ÄRM Shrine

"Yes... I can't say it out loud, but that place was our playground... The ÄRM metal engraving equipment and tools are gone now... Gotchi was probably made there, too..."

―Iffy

ÄRM Shrine
Japanese	ÄRMのほこら
Rōmaji	Āma no Hokora
Located In	Caldea (Torneå North Island)
Smaller Locations	Pilgrimage Stairs Shrine

The ÄRM Shrine (ÄRMのほこら, Āma no Hokora) is a location that appears in MÄR Heaven: Devil of Caldea. The only building on Torneå North Island, it has long been a sort of workshop for metal engraving and chasing for Caldeans, but has gone unused for many years and has since fallen to ruin.

Overview

Surrounded by snowfields turned to early spring greenery, those who journey to the shrine must climb the Pilgrimage Stairs that form a path up and around the spiral mountain to this solitary building.

History

MÄR Heaven: Devil of Caldea

AKT.8 ÄRM Shrine

Upon arrival at the island, Iffy uses her power to disarm the trap that Daffy planted on the stairs leading up to the shrine. Hesitant to proceed, she is reassured by Team MÄR that, since Daffy's identity as the mastermind hasn't yet been made known to the public, she may not have to personally go through with killing her twin sister.

When they enter the shrine, they hear Daffy's voice as she taunts them while remaining out of sight, inviting them to find her. MÄR makes their way through the shrine, and meet Daffy and Wheat, the latter of whom is holding her head in pain. They tell Wheat to let go of Gotchi, but despite understanding their concerns, she weakly declines, as Gotchi was all she had in terms of a "friend". MÄR engages in battle with Wheat, Gotchi, and Daffy, and though they won the battle, the trio manage to escape by teleporting away, though not before hinting on their destination. Dorothy then realizes that Caldea's Grand Elder was in danger.

Strategy Guide

Iffy disarming the enchantment on the Pilgrimage Stairs.

The ÄRM Shrine consists of two portions: the Pilgrimage Stairs and the Shrine itself. Up until you reach this point in the main storyline, you cannot access the shrine, as Daffy has set an enchantment upon the Pilgrimage Stairs to endlessly loop and keeping you from ever reaching the top, and only once Iffy tags along can this enchantment be dispelled.

Pilgrimage Stairs

(巡礼階段, Junrei Kaidan)

The Pilgrimage Stairs is an earth-attribute field.

Shrine

(ほこら, Hokora)

The shrine itself has no field attribute.

The shrine has multiple rooms that are aptly named for their specific purposes.

• Office (執務室, Shitsumu-shitsu): A typical office with a large bookshelf along the wall.
• Exhibition Room (展示室, Tenji-shitsu): A room with a number of ÄRMs on display
• Mirror Hall (鏡の間, Kagami no ma): A room with mirrors that glow with magic power to reveal hidden magic devices.
• Reference Room (資料室, Shiryō-shitsu): A room with a long workbench and many documents on metal engravings scattered around.
• Broken Room (破碎室, Hasai-shitsu): Likely a designated rubbish room for any materials deemed unusable.
• Steel Statue Hall (鋼鉄像の間, Kōtetsu-zō no ma): A room displaying four statues of important chasers in Caldean history.
• Transfer of Merit Room (回向の間, Ekō no ma): A room used seemingly used for downloading magic power into finished ÄRMs.

The Transfer of Merit Hall is where the boss fights with Daffy and Wheat occur, and it is the opposite door furthest from the entrance into the shrine. It's locked with powerful magic, and requires a particular key to unlock it. To find said key, you will have to check everywhere within the rest of the shrine. Several of the other rooms are locked though, so you'll have to collect additional keys and items to gain access to those rooms, too. To collect everything and gain access to the last room, you'll have to do some degree of backtracking.

Only one room, the Broken Room, is unnecessary for visiting to complete the dungeon. The only significance of the room is the hole in the floor to imply that there is a basement below the room and the locked door on the other side of the room, which takes you downstairs. The key to unlocking this door in particular is not found in the shrine, it is only found in a treasure chest in the Undersea Volcanic Cave. If you have the key and can get through the door, you'll find a treasure chest with Gargoyle★4 waiting for you.

Trivia

• The room named "Transfer of Merit" is based on a spiritual discipline in Buddhism of the same name.

Gallery

An unofficial English translation from the game's guidebook.

An unofficial English translation from the game's guidebook.

An unofficial English translation from the game's guidebook.

An unofficial English translation from the game's guidebook.

An unofficial English translation from the game's guidebook.

An unofficial English translation from the game's guidebook.