Guild Wars: High Ground

Chapter 3: Arguing Allies – After a full day of rest, you awake to the sounds of bickering. You can recognize one of the voices. It is TANK. He’s arguing with a female, but it’s someone other than Lina. You can hear TANK yell, “Go ahead, follow that sissy into a coward’s life.”

You try to sit up. Your body is still sore, but you manage to get upright. As you rest for a moment, the bickering continues. You hear the woman shout, “How dare you?! He is your Prince. He cares about you and the safety of all Ascalonians.”

TANK’s response echoes through the walls of your room. “He’s not my Prince. The King disowned him. Oh… you look surprised. My messengers delivered the news to me yesterday morning. Here is my home Devona, in the highlands of Ascalon… my home… my land. If you want to follow a traitor, that’s your right. If you want to wander the lands of Tyria as a homeless loser, that’s your choice.”

Devona responds, “If this is how you speak to a lady, it is no wonder why you’re the oldest bachelor in Ascalon.” TANK just grunts, but Devona’s keeps yelling. “This is a battle you can’t win TANK. Many will die if we stay.”

TANK shouts back, “Many will die if we run. Prince Rurik is widely known for lousy tactics, but I thought that you knew better. Who is going to hold back the Charr while you run away?” Devona grows silent. TANK continues, “So, you didn’t think about that. No, obviously not. Did you think that you could just walk up the sides of the Shiverpeak Mountains without someone watching your backs? The Charr would just shoot you down, leaving you to die in the snow.”

Devona shouts, “We have to do something. The battle here is lost.”

TANK replies, “Yes, I know what I must do. I must hold the line. I’ll keep the Charr busy while the commoners flee to safety. If they want to run, I don’t blame them. Farmers and merchants are no match for the Charr. But you, I’m disappointed in you Devona. I didn’t consider you to be among common folk. You are a Warrior. You should be here with me.”

Devona says, “The Shiverpeak Dwarves are too strong for farmers and merchants to fight. We need help to protect out caravan. Won’t you help us?”

TANK responds, “It’s like I told you. I am helping you.”

There is an awkward silence. The two are clearly determined individuals. It seems impossible that they’ll find compromise. You lift yourself up and walk towards the window. It gives you a better view of the situation. Devona stands there, with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. TANK leans against the ramparts as he looks out into the distance. The mountains seem to go on forever. TANK appears to be lost in thought. While gazing out into the mountains, it’s almost as you’re looking right back into yourself.

Suddenly, TANK turns away from Devona and he starts walking towards you. The door swings open. Are you in trouble for eavesdropping? No, TANK walks right past you and he heads towards a bookshelf. Devona follows him. She is curious. What is TANK doing? He grabs a book and then hands it to Devona. TANK says, “Here… take this. Give it to a man named Photics. He’s a Fire Elementalist, and he’s also a good friend of mine. He will help you get past the mountains.”

The book teaches an Elementalist skill, but which one is it?

  • Whirlwind – All adjacent foes take significant cold damage. Attacking foes struck by Whirlwind are knocked down.
  • Maelstrom – Create a Maelstrom at target foe’s location. For 10 seconds, foes adjacent to that area are struck for some cold damage each second. Maelstrom interrupts Spell-casting when it hits. This Spell causes Exhaustion.
  • Searing Heat – Spell. Cause Searing Heat at target foe’s location. For 5 seconds, foes near this location are struck for some fire damage each second. When Searing Heat ends, foes in the area of effect are set on fire for 3 seconds.
  • Earthquake – Spell. You invoke an Earthquake at target foe’s location. All foes near this location are knocked down and are struck for significant earth damage. This Spell causes Exhaustion.

One thought on “Guild Wars: High Ground”

  1. This is a fan-fiction book! :)

    “Guild Wars is a trademark of NCsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Arena.net, ArenaNet and the ArenaNet logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.”

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