Editing Erik (section)

====Story====
=====Act One=====
{{spoiler|start}}
Erik is an orphan from the [[Sniflheim]] region, with his only family being his younger sister [[Mia]]. The siblings were taken in by the vikings that pillage the area and forced into servitude. Erik and Mia depended on each other to survive their difficult youth, with the latter developing the same sense of materialistic greed that their masters did. When he was around fourteen years of age, he made the disastrous mistake of giving Mia a [[Pirate King's Pendant|necklace]] for her birthday that he later found out was rumored to have the power to turn anything the wearer touches into solid gold. Mia runs wild with this power and turns everything around her into gold, even animals. When Erik confronted her about her avarice, she realised what she had done and complied with his demand to stop. When she tried to take the necklace off, its curse activated and it began to transform her as well. Mia cried out for help as the changes took place, and Erik hesitated before attempting to save her. Though he could have done nothing to prevent the curse for taking hold, and it was likely that he would have been transformed as well if he had touched Mia during the process, Erik blames himself for the apparent death of his little sister.

Erik fled the Sniflheim region out of shame, and took to a life of robbery in order to sustain himself. During this period he met [[Derk]], and the two would become successful partners-in-crime. At one point during this period, Erik met [[The Seer]]. The mysterious prophet proclaimed that if Erik were to infiltrate [[Heliodor]] castle and steal the fabled [[Red orb|Red Orb]] and meet with the Luminary "underground", then he would find the forgiveness he longed for. Erik doesn't believe a word of what is told to him and instead only steals the orb because it was a treasure Mia had once longed for, during their childhood.

Erik hides the orb with Derk after the heist and is later captured, spending nearly a year in the castle dungeon while slowly digging a tunnel through the bottom of his cell. It is during this period where he encounters the recently imprisoned Luminary and, after realizing that the Seer's prophecy is coming true, pledges his loyalty to the man and aids his escape. Together, they run from [[Heliodorian soldier|various]] [[Heliodorian guard|guards]] (and a [[black dragon]]), fall off a bridge, and then eventually become cornered on a cliff. They share a glance before silently agreeing to jump together, where Erik lifts the hood off his head and introduces his name before they make a running start to jump off the cliff. They land safely at the bottom of the cliff, at the [[Heliodorian Foothills]], and Erik drags the Luminary over to the nearby church. The two are taken care of by the nun there and they go on their way, but not before thanking her. She says before they go that they should be wary returning to [[Heliodor City]], as there are two dangerous fugitives on the loose, although throughout the story Erik's status as a dangerous criminal diminishes as the Heliodorian soldiers are ordered to prioritise the Luminary.

Before making their way to Cobblestone (the Hero's home village), Erik drags him on a detour to [[Downtown Heliodor]] to find the Red Orb Derk had stashed in the great garbage dump there. He is infuriated when he sees that the treasure is gone, and interrogates the innkeeper [[Ruby]] about where Derk is. She says that Derk hadn't been seen in the slums since he opened "that fancy shop" in the wealthy district, and that is enough fuel to the fire for Erik to storm over there and give Derk a piece of his mind. When Erik and the Hero reach his shop, Erik attempts to beat Derk up, knowing that Derk took the Orb back to the castle to collect the bounty and fund the shop, but Derk reasons that he only sold it to help Erik. Erik, exasperated now, gives him a chance to explain, and Derk explains that a portion of the proceeds from the shop went to bribing the prison guards into not checking up on Erik while he was in the cell. Erik notes that it was indeed strange that nobody had checked up on him in the previous few days digging his hole, and he forgives Derk. Derk tells them that the King had hidden the Orb in [[The Kingsbarrow]] and the Hero and Erik set out to retrieve it again. Note that Derk's bribery may also be the reason why Erik is not prioritised by the guards as a target of capture.

After retrieving the Orb and walking over to the [[Emerald Coast|Door of Departure]] to leave the continent, in search of more information about the Luminary, [[Hendrik]] and his men find the two and pursue them on [[Horse and monster riding|horseback]]. The two fugitives climb on the nearby horses and race to the Door, but the Hero's horse is shot and Erik has to double back to save him, lifting him up on the back of his own horse. The duo then escape through a [[teleportal]] to the distant city of [[Hotto]] and meet the twin sisters {{Veronica 11}} and {{Serena 11}}. When Erik encounters Veronica, they immediately get to bickering with each-other like siblings, although it is clear they still care for each-other even through the insults. Erik is much more passive to her sister, who he deems calm and kind and "everything Veronica isn't". When Erik encounters the wandering jester [[Sylvando]] in the kingdom of [[Gallopolis]], he is immediately skeptical and unhappy about the idea of him joining the party. However, Erik eventually warms up to him.

At the seaside port town [[Gondolia]], Erik and the Luminary are cornered by Jasper on the stage at the very northern part of the town. They are overwhelmed by soldiers, but are saved by Veronica and Sylvando interrupting their capture. Veronica casts multiple spells of the [[Frizz]] line everywhere, causing chaos, and Jasper turns his attention away from Erik and the Hero to order his men to fan out. Serena motions for them to escape through the western exit of the stage, dragging the Hero's hand along while Erik makes sure they aren't being followed. Jasper senses their escape and fires a ball of darkness at the Luminary, which Erik notices and jumps in front of. The magic cripples him and he falls to the ground. Erik swats away the Hero's hand when it is offered, telling him to leave with the newly-bought time. The soldiers catch up to Erik as Serena tugs the Hero along, dragging him away as Erik is taken by the guards. The party later finds Erik tied up on a pole on the stage and save him, defeating [[Jasper]], before escaping Gondolia by on the Salty Stallion (Sylvando's [[ship]]).

They then travel to [[Zwaardsrust]] and make their way to [[Octagonia]], where they enter a mixed martial arts tournament to win the first-place prize, the [[Rainbough]]. Erik enters this tournament and is paired with a random contestant from [[Angri-La]], and their first match is up against [[Jade]] and [[Rab]]. Erik is defeated extremely easily, which probably contributes to his frustration of the two of them when they steal the first-place prize meant for the Hero. However, when they officially join the party after the events of [[Dundrasil]], he warms up to them as well.

When Erik and the {{Party 11}} go to Sniflheim to retrieve the [[Blue Orb]], Erik becomes distant and quiet, and refuses to enter the Kingdom once it is restored because "Cosying up to royals isn't exactly [his] style". In [[The Snærfelt]], he has multiple dialogue lines in [[Party Chat|party talk]] where he will offhandedly provide advice to survive in the cold, chalking his knowledge up to stories from other adventurers.{{spoiler|end}}
=====Act Two=====
{{spoiler|start}}After The Fall of Yggdrasil at the end of Act One, Erik is captured by one of [[Mordegon]]'s [[Spectral Sentinels]], [[Indignus]]. He awakens in a cell in the [[Rock of Wrong]] with the [[Healslime|healslime]] [[Healijah]], who immediately fully heals his injuries. This gains the trust of Erik, who takes the healslime with him. He sneaks past the [[Dragon family|dragon monsters]] under Indignus' employ in order to escape. During this sequence, Healijah occasionally "slips up" and speaks of things that Erik has not told him of, such as his name, his sister, and his journey with the Luminary. When the two reach the top of the dungeon, Erik realises that they were actually in a floating rock in the sky with no actual escape. Indignus then arrives, falling on the two of them from the sky and taking out Healijah. Erik is faced with a few monsters, which is optional whether he wins or loses to them. Regardless, he is then surrounded with hordes of monsters, facing death with seemingly no way out. Healijah's voice then resonates in his head, revealing himself to be [[The Seer]], and offers Erik a fighting chance to save his life; however, he has to exchange his most precious possession - his memories of his brothers and sisters in arms - for a tremendous, temporary boost in power that only ''might'' give him the upper hand. Erik agrees reluctantly, reasoning that memories are no use to him if he is dead, and fights his way through the horde to escape. Afterwards, he has to face off Indignus himself, and he successfully shatters his armour. However, just as he is about to strike the final blow, the power runs out, leaving him weak and exposed. Indignus takes the moment of weakness as an opportunity and flings him off the cliff, where the Seer apologises before taking away his memories of the party and also of Mia. The Seer also seems to have ensured him safe landing on the beach of what appears to be the south-western part of [[The Costa Valor]]. A nearby man comments that he doesn't look too steady on his feet, and attempts to help by asking who he is. Erik responds, saying he doesn't know, and that he only knows he was on an adventure with someone important, but he can't remember who.
:*This scenario is only present in the ''S: Definitive Edition'' of the game.

The amnesiac Erik is later found stowing away on the Salty Stallion, [[Sylvando]]'s personal [[ship]], stealing food to survive. He accidentally knocks over a couple of things, alerting Sylvando who is steering, and he asks the Luminary to check in on the storage room. When the Luminary finds him, Erik acts shocked to see him, and the rest of the party arrives behind the Hero. The party is shocked that Erik does not recognize them, and also intrigued by his sudden politeness and passiveness that he used to lack. They assure him that he has a place to stay until his memories return. As the party approaches Sniflheim, his memories begin to spark again as mentions and sights of gold set off something in the back of his mind. Events that resemble prominent memories of his, like the old woman turning to gold from Gold Fever with an outstretched hand, trigger intense headaches that have him fall to his knees in pain. A priest in Sniflheim wandering around town recognises Erik while in one of these headaches and remembers him from years before, bringing the party to the church to tell them about his past in a safe space. He mentions that most of Sniflheim knows who Erik is, as he was a Viking slave when he was younger and were forced to tag along with the Vikings when they came to the kingdom to drink after a successful plunder. Hearing this overwhelms Erik and he leaves as his memory struggles to return. The party and the priest find him on a small cliff overlooking the Sniflheim docks but not much is said before gold monsters arrive by ship to steal gold statues and Erik has another powerful headache. The party reluctantly leaves him with the priest to fend off the monsters, but as they are chasing them down they realise that Erik had been kidnapped while they were gone. They watch the monsters sail off while he is tied to the ship. The priest apologises for not being powerful enough to protect Erik, but mentions that the ship the monsters sailed in looked an awful lot like a Viking ship, prompting the party to sail to the nearby [[Viking Hideout]].

After the party sails to the hideout and defeats the monsters holding him captive, Erik is freed but his slowly-returning memory leaves his gaze vacant as he mumbles vaguely and incoherently about something before returning to the hut he and his sister grew up in. There, the Luminary activates an Yggdrasil root, showing three visions to the party about Erik's past. His memory subsequently comes back after the last vision where Mia had turned to gold. He rejoins the party to help save Mia, apologising for his uselessness while having amnesia. In party talk, he mentions that he actually doesn't remember much about this time.

The party storms [[The Gyldenhal]], believing that her statue had been stolen from its place by the gold-loving [[Gyldygga]] (the one seemingly responsible for the Gold Fever outbreak in Sniflheim), but after the party reaches the top floor of the castle they realise that the Spectral Sentinel is actually Mia herself. She tells them that she had been freed by Mordegon in order to put her greed and anger to use as one of his Spectral Sentinels. She transforms herself into a gold beast and fights the party. After the battle, she is frustrated at her defeat, and these intense feelings spiral the power of the [[Gold Orb]] she is in possession of, causing a blinding light. After the party is able to see again, Mia is floating in the air, with the golden shell of Gyldygga around her with the head armour missing, and golden barrier around her. She cries out in pain, and dark magic escapes from her, forming huge tendrils from the back of the golden shell that penetrate the walls of the castle and go out of control.

One particularly large tendril slams the ground near the party. Erik and the Hero manage to narrowly evade it, but they are separated from the rest of the party members. They happen to land on the side where Mia is, and Erik pushes back his emotions to end the battle that he started, although her cry to Erik for help makes him falter. He "read[ies] himself to launch a final, decisive strike against Gyldygga" despite the fact that "He doesn't look to happy about it." The Hero is then prompted to stop him from going forward with it, and he relents. Instead, he resolves to save her, and daringly tries instead to reach her. He jumps from tendril to tendril, ducking and weaving, before jumping up to where Mia is floating. He ignores her protests, which imply that he would be turned to gold, and breaks the barrier with his bare fists before he then embraces her, despite the gold consuming him. Mia is horrified as the gold reaches his face, and Erik apologises before turning into a statue. Mia, panicked, cries out that she misses easier times with her brother, and that she doesn't need gold to live life after all. A tear falls onto her necklace, shattering it, and the necklace breaks off. Bright lght radiates from her body, and the tendrils disappear in shimmering gold sparkles, which rain down from above. Erik and Mia somehow make their way back down safely to the ground, and he holds her as she bickers with him one last time before falling unconscious. Erik is relieved, finding the atonement he was looking for, and the party goes back to the Snifleheim church to leave her safe in the care of the priest. When they leave the church, Erik gives the Luminary the Gold Orb again, they make small talk before they hit the road together again. After this talk, Erik is allowed to unlock the other character panels in his character builder that were visible even before the events of Act Two. It is possible he was intentionally holding himself back due to lingering guilt from Mia, but this is not confirmed.

When the party reach Arboria and find out what happened to Veronica, Erik is distraught. In his party talk, he mentions that he had something to tell her, likely being that she reminded him of Mia due to their similar personalities, and the fact that they are both trapped in the body of a minor despite being chronologically older. It is unknown how old Mia is, but it is ''possible'' that Veronica and Mia could have been around a similar age chronologically.{{spoiler|end}}

=====Postgame=====
{{spoiler|start}}When the party goes to the [[Tower of Time]], [[The Timekeeper]] tells the party the terms and conditions of going back in time, and when the party hears the only the Luminary is able to break the Time Sphere for a chance of being able to make it safely back in time the party prevents him from advancing. However, Erik is the only one who understands that it is the Luminary's duty to save the world, and relents when he sees his determination, allowing him through. Before the Hero breaks the Time Sphere, most of the party say a final goodbye speech, and Erik pushes [[Serena]] forward a little to prompt her speech as well, perhaps hinting that he knows a little about how she really feels towards the Luminary. Only after the Hero breaks the Sphere does Erik have his speech, and he tells him that "This isn't over—not by a long shot! See you on the other side!", alluding to the fact that it is in fact time travel and not jumping to an alternate reality. 

After time travelling, the Hero is able to approach Erik and Mia's shelter and save Mia with the power of the Sword of Light. Erik and Mia reconcile, and Mia gives him her necklace (the [[Pirate king's pendant]]), an accessory exclusive to Erik.

When the party finds the [[Orichalcum|orichalcum]] (The non-regenerating [[rareified orichalcum]] Important Item in the ''S: Definitive Edition'') in the floating [[The Battleground|Battleground]] to forge the [[Sword of Light]], Erik rushes past the group and gets carried away thinking about the value of the ore. He excuses himself for the outburst, stating it was a force of a bad habit.
{{spoiler|end}}