Erebonian History Class | Crow Armbrust edition

[jurai]

BACKGROUND: JURAI

Early Life
Crow was born in a city-state called Jurai located in the upper northwest corner of the continent Zemuria, where the Trails of- series takes place. It operated primarily in fishing, septium (fancy little crystals that play a part in the technology and magic of the world) mining, and occasionally tourism. It wasn't an overly large city, but it was lively enough. Crow's parents weren't around when he was young - either died or left - and so he was raised by his grandfather, the mayor of Jurai. For the first 10 years or so of Crow's life, he was relatively happy, learning all sorts of things from his grandfather from card games to chess, picking up his love of gambling along the way.

However, a salt pale - a mysterious pillar surrounded by a hurricane of salt - showed up in North Ambria, a country just north of Jurai and Erebonia. How and why it appeared is a mystery to this day to Erebonian knowledge, however, it wasn't exactly what you would call a good sign. Eventually, it had turned all of North Ambria to just that - salt. It was uninhabitable for the people who lived there, and it took a huge toll on the surrounding areas that needed trade and commerce with the country.

With North Ambria reduced to salt, it made things extremely hard on the people of Jurai, as their trade-by-land had now been cut off. Still, Jurai prospered on its sea trading and mining, and that's when the Erebonian Empire that lay just southeast of Jurai came to the town with a proposal from Chancellor Giliath Osborne: to make a railway that connected from the capitol all the way up to Jurai, as another trading method. Without much opposition, the plan was put into effect. Money started pouring in and people invested in landmarks for the city. It became more prosperous, probably, but it lost much of what made the city-state a home. Crow's grandfather tried to resist, but a bombing of a railroad bridge leading to Jurai came not long after. In a panic, blame was placed on Mayor Armbrust, and he was forced to step down.

Devastated by losing both his position and his people, Grandpa Armbrust passed away, leaving one 13-year-old Crow Armbrust orphaned and alone. He wasn't stupid, either - he knew what had caused the bombing. A setup to get Jurai's only opposition (and in a position of power) out, so that it could be properly annexed by the Chancellor into the land of Erebonia. His city now a shadow of its former self, and his grandfather no longer there, Crow left Jurai, doing whatever he could to get by.

Birth of the Imperial Liberation Front
Fueled by his anger for the Chancellor, who had ruined his life, Crow by chance stumbled upon Duke Cayenne, a noble of the land of Erebonia who also held hatred for the Chancellor's overly aggressive methods of manifest destiny and giving the common people power (although his were more for the latter than the former). Cayenne fed into Crow's thirst for vengeance, giving him funds to begin what would be an almost six-year plan to take the man's life.

It was then that he set off to find people with the same grievances against Osborne as him, and unsurprisingly, found three people to loyally serve under him: Scarlet, Vulcan, and Michael Gideon. He also found many people lending their lives as footsoldiers for their cause. This was the birth of what became known as the Imperial Liberation Front, with Crow at its center, taking up the name 《C》. Creative, I know.

That's when a woman named Vita Clotilde arrived. Originally, she was only there to meet with Duke Cayenne, but during her visits she'd taken special interest in Crow, feeling his potential as so much more than just a terrorist with a cause. Vita led Crow down to the catacombs of Ordis, the city that Duke Cayenne ruled over. It was full of monsters and trials, and Crow, only 16 at the time, overcame them all. What lay beneath Ordis was a large mechanical being of azure plating: the Divine Knight, Ordine. With Crow's success in the trials, it accepted him as its "Awakener". What that means is that Crow could now control this giant mechanical robot via a cockpit located in Ordine's chest, and pilot it or fight with it. (It's a gundam.)

With his band of vigilantes (terrorists) assembled and Ordine now at his side, all that was left to do was to go into hiding while Duke Cayenne made preparations on his end. His mission was to take out Chancellor Osborne, and while the Noble Alliance (Cayenne's faction) had grander plans, Crow had only allied himself for his own ideals.

Enrolling at Thors
To disguise his identity, Crow enrolled himself at Thors Military Academy in order to prepare, awaiting the right moment to take out the Chancellor for good. His first year, he was chosen along with three other individuals to be part of a beta program for Class VII, a class of people from all social classes and backgrounds. Crow, who had only enrolled at the school as a cover, was friendly, but his classmates noticed a sort of hollowness to his personality. This angered Angelica, one of the other people of the class, who decided to take it to his face (literally).

After that, Crow decided to open up a bit more, putting a little more heart into his time there. He actually became good friends with Angelica, Towa and George (the beta Class VII) and started to show some of his old personality back. They did field mission all across Erebonia, and successfully tested the ARCUS units to make way for the official Class VII.

TRAILS OF COLD STEEL: THORS MILITARY ACADEMY

Meeting the Protagonist
...So here's where the game actually starts. Crow had just finished his first year (of two) at Thors Military Academy, getting ready to begin his last year there. With the Class VII program successfully tested, new candidates were picked from the freshman there, and the experiment underway. Crow, along with Towa, Angelica, and George, all oversaw Class VII get pulled from the opening ceremony and led into the schoolhouse, where they would be tested with the first trial.

That's when Rean Schwarzer became a part of Crow's life, and it all started with a 50 mira coin.

It hadn't even been a week since school started, with the lino tree blossoms falling as spring continued, and Rean Schwarzer (the protagonist) had been walking back to his dorm when he bumped into Crow Armbrust. Without even introducing himself, he welcomed the guy to the school, hinting that it was going to be quite the year for him, and... then proceeded to tease him like any true upperclassman would. He asked for a 50 mira coin, and like the oblivious, wide-eyed freshman he was, Rean handed it over. It was a simple coin flip, 'catching it' in each hand and holding it out to Rean, asking him which hand the coin fell into. Jokes on Rean, they were in neither, leaving him baffled as to where the coin actually went. Crow just smiled and took his leave, leaving Rean baffled and Crow with the guy's lunch money.

Pay attention to that coin. It's important later.

Watching from Afar
For most of the year, Crow mainly stayed in the background, offering moral (and sometimes physical) support to Rean while mostly keeping to his own schedule.

He spent a lot of his time playing Blade, a card game that he invented that he'd been distributing among the townspeople of Trista. He could often be found playing with kids, using candy that he bought as the betting stakes. These were games he purposely lost, just to make the children happy.

Crow also helped Rean study for his midterms. He didn't necessarily help with any of the academic subjects, but he was the one who knew the most about First Aid, and taught Rean everything he knew regarding that (along with some comments he really DIDN'T need to know, thanks Crow for making CPR awkward).

He didn't truly make his mark on the rest of Class VII until a visiting Elise Schwarzer (Rean's adopted sister) arrived and wandered into the old schoolhouse. A worried Rean found him walking back to the dorms, and Crow says he saw her running in that direction. With Rean in pursuit, Crow followed, and the two made their way in only to see a giant monster looming over an unconscious Elise. Rean, of course, leapt into the fray. He started to fight it himself, only to find it just too powerful to take it down all on his own without succumbing to his inner demon (no, literally). So, Crow grabbed his dual pistols and jumped into the fray with him.

Together with their battle link, they were able to take it down, and Crow admits to Rean that he was part of the original Class VII experimental group along with Angelica, Towa, and George. With that, they all head out of the schoolhouse, figuring that the school would look into that strange incident, and that things could proceed as normal.

Which they did! Class VII took their next field study to Heimdallr during the Summer Festival, when a parade was about to take place for the Imperial Royal Family. Figuring this would be a good time for the terrorists to attack, the capitol doubled up on the security for the event.

Crow went to Heimdallr as well with Towa and Angelica, and was found by Class VII lamenting over losing at horse races. Shocker.

Not long after, the terrorists did strike, and Crow slipped away to 'help the citizens' and don his terrorism mask. This resulted in kidnapping the crown princess as well as Rean's sister Elise, taking them below Heimdallr into the underground waterways. Rean, viciously protective of his sister, chased the terrorists all the way down to the waterways to actually fight it out against them, somehow even gaining the upper hand. Even summoning an undead skeleton dragon isn't enough to stop Class VII, and in defeating that, they turned their blades upon the Imperial Liberation Front once more.

It was not until 《C》 arrived that the tables were turned once more. 《C》 was able to hold them all back with just his double sabre and defeat them, forcing them to retreat after they decided to make their own escape and bomb the waterways. Carrying the princess and Rean's sister out, they were at least able to make it out alive... although the terrorists were still on the loose.

What a parade.

Joining Class VII
During the summer classes at Thors, it seemed that there were going to be two new classmates joining Class VII. One was Millium, an agent from Chancellor Osborne's "Ironbloods," secretly sent to investigate who might be the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front. Of course, that little fact remained hidden throughout most of her time there. The other classmate?

Crow Armbrust. Not for some sneaky reason like being an agent...

But because he didn't have enough credits to graduate at the end of the year, so his time in Class VII was seen as 'extra credit' to make up his grades. All of Class VII is skeptical, at first. After all, not many of them knew Crow, aside from Rean, who had only had him as his upperclassman and occasional shenanigans buddy.

Not that it took long for him (and Millium) to warm up to Class VII and fit right in. Heck, it was like they'd always been there by the time it came to their first field study. Crow moved into the room across from Rean, and had rightfully secured his place among the Class VII family.

He was no slouch in battle, either, being able to keep pace with Class VII's more rigorous schedule, although that could potentially be because he'd done this all a year prior, and already knew how to link with people. Doesn't make it any less impressive, however.

Field Study: Jurai SEZ
By pure coincidence, Crow's first field study as a member of Class VII had his group selected to go visit the Jurai SEZ as part of their field study. It wasn't the field study that Rean Schwarzer went on, but we do know that it was a long train ride to the place (as it is located in the upper northwest tip of Erebonia). Not much is known about the place other than what the group talks about - it was a thriving place, apparently, with a sizable entertainment district with a bunch of casinos and bars. However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows there, apparently. Quite possibly all of the capital that was made there went right into the government (and Osborne's) pocket, essentially treating Jurai like its own little moneymaker. Crow kept quiet about the whole mission, only letting slip some info he'd "heard from somewhere."

Garrelia Fortress
After the Jurai Field Study, Crow and his group met up with Rean's group at the train station in Heimdallr, and from there both groups would visit the (in)famous Garrelia Fortress. It was a behemoth of a fortress for the Erebonian military, serving as a symbol to anyone who opposed them. Things went as normal for Class VII to start. However, during a training demonstration, The Imperial Liberation Front struck, hijacking the tanks and storming the place in hopes of taking control of the massive Railway Guns that were pointed right at Crossbell. Right when the Trade Conference was taking place... with Chancellor Osborne present at it.

Class VII took immediate action and leaped in to help, Crow included. All together, they were able to bring down two of the four big figureheads of the ILF, with them only escaping by airship after they'd been cornered. It was then that they heard 《C》's voice, letting them know that their mission wasn't over. However, since Crow was, in fact, 《C》, the airship was flown remotely, and a recording of the masked voice was what everyone heard instead of the real thing.

A perfect alibi.

It's possible that they had no intention of even firing the two Railway Guns at Crossbell at all. The Railway Guns were always loaded with a blank just on the off chance they would be fired by accident, which Crow would have known from a field study with the experimental group the year prior, and Crow had been there to stop the terrorists himself, helping the rest of his class succeed in doing so. Either way, it sent a chill through the Erebonian military, as this indestructible, impregnable fortress had been so easily seized by a single, radical group of individuals.

Despite the tension rising because of Garrelia Fortress, school life continued as normal for Class VII. Lessons and activities continued, with the School Festival drawing ever closer. For the school festival, the class had to think of something to show or perform, with nothing but their reputations on the line. Crow, who was a senior and had done one the year prior, was originally going to take a backseat and let the underclassmen handle it, but with the date drawing closer and no ideas seeming like real winners, the idea for a concert had been provided by Towa, with the implication that Crow could help them. He agreed, and teaming up with Elliot, they began to make their plans for a concert.

Field Study: Roer
Even with the looming School Festival, Class VII still had another Field Study to go on. This time, Crow would be visiting Roer with Rean. The metropolis was Alisa's home, and thankfully, they were able to find a place to stay in the Reinford manor. From there, in between the quests that were given to them by Alisa's mom, Crow and Elliot continued to work diligently on their concert while Rean did protagonist things like meeting Railway Military Police officers in bars.

Everything seemed to be going as normal... until one of the factories exploded from a terrorist attack. Seemed like the Imperial Liberation Front was at it again, and this time they were targeting not only the Reinford Facility itself, but the Iron Mine located not too far from the city.

Without hesitation, Class VII leapt into action, saving the people in the factory as well as taking out the robots sent to wreak havoc. But it wasn't just the factory, after all. The iron mine itself had to be taken care of, and despite it being located all the way in the mountains, Class VII made their way up to it - with Angelica in tow. Angelica, whose family was one of the Four Great Houses, oversaw a lot of Roer's success, and she felt responsible for whatever the terrorists were doing. Joining with Class VII, she made her way into the mine along with Rean, Crow, and the others.

They rescue the hostages (at least, some of them), and Crow offers to bring them back to the entrance, conveniently splitting himself away from the group under the guise of helping a few helpless miners. The miners got out safely - he's not a cruel person - but it's at this point that Crow called up Rean to let him know that a cave-in had happened on the way back, and he'd try to find another route.

From there, 《C》 took the stage, choosing to travel down the mines himself and deal with Class VII. At the very least, he was to be a diversion while evidence proving that the mine had been used to supply a group of nobles with an intent of uprising was either removed or destroyed. With two mechanical devices, 《C》 attacked them with all his strength, being able to go toe-to-toe with them without breaking a sweat. Afterwards, Angelica dared him to take off the mask.

《C》, however, only let them know the hostages were unharmed, escaping via a flash grenade and going into an airship. An airship that promptly got shot down not long after.

Class VII could only watch in horror as the airship went down the mine and exploded, destroying everything on board... and apparently, 《C》 along with it. It's not but a few moments later that Crow arrived on the scene to check how everyone was doing. He'd finally 'worked around' that little cave in and was finally able to meet up.

Another perfect alibi.

To Class VII and the rest of the world, 《C》 was dead, relieving Crow of any suspicion. Even Millium's detective work had turned up with no potential leads. With Roer safely under control again, things returned (mostly) to normal, with only Angelica being the victim - expelled for her rash actions in ditching Thors to come save the mines.

School Festival
After the chaos of Roer, they returned to their school life once more, with Elliot and Crow now going full force in preparing for the concert. Outfits needed to be picked up, last minute practices needed to be had, and extra encore songs had to be taken into account. It was a hectic time for Class VII, as both Elliot and Crow now felt well within their rights to shove their enthusiasm on everyone else. FORCIBLY.

Although, it turned out that not only was Crow helping them with their event, he'd been not-so-secretly helping out almost everyone else's projects, too. From the Riding Club to Class V's project to organizing the event as a whole, he was a part of almost everything, and Towa herself even admitted that it couldn't have been done without Crow's help.

The first few days of the concert go as planned, until the night just before the concert. The Old Schoolhouse starts to chime and glow with a barrier. Class VII goes to check it out, and it seemed like it was time for their final trial. Crow was one of the the ones - along with the rest of Class VII - to be allowed to this trial, much to his disappointment. His ARCUS was glowing with the same connection as everyone else's, meaning his heart was linked with theirs. Kind of hard when you're a terrorist.

Still, he went along with the rest, and in completing the trial (which consisted of a series of otherworldly mazes underneath the school followed by a fight with what looks like some giant black wispy monster), they found a giant robot mechanism with working joints. This was Valimar, the Ashen Divine Knight. They had no idea what they found at the time, and other than the schoolhouse returning to normal, they couldn't say much else about what happened. This required research.

BUT, the concert awaited! And with the School Festival still a go, the concert was put on, it being both a success enough to win the contest of who had the best event, as well as provide the perfect high note (haha get it) to end the festival on. Bonfires were made, dances were had... and Crow eventually called Rean over to hand back that 50 mira he'd taken from him so long ago. Although, with everything that had happened, Rean wasn't content to just let their friendship fade away like that, and made up a fake interest rate on that 50 mira on the spot. After all, Crow couldn't leave him if he held that interest over his head, right?

Crow sighed at Rean's penny-pinching ways, but accepted. Maybe. Maybe he'd get that interest back.

Betrayal
Unfortunately, that would be one thing Crow would never end up paying back. It seemed that during the festival, Garrelia Fortress had been attacked, with the whole thing being devastated by Crossbell - or so the papers claimed. The whole thing was seen as an attack on Erebonia itself, and because of this, Chancellor Osborne had called for a speech in the country's capital.

Out in the open and public. The perfect chance Crow had been waiting for.

Over the course of the next few days, Crow started returning all the things that he borrowed from people - things from Towa, Angelica, and George - before taking the first train he could to Heimdallr for the speech. After all, there was no going back after this. It wasn't until it was too late that Rean realized just what was going on. Rean tried looking for Crow, only to find out that he'd gone to Heimdallr.

Without telling anyone.

And sure enough, a successful assassination attempt on Osborne had taken place, Crow pulling the trigger and jump-starting what would eventually be known as the Erebonian Civil War. The police tried to arrest him after catching him moments after the shot, but he'd taken off in his Divine Knight before they could even act. Bipedal robot warriors overtook Heimdallr (bootleg versions of Divine Knights, honestly), and the Noble Faction led by Cayenne had played its cards.

And one thing they wanted to take claim of was Thors itself, with Crow being the main enforcer of taking over the school. Class VII tried to hold them off, with Rean realizing his potential as the pilot of Valimar, the knight found underneath the schoolhouse. However, Crow stepped up to fight against Rean himself, telling him that his time at Thors meant nothing to him.

Rean, respectably, called him out on it, saying that all their time together couldn't have been for nothing, and he knew it. It was enough to get Crow to hesitate, enough for him to think through his answer carefully before he denied it, although less strongly than before.

Their battle ended with Crow rightfully curbstomping Rean, definitely proving that he'd had three more years of practice than Rean's 20 minutes. Class VII stepped up, ready to take on Crow, and told Rean to escape. Despite Rean's protests, Valimar obliged to do this as well, taking off to parts unknown and leaving Crow to deal with his classmates.

And that's how the war started, and how Thors Military Academy came into the hands of the Noble Alliance.

TRAILS OF COLD STEEL II: THE EREBONIAN CIVIL WAR

Early in the War
It'd been one month since that all happened. Crow had revealed himself to be the elusive 《C》, head of the Imperial Liberation Front, and with a single bullet had triggered the start of the Erebonian Civil War. Steel and ideals clashed on the road just outside Trista, with Rean and Crow going hand to hand with their Divine Knights. Rean had escaped all the way to the Eisengard Range, a place in the far north mountains where it was so isolated the Noble Alliance couldn't find him.

It was true - The Alliance couldn't. But Crow could. Ordine could sense Valimar's exact location, and Crow could see that he'd been there for quite some time. An anonymous call (spoilers, it was Crow) came to one of Rean's acquaintances, someone who could go up there and find him and bring him to safety.

From that point on, Crow was mostly doing Cayenne's wishes in the background, only known in the papers as the Azure Chevalier. It's not until Rean's hometown of Ymir is attacked by the Noble Alliance's main airship that Crow really shows his face around Class VII again. Unfortunately, the circumstances are not any better than the last. Crow was still piloting Ordine, and even with Rean's increased proficiency with piloting his own Divine Knight, Crow was able to curbstomp him with little to no effort.

Aboard the Pantagruel
With Rean at the edge of his knight's blade, he took him aboard the Noble Alliance's airship for a talk with Cayenne. Cayenne, with all his grandeur, tried to convince Rean to join the Noble Alliance with the argument that it would end all the bloodshed and innocent people dying because of the Civil War. That, plus the tiniest desire to just be by Crow's side again, was ALMOST enough to convince him, but the Noble Alliance left Rean to his thoughts aboard the airship.

That was when Crow showed up, bringing a lunch that he'd made for the boy himself: a fish burger, some onion rings, and some questionably green Kool-Aid. The whole purpose of this? To give Rean a little piece of something normal aboard the ship, and to make sure to tell him to make his decision based on what he's fighting FOR, and not who. (Read: Don't join the Noble Alliance just for him, you dumb boy.) Rean managed to wrangle out Crow's backstory, which did nothing but make the protag sympathize...

But Crow demanded he make this decision for his own goals, not to just be with him. Oh, and he might've let slip where the crown princess might be stowed. Juuuust in case Rean had any ideas of breaking her out. Which he did, and Crow "tries to stop him" via a battle on the airship, as well as almost fighting in their Divine Knights.

Unfortunately, the good guys showed up before they could have their duel, and with the forces at a standstill, everyone went their separate ways... but not without Crow giving Rean some advice to get Valimar a better sword, one just like Rean's own, if he wanted to beat him. For a so-called bad guy, he sure does give a lot of info away...

Lategame War
After letting them go, Crow went back to his mysterious Azure Chevalier duties, winning battles piloting Ordine, although he was not having nearly as much luck as Class VII with their many victories on the Eastern front of Erebonia.

He didn't show up again until one of his ILF members, Scarlet, went on a suicide mission to try and fight Class VII. Rean managed to save her just in time, averting her from finding her death in an exploding giant robot. Crow, while in Ordine, found Rean and thanked him personally for what he did. Rean, in turn, stated that he was going to bring Crow back himself so that he can graduate at Thors. Crow, amused by Rean's dedication, said he'd like to see this work out, and wouldn't be too disappointed if he, in fact, pulled it off. With his thanks given, he flew off without confrontation, letting Rean continue with what he was doing.

It wasn't until Rean fully had a weapon made for Valimar that they meet once more, this time underneath Erebonia's capitol for one more fight, both on foot and in their Divine Knights. Vita, the witch who had guided him to Ordine, was there to fight along with him, and the bet was that if Crow lost, he would have to go back to Thors to graduate just like Rean had vowed.

A laughable goal... but even Vita said that there was no stopping someone that determined to bring him back.

Death
With Rean victorious in the on-foot battle, Crow climbs into his Divine Knight for one last battle with them at full capacity, until (and I quote) "their souls burn out." This battle was just as hair-raising as the last, with both pilots putting all their might into the battle. However, Rean's will surpassed Crow's own, and even with less fighting experience in his knight, he was able to defeat Crow once and for all.

He'd won the bet, and he could take Crow home.

Or not.

Cayenne, who had been there the whole time, saw that Crow had lost the fight and was willing to hold up his end of the bargain. Being a rich person, this angered him, and he enacted his own plan to use the Crown Prince to power another Divine Knight sleeping right where they were at. Shoving Prince Cedric in there, the Divine Knight Testa-Rossa was awoken, and Rean and Crow had to combine their forces to defeat it.

But just once wasn't enough. Testa-Rossa had a SECOND FORM called the Vermillion Apocalypse, which was an even bigger version of the Divine Knight. Still, even with this power up, Crow and Rean in their Divine Knights were able to (mostly) take it down. Crow, as a last-ditch attempt, tried to distract it so Rean could go in for the kill.

The Vermillion Apocalypse had other plans, though, as its tail had burrowed underground and shot up right underneath Ordine, piercing him right through the cockpit, and not surprisingly, impaling Crow right through his heart. Still able to make coherent speech, Crow tells Rean to keep going, saying it's only a scratch (you know, like a liar) and Rean was able to tear Prince Cedric away from the robot.

With the Vermillion Apocalypse taken care of (as without a pilot, Testa-Rossa was just a robot-satan looking centerpiece) and the prince rescued, they all were ready to celebrate their victory...until they sense that Crow isn't responding from his Divine Knight. With no mana (spiritual magic energy) emanating from his robot, he exited, holding a gaping wound in his heart with his hand. Everyone rushed over, and Emma attempted to heal that chest wound... but it seemed like that wasn't enough to save him.

All they could do is just make it as painless as possible.

It was a fate Crow seemed to accept willingly, saying his goodbyes to Rean, Elliot, and everyone else in Class VII, thanking them for all the good times they had and saying how he wished he could've gone back to graduate like they wanted. With Rean unable to process what was going on, Crow could only give one last piece of advice.

To go forward, relentlessly.

And with that, he drew his last breath, and was gone, dying peacefully in Rean's arms.