Chapter 5: Part 9 - Steel
It was the greatest feeling in the world to know they’d made Artair angry. Oska watched as the portal at the end of the deck opened and the sylvari stepped out of it, a crowd of Talons at his back. He was no longer carrying his usual greatsword, but instead a sleek rifle that somehow looked all the more dangerous for being so subtle.
Chapter 5: Part 4 - Blind Spot
Chapter 3: Part 6 - The Call Of Power
Auri’s world had always been one of colour and magic. For as long as she could remember, she’d been fascinated by the energies swirling through everything around her. Rock and sky, plant and person ‒ each and every facet of existence was vibrant and alive.
Chapter 3: Part 5 - Sworn To Secrecy
Oska and Ruby barely spoke as they raced back across the Wildlands. Oska’s heart seemed to hammer in his chest, beating an unpredictable rhythm that left him gasping for breath. If Auri was hurt…
Chapter 3: Part 1 - Birds Of A Feather
Oska was fairly certain that Brisban Wildlands was the most boring corner of all Tyria. From what he’d seen as they’d trekked in, the whole region was nothing but jungle and swamp and mountain. It had absolutely nothing to recommend it.
Chapter 2: Part 10 - Family Is Everything
There was chaos in the hollow at Erin’s feet. On any other battlefield, that would have been an overstatement; there were ebbs and flows to the dance of warfare, ones that any seasoned warrior could read in a heartbeat. But here in the hills above the Grove, in a valley wrapped in mist and shadows and tangling vines, chaos was the only word for it.
Chapter 2: Part 9 - The Sharpest Blade
A wave of heat rolled over Oska’s back, hot enough to scorch the hair at the nape of his neck. Beneath him, Auri twitched, making cool air flood over them. When he raised his head, a bubble of her magic surrounded them, frost nipping at the tops of his ears.
Chapter 2: Part 5 - Fine Lines
Oska didn’t like waiting. He supposed no-one did, but he’d always had a particular aversion to it. Doing nothing always produced a worm of anxiety deep in his gut, as though to stop moving was to die.
Chapter 2: Part 3 - Chain of Command
Erin had always loved the Black Citadel. Hoelbrak, her home city, was a place the norn went to socialise, to drink, to boast. The charr capital, on the other hand, smelt of hot steel and engine oil. It was alive with the sounds of industry, as busy and productive as a city could be.
Chapter 2: Part 2 - A ‘Conversation’
Two things were vying for Erin’s attention. It did not surprise her, given the current state of her life, that both of them were Valparis.
Chapter 2: Part 1 - Ambush
The Grove wasn’t what Oska had expected. He’d passed through the place only a handful of times before, never going far from the bustle around the asura gate. He also didn’t have a lot of experience with sylvari; there was supposed to be one in Light’s Memory, but he’d yet to actually meet her. Somehow, he’d imagined their home city being somewhat backwards, just a patch of trees in the forest, probably surrounded by swamp.
Chapter 1: Part 10 - A Coming War
Dusk had always been Oska’s favourite time of day in Divinity’s Reach. The city came alive with music and colour, the air filled with smells of cooking and smoke, and there was something new to discover on every street corner. As a child, he’d spent long hours roaming through the city as the light faded, until one household servant or another was sent to bring him home.
Chapter 1: Part 9 - Family Reunion
If Erin had pictured the home of the Valpari matriarch, it would have looked exactly like Blackthorn Manor. The grey stone walls, the soaring turrets, the crenellations and grand front doors. Apart from its tall windows, looking back at them like blank eyes, it was surprisingly defensible. It even had a moat, if only at the front.
Chapter 1: Part 7 - Babysitting
Out of all the new recruits to her guild, Erin hadn’t expected Auri Valpari to be the most difficult. Both she and Oska were odd and not always in step with the world around them, at least at first glance. Once you got to know them better, you discovered that Oska was far sharper than he first appeared and had something of an acerbic tongue. Auri, if anything, was even more dreamy and distracted. She had a tendency to finish Oska’s sentences, but a lot of the other things she said made no sense at all.
Chapter 1: Part 5 - Ashes
Seeing the guild hall burn wasn’t quite like watching her life go up in smoke, but it wasn’t far off. Erin stood on the docks of Lion’s Arch, trying to be stoic about the fact that there was nothing left of the place but a pall of smoke overhead and a greasy stain on the ground. The wooden walls had been old and dry; they’d burnt quickly and with significant heat. The Lionguard, presumably used to such fires, had done nothing but hold back the crowds.