*Bonus Mastery: Each point spent in the Tactician tree increases healing by .75% and damage by .75%.
Type of Soul
Support
Description
Tacticians are masters of Empyrean technology. These highly versatile rogues use a variety of tools and gadgets to obliterate their enemies.
40 pt Talent
Curative Torrent 15 energy AE Heal
3.0 sec. Channel Requires ranged wpn.
Restores X health to party or raid members in front of you over 3 sec. This effect can heal up to 2 additional party or raid members. Reduces energy by 1 for every second of channel.
61 pt Root Ability
Ablative Coil10 energy
Cooldown: 2min. 6.0 sec. channel
Protects all raid members around the rogue from harm, reducing dmg taken by 30% for up to 6 sec.
Main Weapons
Bow or Gun
History
The transit lift was enormous. A deep and armored cage suspended from track by magic and metal, it could carry a dozen Empyrean warriors in heavy plate. Or, in this case, a rogue and his golem.
The former lay sprawled in a corner while the golem prodded at the lift’s controls. The rogue pointed overhead. "Up, Cere." Blood ran from his mouth when he spoke. “To the top.”
The golem keyed in the destination. As the lift spun to life, Ceredwyn looked back to the rogue. "You're a mess,” it creaked.
“Ice mages,” said the man, grinning. He wagged his left arm – frozen solid to the elbow – at the golem. “I think they got me.” At Ceredwyn’s insistence, he conjured a healing core that took root on the floor and thrummed with elemental energy. "But you should have seen them boil," he muttered before passing out.
By the time they arrived at the bunker, the rogue was fully healed. He checked the shelter's provisions: food, water, and ley lines to power an assortment of wards and devices. While Ceredwyn briefed him on the battle raging outside, he reflected on the survivors they'd rescued so far: an ambassador’s family, a dark cleric from Necropolis – some two dozen souls in total.
Not enough, he thought. Gathering an assortment of weapons and powering the engines in his armor, the rogue signaled Ceredwyn to open the bunker’s door.
The girl fell back and called for her beleaguered parents to follow. They alone had survived a wave of invaders pouring from a tear in the sky. Now a monstrous blue dragon led a second group of demons their way.
To her horror, sizzling bolts of energy ripped past from the direction of their retreat, striking her parents in turn – yet neither was felled. Instead, the energy bound their wounds and washed away their fatigue. She turned toward the source of the magic to find a leather-clad human racing toward them.
If she was surprised by the rescue, she was even more amazed to recognize the man as they crossed paths – it was the city's madcap inventor, a rare sight outside his underground tunnels. He flashed her a smile in passing, then unleashed energy beams and pulsing turrets that made quick work of the remaining demons.
While the dragon circled overhead, the rogue directed them to the disguised opening of a massive bunker. It took the girl a moment to realize he hadn’t followed them inside. Instead, as a mechanical attendant creaked through introductions and protocols, she glimpsed the man in the distance, spewing gouts of flame and frost, locked in dazzling battle with the dragon.
“He’ll be back one day, Calliope,” her father said, putting a hand on her shoulder as the portal whirled shut. “T’Scain knows what he’s doing.”
Strengths
A versatile support specialist who can excel at both healing and fighting at the same time.
Weaknesses
Not very effective at AoE dmg. and not a true healing or dps class, more like a hybrid.
References: The lore information and stats provided are all products of Trion and were either taken directly from the game or from Trion's lovely lore page and do not belong to me in any way! The external links to other sites all belong to their respective authors and I had no hand in them!
The Palisade loomed over the nearby natural flora, looking just as I remembered it. It had just been completed not long before I and my mentor had found out about the Aelfwar's treachery. In their fight against the Wanton hordes, we'd raised a massive fortress to the north. At the time I hadn't been so concerned, but I did wonder now how I couldn't see that the Palisade was unnatural. It had taken them a quarter of the time to build it then they would normally have, and the whole thing just gave off the feel of otherworldly. Fae. Also at the time, I'd been happy that we had a fortress so close to Quicksilver to help protect the people there from the uprising of Maelforge's followers but now I realize that Hylas had intended the Palisade as an easy position to attack the towns and outposts of Silverwood with. If that was where Marshal Rowen was holed up, that was where I needed go.
The fortress was nearly impenetrable on a good day, but it obviously hadn't had a good day in some time. From the cover of some rocky outcroppings near the entrance I watched as goblin hordes threw themselves at the walls and door of the Palisade, trying to overcome the Aelfwar station by sheer number and strength. Some carried torches to set fire to anything that wasn't completely green, causing the satyrs and other Fae minions that the Aelfwar employed to leap from place to place to cover the weak spots. Aelfwar archers and rangers rained arrows down on the goblins, but for every one they slew, three more took its place. The goblins were crude and unintelligent, but they had the advantage of numbers and apparently time, as they didn't seem to be alarmed by their lack of real progress on the fortress. They just kept mindlessly attacking. Or maybe that was just it. I'd killed their leader and taken the talon of Maelforge after all. Maybe they really were just mindless, crazed creatures right now, with no driving force behind them to direct their actions anymore. And this was all to our benefit. As long as the Aelfwar was suitably distracted by the goblin pests, they wouldn't be able to concentrate too fully on what the Guardians were doing. Or so I hoped.
It was actually relatively easy to sneak into the fortress undetected. Everyone was too busy fighting each other to notice little old me. And hey, I look Aelfwar enough from a distance, I could pass as one of them. I did learn the hard way that up close, I gave off some kind of planar aura that let everyone know I was touched with the Vigil's gift. A bit inconvenient, but I could manage.
A spellcaster ran by, shouting for reinforcements on the north gate, as I crept through the shadows looking for Marshal Rowan. If it was me, I'd take the highest position so I could oversee everything and also to remind the rest of my rank. I'm pretty sure that's a mentality anyone in authority had, so I looked for any high towers or lookout posts along the Palisade. Obviously Prince Hylas knew that he couldn't defeat the goblins by just throwing men and magic at them. They were being directed by the dragon of fire after all, so hopefully the Marshal would have clues as to what Hylas's plan was. Near the back of the Palisade, a short hill protruded out of the wall. A well worn path wound up the side of the hill in a spiral, with crude, wooden huts situated along the path. Satyrs and pixies relaxed in the shade of the huts, polishing their horns or fluttering their wings respectively. I cringed as I crept past the creatures. They had no right in my forest. Warping it and destroying it to suit their own fickle desires. It made me furious. But killing a few Fae wouldn't solve the bigger problem so I focused on my task and soon reached the top of the hill.
I found Marshal Rowan seated at a desk on a wooden platform. Hylas's most trusted commander. Once someone I admired. In what seems like a different life. I shook my head in dry amusement. Technically it was another life. The old me has gone and left this divine hand of justice behind. Steeling myself, I clambered up on the platform. As I drew closer, hoping to remain undetected as long as possible, I realized that Marshal Rowan looked different from what I remembered. He had grotesque horns growing out of his head and a dark aura of planar magic seemed to pulse around him. I wonder what he'd given up in order to reap the benefits of such potent magics. Have I mentioned before that I hate magic? All it does is corrupt and warp those it comes in contact with. I'm absolutely disgusted that our beloved prince would have ever consorted with beings of planar power.
I must have made some noise, however small, because Marshal Rowan stiffened and stood up, eyes searching the darkness. Feeling that attempting to remain hidden would be pointless before too long anyway, I revealed myself, stepping out of the shadows. I stiffened my spine and met the man's eyes. I saw nothing there of the kind and intelligent officer I used to know. He gazed at me, not with recognition or realization, but with blind hatred and fanaticism.
"What? Who are you and what are you doing here!" He cried angrily, striding toward me as if intent on grabbing me and shaking the answers out of me. I easily danced out of reach, my reflexes far superior to the warrior, even before my Ascension. The marshal narrowed his eyes as he studied me and I resisted the urge to fidget. He used to give that same look to us during training exercises, back when it was my life's dream to become one of Hylas's royal personal guard. Not any more.
"...Ascended?! Here? How dare you, fool! Prince Hylas will unleash the consuming magic of Greenscale and you can't stop him! So have at it, but know you have already lost!" He cackled, an evil, dark sound, raising the hairs on my neck. He's not the same person anymore, I reminded myself, unsheathing my daggers and preparing for a fight. Obviously he wasn't going to listen to reason or hand over the artifact and I felt a pang of naïve regret go through me, surprised to find I'd been hoping for just that.
He lunged at me, pulling a sword seemingly from thin air that was nearly as long as I was. We clashed and spun in a deadly dance, and if I was still mortal and lacking my abilities I'd have been slain in the first few minutes. But I was not, and was able to trade blow for blow, even scoring several hits with my shorter blades. What I lacked in strength and stamina, I made up with my superior agility, lightning reflexes, and Ascended given abilities of teleporting across spaces and augmenting my blades with flames. Soon Rowan was cursing and being backed into a corner, despite the advantage of his longer blade. He made a wrong move and my foot swept out, knocking him on his back. The sword clattered to the wooden flooring and I stepped on the tang before he could retrieve it. He glared at me from his back, daring me to strike. I hesitated, dagger raised. Should I? Would I? Was I the kind of person who could kill in cold blood and be ok with that? I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to be that person even if I could. With a note of finality, I sheathed my daggers, but kept my guard up, bending down to rifle through his vest in search of the artifact I was sent to retrieve.
"Big bad Ascended can't even bring herself to kill her enemies?" Rowan sneered nastily as I searched for the token. I wasn't really sure what it looked like, but I thought it might be a talon like Maelforge's token. I couldn't stop my hands from shaking, from what I wasn't going to think about, but I steadfastly ignored Rowan's attempt to get a rise out of me. Eventually I found the artifact, and it wasn't a talon. At least I didn't think it was. It was a strange, leaf shaped crystal with something encased inside. I could feel the strong pulses of chaotic, wild energy pulsing from within it the second I touched the thing, and quickly stepped back away from the marshal, wrapping up the artifact and stowing it in my pack. I turned on my heel, intent on walking away, since my mission was essentially complete, but apparently Marshal Rowan couldn't just let it be. I heard a clatter from behind me, the telltale sound of him retrieving his lost weapon, and my shoulders slumped. Feeling resigned, and with the sound of someone snarling behind me as he lunged for my unprotected back, I drew my dagger, spun, and threw it all in the blink of an eye. The dagger flew true and embedded itself in the marshal's throat. Eyes wide and bulging, he clutched at the wound and toppled to the side, gurgling. I stared, schooling my face into an expression of blankness, until he breathed his last, then turned and silently made my way back down the hill, a heaviness in my heart that I didn't know how to lift.
I was able to leave the Palisade just as easily as I entered, although there was a flurry of chaotic activity as I exited the gate as someone no doubt discovered Marshal Rowan's lifeless body and the artifact missing. Remembering the artifact, I gingerly pulled it out, making sure not to touch it. I studied the leaf shaped thing and realized the item in the center was actually a ring. Squinting, I could even make out writing with my improved eyesight. What did that say? I tried spelling it out in my head. 'Kon...geeg....on? Kongeegon? What did that mean? I shrugged. Professor Bedstraw was the professor of nature for a reason after all. He should know what it means.
"Kongeegon? Oh this is terrible Raeslyn!" Bedstraw looked pale as he handed the wrapped artifact to an assistant to be analyzed.
"Why? What does it mean?" I asked, feeling exhausted from the events of the day. Bedstaw grabbed me about the shoulders, not noticing or not caring how uncomfortable that made me. I really don't like being touched. I jerked away from him and he gazed at me earnestly instead.
"Kongeegon is a powerful treant demon from the Plane of Life. We don't know much about him since our research into the Plane of Life is rudimentary at best, but we do know that he is known as one of Greenscale's most prominent harbingers of the wild. By the Vigil! We must act quickly! This must be Hylas's end game! He plans to summon Kongeegon and allow the demon to overtake Silverwood with planar life magic." He rubbed at his beard, clearly agitated and yet a dawning understanding overtaking his form.
"It all makes sense now! The reason for the ritual artifacts, the sense of quiet that has surrounded Overwatch, the lack of any real attack or threat from the Aelfwar. They are preparing even now to unleash Kongeegon! Quickly Raeslyn, we need to let Brougan Groute know of this news so he can mobilize forces against Overwatch! Kongeegon cannot be allowed onto Telara!"
In his frantic haste, Bedstraw gave me a shove in the direction of the mayor's house and I glared at him. He gave me an apologetic look but still gestured. "Quickly Ascended!" My heart began to pick up its beat as his panic spread to me and I quickly turned and ran in the direction of Mayor Groute's offices as fast as I could. The walls of Quicksilver blurred by, as did the houses and merchants stands in Argent Glade. I darted down the main road through Argent, skillfully avoiding any travelers on the road. An Ascended woman astride a large black horse called something out to me in concern but I paid her no heed, although I briefly considered asking her for help. But so far I'd been successful by myself and I was loathe to drag someone else into my own problems. I considered Silverwood my forest to protect.
In one breath I explained what we'd learned about Hylas and his plans to Brougan Groute, who looked shocked and dismayed at the news. "Kongeegon you say? I've not heard the name, but I believe you. Prince Hylas must be mad to involve himself with such powerful planar magic, yet it would explain much of the Aelfwar's recent activity." He hesitated, considering the fence lining his office as he thought.
"We are at a crossroads, Ascended. What we do next could decide Silverwood's fate. Hylas plans to use this treant demon...this Kongeegon, to destroy all civilization in Silverwood. We need to put a stop to this, but I fear that if all our forces are focused on laying siege to Overwatch, we won't be able to enter and stop him in time. Overwatch Keep can withstand any siege. There are several Ascended in Argent who would gladly offer their services to the cause, which will speed up the process, but we still need to find a faster way to get inside and stop Hylas before he can complete the ritual. The second he knows that we are attacking, he will summon the demon."
Instantly I knew what I had to do. I knew many ways into Overwatch, having lived there for some time before my death, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a way into the Keep and finding a way to stop the ritual, although the idea made me a bit anxious. I'd no doubt be confronting Hylas himself in this, my prince of a thousand years...here I'd been frustrated at the lack of progress we were making in nullifying the threat to the woods and now things were veritably galloping along and I was hard pressed to keep up. But I hadn't the time to deal with my mixed feelings and dread, we needed to act swiftly indeed to counter Hylas's treachery. Who knows when he will start the ritual? Bedstraw had told me it was an involved ritual and would take some time, but I doubt we had even a day to respond. We needed to act now.
"I'll infiltrate Overwatch and find a way to stop the ritual while your men and the other Ascended assault the Keep from without and keep the Aelfwar's attention focused there." I said decisively, although I felt a twist in my insides. I can do this. Groute gave me a hard, searching look, frowning. I gave him back my best cool, confident, assassin look, and he blinked.
"Very well, you have been successful at all your tasks thus far, so it will be the most ideal situation. Go swiftly and may you be successful. Contact the leader of my forces, Loras Tivan, at our Guardian foothold southwest of Overwatch Keep. He's been keeping me abreast of the latest Aelfwar activity and you can co ordinate your efforts with him as he'll be leading the siege against Overwtach." I nodded.
I sat in the shade of one of the many trees in Argent Glade to eat a light lunch as hunger had been a shadow in the background of my mind that I'd put aside to attend to more pressing matters and I felt much more alert and confident after I'd eaten. Not knowing what I'd need for the infiltration, I purchased quite a few accoutrements from one of the kindly merchants in Argent. He jokingly asked if I was going to war and gave him a cool look, to which he paled. Glancing out over the trees, I could see the spires and towers that made up Overwatch Keep, the most prominent point of pride and strength that the High Elves had in all of Telara, built many, many years ago as a seat of council for us. Oh how far we have surely fallen in the eyes of the gods. I swiveled to glance in the direction of Sanctum and could just make out the shadow of the gates from here, idly wishing I'd kept Naesa with me so it would be a faster journey. Oh well. I gave a few stretched to remove any stiffness and kinks in the muscle, then set out for Overwatch. Brougan had said the Guardian foothold was to the southwest so as I gained distance over the next half hour, I veered in that general direction, knowing I'd see signs of the outpost to give me a better direction as I got closer.
This was it, the final assault against the Aelfwar and the Fae. Once we nullify Hylas's threat to Silverwood, then what? Well, I still needed to investigate the origins of the goblins and why they had invaded Silverwood to begin with. I don't want them to cause more problems in the future. I wonder what would become of Hylas? Would he surrender? Would we allow him to surrender? I shook my head. Best not to think of such things. Focus on disrupting the ritual and preventing that treant demon from destroying my home.
In the world of Telara your characters can choose to work in various professions. This gives them abilities to gather various resources, like wood or metals, or to craft items from resources, like weapons, runes or potions. A character may choose any combination of up to 3 professions. These are leveled independently of adventuring levels and are not tied to the soul system.
Rift has 12 professions at the moment. These are divided into gathering and crafting professions. Gathering professions are generally independent from crafting professions and do not have any prerequisites. Crafting professions tend to depend on materials that are gathered, crafted by other players or bought from random vendors around the world, or by accessing the in game Rift shop window thing. This means crafting professions are harder to level up and require more dedication, but you can also get some nice rewards from them if you work hard enough at it! One thing to note, especially if you're playing Rift after being a WoW addict (like me) is that Rift lets you have 3 professions (at first) and more if you are willing to spend the credits, unlike WoW, which limits you to 2. If you wish to remove a particular profession for whatever reason, you can simply talk to the profession's trainer and ask to unlearn the skill. You will lose all work gained in that skill though and won't be able to retrieve it even if you relearn the profession.
Here's a list of professions currently in Rift. For further in depth guides on each of the professions, click on the profession title:
Apothecary
Potions, Dye, Serums
Requires Butchering and Foraging materials
Armorsmithing
Chain armor, Plate armor, Shields
Requires Mining and Butchering
Artificer
Necklaces, Rings, Offhands, Staves
Requires Mining and Foraging
Butcher
Crafting profession, allows you to skin animals
Don't forget to skin all the critters you kill, and keep an eye on others
Don't forget to train before leaving a city or quest hub so you can get skill points
Dream Weaver
A new addition to the game, salvages artifacts to create Dimension items
Crafting profession, allows you to find and catch fish around Telara
You can turn in multitudes of common fish for rarer fish
Goes hand in hand with Survival
Foraging
Crafting profession, allows you to pick flowers and harvest wood
Always train the maximum skill level before going out in the world
Mining
Crafting profession, allows you to harvest ore
Always train maximum skill level before leaving a city or quest hub
Outfitting
Cloth armor, Leather armor, Augments
Requires Butchering
Runecrafting
Runes (stat boosts for your armor and weapons)
Works best with an armor or weapon making profession
Survival
Food, Buffs, Tents, Outdoorsy stuff
Works best with Fishing
Weaponsmithing
Swords, daggers, Axes, Spears
Requires Mining and Foraging
Professions are pretty easy to understand, pick up, and level up in Rift. And you can always use or sell what you create or harvest, either for yourself, your guildies, or putting on the AH. Although personally I'd prefer to give them to someone before selling on the Auction House, but that's just me. Different professions can be found in different locations in your starter area, as well as sparsely located around the various leveling zones of Telara, but it's pretty easy to just take a Porticum to your faction's capital city or Tempest Bay and pick up/train a profession there. The materials needed to level up your profession change the higher your skill level gets, and also become harder to make, requiring more ingredients, and larger quantities, but if you keep your professions up to date as you level it shouldn't be too much of a problem. You can also save profession leveling until you need a break from questing or dungeon crawling and than you can just go farming for several hours or a day, depending on your attention span and patience. Me, I don't have much patience.
Having a profession is of course, not required but it does make it easier to gear your character as your leveling, especially if you're leveling via Instant Adventure (IA) or PvP and don't want to spend your currency. You can also create cool wardrobe items with it if you like having different clothing on. Also, don't forget to use the Salvage tool to help cut the cost of materials and to make new items with!!
It's patch day apparently. I totally forgot all about it, despite the huge free to play announcement and it didn't occur to me until I went to log in that I would have to download a new patch. And holy mother of Regulos, it's a big one!! There's so many many new things! It's insane!
First off, a paragraph of ranting about my feelings on the new free to play model that Rift is adopting this patch! I must admit that when I first saw the email message on my phone all those days past that said Rift was going free-to-play, I was furious. Absolutely furious. I'm not sure why...perhaps I felt betrayed by Rift? Let down? Disapointed? I can't say for sure. But I remember taking one look at the email and than shutting my phone off. I remember thinking that's it, I've no more desire to play this game. Which was incredibly depressing because I love Rift. I cherish the game and everything about it. I've lived 2 years of my life surrounded by all things Rift, and I was sure in the fact that it would always be a sub based game. I even left WoW for Rift, which is a big thing for me, since I've been playing WoW straight since 2006. I get hooked into games very easily I'm afraid and WoW was the first MMO and RPG that I'd ever come across. GW happened to be the second and Rift was the third. I know, that's not much experience in the MMO world, but I don't care. I absolutely loved all 3 of those games, and of all of them, Rift was by far the most memorable. My favorite. So when I read the free to play announcement, I was so depressed and sad that I thought I'd uninstall Rift and reluctantly make my way back to being a full time WoW player. Half a week later, my sister finally convinced me to at least give the new version of Rift a chance. So I went to the website, read all the info I could, and than I ventured onto the forums, rightly guessing at all the nerdraging everyone else would be doing about the new model. And I was right. Every complaint I could have ever thought of and more was shouted out across the forums. After I'd read the announcement thread and all those thousands of complaints about the free to play model, I didn't feel so totally against the idea. I guess reading all those people whine and complain made me feel differently. Also, the new videos and screenshots seemed really interesting, and the promises the devs were making that Rift would essensially remain the same helped resolve some of my hurt feelings and here I am, ready to try the new free to play Rift! I well and truly hope that the game I know and love hasn't changed too drastically with their new plans for it, and I hope it will continue to grow and evolve into a fun and wonderful game! More fun than it already is, if that's possible!
That out of the way, here's the lowdown on what's going to be coming to Rift in patch 2.3!!!
For the new patch, a whole ton of things are changing. I'd rather not go through the ENTIRE list of changes, additions and modifications, so I'll just mention the things I'm most interested in.
Dendrome! Finally here, woot! The thing I love most about games, especially new or active ones, is the content. The story, the setting, the new worlds and zones to explore. I absolutely love that about games. It's soooooo much fun to run around on my favorite mount collecting "shinies", exploring caves and unique trees, finding rares, and all that jazz. To have a whole new zone to play in is just total icing on this patch's cake!!! I can't wait to explore it! Of course, due to some other situations, I'm not 60 yet, but I'm working at it and I'll be sure to enjoy all the other new zones as well!
New Chronicle (Queen's Gambit) and new Sliver (Grim Awakening). I really liked the idea of chronicles because that meant that everyone got to get a peek of the story behind all the raids and end game content. Yay for lore geeks! I love learning new things to fit into the big lore puzzle and I also like having more activities to do! Not just for me, per se, because I've always had no problem finding more than enough to do, but I like to know there's content out there to keep other players happy and playing too!
Strongholds? Apparently we get to have some kind of flying citadel thing if I'm reading this right? I've no clue, but I'm sure I'll find out more when I log into the game! As of yet, I am still downloading the patch!
Rift In Game Store: We get a new unique store now to buy certain things from to help us as players and characters in the game. Services at the store include patron day pass, rune unsocketing apparatus, planar essence removal, weapon customization, character slot extension, bag slot extension, faction change (which doesn't change your race apparently! Defiant High Elf anyone?), mass soul mend, role slots, wardrobe slots, race/gender change, more bank slots, and a ton more I'm sure that I don't know about!
Also, the veteran rewards system has been replaced with loyalty system. All your previous veteran rewards stuff will now be loyalty and patron stuff (I'm still confused on this actually) and you can earn rewards and credits by subbing to Rift like you always used to do. Or rather, like I always used to do...
Another nice touch is the addition of guides in the cities. Now in Meridian or Sanctum you can ask a guard for information on where a certain vendor or personage is. I've always liked that about WoW and I'm glad I can finally see fit to find my way around the cities easily without wandering for hours or asking the chat channels *shudders*. And now we can finally use Omen/Quantum sight in Storm Legion to find twisted artifacts, woot! I'm glad for the chance to find new shinies!
You can now preview mounts, mini pets, recipes, dimension items, etc before buying them! That's totally awesome! I'd love to be able to see what a mount or pet looks like before spending coin or currency on it! Awesome idea, I love it! Also, the patch says that the valmera and the eldritch steeds are no longer faction specific! That means that my Kelari can ride one of those awesome looking two-tailed cat mounts! I've always, ALWAYS wanted one, but I don't have a character on the Guardian side who's high enough. Now I don't have to worry about that!
Along with all this crazy amount of information and changes there's the usual stuff: soul nerfs and buffs, quest changes, currency changes, zone fixings, boss fight fixes, all the usual stuffs. Most of that stuff I just skim over at best, since I don't go in for the theorycrafting, math part of the game anyway. I just try the ability out and if I like how it works, great! If not, I'll try to refrain from using it unless a situation comes up that it could be useful in.
"Great sun, look! It's activating!" Suddenly, and with no warning, I found myself back in the real world. Or at least, I hope I was back to normal. Well...as normal as I could be, considering I was nothing more than a soul driving a sourcestone created body with who knows how many other souls as my passengers. A moment of amusement as I considered a group of shining balls of light (my idea of a soul) all sitting demurely in one of the Spirit-drawn carriages we employed in my home city. With a bone jarring thud, I landed, the breath knocked from my body. Well at least I had a body again. That weightless feeling of nothing, that blankness that happens when you sleep or die, had engulfed me the second I'd stepped into the breach in time that the Failsafe device had triggered was not a feeling I'd ever like to experience again. Ever. The brief moments before my mind went blank were the worst moments of my new existence. I thought I was going to die. Again.
It took my heart a few moments to stop wanting to burst out of my chest. I'm sure I can be forgiven for having survived a face to face encounter with Regulos and gone through a time machine into the past at the same time. I could still see his horrifying face behind my eyes. I took a deep breath and hesitantly opened my eyes, half afraid I'd still be in that clearing at the base of the volcano, waiting to be devoured by Regulos. And my jaw dropped. It was like I was in a completely different world. And I guess technically, I was. A new, fresh Telara that had yet to be destroyed by the war that I'd come to prevent. Holy Spirits! It had actually worked! I'd hardly dared believe that there had actually been a way to reset everything. To go back and fix it so that the future I'd been reborn into wouldn't happen. I felt like cheering, or screaming. After the initial thrill had worn off, I glanced around curiously. I wonder where I ended up?
I was standing on a metal platform that contained whirring and clicking gears. Behind me, a long metal arm extended out of the platform to a circle of metal overhead. A control panel sat nearby with a confusing number of dials and buttons on it that looked similar to the one Stavel was using. If I focused on bringing both this scene and the one from where I'd just come from, I could potentially see that they were the same machine. Which mean that though the timeline had changed, my location had been fixed. I'd travelled, not horizontally, but vertically, going through time to arrive at a different date but yet, not moving from my position. Even with my admittedly small understanding of time and physics, my mind just couldn't seem to want to wrap itself around the idea that time travel was actually, irrefutably, possible. It made me wonder why this device hadn't been used for other things. But than I remembered that it had taken a lot of Sourcestone to power the device. A king's ransom worth. That much sourcestone would be insanely expensive, not to mention, difficult to obtain. Another reason why everyone in the future was so fixated on my being their only hope. They literally couldn't afford to do it again if something went wrong. I forcefully pushed such grim thoughts away. It was all in the past now. Or the future...or something. What's done is done, I needed to focus on the here and now.
Beyond the mechanical device I stood on, I could see verdant low hanging trees, gently sloping hills, and an old wooden bridge that led across a severe dip in the earth, like someone had scooped out a handful of earth. To the left the land tapered away into a short beach that ended at a sparkling body of water. Craning my neck to glance behind, I noticed a cobbled path that led to a larger, more extravagant bridge. The kind that led to castles and such. This bridge was beautiful, elegant and silver. Unfortunately, it seemed to be broken, snapped off support beams rearing into the air like accusing fingers. I wonder what happened to it.
"Kremeny, something came through the portal..." said a different voice, which reminded me that yes I'd heard talking. I quickly swiveled around and stared at two men standing to the side of the platform, staring at me in open mouthed wonder and fear. "What is it?!" The man asked his fellow, Kremeny, who stared at me hard, as if trying to decide what type of insect I was. This brought back to me the importance that I needed to relay the information from Asha Catari from the future! The warning that the Ward would fall and Regulos would descend on Telara and destroy all! I fixed my eyes on the two men.
"Hello." I said. My voice came out a bit scratchy and I realized I was thirsty. Insanely thirsty. I wonder if that was a side effect of the time travel. Ha, time travel. I still couldn't believe that it had worked! I looked up at the sky, feeling a grin stretching my features. My heart felt so light suddenly. I was so very glad to get away from that place of death and despair and entropy. Even now, it had mostly faded from my memory, repressed by my psyche no doubt. Probably for the best.
"It speaks!" Exclaimed the same man again, at the same time as the other one said hello back. Kremeny rolled his eyes at his fellow guard. "Of course she speaks nitwit. Look at what she's wearing. Just think Ballard, what were we supposed to stay here and watch for?" He gave his friend a significant look, then gestured to myself. "Don't you see now? It's like Master Valis said! She's an Ascended from the future!" There was so much awe and fear and wonderment in his voice that I felt like cringing. The other guard, Ballard, turned back at me so fast I winced sympathetically, wondering if he'd strained something. He stared at me, face going even paler, and backed up a step.
"An Ascended! Great sun! I can't believe it! No one ever thought the time machine would ever work! We've just begun trials on the Ascension process. And now there's one standing before me..." he trailed off, looking faint, and I quirked an eyebrow. Wait, like the others? There were more? I felt excitement claw at me.
"Are you alright?" I asked distractedly in my gruff voice. It still sounded odd, hearing my words come out in a voice that was much rougher and lower than my own melodic Kelari accent. I wnt over what I was going to say in my head. Kremeny nudged his companion and rolled his eyes.
"Yes, he's fine thanks. We're just a little shocked you understand! We knew what the machine was for of course. Everyone does. No one expected it to work so soon though! Except Orphiel...he predicted it. And you've come just in time!" I nodded absently, not really paying attention. I sent tendrils of elemental magic out on the air, testing the atmosphere. The thick cloying scent of death magic hung in the air and I frowned in alarm. Was I too late?
"Excuse me. I am on a mission of utmost importance. Who can I speak to? I have vital information from...the future." I finished lamely, not knowing exactly how to finish. It was true, I was from the future, but it sounded so ludicrous saying it out loud. To his credit, Kremeny didn't chuckle or make a comment on my words.
He rubbed the back of his helmeted head. "Well, Trinian Nillor is the resident temporal technologist. He knows all this sciency stuff. Me, I'm just a regular soldier. Freemarch is my home and I signed on to the Defiant's army cause they helped us when the rifts started appearing. I was sent to watch the Failsafe with my new pal Ballard here, as a show of unity between the Wardens and the Defiants" The man kept babbling and I wondered how long these two had been stationed out here to guard this device. I boldly took a step off the platform and the two guards hastily backed up a few more steps, then looked sheepish when I gave them a level look. With all that was going on in Telara they are scared of an ally from the future?
"Where might I find this Trinian Nillor than?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet and neutral. Wordlessly, Ballard pointed behind him, where I could see a red robed male figure bent over another technical panel not far away. I was surprised he hadn't come to investigate all the antics these two were displaying. With a nod and murmur of thanks, I left the two guards discussing excitedly amongst themselves, easily eating up ground with my longer and more powerful legs. I will say this much about the Bahmi. They have well shaped bodies. I was muscular, with powerful limbs and weathered skin, but I also still had a well proportioned feminine shape. I also liked my hands. Fine boned and long fingered, they were artists hands. Or technicians hands. I grinned, imagining all the magitech experiments I could conduct now that I was among allies who encouraged such things.
"Excuse me?" I offered to the man so as not to startle him. He gave a small yelp and fell on his rump. That wasn't exactly what I had intended. His sudden movement caused a deep seated instinct I didn't know I had to kick in, and somehow I found myself braced, staff in hand. A few moments went by where we stared wide eyed at each other in tense confusion, before I relaxed my battle stance and waved my hand in apology. The man frowned at me, than glanced behind me. I twisted my staff around and thrust it back through the harness across my back, then leaned down and held out my hand.
The man took it, after giving me another confused look. He made a show of huffing and dusting himself off and I smirked, realizing that he must have become so absorbed in his work that he blocked out the outside world. I guess now I know why he didn't notice my sudden appearance earlier.
"Who are you?" The man asked, his look of confusing transforming into wariness and suspicion. This may be a different world, but I could still see the marks of strife and tension on all of these men. Maybe I hadn't gone back far enough and this is only the beginning. Maybe now I have to relieve all the terrible things that had led to the future I'd been born into. Maybe...ugh get a grip Kara! I mentally chastised myself.
"My name is Karazhan Solanta. I am an Ascended created by Sylver Valis and sent back in time to prevent the coming apocalypse." I said simply and seriously. My blunt words seemed to have the opposite effect I'd been expecting. The man's eyes widened in excited delight, as if he'd just found out that Fae Yule had come early. He veritably danced forward into my personal space, eyeing me up and down. I folded my arms and tried not to feel self conscious as he studied me. After all, it was much the same reaction as the other scientists back at the Life Factory.
"This is amazing! Another one of you powerful beings will be essential in stopping the armies of Regulos and those blasted Guardians! Maybe soon we can have a whole army of you! Are you really from the future? Orphiel and Sylver were confident that the Failsafe would work, and that if it was needed, it would be used. He sent guards up here to watch out for such a thing...but no one actually thought it would work. Or so soon! Great sun! To think I've witnessed the success of all our work in my lifetime!" I gave an exasperated sigh at what I was beginning to realize was an overused expression. Great sun. Really, who came up with that? Probably the Eth. Oblivious to my inner musings, the man continued, "this is amazing. With this kind of power at our disposal, the Defiant will be victorious against all who oppose us!"
I scowled. "I'm no one's tool. I am an actual person. I may be an ally but I don't like being treated like some magitech construct to be sent out to destroy enemies when the whim takes you." I admonished sharply. I may be willing to lend my considerable talent and newly awarded power to help the Defiant cause, because they were like minded individuals and I had no one else left, but I would not be used like some sentient weapon, to be aimed at anything the Defiant considered a threat. This may not be my body, but I was still me!
Trinian had the sense to look slightly ashamed. "I'm sorry...Karazhan was it? I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's just...we've been having so many things go wrong lately, and now the Guardians are constantly attacking us, and there's something stirring in the march, and we keep hearing rumors of death magic being on the rise, and our attempts at creating our own machineborn Ascended keep failing. It's a real mess here, and we could use any help we can get. That's all I meant." He smiled hesitantly, eyes searching mine earnestly. I stared silently at his sun darkened face than sighed and nodded.
"Very well, I accept your apology. But I would like to ask a few questions, please. Are there other Ascended like me? What is the situation with Regulos? Has he attacked yet? What year are we in and what plans do we have to defend Telara against the Blood Storm threat?" I glanced around, making a vague hand wave. "I'm sure you can imagine this is a bit overwhelming for me. You have no idea the nightmare I've been through just to get here. And all those lives lost...Asha! Is Asha here? Is she alive?" I asked the last questions rapidly, suddenly remembering Asha's desperate last stand against Regulos. My skin suddenly felt cold when I recalled the flat, dead eyes of the destroyer as he stared right into my soul. I was very, very glad I was immortal, because I would not want to meet up with him after death. It was rumored that the Soulstream, where all souls went after being severed from their earthly ties, led to Regulos, the god of death. Trinian blinked owlishly at me for a moment, stunned.
"Oh, right, of course!" Trinian looked around fondly. "This is Freemarch. It wasn't always called that, but we renamed it when we finally claimed our freedom against Jakub." He spat to the side as he said the name. I was curious as to who that was, but kept silent. I'm sure I could find out later. "It's year 1509, 5th moon. The year of the Ascended, as the Guardians have finally fulfilled their precious prophecy."
I gave a puzzled head tilt and the man laughed, rather bitterly. "What, you haven't heard? Oh right, future. Well, earlier this month, the Guardians experienced a wave of powerful Ascended heroes arriving from the past. They'd suddenly disappeared after the Shade Wars, and everyone thought they were gone for good, but nope, can't get rid of those blasted Vigil worshipping fanatics. If they didn't have their hands full of their own problems we'd no doubt get a more personal up close look at their Ascended, instead of these missile strikes they keep sending. But now we have you, our very own Ascended! Although...I wish there were more of you..."
He looked behind me in bemusement, as if expecting a dozen replicas of me to suddenly pop up. "I have heard rumors of other machine born creations, such as Asha Catari, Kira Thanos, and a few others. But I can't say for certain. I'm just one scientist, and not very important at that, so I don't hear much." He grinned. "How was the future like?" he asked innocently, eager for information.
"I don't know, actually. From what I saw of Telara, Regulos was moments away from destroying what little that remained..." I tried hard to keep the emotions from strangling my voice and stopped to take a breath through my mouth. "This is Freemarch huh?" I said abruptly, wanting to change the subject.
I had heard of the place before. It was where...wait. Year 1509? That means...I had died on the Ember Isles 25 years ago. I felt a cold shiver. Here I was, walking and talking, years past the date of my death. Feeling very morbid, I wondered if I'd find my tombstone if I ventured back to the Isle and looked for it. I would say I was taking that little fact very well except, compared to everything else I'd experienced, finding out that I'd died on an island far away from here 25 years ago wasn't exactly the most shocking thing I'd experienced today. Trinian and I lapsed into an awkward silence. Suddenly remembering the whole reason I was here, and how imperative it was that I relay my information to someone of authority, I fixed Trinian with a commanding look.
"Who around here would have the highest authority? Where is an officer I can find to talk to? It's important that I inform someone of authority of what I've witnessed." Trinian Nillor blinked.
"Oh, right, of course! Should have thought of that immediately. They will want to know about this. I can still hardly believe it....the future. You better go see Sanora Rellwyn. She's the commanding officer in charge of the defenses at the Arc. She'll definitely want to know that we have a hero from the future on our side." Inexplicably I blushed. Hero. That wasn't a word I'd labeled myself with. When hearing stories of ancient heroes who'd stood up against the dragons and done acts of bravery and selflessness, I'd always thought myself too fond of life to risk it for others, let alone strangers. But I'd changed. I could feel it. I wasn't the same girl I was before and I now felt pride in risking myself to save Telara. I shook my head to focus on the task at hand.
Trinian pointed off to the side, where I'd seen the old wooden bridge. Now that I knew where to look, I could see a sheer smooth wall up against the point where the valley butted up against a sheer mountain. The sun winked off something shiny and red that was set into the wall. I thanked Trinian, assuring him that if I had time, I'd come back and talk more, since he looked so morose at my leaving. I made for the small, nearly invisible path that led down into the tiny valley.
A high pitched whining noise proceeded the ground shuddering as a large flaming cannon ball slammed into the mountain to my left and I stared in shock. Glancing over my shoulder, I mentally traced the arch of the projectile's path, trying to guess where it had come from. Somewhere from beyond that broken silver bridge, I'd say. Who was lobbing cannons willy nilly? Was it those Guardians that Trinian had mentioned?
I continued down into the dip of land, but kept my ears trained or any more projectiles. I'd rather not get reduced to a puddle of Ascended goo my first day back from the future. Even though it was still a shock to realize I was in a different time, a different Telara than I knew, I was already beginning to refer to this time and place as home. Unless another time machine could be invented to send me back to my time, I was stuck here. And it wasn't actually that bad. I'd find my place among the Defiants and I'd carve a place for myself here. I had the power and the strength and the magic to make a difference, and I sure wasn't going to waste it.
