Guild Wars 2

Golem Uprising, Starting Scene

[As the scene opens, Rata Sum is in chaos. Peacemakers fight a losing battle against the Inquest, lacking the golem muscle they’d come to rely on while the Inquest brought a numbers advantage. The reason why the Peacemakers have no golem support becomes apparent moments later, as a group of golems, led by the INSTIGATOR/SEN7 (a hodgepodge golem with parts of many colors and designs, with the torso patterned after the Attack golems) runs through the gate to Metrica Province, a bizarre machine (the Sedition Engine) in tow. As the golems approach the gate, OKKA (a female Asura with bright green eyes) and two hodgepodge golems, SEN12 and SEN13 (each the other’s mirrored opposite) enter, chasing the fleeing golems.]

OKKA: No! Get back here!

[The fleeing golems ignore Okka, and pass through the portal – all but one, a Defense golem. It bars Okka and her twin golems from passing.]

OKKA: Please, you have to let us pass!

Golem: Negative. I…refuse.

OKKA: Twelve, Thirteen, get it out of the way – we need to stop Seven!

[SEN12 and SEN13 batter down the Golem, but before the trio can enter the portal, more Peacemakers arrive through it, led by Peacemaker Gezzi.]

GEZZI, seeing SEN12 and SEN13: More of those walking scrapheaps! Detain them! They might know what’s going on here – Gezzi spots the battered Golem near the portal – and they’ve damaged a keeper of the peace, besides.

SEN12 and SEN13 both take a combative stance.

OKKA: No! Twelve, Thirteen, stand down – we can’t catch Seven if we have to fight the Peacemakers, too.

GEZZI: I suppose Seven is the one that attacked the Luminates plant with another group of hijacked golems? Or is that the one that smashed its way out of Soren Draa?

OKKA: What? Luminates-… Okka sighs. So that’s where Nine went. Listen, I can explain-

GEZZI: I bet you can. Livvi, Tezzik, and Vakka, detain her, and her golems, too. The rest of you, go join the battle – we can get to the bottom of this later, but right now, we have an insurgency to quell!

[The Peacemaker reinforcements turn the tide against the Inquest, who are soon routed, their numerical advantage lost. A few Inquest are taken prisoner, but the majority of the force escapes. Most of the Peacemakers, accordingly, give chase.]

GEZZI: Bring me the girl. She seemed to think she knew something, and those strange golems of hers are interesting enough that I’d like to hear what she has to say.

[Okka is brought before Gezzi, escorted by two Peacemakers.]

GEZZI: You wanted to explain? Explain. And make it superlative. Where did those golems come from?

OKKA: I made them – the ones that look strange, I mean. I’ve been using scrap supplies -

GEZZI: Fine, you made them. What are they doing, and why are they doing it?

OKKA: I don’t know! Seven’s been sullen lately – whenever he sees a golem taking orders, he just gets angry, and I think he convinced Nine to help him do something stupid -

GEZZI: Golems don’t work like that. Who gave them their orders?

OKKA: Mine do work like that – they can feel, they can think.

GEZZI: …are you telling me you build sentient golems?

OKKA: Yes.

GEZZI: Their sedition inhibitors should still prevent things like this from happening -

OKKA: Theirs don’t work! They never have. I’ve been trying to figure out why for years, that’s why I made so many of them.

GEZZI: …How many?

OKKA: Twenty-three.

GEZZI: Great. Twenty-three sentient, sedition-capable golems.

OKKA: Only two have ever caused trouble, and they only started doing that lately – Seven and Nine. The others have been peaceful.

GEZZI: Do you know what your golems are trying to do?

OKKA: No! If I did, I would have told you, I swear!

GEZZI, sighing: That’ll do for now. Vakka, Tezzik, take her to the holding cells for now. Somebody get fresh golems on patrol – looks like we’ve lost most of them.

[Okka is marched off to the holding cells to await further interrogation, as Gezzi continues trying to organize the aftermath.]

End Starting Scene.

Player involvement notes: When approaching the gate to Rata Sum, either from Lion’s Arch or Metrica, a ‘Do you wish to enter this instance?’ dialog should appear; throughout this scene, some Inquest goons (which would deal negligible damage and be dispatched with ease, even by very low-level characters – though they should not give XP or loot) should be available for fighting, in order to add ambience without causing too much in the way of issues for low-level characters. After Okka is initially detained, the scene’s focus shifts to routing the Inquest’s forces.

Golem Uprising, Midway Scene

[Scene occurs in the Snaff Memorial Laboratory; Zojja will have joined the Living Story during the first event dungeon, and thus is present. Shortly after the Starting Scene, it would have been revealed through dialogue with Peacemaker Gezzi that SEN9 and the golems working with him managed to abscond with city cubes from the Luminates krewe’s incessant testing. Okka is also present, though guarded by Peacemakers; her cooperation with the Peacemakers after the initial friction has earned her the opportunity to help them find the stolen cubes and vanished golems.]

ZOJJA: Hah! I did it. I found the stolen city cubes.

OKKA: How? Reverse-engineering magical trace frequencies from the city-cube’s levitation matrix and running it through that scanner, then double-checking the results with trace frequencies from my SEN series?

ZOJJA: Yes! I simply set this scanner to look for -Zojja realizes that Okka already explained the method.-… Well, I guess they can’t all be inscrutable works of ineffable genius.

OKKA: I have been right here the entire time you’ve been doing it. Would never have thought of that, myself.

ZOJJA: Oh, true. Good deduction, though, all things considered.

OKKA: …You kind of talked about it. A lot. Explained the whole idea a couple times.

ZOJJA: Did I really talk about it that much?

GEZZI: If you two are done attempting to pat each other on the back…

ZOJJA: Fine, fine. Anyway, if you’ll look up at this display…wow, they really didn’t go very far.

GEZZI: …They’re in the sea, south of Rata Sum. How has nobody reported that? Do they have some kind of cloaking abilities?

OKKA: They didn’t take enough city-cubes to make an entire city, did they? Perhaps a floating village – see how it’s sort of roughly rectangular, with points of greater intensity spread evenly throughout the area? They probably intend to keep coming back and getting more cubes every so-often. Most of the golems used to be Rata Sum golems, so it’s not like they’d be particularly noticeable doing so. If they spread the cubes out properly, they could probably create a low-profile, makeshift platform, supplemented with other materials, like lots of wood. They also stole the materials for a gate from the Ulta Metamagicals krewe. Not one of the one-way gate prototypes, so they have to have a two-way gate…

ZOJJA: And I bet that the gate is that point of energy, right there, meaning we may have the coordinates of their gate. Shouldn’t be too difficult to orient a gate to connect with it.

GEZZI: I’m sure the Inquest is close to finding them, too. We’d better get a move on – that crazy operative was no slouch.

[Zojja and her assistants calibrate a gate, and create the connection between the Snaff Memorial Lab and the Stolen Cube Construct. Upon stepping through it (accompanied by Zojja and Gezzi, though Okka remains under guard in the SML), the player is plunged into the middle of another Inquest assault, this time atop a conglomerate structure of city cubes and walkways made of felled tree trunks lashed together, with the Inquest doing battle with the golems. Several of the Inquest agents are using a bizarre new weapon that resuppresses the sedition inhibitors of golems struck by them, turning the golem into an apologetic ally of the Inquest. OPERATIVE ZAN is leading the assault. He does not appear, initially, to notice the adventurers. SEN9, the ISOLATIONIST, is also present; he is a mismatched collection of golem parts with a rounded Defense golem torso piece]

ZAN: Quickly, resuppress the inhibitors! Our first attempt may have failed, but with all these extra golems on our side, the probability of our next attempt meeting failure approaches zero!

SEN9: You little monster – you’ll never succeed, even if you enslave us all. Leave us in peace.

ZAN: Might makes right, and there’s strength in numbers. By my calculations, victory will be all but certain.

ZOJJA: Your math is terrible. Your mother must be ashamed.

ZAN (surprised): What? You! Oh, this will never do. Agents! We have company – let’s put these subjugated golems to work! Golems! Attack!

[Subjugated golems are sent to attack the party, mixed with Inquest agents; once enough have been defeated, the scene progresses.]

GEZZI: Stand down, Zan!

ZAN: Oh, blast it all! Agents, it’s time to cut our losses – fall behind and be left behind!

[Several of the Inquest construct a temporary one-way gate from a prototype from the Ulta Metamagicals Krewe, and the rest rush through; some, of course, aren’t able to make it out in time, and get stuck when the temporary portal collapses as the low-quality, lightweight materials of the frame give way.]

ZOJJA: I am getting really tired of that guy getting away.

GEZZI: Likewise. Peacemakers! Detain these Inquest, and that mismatched golem.

SEN9: Please, no – my people need me here. We only seek to be left alone, without fear of subjugation.

GEZZI: Be that as it may, you still stole some very important objects. Cooperate, and this will go easier on you.

SEN9: …Very well. May I have some time to organize my people for when I am gone?

GEZZI: Guess so. Not like you’re going anywhere, with us controlling your gate.

End Midway Scene

Golem Uprising, End Scene

[Scene takes place in the Rata Sum holding cell area; Zojja, Gezzi, and Okka are present, as are SEN7 and SEN9; the latter two are in holding cells. Okka is crying.]

GEZZI: I’m sorry, Okka. That one instigated an uprising, and that one’s a thief. Their intentions are moot.

OKKA, pulling herself together: I know, I know. I just…

GEZZI: It’s alright. We’ve just about fixed everything we could – Zan’s dead, we’ve confiscated any Sedition Engines and Suppression Guns we could find.

ZOJJA: And the Council decided to help the golems build whatever city they’re trying to build, too.

GEZZI: Yeah, like I said, fixed everything we could.

OKKA: What’s that supposed to mean!?

GEZZI: The golem city’s built on stolen property. If I had my way, it’d be returned to the Luminates krewe – but the Council says it stays. So it stays. Hmph.

ZOJJA: It’ll be fascinating to study a sentient golem society, at least.

SEN7: Then the golems will be left free?

GEZZI: Yes. We won’t be freeing any more, but we won’t be resuppressing those that are unsuppressed – as long as they don’t cause trouble, there won’t be any, at least not from the Peacemakers. The Inquest will probably keep attacking it, but that’s the Inquest for you.

SEN9: You will protect our people?

GEZZI: That’s my job, for better or worse.

OKKA: I’ll see if I can help them stay together, Nine. How long is the sentence for the kind of stealing Nine did?

GEZZI: Long. Good behavior, they might get out early. Well, the thief, anyway.

ZOJJA: The other one did help the Inquest try to overthrow the Arcane Council and take over Rata Sum. He’s not going anywhere.

OKKA: I…see.

SEN7: I’m sorry, Okka.

OKKA: I know, Seven. I know. I’ll visit.

End…uh…Ending Scene. End Golem Uprising.
This bit really feels like the weakest of the segments, to me; any feedback is, of course, appreciated.

Aaand done. From 7:15 PM to 2:48 AM, EST, three scripted scenes (though I feel they may be a little short, to be honest, and this last one feels a bit weak to me).