the stairs (the sixth from Gregminster), look carefully in the trees to the south and you will find a hidden passage. This passage will lead you to Rokkaku, a ninja village. At the entrance you will be spotted and captured. Kasumi however will speak to the village chief Hanso, who will assign Mondo and Sasuke to you.


 * Mondo recruited
 * Sasuke recruited

You will then be free to explore this small village, where there is however a trading post. Talking to a man inside, he will give you a Sound Set. Then return to the main path and reach the village of Banner.

Recruiting
Once you arrive in Banner, Apple and Ridley will meet you and lead you to the castle. To proceed with the plot, you have to talk to Shu in the great hall. However, before doing this, there are a few characters you can recruit (if you want). Put Shiro in the group and head to the forest path between Greenhill and Matilda. Talk to Badeaux again, the silent character you met earlier and he will join you. He will also give you two Listening Crystals, which you will need shortly to recruit two mythological beasts.


 * Badeaux recruited

Then make sure you have a Sound Set in your inventory and head to the Forest Village. In one of the houses you will find Connell. Talk to him and he will join you.


 * Connell recruited

Still in the Forest village, go to the north part of the village. Here you will meet Ayda and the griffin Feather. The villagers are trying to kill him. Choose the first option. Many more griffins will then arrive and make the men flee. Choose to help Ayda and Feather and fight the griffins. After you defeat them (no big deal), one of the Listening Cystals that Badeaux gave you will start to glow. Choose the first option and Ayda and Feather will join you.


 * Ayda recruited
 * Feather recruited

If you want to recruit the unicorn Sigfried that you have briefly met in the past, add a "pure maiden" to the group (Nanami is ok, but you can also choose Viki, Millie, Meg or others) and head to the Kobold village. Walk down the unicorn path, the same one you were on during Hix and Tengaar's quest and examine the unicorn tree in the clearing at the end. A Listening Crystal will light up. Choose to use it and Sigfried will appear. If you have a pure maiden in the group, he will ask to join you.


 * Sigfried recruited

Note: If you are not interested in recruiting Sigfried and prefer Abizboah, who you can meet later, you can of course ignore this mission.

Then go back to the castle and enter the great hall to talk with Shu.