Stourin Wald

"Stourin Wald"

- expressing his boundless loyalty to his Prince.

About
Stourin Wald is the chief commander of the army of the small mobile nation of Mamatoto and the beloved teacher and mentor of Nanas Alphoria. He is available throughout the game as a ranged unit.

Prior to the events of the game, Stourin was already a man of great renown. Respected and feared across the world as the "One-Eyed Ice Dragon", he was known as a genius tactician and military leader of legendary skill who would mercilessly slaughter his enemies without a hint of sympathy.

At some unknown point in time, he began serving under Kakaro Alphoria as the General of Mamatoto. The combined power of Kakaro's immeasurable strength and Stourin's cunning made Mamatoto a formidable force, but it steadily lost territory due to a lack of manpower. Following Kakaro's kidnapping of Nanas, the infant prince of the nation of Gaston, Stourin was tasked with educating the boy in order for him to become the ideal strategist to conquer the continent. Raising Nanas awakened feelings of love within Stourin for the first time in his life, and he began to unconditionally care for him as if he were his own son, becoming a much more compassionate man in the process. He lost any and all feelings of loyalty toward Kakaro and dedicated himself entirely to Nanas, but chose to keep Kakaro's true nature a secret from him due to his fear of hurting Nanas.

During the events of Mamatoto, Stourin acts as a constant source of support to Nanas, advising him when strategizing, consoling him during hardship, and generally never leaving his side. Following Nanas' discovery of Kakaro's true character, Stourin comes to regret hiding the truth from him, and makes several attempts to reassure him that it was not his fault. Despite this, Nanas chooses to go on a journey to learn to fight for himself after defeating Kakaro, and appoints Stourin as King of the newly united world. Stourin tearfully begs Nanas to reconsider his choice, telling him that everything Mamatoto accomplished was due to him and that all of the commanders love and trust him, but ultimately allows him to go through with it out of loyalty. As the first King of the new world, Stourin is remembered by history as an extremely talented and dedicated ruler who led humanity to a prosperous age.

Personality and Appearance
Stourin is a stern-looking middle aged man with short white hair and a small black mustache. His most notable feature is the metal plate the covers his lost eye, which is the source of his nickname of the "One-Eyed Ice Dragon".

He is a man defined by his love for his Prince. While he was once a cold and ruthless man who cared only about crushing his enemies, raising Nanas has softened him immensely and filled him with feelings of paternal love. He is almost never away from Nanas' side, ready to assist him with whatever he needs, and is nicknamed "Goldfish Poop" by Nanari due to his tendency to follow him around. When questioned on his feelings for Nanas, he plainly states that he sees him as a person far greater than himself, and admits that he is always thinking of his happiness. Though normally composed and stoic, Stourin becomes overwhelmed with feelings of parental instinct whenever Nanas' well-being is threatened, going so far as to recklessly shield Nanas from an extremely powerful magic blast fired by Nalzgeis, sustaining life-threatening wounds in the process.

He is greatly respected by all of the other commanders of Mamatoto as a leader. His reputation as a great tactician is what piqued Kinggear's interest in joining Mamatoto, and Pitten Chao regularly attempts to have chess matches with him in order to prove his own ability. Following Stourin's severe injuries when defending Nanas, the entire staff of Mamatoto is stated to have stayed at his bedside while he was recovering, showing their immense admiration in him.

Notably, he is the only commander of Mamatoto to be aware of King Kakaro's true villainous intentions, being his accomplice during his early years. Stourin grows quiet and somewhat tense whenever Kakaro is around, suggesting that he is slightly scared of him due to his awareness of what he is capable of. Despite this knowledge, Stourin chose to keep it a secret from Nanas for his entire life due to his fear that the truth would hurt him too much. Following Nanas' discovery, Stourin comes to regret his decision to do so, claiming to have hurt Nanas in a way far greater than anyone else could have.

Abilities
A living legend in his own right, Stourin is an extremely talented man with many strengths. He is most revered for his tactical ability, and is said to be one of the most skilled strategists in the world. He is responsible for shaping Nanas into the incomparable tactician he has grown to become. While Stourin freely admits that Nanas far surpasses him in tactical ability, he is the only commander in Mamatoto capable of keeping up with his complex strategies, and Nanas frequently depends on Stourin to be able to predict his plans without directly telling him them, something he always succeeds at doing.

In addition to his astounding skill as a strategist, Stourin is also a talented archer. In battle, he wields a steam-powered crossbow with a great amount of skill. While he has no outstanding physical abilities, he is equally competent both offensively and defensively, giving him a high amount of applicability in the battlefield, especially for an archer. His special move, Criminal Flash, allows him to attack enemies from any distance, letting him snipe them long before they have any chance of reaching him.

As one of Mamatoto's commanders, Stourin is one of a handful of people capable of commanding Kids in battle. Stourin's excellent commanding ability becomes extremely evident when commanding Kids, as he is able to command several of them at a time, more than any other commander, with a large amount of skill. As Stourin is incapable of fighting more than one opponent at a time, he relies heavily on Kids to assist him in large scale battles.

Trivia

 * His character was largely recycled into the character of Sanada Tourin from the Rance Series, who is identical to him in both appearance and character. He is notably the only playable character in Mamatoto whose Rance series counterpart appeared after him, though several non-playable characters went on to also get counterparts in Rance IX.