#if you have a charr Asura or sylvari I will have to humanize them

[commanderfloppy]

Once again If you are a mutual or mutual adjacent, and want a blorbo in my tomodachi game please tell me I will add them

(Seriously the Miis won’t stop complaining about how they want ‘fresh blood’)

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

One of the things that Guild Wars 2 really masters, that I don't often see in other setting, is treating species and an individual as two different things. And that no species is truly evil. You can see this in the core game with how only a few factions are made up of one species. Even then, those are usually the 'evil' faction within the species. All others can have Charr, Asura, Norn, humans and Sylvari as random mooks.

Through the Living World story, we also get to see members of the 'bad' factions redeem themselves. Flame Legion is now trying to be better and Gorrik was a former Inquest member. It doesn't even stop at playable species, because by Living World season 4's end, the Awakened are free from Joko and resume their lives with their families. Cue a lot of complaining from people whose parents are now undead and nagging them. Or, with the latest Living World story over, the Kryptis. What at first seemed like mindless horror hordes are actually just people. You get to see these creatures that look like standard baddies try to paint or get nervous over jumping from a diving board. I think this is great, because it goes into the message of unity the game is about. Every species has their arseholes and saints, even those that at first seem evil.

[pyreo]

was sweeping up some map completion for a gift of exploration and just got reminded of so many cool things I like about original gw2/worldbuilding

I love Orr and how weird and alien it is. The ambience of sitting there with everything damp, dripping, made of coral, literally a lost world that doesn't fit above water any more. I love how oily the sky is and that occasionally a huge shadow sweeps over you as something like Blightghast/other risen dragons go by overhead. I love that it looks like this

It's so otherworldly. I especially like the eerie birdcalls (I know it's just a real bird I'm not used to, but it's so unique and strange)

I like that the end of the Pact storyline doesn't feel... hopeful. At all. Orr is blighted and diseased, mottled with decay, with lost journals from people who were never going to survive. I like that the story culminates here, grandiose but mournful. You're trying again but this place you're in was already lost, with thousands of lives, and it doesn't feel like triumphant reclaiming. I like that none of the game through these >10 years has really framed oncoming war, and fighting to survive, with glory. I like that the fight through Orr doesn't really feel righteous. It's no clash against a tyrant or something with belief in good over 'evil'. It's just sad. Trying to get through and survive it.

I like the clearly LOTR-emulating Orr music, particularly how this one goes into a male chorus at the end-

I like how an entire map is called Malchor's Leap and that clues you in to it being named after something and then you can go find out and it's just even more depressing. But at the same time, it reiterates the history of Orr - that human gods lived there and it must have been full of incredible splendour and that's gone and you will never see it, you can only try to imagine based on the wrecks of cathedrals.

And speaking of the human gods, I just like how each race has their own take on religion and they all get something tailored to their outlook. Nobody disputes one religion over the other like in our world - each one is generally assumed to be true on some level, and in some cases, provably real, but each race gets something different from their history and belief system anyway. Humans used to live alongside their gods but have been abandoned and none of them know why (and we eventually do find out what happened). Norn can invoke a governing spirit from any creature alive and choose the one that they'll serve best, but these spirits can be killed and you can see what happens when they mourn them. Sylvari have a stone of commandments from their long-dead benefactor that has completely fucked up their society because they aren't sure if following the tenets is wise or brainwashing. Asura actually believe there is an equation that can solve the entire universe and everything is part of a grand scheme beyond knowing, which is something more like a philosophy than religion but deserves mentioning because it means the Intellectual Goblin Race weren't made into cut and dry atheists as a cliche. They believe in something and have personal interpretations about it. One of them even made a machine to make the Eternal Alchemy viewable that drove someone insane when they used it and I just like how things asura do tend to backfire.

And the Charr. I mean. They're the atheists and it's all because they were duped into technically following a human god for a while and they're never going to get over-- no, wait. They started getting over it and the Flame Legion integrated with regular society again after their leader was deposed, because things moved forward and changed, and I like that too.

I feel like I can talk and talk on and on about this fictional history because it... just.... works? It's all part of a tapestry of cause and effect and meaningful characterisations. And they deliberately set up the basis for their playable races and then made the story NPCs generally turn those expectations around - Caithe being a grief-ridden assassin, Rox being a superstitious oddball, Zojja being irrational, Canach starting out as a pompous asshole.

I like the Ceera is still around in HoT and if you took the personal story route where her husband died, she still hasn't forgiven you and never does.

I loved Zafirah (bring her back!) showing that badly rooted spirituality can be redirected into something healthy and healing without being negated.

I like how many NPCs show up as part of a story step and you can ask if you know them and they'll say oh, yeah I was in the Pact with that whole thing? Or 'I saw you from a medical tent in maguuma and didn't think I'd make it', constant callbacks and the sense that minor characters have a continuous existence independent of you.

I like how solemnly the game takes its wins. The initial campaign against Zhaitan makes sure to kill characters off and made bringing Destiny's Edge along to it feel like its own entire obstacle. Heart of Thorns smashes any confidence the Pact has after the base game and takes an intentional sacrifice to be won, and I still think about him. Going after a literal god in Path of Fire costs you your life. Going after Kralkatorrik, with Destiny's Edge's guilt weighing on you, costs you your own child. Saving the fate of the world by fulfilling the exact conditions for Aurene to ascend costs you your child again, being taken from you so that the whole world stops rocking on its axis, losing your baby as she turns into a deity. Icebrood Saga puts you in the shoes of a relatable, easygoing crew on the opposing side, then sits back and waits for you to kill them all to continue. When you fight the final dragon as the final boss in Dragon's End you don't want to kill her at all, and she begs you to leave and get away so she won't harm you while you try, in bitterness and desperation, to end her unfathomably long life.

And the entire short but brilliant arc with Joko made sure we don't really feel empowered or just about the choices we've made.

It's just. Been really fucking good.

[assortedasurathings]

Gonna say

I find it Absolutely Hilarious How short-term Anet's Memory is. Did they forget designing Rata Primus ? The fact that the inquest contained and controlled dragon magic WITHOUT Having to have an elder dragon tell them how to do it?

Did they forget how Xunlai's designs were all based on older asura golems and work? did they forget how much buggier and unreliable Jade tech is?

So much buggier and so much more unreliable that that lady from one of the Ministries that goes on a world Tour Was absolutely flabbergasted to realize that Rata Sum has been flying for maybe Centuries and Has never experienced a single Power Hiccup??? Anet. Honeybun, Sweetie, no, The Canthans are not more advanced than Asura kind. They never will be. The ONE trait you gave asura is that they're the most advanced species on Tyria in terms of Magitech. And no amount of having Zojja write differently in her Journal will change that. Stop Fellating Humans. Stop trying desperately to make them the center of everything. Let. Other. Races. Exist. For. Once. You gave the humans the Centerpoint of the Sylvari Expansion You made ALL of POF about human lore and humans. You made the ICEBROOD SAGA forsake both Charr AND Norn at the same time by making humans the pivotal lynchpin in the war over the NORN dragon that the NORN didn't even get to be involved in beyond Braham. And of course, now in SoTo , You've finally managed to realize that other races exist... And STILL do everything you can to stroke off and praise the Literal Worst Race on Tyria. The Colonizers. The " Manifest Destiny But Real " . The guys who did everything they can to push other people off of their land. And then Blew up their Citizens to damn the Land to Eternal conflict once they lost. A fate literally worse than death . to be killed and reformed for eternity. Tyria does not revolve around humans. Neither should the story.

[golden-golem]

Weird Debates

We've argued whether or not Asura have nipples, cloacas and tail nubs; if they can easily walk up stairs, if their teeth can handle anything tougher than bread, whether or not female asura should wear the elementalist outfit, or if it's ok to draw asura belly dancing. There's been claims that Asura are fascists and the mere mention of asura in some circles receives a lot of general derision to the tune of "I just want to kick them."

We've witnessed arguments about the realism of Norn that veered in to racist notions. There's been debates about how Eir was written or not written, and how Norn still seem overlooked in terms of development. There's been the debate as to whether or not Sylvari pair bonding with each other is incest. There have been arguments about the writing for both Trahearne and Caithe in equal measure. There was a time when Sylvari players were frowned upon once a certain truth about Sylvari existence became known. There continues to persist the notion that humans are the most boring race to play since "we're human in real life". Logan continues to receive a lot of mocking criticism for his earlier actions. There was briefly some discourse about the validity of Cantha's technological advances compared to Asura developments.

There's been criticisms about Rox's unique appearance, which for a time enraged the community. There have been debates about how unlikeable Rytlock was. There were arguments about whether or not Charr technology is stronger than Asura technology. And of course there's been the discourse as to if you're a furry if you play a charr. Now, we're visiting more arguments and some people feel put out by it; that the community is now somehow a dark unwelcoming space. People are definitely going to have opinions about aspects you love that you won't agree with and you definitely will have some thoughts others don't agree with. Maybe there are some debates better suited for smaller circles. But the most important thing that doesn't change is that we all very much love the game. It's just that this game we love is not perfect and we're all passionate people. Please don't let some opinions drive you away. It is ok to block what you don't like. Especially if it's hurtful. If you'd like to discuss something, get something off your chest or anything like that please feel free to send me a message.

[stiffyck]

What is gw2

It's a game, an mmorpg!

You can play as 5 different races - charr (big warrior kitties), humans (nothing to say here. Just humans.), norn (big warrior like humans), asura (little rat-looking people who are super smart) and sylvari (plant people)

You also have 9 different professions you can play and each of them has 3 specializations that changes the way you play the profession.

The core game is free to play and you can get through the story, learn how to play your profession and just explore. The core game isn't the best but the expansions and the later story adds a lot to the game.

There is also no subscription fee! So if you decide you like the game you can buy the expansions and that's it! You don't have to spend any more money on the game.

There's a lot of content to get through and a lot of things to do. Some people enjoy collecting different sets of armor, crafting legendary equipment, some people like doing strikes, fractals and raids, others like just running around in open world and doing the map wide meta events. Or maybe you'll like pvp or wvw where 3 different servers fight against each other! There's also a lot of achievements so if you like hunting for achievements there's plenty to keep you occupied.

There's a lot of stuff in the game to do.

The game also has the best mount system I've seen in any game!

I'm a pretty casual player, but I have spent a lot of time in the game (over 4k hours. Ehm.) and I still have stuff to do. I still have a lot of achievements I haven't done, I have a lot legendary gear I want to get, I have yet to set foot in raids tho as my anxiety will simply not let me, but I'll get there one day.

So basically. It's a fun game and I would definitely recommend giving it a try

[sleidog]

given the power to add one face to each gw2 race, what would they look like?

that's hard to answer! i think ultimately i'd want all faces available across both masc/fem bodies and that'd solve like 99% of my gripes i have when making new characters x) i feel that humans have more than enough faces and such, [at least in comparison to the other races] but a few more options for older looking faces would be great! or more faces that feature piercings in some way echoing a similar statement for the norn as well! a few more older/wiser looking faces that don't look more at home on a dwarven character x) i feel like i want more asura with weird eyes, we have asura with round and slit pupils, so why not get weirder with it? they're subteranean after all! they also have a lot of variety in how their teeth look as well, i think you can get a pretty decent range with the existing face shapes/ears etc but i'd like to see them get weirder in other ways sylvari wise, i want more faces like the 'green man' style face with the antenna, more sylvari faces with added little features like that, it's so weird that it's the only one like that! also more gnarled up and barky faces, really we only have one like that and i'd like to see more and charr wise, i want less faces with teeth that clip no matter what you do with the sliders 😂also! the newer faces tend to totally abandon the tusks/fangs, and i wonder if that's part of the charr becoming more 'civilized' as time passes, which is alright if thats the narrative they're wanting to go with, but there should be some acknowledgement to that somewhere if that's why that's happening let the ladies be more fierce! then the masc charr have longer and less squished faces as well!

[herald-of-aurene]

Inhalers / Nebulizers for the Main Races:

Because I have asthma and think about thses things.

Charr:

The charr use nebulizers like this due to their facial shape and their mouths not being able to wrap their mouths other types of inhalers. These are made most commonly by Iron legion. They function similarly to the real world nebulizers. They are commonly found in the three legion colors. (Red, grey, black, and now orange)

Norn:

Due to their close proximity, in recent times the norn have adapted the use of the Charr's inhalers. They once had their own design, but that was lost when they were forced to flee their homes.

Asura:

The Asura commonly used inhalers like the real world accuhaler, though this has one difference. Instead of numbers provided to you to see how many doses you have left, their are lights. Green will be lit up when you have over half available, orange will be lit up when you have less than half available, and the red will light up when it is empty. It is commonly found in the black color, but it also found in many bright colors.

Humans:

The humans have adapted use of asuran inhalers, ones owned and sold by humans are carved with scrips from their gods for luck.

Sylvari:

When the secondborn awakened, the pale tree noticed that there were more and more being born that sometimes struggled to breathe. Through the dream she eventually learned of the charr nebulizers and was able to blossom flowers inspired by this. They work almost exactly like a nebulizer. These come in all colors.

Notes:

In recent years, you can find these inhalers in use by all races (except for the charr and sylvari due to them literally not able to)

[just-norn-things]

Rhianwen meets the Asura

This is a companion piece born from an ask game. The rest of the answers are here. Contains heavy spoilers for LWS2 and TW for various necromantic shenanigans. NB: Apologies in advance to Asura lovers. Rhian is not a fan, so they get trashed a bit here. No hate intended.

Caithe and Faolain had attempted to keep their rescue plans hidden following the kidnap of the Secondborn, but Rhianwen was no fool.

Faolain was sympathetic to Caderyn, and Caderyn wanted his siblings freed, and Caithe would follow anywhere Faolain led.

Rhianwen had felt the dissent amongst some of the Firstborn as the Pale Tree moulded them to her will, and among the Secondborn who felt so inferior. Caderyn was leading the charge to form a new faction of their people, but personally, she was not certain that following one over another would serve her any better.

What would serve her, was finding Canach.

He owed her money.

And so, on an unseasonably chilly afternoon, the three Sylvari slunk quietly into a facility that Rhianwen found distastefully unnatural.

Metal. Everywhere. Screeching, clanking, the foul stench of oil and grease mixing with the sharp ozone of their manufactured magic. These overgrown rats liked to think they were better than the Charr for all their inventions, but Rhianwen begged to differ. The Charr, at least, did not torture innocents for little discernable gain.

These things? These flimsy little psychopaths that fell like saplings in a storm before her reaper's scythe? This world would be better without them, she was sure of it.

She cast her hand over the carnage, a greenish haze surrounding her long fingers to reveal the dead and the dying.

There.

She had felt it.

One remained, hovering at the precipice, neither in this world nor the next.

"Please," it begged. "It's not my time...the life force...I have too much to accomplish."

"Do you?" She was not one for mercy, as a rule, but this creature was bolder than the rest. It had her attention, for the moment. She reached out, a ghostly extension of her arm drifting towards the Asura, her long fingers wrapping around its throat, holding it back from the mists. For now. "Why? Tell me why you should live."

"My work is vital! The power we can salvage from your kind...it could change how we live!"

"At what cost?"

"Cost?"

"My people's lives pay the price for your convenience, is that it?" she answered smoothly, and its massive eyes widened as it comprehended its peril.

"If we could only study a few more-"

Her ghostly fingers tightened, and the soul of the Asura was gone before its broken corpse hit the ground.

"Your life is forfeit, but you will still assist us," Rhianwen spat, and with a wave of her hand, the Asura rose once more, head lolling, limp feet dragging obscenely on the ground.

One by one, the creature placed it's palm on the control panels of the cages, and one by one, the traumatised Secondborn were released.

"I have heard human children play with puppets in their capital," Faolain mused, as Rhianwen released her minion and watched it fall once more. "Perhaps you could amuse yourself there if the Grove no longer draws you, sister."

"Death is no game."

"I still think Caderyn would have you, Rhianwen."

"And I still find him equally tedious. Liars, him and the Tree both. We are more than they say. They seek to control and stifle us, just like these rats. I only wish to be free."

"Do not let Caithe hear you say such things. She has not yet come around."

"She will not. Her loyalty to our mother knows no bounds, Faolain."

"You do not know my Dearheart as I do."

Rhianwen gave a wry smile.

"And you speak to me of puppets."

Faolain narrowed her eyes and stalked away to find Caithe, long petals swishing as she moved.

Rhianwen's gaze returned to the bodies before her.

Death would be a new beginning for these creatures. They could atone for the sins of their kind, and build a better world when their souls returned. There were opportunities abound in the Mists, if one knew the way.

And Rhianwen knew the way.

[teecupangel]

Hi!

Have you ever heard of guild wars 2? I’ve been playing it a lot and I found myself wondering what races Desmond and his ancestors would be (and…. maybe how Desmond as the Commander would be like 👀)...

I’ve never played it but I have heard of it and was interested in it because a friend of mine suggested we play it (we never did, the woes of adulthood XD).

Anyway, for this one, I kinda like the idea that this is modern day and Desmond, Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton all meet in the game and form a guild of their own.

Like, they were all part of another guild but Altaïr had a falling out with the guild leader so he left. Desmond, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton are the closest players to him so they left with him and they build their own guild with Ezio pushing the leadership role to Altaïr because he is the one who left and ‘dragged’ them with him (“I didn’t drag any of you, you followed me” “And now you have to take responsibility.”)

It won’t be long before their guild starts getting other members.

Some were from their old guild who quit after realizing the guild leader was a dick and went to their guild.

Some are their friends who thought it would be more fun to be in the same guild as them.

Others are newbies that someone had adopted along the way (this is usually Ezio).

Because of how big their guild is growing, Altaïr made Desmond a commander because he was, in Altaïr’s own words, ‘the least annoying member in the guild’ which is really Altaïr-speak for ‘everyone likes you’.

Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton also gets promoted to be lieutenants and there’s some questions why Altaïr doesn’t just become the commander since he’s the squad leader which can easily be silenced by:

“Who do you like more, Altaïr or Desmond?”

As for their races and professions…

It’s possible that they’d all decide to be specialized Thieves with Altaïr taking Spectre, Ratonhnhaké:ton taking Deadeye and Ezio taking Daredevil while Desmond goes for Firebrand Guardian because someone had to take the healing/tank role for the party.

But to make it a little fun, everyone decides a different class other than Thieves (maybe they do have an all Thieves alternate account with Desmond staying as a Thief and not getting any specialization or they’re all Thieves without any expansion who focused on different cores with Desmond going for Trickery, Ratonhnhaké:ton with Critical Strikes, Ezio with Deadly Arts and Altaïr with Shadow Arts)

Desmond:

Human Necromancer (Core: Death Magic with a bit of Blood Magic and Curses)

If he did get an expansion, he would be a Scourge

Oh, he definitely got a necromancer because he died in canon. Also, scourge was picked because “Burn and Torment your foes, punish their boons and bolster your allies” sounds very Desmond XD

Serves more as a sorta debuffer/support/sub-DPS in the party

Altaïr:

Asura Charr (Core: Illusions with a bit of Chaos and Domination)

If he did get an expansion, he would be a Mirage.

In other words, Altaïr’s way of fighting is like he’s using the powers of his Apple in this game.

his Thief alternate account is an Asura though

Serves as a sub-DPS and debuffer in the party.

Ezio:

Sylvari Guardian (Core: Honor with minor Valor and Radiance)

If he did get an expansion, he’d go for Firebrand.

Ezio gets to be the Guardian more because he can be any classes and these party needs a freaking tank and healer as well as a ‘reference’ to his prophet status in canon.

Serves as the Tank and Healer of the party.

Ratonhnhaké:ton:

Norn Ranger (Core: primarily Marksmanship with minor Skirmishing and Beastmastery)

If he got an expansion, definitely going for Soulbeast.

Ratonhnhaké:ton is based on his hunter experience in canon as well as his deadliness with the bow.

Serves as the primary DPS of the party.

Unorganized Notes:

By Guild Wars 2 standards, their guild is more on the smaller side but they synergies well with one another that they can go toe-to-toe with the large guilds.

The other members of their guilds are other canon Assassins and some allies.

Leonardo is definitely a Mechanist in Ezio’s sub-group

Edward is Ratonhnhaké:ton’s grandfather and playing Guild Wars is one of the few ways he can keep in touch with his grandson. He plays as Willbender that acts as a tank in Ratonhnhaké:ton’s sub-group. He also sometimes act like the sub-leader of their group.

Whenever Desmond has to act like a commander, he’s more focused on everyone’s stats and would command them from the backline. His class as a necromancer helps with this because he can focus on debuffing the enemies while his minions do damage on his behalf and get aggro away from other players.

[teejaystumbles]

Your Love Is Sunlight

A Guild Wars 2 Dreamling fanfiction

(I wrote the Guild Wars AU I desperately wanted because I think Dream is absolutely made to be Sylvari - born from the Dream, connected to his race via their shared subconscious - it just screamed Dream to me and therefore I made two new characters in GW2 and wrote them a tiny story LOL. This is spoiler-free for Guild Wars, I tried to keep it in the early personal story and not mention major things. You don't need to know anything about Guild Wars to enjoy this, a lot of Sylvari things are actually mentioned and explained in this, anything else is not really important.)

It's a simple escort job through the Gendaran Fields to Lion's Arch but the caravan is big and a few adventurers have been hired as guards. Dream would normally not waste time with something like this, but he is expected in Lion's Arch and therefore joining the caravan is no hassle. He would be faster alone, but something about the colourful wagons and the cheerful atmosphere draws him in and he decides to tag along. The caravan is made up of a troupe of entertainers, actors and musicians, dancers and jugglers. Dream watches them laugh and tease each other with fascination. They are a mixed group, Human, Asura, Norn and even Charr, and despite their different races they seem to be getting along well. There are no Sylvari among the group and Dream is both relieved and disappointed. He had hoped to ask a sibling after their experience with these people, had hoped for new stories. But he doubts his questions would have been welcome. He looks like a member of the Nightmare Court, after all.

The group is setting up a camp for the night when Dream, lost in thought, trips over a root and stumbles into the back of a nearby human. The huge dog at the man's side immediately growls at him and Dream stumbles back as the ranger turns.

"I apologise…" Dream says and keeps a careful eye on the dog, but it goes quiet after only a click of the tongue of its master.

The man, who has a bow and sword strapped to his back, stares at Dream with a wide grin and bright eyes and eagerly takes Dream's hands into his own. "No matter! It is an honour to meet a child of the Pale Tree! Well met, friend!"

Continue reading on AO3 or below the cut!

Dream pulls his hands free and takes a hasty step back. The human's dog sniffs at his leg and he shifts uneasily. 

"Friend…?" Memories of dreams of so-called friends betraying each other fill his mind. 

Smiles and supper shared. Then stabbing him into the back when he turns.

He frowns and shakes his head to disperse them, forcing himself to speak. 

"I don't know you. We are not friends. Trust. Has to be earned."

The human stops smiling and looks at him with an almost pained expression. He brushes his shoulder-length dark hair out of his face and tugs on his earlobe. "You are right. Forgive my haste. My name is Hob Gadling. Just Hob is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you…?"

"...Dream."

The bright smile is back in an instant. "What a wonderful name! Dream. Beautiful, just like you!"

Dream feels himself glow and shrink in on himself, his petals shivering. There is no heart in his body but he feels a heat inside his chest that makes him feel like there should be. No one has called him beautiful before. He is too pale, too dark, too broken by nightmares. His sisters and brothers shy away from him, sensing the turmoil of his dreams, the negative emotions that shaped him. If this human knew him like they know him, would he still smile at Dream in such a way?

He does not dare find out and quickly turns away, leaving the human standing with a hastily mumbled apology. He flees to the far side of the camp and lays out his bedroll. The human had looked taken aback but had not followed him. Dream is - again - both relieved and disappointed at that. He lies down and closes his eyes, willing himself to rest and sleep.

~

He wakes from nightmares in the middle of the night, as usual, and silently slips out of the camp towards the nearby river to watch the moon and the glowing insects until the sun rises and the first people begin to stir.

The next day is uneventful. Except for a few huge glowflies attacking them when they pass through a swampy area, nothing happens that the hired adventurers can’t handle. Dream watches the human from last night  - Hob Gadling - masterfully use both bow and sword to swiftly deal with any aggressive wildlife. Their eyes meet a few times and Hob gives him a friendly smile every time. When they make camp for the night again Dream finds himself close to the man again but feels at a loss for words. Fortunately, Hob does not seem to have any qualms to initiate another conversation.

"Have you been to Lion's Arch before, Dream?"

Dream looks up from inspecting his daggers and sees that the human is busying himself with his pack and quiver, and giving his dog a few strips of dried meat. Dream watches him scratch the dog and coo at it quietly before he finds his voice.

"Yes."

Hob looks back at him. "And how did you find it? I think it's too big for me. I got lost the first few times. Ended up in a cave with a dead pirate playing hide and seek, I almost died - stupid old bastard." He laughs loudly and Dream can only stare in fascination. This human is so. Happy. While telling of a life-threatening situation. It is. Confusing. And fascinating.

Hob has set down his weapons and pack and sits on a log, watching Dream with clear, amber eyes. His smile shows no sign of diminishing.

"Won't you sit with me, Dream? I've always wanted to ask a Sylvari about those dogs some of you are keeping as companions."

Dream slowly and carefully perches on the other end of the log and says: "You mean Sylvan Hounds?"

"Yes! Those!" Hob pats his dog happily and looks at Dream full of anticipation, his eyes bright and friendly. The man seems genuinely nice. Dream will stay alert but simply talking to this human…is probably not that dangerous.

Gaining someone’s trust is the first step to a successful betrayal , a well-known voice in his mind whispers. Dream has always had the suspicion that it is the voice of Cadeyrn, taunting him from the Nightmare…

"They are born just like we are. From the Pale Tree, but they're not…sapient, like us."

"They're like dogs." Hob grins and pat's his hound again. Dream nods. "Yes."

"But they're plants."

"All Sylvari are plants."

"I know, it's fascinating, isn't it? And to imagine that the eldest of you are only, what, about 30 years old?" Hob laughs and shakes his head in wonder. Dream frowns. He does not like that his race is often compared to children. Sylvari have much to learn, that is true, but they are not simple . They are simply new to this world, their history short.

"Is it true that no one knows how old you can actually get?"

Dream lifts his eyes from the forest floor and stares at Hob in bafflement. He can't help a sneer and shifts subtly away from the human.

"It is. Why does that ‘ fascinate’ you? Because we are so young to have so far never died of natural causes? Because this world kills us rather than let us live our life to the fullest?"

Dream feels himself shivering with fury. He doesn't know why he is angry. Hob's question was innocuous enough, something anyone might ask a Sylvari. Death as such is not something the Sylvari view as a terrible fate, they find it interesting and do not share the same fear of it as the other races. His elder sister is constantly researching the topic. Yet Dream feels only rage at the reminder of how many of his siblings have died for Tyria, for the fight against the Elder Dragons. He thinks of his closest siblings, born with him and shortly after him. Destiny, as close to their mother as only the Firstborn are, rarely emerging from her grove. Death, named after what fascinates her most, always wandering, never in one place for long. Despair, dead. Desire, her twin, lost to the Nightmare Court. Delirium, who sleeps and stays inside the Dream rather than face the real world. Destruction, who chose to become soundless. Himself, always courted by the Nightmare, constantly fighting against his dark side.

He thinks of them and feels sadness, and rage. How dare the other races judge them? How dare this human ask him how old a Sylvari can get, when from the moment they are born they have to struggle for survival, for sanity, for recognition as sentient beings, for the simple right to exist?

They will never treat us as anything but expendable curiosities. We have to show them what we are capable of , Cadeyrn whispers in his mind. Dream drops his head into his hands and pulls at his sapphire blue leaves. 

Shut up! Get out of my head!

Hob beside him grows tense and leans forward. When a gentle hand lands on his shoulder, Dream flinches violently and looks up with wide eyes. Hob lets go immediately when he sees his face.

"Hey," the man says, his voice quiet and careful, "are you alright? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried. It's just," he shakes his head and pulls again at his earlobe, "I've always wanted to meet one of your kind and you looked lonely. And I thought you'd like someone to talk to."

Dream stares at him, momentarily lost for words, anger still rolling inside him. Then he jumps up from the log and snarls: “Lonely?! I am connected to the subconscious of my entire race and our mother. I am never alone . You dare make assumptions when you know nothing of my kin and I.”

He grabs his pack and stalks away, ignoring Hob’s soft plea to wait.

~

That night he dreams again of Despair’s death, of Desire’s subsequent descent into madness. How he begged them to stay, how they still turned from him and joined the Nightmare Court. How when he last met them, they had wrapped him in thorny vines and cooed at him to join them, licking the sap running from his throat where the thorns made him bleed.

‘Just let go, sweet Dream. Embrace your deeper urges, your violent tendencies, your love of the night. Come with me, brother. It will finally make you happy…’

Dream surges awake with a gasp and a cry, startling a nearby Asura, who looks at him first with worry, then with typical scientific curiosity. He makes haste to grab his bedroll and pack and leave their vicinity, before he becomes the subject of an Asuran study into Sylvari dreams. He finds himself drifting closer to Hob again during the day. When night falls they make camp for the last time on their journey. They will reach Lion’s Arch tomorrow and Dream will have to meet with Caithe and the other heroes of old to discuss the ongoing threat to Tyria. He might not see any of these people again, and it is that thought that lets him stay when he sees Hob coming towards him and gingerly set down his pack beside him.

Dream is no longer angry. He knows Hob is right in his assessment that Dream is lonely, despite anything he said last night. His connection to other Sylvari through the Dream is tenuous and constantly strained by nightmares, which others can sense when they meet him. He has thought about becoming soundless, like his brother Destruction, but has shied away from taking such a radical step to remove himself from the Dream. He cherishes the sense of love he gets from their mother, even if it is faint. He doesn’t think he could bear to lose it.

Hob approaches him cautiously and sits down on a tree root. He says: “I apologise for yesterday, Dream. I did not mean to offend.”

He smiles gently. "We’ll soon reach Lion’s Arch, and honestly, I could use the company, because…I realised that it is actually me who’s lonely,” he chuckles and tugs again at his earlobe.  Dream’s eyes widen at the man’s words, said softly and with a hint of sadness, but ringing true. 

“How about you ask me questions? I'd love to tell you anything you might want to know."

Dream licks his lips and blinks a few times to clear his mind. Hob's smile is making that warm place in his chest feel tender and mellow again. This human is truly...

"Weird."

"Huh?"

"You are the weirdest human I have ever met." Dream says, his voice rough. His throat is as dry as old bark. Hob laughs. "You're not the first to say that! Although I really don't understand why being friendly gets you called weird in this world."

He grows solemn, the corners of his mouth turning down. "Makes you think, doesn't it?" he muses and looks down at his dog, which is happily lying beside him, head on Hob's feet. Dream watches him closely, intrigued, and takes in more details. Hob is not particularly tall or particularly broad for a human, but he is still a lot broader than Dream. The muscles of his arms and legs are well defined by his shirt and leather trousers. This man is a fighter, his fingers callused by arrows and sword, the backs of his hands littered with scars, but his face is gentle and his whole demeanour one of kindness. Dream catalogues his colours the only way Sylvari can - by comparing them to plants. Hob's hair is as dark as ebony, his skin the colour of an unpeeled almond, and his eyes are like dark apricot tree sap. He has a strong nose and a chin with a cleft and the shadow of a beard that Dream finds fascinating. Hob is handsome, for a human.

"It seems you like animals better than your fellow men." Dream states rather than asks and Hob looks back up at him quickly and gives a small chuckle.

"Well, you're not wrong. I mean, I like people, I do, but animals - they're just easier, you know? A dog will not mind if you love it too much. It will give you its life and loyalty and love and never question yours if you treat it right."

Dream cocks his head and frowns. "Do humans not...like to be loved?" *By you*, he does not say but wonders as he watches Hob pet his dog. Anyone this man loves must be the luckiest person in the world, he thinks and is glad that his skin does not blush and the encroaching darkness of the night makes his stronger glow seem like a natural occurrence. Hob absently scratches his chin and huffs a laugh. "Of course they do. I'm just... too much, it seems. For some." He clears his throat and then adds with a grin: "So please, ask away. I will annoy you long before you can annoy me."

Dream frowns again. "You... are not annoying. You are curious, but kind. I find myself grateful... for your company. Hob." 

The smile Hob levels at him is nearly blinding and Dream feels himself glow even brighter. Hob's eyes twinkle and his delight is plain on his face. "You're glowing! Is that because it's getting dark? Do you only glow at night or also when it's bright? Do you all glow in different colours?"

Dream can't help but duck his head shyly and mumble: "It's...I..."

Hob sharply sucks in a breath and lifts his hands in an apologetic gesture. "Sorry, sorry, here I go again, asking about personal things. You don't have to answer that. I just," he falters and rubs his neck again, a blush rising on his cheeks. "It looks...very beautiful."

Dream feels his glow brighten even more and this time he can see that Hob has caught it. He leans closer and looks at Dream more closely. “It got stronger. Are you…are you blushing ? Is it like a human blush, when your glow-”

“Yes!” Dream blurts out and grips the bark of the root he’s sitting on tightly, his posture growing more and more rigid. Hob stares at him with his mouth open and his eyes wide in wonder. Then he smiles again and Dream knows if he wasn’t wrapped in a cloak he would be lighting up their small corner of the camp like a torch.

“Please stop,” he begs and wraps his arms around himself, “calling me beautiful.”

Hob scoots closer to him and waits until Dream meets his eyes again.

“Why?” he asks softly, “It’s the truth. You are gorgeous, Dream. Has no one ever told you that?”

Dream feels himself start to shiver. “No,” he whispers, “I am. Not used to compliments.” He is used to frightened glances, to suspicious glares, to whispers behind his back. ’He feels off.’ ‘His eyes are like tar pits.’ ‘He’s going to join the Nightmare Court, I’m sure of it.’ ‘Look at that one, are you sure he’s no courtier? Let’s better not get too close.’

Hob puts a hand on Dream’s shaking shoulder and this time Dream doesn’t flinch away. The touch grounds him and he feels himself lean into it. Hob’s hand is warm where it touches him and suddenly Dream craves warmth. He does not need sunlight and prefers the nighttime, having been born of the Cycle of Night, but he does not enjoy being cold. Hob’s touch makes him feel like he has only ever been cold. He can’t remember when someone last touched him with kindness either.

Hob must sense how Dream relaxes because after only a moment he gently coaxes him to lean more firmly against Hob’s shoulder. Dream wants to melt into his arms and feels instantly ashamed of his reaction.

You don’t know anything about this man. Humans are violent creatures of the flesh, always hungry, don’t mistake their intentions.

Dream would give an arm and a leg if it meant being rid of that voice inside his head. He closes his eyes and whispers: “You see me like no one before has. Sometimes I think too many nightmares made their way into my being…that I am tainted beyond help. Does not my appearance prove it? There is no light in my eyes, like in those lost to the Nightmare Court…and my siblings fear me.” The words spill forth almost without his consent.

Hob hums and wraps his arm tighter around Dream’s shoulders. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think they are fools. It is clear to me that you are not evil, Dream, and I find you more than beautiful. Your eyes are like the rarest black pearls,” 

Dream feels a gentle touch on his cheek and opens his eyes to stare into Hob’s warm amber ones, 

“and you’re the most magical thing I have ever seen,” Hob murmurs softly and brushes his fingertips reverently under Dream’s eyes. Dream inhales deeply and feels his gaze drawn to Hob’s mouth. Hob notices and quirks his lips but doesn’t say anything. Dream swallows and decides to take a leap of faith.

“Earlier…I wondered. How anyone could find you…too much. I thought…I would be so lucky. To be loved by someone like you.”

Hob’s nostrils flare and his eyes widen a bit before another one of his brilliant smiles lights up his face. He leans closer and says, lips almost touching Dream’s: “You’re in luck, then. You should know…I fall in love ridiculously easily. And I can tell that loving you,” Dream feels Hob’s breath on his lips and lets his eyes drop closed again, “will be no hardship at all. My Dream.”

Their lips meet and Dream sighs happily into the kiss, feeling Hob’s warmth radiate from his mouth and hands on his shoulders. Hob pulls back after only a moment but strokes Dream’s cheeks gently and gives him another smile that makes Dream feel like the sun has risen again. Still, he cannot help but give voice to his insecurities:

“Please. Hob. Be honest. Do you…fall out of love just as easily?”

Hob lets out a startled laugh and brushes a sapphire leaf out of Dream’s face. “Didn’t I tell you? I usually am told that I’m too much. Once I latch onto someone, it’s hard to get rid of me.”

He brushes his mouth against Dream’s glowing cheek and adds, more softly: “I’m like a dog, Dream. Treat me kindly and let me love you…and I will stay with you forever.”

Dream gasps and turns his face towards Hob’s. His hands come up to touch his cleft chin in awe and feel his stubble, trace the contours of his face and feel the silky texture of his hair. “You are a wonder, Hob Gadling.”

Hob blushes and laughs again and leans in to kiss him again, something Dream is only too happy to grant. He pulls Hob closer and down onto the mossy forest floor, so he can finally have Hob’s warm body cover his lengthwise. They trade kisses and gentle touches, marvelling at the other in the glow of Dream’s bioluminescence. After a while Hob suddenly hums in thought and a tiny frown appears on his forehead as he seems to contemplate something.

"Dreams and nightmares…I’ve heard your mother only puts special memories into the Dream, right? Significant ones?"

Dream nods and shuffles closer into Hob’s embrace.

"Ones with impact, that create significant feelings, good or bad, have a higher chance to resonate with her, and thus within the Dream, yes."

Hob grins and caresses Dream’s back and sides with his broad palms. Dream relishes the heat coming off his hands and body and sighs again happily. He wants to feel them against his skin, but there will be time for that later, he hopes. 

Hob says: "Let me give you a memory to stick, then. Let me give you a thousand . Your mother shall know my love for you and feel proud. I want her to know the depth of my gratitude for having given life to you, my Dream."

Dream pulls back to properly look into Hob’s face. He feels himself smile in what feels like the first time since his sister died.

"Very well. May my memories of you shine so brightly that they vanquish a thousand nightmares the Court has created, Hob Gadling. May your radiant smile live in the Dream as eternal inspiration and delight for our mother and all unborn Sylvari."

[commander-gloryforge]

ok i'm making a post about all my ships for real

theyre not even going into detail about teh character dynamics theyre really just. for me to remember that i DO have gay people in love. cursive are either broken up couples or ships that wont sail/cant really be called a "relationship"

Aurora Leuchtfeuer + Léa Grey (human/human) - they got together pretty much right after the Personal Story was concluded and Aurora joined a guild called Legend's Rise where she met Léa. They stayed together until like... I wanna say Season 2? They're still on good terms though

Azura + Mirella Goldhauch (sylvari/norn) - gfs forever. Azura is the leader of Legend's Rise, Mirella is the... co leader? Technically she was promoted to leader but really. Whatever. Got together during HoT I think, are still together!

Naymarin + god how is her name spelled again Kasawary ???? (sylvari/sylvari) - met in the dream, stayed together 5 ever. Mine and my best friends characters. They kiss and smooch.

Temmie + Wrennih (+Iira) (asura/asura) - formerly part of the same krewe. Wren decided that his beloved gf is a little too violent and unethical and he left the Inquest and her. They're on good terms. The kind of good terms where you do want to burry yourself when you see your ex in public but you also don't have any beef with them

Dean Skygleam + Rian Starbloom (human/sylvari) - No idea what I was going for with these guys. They're underdeveloped so far and they do hate each other and also fuck nasty but like no idea what their story is to be honest.

Rhea Hauntingvoice + Junko Haloglow (charr/human) - Better known as HolyHaunt, a emo music duo. Rhea is gay in love with Junko. Junko is really busy playing bass and talking to the ghosts in their head.

Periya + Helena Desertsong (sylvari/norn) - THE BEST GIRLS EVER travel the world and the mists and kill the same enemies again and again to help commanders from different timelines. THEY KISS

Vinzz + Ambrose (asura/human) - Vinzz has a gay crush on Ambrose and Ambrose wants to leave the room right now. Kind of a joke ship but also weirdly cute.....

Song Byungjoon + Zia Promisebreaker (human/human) - underdeveloped but they will be gay at some point :) both inspired by Ateez songs so they have that going for eachother.

Corvid Pyrevoice + Bragi the Limited (asura/norn) - they are part of a boyband. and gay. Bragi belongs to @moonlit-grove :)

Rifthunter Elisa + Demonologist Demian (human/asura) - THE ULTIMATE PAIR MY FAVORUITES they hate eachother soooooo much i swear they haaaate eachother for reallarrartgagggfgffg

[pyreo]

I know there's people who like their fantasy storytelling to take a few steps away from reality, you know. Nothing that verges on allegorical to the stuff we worry about in real life. And I think I'm on the opposite team to that and y'know, the further away we get from gw2's original core story the more I see The World Summit instance as more pivotal than it appeared.

It's the part in the middle of Season 2 where you bring the world leaders together to try and insist that they need to aid you fighting Mordremoth, a primal force who's only just now awakened and started causing disruption and deaths. Mechanically, it serves to show the various cultures being made aware of the upcoming antagonist for mostly the first time.

But there's something that grips me to this day about the realism in that segment. You know full well that this thing is beginning its warpath and will kill those around you. You and your guild know that you need to take action immediately before it gathers itself together to a point you cannot fight it any more. I don't think the scene serves much more than obligatory scaffolding in a narrative sense but it echoes the way I feel in real life all the time. It's the focal point where I've never felt more aligned with my Commander.

Smodur: They're plant creatures! How hard can they be to fight. One good flamethrower and…

Knut: Mordremoth is not yet as close as the Sons of Svanir. They press in around our homesteads. That is more important.

Phlunt: Are you saying we should put ourselves on the line to protect all of you? We are safe in Rata Sum.

Jennah: I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't see how this will work. What are you asking of us?

It's not easy to ask the Main Five Peoples to get anything done together - they do come from legitimately incompatible cultures and there's bad history between humans and charr, and sylvari and asura. But you have to present an argument to each one to convince them this is the most important thing to devote resources to.

It's been about ten years since this was written and it still feels exactly like every conversation that deflects from the reality of climate change. The 'we have bigger things to worry about', the 'it's not that bad', the denials, the giving up, the ones who have enough to feel secure individually and don't really care.

That and the way the narrative turns from 'you're the hero, slay the dragon' to a domino effect that cannot be stopped, wrenching the planet off its hinges and it was all down to you. There's a big difference in changing the threat from ancient dragons awakening to devour all life... and it being the Commander's fault that the stabilising effect those dragons had is unplugged. The allegory becomes undeniable - you doomed the world. You have to chase down that tether and pull the weave back from unravelling even if it'll tear you apart. And even if nobody realises how close their lives are to ending, even if nobody respects you for it.

You have to look the most powerful people alive in the eye and plead with them to fucking help you for god's sake knowing it's a crisis and if you don't take action right now instead of waiting for it to get worse... being able to tell them 'I told you so' will be no solace at all.

And fuckin.... if fantasy stories are there to give us hope for ourselves, nothing hits as directly as the journey from "It's not that bad, why should we put anything on the line for you?" to

That hope means something very real to me.

[deck16]

I ran the first chapter of a homebrew Guild Wars 2-themed campaign in Pathfinder Second Edition. This post talks about how it went.

Overview

The time: 1325 AE, around the time that Guild Wars 2's Personal Story begins.

The place: The Stronghold of Ebonhawke and surrounding areas.

The starting premise: The heroes are adolescents living in a long-term refugee camp inside Ebonhawke, consisting mainly of those displaced by the Ogre Revolt. The heroes will start with small quests to help out the camp, and in doing so, discover and face greater threats to Ebonhawke.

I tried to keep close to the Guild Wars lore, but I'm certain I will have made some mistakes.

The first chapter dealt with these major themes:

The difficult road to peace. Animosity between charr and humans, featuring Separatist and Renegade forces. The heroes confronted hatreds both violent and more subtle.

Complex moral choices. When is it right to do harm for a greater good?

Found family.

The first chapter ran over approximately 30 sessions over the course of about 6 real-world months. Characters went from level 1 to 4 in that time.

We played using Foundry. The screenshots in this post depict actual Foundry scenes, albeit with post-hoc recreations of character positioning.

The Player Characters

I won't name names because I don't want to over-share characters that aren't mine. I will instead refer to them in this post by class. The party was:

Male charr fighter

Male charr kineticist (fire)

Nonbinary sylvari druid (art source)

Female human cleric

Female human psychic

(See more about the Guild Wars races here).

I made custom rules for these ancestries:

Humans were PF2e humans, with a few extra Guild Wars options added.

Sylvari were lightly-modified PF2e ghoran, with a few extra Guild Wars options added.

Charr I created as an ancestry from scratch.

No asura or norn. No-one chose those races, so I didn't need to make custom ancestries for them.

No custom rules were made for classes. Some were natural fits: kineticist as elementalist, psychic as mesmer, fighter as warrior. Cleric and druid did not fit the game's classes so well (unless you include the Guild Wars 1 monk), but in my opinion they fit the game's genre just fine.

All PCs were refugees living in the camp. Non-sylvari characters were aged around 13-16 years. The humans were twins, who emerged from the Ebonhawke asura gate with no memory of their past.

They started out as a group of friends, and that developed as they adventured together.

Player Character Arcs

Fighter

Fighter was the group's self-appointed leader. He called them "The Great Warband". He was brashly over-confident, optimistic, cheerful, and naive. This personality would be worn down by harsh realities of the world.

Of most impact, he wanted to be able to join Psychic and Cleric in a human-only public speaking competition, going so far as to appeal to the human government. This would lead to double tragedy: his request was officially denied by a harsh panel of Ministers, despite an emotional appeal. Worse, Separatist thugs would ambush the party and beat Fighter badly for daring to make the appeal, causing him to lose an eye (on the player's suggestion!) and some amount of his childish innocence and optimism.

Supported by the twins, fighter makes his case to Lord Faren and a number of human ministers.

Kineticist

Kineticist was stoic and sensible. Devoted to Mara, the camp, and his friends, he worried over intra-group tensions. He kept his fire-magic a secret from non-party onlookers, lest he be mistaken for Flame Legion.

Moral but pragmatic, he was tested when he had to perform dark deeds for the greater good, the prime example being when he was forced to kill a Flame Legion charr cub who was moments away from activating a dangerous flame effigy.

Kineticist moves to kill a charr cub before she can light a flame effigy.

Psychic

Psychic was head-strong and confident; and a skilled talker. She was independent, always wanting to tackle problems directly rather than seek aid. She resented the deference other members of the party had to adults, thinking her comrades were as capable as any adult.

While far from being evil, she was the party member with the least compunction when it came to doing harm. To her, the ends justified the means. She fiercely protected her sister Cleric. Sometimes this would put her in trouble the rest of the party would have to help her out of. Other times this led her to cruel acts, such as killing a non-combatant Separatist child who sneered with delight at the party being in danger.

Cleric

Cleric was kind and hopeful, but also a realist. She accepted that dark deeds sometimes were needed, but did everything possible to avoid them. A devotee of Dwayna, she sought to help those in need.

Non-confrontational and empathetic, she clashed least with other party members. Pragmatic and phlegmatic, she was affected least by the dark moments of this first chapter, as she was always motivated to do measurable good no matter how small that seemed in the grander scheme.

Sometimes I would use maps that were more "mood-setters" than actual battle-maps. Here's Gwen's courtyard. Druid's animal companion Thunder was a Krytan Drakehound that originally belonged to Gwen. Gwen was happy enough to give the animal away to a better owner.

Druid was non-violent and carefree, even to the point of taking a mostly-support role in combat. Though technically younger than the others, Druid believed themselves wiser, and sought to guide the party. Mainly, they wanted the party to be less hot-headed and less risk-taking. The advice wasn't always welcomed: to some characters at some times it felt more scolding than sage advice. Late in the chapter, Druid decided to shed some of their more idealistic ideas for a harder stance, the ramifications of this as-yet mostly unseen.

Story Arcs

Several story arcs were interwoven together chronologically. I am going to present these by theme, to be less confusing.

Some elements of the story are not fully explained; I am only including things the players are aware of! No spoilers here for the next chapter!

In an early adventure, the heroes were sent to gather scrap metal from a charr war machine. They needed to fend off Gwen's gang who were hoping to do much the same.

Chores

A charr called Mara Trenchleap was the group's defacto parent figure. Leader of the refugee camp in Ebonhawke, she assigned duties to the PCs.

Early adventures dealt with doing chores to help the camp. Collecting devourer eggs. Chasing away pesky skritt. Helping members of the camp. Fairly innocent stuff.

Many of the chores would lead into the story arcs below.

Later they would help Mara prepare for an attack on an Inquest lab (explained below). They would help her find old comrades, and help secure weapons and equipment.

A skritt called Rikkitiktikka shows the party to her then-abandoned scratch. Don't worry: the heroes would go on to rescue the lost skritt from an Inquest lab, find them meaningful employment with the charr legions, and collapse a cavern that links the scratch to an area populated by dangerous Destroyers.

Gwen Thackery-Stubbs

Gwen Thackery-Stubbs was an NPC and daughter of a noble. She was about the same age as the party. Skilled with her father's pistol, she led a small gang of children. She and her gang would often rival the PCs during early sessions.

The party kept things from escalating, so this rivalry did not escalate beyond non-lethal fights. In fact, Gwen would later seek the party's help as her father was investigated by Ebon Guard for smuggling weapons. The party helped destroy some evidence, but it was not enough to keep her father free.

Ultimately, her father was arrested, and Gwen chose to live with the PCs in the refugee camp. Now devoid of money, her old gang had little interest in her, which cemented her allegiance with the PCs and especially Psychic who she looked up to. She even joined them as an NPC party member (at the player's insistence) in the final dungeon, where she did well as a gunslinger.

Later in the chapter, the heroes assaulted the main Separatist HQ in Ebonhawke. The Separatists were away, leaving younger delinquents from Gwen's old gang to guard the place. Despite being badly outnumbered, the party prevailed thanks to the advancements they had made since first tussling with these gang-members. It was mostly a fiery slaughter at the hands of Kineticist.

Separatists

The party interfered with some Separatist plans, especially those to smuggle weapons. Mostly this involved infiltrating various Separatist hideouts within and without Ebonhawke. The PCs also stopped crazed Separatist gunman, and managed to sabotage a Separatist public rally for support.

The party parleyed with Flame Legion. No good; it ended in a fiery fight. Despite outnumbering these Flame Legion five-to-two (there are two non-combatant cubs pictured), these were adult charr and so more mighty than the adolescent PCs.

Flame Legion

Curiously, a Flame Legion shaman was acting this far afield from Flame Legion territory. This shaman had displaced a group of skritt by causing volcanic activity and fire creatures to appear in their cave system.

The party destroyed a large Searing crystal held by the shaman. They killed the arrogant and dangerous Shaman and his Bladestorm comrade in a close battle. In a less-dangerous but darker battle, they killed one of the shaman's cubs as she tried to activate a flame effigy; leaving the shaman's mate to flee with the remaining cubs.

By collapsing the cave system in a bottleneck, the party sealed off the dangerous fiery areas of cavern, allowing the skritt to safely move back in.

The party confronted an icebrood Son of Svanir out on a frozen lake. Knowing this was far too dangerous to fight, they disrupted the ice beneath it, causing it to sink into the chill waters.

The Sentinels and the Inquest

The party would discover that the Sentinels were working with the Inquest to study the Brand. Inquest researcher Materialist Zirri was operating from Sentinel's Perch and used a private asura gate to travel to various Inquest labs.

The party took a job to investigate why one of those labs was not contactable. This lab was in the Far Shiverpeaks, and was unpowered. The party dealt with escaped troll specimens, restored power to the base, reprogrammed golems, and even dealt with some icebrood outside the facility. They rescued surviving Inquest researchers and freed a number of skritt.

During this, the PCs learnt more about Zirri and her research. It quickly dawned upon them she was Inquest -- a fact she had not mentioned. Moreover they discovered evidence and journals that the lab was experimenting on live branded specimens, including from Mara's old 'band: Trench Warband. They told Mara about this.

Mara's history was presented as a little combat, where players took the roles of Hastati, Mara, charr troops, and even branded monsters and the brand itself!

Trench Warband

Part-way through the chapter, Mara told the PCs about her history.

During the Ogre Revolt, she was a part of Trench Warband. Some of her warband were on patrol on the far side of the newly-created Brand. Her Legionnaire -- Hastati Stormtrench -- set out to rescue them, and ordered Mara to collect weapons and the rest of her 'band mates as reinforcements. When she did so, she detoured to help humans stop branded from entering Ebonhawke, knowing that the Branded could spread like a disease from creature to creature. This delay left the Legionnaire without reinforcements, leading to loss of life in the rescue mission.

During all this, Mara's leg was injured and was amputated to prevent her from becoming Branded. While she could still walk with a prosthetic, her reduced mobility saw her removed from the warband.

The PCs met Stormtrench in passing. They became wary of him due to his Inquest allies. They became highly suspicious of him when they met him outside the caverns of the Flame Legion shaman (see above), seemly waiting for some liaison with the shaman. Hastati became irritated when he believed the PCs had fragments of the Searing crystal (which they did), and demanded them. He and his soldiers chased them through the cave, but the PCs managed to lose him.

In Nolan's recreation of Regent Valley, the heroes worked with Mist-exploring asura to force a dangerous aatxe back through its portal deeper into the Mists.

Nolan Mullenix

Nolan Mullenix was a nobleman from Divinty's Reach, and a philanthropist who donated to Mara's camp. To express her thanks, Mara had the PCs do chores for him.

Nolan took a particular interest in the twins, due to their strange origin and their magic talents.

Early on, this included a journey to the ruins of Rin, where the party saw the ghosts of Ascalon. They also ventured into an old Ascalonian tomb.

Later on, they entered Nolan's "sanctuary" in the Mists, which he had modelled to look like pre-searing Ascalon. He tasked them with clearing out some Mist-entities from a corner of his sanctuary. In doing so, the PCs met a group of asura Mist-explorers and after a brief confused combat about who were the real Mist creatures, they teamed up to banish a nasty aatxe and some its shadow-minions.

Later, the party participated in a two-person-team magic duel, as well as a public speaking competition. Fighter lost his eye in challenging the human-only nature of this competition (see "Player Character Arcs" above). The twins won the Ebonhawke regionals, going to the finals in Divinity's Reach. Much of their preparation they did in the peaceful environs of Nolan's Mist Sanctuary, with his permission.

Nolan was friendly to everyone, including the PCs. But they were wary of him, largely because of his power. Not only could he carve out areas of the Mists for his own use, but on a number of occasions the PCs witnessed him using powerful mesmer abilities.

Vistawhiff

Castella Vistawhiff was an Ash Legion spy who was initially encountered when she was investigating Gwen's father on suspicion of arming Separatists.

Vistawhiff would take a liking to Fighter, as Fighter would volunteer any information when asked. Their relationship spoiled when Vistawhiff requested help from Fighter, but Fighter would not abandon the twins during their public speaking performance during the Ebonhawke regionals.

The Necromancer

Early on, the PCs found evidence of a necromancer named Kofi Duskwynn working as a mercenary in the Ebonhawke area. They eventually discovered she was working both sides -- Separatists and Renegades -- taking money and corpses from each to assail the other with necromantic minions.

The PCs explored a dungeon where she had operated from, and witnessed her deal with Separatist forces on a few occasions.

She worked with the Separatists on a new plan. Using a number of special amulets, they planned to create Risen within the charr camp inside Ebonhawke. This would leave the Ebon Guard little choice but to shut the camp down.

The PCs caught wind of this plan, but it would not come to fruition as Kofi abducted Separatist children. Equally furious and scared, the Separatists abducted charr cubs to offer in exchange. They marched on Kofi's lair, hoping to trade, but prepared to fight. The PCs were close behind on all of this, following the Separatists to across into Shiverpeak Foothills to Kofi's lair.

Kofi had not just abducted Separatist children. She had taken Renegade children too. Both Separatist and Renegade forces met outside her dungeon and fought. This was Kofi's plan: the dead would become her army, which she would grow with conquest, all to please Zhaitan who she was sure would conquer all of Tyria sooner or later.

The PCs dove into the fracas to save the charr cubs. From there, they entered Kofi's lair, encountering more squabbling Separatist and Renegades, rescuing more children, and ultimately killing the Necromancer.

In the final battle against the necromancer, Dorothea sneaked ahead with invisibility, allowing her to get the drop on the necromancer when combat broke out.

Chapter End

The story ended with the party split, though this was as-per their choice.

The twins, along with Fighter and NPC Gwen, went to the public speaking competition finals in Divinity's Reach, and won. The prize was a large stipend which could be used for their education.

During their competition, they witnessed Hastati Stormtrench lead a century of charr soldiers through the streets, escorted by Seraph. Announcers calmed the crowd, saying they were heading to the Ebonhawke gate to apprehend "the renegade Trench warband". Though concerned, none of the PCs left the competition.

Meanwhile, Mara was preparing to attack the Inquest lab with some of comrades. She hoped to free her Branded comrades by killing them. Kineticist and Druid were helping make sure the camp would operate as normal without its usual leader.

Vistawhiff had told Legion authorities about Mara's plans, as relayed to her by Fighter. Stormtrench mobilised to strike first, and Mara's plans were halted by his unexpected presence. Mara confronted Stormtrench. Druid tried to help Kineticist escape the scene, but Kineticist would not abandon Mara. Druid's interference led to Druid being skewered by some strange phantasm-like charr conjured by Stormtrench. (Druid would later be stabilised by a charr soldier.)

Kineticist offered himself and the Searing crystals to Stormtrench in order for Mara to not be executed. Little did Stormtrench know that one crystal was left behind, in a hiding place behind the hiding place.

Time Skip

Some time will pass before Chapter Two begins. Probably many months or even some years. What have the players said their characters might do during this time?

Fighter turns vigilante, carving "S" or "R" onto any Separatist or Renegade he can find. He specialises in finding those that try to flee from Ascalon.

Kineticist was spared from execution. Hastati sent him and Mara as prisoners to different work camps. Kineticist was unable to seek Mara, but will have some contact with any who might come to his work camp.

Psychic and Cleric both use their competition prize to study. Psychic studies under Nolan. Cleric seeks a more political angle, and manages to find a position working as Count Anise's assistant.

Druid wandered Tyria, trying to comprehend all that happened.

The Setting

I've always liked Guild Wars as games. I know the setting fairly well. Both of these things made it a good choice for use as an established setting.

It's also a setting that is expansive, yet with plenty of regional detail. It has a living history but with a fairly slow burn, and not a break-neck cavalcade of different world-ending threats. This gives me, as GM, a lot of work with.

A dungeon opened into a secluded valley where moa foraged at a river bank. This valley was purely scenic.

Exploration

One thing I love about Guild Wars 2 as a game is the sense of exploration it fosters. (Check my retrospective if you want to hear me harp on about that.) It was something I wanted to capture in this campaign.

I put vistas into some of the adventures. Literally, I slapped the icon on certain maps. It was fun as a cheeky reference, but it also spoke to the exploration aspect of Guild Wars 2, which I really wanted to capture.

Capturing a sense of place and space is hard in a TTRPG. This was something I tried to do. I went to the effort of getting still shots for many minor scenes. Some screenshots, some not. I curated some of the more iconic music themes from the game. I think it paid off.

A simple cross-the-bridge-in-the-storm scene proved very dramatic. Excellent mileage for something I quickly whipped up with PF2e actions like Crawl, Balance, Grab an Edge; along with Hazard rules giving some random nasty effects to the swaying bridge. The party enjoy a Vista after completing the crossing.

Expository Shortcuts

My players had a mix of Guild Wars 2 experience, from near-zero to quite extensive. This actually worked well both ways.

Working in a well-known setting allowed me, as a GM, to take expository shortcuts. In a typical homebrew world, every person, place, or thing is an unknown to the players, at least initially, and GMs have to work to establish those backgrounds. In a known setting, there's so much to work with that comes "pre-installed" with meaning.

The players learning they were in an Inquest lab meant nothing to the players unfamiliar with the lore. But to those who were, it opened up a whole new bevy of thoughts and concerns. All without me having to lift a finger.

The other fun aspect is that the players that know can explain the lore to the players who don't know in-game and in-character.

This simple mood-setting scene was used a few times. It's a screenshot from Guild Wars 1, in pre-searing Ascalon, and despite dated graphics it still conjures a certain peace. As a scene, it was used for travel, to allow a bit of light role-play between scenes. Later, I'd use this scene after Fighter's brutal beating at the hand of Separatists. He narrated taking the party out of Ebonhawke to the sight of his mother's grave, where he gave a heartfelt speech.

Arcane Influence

There were two major influences for this campaign. The first obviously being Guild Wars 2. The second being Arcane. Arcane's influence was mainly in the story structure: an initial chapter where the characters are adolescents, a time skip, then a continuation of story with them as adults. The first chapter has been the adolescent arc.

Duration

I didn't intend for this first chapter to take as long as it did. As mentioned, it ran over approximately 30 sessions over the course of about 6 real-world months. I think my initial idea was to do half that.

Was it a problem? Not really. While I would prefer my estimations to match reality it was never really the case that the campaign was dragging its feet or meandering without direction.

Part of the of the problem may have been down to my desire to run sessions even when there's known to be low player presence. I made more than one "side quest" adventure for just two or three players. While that makes for a less tight campaign, I think routine and reliability-of-play are imperative for a healthy TTRPG group.

The biggest problem was that PCs went from level 1 to 4 over this chapter. I didn't want to go much higher with them as still adolescents. That's a long time to languish in lower levels, especially for the casters, and that's a mistake I apologise for.

Levels

I am developing a philosophy with PF2e that somewhat mirrors one I settled on way back in 3.5 edition Dungeons and Dragons. Adult humanoid NPCs are, on average, about level 4.

(Yes, this even works with non-combat NPCs. In D&D 3.5e that could be handled with NPC classes. In PF2e, non-combat levels are the way to go.)

I think I kept this sense of scale well. At first the heroes could only contend with other juvenile foes, like Gwen's gang of delinquents (in fact, her gun was quite the frightening novelty in such battles). Later, the heroes could tussle with adults, but they would have to outnumber any that had decent combat training. The PCs might be able to take on some of the weaker "weekend warrior" Separatists, but they could not contend with properly-trained Separatist or charr adults without outnumbering them.

I think it's important to do this sort of thing so the players can intuit what's dangerous and what's not. It seemed to work: they knew serious threats like Sons of Svanir, ettins, and ogres just by seeing them, and either fled or approached with extreme caution.

It's also great for a sense of progression. When, nearer the chapter end, the heroes were able to trounce Gwen's old gang it was clear how far they'd come even with only two levels.

Monsters are a bit of a mixed bag. I wanted a bit of variety, so I did allow some monsters that I thought would be ordinarily too powerful, but just made them weaker versions: that devourer is a juvenile, that spectre is faded, that elemental is lukewarm. I think that's forgivable.

In an especially dark moment, Separatist forces return a charr cub hostage to Renegade forces, along with an armed and timed explosive hidden on her body! This drove home to the heroes how duplicitous the Separatists could be... whether driven by desperation, racial hatreds, or both.

Darkness

Guild Wars 2 is, mostly, a hopeful setting (it's in the theme tune!). As explained above, this campaign was fairly dark.

Partly this was the Arcane influence. The time-skip needed to happen with some uncertainty and looming troubles. Player characters needed to be challenged and maybe even broken. Mentor NPCs needed to meet bad ends.

Overall I do not feel I was wrong to use a darker tone, but I do feel a bit bad about it. It was just a bit overpowering. I don't think there needed to be less darkness. I think there needed to be more lightness: more clear wins, more happy NPCs, more nice moments. A softer mix that could provide a harsher contrast.

Conclusion

Overall, I am glad I ran this campaign. It was a fun TTRPG romp. And there were some memorable moments and powerful RP scenes along the way.

I am always glad when a campaign of mine reaches a chapter-point. To me, it's that same relief as when you see that little "Saving..." notification after a brutally difficult stretch of video game. The progress is "locked in".

I don't like to see campaigns fizzle out, with stories and character arcs left forever hanging. A chapter-point brings enough finale to a story to mitigate this fizzle-factor.

But that doesn't mean I'm content to leave the story there. I hope one day to return for Chapter Two!

[diamond-dangeresque]

it's actually really fucking appalling how many people either Do Not Want To or even Outright Refuse To Play GW1 and then just...remain ignorant about what transpired within these three "campaigns" (plus EOTN and the Bonus Mission Packs).

like, i get it. the gameplay style isn't for everyone. the skill-collecting can get incredibly grating if you don't know what you're doing. the graphics are...an acquired taste. if you're a fan of the Charr, Asura, or Norn...these games do NOT look upon them all that favorably. if you're a Sylvari enthusiast, they're not even in these games; the most you get is seeing the Pale Tree's sapling form and Ventari chilling beside it.

but.

whether it's through a longplay series, or intensive wiki-delving (and GW1's wiki is just as good as GW2's in case you care), or even finally biting that bullet just for those sweet sweet Hall of Monument rewards, please try and learn about these games. i promise you their stories are as good, albeit with some writing rust due to being written pre 2010s. (the latest writing is Winds of Change dated at 2011, i.e. a year shy of 2's proper release.) that the stories are human-centric does not detract from their quality, that the cutscenes are goofy ass in-game-machinima quality and the VAs were—notable names notwithstanding—mostly (probably) interns and whoevers pulled from their desks at ArenaNet does not unsuspend your disbelief (too much) in whatever investment you have in those stories.

please. please. give these games a chance. Guild Wars 2 straight-up does not exist without the campaigns and other expansions from 1 to serve as its backbone.

[wall-legion]

Welcome Commanders~! The Hoelbrak Maid Cafe is Open!

(Welcome to my contribution to NA VS Art Party! This is written from the perspective of being trained as a new employee at the hot new maid cafe in Hoelbrak. Yes, I know it’s weird but please remember I wrote the reason for the charr dance last month. Enough explanation: it’s time to clock in!)

“Hi there!” The norn behind the front counter looks up as you come through the front door, an hour before the cafe is due to open. “You’re the new hire, right? Great! I’m Tora, and I’m the shift lead this morning. Here, the owner put your uniform back here. This is your size, yeah? Okay, good. You go get changed and meet me back out here.” She leads you to the back, and a locker room set up, just off the entryway. There’s a locker already assigned to you, decorated with paper flowers and a tiny welcome banner. Tora leaves you to get changed and, true to her word, is waiting for you when you come back out in your uniform. “You look great! I was a little worried. These can run a little small on some folks, but it looks like a perfect fit on you,” she says with a smile. “C’mon, follow me and I’ll introduce you to everyone who’s working this morning.” You follow her into the cafe proper, and are introduced to the asura Xynni, another norn named Arne, a sylvari named Darragh, and a human named Kennan. Surprised at the gender diversity - after all, thus far you have two female, two male, and one nonbinary coworkers - you ask Tora about this. “Oh, we do that on purpose,” she answers with a laugh. “People see ‘maid’ in the name and come in expecting only females from the various races to be here. It’s a little funny to throw them for a loop. Besides, once they see there’s males too it’s better for business because then we get customers we wouldn’t get otherwise!” You nod after a moment, supposing that makes sense, and Tora pulls you to a table where a menu is awaiting you and has you sit down as the others resume their prep duties for opening. It’s awkward initially as you take your seat: you’re not used to the poofy bow on your back, and it gets caught for a moment on the chair. Tora waits patiently for you to be comfortable before getting started. “Now then,” she begins with a sort of practiced ease, “every guest who comes in is greeted by all available staff with a hearty ‘welcome commander’ when you hear the bell from the door. If you are with a table or a customer, however, don’t interrupt what you’re doing: they come first. The idea is to make our guests feel like they are the most important people in Tyria when they come into have this experience.” She checks your expression to make sure that you’re following along before continuing. “Tables are seated on a rotating basis, and there will be a count maintained by the wait staff at the host station, so that way if you’re assigned there you won’t accidentally give someone too many tables. Not like that isn’t an easy problem to fix, but if someone has had a rough day with a table and you give them one that should have gone to someone else... well, they may let you have a piece of their mind.” You briefly look worried, which she must notice, because she brings her hands up. “Hey, hey hey! Not like you’re going to get yelled at all the time, okay? Just letting you know that people will want to be treated well around here. We want to make sure that people know when they come in that their coworkers are allowed to express their feelings rather than everyone being treated like little restaurant golems. You won’t get in trouble unless you keep doing it or it looks like you’re doing it on purpose. Got it?” You nod, and she smiles. “Good. Now let’s go over this menu. “So because we are the Hoelbrack branch of the maid cafe, we offer the Icebrood menu. It’s really just norn cultural dishes and some specialties that we designed to make fun of Jormag now that they’re gone, and to celebrate where we’re located. The owners are in the process of getting a location set up in Divinity’s Reach and Rata Sum, themed around Scarlet Briar and Mordremoth respectively. But you don’t really need to worry about that unless we need you to transfer. “Every week there’s a new special we’ll be featuring. Since we’re coming into spring, this week we’re debuting a new appetizer called Shiverpeaks Salad using seasonal greens and herbs on it, and a frozen beverage we’re calling Drakkar’s Blood that has fresh strawberries and lime juice in it. You’ll be able to try them both in a little bit, they’re really good! “The rest of the menu is, as I said, typically norn food: roasts and stews, baked vegetable casseroles, fresh breads. Good filling stuff that will make sure you have fuel in you for the adventure you’re about to set off on, that sort of thing. Of course we have some lighter fare for anyone who doesn’t want to eat like they’re at a moot, but where’s the fun in that?” She checks the clock above the bar. “Ooh, we’re getting close on time, aren’t we? Right, here’s the plan for today. I’m going to have you bus tables for this shift so you can learn the work flow, see how the other servers handle the tables, and maybe you can help serve a couple orders or grab drinks if someone’s hands will be full. We’ll go over the drinks menu tomorrow when you come back in. Sound good?” You nod, and watch as she gets back to her feet, picking the menu up as she does. You move to follow, this time sliding a hand behind you to make sure that the bow doesn’t catch on the chair as it moves past. “Excellent. -All right everyone! We have five minutes until open, let’s start final tasks and then do one last look over ourselves to make sure we’re looking sharp!” She keeps speaking as everyone, you included, hustle towards stations to check if everything is ready. “Arne, Kennan, please keep an eye out on our new friend for me please? Thank you! Darragh, I have you scheduled to take a birthday party that is coming in at 1, and that will be a party of eight, so after the initial rush I will be pulling you so we can set that up. Xynni, dearest, your bun is falling out, go fix that.” Xynni dashes off to the bathroom as you check in with Arne and Kennan about the final checklist, and determine that everything is done and ready for opening. As soon as Xynni returns with bun in order, Tora gives everyone a look over. “Thank you Xynni. Everyone, you’re looking as wonderful as can be. Let’s go ahead and show Hoelbrak what we have to offer!” She goes and turns over the open sign on the front door, and not even a moment later the bell rings as guests let themselves in. You take a deep breath and join your coworkers in cheerfully proclaiming, “Welcome commander!”