[GW2] Welcome Auren! {R}

[PinkRose]

Welcome to Saga guild!

Please be sure to read the posts stickied at the top of these forums and be sure you agree with the rules and charter. This guild has a history, as you will see. It is, well, a Saga.

Saga is also part of a multi-game guild formed when a few wandered off to try other games. Sister guilds have formed, and we all come here to check on each other. This multi-game guild is currently called SagaFamily. We are indeed a family.

To become part of that, please take the time to fill out the attached roster card and post it to this message. This procedure is for the others here so they can get to know you. You do not have to fill the roster card out to be part of Saga in-game. You can do it now or in the future. You can fill one out even if you do not wish to join the larger family. There is no pressure, and no rush. Take your time and look around.

As an Initiate, you should now have access to the private game related forums, such as questing and crafting disciplines.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Welcome!

PinkRose
Saga Master of Initiates

[PinkRose]

Roster Card for Saga.

Please write an introduction to your character.
Include name, race, gender, profession, alignment.
If you have any crafting disciplines or have other talents, please include those as well.

Do you have alternate characters on the same server?

How did you hear of us?

Is there anyone you have gotten to know from our family, IC or OOC?

What types of roleplay games have you participated in? (include all types, such as pen/paper or MMORPGs)

What are you looking for as a member of our guild?

Have you read and agree to our Guild Policies and Guidelines?

Please answer the following three questions, IN CHARACTER:

Tell us of your past.

What hobbies and quests do you presently have?

Where do you see yourself in the future?

[Talon]

Welcome, yes!
Pull up a chair and make yourself at home. Maybe somewhere next to Merila. I hear the pie is good.

[Rumze]

Hey there and welcome to the forums!

[Mixxi]

So good to see you! I am constantly amazed that Auren and Psitka are both played by the same person. I love them both, but they are so wildly different. It's great to welcome such a creative RP'er (and excellent player).

[Jasyn]

Wonderful to see you, Auren!  I constantly hear such great things about your characters and hope I get more chances to RP with them someday.

[Auren]

Wow!  So it looks like I never actually filled this out.  With Mahael being pointed in this direction, I figured I'd go ahead and fill it out now as well.

Name:  Auren Garret
Race:  Human
Gender:  Male
Profession:  Guardian
Alignment:  Neutral Good
Talents:  Master Armorsmith, reasonably good at not dying.

Do you have alternate characters on the same server?

Tok the Magnificent - Aeronautical Engineer
Venitus Lethos - Reluctant Necromancer
Xinjia - Mute Assassin
Thalisah - Flower-child
Discord - Mischief-maker
Sether "Seethe" Razorclaw - Ill-tempered Legionnaire
Vikarr Skamkell - Hired Sword, Hammer, Axe, Mace, Longbow, ...
Psitka - ??
And just for kicks:
Auren Garret - Farm boy, Pact Commander, "Golden Boy," "The Radiant"

How did you hear of us?
I heard about Saga through Mixxi, Tuppen, and Talon, mostly.  This was while I was in the Hammers guild.

Is there anyone you have gotten to know from our family, IC or OOC?
Yes, I've come to know a great many of the guild, in many of the games Saga plays.  I've met and played (IC and OOC) with Tuppen, Mixxi, Talon, and Jasyn in GW2.  I've played (IC and OOC) with Kalese in EQ2.  I've played Minecraft with Vilidius, and SWTOR with Raven.

What types of roleplay games have you participated in? (include all types, such as pen/paper or MMORPGs)
I've played a lot of MMORPGs, a fair number of traditional RPGs like Final Fantasy on the SNES and new consoles, Legend of Zelda games, and very few pen and paper RPGs.

What are you looking for as a member of our guild?
A fun community to play video games and other games, if possible, across a wide variety of mediums (though mostly through the PC medium).

Have you read and agree to our Guild Policies and Guidelines?
Yep!

(Cont. below)

[Auren]

!!! WARNING !!! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR GW2 PERSONAL STORY!
Please answer the following three questions, IN CHARACTER:

The dark room is quiet.  The only sounds drifting through the air are from the flickering flames of the torches lining the stone walls and your own breathing.  You're sitting at a table in the center of the room.  It's a simple thing, made of wood.  It's old and the planks have begun to warp from the moisture down here.  You're not even sure why this was the chosen meeting place.  No one really liked this room much.

You look down in front of you, noting the parchment, quill, and ink, as well as a small candle nearby.  A few simple questions, a few answers, some notes taken.  Simple.  You reach over and nudge the parchment into a slightly different alignment and decide it is better there than it was before.

The oppressive silence is abruptly ended by the sound of metal meeting stone down the hall outside the room.  As the noise gets closer, you realize that it is the sound of footsteps.  With each step, you can hear what you think is the tinkling of chainmail along with the clicking and clacking of platemail.  The stride of your guest sounds confident and purposeful.

You reach down to your quill, pick it up and dip it in the ink well, then make a note on the parchment.  You look up just in time to see him step through the doorway.

Though it was brighter in the hallway than in the room you're sitting in, somehow the man's form does not lessen the ambient light of the room.  He does not "darken" the opening.  In fact, much to your confusion, it seems that he does the opposite.  You glance down at your parchment, and it is indeed easier to read.  Your eyes travel back to the man, and you take in what he's wearing.  It's quite a bit different from the last time you saw him.

He's wearing heavy armor made of overlapping plates of some metal you can't identify.  It's the most brilliant shade of white you've ever seen.  You swear it actually is glowing.  The leather and cloth buckles holding the plate around his chest, gauntlets, and greaves are a deep, rich shade of blue.  The torches in the room are reflected in the polished silver embellishments and buckles.  You notice that he chose not to wear the pauldrons to this meeting.

Your eyes race back to meet his, and you see a flash of recognition travel across his face.  He smiles warmly at you and, as you gesture to the chair opposite of you, makes his way over to take a seat.

"Hello, my friend!" he says, his voice confident and powerful.  "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

His question isn't an accusing one.  You can hear the earnestness, the bit of mirth at seeing an old friend again, in his tone.  At that, you smile back and reply.

"Yes, too long," you say apologetically.  "Sorry about that.  It's just been pretty busy lately, you know?"

He nods knowingly.  "I understand.  No need to apologize.  We've all been a bit busy lately."

He leans back in his chair and you watch as his eyes fall to the parchment in front of you.

"Speaking of which," he continues, "What's this meeting all about?  I thought I had been through all of the initiation procedures."

You note his pattern; pleasantries exchanged and then a direct approach.  You would've been surprised if he had acted any differently.

"Well," you start, "You are technically done with initiation.  In fact, not only are you a member, but you're also a mentor within the guild."  He starts to respond, but you cut him off.  "However, during your initiation, you were never given this interview.  For the sake of completeness, the guild leadership insists that you go through this process."

He raises an eyebrow, giving you an exasperated look.  You shrug and send a reassuring smile his way.  He rolls his eyes and motions for you to get on with it.  You clear your throat and pick up the quill, readying it to put your thoughts and his answers to the relatively blank parchment.

"Alright.  Name?"

He looks at you blankly until you look up and meet his gaze.  You raise an eyebrow and repeat yourself.

"Name?" you ask a small bit more forcefully.

"Auren Garret," he responds with a small groan.

"Great start!" you exclaim with faux enthusiasm as you begin to write.  "Next questions:  Hair and eye colors?"

"Oh, come on!" he says, irritation plain in his voice.

You give him a no-nonsense look and he acquiesces with a huff.  He points at his hair and then his eyes.

"Blonde and blue," he states flatly.

"Thank you.  Age and birthday?"

"Thirty-one.  Day two-oh-six, Season of the Scion, twelve ninety-five."

"Very good.  Now for the meat of the interview," you say with a grin.  "Tell me about your life.  Where were you raised?  Any family?  Great achievements?  That kind of stuff."

He seems to have been taken off-guard by those questions, you note slyly.  You figure he must not have been expecting these types of questions when he walked in to this room.

"Well," he began, obviously searching for a true place to actually start his sentence.  "I grew up right outside of Divinity's Reach.  My family wasn't rich.  We were common folk... Farmers.  We raised some livestock - chickens mostly - and we had a sizable vegetable field.  We grew a lot of corn for a family our size, so we always had some to share and to sell."  His gaze drifted towards the ceiling and became distant.  "My pa was also a bit of a metalworker.  Not quite blacksmith material, but he could mend a horseshoe or pound some crude nails out in a pinch.  He --  Um, are you sure you want me to keep going?" he asked, hesitating.

You look up from your quickly scribbled notes and nod to him, smiling.

"Yes, please do.  You don't have to give me all the details, but hit some of the major events leading up to now."  You glance down at your notes before continuing.  "In fact, why don't you tell me about your family first?  I don't even have their names here."

"Okay, if you're sure," he sighs.  "My ma and my pa... Their names are Viviene and Belenus.  Garret, of course," he adds.  "Nicest people you could ever know.  My pa taught me all he could think of when it came to the farm and shaping metal.  He always had me helping him with the animals and metalwork.  He's the biggest reason I went on to study smithing so intensely later.  Anyway, I have an older sister named Ariana as well.  We've always been real close."  He stops for a moment, looking to be deep in thought.  "You know," he continues, "I think she's the reason I left the Shaemoor area to begin with.

"You see, one night, I got this really bad feeling.  My gut was telling me something was wrong, so I headed out to take a look around.  I heard screaming and so I went to investigate.  I found a centaur raid.  They had broken past our defenses and were laying siege to the garrison.  I jumped to the defense of my neighbors, who were fleeing the oncoming centaur raiders.

"After we repelled the attack, I found out that Falcon Company, my sister's regiment, hadn't shown up for duty after their patrol, which weakened the defenses of the garrison.  The centaurs exploited our weakness.

"Anyway, I did eventually find Ariana.  She was being held prisoner by bandits, who were working with the centaur and, get this, the Ministry Guard!  I could hardly believe it!  Oh I was furious, but the leader of the Guard was brought to justice by myself and Logan Thackeray.

"I joined up with the Vigil after that, at the request of Logan.  I was excited to be part of defending my town, my country, and my queen.  I soon realized that the world was a lot bigger, and a lot more dangerous than I thought it could be.  I was soon embroiled in the fight against the Elder Dragons and their minions.  Zhaitan, as you probably remember, was giving us the most pressing troubles.

"After a bit of in-fighting amongst the three orders of Tyria, an understanding was reached.  The Pact was formed, and I was appointed as a squad leader for a group of mixed soldiers - Vigil, Priory, and Whispers.  We accomplished so much in such a short amount of time.  It was almost too good to be true.

"I had proven myself to be a capable leader in the face of adversity.  I could keep my troops' morale high, and I actually enjoyed putting Zhaitan's minions down while standing shoulder to shoulder with my fellow soldiers.  The Pact's founder and de facto leader, Trahearne, had recognized this and soon promoted me to the rank of Commander.  We had a plan, we had the resources, and we had the will.

"Unfortunately, when dealing with the Elder Dragons, nothing is ever easy or straightforward.  We lost a lot of good people during that campaign.  Far too many.  Many of our plans of attack were routed or failed completely due to the lack of reliable information.  Up until the very end, we didn't even have a real idea about what it meant to go up against an Elder Dragon.  As prepared as we thought we were, we were not prepared for that war."

He takes a slow breath and closes his eyes.  You look up from writing at the sudden stop in narration.  As he releases his breath, you can see him relax a bit.  You hadn't even noticed that he was tense.  You both sit in relative silence for a moment.

"No one could have known," you offer.  "That was the first time anyone had gone up against an Elder Dragon with the intent to kill it instead of sealing it away."

"You're right," he sighs.  "Still, I feel the weight of those lost and the families torn apart..." he trails off, falling into a silent contemplation again.  After a few moments, he shakes his head slowly and looks you in the eye with a half-hearted smile.  "Well, as you know, the Pact defeated Zhaitan.  I was there.  I was on the airship that made the shot that took him down."

His smile becomes more genuine for a moment, but then sours almost as quickly.  You attempt to ask what the problem is, but he starts talking again before you have the chance.

"I was joyous at the time.  We had done the impossible, after all.  Right then, all the sacrifices that had been made seemed to be validated.  We celebrated for the next three days, but the high of victory didn't last much past the first day for me.

"I know it was wrong to have expectations about what would happen after Zhaitan's defeat.  I held onto a hope, though... The hope that with Zhaitan's downfall, all of his minions would become useless or fade away or disappear.  At the very least, that all the work we put into destroying both the Risen generators, body collectors, and Zhaitan's own connection to his hordes before we went after him would amount to something...

"But it didn't.  Even as the celebrations were going on, Fort Trinity was besieged twice by Risen.  Better than usual, but it placed a kernel of doubt in my head.  I began to wonder if we even killed Zhaitan.  I wondered if it was even possible to destroy such a beast.  It had all seemed too easy, and I hadn't seen the carcass after he fell, after all."

He pauses again.  It looks like he's remembering something else painful, so you continue to make notes in silence.  After a minute, you realize that Zhaitan was defeated months ago, and that Auren was right; the Risen attack frequency had barely changed.  You look up from your writing to voice your concurrence with the information he's presented to you, but stop when you see the look of determination on his face.

"So," you say, "it looks like you decided to do something about it."

"Yes," he nods.  "At the time, the Pact decided that they would go after the other Elder Dragons as well, but immediately realized they had no plan, no fervor, and no clues.  Unfortunately, this led to splintering.  The three Orders took the bulk of their shared forces from the Pact, leaving only support personnel behind.  Liaisons, guards, some scholars.  That was about it.  The bulk of the Pact went back to bickering amongst each other about what course of action to take.

"I liked what the Pact stood for... what it still stands for.  But without the resources and cooperation from the other Orders, it's completely dead in the water.  I realized this and went back to the Vigil for a while, acting as a mentor and training master for new recruits.  I wanted to make sure that the recruits were ready to face what we had to face in Orr.  As ready as I could make them, anyway.  It was a promising venture, and I felt like we may have a better chance when the time came to face the Elder Dragons once again.

"But then she happened."

(Cont. below)

[Auren]

You look up and meet his eyes.  You know who he means.

"Scarlet," you both mutter in unison.  He nods.

"Yes.  I wasn't too concerned at first.  What happened with all those Charr and Norn civilians was terrible, but when my investigation turned up zero Dragon involvement, I simply went back to the Vigil's training grounds.  Even the assassination of Lion's Arch's Captains did little to capture my full attention.  I helped repel the Aetherblades as best I could, if only so they wouldn't interfere with recruitment and trade contracts between individuals within the city and the Vigil.

"But the final straw was the Queen's Jubilee.  A brazen attack against my queen and the city I grew up in infuriated me.  I'm sure you've guessed by now, but I took some of my most reliable friends and went after her.  We wanted her to pay, and we were sorely disappointed.  She was always one step ahead of us.  In fact, she's still one step ahead of us.

"Defeated in that sense, we went after the next logical target: Her minions, the watchwork contraptions she hijacked and the Aetherblade pirates.  We were in for another surprise when it came to those.  You see, whatever she outfitted those guys with was way beyond anything we'd ever seen.  I'm sure you remember the odd assortment of magical and clockwork pieces the pirates wore as armor and weapons.  They were tough.  Impossibly tough.

"We did manage to overcome them eventually.  A friend of mine, Psitka, managed to find a way to turn their armor and weapons into normal pieces of metal again.  She called it something... "Short-out" I think?  And by "find a way," I mean she knew exactly how to do it.  It was the strangest thing, but it was a boon for us, so it didn't bother me.  Still doesn't, really."

"Wait, wait," you inturrupt him.  "I've heard of Psitka.  Rumor is she's not entirely who she says she is.  Like she's hiding something."

"Sounds about right," he answers with a nod.

"So you're telling me that, after what Scarlet had been doing, you'd trust someone you know next to nothing about who seemed to know exactly how all of this advanced weaponry and armor worked?" you ask dubiously.

"Well, yes," is his simple response.  Noticing the look you're giving him, he continues, "She didn't tell us she knew what the contraptions were or that she could take away their power.  She just did it.  She also pursued Scarlet and her forces with a religious zeal.  It was like, I don't know, Scarlet was solely responsible for killing her entire family or something.  If Sylvari had families like humans do, I mean," he looks thoughtful for a moment, then looks to you.  "Do they have families like humans do?"

"I think we're getting a little off topic here," you counter, trying to get back on track.

"Right, right," he chuckles softly.  "So where was I?  Right, Psitka.  So, even before she helped us, going up against Scarlet's forces made me realize something.  I realized that I was weak.  That I had to be stronger than I was.  I remembered all the new recruits in the Vigil and how woefully unprepared they were for anything like the Aetherblades, not to mention the Elder Dragons.  It made me angry, but it also made me decide on a course of action.

"I decided right there that I'd find a way to defeat the Dragons.  Find a weakness.  The Pact had tried and partially succeeded, but the research programs had all but stopped now.  I would strike out on my own, with any who wished to accompany me, to try and find anything that could be used.  Some sort of weapon or armor with magic capable of hurting the Dragons or stopping their minions more easily, much as the Aetherblade's equipment had stopped us.

"And that brings us to now.  I'm still searching, but I think I'm on to something.  A mystical weapon, embued with magic capable of doing permanent damage to the Dragons.  Unfortunately, all that I've heard about it has been rumors and hearsay.  Some of the stories had even been told to my contacts by their grandparents, who were told by their grandparents.  That always struck me as kind of odd, but I figured it must be powerful for these types of stories to get passed down like that," he finishes.

"Is anyone helping you?" you ask him.

"Oh, yeah.  Quite a few people actually.  You know Merila, right?  Merila Dorne?  She insisted on accompanying me on this venture, saying that I'd just get lost in the wilds without her.  And she's probably right on that point.  Her friend, Venitus, has also joined us and his connections to influential people has proven very useful so far.  Danae is coming along as well.  She's amazing," he says wistfully, his cheeks flushing a light red.  After a moment, he continues as a look of puzzlement crosses his features, "And Psitka.  Psitka was adamant that I take her along.  She has proven herself very useful, don't get me wrong.  It's just... Well, now that I think about it, she seems to know where mystical artifacts are.  It's more than a knack for finding them.  It's like she can sense them from leagues away.  If I didn't know any better, I'd say she hid them herself."

"Maybe she did," you suggest, half-jokingly.

"Impossible," he states flatly.  "Some of these artifacts were hidden away centuries ago.  Trust me when I say that the areas they had been sealed in hadn't been touched in a very long time.  There's no way she could've hidden them."

You shrug.  "Seems suspicious to me."

"Yeah," he agrees with a sigh, "I'll be keeping an eye on her."

You glance down at your parchment and realize that you hadn't been writing any of what he had been saying.  Still, there was one last item on the questionnaire.

"Alright, one last question for you," you say, grabbing his attention.  "Where do you see yourself in the future?"

He leans back in his chair and looks towards the ceiling, a thoughtful look upon his face.  After a few moments, he looks back to you and smiles.

"I see myself destroying the Elder Dragons.  With or without the magical weapon I'm trying to find.  One way or another, in the future, I will find a way to destroy them," he finishes with conviction.

You jot that part down.  At least you'd have something to show from this interview besides a few initial impressions.  You put the quill down and look at Auren.

"You know, if you ever need anything, Saga is here for you.  All you have to do is ask."

"I know," he responds with a warm smile.  "I may take you up on that soon.  And if an Elder Dragon shows up, you all will be the first I turn to."

You nod and smile, gathering up your -mostly blank- parchment, quill, and inkpot, putting them in the bag you have with you.  You stand up, your chair scraping loudly against the stone floor.  Auren follows your lead and stands up as well.  He waits for you to walk around to his side of the table and then falls in step beside you as you walk towards the doorway.  He gently claps you on the back and smiles at you.

"So enough about me.  How have you been?" he asks genuinely as he allows you to exit the room first.

Your muffled response doesn't make it back into the room, though your and Auren's laughter can be heard clearly over the receding sounds of your footsteps.  Soon, all is silent once more, save for the gently flickering torches in a small, not-so-dark room.

~*~

Thanks for reading everyone!  I know it's a bit long, but I was struck with inspiration and figured since I'd made everyone wait for so long, I'd throw in something special.