With the defeat of the Zombie Dragon, the castle is yours. You'll get an opportunity to name your new castle. Like the main character being named Tir, it's generally accepted that the default name is Toran Castle, but choose whatever you like. The first time I played this game, I actually named it Odessa Castle; I thought it was rather fitting. Afterwards, Leknaat will appear and give you the Tablet of Stars as well as her apprentice, Luc, joining your party. At this point the following characters have been added to your Tablet of Stars: Tir, Cleo, Viktor, Mathiu, Luc, Camille, Tai Ho, Yam Koo, and Gremio. Your next destination is the town of Kouan to recruit Lepant, but first let's start out by recruiting as many characters as you can. Speak with Mathiu to form your party before you leave. In my opinion, while it is tempting, I would not take Luc. While a serious threat against bosses with his magic, he is of almost no use during random battles. He needs to be in the front row to physically attack, usually resulting in very little damage to most enemies no matter how much you sharpen his weapon, and he will die in 1 or two hits. If you like, you can take Luc's Wind Rune from him and attach it to another character. Mages like Luc are great when going up against a boss and placed in the back row, but I would recommend leaving them behind for dungeons. Just my personal opinion; play whichever way you like best. That is the great thing about the Suikoden series: its variety of characters and all the choices you can make.
Over at the Kaku bar, Sergei is your very first recruit. All you need to do is speak with him and he will join. He will build a soon-to-be heavily-used elevator in your castle.
Chandler is next and he is waiting for you back at the entrance to Kwaba Fortress. Accept his offer to open an item shop in your castle and that is just what he will do.
Back in Seika at the inn, Marie, whom you met earlier in Gregminster, will add an inn to your castle by recruiting her.
Onil, the gossiper, can be recruited in the middle house in Seika as well. She will tell you where your next destination in the story is if you talk to her in your castle.
Antonio is also in the Seika inn, but requires a bit extra to recruit. Head back to your castle and talk to Marie at the inn and select not to stay at the inn. Eventually, she will tell Tir that she needs a cook. Once you've seen that dialogue, return to Seika and Antonio will gladly join your party.
Kai is waiting for you at the Garan Fortress. Garan is located west of Kouan, which is south of Kaku. Simply speak with him to join. Kai is one of the best characters in the entire game to use due to his unite attack with Tir; they can easily wipe out random battles by themselves with it. He also comes with a Hazy Rune (Although locked to him...) which greatly increases his evade and chance to counter. His weapon is sharpened to level 8 already too.
Your next stop is Forest Village, which is directly to the east, across the map from Garan. Inside the blacksmith, speak with Maas and he will join your party and create a low-tier blacksmith shop in your castle.
Also in Forest Village is the bath maker, Sansuke. Speak to him and he will join and create a bath for your characters to relax in inside your castle. This is where you can place your urns, paintings, ornaments, and such. By combining certain objects in the bath, you can get various effects as well. Once Sansuke is recruited, it's time to head over to Kouan to continue the story.
Arriving at Kouan, check out the armor shop for some nice upgrades. Particularly of note is the Emblem accessory. This is the only accessory in the game that can boost a character's magic stat (And as such, magic defense as well). Unfortunately, only males characters can equip it, but keep it in mind when rounding out your characters.
Giovanni isn't going to let you inside to talk with Lepant, so speak with Krin inside the inn and he will concoct a plan to sneak into Lepant's Mansion and steal his prized sword, Kirinji. This should lead Lepant right to you. Take him up on his offer, it's the only way...
Shortly after entering the mansion, you will see Rock next to some treasure. Speak with him and ask him to join. He builds a vault in your castle where you can store all those precious items you've been stocking up.
These robots in here are tough, but have rare items to drop. First being the Failure Urn, which several enemies in the game have, but decided to include it here since you will surely get plenty of these trying to get the next items. If you've been opening all the chests so far, you should already have a Vase, but the Slot Man and Robot Soldiers are your only other source of getting more. Lastly, is the Persian Lamp. This is the only place to get this antique in the game...and it is rare. Even worse, you need six of these to get a special bath scene. Ugh...Myself, I'll come back later to get five more.
You'll find a Fire Rune Piece inside of Lepant's Mansion. The is the only one in the game, so be wise to whom you attach it to. It gives a 5% increase in damage on physical attacks (Normal, unites, Trick Rune, Boar Rune, ect...). Shortly after, you will run into Juppo (Screenshot was missed, sorry.) Speak with him and ask him to shut off the robot soldiers. Not only will this stop random encounters (For the moment), but he also runs off to your castle to join; even though you get no notification.
In the final room, you'll have a frustrating wheel game. It's random where it stops, but you absolutely want it to stop on the orange ? portion. This will net you a Dragon Seal Incense. This is amazing for this point in the game. It can be used in battle an infinite number of times and restores 50HP to the entire party with each use. It loses its luster later on, but for now, it's great for saving money on Medicine.
Afterwards, every other time you hit the ? mark you will get a Fortune Rune Piece. This will permanently increase a character's Luck stat. You can gain infinite of these; as long as you have the patience for it. When you manage to make it to the other side of the wheel, grab Lepant's Kirinji and leave the house the way you came and return to Krin at the inn. After some scenes, Lepant will come to confront the party, but will rush off after the military commander when he finds out his wife has been taken; follow him.
Battle through the commander's house while picking up treasure there until you encounter your old friend, Kraze. Defeat his soldiers and watch the scenes as Pahn arrives and redeems himself to his friends. You will get the option to either kill Kraze or let him go...Choose whichever you like, it effects the game in no way. Speak with Pahn and he will join your party, whether you choose to forgive him or not. Lepant, his wife Eileen, and butler Giovanni will also join your party now. Krin follows you along at some point and joins as well even though it is never mentioned. You can now leave Kouan to return to the castle. Note that once you leave and reenter Kouan, the random encounters return to Lepant's Mansion so you can farm Vases and Persian Lamps again if need be. Back at the castle, you will run into Varkas and Sydonia, whom you saved earlier, and they have arrived to join your army as well. This will lead to a banquet with all of your new members, but when Tir tries to leave an assassin will attack him. Nothing to worry about there, just attack until he retreats. Looks like things are just getting started for us...
