Duelhorn

Warband Duelhorn is an enemy clan in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, and an enemy fought several times over their quest chain. Hailing from distant lands, Duelhorn aims to conquer lands and add members to their own ranks through sometimes dubious activities, but they are not above trying legit methods such as the Auction. Later in the game, they have a rivalry with Khamja, the major opposition of the main character.

The Four Bosses of Duelhorn
Heading up the Jylland front of Duelhorn are its four bosses. Their intentions are largely similar, but their motives and methods differ largely.

Alys the Ensorcled

 * All I, Alys, can do... is follow.

Alys the Ensorceled is a Viera Summoner that cares more about the people and says she would rather not see innocents hurt. She fights alongside Clan Gully as often as against it. She has a habit of inflicting debuffs on herself at the start of a battle, claiming this increases her powers. She and Night Dancer are fiercely devoted to Maquis' dream of a world without war, and so are using backing from the war-like Duelhorn in their homeland to realize their goals.

Maquis the Phantasm
Maquis the Phantasm, a Hume Ninja, serves as the de facto head of Duelhorn. His name refers to his ability to split into six copies of himself (each with a different secondary A-ability set); which is used in "The Last Duelhorn" (the last mission in the chain unlocked before 'game complete'). He is a caring person who hopes to someday create a world without war. The collapse of Duelhorn among other reasons lead him to take his own memories through Lethean Draught.

The Night Dancer
The Night Dancer is the least prominent the of the four. A presumably crossdressing Bangaa Trickster whose gender is ambiguous, The Night Dancer adds a unique touch to Duelhorn's machinations. At one point, s/he says, "I've been a bad girl", but a posting refers to her as a cross-dressing old man, a fact that is important for the fight against him, in which the law forbids Harming members of the opposite sex. However, the meaning of the law can be just generic, like the law that forbids Harming Males forbids harming Humes, Bangaa, Moogles, Nu Mou and Seeq. Night Dancer claims that her body grows warm at night, and that it is the source of her power. Being a Trickster, Night Dancer has incredible range and is not to be taken lightly.

Duke Snakeheart
Duke Snakeheart (a notice from an unknown Khamja member refers to him as "Dewk Snakeheart" by mistake), easily the nastiest of the lot, is a power-hungry Nu Mou Arcanist. He claims to prefer straight fights, but always uses manipulation to put himself at an advantage in them. His goal is power over Duelhorn, and his actions to force Khamja's aggression lead to Duelhorn withdrawing. Snakeheart is the only boss not enamored of Maquis' plan, and is apparently in Duelhorn just to satiate his lust for power. In this story arc, Snakeheart is the ultimate "boss" of the Duelhorn saga, but only after "game complete".

The reward for finishing the final Duelhorn Mission "A Lasting Peace" is the Ring of Precepts, used to summon Zodiark. It can only be finished after one beats the final story mission.

War with Khamja
Duelhorn's advance team's first few skirmishes in the land of Jylland are with Clan Gully, prompting the Four Bosses to take note of the upstart clan. Their landfall at the port of Graszton is witnessed by Clan Gully, having been tipped off by notices at the Pub. After engaging in a brief standoff, the Four Bosses teleport away from the battlefield, Snakeheart vowing to keep Luso and his clan in mind.

Snakeheart attempts to lure Clan Gully into battle several more times in order to "toy" with them, but fails to dispatch Luso and his allies. The Arcanist then provokes a more dangerous foe by raiding the Khamja base in Graszton, an action not endorsed by the other three bosses. This piques Khamja's rage, and Maquis and the Night Dancer corner the Duke at Sant D'alsa Bluff, intending to make him atone for his belligerence and send him back to Duelhorn's homeland. However, Snakeheart had foreseen this confrontation and had enlisted Clan Gully to protect him from Maquis and the Night Dancer. During the standoff, Alys appears and brings bad tidings of a Khamja retaliation on their forces. Maquis elects to overlook Snakeheart's mistakes for the time being, and all four Bosses teleport away.

Clan Gully continues to be dragged into the rivalry as Khamja sets up a meeting with Clan Gully to see what the relationship between Gully and Duelhorn is. Alys' appearance leads Khamja to believe that their rivals have allied. By this time, the War Lords - Duelhorn's true leaders - have set a time limit to the invasion; giving the bosses no time for their morals.

Duelhorn's bosses separate and launch a three pronged all-out attack on Grazton, Camoa, and Moorabella, using the confusion generated to take the Khamja headquarters. However, the plans for this are leaked to the pub (The portion mentioning Khamja is illegible) and Gully intercepts each attack and defeats each group leader.

Not knowing whether the other bosses are even alive, Maquis marches on Grazton to battle Khamja alone. However, Alys leaves a message asking Clan Gully to stop Maquis' suicide mission and Gully intercepts him again, defeating the last Duelhorn even after he duplicates himself.

This battle is the end of the Duelhorn invasion. The foreign members retreat back to their homeland, the Jylland recruits quit, and the fate of the bosses is left unknown. Until...

A Fading Memory
Clan Gully is surprised to come across a quest posted by Maquis about hunting monsters for a potion. Upon taking this quest and meeting with Maquis, they discover that the potion mentioned is Lethean Draught (an amnesia-inducing drug which they have heard of before), and that Maquis has apparantly been taking it himself as he does not recognise them. Clan Gully agrees to help Maquis on the condition that he explain what the situation is. After they slay the dreamhares, Maquis explains how the lethean draught is a condition given to him by the Witch of the Fens, another name familiar to Clan Gully.

Clan Gully takes another mission posted by "Cyda", apparently someone close to Maquis, asking someone to look into the deal he made with the Witch of the Fens.

After a short test of their purpose, the witch explains how Maquis had been taken in by Cyda after Duelhorn's defeat; but someone had used the girl to get to him and slipped Cyda zombie powder. Maquis had come to the witch for the cure and the witch offered him a deal: in exchange for the cure he would need to forfeit either his life or his memories. Maquis chose to give up his memories, but among the things he forgot was the fact that he was only supposed to take one dose (apparently, this addiction is a common side effect). The Witch closes by saying that going on this way will reduce Maquis to an empty shell, and Gully vows to deliver this warning.

Clan Gully finds a new posting from Cyda explaining how Maquis left saying something about a snake. Following, Gully finds Maquis confronting Duke Snakeheart and his forces saying how what is left of his memory is of Snakeheart being an enemy. Snakeheart reveals that he was the one who zombified Cyda. He also explains that he was the traitor who leaked their Three-Point Strategy; but the amnesiac Maquis cares little about this part, his only purpose is to kill Snakeheart. Clan Gully joins the fight and beats the Duke. Afterwards, Maquis talks about taking one last dosage of Lethean Draught and Clan Gully warns him against it.

Maquis explains how Cyda's home had been destroyed in Duelhorn's war, but she had nonetheless helped a complete stranger responsible for ruining her life.

Alys calls Clan Gully to a meeting at the Moorabella Aerodrome. There, she and the Night-Dancer explain how they had returned to their homeland and taken over, deposing the corrupt War Lords. They are still loyal to Maquis and want him to help build a lasting peace. As they leave, Cyda comes in and expresses her wishes to stay with Maquis (or rather for Maquis to stay with her). Alys notes that as Maquis has lost his memory, this is an option; but Maquis decides that he needs to return with Duelhorn, and subsequently leaves Cyda behind. Before leaving, Alys and Night Dancer give Clan Gully one of the most powerful Scion-summoning items in the game: the Ring of Precepts, which grants the player the Zodiark summon.