Guild Wars 2

Kit followed the Queen to a quiet room. She enchanted it, making doubly sure no one would overhear them. Countess Anise leaned against the window ledge and Captain Thackeray stayed near the door. He was behind Kit.

“We want you to infiltrate a bandit nest near Nebo Terrace. We have tried before, but our agents can never make any headway.” The Queen explained as she watched Kit. “We think you will be able to find the information we want. Will you help us?”

Kit flicked a glance towards the countess. “What am I, Your Highness? Am I a pawn – a tool?” She looked into the Queen’s eyes. “Or am I me, myself, Kit? I am not anyone’s toy. I’ve been used once and I will not allow it to happen again.”

Logan growled behind her, but she did not bother to turn. “You dare insult Queen Jennah in such a manner?”

“My dear Captain! You forget I am nobility.” Kit said, still not facing him. She was looking at the countess again. “I left my house to avoid abuse. My district mayor tried to use me as a pawn, but he had erroneously assumed I was in a dire situation, needing assistance myself. I am familiar with intrigue, Your Highness. I will be your friend and ally, if you want, but I will be no one’s pawn.”

To the surprise of Logan and Countess Anise, the Queen laughed. “Thank you Kit. I do not see you as a pawn or tool. I need your help.”

They spent an hour discussing what the Queen needed, primarily information. Kit knew she could get it. Her reputation was widely known. It would both help and hinder her. She ran a hand over her hair. She could dye it. It was important for this mission. Besides, it wasn’t like the color would be permanent.

She looked over the map one more time. There were likely hidden tunnels that helped them move. When she’d taken over her quarter of Kessex she had learned she needed short cuts to move around quickly. It had taken months to finish all of the tunnels and brace the natural cave structures.

Kit tapped a portion of the map where several raids had taken place. “Has anyone found caves or tunnels here?”

Logan and Anise traded a look. “Caves?”

“Yep! I had my people dig a network on my side of Kessex. It makes travelling from site to site easy, safe, and quick.” She folded her arms as she glowered at the map. “Based on what you have told me, they must have their own network.”

“It would explain several mysteries around the raids.” Logan said at her side as he looked down at the map.

Kit made eye contact with Countess Anise. “If you have an agent in the area let them know I am coming, but not to contact me. I will need information on them in order to contact them.”

The Countess nodded. “I will have the information for you tomorrow. Is there anything else you might require?”

“Discretion,” Kit was staring at the map, “the fewer people who know who I am and that I am there the better. I already have a reputation and it will hinder me if they think I am helping the Crown. It will scare them off and they will shun my efforts to join them or there will be an accident and I will be killed.”

“I understand. Will you contact us to let us know of progress?”

“No, they probably know who all of your agents are. If I send information through them they will get suspicious of me. While I am new to them they will watch me closely. It is likely any messages I send will be intercepted first.” She grinned wolfishly. “We have our eyes on our prize always, but we have one to our back to make sure no one comes up behind us.”

Everyone turned at a tapping noise from the window. Kit chuckled softly at the raven sitting there. She opened the window to hold the bird.

By request, I am posting another of my short stories. Enjoy and please, I welcome feedback. I’ve got thick skin. I can take it!

~~~~~
Kit sat at the grand piano in one of the palace’s many rooms. She was sure she was where she shouldn’t be, but the door had been open and she loved pianos. She had worked hard for many years to afford the rundown upright she had now. It played well once she’d fixed it up, but it didn’t compare to the sound from the grand she played now. She closed her eyes. Peace always found her at the keys of a piano.

The last notes rippled into silence. She ran her fingers over the keys reverently before standing. A man walked in as she pulled the lid closed. He marched briskly across the room to her, his face mottled and blotched with red. He closed the last bit of distance as he exploded on her.

“You are not supposed to be in here!” He snapped, his eyes flashing with anger. “How did you get in here? Who let you into the palace?”

The man drew a breath to throw more questions at her, but a sharp voice interrupted him. “Francis! That’s enough.” Queen Jennah walked into view with Countess Anise and Captain Thackeray flanking her. “We have enjoyed listening to her play. We do not often enjoy simple pleasures.” The Queen turned to Kit. “It was very beautiful, thank you. We would like you to walk with us.”

“Your Highness!” Francis sputtered, flustering and fidgeting. “She is not fit to be in your presence!”

Captain Thackeray answered, his eyes piercing the man. “Neither were you when you first arrived. My Queen met me as a pit fighter in Lion’s Arch.”

Francis closed his mouth and bowed his head. The Queen looked to Kit again. Kit smiled, bowing to her before stepping closer. She kept a respectful distance. Her clothes were stained with oil and smeared with grease. Her appearance never bothered her. It didn’t seem to matter much to the Queen either.

“Congratulations on winning the marksmanship tournament this week. Logan had picked you and Lieutenant Adrian Daniels most likely to be the winners.” Queen Jennah said as they walked towards the throne room.

“We weren’t supposed to win. The tournament was rigged.” Kit said, but smiled to the Queen. “I’m just not very good at losing. Thank you for noticing me. How may I be of service to you?”

The Queen and Countess were quiet as they looked Kit over. She knew they recognized her. The grin she gave them now was all teeth, her roguish smile.

“Katelyn De Rivers,” Countess Anise said as she eyed Kit shrewdly.

“My mother. I am Katherine Grace du Chaigne, but everyone knows me as Kit.” She introduced herself and hooked her thumbs through her belt.

Logan’s hand went to his sword. The Queen frowned at him. “Kit E. Kapone, Your Highness, is the leader in one of the far districts.” He explained as his hand remained on his sword and his gaze on Kit.

“I am more like law enforcement. The Seraph are not everywhere and the Lionguard are drunken louts.” Kit looked to Logan. “Have I done anything wrong?”

“Plenty.”

Kit grinned again. “I won the tournament, Captain Thackeray. You know I don’t miss. I am quick on the draw and quicker to aim with a pistol.” She winked to the Queen and Countess. “Unless she shields you or enchants me, you don’t stand a chance.”

Logan growled, but before he could draw his sword Kit had her pistol pointed at his head. They stared into each other’s eyes, his searching and hers serious.

“You’re cute, Captain Thackeray, but I don’t play games.” Kit said.

Logan slowly released his sword and showed her his empty hands. Kit holstered her pistol.

“We want you to do something for us,” the Queen spoke again. “Please come this way.”

A small man bustled forward, fastening a wrap over Vinesta’s eyes. The gold seal blazed white, ready to be filled with the power of the men and women assembled. They swayed in place, chanting together softly. The threads of the wrap and seal glowed as their power filled them, stifling the power of the young mesmer. Logan watched quietly beyond them. His gaze never wavering from Vinesta. If she woke before they finished it would be deadly for everyone involved, but she did not.

With the deed done the arcanists filed out of the office to report to Countess Anise. Logan pulled a chair over to sit watch on Vinesta. He had dismissed his Seraph and sent the injured to see a chirurgeon. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his clasped hands. He sighed. This, no doubt, cost him a valuable ally.

An hour later Vinesta stirred. She was dizzy, confused and her head hurt. She brought a hand up to her head, wondering at the darkness. Why couldn’t she see? What had happened? Her fingers brushed the wrap and she froze. Where was her power? It was always within easy reach. Now it was gone. She could feel it, but too far away.

A hand supported her back as she sat up. Logan was there. It was a bitter comfort. He had betrayed her. The Seraph, the Queen, everyone. She knew, deep down, that not even Petra and Andrew would welcome her back after this. She was on her own, alone. Angrily, she pushed away Logan’s support and got to her feet. She stood, shaking and wobbling like a newborn foal.

“Vinesta, I am so sorry. This isn’t what I wanted.” Grief thickened Logan’s voice, but fury rolled through Vinesta. “Let me help you.”

“You have helped me quite enough!” Her hand cut through the air. A snarl curled her lips back from her teeth. “Don’t ever call for me again, Logan Thackeray. We are not friends, not even allies.”

She turned her back on him and stumbled out of the Seraph offices. The door guards eyed her. Her head throbbed as indignation swelled in her breast. She prayed, then, to Grenth for revenge. When she was strong again she would return and they would all be sorry to have made an enemy of her. She turned a corner blindly and walked into someone. She didn’t say anything as she backed up, intending to go around the person, but they stepped in front of her.

“I have a proposition for you, Vinesta.” The man said, a light lilt in his voice. “I am an agent with the Order of Whispers. We would like to recruit you.”

She considered the option. She had thought to join the Priory with their endless adventures in search of knowledge, but now… Now she was hobbled. She had no home, no friends, there was no one to turn to. And the Order of Whispers? She tilted her head, a cold smile forming on her lips. They were a hub of information. She would be able to find the truth of herself through them.

“I accept.”

(The images are her “trademark” look.)

This story is set when my character, Vinesta, is sixteen and just starting her journey as a mesmer. Please note, this is a “short” story to me. I gave myself a 1500 word limit. This is what I came up with (1347 words, final total).

~~~~~~

Vinesta turned in a circle, looking up at the magnificent ceiling over the Queen’s garden. Wonder lit her face with a brilliant smile. She didn’t care if people stared or murmured. She was proud to be Human and call such an amazing city home, though, she did not always dwell within the walls. Since the centaur attack on Shaemoor she had been busy helping the denizens of Queensdale and the other districts, increasing her fame.

“You’re here early.” A male voice said behind her.

Vinesta turned, smiling to Lieutenant Francis. “Good to see you Francis! I thought I would enjoy the garden before I met with Captain Thackeray. Are you well now?”

The lieutenant had been injured at the hospital when some local thugs set it ablaze. He put a hand to his left arm and looked away. She got a sense of sorrow and shame from him.

“My arm is healed, but…” he trailed off, still not looking to her.

“I am glad to see you well, lieutenant. The captain needs you.”

His head came up. A curious feeling came from him – regret. Something was wrong, but what?

“I hope your appointment with the captain goes well. I must see the Queen.” His speech was stilted. He bowed to her then continued towards the palace.

Vinesta watched after him then turned her face up to the ceiling once more. The stars and planets traversed their orbits around the room. Their edges glittered in the sunlight. She closed her eyes, committing the scene to her memory then started across the grass to the Seraph Headquarters. It had been a while since she’d met with the Captain of the Seraph.

A Seraph stopped her at the door. She pulled a paper from her pocket to show him. He scanned the document then handed it back to her. It was unusual for the Seraph to have a door guard. He held the door open and announced her to the main office. Unease settled over Vinesta. There were a dozen other Seraph in the room and Captain Thackeray looked anxious.

“Greetings Captain Thackeray!” She swept him a bow and smiled. “How can I be of assistance today?”

He did not speak as he looked at her. His thoughts and feelings were in turmoil. He was upset and fearful. What could possibly be on his mind?

“Vinesta, I am so sorry.” He said softly and signaled the Seraph in the room.

Bewildered, she stood there as the nearest Seraph grabbed her. Her mind processed what was happening. She had been betrayed by none other than Logan Thackeray of the Seraph and Destiny’s Edge. Something cool and metallic slid onto her right wrist. She gritted her teeth with a feral growl. She had done nothing wrong and she was being treated as a criminal!

A simple blade flashed into her hand, called from the Ether. She turned on the Seraph holding her, slashing wildly at him. He released her as the blade scraped across his armor harmlessly. Her focus came next. She turned, her back to the desk and Logan.

Two Seraph charged at her, their armor glinting cruelly in the light of the office. She set her curtain out in front of her. The ribbon of chaotic energy crackled as it rose from the floor. When they were almost on her she closed it, pulling them off their feet and across the room. Sparks of power fell off around her. She would not wait for the next person to attack her, she went on the offensive, leaping at a Seraph. As she moved she spawned clones. The odds were not in her favor, but they would not take her without a fight. She downed one soldier and moved to the next and the next.

“Vinesta!” Logan shouted over the din of battle. “Stop it.”

“And what? Let you take me easily?” She stabbed the soldier in front of her, spiking power through the blade and into the woman. “Never!”

“Seraph! Stand down!” Logan ordered as he rushed towards her.

The Seraph backed away. Vinesta turned to face him. It was a futile effort, but she would not surrender. She conjured a phantasm. It whirled, deadly axes carving the air around it. Logan was undaunted, skirting the phantasm. She teleported behind him, leaping in to slash at his back. He pushed her away as he channeled energy through his shield. She was slower to get to her feet. She was tired of the fight already. What was going on?

Vinesta rolled away from Captain Thackeray, spawning a clone in her wake. He was ready for that. He knocked her off balance with his shield and used the pommel of his sword to thump her on the head. She crumpled at his feet. He stared down at her sadly.

“Get it over with.” He said as he turned to the arcanists lurking near the stairs.

Atanae.1079:

I don’t think my english is good enough to participate, but I love the idea, very nice.
Oh, and amazing painting skills

If you want to write something I’d proofread it for you. I usually help Chaos with his writing too.

(Llyrann is my character.)

I might be interested in posting something, I don’t know how short I could keep it. Let’s how I do with a word limit for myself.

I’m a she, thank you, and you shouldn’t speak so rudely of a guildmate. Soloing a dungeon is pointless to me when I can finish it that much faster with a team, but I do have quite a lot of dungeon experience. I highly doubt perma swiftness is necessary if you have skill set (playing skill) to get around that issue.

Well, for kiting, staff is likely your best option for Phase Retreat. It does have a lower damage output, though iWarlock can do a lot of damage. Most of the damage of this weapon is based around conditions. Don’t knock the clones either, if they survive, their Winds of Chaos can stack a hefty amount of bleeding/burning damage.

The entities will probably be pretty hard because there are so many and you may not be able to end up with just one of them at a time. Have you tried using greatsword + staff? You can pop a couple of berserkers and kite around with staff using Chaos Storm and Phase Retreat (and the “bunker dance,” running in a circle). That may work. No guarantees. I’ve never tried to (nor wanted to) solo Arah P1.

Good luck!

From the point of racial skills, Human is the best choice (for both) because of condition removal.

From the point of culture, Human for mesmer is a good. Humans have no qualms about anything, by this I mean Adelburn and the Foefire, just to stop the Charr from conquering Ascalon again. Another example being the Vizer sinking Orr, also to prevent the Charr from conquering it. So it’s only natural that a mesmer would go to any necessary lengths to obtain their goal and mind manipulation is the best (the movie Inception captures this idea beautifully).

Also on culture, Norn does fit for your guardian. The hero, Eir Stegalkin, is a ranger, but in the book Destiny’s Edge she is most often using axes, mallets, and chisels, staying in melee range. Only in “major” situations does she use her bow.

As a writer, pick whatever you want. Pick the same race over if you want! I have one of each class in the game, and doubles of mesmers (as they are my favorite). I have three Sylvari, one Norn, one Charr, two Humans, and two Asura. My mesmers are Human and Sylvari. Nothing is more important than a strong character, especially one that you can develop well over your gameplay.

No one has said it yet, so I will…

1. Polymorph Moa: What a glorious skill! I love it just for the cries of agony of my opponents (mostly my teammates though, so I know that my enemy screams at their screen too). Whenever one of my teammates would get Moa’d all I’d hear is, “WTF!? Moa! ARRRRGH! Kill the mesmer!”

2. Distortion: It makes me look pretty amazing in dungeons. A squad mate is down? No problem! I’ve got them up. I’m out of dodges and this next attack will kill me? No worries! Though, to be honest, I really only pop Distortion in CoE and at Alpha – sometimes at the Destroyer boss if I’m ressing and I see a Dragon Tooth about to drop on me.

3. Illusionary Counter: Underrated and often improperly used, but I love it so much. When I used to train my guildmates with PU Mesmer (most of them picked that build themselves), I would tell them how to use it. The counter relies on something striking you in order cast torment on the opponent. What most people fail to take into account is that this works on any ground aoe. You can counter while in stealth and unless they’re already mid-dodge or using their own block/invulnerability, there is no way they can avoid it.

Honorable Mention ~ Chaos Storm: Because my team bunker is tickled pink that I play this skill defensively rather than offensively and almost always get my enemy to play into my hands with it. Plus, he likes to stand in it too and soak up my boons.

As a side note, my staple PvE skills are Blink, Feedback, and Mirror Images (TW does not count in this list as it is expected of every mesmer). Additionally, I love to use Mantra of Distraction now that I’ve mastered it (WvW and PvP mostly).

You are quite welcome, sensei. I had a lot of fun proofreading and helping with the editing… and agonizing between cliffhangers (was not fun but worth it).

Well, most mesmers typically use a shatter build for PvE purposes and switch it up a bit for WvW if they want more survivability.

This is part suggestion and part question, but I transferred servers this morning and on my previous server my guild was almost completely upgraded. Now that I’m on the new server, I see that my guild is barren, for influence and upgrades. I don’t know if this would change if all of my categories were level VI, but since they’re not I’m highly annoyed by all of the LOST progress in my guild. I don’t want to start from scratch on my new home server. Why can’t you link influence/upgrades across servers? That makes it very difficult on cross server members to do anything within a guild if they don’t have upgrades completed on the server they are on.

Quit whining. I was excited about Perplex runes because they made confusion viable for mesmer. Now my traits are screwed up so I may as well go back to zerk shatter build.

My server for the first time in about eight or nine months was GREEN on the WvW maps. Not red, not blue, GREEEEEEEEEEEN. Due to this new patch I’ve lost an ENTIRE WEEK to get map completion on the BL and in EB. I really think you could have incorpated this WvW league with the existing match-ups. I’d like map completion compensation because of this stolen – for want of a better term – opportunity to get green completion on all of my characters.

I did get a few characters through, thankfully, but it is still wholly unfair to reset the servers (and with miniscule warning at that).

Agreed Seera. It’s a horrible idea to implement x-number of uses for a system like that. We can guest only 2 servers a day and I agree that is fair, but to limit how many times players use the LFG tool or, worse, charge them for more uses is ludicrous.

Just think though, we’d need a hotkey for stowing/summoning our pets. In another game I play previously summoning a pet took a while, especially in combat. Could you imagine running in circles to kite a boss because you forgot to call your pet to you?

Mini + Pet = 2 Pets and looks cool

On the note of pets, they should be revamped for better survival. It’s very hard taking them into any sort of dungeon or boss event (major ones like dragons) and except them to be useful for more than 10 seconds. They have low survivability compared to the player. If they could at least last through more than one hit off a boss (i.e. the Champ Ettin in Asura fractal) it would make gameplay on the Ranger more feasible.

Mesmer: Pistol (main hand)
Engineer: Mace/Torch/Hammer
Ranger: Rifle/Pistol (mh/oh)

Yes, I’d like my karma back. I noticed they took Drops out of the boss bags. It needs a serious rebalance of karma prices or better way to obtain it in gameplay.

It would be nice to have more control over my phantasms as they do more damage than my clones, but it’d be nice to have even a little control over my clones at all. It’d be nice if they mimicked a dodge roll and skill actions. It’d be nice to have ground targetting for my phantasms.

No input? Anyone?

Since karma is both harder to come by and unaffected by boost of any sort anymore are karma prices going to come down? When it was easier to have much more karma and to farm it quickly through dungeons, events, and dailies it was understandable that certain items cost thousands of karma points (i.e. Temple items as the most expensive at 42,000). Depending on how you play it can take a while to farm that much karma. What about obsidian shards (2,100 karma)? Those are necessary for both legendary recipes as well as ascended (granted ascended takes significantly fewer shards).

Has anyone else encountered a problem in the Ocean fractal that has prevented progression? We successfully killed the boss at the end, but he was eating me when he died and I wasn’t free before he was killed. We got our “champ” kill chest from the boss, but not our fractal chest. We also did not get our “continue” screen. Could it have been because he was eating me when he died?

My guildies mentioned that the jade dragon skins are not available anymore from the merchant. I still have two claim tickets and when I checked the trading post there were still a bunch of coffers for sale. I really hope you’re going to bring those back, with the dragon claim tickets. I’d like to use mine up before you turn them into black lion ticket items (and it would have been nice to know beforehand you were removing them).

I just want token rewards back. This is going to make gearing up all of my characters 10x more difficult. The money made is only a bonus. Fix the DR on the tokens.

RoseofGilead.8907:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/skypirates/Dungeon-full-error-message

Yeah, I saw the GM post. Glad to know what’s up now.

I disconnected while in the instance with some guildmates. When I got back to where I could join them, I clicked the button but got an error message (attached below). Suggestions on what to do?

With all of these recent changes to the game, some of them rather massive, one of them I have noticed recently pertains to dungeons. It isn’t listed in any of the patch notes, so I was wondering if anyone could confirm it for me.

I’ve noticed when doing runs with guildies and friends that if someone opens the dungeon instance and they leave then the rest of the squad is not booted. Has anyone else noticed this or is it just a fluke?