Almorra's Massacre
Almorra's Massacre[1] refers to the death of Almorra Soulkeeper's Soul Warband in 1320 AE during the creation of the Dragonbrand, which subsequently led to the founding of the Vigil.
History[edit]
Ordered by her centurion who was in charge of interdicting enemy supplies in eastern Ascalon, Legionnaire Almorra Soulkeeper of the Blood Legion and her Soul warband were on patrol in the Lowland Burns when the Elder Crystal Dragon Kralkatorrik stirred.
According to Almorra's recounting, she felt it before she heard the dragon, as a strange feeling that reached into her bones and made her fur stand on end. Harthog Soulslasher, her second-in-command, saw Kralkatorrik first as it came over the edge of the mountains behind them. The others turned to see what could terrify Harthog, whom Almorra considers the bravest charr she had ever known, while she reached out to and grabbed her friend by the shoulders to shake the fear from him. As she did, Harthog began to transform into a Branded.
His eyes began to glow an unearthly purple, and his muzzle shrank back into his face, becoming like the soft but toothy maw of a giant leech. His fur became transparent as his arms transformed into flailing, shard-like claws. The skin peeled back from his face, and his lips and nose and eyelids shriveled up and fell away. And then he turned into living glass, crystallizing in an instant before Soulkeeper's eyes into his twisted form. And at her back, she could feel a pressure as Kralkatorrik passed overhead and created the Dragonbrand.
As the Dragonbrand formed, the screams from the rest of the Soul warband tore at Almorra's ears. She drew her blade just before the creature that had been Soulslasher attacked, driven mad by corruption and intent to devour her alive. Despite her proximity to her warband, Almorra was able to escape becoming Branded. Almorra had to shatter Harthog into pieces to put him down, and when she turned she saw the rest of her warband trying to kill each other, each twisted in a unique and horrible way.
Soulkeeper waited for her warsiblings to tear each other apart, before stepping in and dispatching the survivors. When she was done, she looked before and behind herself and saw that every part of the land that had passed beneath the dragon had been twisted in this same way. The grass shattered under her feet as she walked on it, grinding it into sand.
Almorra fell into depression with her warband's death and she became a gladium, refusing anyone attempting to aid her. Eventually, with the help of a few unlikely allies, including Laranthir of the Wild, she came to herself and knew what had to be done and formed the Vigil to turn her feelings of vengeance into a mission of justice to end the threat posed by the Elder Dragons.[2][3]
Notes[edit]
- Crusader Arevir Soulhammer offers a lore based skill challenge that provides details of the event. However, Arevir incorrectly calls Almorra a tribune rather than legionnaire.
References[edit]
- ^ Crusader Arevir Soulhammer
- ^ Chapter 8, Ghosts of Ascalon by Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb:
- Soulkeeper grunted. "I served as a legionnaire in the Blood Legion at the time. Our centurion was in charge of interdicting enemy supplies and was overseeing the scores of our finest warbands stationed there. I was on patrol with my own warband in eastern Ascalon when the Crystal Dragon stirred. [...]
- "I fell into my own personal darkness, my friends slain by a force greater than I could hope to confront." General Almorra Soulkeeper seemed to forget that Dougal was there, her lips drawn back to over bared teeth. "I became a gladium, a charr without a warband, and refused any aid in my darkness. At last, with the help of a few unlikely allies, I came to myself and knew what had to be done.
- "I knew then that this was no foe that a single people could confront," Soulkeeper said. "To have any hope of defeating an Elder Dragon, the peoples of Tyria would have to band together to fight it."
- "That's why you formed the Vigil," Dougal said.
- "Yes," said Almorra. "And although I work to save Tyria, I also know I act to save myself."
- ^ Assault the Hill
- Laranthir of the Wild: Glad to have you with us, recruit. I am Laranthir of the Wild, second-in-command of the Vigil. You could also say that I'm its co-founder.
- <Character name>: What do you mean?
- Laranthir of the Wild: When General Soulkeeper lost her warband to the crystal dragon, I was the one who convinced her to turn her quest for vengeance into a worldwide campaign against all the Elder Dragons.
