User:Silavor/Earth Mage Silavor

Silavor Lightbringer
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Letters from Tyria
To Kormir: Today was just... wow. A bizarre day indeed. I appologize, Kormir, for missing the assault on Gandara, I hope everything went smoothly. But the boat I boarded was the wrong one, so instead of going to the Kournan fortress to bring Varesh Ossa to justice, some of us ended up in this far away continent known as 'Tyria'. Of course, as the crew disembarked in the city of Lion's Arch, I had no idea at the time I was a world away from my homeland of Istan. Right from the get-go there was trouble, apperently this group of soldiers who call themselves the White Mantle had a bit of an undead problem on their hands. Figures, what with them not believing in the Five. What strange theology in these northern lands... well, apperently some people in Kryta -the coastal country I landed in- still follow the Five, but more change over to these 'Unseen Gods' every day. Well anyway, my Heart of Holy Flame banished the evil from the land, and according to one of the White Mantle leader my courage and bravery deserved rewarding. Imagine that! Just doing the job of a sunspear... but whatever, it was a refreshing change for people to thank you, not declaring war on you, for saving people. I was made an honorary White Mantle Knight, although I don't think I have to stop believing in the Five to help these White Mantle. They're good people at heart, helping these refugees from across the mountains. Apperently some war is going on in the kingdom across the Northern Shiverpeaks, and refugees from the kingdom of Ascalon are trickling in to Kryta. Being the good Sunspear that I am, I decided to go try and find these refugees as they made their icy trek. Two swamps, a beach, and an armada of monsters later, I reached the edge of the mighty Shiverpeaks. Acolyte Sousuke's Fire magic was quite handy, destroying the monsters in the way while keeping our hands defrosted. But the journey to find some sort of refuge, or check-stop proved long and arduous. We wandered through many caverns and winding valleys, all filled with these strange half-man half-beast creatures with no intelligence at all. Modonirs, I think they were called. They reminded me of the centaurs Koss told me live in Kourna. Soon night begins to fall. Sousuke's magical flames don't seem to push back the icy chill anymore, and even my Heart of Holy Flame begins to cool off and die out. I'm beginning to think this is how a true Avatar of Grenth feels, embracing the chill of death. I suppose the experience was worth it, in my studies of the Five and how to channel their powers through me and my prayers. I honestly don't know how long Tahlkora could last, though, as we pressed on to find some sort of shelter. I was quite suprised when we found little men guarding a mountain path. Dwarves, I think they were called? Supposedly they were in civil war, but if those guards are the best these small men have, I might very well take down the entire army myself and become their new king. Luckily it didn't come to that, as the top of the hill had a safe haven for dwarves and human refugees alike. The Frost Gate isn't any warmer than the outside valleys, and you can still hear the cries of the wolves and other fiends outside. But the wind is gone within the walls, and there is fire and food. I'm beginning to see why I didn't see many Ascalonians in Kryta. If the journey from Lion's Arch to here, the last refuge in the Northern Shiverpeaks took this much out of my well-seasoned group, how exactly are a bunch of scared, evacuating peasants supposed to make it from Ascalon to here, let alone from The Frost Gate to Kryta? The short answer, they don't.

To Kormir: Kormir, I hope these letters find you in good health. The assault on Gandara must be over by now, although Dunkoro informs me that the Sunspears weren't supposed to engage in combat without him. Which means you probably haven't attempted to seize Varesh yet. But I can't leave Tyria, not only for the lack of boats but also because they have just as many problems up here. After escorting another wave of refugees into Kryta, I went to go help out in the new Ascalonian Settlement. It's so far away from any other notable village or town that trade between the settlement and Lion's Arch is nearly impossible, thanks to all the tengu on the roads. Oh, and remember that necromancer you recommended? Well, I am hot on his trail, and tomorrow my group and I will track him down and try to gain his assistance. That is, if the Shining Blade doesn't assassinate us all during the night. We've been doing some investigating into some troubled events happening around the Ascalonian Settlement, and apperently there is a group of White Mantle that split from the main group, called the Shining Blade, that has been killing off people who oppose their religion in the area. I fear for the Five; at this rate, we'll all end up converted or killed. Maybe even both.

To Kormir: By the Five, it's been a while. The swamps and bogs of western Kryta reminded me of Istan, and it was with pangs of homesickness that I continued on my missions, helping the White Mantle. But, after assisting in the recruitment of a large number of villagers, I received word that the Shining Blade had assassinated the guards escorting them and captured the new recruits. Our Tyrian Sunspears followed in hot pursuit, but they escaped further west into a vast, thick, uninhabitable area known as the Maguuma Jungle. We lost the trail too quickly, but I soon discovered that this jungle's most intelligent inhabitants were transformed disembodied priests of Melandru herself, called druids. I've met a few of them, but since they're just as ethreal as our Sunspear ghosts they tend to come and go from our realm of senses as they please. Later, while helping a cowardly villager attempt to contact the Shining Blade, I found that they actually thought I was one of their own! I feel like some sort of ambassadorial spy, writing this letter in one of their bases of opperation. But they aren't bad people; they don't seem like the kind to kill off Lionguard soldiers over a petty argument, or kidnap innocent villagers the White Mantle singled out. Maybe there's more to this White Mantle/Shining Blade Guild War than I thought; they are guilds, right?

To Kormir: I'm beginning to feel less like a Sunspear and more like a Survivor of this terrible land every day. My eyes have been opened to the truth; the White Mantle is corrupted through and through. I thought the location the White Mantle was bringing the Chosen to seemed familliar, too. Turns out this strange stone, called the Bloodstone, is where the Chosen are sacrificed presumably to the Unseen Ones. The Bloodstone is where I first found Olias, after being teleported to his general vascinity. And no, he wasn't sacrificing anyone, he too was trying to stop such vulgar bloodshed. Needless to say, the Shining Blade have the Tyrian Sunspears' full support from now on. Unfortunately, this letter might not reach you while I'm still alive. The death of one of the leaders in the White Mantle -the man who performed the sacrifice- has enraged their twisted minds, and the White Mantle is launching all-out war into the Maguuma Jungle, trying to hunt the Shining Blade out and butcher us where we stand. On the brigher note, right before the chaos that ensued around the Bloodstone I helped awaken and Elder Druid. As a direct result I grew (no pun intended) closer to understanding what it means to be an Avatar of Melandru.

To Kormir: It's been a while since I wrote, and after looking back on the two letters I still have with me the Tyrian Sunspears and I have realized just how hopeless our situation has become. The Shining Blade have a new base of operations, hidden within an ancient druid temple. The White Mantle can't find their way in, since you either need to have performed the ritual to be teleported inside or already know where the entrance is. I honestly don't know why I bother writing these things, though. I can't send them to Elona from here in the Maguuma Jungle, so I suppose if anyone ever reads these it means I'm still alive and made it out of the jungle, or I died a long, long time ago and some poor innocent traveler stumbled upon my rotting mogitated corpse.

To Kormir: Finally, we have escaped the White Mantle. While the Shining Blade went on ahead, the Tyrian Sunspears snuck into the White Mantle temple and stole the Scepter of Orr, a powerful artifact indeed. I felt oddly connected, like I'd met the staff before. And the name, Orr, it's all quite familliar yet distinctly foreign to me. Either way, it doesn't really matter, since after the night raid we joined up with the rest of the Shining Blade in Sanctum Cay, a port town for ships headed to foreign lands. Our need to escape the Maguuma Jungle -and Kryta, too- is imminent, and while I found a ship that can take these last three or four letters back to Istan and the Sunspears, I myself will be staying. There's something to this Staff of Orr, and this person who was the advisor to the king of Orr, Vizier Khilbron. I need to find what draws me to these Orr people, and what's so special about them. Where is this Orr place, anyway?

To Kormir: I must appologize, flat out, for not returning home when I had the chance. It's just... the very thought of anything Orrian sparked something in my memory, but not enough to illuminate exactly what it was that kept sparking. Now I remember. My parents claimed that we all came from a far-off kingdom called Orr. Only problem is, no one back home in Kodlonu Hamlet had ever heard of such a place, and since they had gone absolutely insane and I was barely a todler, no one believed them. Now I know the truth. Those undead I killed throughout all of Kryta... those were my family. My friends, neighbors, fellow citizens. The thought of me slaying them doesn't disturb me, though. Their souls were corrupted by the malign method of their deaths -a catastrophic explosion brought on by a forbidden spell of the Gods themselves- and my scythe is merely cutting their mortal bonds for good, sending them back to grenth where they belong. But enough about the undead. The Vizier told us Tyrian Sunspears that we were the Chosen, the ones mentioned in the Flameseeker Prophecies. What does that mean? I honestly don't have the slightest clue. But, by being Chosen, we can gain the powers of Ascension, which might just be enough to destroy the Unseen Ones and their White Mantle filth, rescuing the captured Shining Blade and avenging those who didn't live long enough to be rescued. Of course, to Ascend one must complete three trials in the Crystal Desert, which I'm sad to say is the only portion of Tyria where the White Mantle haven't reached. Not that there's anything left in this wasteland to take over. There are no Gods in this land, only demons and the spawns of powerful beasts. At first, I felt brave and ready for anything upon hearing that the other side of the Crystal Desert was no other land but Vabbi itself. Moreover, the ghost of Turai Ossa, the great slayer of Palawa Joko, was to be our guide for the Ascension challenge. The boosted morale was instantly deflated upon seeing just how desolate this land is. The further you go from the safety of the harbor, the less water there is, the more demons there are, and the harsher the ever-bright sun becomes. I feel no bravery now that I have reached the start of the Ascension trials. Only a sense of duty, that this is the only way forward. The Tyrian Sunspears turned the White Mantle/Shining Blade fued into all-out civil war, and as such it is our duty to ensure we stop it by any means neccessary.

To Kormir: Another day of desert, another day of sand. Another day of heat in this godless land. The Ascension trials are going extremely slowly. I thought the hardest part would be simply getting to the trials. But no, these strange creatures, known only as the Forgotten, defend the trials with such vigor. Funny, how the way to become closer to the gods requires you to survive the godless lands that make up the Crystal Desert. The ghostly hero, Turai Ossa, has been of imesurable help though. And in this land where water is scarce, and the monsters are tougher than any creature -sentient or not- any help you can get is more than worth it.

To Kormir: You'll never believe what I found, half-buried in the Crystal Desert. Nothing less than the Tomb of the Primeval Kings. Although I probably should start from where my last letter left off. Once I found the locations of the three trials, the trials themselves were simplistically easy. And once the three trials were done, the final test was before me. The face of Augury Rock opened up, revealing an arena dedicated to Dwayna. Inside, there was a dark version of myself that I had to defeat. Imagine my (un)suprise when my dark self turned out to be a paragon! Heh, no offence, Spearmarshal. Needless to say, he went down quite easily; my darker self had animalistic intelligence, and fought with crude, easily-avoidable attacks and general stupidity towards energy management. After winning the challenge of Augury Rock, I found a portal at the back of the temple leading me to... wherever it is this place is. Some cavern half-buried in the sand no where near humanity. There are lots of Forgotten here, although (suprise suprise) they're very friendly towards the Ascended. The rest of the Tyrian Sunspears Ascended, too. They joined me here soon after I arrived. The only exit to the cavern, which contains the entrance to Glint's lair (Glint being some all-powerful dragon who created the flameseeker prophecies (again, what is that?)) lead to the desert. More specifically, it lead to a half-buried temple in the desert, with those strange Tormented vines we saw in Fahranur growing out of it. The Forgotten inform me that the temple is the long-lost Tomb of the Primeval Kings, and I have no reason to doubt such claims. But if the Tomb is corrupted with the Tormented vines, does that mean the Tombs have been touched by Abaddon? Or, even worse, is Varesh Ascended? Her grandfather is the escort for the Ascension challenges, after all...

To Kormir: Well, here I am, back in the Shiverpeaks. Back in a port town. This time, I'm in the southern-most point of the Shiverpeak Mountains. Some dwarven city called Droknar's Forge. Although, this is by far the largest dwarven settlement I've seen thus far, potentially being larger than Lion's Arch. Speaking of Kryta, the Mursaat and the White Mantle have completely overthrown it. There is no hope for us to return there, so I'm leaving these last few letters with these friendly dwarves. A ship to Elona will be sailing through soon, but just in case the Tyrian Sunspears are unable to return at least these letters will document what happened to us so far. Speaking of which, it might be worth mentioning just what us Ascended encountered near the Tomb of the Primeval Kings. We never got the chance to enter, as the Forgotten insisted we paid a visit to Glint. She lives within a single grain of sand, and has a very extensive security system that the Forgotten claim are not for her security, but for ours. If we can't pass the 'test' then whatever challenges lie ahead of us will be too great, and we would be destroyed. But we are Sunspears, after all. The test proved to be no large threat, and we soon met with Glint herself. She showed us through her magic how the Unseen Ones were actually an ancient race of surperior mages called the Mursaat, who for some reason can not allow anyone to Ascend, and therefore the White Mantle hunt down the Chosen and sacrifice them to the Mursaat. Apperently we too were Chosen, but since we were given the honour of carrying the Eye that detected those that had the potential to Ascend the Eye of Janthir didn't detect us, thus allowing the Tyrian Sunspears to slip from the grasps of the Mursaat. Glint then teleported us out of her tiny abode and into the town of Droknar's Forge. I think she likes the town simply because there are a sect of dwarves who worship her not quite like a god, but more like a... well, like a wise leader worthy of ruling over them. Her altars are really handy, too, as they allow us Chosen to mentally connect to the mind of Glint if we need intellectual aid on something. Now as to why the Tyrian Sunspears may be literally missing the boat: Glint's main point for us was to rescue the captured Shining Blade are nearby, in a White Mantle prison. Obviously they expected us to attack through Kryta and down from the northern part of the Shiverpeaks, not teleporting in from the south. But I have no idea where the prison is, and the boat may arrive and depart before we return. So if this letter finds you, Kormir, before we do... well, at least you know where we will be.

To Kormir: Wow. Just... wow. When Glint said the Mursaat were a race of powerful spell-casters, I was thinking they had powerful elementalist spells, or devestating mesmer or necromancer hexes. None of the Tyrian Sunspears could imagine that such devestation could come from one spell... The rescue mission for Saidra and Evennia was pretty much a complete failure. We were lucky; very few mursaat were in our way, mostly just the White Mantle foot soldiers. But once we freed the two, vast numbers of Mursaat began to appear. Their signature weapon is a spell known as 'Spectral Agony' which causes you to literally be ripped apart from the inside while becoming frozen and sluggish. Saidra sacrificed herself so the rest of us could escape... But needless to say some form of resistance to this spell had to be found. Koss and Melonni seem naturally immune to the Spectral Agony, as they barely suffer any degenerative effects or slowness of motion. I guess they grow 'em big and bold in Kourna. Or more likely my original theory that Varesh had somehow been to Tyria and corrupted these Mursaat into being unable to harm Kournans using the powers of Abaddon is closer to the truth. The Tyrian Sunspears were in luck, though. Evennia knew of a legendary tale that claimed an ancient race as powerful as the Mursaat had some sort of power to fight back against Spectral Agony. We found the creature, who called itself 'the Seer', and after gathering the essance of a monster naturally resistant to the Mursaat this 'Seer' infused our armour with it. I've been hit with Spectral Agony quite a few times since then, and I must say while the effects are a tad bit unerving, it's quite bearable. Koss claims that kind of feeling is what he's had all along. Hm... the oddities of life.

To Kormir: ...This will be my final letter. Thunderhead Keep, the throne of the Deldrimor Dwarves, has fallen to the Stone Summit. The White Mantle, in all their idiocy, have also been rampaging around causing chaos. There's nothing we Tyrian Sunspears can do...! We could assault Thunderhead Keep and try to rescue the king of the dwarves. But what if he's already dead? This isn't our war... Varesh is our war, not the White Mantle. Kourna is our enemy, not the Stone Summit. We've rescued the Shining Blade leaders that were captured from our mistake. But now... now I have no choice but to order an all-out retreat. Many Stone Summit are fleeing the Southern Shiverpeaks from Droknar's Forge, and Port Sledge. The last few letters I've written will be accompanying a ship back to Istan, alongside most -if not all- of the remaining Tyrian Sunspears. I myself will be returning to the Crystal Desert, for I have one final task to complete. But once that is done, I too will be returning to Istan. I don't like it, this 'strategic removal of forces', but we've had too many casualties as it is. Good-bye, Tyria. Maybe we'll see each other again.

To the Order of the Sky: I, Sunspear Commander Earth Mage Silavor, Dervish of the Five, have a request for the far-gazing, prophecying Order of the Sky from here in the Sunspear Great Hall. You see, I had the dream again. I talked to one of your public interpreters about it the first time, back when I was supposed to sail to Gandara. In the dream, there is an earthquake in Kamadan that can be felt throughout all of Istan. I go into the Plains of Jarin, which is where I normally do my training exercises slaying the many fiends there, where I find a large fissure in the rocky hills walling off most of Istan. Investigating further, I discover an ancient temple to the Five, as well as a group of very small men lead by another small man named Ogden Stonehealer. A small, demonic-looking being called Vekk runs towards us, claiming 'destroyers' are chasing him. In a flurry of panic, these tiny men begin scurrying around, but Vekk claims that the destroyers have 'taken the central transfer chamber'. I don't know what that means, but I tell Ogden and Vekk that the earthquake opened up other passages, and immediately we begin to run through the paths. I never see these 'destroyers' as I reach what Vekk calls an 'Asuran Gate' before they catch up to us. Walking through the black, shadowy mist of the gate, I find myself in an arctic cave half-frozen with the rest of the tiny men, Ogden, and Vekk. The gate must be some kind of teleporter, for I am told we are in the Far Shiverpeaks. I know now that the Shiverpeaks is a mountain range in eastern Tyria; a continent north of Istan, connected to north-western Vabbi by a large desert. I also know now that the 'tiny men' are all dwarves, a race of man-like creatures that are very short but strong and live in the Shiverpeaks, and judging by the way Odgen dresses I'd say they're all Deldrimor dwarves. Vekk blows up the gate, but staring at us from the entrance is the toughest, largest warrioress I have ever seen. Odgen claims she isn't human, but a Norn, which are 'very, very bad tempered'. The Norn calls herself Jora, and claims she is hunting bigger prey than us. Jora then tells me that more humans are in the 'Eye of the North' at the other end of the valley. A quick hike through the mountain pass brings us to an ancient building built by neither Asura (the species Vekk is), dwarves, nor humans. Judging from the distast Jora had for it, I would say that Norn didn't build it, either. But there was no time for admiring, as a mesmer entraps the three of us in a hex, demanding to know who we are. Once we introduce ourselves, though, she releases the spell, and tells us that she is Gwen. She is the acting leader of the Ebon Vanguard, a branch of the Ascalon millitary that snuck behind enemy lines into Charr territory to try and slow the beasts down, while the official leader is away. Once inside the Eye of the North, Gwen brings us to the back room refered to as the Hall of Monuments. The main attraction is a large scrying pool in the centre. Apperently none of the Ebon Vanguard could make it work, though. Having nothing to lose, I attempt to summon a vision of... well, of anything, and the result is that the normally calm, still waters of the pool burst into life as Odgen, Vekk, Gwen and I are sucked into the vision. We see a fiery realm, underground, and out of the volcanic ground appears a creature of pure darkness. Born with a weapon in its hand, the fiend reaks of utter destruction and a hatred of the Five. It turns and looks directly at us, or rather the space our vision is coming from, and stabs it without any real thought or feeling. As I feel conciousness fading away, all I hear is Odgen's voice exclaiming with a tone of fear that the creature we saw was, in fact, a destroyer. I have prayed excessively that such a being as this Destroyer is simply a figment of my imagination. Such a being would not exist, and therefore would be unable to destroy all we hold dear in life if it were just a figment of my imagination. But the whole absurdity of the dream, from the location I had never heard of the first time I had the dream to the species, which again I had never heard of at the time, made me feel like a cold sliver of Wintersday ice was running through the core of my spine. What if, perhaps, it wasn't a figment of my imagination, but a vision or a premonition? When the boat I went on ended up in Kryta instead of Kourna, I began to forget about the dream. But when I discovered that a kingdom called Ascalon was destroyed by beings known as the Charr, and that these beasts came from a land far to the north, the thought of the dream came back. The Ebon Vanguard was real, although no one knew what happened to them. The Deldrimor dwarves were real, they inhabited the mountains known as the Shiverpeaks where they were in the middle of civil war. The Shiverpeaks themselves were divided into Northern and Southern halves, but no human had ever really ventured more north than the Northern Shiverpeaks, which were parallel to Ascalon. Meaning the Charr homeland was further north, where a 'Far Shiverpeaks' had every possibility of existing. And then, to put the icing on the mandragor root cake, while Tahlkora and I were cutting back the recent growth of Iboga and Nephila on the Plains of Jarin, we came across a fissure exactly where the one in my dream was located. The question that I need the Order of the Sky to investigate is whether these dreams should be interpreted as simply that, dreams, or as visions that I need to return to Tyria through the caverns below Kamadan. I am, truly, at a loss at the moment.

Letters from Cantha
To Kormir: Eh, sorry for giving you the slip, but it had to be done. Brother Mhenlo, an Ascalonian monk, specifically requested for the Tyrian Sunspears to travel to Cantha. Something about a supernatural plague. It sounded like an easy job, just go help some poor villagers suffering from some vile illness and we can all go home to fight Varesh tomorrow. Well, turns out people are turning into gruetesque monsters, and it's all because of this ghost named Shiro Tagachi who appears to simply be turning the world upside-down in search of some bit of information. Naturally, we decided to go try and stop Shiro, but it seems we can't even see him, let alone fight him until we become Weh no su. The streets of Kaineng are disorienting, the stench overwhelming, and the monsters frightening. But still, we push on, and eventually we find this place where we are supposed to undergo this trial to become Weh no su, or closer to the stars. Meh, sounds a lot like Ascension to me. Nothing I haven't seen before. Well, I hope this letter finds you in good health, if all goes well we Tyrian Sunspears will be back before the tide is high tomorrow. -->