"The first step to build up your defences is to strengthen the one you already have, like the fundament of a building you could say. Once your foundation is strong enough the only thing remaining will be your avatar, meaning you yourself as the representative of your mind, with everything about you hidden inside of your avatar, away from prying eyes." Isolde said while standing up from her sitting position with Alvar doing the same.
"How are we going to do that?" He asked Isolde who turned around to face him while walking backwards slightly with a small smile on her face.
"You are about to find out. Remember, all you have to do is stay calm…" Isolde said after which Alvar wished he hadn't taken Isolde up on her offer to teach him to defend his mind…
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'Remain calm she said! Don't lose yourself in the emotions she said! How the fuck am I supposed to do that if she keeps throwing fear inducing illusions at me?!' Alvar thought to himself while another one smashed into him, looking like a translucent wave of some kind, which roused the fear inside his core once again as he struggled to resist the urge to scream for his life all the while.
"Remember, this is all happening in your head. Even though real combat is possible in the mists, that is not where we currently are! You are the king of this realm, so firm your mind and stop shivering like a little babe in the cold!" Isolde called over while Alvar grit his teeth so hard they gnashed upon each other with an audible sound as he tried to resist the spell the she-devil had thrown at him.
On and on Isolde kept throwing emotion stimulating illusions at Alvar who by now was on his knees, desperately trying to keep himself from crying like a little child as all the different emotions, ranging from fear, happiness, self-pity, sadness and so on, raged through his every fibber like a flood after a dam had broken and unleashed the unstoppable torrents on the world behind its walls.
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After what felt like an eternity to Alvar, Isolde stopped her barrage and brought the two out of Alvar's mind after which the lad collapsed backwards with sweat soaking his clothes and training gear, as had become the norm for him the last few weeks.
"We'll continue with this tomorrow evening. I would advise you to practise on your own though. Every time you feel your emotions stirring try to calm yourself so that you will not be controlled by them. It will help." With those words Isolde stood up and walked over to Alvar whom she helped up onto his shaking legs, after which she lead Alvar out of her room and down the corridor to the gates that were still being guarded by, what Alvar assumed to be, members of the mist guard as he remembered them saying that they had made it their purpose to guard the Havroune, besides other duties.
"Have a good night Alvar, I'll see you tomorrow evening." Isolde said after which she turned around and was about to head back inside when Alvar remembered that he hadn't asked yet where he would meet her tomorrow.
"Isolde! Where should I meet you tomorrow? Where I did today?" Alvar asked the woman who only nodded in reply after which she disappeared behind the tall wooden entrance to the quarters of the Havroune, leaving Alvar alone with the mist guards who hadn't budged an inch all this time as if they were made out of stone.
After leaving the great hall Alvar headed straight home as it had become too late to meet up with his friends and he really needed to get some sleep under his belt, his muscles still aching from all the training he had done that day, now joined by the pounding of his head as well.
Clothed in silence Alvar more swayed than walked back home and after what felt like hours finally reached his home. Accompanied by the creaking of the door Alvar went inside where he spotted his grandfather sitting in chair with a book in his hands while his grandmother was cleaning some dishes.
"Ahh, Alvar! Welcome back! How was your meeting with Isolde?" His grandfather asked with curiosity as he had never been allowed to witness what the Havroune taught their students or those that fulfilled the basic requirements for the mental arts.
"Ugh, don't remind me of that torture. My head is still pounding so hard, it feels like on ogre used it to pound some of its brethren into submission with it…" Alvar replied which earned him a bout of slight laughter from his grandparents as he went over to the bonfire and grabbed himself some food for a late dinner.
"I still remember the day your mother received her first instructions in the mental arts. Her words held pretty much the same content within them as yours did hahaha!" Alvars grandfather said while lifting his horn filled with mead in salute towards Alvar who only grunted at his antics in reply.
His grandmother on the other hand must have decided to be the good one in their relationship at some point as she came over to Alvar and put a blanked over his shoulders and a cool piece of wet clothes onto his forehead, causing Alvar to moan slightly in satisfaction.
"There you go, sweety. Anything else exciting happen today?" His grandmother asked as she sat herself down next to Alvar while he still marvelled at the cool sensation on his forehead.
"Ye. Sjorn decided to be an asshat once again. He had me try to resist the strength of a cow! Imagine that for a second, will you? I swear, all my instructors want to see me dead in some way…" Alvar ground out while shoving another spoon full of stew into his mouth, his grandfather roaring in amusement at Alvar's words all the while.
"Now, now. I think they all want the best for you so don't be so hard on them, will you?" His grandmother said while patting him slightly on the back after which she stood up and went back to whatever she had been doing back there in the kitchen.
"Ye ye, I know. Doesn't change the fact though that I feel like a herd of cows played catch with me… I'll head to bed now. Good night you two." He said as he was emptying the last dregs of food in his bowl and headed into his room to fall tiredly onto his mattress while his grandparent's wishes for a good night echoed faintly in the background. Though Alvar barely heard them having embarked onto his journey into dreamland already.
There you go fellas^^
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.
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^^