Guild Wars 2

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Adelbern%27s_Burden

Sooo, does anyone have any idea what this item is supposed to be? All of the other Ascended dungeon accessories are pretty self-explanatory, but I have no idea what this one is supposed to be. My first thought was that maybe it’s Adelbern’s crown (the crown is often said to be a burden to rulers), but the icon doesn’t look very much like the crown Adelbern is depicted as wearing.

The symbol kind of looks like a piece of paper/scroll to me.

I can see it being a scroll. I can also see it depicting the backside/inside of a metal band of some sort (thus crown could fit if it were one of the fragments).

But the other dungeon items are all things that can be taken off of the body of the main Story mode boss (or fallen off of it, in Faolain’s case). I’m not sure what such would be for this case.

So no clue, in all honesty.

The quote certainly comes from post-Foefire Adelbern, and the name to me hints towards the burden of leadership under such harsh times (falling nation and all that).

It’s the “burden” Adelbern carries to symbolize the burden of story plausibility between GW1 & 2.

=D

The only other thing I could make out of it was the side of a horn or something :S?

The image looking like paper/scroll, perhaps it is a scroll with the Foefire ritual on it? “Adelbern ’s Burden” then meaning the foefire he caused (thus enslaving his own people in a purgatory of his creation to continue to fight the Charr)?

“You will join my kingdom! You and all the world of the living!”
— King Adelbern

“His kingdom”, and the reference to “the world of the living”, being post-Foefire Ascalon. “You” (Ascalonian subjects) joining “his kingdom” was not an option, hence the exclamation point.

The icon looks too “thick” to be a scroll to me, but it could very well be a spell/ritual inscribed on something more sturdy, like a metal plate or a pottery shard.

My personal feeling is that it’s still something to do with his crown (maybe a fragment of it), but I guess we’ll never know outside of someone from ANet coming in here and confirming things one way or another.

I don’t see how it could be too thick to be a scroll. the strip up the top would be the top part of the scroll curving over, hence it is lighter in colour – it is directly exposed to light, meanwhile there is a shadow gradient underneath that part, which would be the shadow cast by that curling piece. Not to say that is HAS to be a scroll, just pointing out that I don’t think it’s too thick to be one.

Could it be a cape or a cloak? Adelbern wore one, didn’t he?

Could it be a broken fragment from the mouthpiece of Stormcaller? Obviously, that debate wasn’t the “real” problem between the two, but it was the ‘trigger’ so to speak.
I imagine that moment would be quite a burden to bear

(Since he obviously couldn’t show any remorse publicly, maybe he carried a fragment of the mouthpiece on him – as a personal reminder of what was broken that day?).

That actually presents an interesting thought to me.

Rurik’s crown/helmet.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:Prince_Rurik.jpg

It has a band on it, that could easily have broken apart from the rest and brought to Adelbern as proof of Rurik’s death. Thus his burden being that he effectively sent his son to his death – a burden that has weighed on his mind ever since, as highlighted in both Ghosts of Ascalon and Ascalon Catacombs.

And note: Undead Prince Rurik is lacking that crown/helmet.

On an aside: I just realized how much detail gets obscured in the models when they have the boss aura… I didn’t realize Rurik’s undead form had such detail like the ragged shirt!

That’s a neat idea, Konig! After all, Vael most likely would have had to provide some proof of Rurik’s death to Adelbern; he didn’t take Sohothin, so Rurik’s crown would have been another unique identifier.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Rurik’s crown/helmet

Now we’re getting somewhere. I got to admit my Stormcaller-idea was a bit far-fetched :P
But yes: Rurik has to be of some importance here…

EDIT: can’t help but liking the Stormcaller-version more (however unlikely it might be). It’s just more symbolic for me; in terms of being a more specific link to that exact moment where Rurik was banished from Ascalon.

EDIT2: Dagnar cleaves Rurik’s helm?

“Your punishment for trespassing is deeeeeaaaath!” -thunk-