Chapter 105: Guild Wars 2 Jump Chapter
The Godforged happily served the Imperator of the Flame Legion, Gaheron Baelfire, mutilating themselves to boost the power of their fire magic and zealously willing to sacrifice their lives to hasten his ascent to godhood. These ashen Charr cared not for themselves, but only for their goal of raising up a new fire god to lead their group to its proper place in ascendancy over the other Charr Legions.
So you can imagine their horror when a family of four crashes their hover car into the man they worship, get out, and eat him, thus supplanting him in the sacrificial ritual that ninety nine devout brothers are locked into, feeding their magic and their lives to the empower the divinity of these terrible strangers.
Yeah, it was one of those days for these fire flinging kitty men.
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I was pretty stoked about how my day was going. This is a magically saturated world, so the Oghma Infinium dropped mad knowledge onto me. Even the warriors operated using magic in this world where anyone can become powerful by committing themselves to one of nine archetypes. Well, it is more like the difference between a black belt and an untrained person but just a bit more exaggerated until high tier gear gets involved.
And I had knowledge of all of it.
Sure I'd have to pick an archetype and spend some time crushing fools and questing to be able to access all the nifty skills, specializations, and traits but it wouldn't take too long considering the baseline prowess of my body.
People in this world were not created equal, not even close. Some people were just born with more powerful magic and bodies, enabling them to take on teams and even armies of component adventurers, and we were on the army end of that spectrum.
The various crafting disciplines of this world also had me salivating. With everything here containing its own innate magic, the crafting disciplines created objects of incredible self born power. That meant I could take magic items out of this world and they would still operate as they did before, as the magic is all innate and not something added on after the fact.
It was time to enter into hardware development mode again boys.
All I needed was to run another classic scam and I'd have access to a Legion of minions to gather everything I need for the greater glory of the God Emperor of Krogankind.
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"Why the fuck did you think this would work!" Jack shouted as she chucked a Charr warrior into a fiery crag and we continued our escape from the Citadel of Flame.
"This kind of shit always works!" I shouted as I punched a Flame Legion Shaman till his head spit open and his brains leaked out, "I don't know why they didn't buy that I am Gaheron Baelfire after ascending to godhood!"
"Holy shit!" Jack cursed as she kicked a Charr with two swords in the balls, "You forgot you aren't a giant lizard man anymore."
"No!" I denied reflexively but she was totally right.
My lizard body was shaped in a very similar way to these Charr, just scales and plates instead of fur. I totally could have BSed my way into becoming the Imperator of the Flame Legion if not for this incredibly sexy primate body. Damn my god-like good looks!
"You totally did!" Wanda teased me while she used her new fire magic to toast a pair of Flame Legion Assassins.
I yanked a greatsword out of a warrior's hands and cut him in half at the waist with it.
You may be wondering where my ultra awesome hammer is, and where is Jack's super emo sword. In honor of us once again being in swords and magic setting, I thought it would be cool to have my nanohive bury the family car and all our stuff and cement the area around it so only the nanomachines themselves could dig the area up. This would give us the chance to experience this world the way God intended it rather than fuck everything up with plasma cannons and divine relic weapons.
I probably should have done that once we left the heart of the Citadel of Flame, but I was excited. Sue me.
I quickly dedicated myself to the Guardian archetype and grabbed up a shield, wielding the greatsword in one hand.
"Oh shit boys!" one of the warriors shouted, "He's wielding a greatsword in one hand! Does that mean it's a greatsword or a regular sword?"
"Why not both? I asked as I chained three strikes in a row to activate the Wrathful Sword Wave combo, the last attack coming as three waves of sword light that applied the Might buff for each enemy struck. One of those hit was the chatty Cathy, who clutched the wound on his chest.
"So cool!" he cried out then died.
We would have been homies if I was still a giant lizard man.
I activated the Symbol of Blades ability to teleport to a nearby foe in a flash of blinding light and branded a magic symbol on the ground that radiates damage to enemies inside it and grants the Fury buff to allies. I chained this into the spin to win Whirling Wrath that turned me into a lethal Beyblade and sent arcs of sword light out to wreck nearby enemies.
"Okay. How the hell are you doing all of that!" Jack yelled as she used a Charr's horns as handles to snap his neck.
"I'll teach you later!" I shouted back to her, "Kill now!"
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Killing our way through the Citadel of Flame and across the bridge over a river of lava netted me a lot of advancement as a Guardian, and I had finished leveling my first specialization, Radiance, picking up Right Hand Strength, Radiant Fire, and Amplified Wrath to boost up my swordsmanship, and firepower. One might realize that I do not carry a torch and thus loose utility with the Radiant Fire trait, but worry not. I am a torch.
If I ever get the chance I will plow Suzan Storm then shout flame on and jump out the window while on fire. That should make some people wonder.
I started working on my Virtues specialization next to gain even more striking power through the use of the three virtues Guardians are empowered by, Justice, Resolve, and Courage. I picked up the trait Unscathed Contender, and would later gain Inspiring Virtue and Permeating Wrath to pick up more strike and fire damage respectively.
The trend with all my choices is DAMAGE! I intend to be the most brutal Guardian to ever be, and after I add Zeal to the mix for Fiery Wrath, Zealous Blade, and Symbolic Avenger, I will be.
"We are off to a great start in this world." I said to my companions while thinking about the fire and violence my build will bring to this world.
"How the fuck do you reckon that?" Jack spat as we chilled in a region of the world that is similar to a hellscape. Smoke, ash, fire, and lava everywhere.
"I stole a bunch of bags of holding from those guys." I grinned and emptied a sack full of pouches for everyone to see.
"Thank God for small miracles." Jack shook her head.
After investigating our haul, which was substantial considering the Citadel of Flames hosts the highest members of the Flame Legion, guys in charge of thousands of warriors who are always pushing the fight against… well everyone. The Flame Legion had beef with everyone and took anything they could get their claws on.
After explaining the Archetype system, Jack had me teach her how to be a Warrior because it was time for her reign of terror as the Barbarian Queen. Wanda chose Necromancer cause it sounded real edgy. I played a lot of Necromancer in my time and can confirm. I can also state that a Valk set Reaper can carry a shit team through a lot of the content. Medusa picked Ranger cause she wants to be friends with animals. Powerful pets are dope, just ask the people who make Pokémon.
We all agreed that we wanted to leave the hellscape known as Fireheart Rise as soon as possible, and so we headed west to the Frostgorge Sound, you know, cause it makes perfect sense on Tyria to have a scorching hot constantly volcanically active region right next to the bitter cold frozen mountains.
Either way we traveled through the region dispensing justice to the Flame Legion and their wicked elementals and constructs while hitting all the points of interest indicated on some of the maps we picked up in our new bags of holding.
One might think that as demigods of fire - or is it quasigods now - that the Fireheart Rise would be an ideal location for us, but that would be very wrong. Why the hell would anyone want to live in a region where the very air is a poisonous fume and ever present ash tries to choke the life from you? The only people who would do that are trying too hard to sell the image of a Dark Lord.
If I was the Dark Lord I'd live in a palace by the sea that makes the heroes rethink their life choices cause evil is so cush.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
JManM
JManM Ahh Guild Wars 2. The only MMO I can stand for longer than a few weeks at a time. I have tried to once more implament the game mechanics into a reasonable literary power system, but Grax is obviously going to smash that system in the groin as he already has by weilding a weapon marked as Two Handed in one hand and just using the powers of both weapon types at the same time.
What a hacker jerk disturbing the balance of our beautiful game. Not that GW2 is balanced very well when it is so obvious that Guardian is OP.
Anyhow. Keep up with the Stones and Reviews. It means a whole lot to me and keeps me motivated to keep pumping out chapters. You can also get a bonus chapter for every thousand powerstones and hundred reviews, so don't just do it for me and my ego. Do it for you and the hope to have even more great writing to enjoy every day.
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Chapter 106: Honor of the Waves
I don't have any sympathy for polar bears, or any species that eats its own young, but I had sympathy for the Kodan. Despite being anthropomorphic polar bears, they did not eat their own young. Instead they built kick ass cities on top of icebergs and were slowly fleeing south because a malevolent primordial dragon woke up and didn't like that there were people living. Not just living near him. Just living.
What a fucking dickhead.
That's why the family and I are currently on the Honor of the Waves, one of those kick ass iceberg cities that got attacked by one of Jormag's Claws, a type of lesser dragon empowered to terrifying levels by Jormag's dragon energy and corruption. The city is sinking leisurely and while that is a cause for concern, the real threat comes from the Icebrood and the Sons of Svanir attacking the city for slaves and loot.
The Sons of Svanir are a faction of the Norn, a human-like race of nine foot tall giants who run a far higher core temperature and are highly insulated against freezing temperatures, enabling them to live comfortably in the frozen reaches of the world. The Sons are a splinter faction off of the normal Animal Spirit worshiping Norn in that they worship Jormag, and they do this in spite of the fact that the dragon has run the Norn and many other races from their homes and corrupts them into ice monsters.
If you are thinking that these guys are a scum tier bag of dicks that need to be wiped from existence, then you get the picture.
The Icebrood are the ice monsters Jormag turns everything into. Many of the Sons of Svanir become Icebrood, and the Icebrood like to kill everyone non Icebroody.
They came to take everything from the Kodan, and their plan was good, but they failed to account for a family of interdimensional ass kickers passing through. Few plans survive contact with the enemy, but none survive contact with us.
I split Kulag the Fallen, a champion Svanir Elementalist from clavicle to testicles with a mean overhand flaming greatsword chop while doing my best human torch impression. That's the beauty of this world's magic. I can breath out a river of holy fire on a platoon of heretics and infidels and not burn any of my friends or the buildings and terrain around them. The magic system's IFF capabilities are on so on point I can be blasting max power constantly at my friends and they'd never be inconvenienced by it beyond the brightness making it hard to see what is going on.
Both Jack and Medusa had followed my lead in greatsword supremacy and wielded an axe and dagger respectively. Wanda would get there once she unlocks the Reaper Elite Specialization, but for now she has to run around with wimpy virgin duel daggers while we wreck face with our hefty Chad greatswords.
The enemies here were tough, the best of both the Icebrood and Svanir's rank and file soldiers led by a series of champions. Cutting the champions felt like hacking into stone rather than flesh, doubly so for those covered in Jormag's corrupted ice, and they all knew how to move and fight far better than their more linear focused allies.
After slaying Kulag the rest of the battle in this area was clean up work.
When the sun set, the Icebrood and the Svanir ran off to lick their wounds and convince more of their friends to come throw themselves into the meat grinder. The Honor's Claw, the chief Kodan, sat next to us at our table after the battle.
"Tiny Norns." He greeted us, "You have once again prevented the enemy from taking their goal and given us more time to evacuate our people and possessions from this place, but I must ask you to leave now while you still can."
"How many times do I have to explain to you that we aren't tiny Norns." I grumbled, "We are big Humans."
"Humans are very small, and die in the cold." The Claw explained like he hadn't said this before, "Norn are large, and live in the cold. Thus you are, tiny Norns. But whether you be tiny Norns or big Humans, you must leave tonight."
"Why would we leave?" Wanda asked, "We have these frosty fucks by the balls."
"They will not return for further battle." The Claw shook his white polar bear head, "The Voice has foreseen that tomorrow, Jormag will send his Claw to the field. We believe that you will be able to stand against it, perhaps even defeat it, but to do so will send a signal to the Elder Dragon that the world is not yet ready for. Jormag must be content with his current pace, and if the rear guard of our people must fall to keep it that way until the world is ready, then so shall they fall."
The big armored bear man took out multiple high tier bags of holding from a sack and reached inside of one to pull out an Orichalcum ingot.
"The Frostgorge Sound is a fine place to gather crafting materials." He placed the ingot back into the bag, "The Kodan hoped to strip it of these, to both deny them to the enemy and provide the resources that will be required for the fight against the dragons. I have placed many items of such quality into these bags and now entrust them to you, both as our thanks for your valiant defense of our people, and our hope that with some proper equipment your family will be strong enough for wars to come."
"Dude." I placed a hand on his pauldron, "You let us eat your food, kill your enemies, and have your nicest stuff. You Kodan are a damn fine people."
"We agree with that assessment." The Claw nodded his head, "Head south, to Hoelbrak, and forge your gear, then head west towards Divinity's Reach, to the village of Shaemoor. Destiny awaits you there my friends, and the fate of us all hangs in the balance."
Thanks for the call to action bro.
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Traveling through the Wayfarer Foothills felt like a breath of fresh air after the FIreheart Rise and Frostgorge Sound, and Medusa's pet Arctodus and Polar Bear were fine moving down into the less extreme environment as they were supported by her Ranger magic. The pair of arctic bears could survive even in the heat of the desert so long as Medusa maintains their bond, but they wouldn't be comfortable. No one is comfortable in the desert.
As we moved south west from the Dawnrise Pass, we encountered the Lionguard's fortress, the Crossroads Haven, under siege from more of these Sons of Svanir jagoffs. How the Norn tolerate these violent extremists is beyond me, but I often find myself scratching my head in confusion at the nuances of sapient social interaction.
At least the human's have the excuse of not knowing who the White Mantle Society is, and thus have no way of knowing that their counterfaction is currently in their midst plotting their demise, but the Norn allow the Sons of Svanir a place in Hoelbrak, their cultural capital, where they can recruit new members to their frigid death cult.
After slaughtering the bastards outside the walls of the outpost, we were greeted with a hero's welcome by the Lionguard and the various merchants that use the trade route they protect.
The Crossroad Haven fort paired with another, the Twinspur Haven fort, to control the Ice Steppes, a vital trade route into Hoelbrak. Why the Lionguard did this rather than the Norn themselves boggles the mind a bit. They are essentially outposted here to defend the trade routes used by merchants from Lion's Arch, but you'd think the Norn's would have their own interest in ensuring a steady supply of… supplies to their capital, but I guess they are too independent individualist a people to get their shit together.
The Krogan in me applauds their dedication to individual badassery, but the God Emperor I have become wants to smack the shit out of them so that they can rally to prevent the end of their people in the face of the grimdark future the rise of the dragons brings.
Fuck it. At least the road down from the Twinspur to Hoelbrak was safe and pleasant.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
JManM
JManM
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