... Uhh, uhm, should I be recording this at all?
The matter at hand is, I'm a magibiology researcher in the Inquest megakrewe. Or, uh, was.
I took the decision to leave my previous state of employment with them because the... work conditions suddenly became... too cutthroaty for my tastes. *nervous forced chuckle* You know how it is, right?
So I decided to... go on a sabbatical, yes.
I never thought I'd say this, but I felt a precipitous urge to explore Tyria... and maybe, possibly, eventually find a lovely isolated place where no one will bother me. Or die trying, I guess.
I mean, either way I'm sure no one in my krewe will really miss me... or the feline specimen marked for disposal I took with me. I hope so, at least.
I did put in my 2 minutes notice in the middle of the night, so the matter should be properly solved, unless...
In any case, I... better start moving. Yeah.
---
Welcome on my #gw2adventurerchallenge
Magibiologist Zyvv is an ex-researcher on the run from the Inquest, and this is their story.
[Zyvv is nonbinary and uses they/them for the most part]
Map Completion is the win state I'm choosing for this run.
Also, since Zyvv is a ranger, I'm adding some nuzlocke-y personal rules to the challenge.
• All of the character's story is randomized.
• All active pets must be named.
• If a pet's health reaches 0 in combat, it's dead for the rest of the challenge.
• The first pet is the only pet who can't permanently die [lore reasons]. If it goes KO, it's only out of commission for the rest of the map and must be put on Peaceful or be switched out.
• Claimed pets are those that have become active in the story. Other pets may be tamed for later use with no limits.
• Only the main pet and 2 other claimed pets may be active in the story at the same time.
• To be claimed, a pet has to be found within the map. Previously tamed pets have to exist in the map as mobs in order to be claimed.
• Only one pet may be claimed per map.
• A duplicate pet can be claimed in a different map, although only if a juvenile of the same type of pet is available in that map (a second polar bear can only be claimed in Hoelbrak and Frostgorge Sound, but not in any other map where it appears).
• Aquatic pets cannot be claimed.
• Free skin choice is allowed only when changing climate (as per challenge's rules), passing through major cities or certain milestones. Dyes are randomized on dropped gear, but freely pickable on bought gear. Previous skin may be kept via successful coin flip.
• Armor cannot be reinforced and boosters cannot be used (if accidental, use a random white armor piece for the duration as a penality).
• No Ascended/Legendary armor or weapons (unless dropped by the character).
• Events involving the Order of Whispers Pact or any of the Orders should be completed whenever possible (champion fights can be avoided if too dangerous, but should be attempted). [Added after events of Entry 17, edited after Entry 28]
• Completion of meta events allows a coin flip to obtain missing max-level gear (what it is exactly is randomized). Guaranteed free choice in case of unique loot being dropped from the meta. [Added after reaching level 80]
Additional progress-related rules will be added if conditions are met (will be marked as •).
I haven't abandoned the challenge, it's just that life has not been compatible with continuing it for a few months ^^"
I plan on picking the story back up soon, but in the meantime, Zyvv has been taking an extended non-canon vacation in Lion's Arch.
01 (Rata Sum)
Zyvv escapes from the Inquest lab they worked at (and incoming punishment for a gone-boom experiment blamed on them) by freeing a jungle stalker specimen marked for disposal, who then follows them.
02 / 03 (Metrica Province)
Miss "Marked for disposal" sticks around and keeps Zyvv safe. Zyvv panics when they stumble upon an Inquest raid and shoot an arrow at one of them, oops.
Change of clothes, Zyvv has to take a detour and is surprised that bookah other races can be helpful. Bonus upset points at the Thaumanova disaster site, plus Mardis has a bad encounter off-screen.
04 / 05 (Brisban Wildlands)
Zyvv visits a place they grew up in: things have changed and their remaining family is no longer there. Learning some magic on the side.
Gotta avoid Xcutioner's team on the main road, so time for another massive detour.
Local skritt-phobic Zyvv gets so lost they accidentally save skritt and end up in their scratch. A bandit's poisoned blade should have killed Mardis, but she gets back up for some weird reason. Back to skritt scratch, Zyvv is gifted a murellow for protection.
06 (Caledon Forest)
Zyvv gets lost again (not entirely their fault). Sudden burst of magic that makes vines grow out of the ground is sudden. Tawney Stinky is a very good girl.
07 (The Grove/Lion's Arch)
Zyvv tries to find out what happened to Mardis, healer redirects them from the Grove to Lion's Arch. Eventually buys faulty device and discovers Mardis has a magic source of sorts in her body.
08 (Gendarran Fields)
Zyvv flees the city after an ex-coworker saw them. Pretty much darts through map since no one would follow them in centaur lands, right?
09 (Harati Hinterlands)
Centaurs were not a deterrent. In fact, Zyvv wanted to hide in a skritt scratch, but Klorr, a member of the Xcutioner's team, tracks them down. The following conversation reveals that Zyvv was actually framed by Dekkla, the lab technician who sabotaged the experiment, but also that apparently now the Inquest wants them back(???).
Harpies interruption = Zyvv is out of there!
10 (Kessex Hills)
Helped by the Seraph for a time, then they're on the run again in hopes of losing Klorr. He catches up to them again, so the cornered Zyvv plays along to get some information. Once they have it and they're in Queensdale, Zyvv traps Klorr in vines and apologetically absconds.
11 (Queensdale)
Gotta go fast through the map, there's a target to get more info from: Jaq.
12 (Divinity's Reach)
After Zyvv tricks and threatens him, Jaq the Jackdaw spills the beans on his deals with the Inquest, but they attract the Seraph's attention so they have to run for the Ebonhawke gate before they can get more. At least they know the thing in Mardis is a device.
13 (Fields of Ruin)
Zyvv wants to have a chat with the Jackdaw's Inquest contact, but Mardis mauls him before they can. Gotta grab his datapad and data from the golem and run from the Jackdaw's guys.
Adventures through ogre camps lead them to the Ebon Vanguard camp, where they make a plan to reach a certain Inquest lab.
14 / 15 (Blazeridge Steppes)
Adventures through the Steppes, the Brand is scary, charr actually make cool stuff, the Shatterer passed by, bye bye.
Zyvv is guided by a charr scout to the lab, ends up helping a pair of Whispers agents already inside, finds some data on the M.I.L.D.
16 (Plains of Ashford)
The agents invite Zyvv to go with them to their base in the Black Citadel, with the promise of getting them some help in figuring out the device. A nice and chill travel, for once.
17 (Black Citadel)
Due to lack of manpower following some big events elsewhere (Claw Island), Zyvv is now cooperating with the Order of Whispers: they have to track down Aimil, an agent with useful contacts currently undercover in the Vigil and on mission in Ascalon with a unit.
18 (Diessa Plateau)
Zyvv gathers intel left by Aimil. Zyvv is fairly chill about this whole Whispers deal. Zyvv panics after being nearly found by the Xcutioner's team.
19 (Iron Marches)
Zyvv is nearly killed by a spooked devourer queen, and the warband in charge of the beasts nurses them back to a functional state (shoulder is still ouch). The mission goes on.
20 / 21 (Fireheart Rise)
Zyvv nearly dies twice during the fight with a Flame Tribune, after being dragged into it (mostly by Mardis).
After they win, they faint and get carried to Burnt Hollow, where there are also Whispers agents. New mission is to catch up to Aimil and aid him.
Bonus: Zyvv also gets a bit of a personal revelation.
22 (Frostgorge Sound)
A fun week in snowland for Zyvv, full of things to learn about: the Pact, the fact they actually like the cold, what Aimil was doing the entire time, and that they heavily dislike the guy.
He also tossed them a rock, but that's a surprise tool that'll help them later.
23 (Wayfarer Foothills)
Zyvv dislikes Aimil a little bit less after he doesn't have to be undercover all the time and gets them to enjoy their journey a bit.
Also there's a surprise egg in their bag.
24 (Hoelbrak)
Zyvv stays in Hoelbrak for a bit as bait for the Inquest, while Aimil leaves to go talk to his Inquest contact. Zyvv makes an incubator for the raven egg they don't want to keep, finds out the rock is a very particular rune, gets invited to the Priory to further study the MILD and Mardis.
The bait works, but it turns out that the Inquest wants them back for real. Everyone said "that's sus".
25 (Dredgehaunt Cliffs)
Finally leaves for the Priory, charges up rune, rune is actually very helpful, many detours later they finally reach the pass.
26 (Lornar's Pass)
One more detour, some Inquest goon is actually still following them, time to rush ahead and only travel in groups!
27 (Priory - Intermission)
A month in the Priory spent raising a baby raven (Sage joins the party!), becoming friends with Magister Kendra, learning some more magic and helping out a bit.
Learns what the Magic-Infusing Lifesaver Device is and that Mardis is effectively leaking magic due to it, to the point it rubbed off on Zyvv and unlocked their magic abilities.
28 (Snowden Drifts/Lion's Arch)
Zyvv helps with a Priory-Pact study in Snowden, then leaves to go to Lion's Arch and officially become a member of the Pact.
Well... I wanted to record an entry earlier than this, but... not much happened.
Nothing that was so important it needed to be recorded right away, at least.
Not until today.
From the Priory, it took 3 days of travel to get to our destination in Snowden Drifts.
Some of the way we tagged along with caravans, some on our own.
I was almost done with the cold before staying a month in the relative warmth inside the Priory, but after the past couple of weeks further north, I'm seriously just done.
One positive note is that Sage's proven worthy of his name when it came to staying calm and quiet in his travel nest, as well as in general during our stay.
It was enough to sneak past some troubles along the road there, but now he is definitely too grown up to fit in my backpack and he does okay with just staying perched on me or on one of the girls.
I've also finally managed to bond with Stinky, so it has definitely been easier to make her and Sage be calm and get along. She's actually such a joy to sense through our bond! Though it was a bit emotionally overwhelming when I first did it, then physically when she happily plopped her whole weight on me.
Some progress was made with Mardis too, but... *sighs* Best way I can explain it is that it's like her magic is actively trying to catch me, disrupting every attempt. For what little I sensed, I think that she's getting frustrated over it too, and I wonder if it has made it worse somehow.
Anyway, we ended up staying in Scholar's Cleft for 11 days.
The Pact people there were running various experiments on dragon minions and creatures that had contact with icebrood, with lots of fascinating theories being tested. I almost felt like I was back to Terrarium B-10, just in a less cutthroath environment.
I was needed there just in case something out of the norm happened, but it didn't, so I only pitched in wherever an extra hand was needed.
There wasn't much else to do beyond what was asked of me, so I had all of the time to think. And think a lot I did.
The one thing that almost got me to record an entry was that I've got confirmation that Mardis attracts minions.
She's physically fine, but she got severely spooked.
An icebrood minion captured for testing started clawing and slamming against the containment wall the moment Mardis entered its line of sight, and as we were taking note of its behavior, it actually broke through the barrier and threw itself at her.
She got out of the way, but it still caught her with an icy blast of sorts as it slammed where she was a moment before.
She cowered under tables the whole day in spite of being fine, but the day after she was back to her usual shenanigans. No lessons learned, I fear.
Anyway, on the twelfth day I was free to go, and so I'm back in Lion's Arch now, 4 days later.
I retraced my steps south, stayed in Podaga Steading once more for the night, and then entered the region of Gendarran Fields again, just from the snowy side this time.
I don't think I can describe my surprise and amazement when the first thing I saw was a giant airship.
Up there, in the sky, flying.
Just casually moored to the Vigil Keep, my next stop.
I was hearing all the rumors about new technologies being developed by all races and orders joining forces, but last I had heard of airships, they were still far from prototypes! Turns out that the Pact hasn't been messing around!
Alas, I was not able to get a tour, but I got some papers from Aimil -I wanted to thank him, but I believe he barely registered my presence, he looked so miserably busy-, talked with some officers about my next steps, and rested there for the night.
It was late in the evening when I finally reached Lion's Arch along with a unit dispatched there, but this morning I went to the Pact representatives in the city first thing.
Yes, in the end, I decided to officially become a member of the Pact.
It was the only logical decision, really.
Both the Whispers and the Priory were so helpful and both have their pros and cons for me, so I couldn't just pick one. By being in the Pact, I can at least repay both of them.
I may still end up joining one later on, but for now? The Pact makes the most sense.
Given that I'm familiar with the way every order operates and I was already an aide for months by technicality -that's what the papers were for-, I'm skipping most of the initiation training and I'll be sent straight into action as soon as everything is deemed ready.
An hour or so ago I got a brief rundown of the tasks expected of me.
I'm being rotated through a number of Pact camps and I'll stay in each as long as those in charge of them require my presence or skills, so it looks like I'll be on the move quite a lot.
First stop: Concordia, a fortress located in Timberline Falls.
But, since I'm fast on my own, I'm meant to take the long way around -not a surprise anymore- and pass by various checkpoints. In the sense that they are points for me to check and report on once I'm there.
Communication lines have gotten far better since Fort Trinity was established, but there are still plenty of issues due to the local dangers on top of the Risen themselves. Since it's rare for someone to go such a long way in one go, I'll likely be tasked with scouting and carrying intel if needed.
Orr scares me, but... I'm actually kind of excited about this prospect. Does it make sense?
---
Zyvv is now a member of the Pact!
I was always kind of leaning towards this outcome, and the randomizer agreed. In fact, it was extremely adamant about it in the followup questions (the respective number came out four times in a row. There is only the Pact!).
One of the additional rules has been edited to Pact events instead of just Whispers!
And finally I completed Lion's Arch, which I had interrupted after 50% on the first go to avoid leveling up too much.
Next entries may take a little bit as I've been a bit busy with a few deadlines and other stuff, but there may be as little as 7 entries left for the challenge itself!
What happens next will be decided once I get there lol
*ahem* It's... been a while.
A month tomorrow, to be precise.
I was quite busy the entire time here at the Priory and... well, I didn't really feel like recording another entry since I wasn't on the road.
But I will be tomorrow, so doing this again felt right.
The thing is, I really meant to keep better track of it all, but after a few days of being here I ended up listening again to all my previous entries and... *loud sigh* realizing it had been 2 months -now 3- since it all started kind of... put me off from it. And put me in a mood.
And then I sort of entirely forgot my recorder in the bottom of my backpack when this little ball of feathers and mischief hatched a week after my arrival.
Right, so... I ended up keeping the baby raven.
His name is Sage, after the leaves the shaman left along with him in my backpack. I also tested Nevar, but he seemed to respond better to Sage. Feels more appropriate anyway.
To be noted, I think he's a "he".
Not that it matters, obviously, but it's just not something one can discern until they're pretty much ready to pop eggs out, and a few years separate "him" from that anyway. I mean, for all I know, he could be like me!
It's funny, because I was looking for someone to "offload" the egg to as soon as it hatched... and then I immediately didn't want to let go of that tiny pink thing peeping his heart out for some food and warmth.
Sage is now a sweet little -yet rapidly growing- thing who loves eating, cuddling up in my scarf and playing with it, though he still has to learn to obey properly. And maybe not to peck my ears and hair when I don't look at him for more than 2 minutes.
Mardis doesn't like Sage very much -I think she's jealous-, but she's never laid a paw on him in spite of him insisting on hopping around her and yelling at her for food.
As for Stinky, I think she wants to be his best friend, because if they're in the same room her eyes are on him at all times, but she keeps stealing his worms and all she gets are angry pecks from him. After yesterday maybe she's learned her lesson though.
Though... I must admit I'm a bit scared of traveling with him.
He's barely started hopping and flapping out of his nest -a bit sooner than normal, though I was reassured that our bond likely influenced his development-, but I have upgraded his incubating chamber with some help and he stayed in it for hours as I carried it around. Hopefully our journey will be uneventful.
Anyway... I spent a lot of this month working closely with a sylvari Magister, Kendra. She said we're friends, actually.
She's gonna be a professor soon, one specialized in magibiodiversity, magibiology and biomagic, so we had a lot of common academic interests.
But most importantly, Kendra is one of those in charge of taking care of the live specimens kept on site, as well as any and all people's pets and pack animals. Her petition for a proper menagerie was recently approved and I gave her some useful pointers from what I learned back at the Inquest facilities.
I gotta say that my girls were basically on a vacation here.
She's more of a mesmer than a ranger, but she took initiative and asked a friend of hers to teach me some nature magic tricks during our time off.
I still struggle with that, but, taking advantage of the fact that Sage was imprinted on me from birth, I actually learned how to bond with my pets! Or like, I managed to do it with him, I still haven't fully grasped it conceptually nor managed it with the others.
Stinky is still a work in progress, because when she starts sensing me she gets restlessly excited and breaks my concentration, while Mardis... well, it's... complicated.
So, about all of that... most of this month was spent figuring out the MILD situation.
Good thing that the girls loved Kendra, because Mardis would not accept being around testing equipment handled by anyone that wasn't me or her.
For starters... the MILD is actually the "Magic-Infusing Lifesaver Device".
As the name implies, it's a small yet complex device meant to infuse its carrier's body with enough magic to brute-force rapid regeneration whenever said body reaches critical conditions... when it works and if it doesn't kill the carrier first, that is.
Aimil had kept his words and gathered quite a lot of info from his contact, who turned out to be one of those who oversaw the project across various labs.
In his letter, he sort of apologized -in Aimil's fashion- because the Inquest guy was more tight-lipped than his usual, but what we got ended up being what we needed.
The MILD's idea was genuinely an intriguing concept, one meant to be implanted into valuable people as a safeguard against lab accidents and... well, more or less literal backstabbing. No need to wonder why it got so much funding and was kept a secret.
In spite of rapid improvements with each iteration, the research was ultimately halted a few years into the project. Not long after my escape, actually.
Dangerously high magic levels were the standard side effect, usually followed by the death of most surviving specimens, be it for potential rejection of the implant, every successful activation potentially being an irrecoverable stress for the body, or simply needing to be put down due to adverse effects.
Alchemy, I want to forget the notes on the terrible outcomes for the asuran test subjects. *small shudder*
Our initial testing was mostly focused on comparing Mardis to other members of her species, but the intel arrived a week into it, just as we were scratching our heads bald due to how nothing made sense. It was almost all out of the norm, even for the data I had "borrowed" from the Ingenium Facility.
And, well, yeah, Mardis's magic level and parameters are high, but she is healthier than she should be and... in the simplest of terms, she is actively leaking magic.
Okay, it's more like "dissipating" and it's not enough to be visible or dangerous, but it explains a lot of things!
... *ahem* Including the fact that, apparently, I passively absorbed some of it.
As weird as it sounded at first, it does explain the sudden and otherwise-unexplicable development of my magic abilities, considering my lifetime of struggling with even the most basic spells.
My parameters seem to shift in the same anomalous patterns when I'm around Mardis for long enough, but we tested it extensively and I do have some magic all of my own too!
A Magister suggested that the effects of her surplus magic "rubbed off on me and allowed me to forcefully bypass my lack of magical talent", which make sense. You add auxiliary energy crystals to the inactive matrix if the current number is not enough to jumpstart it, duh.
Also, funny thing, the same thing also happens with my rune!
That's why it kept reactivating!
So that was one mystery solved, but... the leakage is something that's not supposed to happen, as far as the Inquest data on the MILD says.
Alchemy, in theory, the device should have never recharged on its own after usage, let alone be enough for it to leak out, and yet she's been doing that for months!
We were running in circles about it for days, until Kendra bursted into the room I was in one afternoon with a breakthrough: blood magic.
I'll spare the -quite literally- bloody details on our following week of testing, but the long story short is that her magic levels do notably increase when she comes in contact with blood. In the simplest terms, she is a one-trick necromancer that gathers magic from blood!
Blood and life magic are often linked, but no one would have noticed it because she's a carnivore and she keeps herself well-fed -especially here-, and... maybe that's why she's so eager to fight every single time?
Are you so bloodthirsty because you need it to survive, girl? Or do you just like to give me heart attacks?
Regardless, by virtue of Mardis being healthy after months of it all, our final theory is that her MILD device is defective in some way.
Whether the de facto blood magic is its doing or a quirk of Mardis, we can't know, but it's likely symbiontic with her life force.
It may be a stretch, but the leakage seems to be what's keeping her thriving at a balanced magic level for her body... with the added benefit of potentially saving her life again, if push comes to shove. Which I hope stays perfectly still and unmoving.
To return to a previous point, I'm unsure whether I'll ever be able to bond properly with her.
Ironically, the magic leak vaguely compensated for it in practice, almost like she was the one to bond with me, but it's also acting as an obstacle as it actively "rejects" me.
It's gonna take some time to figure out, but first I have to manage to bond with Stinky and get a better feel for it.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Mardis seems bummed out by it too.
Anyway, the other day I asked to see Steward Gixx. To thank him for the help, but mostly to apologize.
I felt... well, guilty for making the Priory waste so much time on the MILD. Their hopes were so high about it potentially aiding the Pact and many helped with our research, and it honestly feels like I failed them. Especially Kendra, even though she shrugged it off.
I was in the middle of the speech I had prepared when the Steward interrupted me. Or, better, he laughed.
He then spent five minutes reassuring me that what we did actually provide important research on magic as a whole, with data that they could not have obtained on their own -not without stooping as low as the Inquest's methods-, and then listed some of the applications they had planned, especially in Orr.
I still feel a certain way about it, but he said it was enough that I helped other teams during my stay.
Anyway, all this to say that tomorrow I'll leave for Scholar's Cleft, in Snowden Drifts.
I will have to stay there for at least a week to help out with some experiments on dragon minions. Magibiologists like me are in high demand right now, and I owe it to Kendra and the Steward to help out as much as I can, especially while the Pact's resources are spreading thinner and thinner.
After that's done, I will have to go to Lion's Arch and... well, decide what to do with my life.
The Whispers' offer is still standing -someone came to check on me, possibly the agent tracking me-, the Priory didn't explicitly offer me to join yet practically did so -treating me like one of them during my stay was pretty explicit-, and I got a direct invitation to join the Pact and help out with research at the newly-built forts in Orr -scary, but also something I don't think I can escape from-.
Now that I'm sure Mardis is okay, I want to pay back all the help I got in the past three months.
I was also feeling very paranoid about Inquest spying on me up until a couple of weeks ago, when that feeling of having one too many pairs of eyes on me suddenly vanished.
A few days later, rumors of a huge Inquest facility going boom started circulating. Apparently first it got raided by some members of Destiny's Edge and the Pact Commander, then blown up by the Order of Whispers.
them having bigger issues would explain it, yeah.
---
Lots of things happened in the timeskip, so this lore dump took its own ïntermission" entry!
Birb obtained, new friend made, Mardis is the one lucky MILD test subject!
No pics of Kendra because she's not in-game yet, but she's another side character of mine who existed for *checks notes* over 4 years.
Fun fact: entries 1 to 26 lasted 55 days and a half (bit more, bit less) in story time.
Ironically, I started this in late June and it's now mid October, 3.5 months.
I did not mean for the times to match (it's set about a couple months earlier than real life anyway), but the randomizer decided how much Zyvv stayed at the Priory and I love how it makes sense lol
Zyvv's reasoning behind these names:
- Nevar means "to snow". Fits because there's plenty of snow around the Priory. It's also raven spelled backwards because they're not creative with names.
- Lorna/Lorne derived from Lornar, since they're in Lornar's Pass. The name also means "fox", which fits as Raven is associated with cunning.
- Sage because of the sage leaf that was in their backpack along with the egg, along with Raven being associated with wisdom.
I'm almost at the Priory, but I had to stop for the night at a lodge on the way.
Traveling alone in the dark is absolutely out of the question right now.
I... I don't know how I'm feeling, but "safe" is not it for sure.
So, yesterday I was able to stay and rest at the Pinion Pass camp, like I had planned.
What was not planned was stumbling upon it being under siege by destroyers, but helping sort that problem out got me a spot in their tent even before I whipped out the letter.
And so, I took my sweet time to properly sleep and warm up.
In retrospect, I probably should have cut my stay a few hours shorter, but... *loud sigh* honestly, I'm kinda tired of pretending I'm not tired of being always on the road, especially now that I'm sickly.
Just as I was about to leave the camp, a pair of scholas arrived, reporting that jotun were actively blocking the fastest way to the Priory.
A norn and a charr saying they had barely gotten away unscathed was a pretty sure way to convince me not to take risks, especially when the second fastest way was just south of those mountains AND regularly patrolled by Lionguard.
It would have been stupid not to take the option that involved walking a few more hours, with little to no trouble, while taking in the scenery.
After seeing almost only snow for weeks, I have to say that it was quite nice and I enjoyed the milder climate... at least up until I saw an Inquest operative following me on the road.
Mardis was the one who alerted me.
Whoever that was, they hadn't been openly on the road for long -I am sure of it because I had turned around to wait for Stinky to do her business-, just far enough not to be suspicious to anyone else we could cross.
All I could see they were wearing a hood and a mask.
I did consider the option that maybe I was just being paranoid, but that doubt left me soon after.
Colors of their clothes aside, I'm sure it was not a coincidence that, when picked up the pace after noticing them, they took the very first available turn.
Sure, that could have been normal, but it was a little path going up the mountains... with a huge warning sign of frequent wild beasts' attacks right in front of it.
What regular lonely traveler in their right mind would pick THAT road?!
After that, I did not stop nor slow down until I got to the Rocklair camp, right before sunset. My legs still hurt.
The Priory had no knowledge of my issues with the Inquest, even those in Hoelbrak weren't told anything beyond the fact that I was in their aim, so I didn't expect much.
Yet, when I told those standing guard that I had official business with their order and that an Inquest's schmuck was following me, they took me seriously, so much that I had someone with me at all times. It was absolutely appreciated.
As far as I was told this morning, there was no trace of the operative and no non-Priory asura passed by, but I know I'm not imagining things.
Today I escorted a caravan north.
Some Priory scholars that were at the camp, a bunch of merchants, an old hunter, and a couple of travelers like me, all sticking together for safety. Summer has little impact here, but you can't trust the snow and wild animals will take any chance to feed their youngs.
The little group of scholars offered to go with them to the Priory, as well as introducing me directly to those relevant to my business there, so I'm set for tomorrow.
Far slower travel than just me and the girls, but, in truth, I really don't want to be alone.
I mean, I know an agent IS tracking me, but I was told not to rely on them because they might not be close at all times. And I suspect that suspicious appearance has them far from me still.
I... I don't know why, but this situation is freaking me out more than it did before.
Not that I don't feel safe with Mardis and Stinky at my side -very glad they both obeyed and didn't rush the operative-, but I just really want the Inquest to leave me alive and alone.
I can see the Priory from the stead, and... I don't know how to feel.
I was kind of eager to go there before yesterday's encounter, but now I feel... scrambled, like an-
*hurried rummaging sounds*
Okay, the egg is still fine and warm.
And still hasn't hatched, thankfully.
---
Another uneventful map, at least as far as relevant stuff goes for Zyvv.
I am finally on my way to the Durmand Priory.
Of course things went slightly sideways, so I had to go far deeper into the Dredgehaunt Cliffs than intended, meaning I'm now a couple of days late on the planned path.
The long story short is that the Sons of Svanir had the northern route completely blocked, jotun were firmly planted on the main road after some Priory's meddling, and dredge littered the long way around, so I had to take quite a number of detours these past three days.
Maybe I'm just tired in general, but I'm also starting to get weary of the cold. Asura are quite adaptable, but we were not really made to endure these temperatures for long periods of time. I won't lie, I miss the comforts of Hoelbrak.
First stop was Ratatosk, following the Priory scholar's directions.
It was the first and only planned thing that went correctly... if one doesn't consider that it took longer than expected.
The local skritt were dealing with a spider infestation, so I had to cull quite a lot of those to make a path to the, uh, magic-radiating street lamp that was deeper in the cave.
Once I had cleared the path to their "shiniest treasure", the skritt allowed me to, well... harvest some magic from it, I guess.
I mean, I just held the rune up close as instructed, it did the rest by itself, and now it works!
I... don't think I'll give this rune to any scholar anytime soon.
Whenever I use a lot of magic, for example when I make vines grow out of the ground, it reacts to it and triggers a sort of magic-powered shield that reflects anything thrown at me!
Sure, it's not something I tend to do often, but given the occasions in which I end up using that much magic? Much better to be safe than sorry, and it has already come in handy a bunch of times. Damn dredge firearms and turrets.
Though... that's the weird thing: the scholar said it was probably single-use due to being a rune taken from the Mists, but it has activated like half a dozen times already without me charging it anywhere else!
I thought that may be because I'm smaller, but it works on Mardis and Stinky too when they're close, so logically it should fully deplete even faster. And it did block a lot of stuff while active, so I'm not grasping how it's even possible.
Since I strongly doubt the skritt's magic source was powerful enough to overcharge it, I'm fully out of ideas. And runes were just on the edge of the field I studied and made my thesis about in College, so I'm not entirely ignorant!
I guess I'll just have to report my observations and findings once at the Priory and ask if anyone there knows more. Or at least someone more magically-capable than me can test its limits, since I can't muster up the energy to cast another spell and reactivate it before its glow returns to normal.
Anyway, after that was done, we followed the main road south, taking the advice of a Priory scout that was in Ratatosk and warned us about the aforementioned problems in the region.
It was night already when we stopped at the Seven Pines camp, and the Priory people there gave us further tips on how to dodge the dredge operations in the area.
That took a long time -and the rune definitely helped us avoid unfortunate situations-, but we managed to get to Steelbrachen... just as a storm rolled in, forcing us to hide in the Esjudare Scratch for the rest of the day and then some.
Thankfully a Whispers agent was stationed there, like those in Hoelbrak had mentioned in passing. I'm so glad they gave me a quick list of contact points in the region just in case something went wrong.
Prishne had been trying -and relatively failing- to talk the skritt into cooperating against the dredge problem for nearly a week at that point.
Skritt don't bother me as much anymore and they can be nice company even -will never feel not weird to say it-, yet having someone capable of calm and long conversation while waiting out the storm was a major plus, likely for the both of us.
Stinky was very happy again to see skritt, and I'm glad my incubator kept the egg safe and warm, especially while I kept it in my scarf to warm myself up a bit.
We set out again sometimes during the night, practically as soon as the storm ended, and now it's early morning... probably. Hard to tell with the thick clouds.
I took a little break to warm up by a Bear shrine's fire before crossing into Lornar's Pass, and I can already feel the warmer winds coming from the tunnel.
I was told a Priory camp is right after the crossing. Can't wait to get there, I desperately need some sleep in a properly-warm tent.
---
Not much for this one, just ready to be done with dredge because they're particularly annoying to fight against, second only to Flame shamans.
The 24.5 entry was originally part of this, but it was getting too long for a map entry so I changed story plans.
I've been here in Hoelbrak for 5 days, but tomorrow I'm leaving.
The agents convinced me to stay as bait, and since no one took it, I am free to go to the Durmand Priory.
Aimil left for Lion's Arch the same day we got here, promising he will send me whatever info he gets from his contact, which may take a few weeks.
In the meantime, the scholars in contact with the Order said that back at the Priory they might be able to help me discern what the MILD device inside Mardis actually does... and if it can be useful and replicable.
I only accepted because they swore to their Gods that the tests wouldn't be invasive, and they even gave me a letter to grant me full control over the testing. I was ready to fight them about it, but I guess no one is as uncaring for specimens as the Inquest.
As for why I was kept here... turns out that the Whispers had intercepted and tracked both Inquest teams that were looking for me, and they confirmed their search is no longer ongoing, at least for the time being. I was even complimented for shaking them off! At last, recognition!
They told me I actually lost Kedd and the other guy after that near-encounter at the lumbermill, and that a few days later in Blazeridge they dropped the hunt... after one of them threw a fit about how I was being "too big of a waste of time", followed by an extended array of offensive phrasing that the operatives spared me -it was Kedd, I don't need confirmation-.
The other group -a pair of female operatives with a golem suit of an unknown model- was actually not far behind me since the Iron Marches, but gave up on my trail shortly after entering Frostgorge, likely dissuaded by the brief appearance of a dragon champion and the damage to the suit suffered during the fight with Icebrood that followed.
Back then I didn't like being stuck with Aimil and the Vigil, but now? I'm thankful for it putting some distance between them and us.
Regrettably, they couldn't gather much intel while tracking them from a safe distance, and eventually they lost both teams, with high chances that they noticed they were being followed.
I've now kept a low profile for a few days -easy thing among norn *littlest chuckle*- and we'll see if my sudden appearance in a "hotspot" tomorrow provokes any reaction.
By the wording used, I think the agents will be keeping an eye on me from afar, both for my safety and to maybe get the chance to make prisoners, ones that are in the know about someone as mysterious yet high-profile as the Xcutioner.
As for my decision regarding the Order of Whispers or the Pact... *sighs* I still don't know, honestly, and this extra thing allows me more time to think it through. No one asked properly yet.
...
Anyway, I had also completely forgotten about the rock-thing Aimil had tossed to me until after he left, but when I asked one of the scholars, they lit up and said it's a protective artifact. An ancient rune of Earth, possibly originated in the Mists.
The downside of it not being a regular set of runes is that its magic doesn't refill on its own, so it's been depleted since who knows how long ago.
After my refusal to give it to them for further study, they gave me some instructions and pointed me towards a place south of Hoelbrak, where I can recharge it and confirm if it still works.
It will run out of magic at some point, possibly after every use since it's meant to be used in an environment ripe with magic, but I just want to see what it does. Then maybe they can have it.
Also, speaking of things that came into my possession, the egg I found in my backpack is very likely of a raven, and it was in there with a sage leaf and a piece of paper.
"It'd be wise of you to keep it safe" was all that was written on the latter, in a big but fairly clean calligraphy on the dirt-stained paper.
Vaguely threatening... or an attempt at a terrible pun.
Since it seemed alive upon checking it with a candlelight, I kept it as safe and warm as I could, wrapping it in cloth and putting it in a box in my pocket.
Once in Hoelbrak, I showed it to the Whispers agents, and a norn told me that a shaman probably gave it to me. That may mean I had it since either the hot springs or earlier that night.
When I asked why a shaman would do that, he shrugged and muttered something about Spirits of the Wild commanding things we can't fully comprehend before they're meant to be understood. Or playing tricks, he also muttered.
Anyway, my stay here has been quite boring.
Barred from social life -beyond sharing the hidden rooms under a homestead with the agents stashed in there and the minimal chatter they provided- and with a bit of a cold, I couldn't sleep or read scrolls all day everyday, so I made a little incubating chamber for the egg to kill some time.
Nothing special, I just took an early morning supervised trip to the crafters' market to gather materials for its frame, then used a pair of arcane crystals to keep the egg appropriately warm and firmly suspended in place with gravitational fields. Haven't done one since I was in early education, and I'm happy with the improvised improvements I made to the progeny-level blueprints I remembered.
Now the egg can safely stay in my backpack, no matter how much I jump or roll around in the icy snow.
As for when it hatches... we'll see.
The message did not say I have to keep the hatchling, and maybe at the Priory I'll find someone who will take care of it.
Mardis and Stinky seem to have understood this egg is not for consumption, but I hope they won't think of the hatchling as a snack.
~~~
Entry 24.5
So... the Whispers' plan worked.
Just not in the way they planned.
Someone had indeed tracked me in Hoelbrak and they were waiting for me to appear in a public area without too many people around.
No idea who that was, as an agent only saw a short hooded figure before a little golem dashed towards me so fast I instinctively kicked it on its back. Everyone expected it to explode or something, but it just... delivered a message.
The golemite itself was a pledge of the Inquest's earnest intention to forgo any and all consequences for misunderstandings caused by either parties, and that the megakrewe wants me back to "lead a very important project fit only for geniuses of my expertise".
Allegedly.
Of course no one believed the offer didn't come with unmentioned fine print, and the golem was obviously a listening or tracking device of sorts, so someone, ahem, neutralized it promptly before further examination.
I just... *loud sigh*
I can easily believe they'd want my skills back, given that they were unequivocal about their investment during my training. But I'm relatively surprised about how perseverant they're being... And that Klorr maybe was actually not lying?
Still, even if -abnormously big IF- I wanted to accept... I don't trust my working conditions would be even close to acceptable. Not since my intentional mistreatment was the entire reason why I'm presently here.
*sound of something hitting wood, followed by protracted exhaling*
Regardless, it means that, for whatever reason, they currently value me more alive than expunged, which... doesn't really make me feel relieved.
I do NOT want to go back, no matter what, and I'm afraid that means they will either keep insisting for the rest of my life... or eventually get tired and try to cut it short along with their losses.
That's... a lot to feel hanging above my head.
My expression likely was a window into my thoughts, because Ifwyn, the agent that handled that operation, took me aside earlier today and properly offered me to join the Order.
Now, THAT gave me some relief, because the thought of having people looking out for me as I look out for them IS massively comforting.
I almost instinctively said yes, but I had to bite my tongue because I still have to find out about the MILD device first.
I -temporarily- declined and explained my reasoning, and she smiled warmly, underlining that the offer will still be there when I feel like taking it.
I still haven't left Hoelbrak because this morning caused quite a stir as the Whispers looked everywhere, but I'll hold onto that comforting offer in the next days and until I know for sure that Mardis won't die on me or something. I owe her that safety before I think of mine.
-
City time, big and long lore drop time!
Zyvv is getting Relic of Earth in the next entry! It was their random reward for completing the Breaking the Ice meta a few entries ago!
Lore-wise, Relics got activated at the end of EoD, so since this is set in 1325 AE, Zyvv is getting a PvP rune in PvE, given you can equip just one instead of the full set (let's go with this explanation lol)
A new rule has been added to reflect this:
- Completion of meta events allows a coin flip to obtain missing max-level gear (what it is exactly is randomized). Guaranteed free choice in case of unique loot being dropped from the meta.
Also, since last map ended with an undelivered Raven egg in Zyvv's inventory, I'm also pre-claiming another new friend for them, although it'll be a while before they actually join the squad hehe
(The sage/wise "pun" was 100% due to the rng. I love this method when it peaks like this lol)
I kinda liked the harsh cold in Frostgorge, but here in Wayfarer Foothills the weather is just lovely.
I could even go as far as saying that this trip was quite relaxing.
Sure, soon after we entered the region, we came across a pair of Sons of Svanir hunting dolyaks, but that was over quickly.
One of them tried to attack us, but we managed to make them flee.
We opted to let them return to their camp and take a detour from the main road. It'd have been stupid to engage and potentially letting the artifact fall back into their hands.
Speaking of it, Aimil has been extremely tightlipped about what the artifact is or does.
No idea if he just doesn't want to share that info or he simply doesn't know what it is, but I choose to believe the latter.
I... also may have been too harsh with him.
I think being undercover for that long without being able to act on his mission had him severely on edge or something, because in the past three days he's been a lot less annoying.
I still won't call him a friend because he is still too annoying, but he did pull me into things I wouldn't have tried otherwise, and it kind of improved my opinion of him.
The first day we stopped at Kevach's homestead for the night.
The food was amazing and I accepted to taste some of his ale. Not bad, but not my thing. Thankfully they also had apple cider for the kids.
The second day we crossed the frozen lake and reached Twinspur Haven by night.
There was an open kitchen there and I was finally able to refill my dwindling supplies!
I had wanted to go to sleep right away, but then Aimil convinced me to stay up and watch the sparring matches organized by the Lionguard that night, and it was kind of fun. Insightful, too.
And then this morning I almost wanted to bite him when he dragged me out of bed to "take a detour we couldn't miss".
I would have also preferred some semblance of warning, before spotting a group of norn walking out of a steamy pool with barely any undergarment on or as the Eternal Alchemy had made them.
Furthermore, I didn't want to hear it when Aimil started taking his armor off and invited me to do the same and jump in, but *long exhale* those hot springs were a-ma-zing.
I like the cold, but I missed being that cozily warm too. Stinky pretty much melted into one of the side puddles not used by the locals, while Mardis was content with being on the shore, warm and dry.
Anyway, I feel like we traveled a lot faster after that detour, and we're stopping at avillage right outside Hoelbrak for the night.
Aimil tried to get me to play some human card game with him, but I've got a lot on my mind and wasn't in the mood, so some old norn took over and I went for a walk.
Someone in the village is partying up a storm or something by the sound of it, so here I am on the outskirts, where it's quieter and eerily calm.
... Alchemy, looking up at the giant sculptures of the Spirits of the Wild with the aurora behind them makes me feel... *exhales* a certain way.
It's- *sudden series of sneezes*
Uuugh, Alchemy, I hope I'm not getting sick. I need a tissue.
*rummaging sounds*
Uh, what? Why is there an egg in my backpack?! How long has it been in here???
---
More (literally) chill adventures since it's a low level map.
After FR and FS back to back, I'd say they earned a break... and a not-Kinder egg hehe
It's been almost a week since my last entry.
Didn't get much time alone since then, but today we're in a less troublesome area and I can be go outside the camp proper without big risks.
I have never felt this cold in my entire life.
Granted, I had never seen snow either, but you know what? I actually kinda like it!
Of course it's in part thanks to the weather-appropriate gear I was so graciously given, otherwise my ears and toes would have probably become frozen solid and fallen off by now. This big scarf is extremely versatile, and Stinky loves the dog coat I was also given for her.
So, when I got to the base camp in Elder's Vale in the middle of the morning, I delivered a letter to Commander Tailbiter.
I had not read it, I was just told by the Lightbringer who gave it to me that it'd grant me a change of gear and unquestioned passage, and it did.
The Commander read it, muttered something under his breath, then barked orders around before pointing me towards a tent, telling me to wait there once I was done changing.
I didn't have to wait long to meet "Crusader Emil".
Also uh, small tangent, but like... the pact stuff I heard about turned out to be an actual alliance between the three Orders of Tyria. Or, at least, an attempt at one.
Apparently the retaking of Claw Island was so successful that everyone was ready to give it a try, with Firstborn Trahearne as Marshal of this new "Pact". Weird, given he was just a scholar as far as I know, but hey, look at me now! At least he seems to have a somewhat-famed charr as his second, so maybe he's just the mind of the operation.
... Is Mardis my second in command miniature charr? *amusedly scoffs* Nevermind.
Anyway, not that it didn't happen before of course, but apparently now the Orders will cooperate openly.
When I was there, more of the Pact forces were en route to the camp to fortify it against Icebrood activities, but Aimil and I left before then.
Right, so, Aimil...
I do not like him.
And he likely doesn't like me either.
Stinky is on my side on the matter, while Mardis... I don't know if she's testing him or trying to get him to like her.
Either way, it's been a few long days of tolerating him.
We started off on the wrong foot, when Aimil entered the tent and reacted angrily. Apparently the agent I've been substituting is his regular partner, and he was counting on their aid specifically.
Then he stumbled over himself and tried to make up for his bad first impression. Wish he didn't.
Really, I was willing to give him a chance to recover, but then he started questioning my abilities as if I was a little progeny who fell from the hammock headfirst one too many times. Sure, I'm not an agent, but I was able to track him through half of Ascalon alone. He still hasn't given me credit for that!
And worse, he sealed my opinion when he agreed to help me out with his contact. The condition that I help him complete his mission first was obvious, but he didn't have to say it like that! *angry scoff* The nerve of that human!
I'll concede that he can be a good talker and even funny every now and then, but I vastly prefer him when he has to be the cagey and dutiful Emil around others.
Whenever he drops that facade, he truly sounds like a caricature of one of my College professors, trying to be too rational about everything, and his "charming" attitude absolutely grinds my gears and ears.
At least he's good at understanding when he's crossed my tolerance line and zips it nice and quiet for an appreciable duration.
Anyway, it turns out that Aimil's whole deal lately has been tracking a powerful magical artifact through Ascalon.
It was something his Inquest contact informed him about: it was taken directly from the ruins of Ascalon City by the Flame Legion, "acquired" by an associate of the Inquest at one point, regrettably "reacquired" by Flame shortly after, then lost for a time until recent rumors.
When the assignment had presented itself, Aimil volunteered, spying on Flame and then Sons of Svanir on top of his duty. He confirmed the rumors of a planned trade with Flame that had ended in yet another bloody "acquisition"... and that the dragon's lackeys were gathering magical artifacts like that and prisoners to then bring as offerings to Jormag.
His plan was to "acquire" his target by sneaking his way into the Barrowstead with his trusted partner and leave before anyone knew they were there, but given I was not up to his high expectations, Aimil went with plan B: use the full force of a Vigil squad to flatten the door of the Svanir camp and easily access their valuables during the chaos.
Following our regrettable introduction, Aimil went to get some papers from his superiors and we left not long after.
After almost two days of sensible breaks and traveling at a reasonable pace -he was snarky about it, but try being on the run by yourself as long as I have, you ignorant bookah!-, we reached the watch post in the Highpeaks.
Obviously, we made it there while the Vigil was facing an attack from the Sons of Svanir.
We helped out -arrow carts are quite fun to use-, then Aimil took the ripe occasion to show the letter to the Tactician in charge: the long-awaited permission from the Commander to do as they pleased with their annoying neighbours.
The following dawn, the counterattack went under way, and in no time we cleared the patrols and got to the Svanir's doorstep, explosives at the ready.
I'm... impressed with the efficiency of the Vigil. I'll leave it at that.
Aimil might have saved my ears at one point, but I refuse to dwell on that since that bookah had to be a smartass about it.
While the soldiers freed the prisoners and aided the wounded, I followed Aimil to the stead that housed his target.
It didn't take him long to find the small box he was looking for, cheer quietly and disappear it into his bag, followed by other stuff I didn't see. Stopping one of the Svanir from charging me was more important.
On the way out, Aimil tossed me something "for my troubles". He's a trouble, tsk.
Still got no idea what this inscribed rock-thing is, but I won't be asking him for at least another day, since he said to keep it out of view for the time being.
So yeah, I'm still stuck with him, aiding Vigil operations and moving between camps until word from Commander Tailbiter bounces back to us and we can hopefully leave.
For all the soldiers seem to know, I'm just a random Pact aide that was tasked with delivering the orders for the attack alongside Aimil. They're overall nice and I've had to refuse ale more times than I cared to count, and it's taken all of my willpower not to answer in the stupidest way to the inquiries as to whether I know anything about Emil's past. I dislike him, but I'm not that petty.
There was also a... well, not-so-veiled offer to join the Vigil.
I didn't say "no" outright because it caught me by surprise, but honestly? It's an absolute no.
I've learned to fight well enough to survive, but I'm not made of their same cloth for sure.
Jammed cogs, I had the confirmation of it yesterday!
The Kodan holed up in the cave next to Skyheight Steading were in dire need of supplies after a dredge attack, so the Vigil went to share some of theirs as an act of goodwill towards cooperation.
The dredge ambushed us as expected and we were ready, but while everyone else fought without issue, I ended up getting bodied and pinned down by a very angry dredge before Mardis and Stinky tackled him. I'm of average height, but asuran averages don't tend to matter outside of Metrica and I'm tired of everything being so... excessively gigantic.
Thankfully I didn't lose consciousness, but my head still hurts a little -the cold is helping- and his claws tore through my sleeve, scratching my arm -a proper healer worked her magic, thread and needle did the rest-.
Anyway, today we're in the south of the region, waiting for orders after one last assignment around here.
Aimil said he knows what our new orders will be: we're meant to go to Hoelbrak to deliver the artifact to the Whispers chapter there.
Which is fine by me, because then he will do what I ask of him, I'll get information on what the MILD device actually is, and I won't have to deal with him anymore. Can't glitching wait.
... Right, I guess at that point I'll also have to decide whether I want to join the Order of Whispers or not.
Or... maybe the Pact could be a better fit for me, if it doesn't fall apart right away...
---
Aside from the southern meta, it was another uneventful mapping experience overall.
In truth, I got downed for a moment while wearing one of those stupid armor suits, but it was out of the planned path for the story, so fuck it. Another random dredge closer to the path gets that honor, although Zyvv continues to be lucky when it comes to scars.
Bit long of an entry, but Zyvv had a week of stuff to complain about!
Went ahead and added a read more to all existing entries, so that it's nicer to go through them. No idea why I didn't do that before.
Next 3 (and almost a half) entries are already written, but they're gonna be posted only as soon as I can proofread them all, since they're a bit interconnected and a little long.
Aiming to post 1 every 2 days, so I don't burn through the backup as fast.
Now that Zyvv is lv80 and easy exp is not part of the challenge anymore, they're taking a quick non-canon trip back to Rata Sum to finish lv10 story and get a key.
Rules are suspended obviously (mounts can be used to move between instances, but will still apply to anything new I map in RS), but maybe I'll throw a screen or two here from the cinematics.
So, this morning we left Burnt Hollow.
"We" because, for this leg of my westward trip, a pair of agents is tagging along with me. Something about needing to aid some grawl tribes to prepare a joined attack... and ensuring my safety. Sudden, but appreciated.
Not the talkative types, but that was fine for me, especially as they allowed me to rest without complaint when I needed it. The burn on my leg is a barely visible scar that will probably disappear soon, but the accelerated healing from the tonic affected my shoulder too and the coughing fits are still not fully gone. I do feel better and rested, but I still got dizzy a couple of times.
My mission is still to catch up to Aimil, but during the debrief I was told I will have to aid him with his new orders.
No idea about what his new orders were, all I got from the agents was the implicit confirmation that, due to ongoing matters complicating existing plans, I'm once again the least-preferable-but-necessary substitute for the mission. A matter of fact, though I don't know how to take the vagueing about my "unaffiliated situation" being useful.
Anyway, today our trip was pretty uneventful, at least until we got to one of the small grawl villages, one that has been aiding the Order and the Legions against Flame as of recently.
As if to justify my companions' presence, harpies were in the midst of invading it, so we took care of that and, uhhh... freed the grawl shaman from the harpy matriarch he was misguidedly in love with... I think?
Regardless, the agents left for other villages after instructing me to stay with the tribe for the night and leave in the morning, so that they can "deal with their dealings" while knowing this place is safe.
The grawl are being almost too nice, first giving me a huge tent all for myself and the girls, then bringing me food despite having shown them I have supplies.
I had to accept some berries so that they'd stop insisting, while the girls feasted on grub larvas. Looked yummy, but I don't want to bother the grawls here since they don't seem to be exactly thriving.
I... I have to admit that I'm always surprised by how nice other races can be, especially with strangers and each other.
I mean, in Lion's Arch it felt like... a given, you know? Cooperation between races is their history, the founding principle of the city and all that!
But out here, between burning hills and homicidal zealots, it has an entirely different impact.
Not only the sylvari who gave me the scraps yesterday also found me a pair of old boots in better shape than mine, but two of the charr I fought alongside fashioned a smaller spear out of scraps specifically for me, after seeing mine get broken during the fight.
It was nothing special, they said as much, but also stated that it was the least they could do for my impromptu help with taking down the Tribune.
I... Alchemy, I felt like a weight during that fight. I quite literally was one while I was choking and that other charr dragged me around to keep me safe, and even more so when they carried me back to the camp.
And yet... the way they said it didn't make me feel as such...
It... stuck with me, and... it's not the first time it happens.
I mean, I have learned to never expect kindness of any kind to be extended to me, not without proving I was truly worth it first or making me pay for it afterwards, you know?
And yet, since I left my people -or... at least what I knew-, I keep finding people willing to help me beyond my utility, all without even knowing the full story or who I am... and *sniffle* I am letting them do that.
M-maybe that's the dif-
Oh, no no, thank you, I'm good. Really, I still haven't finished the berries you've given me earlier. No, I don't need-
-
Zyvv is now level 80 and completed 52% of the map!
And since nothing of notice happened (a miracle, given I mapped everything that wasn't mentioned in the previous entry and feared dying every step of the way), time for an easy short trip and a little introspective moment lol
Anyway, I'll have to see what to do about getting better gear, be it how much I can buy from vendors in one go (both for armor and trinkets, especially the stats-selectable ones) or even just obtaining the relic (and which one?).
Maybe it can be random rewards for story milestones or champion events, but I'll have to decide how that works sooner than later :')
*long sigh*
Well, things keep being interesting, and I can't wait for them to return to good ol' plain boring. And especially less painful.
So, as I said, my intention was to rest at the Tuyere Command Post.
A huge, stinky, loud place with hordes of charr armed from fangs to tailtip, marching around and training at all hours. Truly a sensory nightmare after all I've been through in the past few days, but no one paid me much mind beyond a glance.
I got confirmation from two different soldiers that the Vigil unit passed by a while ago, then I found myself a cozy little spot on one of the siege towers, ate something and tried to sleep.
"Tried" because it was more of a nap, since shouting charr woke me and the girls up not much later. Something about tar elementals and things not being right, then explosions went off and someone angrily mentioned Flame Legion on the shore.
Since sleep was no longer in the cards at that point, I quickly moved out of the camp without saying anything.
It wasn't my fight anyway, I thought.
Well, just a couple of hours later, I was fighting for my life against some Flame Legion Tribune whatwashisname.
Such is the Eternal Alchemy, in all its painful irony.
I was going my merry way west, when one engineer -Slicktalon, I think?- stopped me dead in my tracks, warning me of some Flame interlopers who had attacked and chased him and his team away from the cannons positioned right up the path.
Without options since the lake area was under attack, I accepted his proposal to use my size to sneak under the tanks and get rid of the Flame soldiers.
Well, I accepted and did as asked... unknowingly signing up to help them conquer the camp they were attacking, because, once we secured the cannons, Mardis just up and went with the troops that charged ahead!
*huffs angrily* Yeah, I'm talking about you and that entirely-non-suspicious twitching ear of yours, Mardis. You keep doing it and you know you shouldn't.
Anyway, I nearly died. Twice.
First time was while we were chasing the target around the camp.
I don't know what happened exactly, but at one point I turned around and got hit with a cloud of steaming toxic smoke -or so I was told-.
My mask had gotten loose during the fight and the force of the blow flipped it over my eyes. Probably it kept me from going blind, but my nose and mouth felt on fire, so much that I wasn't able to breathe or see anymore.
I managed to use my healing spell a couple of times in a row and thank the Alchemy it somehow worked, but it could have ended badly.
Good thing is that some charr had noticed what happened and yanked me along to keep me away from enemies as that whole thing happened. Had to grab me by my wounded shoulder and now I'm quite sore, but I definitely can't complain, given the alternative.
Bad thing is that I keep having coughing fits that make me spit out soot. Also I keep peeling layers of dead skin off my face, but I'm told it's normal.
Regardless, I was keeping up okay, mostly making sure my girls were not attacked from behind.
Then, just as we were about to kill that damned Tribune, he hurled a fireball at me!
Next thing I know, my left thigh is on fire and I meet the ground.
I managed to put the fire out and crawled away from the fight to avoid being trampled, but one of those sneaky, flaming bastards followed me and tried to skewer me with his sword!
I-
*shuddering heavy sigh*
I thought I was a goner, but Stinky bit his leg and yanked him away, and then one Iron soldier gave him a taste of the medicine he wanted to administer to me.
*another, longer sigh*
And then it was done.
Somehow we won that fight!
*grim chuckle* Thanks to "that tiny thing", I heard someone say... before I kinda nearly fainted from the pain of the burns and adrenaline crash.
I remember being given me something strong to drink and nearly puking it out, then being carried here while I was... okay, in retrospect, chances are that they gave me some whiskey or something of similar alcoholic content, because I did feel drunk all the way here, cursing myself up and down because I was wasting precious time.
At least my girls were okay. Mardis had a bit of scorched fur in places, but Stinky was pristine other than the soot and dried blood. No idea how.
Well, in a weird twist of fate, it was actually a positive thing that I got hurt: as of recently, this place hosts various organizations other than the Legions, and that includes the Order of Whispers AND the Vigil!
This painfully unplanned detour saved me days of searching a burning haystack for a needle that wasn't there!
Okay, to recap everything, now I'm in Burnt Hollow, a pretty big camp hidden in a cave in the canyons, and it was in fact NOT one of the places I had to check. Changes of plans and whatnot.
While I was in the infirmary, the Order came looking for me. A hooded asura gave me a flask to drink and a note on where to meet them, then disappeared.
That tonic tasted terribly bad, but it worked its magic. Sure, I had a terribly itchy 5 minutes as the burned skin on my leg healed and my coughing fits were nearly continuous, but after that was over, I was up in no time with little pain, sneaking out of the tent on two legs, but pretending to limp as instructed. I was told I didn't need to sell the act that much, but better safe than sorry.
I went to the Whispers camp as indicated, and they filled me in on the developments: not only the Vigil unit I was tracking had left this place 5 days ago for Frostgorge, but there was a shift in personnel due to new orders.
Alas, Aimil, was not among the soldiers who remained, but he had personally delivered the intel I had gathered so far. It was a fallback in case of my untimely demise or failure, so I'm not gonna feel offended.
My mission is still to catch up to him, but I'll get debriefed on what changed about that before I leave.
In the meantime, I am presently forbidden from asking anything to any Vigil soldier, lest I blow Emil's cover -real creative name for his persona-.
I mean, gossip is aplenty and Vigil soldiers are the ones who can't shut up, so I don't even have to eavesdrop. Since I got here I keep overhearing people mention a pact or something like that, but the main topic seems to be a huge victory at Claw Island.
It's a relief, knowing Risen are no longer getting comfortable right on the mainland's doorstep,but whatever else is being talked about sounded complicated and I have no need for more of that as of now.
Anyway, right now everyone is apprently in a meeting of sorts on the other side of the cave, so much that only a fern hound has been keeping guard outside this tent.
Mardis and Stinky have been asleep since before I started recording, and I'm meant to rest as well, but I wanted to patch my clothes up first.
My coat took the brunt of the fireball and my pants shielded me from the worst of the burn, so much that the camp medic only applied a salve to my leg and was more worried about the coughing than anything else.
I should change my gear, but it's gonna happen anyway if I make it to Frostgorge, so for now a nice sylvari gave me some scraps.
...
*chuckles*
You know what's weird?
I might be tired and physically spent to the point I'm definitely not registering the risks I took today, but right now I feel... almost safe.
*sighs* I'm probably getting used to the wrong things, am I?
---
Sorry for yet another hiatus, back to Zyvv!
So... I meant to get the Vidius Castrum's waypoint by stealthing in there and gtfo as fast as possible, but someone started the fight and I felt bad leaving them there alone.
Boy oh boy, I had palpitations during the whole fight and for 5 minutes after it ended, because Zyvv was downed twice and the second was too damn close for comfort.
I need to make better choices with my their life x_x
Short one because I had to take a break as per the rules, then took a few days to get back to it. So a little lore drop, while next part is done and scheduled already.
Few screens because it felt too hazardous most of the time lol
While not technically a rule, I decided to randomize whether Zyvv gets a scar and where every time they are downed.
This time they were lucky and got nothing (but a scare) both times :D
Wanna give it a go with Zyvv~
Adding them below to keep things clean
1 - They don't know why, but they've always been a magnet for animals.
Something about them just makes non-aggressive animals relax in their presence, and they have an easier time approaching agitated animals, which turned out to be something pretty useful during their early days in the Inquest, as interns were the ones who had to handle and feed specimens.
2 - That affinity isn't mutual, however.
In fact, not only Zyvv never really cared about animals, but they also found any creature that was too big (read: taller than their waist, adjusted for age) to be scary.
They got over that fear through forced exposure during their three years in the Inquest, but they still never cared for animals as more than "acceptable price for important research", at least until Mardis.
3 - They're intersex!
Zyvv presented and was socialized as a boy until puberty, when they suddenly developed in a feminine way.
It was a genuine surprise, but after the initial concern for the unexpected change (and some medical reassurance that it was rare but totally fine), they realized they actually preferred themselves that way and grew more confident, even learning to take care of their looks a bit and enjoying it.
(They prefer neutral pronouns because gender is not something they bother with, but they don't mind being perceived as feminine. They also kept their name because their father picked it.)
4 - Zyvv always struggled a lot with making friends and bonding with people in general, as they were pretty anxious and shy.
In early education Zyvv had some outgoing classmates who considered them a friend, but then they had no friend during the three years in their mother's "care".
During both apprenticeship and College in Rata Sum, they did have some friendships, but it was all pretty superficial because of their anxiety (boosted by their mother's abuse), so they remained closed-off and lonely overall.
5 - In spite of the lack of actual friendships, people did tend to like having them around!
Zyvv was always hardworking, generally nice (chronic people-pleaser), and particularly non-competitive, so no one had reason to start conflict with them and neither did they.
Still, that mostly translated to classmates and krewemates taking advantage of them (taking the blame for stuff they didn't do was a bit of a pattern in their life).
6 - While they avoid conflict at all costs, if particular buttons are pressed Zyvv can become a bit of a mean brat and surprisingly headstrong about it.
It takes even more to bring them to the limit where they actually become angry, but that happened so rarely they can count all instances on their fingers, at least before their escape from the Inquest.
7 - They're generally quiet and never start casual conversations, but if given the chance, they will yap all the yapping they never yapped.
8 - Due to thier mother's krewe being often out on field research as they were tasked with the study and categorization of Brisban's flora with potential medicinal effects, Zyvv learned a bunch about with living away from civilization.
They eventually despised the idea of it, like most things tied to their mother, but in retrospect that experience served them very well.
9 - They never had an actual romantic relationship.
Not for lack of trying, as they had three potentially-nice relationships in the making, but they all went sideways due to various reasons, ending before they became serious enough.
They did have a "thing" that lasted four months when they were an intern in the Inquest, but that was strictly for pure mutual benefit.
10 - Zyvv considered their father's krewe as family.
Pliff was a good father, but a bit in over his head when he came back to Rata Sum with an oopsie progeny in a sling. After he found a krewe to work for, most of them with experience helped him out where he had no idea about what he was doing.
Until more than half of the krewe died suddenly seven years later, including Pliff, Zyvv spent most of their time with them. The little progeny usually quietly observed and learned from the krewe, occasionally asking questions or even helping as they could (mostly nothing of importance given the krewe developed and built lab defense systems, but little Zyvv was extremely dutyful in what they were allowed to do).
11 - Zyvv's hair is butt-length.
Being the practical type, their mother Nijji preferred to shave her head in order to minimize waste of time and safety hazards both out in the field and in the lab, and she did the same to Zyvv in preparation for the first field trip following their sudden arrival.
Zyvv, who to that point had their hair at shoulder length and always anxiously fidgeted with them, took the umpteenth radical change so badly that Nijji allowed them to keep short haircuts.
After returning to Rata Sum for their apprenticeship, Zyvv let their hair grow out, and the unexpected changes of their body gave them the confidence to try styling it themselves.
To this day, they never really cut their hair (besides tiny cuts to keep the ends healthy and even), as it's a small but important source satisfaction for Zyvv, allowing them to look as little as possible like their mom or as she wanted them to be.
12 - Zyvv doesn't look much like their mom (closest thing is their ear shape and size), taking a lot more from their father's side (specifically their late grandmother, as Pliff always said).
If Nijji hadn't been the one to pop them out, she would have probably claimed Zyvv wasn't hers (she still kinda tried to claim that when the Peacemakers brought them to her after Pliff's death).
It's been an interesting... three days, I think?
Days are blurring a bit for me as things keep becoming messier, but I made significant progress in spite of nearly dying.
After that close encounter with the assassin team, we did not stop for any reason, be it tiredness or harpies chasing us, and we made it to the Iron Marches before dawn.
The first stop there for my intel search was Dewclaw Village, not far past the Wall.
It was marked as a longer forced stop for the Vigil unit, as they had to resupply, help the local troops with their Flame Legion problems and then take a boat north.
I was meant to find Timbus, the agent undercover there, but he noticed me first and took me aside, before any of his warband saw me.
He'd been waiting for me, apparently. Or like, any Whispers person.
He gave me the intel -"silence nets static, chatter shoulders a stranger, fraud gashes the glow"-, but most importantly he warned me that the plans got scrambled.
A new encampment was recently propped up north of Cowlfang's Star, in Gladefall Run, as the Blood Legion had suddenly decided to bring the fight up to Flame's doorstep.
Their progress was the talk of the region lately and the Vigil unit had to cut short their stay in the village, after being requested there by the brass. Annoying as it is to take longer with assassins on my heels, it's the first thing that gives me actual hope I'll find Aimil.
I was about to continue on the road, but he stopped me, saying I looked like a ghost on the run from the Wall -brutal, but I guess my looks matched how I felt- and that I'd get myself killed in that state.
I did not have it in me to decline the offer to stay for a few hours in his quarters, so that I could rest a bit. I didn't, not really, but the girls did. I took the chance to cobble together new shoulderpads, since mine got torn by harpy claws.
I thanked Timbus and asked him to tell anyone who could ask that I went towards the Brand, then took the way west and then north.
Well... after half a day on the road, I stumbled upon a devourer farm and I was roped into helping the handlers.
Upset as the queens were, there was no way for strangers to make it past them safely, as some Flame Legion thieves had been riling them up for days.
We dealt with the intruders, then got to work calming down the devourers.
I got the hang of it quickly and it was kinda fun to feed them, until... well, I was bringing yet another queen some meat, when Mardis accidentally spooked her... and the huge beast attacked me in a flash.
*uneven, unnerved sigh*
That devourer got me good with her pincer.
I was told I fainted for a handful of minutes. That I was lucky that the jab didn't pierce or crush me, only hitting me with the barbs and knocking me down. That my girls had warded off the queen until she calmed down, keeping her from likely killing me in her frenzy.
Honestly, all I remember is the giant devourer screeching and rearing up, trying to get out of the way, and then the impact with the ground and the blinding pain in my neck and left shoulder.
Braxa, the charr in charge of the devourers, was the one who rushed to my aid.
When I came back to my excruciating senses, she was removing my coat and treating my wounds as best she could. She also said that Mardis kept insisting on licking my wounds and that somehow made it stop bleeding as bad, but maybe she panicked a little too hard and imagined things.
Then she called over Hazen, her assistant, and ordered him to carry me to Scalecatch village, where their warband could properly help me out.
I think I heard her mutter she felt responsible for giving such a dangerous job to someone no bigger than a cub, weirdly competent or not.
Guess my surprise when a cub, Cuile, was tasked with looking after me!
After the medic checked me, he used some water magic to mend the immediate damage -said the skin and flesh were torn up something nasty, but I could still feel my arm so he shrugged it off as nothing to worry about after his care-, then I was sent waddling towards one of the houses of the village, following the Cuile.
I think I fainted a little bit again, as I didn't notice the cub had left until he returned, announcing he had washed my coat and brought me a healing salve and some food, along with a concoction to help me recover and sleep through the pain.
Well, turns out that charr-grade stuff proves maybe too effective on those of smaller mass and more delicate frame. Whatever it was, I definitely felt rested, if not a bit hyper still after nearly two days.
Stinky stood watch over me and I eventually fell asleep once the tonic worked its magic, and until then I had Cuile keeping an eye on me, playing with Mardis using an old frayed whip as a toy and blabbing non-stop.
I think he was trying to make me feel better by comparison, but I don't think I'll ever forget how his chest was proudly puffed out as he told me how he too was hurt just like me a couple times, back when he was first learning, but that he had been through worse when he had lost his warband to an ambush.
I... don't really get the whole warband thing, but losing your family so young is... a rough thing. I know how that feels very well. And I don't want to imagine being in the thick of it when it happens... but at least he was lucky he found a place worth staying at.
*little sniffle*
Anyway, I left the following day, feeling surprisingly good for someone who had almost died.
*grim forced chuckle turns into a sighed groan*
My shoulder and neck still feel a bit stiff and the area around the scar is yellowing with a nasty bruise, but I can't deny the medic kept his word. Cuile could have avoided giving me a "playful" pat right on my shoulder, but he proved the point, I guess.
Before I went, the medic gave me another pass of the salve and a little bottle with more of it, just to make sure.
I can definitely feel my arm being weaker due to the fast healing, but it's not bothering me much overall, as I'm keeping it in check with some magic whenever it starts hurting.
I tried to make up for the lost time, avoiding fights whenever possible to let my shoulder heal a bit more and rushing towards the Cowlfang's Star.
I'm so thankful Jaren took the time to properly show how to use stealth magic, if I see him again I'll have to offer him an entire alehouse or something.
I found what I needed there in little time, but as expected, there was another hiccup.
I asked a merchant if I could review her unsold goods on sale, and she just told me to go look for her bandmate up at the Firewatch encampment for "whatever weird deals he's offering this time".
A few hours later, I found her more-agreeable bandmate, who gave me the intel -"attacks count the ships suggested by the relentless"- and said the Vigil unit was kept there by the brass for three days before they let them go, then muttered something about stubborn ambushers who won't be a problem anymore.
Second thing that gives me hope.
He suggested cutting through Lake Carnifex to get to Fireheart Rise faster, but after I saw what the Flame camp was, I opted to not get too close.
So, after resting for a few hours, I skirted around Cowlfang and now I'm going around the lake on the less-dangerous side. I stayed close to the water in order not to leave footprints, and the fog and smoke are a good enough cover.
Judging by the sounds of battle that keep echoing across the lake and the accompanying flashes and flames, I think I did the smart thing.
I'm not looking forward to the next region, especially with the wound making it harder for me to fight properly.
Not ideal, as I can't risk having the assassins find me, but I'll try to rest as much as possible at the first camp I find, then hope for the best. I can't stealth my way through that region, and I need my shoulder to be reliable.
Regardless, Aimil and his unit can't be more than a few days ahead of me.
Barring more detours or unwanted outcomes, either they've already reached their destination or I'll catch them en route.
---
... Okay, so, I had another story plan for this entry, but then Zyvv nearly died in such a stupid manner that threw it out for this more rambly entry :D
Mardis did indeed attack the queen while I was bringing her a snack (misclick), and since I was nearly done with the heart, I went and tried to kill her. I did NOT expect to get one-shot by her, not when I was doing fine combat-wise almost everywhere else. I thought they were done for, but the queen became neutral again and someone came to res me.
But hey, first scar earned! (randomized where too lol)
Needless to say, I feel like Zyvv will never get a devourer pet after this.
Also in case anyone is wondering: I've been making up the intel phrases by randomizing words and putting them in a sentence together, so I don't know what any of it means! That's for the Whispers to understand, not me!
