

That folly ultimately leads to his defeat and death. He decides to fight you in battle rather than The Game since he truly hasn't mastered its power, he just uses it to get what he wants, but doesn't hone or master The Game like the Dealer did. In the ruins of The Dealer's former residence, Kallas battles you. The carriage takes you to where it all began, the place where Kallas and he originally battled in their own Game. You retrace your steps until that point, besting everything until you are equipped to fight Kallas. Along the way, you encounter companions whose loyalty you earn and the people you help and challenges you best along the way.ĭuring one such challenge, you witness the Dealer being brought back, though you don't know who The Dealer is at that point.Īfter fleeing the Capital, you make your way to the Dealer's carriage who puts you through The Game in order to hone and test you for a final confrontation against Kallas. The Adventurer of HoF 2 goes through the game, meeting companions and dealing with challenges and obstacles that eventually lead up to him killing the Emperor of The Empire. However, something goes wrong and Corruption seeps in, tainting the land. In order to change things, Malacypse, the Hermit, and a several other Mages conduct a spell to bring The Dealer back from whatever void he was cast into. His people starve, the land is in chaos, his Empire is often corrupt, brutish, or inefficient, and the North is rebelling. However, Kallas is a tyrant and a brutal leader. He has a figure-head Emperor, but he is the true power of the Empire and the source of its strength. Mages are hunted and persecuted by the Empire he controls. The Rats and Lizards have all been exterminated, effectively making them extinct. Kallas seizes the Throne of Life and Death.Ī hundred years (or several hundred years) later, Kallas has reshaped the world to his design. The Dealer's loss sends him hurtling into a portal to an unknown end. The Bandits fall, the Undead fall, the Rats fall, and the Lizards fall before his determination and the Dealer is defeated. The Dealer sends his best at Kallas, but nothing stops a man determined to change his fate and seize true power. While he may be impressed by Kallas conquering some challenges, he ultimately dislikes the man. The Dealer considers him brutishly violent, cruel, uncaring, and doesn't consider him worthy of anything other than mocking and disdain. It is heavily implied by the dealer that Kallas is not a good person. This is where we find Kallas, the main character from HoF 1. He is a powerful mage, but he's grown prideful and lax in his role, believing himself the true master of The Game.

The Dealer we encounter in both games has been sitting upon the Throne for countless ages, none capable of unseating him. The Dealer, the person who sits upon the Throne, tests the mettle of the Player to break their will and make them quit. The Player goes against The Dealer, and has their experiences and memories stripped of them to form the cards of The Game. This is The Game, the Hands of Fate that determine whether the player is worthy of The Throne of Life and Death. However, one doesn't seat upon the Throne forever or without risk because there is The Game, a challenge to those who seek to unseat and take the power for themselves. Whoever controls its power can determine the course of the world and mold it into whatever they desire. In the World of HoF, there are is a literal Seat of Power which allows those who rest upon it to control the shape of the world. Just wanted to describe the events of both games, at least as I understood them. So, I really liked the meta-narrative of the games, as they were very interesting without being invasive.
