Isgarren

Isgarren

Race

Seer

Level

80

Rank

Legendary

Location

The Wizard's Court
(Inner Sanctorium)

Organization

Wizard's Court

“

Not much is known about Isgarren. He keeps to his castle, and is rarely ever seen or heard. What is known, is that he has a kind gracious heart, and he cares for and loves the people of this town.

— Lasha

Isgarren the Curator is an enigmatic wizard who resides in, and is the current owner of, the floating castle of Wizard's Tower in Kessex Hills according to the townsfolk of Garenhoff.

He is eventually revealed to be the last known survivor of the Seers as well as the founder of the secretive Wizard's Court and patron of the Astral Ward who has safeguarded the world of Tyria against various threats from the Mists with help from the World Spire in Amnytas. Isgarren and Midnight King Eparch of the Kryptis have a centuries-spanning rivalry that has led to conflict between their respective forces.

Biography

Early years

Isgarren claims to have had many names and shapes over his millennia-spanning existence, and those who know him from ages past even refer to him as "Your Highness," suggesting a royal origin of some sort although he prefers not to use such titles on Tyria. He was once a member of the Seer horde, or fhogos, and assisted them in their alliance with the elder races of Tyria against the ravenous Elder Dragons in the previous dragonrise millennia ago. However, just before the Seers were to aid the mursaat in the attack against the Elder Dragon Zhaitan, the Seer doyen Sidony suddenly decided against Seer involvement in the battle and left the mursaat and the Forgotten to fend for themselves while the Seers focused on the creation of the Shadowstone and the Bloodstone instead. Isgarren felt sorry for the mursaat, but Sidony stopped him from interfering before he could lend them aid. He eventually left the Seers to pursue his own interests. The mursaat, who had suffered many losses alongside the Forgotten in the battle, never forgave the Seers for this perceived act of betrayal, leading to a bloody conflict between the two races millennia later in which the mursaat exterminated most Seers, including Sidony, from Tyria despite their numbers being fewer compared to the Seers.

It is unclear if the Beacon of Ages and other beacons scattered throughout Tyria predated Isgarren and he discovered and claimed them for his use, or if he created the beacons himself. Either way, at some point he was inspired to found the Wizard's Court to study magic and safeguard Tyria from threats from the Mists, and he extended his influence by having the wizards be assisted by what became known as the Astral Ward and the Rift Hunters. His first recruit to the court was the mursaat Mabon whom he had been fighting during the mursaat-Seer conflict but whom he had later befriended when Mabon had professed a desire to end bloodshed as he was ashamed of his people's actions. Later the djinn Akeem, the Forgotten Vass, and the kodan Waiting Sorrow joined as well, and Isgarren and Vass grew close over the centuries. All wizards were required to undergo the ancient Seer rite of ascension to tap into the flow of magic of the world itself albeit with the caveat that the wizard's personal memories may be erased as a side effect.

At some point, Isgarren was contacted by a highly evolved Kryptis named Eparch who wanted to join the ranks of the Wizard's Court and who even lived among the wizards in the Wizard's Tower for a time. However, Isgarren denied the demon lord entry to the court's ranks and exiled him to Nayos, the Realm of Dreams where Eparch had come from, because he found Eparch to be ignorant and hungry after the demon had torn an entire village to innards and scraps of meat. This led to an intense rivalry and eventual war between the two as Eparch swore to bring Isgarren and Amnytas down and claim the wizards' secrets and power for himself. To achieve his ends, Eparch began uniting the Kryptis into a coalition under his command, dubbing himself the Midnight King and aiming their aggression against the wizards of Amnytas and Tyria as a whole while Isgarren and his supporters fought to keep them out.

Life Above Garenhoff

After the Wizard's Tower had relocated close to the town of Garenhoff, the townsfolk began relying on the wizard's protection. He was praised by many denizens of Garenhoff for providing elemental guardians to protect the town and its people, but he was rarely seen or heard. Some of the townspeople viewed the gifted elementals with skepticism as they believed that something felt off about the elementals. Despite his reclusive nature, Isgarren was said to have occasionally sent invitations to some of the townsfolk to come live in his castle; none of the people who entered the Wizard's Tower were ever heard from again.

In the past, Isgarren visited the Mystic Forge in search of special compounds. Zommoros, the djinn owner of the Forge, only learned of the visit afterwards. Due to lack of proper skritt documenting, he was unable to find any record of what items Isgarren had tossed into the Forge and what the wizard had received in return. The djinn hoped that Isgarren returned one day so he could inquire the wizard about the nature of his work and where he had been. However, no one had heard from Isgarren for a long time, and Zommoros pondered if something had happened to the wizard since the previous visit. At some point, the charr merchant Brine Clutchall ran a shop at Garenhoff but had to leave in a hurry after he had supposedly overcharged a person he believed to have been Isgarren; he began working for the Guild Initiative in exchange for them protecting him from the wizard.

Secrets of the Obscure

Act I

Following the death of Soo-Won and the outbreak of the Void, the Spire's Heart became fractured from the unleashed magic. Though Aurene quickly mended things, the defenses of the World Spire were still injured, and required fixing. Eparch's Kryptis took advantage of this as Isgarren moved the Wizard's Tower to a new location, and assaulted the Wizard's Court directly. Isgarren was attacked by Cerus, and left to go into hiding at The World Spire to prevent harming others as he fought off the possession.

Act III

When the Astral Ward had finally located Isgarren, the Wizard's Court and Wayfinder set off to rescue Isgarren and cleanse him of possession. After chasing the Seer across the Bastion of the Celestial and fighting the ancient seer's many fragmented magics, a final confrontation occurred atop the World Spire itself. However, instead of simply removing the possessing Kryptis from Isgarren, a new rift opened and dragged the Wayfinder and Isgarren through into Nayos itself, where Cerus was waiting for the pair. Unable to properly move, Isgarren gave the Wayfinder what little help he could so that they could confront Cerus. It wasn't enough, however, but rescue came in the unexpected form of Peitha, Kryptis Lord and sister of Cerus, who turned on her brother to assist the Wayfinder. After Cerus' defeat, Peitha opened a new rift for the three to leave Nayos and return to the Wizard's Tower. There, Isgarren had a brief moment to recovery before confronting Peitha and her intentions. With the Wayfinder's opinion considered, Isgarren agreed to a tentative alliance with Peitha to confront and kill Eparch once and for all.

Location

Horn of Maguuma

• The Wizard's Tower
  • The Wizard's Court (after Treachery) - on a balcony on the floor below the point of interest

Story involvement

Secrets of the Obscure story

• Act III
  • Into the Obscure (as a vision)
  • The World Spire
  • Treachery
• Act IV: Through the Veil
  • Duress

Combat abilities

General

Effects

Skills

•   Chain Lightning - Hit multiple foes with arcs of chain lightning.

Story Mode (The World Spire)

Final Encounter

Effects

Skills

• Bitter Rebuke - Smash the ground in front of you to damage foes.
• Chaos Vortex - Release a vortex of chaos energy that inflicts ₅ Vulnerability Slow Blinded on foes.
• Flying Cutter - Send a blade of energy at your target.
• Grasping Dead - Summon skeletal hands that inflict ₂ Torment to foes in the target area.
• Haunt Shot - Send out a shadow bolt and inflict  Torment.
• Meteor Shower - Call down a meteor shower onto the target area.
• Seeking Judgment - Fire a seeking projectile that explodes upon contact and damages enemies.
• Shadowfall - Drop a well that  knocks down on initial impact, then pulses ₁ Torment.
• Temporal Rift - Slice into the Mists, creating an unstable rift. After a short duration, this rift will collapse in on itself,  Pulling in enemies and inflicting ₂ Torment.
• Zealot's Embrace - Send a wave toward your foe that  Immobilizes foes in a line.

Stolen skills

Manifestation of Bitterness

Abilities

• Manifestation of Bitterness

Behavior

• Periodically summons five Corrupted Kryptis Essences when defiance bar is unlocked
• Summons a Core of Hatred and Core of Resentment when defiance bars at 66% and 33% health are broken, respectively
• Regenerates 25% health if defiance bar not broken or a Core reaches Isgarren

Effects

(at 66% and 33% health)

•  Kryptis-Possessed - This being is possessed by a Kryptis.
•  Determined (30s) (at 66% and 33% health) - Determined to survive and immune to damage.
•  Stun (30s) (at 66% and 33% health) - Unable to act.
•  Demonic Aura (30s) (at 66% and 33% health) - The Kryptis possessing this creature is vulnerable to purging. Breaking this creature's defiance bar will cause the Kryptis possessing this creature to materialize nearby.
•  Kryptis Detachment (30s) (when defiance bar is broken) - Demonic magic has been ripped from this creature. It will heal its host if it manages to reach it before being defeated.

Skills

• Bitter Rebuke - Smash the ground in front of you to damage foes.
• Grasping Dead - Summon skeletal hands that inflict ₂ Torment to foes in the target area.
• Haunt Shot - Send out a shadow bolt and inflict  Torment.
• Necrotic Grasp - Send out a grasping hand that pierces foes in a line and inflicts ₁ Torment.
• Shadowfall - Drop a well that  knocks down on initial impact, then pulses ₁ Torment.
• Temporal Rift - Slice into the Mists, creating an unstable rift. After a short duration, this rift will collapse in on itself,  Pulling in enemies and inflicting ₂ Torment.

Stolen skills

Manifestation of Ego

Abilities

• Manifestation of Ego

Behavior

• Summons two clones (Impulse and Vulgarity) at 66% and 33% health

Effects

•  Kryptis-Possessed - This being is possessed by a Kryptis.
•  Shielded (Isgarren) (at 66% and 33% health) - Shielded (Isgarren)

Skills

• Chain Lightning - Hit multiple foes with arcs of chain lightning.
• Chaos Vortex - Release a vortex of chaos energy that inflicts ₅ Vulnerability,  Slow, and  Blinded on foes.
• Flying Cutter - Send a blade of energy at your target.
• Grasping Dead - Summon skeletal hands that inflict ₃ Bleeding and  Crippled to foes in the target area.
• Meteor Shower - Call down a meteor shower onto the target area.
• Seeking Judgment - Fire a seeking projectile that explodes upon contact and damages enemies.
• Zealot's Embrace - Send a wave toward your foe that  Immobilizes foes in a line.

Stolen skills

Manifestations of Impulse & Vulgarity

Abilities

• Manifestation of Impulse
• Manifestation of Vulgarity

Effects

Skills

• Chain Lightning - Hit multiple foes with arcs of chain lightning.
• Chaos Storm - Create a magical storm at the target location that applies random conditions to foes. The first strike of the storm  Dazes foes.
• Grasping Dead - Summon skeletal hands that inflict ₃ Bleeding and  Crippled to foes in the target area.
• Warding Rift - Create a rift from the Mists that blocks incoming attacks.

Stolen skills

Manifestation of Rigidity

Abilities

• Manifestation of Rigidity

Effects

•  Kryptis-Possessed - This being is possessed by a Kryptis.

Dialogue

After completing Treachery and before beginning Secrets Obscured

Wayfinder, after everything... I must thank you. For protecting my people, my home. This place is a reflection of myself, so to say. Without it... I don't know what would become of me. Or Tyria.

Anything else I can do?

These events gave me pause and a moment to reflect on things I've left unsettled for too long. I...have a task I'd request of you.

What is it?

<Character name>: What is it?

Isgarren: We have kept the walls around Tyria up for ages now. There has been much conflict in that time, across the world.

Isgarren: There are items that have been left hidden in the process. It seemed the safest approach, but the situation has changed.

Isgarren: They must be recovered. Our gift to the people of Tyria is that they never know just how much danger they've been in.

I've got plenty of tasks already.

You're welcome.

While Secrets Obscured is active

Are you making progress on the task I gave you?

What was I supposed to be doing again?

You were given a list of items that need to be retrieved, lest the citizens of Tyria discover the nature of our work.

Ah, that's right.

Can you give me any advice on where to find them?

Very well. What do you need to know?

Where is this jeweled amulet?

I suspect it fell from the tower when it was moved. Garenhoff would be the logical place to start.

Back.

Where can I find "Planning for Tyria's Future"?

The tome was sealed away in one of the beacons in Orr, then it was lost when the continent fell. If it has survived, it will be in a tower there.

Which one though?

Its caretaker went mad and renamed it. I believe he started calling himself a vizier. Perhaps that will narrow it down.

Back.

Leave.

Where should I look for this tainted bloodstone censer?

The cursed censer was locked away in the Bloodstone Caves, where I had hoped it would remain. But alas, here we are.

Back.

Leave.

Do you know what Mabon's favorite food from Divinity's Reach was?

I never asked him about it, but he often spoke fondly of cuisine from Elona, and also of the value of bloodstone as an ingredient. Perhaps some combination of them?

Back.

Leave.

What about this Kryptis research document?

The research was being done at Rata Pten before its demise. I wouldn't tarry long—I've heard talk of excavations happening in the area.

Back.

Leave.

What do I need a Kryptis body for?

It's less about needing one and more about not leaving any behind. Incursions in Tyria proper increase the risk of their remains being found.

Back.

Leave.

Where should I find this missing stone?

The stone was last in possession of a ward member at the former beacon in Ascalon. It is mistakeable for an ordinary stone and likely still resides there.

Back.

Leave.

Leave.

I'm on it.

After completing Secrets Obscured

You did well in gathering those items I requested. Now, what can I do for you?

How's your recovery coming along?

No need to worry. I have learned to bear the burden of this role over time, and I don't break easily. I will be fine.

I have other questions.

I'll leave you to rest.

Are there still Kryptis attacks happening?

Of course. Those likely will not subside until Eparch himself is dealt with. Your continued assistance in combating those invasions would be of great value.

I have other questions.

I'll leave you to rest.

Are you ever going to reveal yourselves to Tyria?

That is not a decision that can be made lightly. Secrecy has been very important, both for our cause and for Tyria. But...perhaps someday. If the situation changes.

I have other questions.

I'll leave you to rest.

I'm curious. Can you tell me about the Seers?

Ah. My fhogos—my kin. I would not be surprised if I was the only one you'll ever meet. Mabon and I were both birthed by stubborn beings. And like the Tyrian mursaat, my kind are all dead.

I'm so sorry.

We didn't age well. And we lived a very difficult experience... Of all my thousands of years of self-reflection, I barely spent my adolescence among them. I parted from the horde after...

...After?

We once tried to fell the dragons. The Elder Races of Tyria. The Seer doyen, Sidony, cried for war. But...just before we were to aid the mursaat in their attack on Zhaitan... Sidony decided against.

(Listen intently.)

The mursaat never forgave us, and I empathized with that. They were turned to bone scraps and bile... But they would hunt us for thousands of years after. A few hundred of them, for all of us.

You and Mabon, then...

And unlikely alliance. He was different, and more so resembled the mursaat I've met external Tyria: brutal, yes, but fair. He's endured as much as I have.

Mursaat...external Tyria.

Some, at least. Who could say? Mabon searched, but... he stayed here all this time, after all. Perhaps, they were not worth finding...?

I'm sorry, about Mabon...

I am, too.

I have other questions.

I'll leave you to your rest.

I think I'm good for now.

Gallery

• 

  Concept art of the Pact Commander, Zojja, and Isgarren for the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

Related achievements

• Secrets of the Obscure: Act 3: A Chapter Closed — Speak with all your allies in the Wizard's Tower. (3)
• Secrets of the Obscure: Act 3: Manifestation Mayhem — Defeat Isgarren's manifestations without being downed. (1)
• The Wizard's Tower: Secrets Obscured — Retrieve the scattered wizard relics around Tyria. (3)
• Strength of the Unseen: A New Threat Emerges — Travel across Tyria, Tracking Mabon's Movements and Actions as an Astral Ward Member

Trivia

• Isgarren is voiced by Xander Berkeley.
• Narrative designer Peter Fries has once jokingly suggested that Isgarren is the son of Wasgarren, and his son is Wilbigarren, the joke being about the English verb tenses 'is,' 'was,' and 'will be.'
• Grand Wizard Garren was a mage who designed the gardens in the Upper City of Divinity's Reach during King Roderick's reign circa 1265 AE. The similar names and titles have left some questioning if there is a relation, which remains unanswered.
• Isgarren's involvement in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure was first teased in a blog post.
• Between the release of Bastion of the Penitent and the development of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, Bobby Stein, Crystal Reid and Jason Reynolds had a pitch of Isgarren's story taking place in a raid themed around the Wizard's Tower. Isgarren would invite people over for a tour but had ulterior motives: he intended to experiment on the visitors in order to sustain the life of an ill family member. The story's tone was meant to be bittersweet, showing that Isgarren was not acting out of malevolence but had a sympathetic reason for his dubious actions.

See also

Associated items

• Mini Isgarren
• Relic of Isgarren