Maurits Welnes

Maurits Welnes is temporary primary antagonist in Tales of Legendia.

Fighting Style
Maurits fights with a staff during his two boss battles. During his first boss Maurits uses hardly any crystal eres, but relies on iron eres. The only iron eres he uses is Maw of the Sea where he attacks three times and when his hit points get lower he beings using Hand of Water, but his deadly skill in this battle is Raging Nerifes which he sends a out burst of energy to attack surrounding enemies.

During his second battle he uses the same moves from before, but uses more crystal eres. His normal crystal eres he uses is Aqua Laser, but when his health goes lower he will begin to chain combos such as Maw of the Sea and then continue it with Rolling Stone which can deal intense damage to the player.

Reunited with Senel
Maurits is not seen again till the events in Chapter 3 when the party is being chased by Vaclav's soliders in the Forest of No Return and Maurits sends some of his men to disguise themselves as Vaclav's soldiers to save Senel and his friends. Maurits appear to Senel and his friends and introduces himself to them and explains that Fenimore was the one who told him about their situation. After this discussion he helps Senel and his friends in to get pass Melanie the Crimson by putting them in the back of cargo truck. When he gets the party out of the forest he explains to the party that Vaclav is going to use the Bridge to operate the Nerifes Cannon. After when they leave the forest completely Maurits takes them to his base.

A War Torn Land
Back at Maurits Heritage Maurits explains to the party that the Ferines are the source of power for the Nerifes Cannon and must save Shirley and Stella before it is too late. Maurits explains to get the two girls back he is trying to make a alliance with the Holy Rexalian Empire. The next day after Walter Delques returns from the Man Eating Ruins, Maurits asks the party if they could get the Whisper Crystal from the ruins and the party agrees. When the party returns Maurits reveals to them the purpose of the Whisper Crystal as way to control the Automata. He then tells the party that the alliance has been formed and he, Jay, and Will Raynard decide on battle strategies. When the party arrives on Raging Bay Maurits, Ed Curtis, and Isabella Robbins are seen making a speech to the army. After Senel and his party take over the front line base Maurits goes to the center stage and makes a speech to encourage the army to keep going on to save the Merines. After the defeat of Vaclav and the death of Stella, Maurits along with three other ferines are standing out at the entrance of the Bridge paying respect to Stella.

Awakening
Two weeks later the party revisits Maurits at the Ferines Village to deliver a message from Madame Musette. The party talks to Maurits in his meeting room and Maurits explains that Shirley is going to a ritual give her the full title of the Merines (which is actually the Rite of Accession). The next day at the Altar of the Sea during the Rite of Accession the Ferines are attacked by the Holy Kingdom of Gadoria invades and kill several of the observers and guardians, including Fenimore. Shirley exclaims to Maurits to help, but Maurits doesn't do so, because he knows the death of Fenimore might be the thing Shirley needed to complete the ritual. Once Senel's party arrives, Shirley becomes the Merines and Maurits lets out a evil laugh. He then explains to the party that Shirley will now kill all the Orerines and sends Walter to attack the party. After the party is saved by Celsius, Maurits goes with Shirley to the Mirage Palace to activate the Wings of Light.

The Final Confrontation
While the party is in the Quiet Lands, Shirley senses the party's presence and Maurits sends Walter to kill them. After this a young Ferines arrives and tells Maurits that they found a soldier in Vaclav's army that fit the same similar traits, Maurits goes to the soldier and tells him he wishes to have a chat with him. When Walter returns Maurits explains he cannot fight the party due to the fact the Fallen Nerifes makes the Ferines weaker. After Senel and his party enter the palace and defeat Walter, Senel goes and almost returns Shirley to her senses, but Maurits arrives and ruins it all. It was Maurits who explained Senel's past association with Vaclav and tells her that it is Senel's fault Stella is now dead, leading Shirley getting angry and activating the Wings of Light. After he, Walter, and Shirley depart for the Wings of Light.

Senel's party follows them to the Wings of Light and by the time the make it to the control room to see that Shirley has given herself entirely to Nerifes. Marutis goes to Senel and tells him that he killed he Stella and Walter, and he still tries to get Shirley back. Senel tells him no matter what he did in the past he will get Shirley back and tells Maurits to move. Maurits pulls out his staff and prepares to fight the party and tells them that "the their power of the Quiet Nerifes is nothing, but a pure imitation and cannot hope to defeat those who received the true blessings". After being defeated by the party, Maurits gets back up and reveals his true power of his Teriques. After being defeated he gets up again, but falls due to exhaustion and the party believes he is dead.

When the party is trapped within Shirley's teriques, Maurits crawls to the party's position and explains the true origins of the Orerines, that they came from another planet and killed all the Ferines. After the truth is explained Maurits tells the party that Shirley will leave her body and become the new Nerifes, thus killing herself. Senel refuses to let the happen and goes up to Shirley and gets her back to her senses. Right when the party is about to return to town, Maurits gets up and goes to the Raging Nerifes and asks for it power and Nerifes puts all its power into Maurits allowing him to become a Merines. With this new power Maurits paralyzes that party and is about to kill them, but Maurits looses control of his body and is possessed by the Raging Nerifes. The Raging Nerifes possessed Maurits grabs Shirley and tries to use her to complete the Cataclysm, but Senel manages to get up and grabs Shriley before it is too late. Senel and his friends manage to gain their strength back and defeat the Raging Nerifes and thus releasing Maurits. Maurits now free of the Nerifes decides to go down a different path and tries to live in harmony with the Orerines. During the ending credits Maurits is seen shaking hands with Madame Musette in a attempt to make peace.

Interlude
Maurits reappears during the interlude of the character quest, when the party visits the Village of the Ferines after he removed the barrier to the city. When the party arrives in the city Maurits arrives when Thyra Welzes is insulting the party and tells her to be silent. Maurits takes the party to his meeting room explaining that the Black Mist monsters have been attacking the village to the party and how the other Ferines are sketchy about the barrier going down. Maurits explains that he wants to follow the new wish of Nerifes to see the races of the world get along. His discussion ends when Shirley and Thyra get into a argument. After the party defeats the Galf Fiend, Maurits bids farewell to the party.

Birth
Maurits only appears of Grune's character quest during the final confrontation when Schwartz covers the island in darkness and sends dark versions of herself to attack him and Thyra in the Ferines Village. When the party tries to use their super sacred eres to stop Schwartz, Maurits gets sacred eres themselves and defeats the Schwartz clones. In the ending anime cut scene he with the other villagers see the summon spirit Shadow emerge from his seed.