Kapitel 33: Chapter 33
While Alvar dove deeper into the mental arts and furthered his mastery of different kinds of weapons Veli and Gerdi had stuck to the mace and shield. But besides them deepening their knowledge of the blunt weapon they were introduced into a different kind of warfare as well, namely siege weapons and defence mechanisms.
The two had been rather relieved when their regiment of students took a break from their usual routine and began to implement the knowledge they had gained in the tactical lessons into the handling of the siege weapons, after being introduced to their handling of course.
So immersed where the students in their studies of the various fields that they did not notice how the time passed by and in the blink of an eye summer had turned into autumn, the leaves on the trees turning into various shades of red, yellow, brown or orange as the live left the once blooming vegetation and returned to their origin in order to prepare the trees and plants for the approaching winter.
The nearly always shining sun got covered more and more often by fields of grey clouds, carrying with it an abundance of droplets that only waited to hail down upon the inhabitants of Tyria.
Along with the begin of autumn the day of one certain festival, reserved for the later part of the year, came and plunged the Norn of Hoelbrak and in every other part of Tyria, that housed the otherwise boisterous people, into a sullen mood but not without reason. The day of the dead had come once again, after one full cycle of the year was completed.
Even though it was a festival and the day of the dead was celebrated it was still not a day filled with happiness as all the Norn commemorated the ones that passed away into the afterlife, be it friends, family or just acquaintances.
During the time of the festival lamps of various colours where hung around the capital of Hoelbrak while the various families remained rather reclusive and amongst themselves, exceptions being the large processions that pilgrimaged to the shrines of the different guardian spirits to thank and ask said spirits to look after their deceased in the afterlife and the large feast at the end of the day to return from the melancholy of the day of the dead back to the sweetness of life.
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On the day of the dead Alvar woke up early as usual but he knew that today he would not have any training to complete and thus took his sweet time with getting ready.
After laying in his bed for a few more minutes in silence he stood up and walked over to his closet in which hung the traditional dress that was reserved for this one special day in the year, consisting of a simple pair of trousers and shirt in a light grey colour. Along with the dress all people would wear a facemask, coloured in white, with nothing but holes for the eyes.
Alvar had always wondered in his younger years why his people wore those blank faced masks but now that he had grown older saw many purposes behind them, one being to hide the own sorrow from those around, as not the living should be the focus with their sorrow but instead the deceased and the memories of their times spent on Tyria.
After caressing the smooth surface of the porcelain mask for a few seconds Alvar put it aside and began to dress himself in the light grey clothes. Once he had put the robes on Alvar grabbed the mask and left his room where he began to grab himself some breakfast.
While Alvar was eating his grandparents entered the room and with a look Alvar saw that they had already gotten dressed in their robes as well, though just like Alvar hadn't yet donned their masks as they didn't like to wear it while at home and in the company of their family.
"Good morning Alvar. Slept well I hope?" Alvar's grandfather asked while his grandmother was rather silent, only pressing a light kiss onto Alvar's head. It had always been that way on the day of the dead since Alvar could remember and he knew exactly why that was. Having lost everyone in their family, besides Alvar, he most certainly did not begrudge his grandparents their solemn mood, as he himself was not on the top of the world as well.
"Ye, I slept well. And you?" Alvar asked back after swallowing the spoon of oatmeal, spiked with fruits, down and took a sip of water from his mug. The answer Alvar received though said more then words could ever do consisting of nothing but solemn silence to which Alvar remained silent as well.
After taking in their breakfast, with slight talk accompanying the family, the three cleaned up their dishes and left their house into the fresh morning air.
The last few weeks the weather had gotten colder and a slight mist hung in the air and began to cling to their clothes in the form of faint water vapor.
After taking in a slow and deep breath under his white mask Alvar caught up to his grandparents that had left into the direction of the nearby shrines already while Alvar had completed his morning ritual.
The three began their small pilgrimage at the small shrines inside of Hoelbrak, where they each lighted a candle for every person they had lost, after which they would venture out into the nearby woods where the large main shrines dedicated to their patron spirits were located.
The three stepped out of the huge gates of Hoelbrak along with a few other families and began their walk to their first destination, the shrine of the bear, located in a cave closest to Hoelbrak.
After the shrine of the bear came the shrine of the snow leopard, then the wolf and last but not least the shrine of the raven. Though once they arrived at the shrine of the raven the trio where surprised to find the old Havroune dedicated to the raven standing at the caves entrance, a gathering of other families surrounding him, and promptly walked over to them to find out what was happening. Though once they arrived Alvar and his grandparents were a little startled when they heard the Havroune's words.
"Good, you are all here. Follow me please. We have a lot to discuss." And with those words motioned the group of families, Alvars included, to follow him into the dark cave, with all them of clueless what awaited them.
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
bobbarker12
bobbarker12 Those of you knowledgable about guild wars/guild wars 2 may have noticed that I am changing and/or incorporating things that are not included in the game or its lore.
The reason for that is that I find a few aspects of the game and its lore lacking, even though I love most of it, and thus decided to bring my own elements into the lore.
Furthermore, as the story will not only take place in Tyria, I had to get a bit creative in how I want to include the other possible universes into the guild wars lore. None the less I hope you enjoy the story, no matter how I play around with the lore^^
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