Rodgort I:
Current beginning: Purchase shopping list from faceless NPC.
Current middle: Complete shopping list, and then burn in a random pire.
Current end: Chest appears in bottom right corner of screen.
Potential beginning: *
<talk to NPC in inn>
Inn keeper: What can I get ya?
Character: Do you have any information on…
…a legendary…
…torch?…
————————————————————————————————-
(if first time, otherwise check option below)
Inn keeper: A torch ay?
Character: I can make it worth your while.
(if you already have completed a precursor from this NPC, otherwise continue down)
Inn Keeper: Weren’t you looking for a #weapon# already?
Character: Am I asking too much?
Inn keeper: Don’t worry about it. I had someone in here recently that might be able to help you out they were a Charr by the name of Gladium Greivesbane. Normally I can’t stand the #char_insult#, but this one was alright. You can find him hanging around the Cantom in the Black Citadel, where the #different_char_insult# go to take a break from burning down villages and spend their spoils on eat and drink.
<player then heads to the Black Citadel with two pieces of knowledge- the name of the NPC, and that they need to find the Cantom, lore savvy players will have picked up that Gladium isn’t the char’s first name, but instead their rank which the inn keeper was ignorant of, they’ll also know that Gladiums don’t socialize in the same area as members of a legion. And so instead of heading to the northmost Cantom Factorium which is where most players will first see the word Cantom, they’ll head to the Gladium Canton. This rewards lore knowledge, while also passively teaching people without lore knowledge about Charr society without shoving it down their throat>
<Assuming zero lore knowledge, the player would obviously talk to the city guide NPCs for directions>
Character: I need directions to….
Canton Factorium…
<Marker appears on map>
<Player searches NPCs but cannot find Gladium Greivesbane>
<A few of the NPCs should have a suggestion to ask the Charr tavernkeeper, alternatively after 5 minutes the marker and quest text should suggest talking to the tavernkeeper >
Tavernkeeper: What can I get you?
Character: I’m looking for…
…Gladium Greivesbane…
Tavernkeeper: What does a #race# want with a Gladium?
Character: (choice 1) That’s my business. <skips explanation>
Tavernkeeper: (if choice 1) Easy there #cub for char# #scrub for Sylvari# #pet for human# #friend for Norn#. You’ll likely find him with the other Gladium in the Gladium Canton.
Character:(choice 2) A Gladium? That isn’t their name?
Tavernkeeper:(if choice 2) Gladium’s are Charr without a warband. Either they’re the last survivor or were banished. Either way it’s a disgrace, and having them around isn’t good for business. You’ll likely find him with the other Gladium in the Gladium Canton.
<Regardless of if you came right to the Gladium Canton, or you went via the Tavernkeeper, you’ll quickly find Motruk Grievesbane, but unlike all the crestfallen Gladium surrounding them, their armor and pose make him seem out of place>
Grievesbane: You look like you’re on a mission.
Character: I am, and you can help me.
Grievesbane: Can I?
Character: I’m looking to craft a torch like no others.
Grievesbane: And what makes you think I can help you?
Character: The innkeeper in Lion’s Arch said you could.
Grievesbane: And what do I get in return?
Character: What do you want?
Grievesbane: Well it just so happens that I can help you, and as luck would have it you helping you can also help me.
Character: Where do we start?
Grievesbane: Have you ever heard of the legend of Rodgort?
Character: (choice 1) No, and I don’t care to. Just tell me what to get and where to stick it.
(choice 2) I’ve heard the name before, but not much else.
(choice 3) Yes, but tell me anyway.
Grievesbane: (if choice 1) If you want to truly master fire, you must understand it first. But I’m not your mother, if you want to get burned I can’t stop you. <-1 favor, positive favor increases dialogue options, lower favor allows you to skip faster>
(if choice 2) Rodgort was born in the fires of creation, in the first days when the world was still aflame it roamed the earth looking for a purpose. All around it was alight and it seemed like it would be this way until the end of days. Rodgort found nothing, and so began to sing to pass the time. It’s song was fire: blue, purple and orange flames swirled throughout the landscape and for a time Rodgort was at peace.
Character: (choice 2a) Sounds like a nice fairytale for a child.
Grievesbane (if choice 2a) It’s a legend, you’re not suppose to take it literally. It has thematic meaning. Do you really think Kasmeer was once a human? laughs It’s called allegory.
Character: (choice 2aa) My apologies, I’ll keep an open mind, please continue.
(choice 2ab) I’ve had enough of this, just tell me what to get and what to do with it <-1 favor. Skip to end>
Character: (choice 2b) Interesting, carry on.
Grievesbane: (continuing from choice 2, regardless of choice 2a or 2b) One day, an ice commet fell from the heavens and pieced the endless stream of flame. Rodgort raced to where the comet fell to witness the first true change the dragon had ever encountered. It rejoiced, but as soon as the massive beast approached the ice was burned away and the rocks melted to join the molten slop that had always coated the ground.
Character: Rodgort called the molten rocks ground, despite there being no actual dirt?
Grievesbane: You’re nitpicking a fable, I didn’t just make this up, do you want to hear it or not?
Character: Go on.
Grievesbane: Over time more commets came, and Rodgort raced to each every one. It seemed to the dragon made of flame, that each time as soon as it approached the ice and rock disappeared. But after hundreds or commets the world itself was slowly transformed. At first the fires dimmed, the ground hardened, and the skies swelled.
Character: And then what?
Grievesbane: Soon the water that had been burned away returned in massive storms which coated the surface with patches where no fire ventured. Rodgort could not enter these areas when the water poured, but could afterwards, and it marveled at the new sensation. For the first time an external force could oppupy it’s attention, it no longer had to rely solely on itself.
Character: I’m sensing trouble.
Grievesbane: But what was fascination quickly turned to dread. For Rodgort was a being made of flame, and unknown to it, fire it not the natural state but is instead something that require great power to create and maintain. Rodgort had only ever live in a time where the universe itself was new. But now change had come. Soon the areas that Rodgort could inhabit were no longer a majority. Then Rodgort was confined only to a few areas where the flame still raged. Soon Rodgort itself had to burn swaths of the landscape in order to fight off the storms, winds, frosts, and snows that had consumed the world.
Character: #if human# By Dwayna… #if Sylvari# By mother’s mercy… #etc#
Grievesbane: Rodgort retreated to tunnels deep beneath the earth, finding it’s way to the core of the planet which was the only place that still remembered the beginning. It did not feel anger, for such an emotion had not yet been invented. It did not feel fear, for death had not yet been known. Rodgort instead felt warm, deep beneath the earth. And while it had lost the surface world, it had seen what it had always wanted to see, a world of variation. It only wished that it had a place in that world, but that was not to be.
Character: So Rodgort’s still down there?
Grievesbane: Sure, as much as Dwayna is going to literally came and take your soul to paradise when you die. You humans do understand the word allegory right?
Character: Okay, so I’m making a torch with the essence of Rodgort. Sounds good. What do I need to do? <+1 favor, this will allow you to get additional dialogue options>
Grievesbane: Well let’s start small. Get a heart of a flame imp, flame effigy, and an ember from Fireheart Rise, and burn them in the shrine east of Havoc Steepes. Collect the ashes and then come back to see me.
Potential Middle Begins.