Upon returning to the castle, you will run into Krin and Kasumi near the elevator talking about someone who has arrived at the castle that seems suspicious. Head over to the war room and talk with Mathiu and you will be introducted to Taggert; said spy. He tells you that his master, Warren, as well as Viktor, have been captured and held at Moravia Castle; also that Kasim Hazel is commanding the troops there. Agree with Mathiu to make preparations, but before heading off to your room, we have a time-sensitive character to recruit.
Put Maas, Meese, Mose, and Moose in your party and have Viki send you back to the Dragon Knight's Fortress. Take Milia's dragon back to Seek Valley. Venturing through here earlier, you probably met Mace, the master blacksmith. With all of his apprentices in your party, he will join the party as well. It is of upmost importance that you get Mace at this point. Since you almost always have at least have two characters locked into your party during portions of the story, in those instances, that will last the remainder of the game, you will be unable to take all the blacksmiths to Mace in order to get him to join. Now that you have Mace, you can upgrade your character's weapon to their maximum of 16. Unfortunately, Mace himself comes with a lvl 15 weapon, and since he cannot sharpen his own weapon, he is the only character that cannot reach lvl 16.
One more important thing, for those that like to see all of the unite attacks in the game. The group of blacksmiths (You actually only need four, as opposed to the entire group), have a giant unite attack together. It's best to see this attack now before your party becomes unable to hold 4 of the blacksmiths required for this. The Blacksmith Attack is ridiculously powerful and worth seeing at least once. Once you are ready, return to the castle and to Tir's room to rest in his bed.
After resting, return and talk with Mathiu and watch the scenes. You will begin a war battle at the Northern Checkpoint. Now that you have three ninjas in your army (Kasumi, Kage, Fuma), the battles from here on are very easy. Remember, when you run out of ninjas, to use the thieves instead to try to learn the enemy's next attack. When the battle is concluded, the enemy commander, Griffith, will join your party (Whether you decided to execute him or not). Kasumi and Krin will be required members of your party as you head off to Moravia Castle next. Make sure to take them back to the castle and sharpen their weapons and buy them new equipment before going further.
Outside of Moravia, there is a very important drop to note: The Master Garb. This is the best armor for a large portion of your roster; including Tir. It gives a modest +5 to your SKL stat as well. The Earth Golems carry them and I would recommend getting one for your favorite characters, if they can use them. When you are ready, enter Moravia Castle that is nearby.
Inside, you can rest and save by talking with the soldier in the upper-right corner of the first screen. Now, let's look at a few rare drops you will encounter here. The Elite Soldiers are your only source of Rage Runes in the game. You found one at Neclord's Castle, but other than dropped here, you will not find another.
Moravia Castle is also home to two rare antiques, the Bonsai and Goddess Statue; both held by the Whip Master. You perhaps got a Bonsai from an earlier monster, but the Whip Master is your best chance of acquiring one, while the Goddess Statue is specific to this enemy and you cannot acquire it elsewhere. Be prepared to return to an appraiser regularly while searching for a Goddess Statue, as it is a extremely rare drop.
Make your way through the castle, which is pretty linear, until you find Viktor and Warren at the top. Speak with them and Warren (As well as Taggert from earlier) will join your party. Watch the following scenes, and you will see Mathiu and Griffith's deception has lead Kasim Hazel to join your army as well. You will exit out to the world map, but head back inside first (I'm sure you saw a chest and fellow in the jail there that are intriguing...).
Inside the chest, you will find a Mother Earth Rune; the improved version of the Earth Rune. It removes the spell Clay Guardian (Which is bugged and doesn't work) and adds the lvl 4 spell Guardian Earth (Which is also bugged and does nothing). However, the benefit of the Mother Earth Rune over the basic Earth is that you gain increased MP for the other spells in the rune.
Vincent, whom we met back in Antei and at the Dragon's Den, was imprisoned here with Viktor and Warren. Speak with him and he will join your army. Unfortunately, he adds nothing to your castle. That's it for here in Moravia.
Before using the Blinking Mirror to return to the castle, enter the Northern Checkpoint from the Moravia side, and you will encounter Max and Sancho, whom will join your army. You can't use them in your party, but they are very useful in war battles. This is another extremely time-sensitive recruit, so make sure that you get these two now. Use the Blinking Mirror to return to the castle to continue the story.
If you opened the chest with the Pink Paint in it back in Moravia Castle, as well as acquiring the rest of the paint items up to this point, then take them all to Ivanov at your castle. He will reward you with the Binoculars item. With this in your possession, you can use a second-player controller to adjust the camera angle during battles. I never bother with this, but give it a try at least once if you are curious. If you haven't gotten all of the paint items up to this point, here are their locations:
- Blue Paint: Buy at the item shop in Rikon.
- White Paint: Inside a chest in Lepant's Mansion.
- Yellow Paint: Buy at the item shop in Teien.
- Red Paint: Inside a chest in Scarleticia Castle.
- Black Paint: Inside a chest at Liukan's Hermitage.
- Green Paint: Inside a chest in Neclord's Castle.
- Pink Paint: Inside a chest in Moravia Castle.
Talk with Mathiu in the war room to learn that your next objective is to take the Floating Fortress of Shasarazade. Watch the various scenes between members of your army, which ends in a visit from Viktor. He will hand over Gremio's Copper Axe item, that was left when he perished at Soniere Prison, to encourage you for the battle to come.
