Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo

Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo

Race

Awakened

Profession

Ranger

Level

80

Rank

Champion

Location

Wurmhaven
(Jahai Bluffs)
The Grotto
(Thunderhead Peaks)

“

A single, properly trained junundu can wreak more havoc than a hundred of Ogun's worthless wurm-eating grunts.

— Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo

Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo is one of the Awakened generals in Palawa Joko's army. She trains Junundu wurms and leads them into battles as a soulbeast. Although Joko always requests her unit's appearance, Ekolo is worried that he only wants them as emergency rations.

Biography

Early years

After Awakening, Osa Ekolo served Palawa Joko faithfully as a soulbeast. She eventually became a wurmmarshal in charge of the Kingdom of Elona's Junundu wurms.

At some point, Ekolo noticed an adventuring trio of Ewyn, Siriol and Raast wandering in the region she was in. Worried that they were assassins sent by the Mordant Crescent to end her life, she ambushed them with her wurms. However, the trio convinced Ekolo to spare them when they presented her with a drawing of her by her living grandnephew and explained that they had been asked to deliver it to her. Ekolo was grateful for their kind gesture and gifted them with daggers in return. She saved her grandnephew's drawing and kept it on display in Wurmhaven.

Path of Fire

The arrival of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik and its Branded horde and the invasion of the fallen god Balthazar's Forged army in 1330 AE depleted the numbers of the Awakened army who were waiting for Joko to return and issue orders to them. The invasion hit Ekolo's forces hard as they often participated in battles and were used as emergency rations for the other Awakened troops.

The Pact Commander and members of Dragon's Watch, disguised as Archon Iberu and his Awakened escorts via a mesmer spell, arrived at the Bone Palace to convince Ekolo and Grand Vizier Utumishi to lend the kingdom's troops to thwart Balthazar's advance. Although Utumishi was surprised by the archon seemingly acting out of character, Ekolo berated the Grand Vizier for his disrespect and pledged her corps to the archon for the defense of Kodash Bazaar where Balthazar's army was headed to confront Kralkatorrik. Ekolo and Utumishi also told the archon where to find the other two Awakened generals. Once the archon had left, Ekolo sent word to Troopmarshal Olori Ogun about the archon's plans.

Ekolo met with Troopmarshal Olori Ogun and Beastmarshal Oluwa Eranko at the western gate of Kodash Bazaar. The marshals dispatched soldiers to the other three gates as well, but chose to remain in their present location themselves to wait for the archon. The Commander, still under disguise, went to the marshals and issued orders to them. Although only one Junundu wurm remained of the wurm corps after the others had been sacrificed for the greater good, Ekolo assured the archon that one properly trained Junundu would be more valuable than a hundred Awakened grunts in battle. The wurmmarshal was instructed to target the elite Forged with her wurm.

Balthazar arrived soon after with his army headed by a giant machine called the Warbeast. The marshals faced the Forged in combat, each one commanding their forces valiantly. However, they were unable to stop the Warbeast and some of its escorts from invading Kodash, forcing the Commander to give chase to the war machine before it could kill Kralkatorrik.

After Balthazar had been slain and the Battle of Kodash Bazaar had ended in the Awakened army's favor, news eventually spread about the disguised archon's real identity being the Pact Commander. Despite realizing that they had been tricked by an outlander, the marshals decided to wait for Joko's return and oblige should he demand retribution for the Commander's actions.

If Amnoon had allied with Joko earlier, Ekolo was present in the celebration held in the Free City in the Commander's honor. The wurmmarshal showed no grudge towards the Commander for deceiving the Awakened army because the Forged army had suffered a major defeat thanks to their actions. However, she also warned the Commander that Joko might not be as forgiving about the Commander's meddling as she was.

Living World Season 4

After being freed from his prison, Palawa Joko returned to Elona and issued orders to the three Awakened marshals to prepare their forces for war. He instructed the marshals to defend his stronghold at Gandara, the Moon Fortress where he intended to incubate the third generation of Scarab Plague and unleash it on Central Tyria as revenge for the Commander's actions against him. Osa Ekolo tended to her Junundu wurms to strengthen them before departing south in 1331 AE. She was halfway to Gandara with her forces to reinforce Awakened defenses against the Pact Commander's invasion force in the Battle of Gandara when her compulsion to obey Joko suddenly dissolved. Realizing that the Commander had somehow succeeded in killing the seemingly immortal Joko, Ekolo returned north with her wurms while pondering her next move now that she was freed from the Eternal King's control.

Ekolo chose to stay out of politics and focused on her Junundu farm, eventually meeting with Troopmarshal Pelu Egan who was the late Olori Ogun's replacement. Upon learning that different rival factions of Awakened and living had risen in the power vacuum following Joko's demise and that each side had reached a point where they were willing to begin peace negotiations, she was intrigued although she did not attend the summit at the Fortress of Jahai herself.

When Kralkatorrik's champion, the Death-Branded Shatterer, struck the Pact airship Soul's Vendetta out of the sky and assaulted the Jahai summit, Ekolo stayed out of combat and merely observed the outcome. She was impressed enough by the Pact's fierce General Almorra Soulkeeper to consider lending her wurms to the charr general so they could take down the Shatterer with other allies.

While preparing for battle and sending allied forces to scavenge food for Pelu Egan's Awakened troops before the Awakened would devour her wurms, Ekolo briefly met with the Pact Commander and exchanged words about what she had been doing since they last interacted. After stating that she would have killed the Commander without a second thought if Joko had been alive by the time she got to Gandara, she revealed she had no ill will towards the Commander and would not mourn Joko.

Ekolo eventually promised her forces for Almorra's campaign and, together with the Commander and other allies, protected the Junundu from invading Branded before taking them to the battlefield in the north where the combined Elonian and Pact forces confronted and defeated the Shatterer.

Following the victory at Jahai, Ekolo traveled with Almorra and the rest of the Pact and the Elonian alliance to Thunderhead Peaks to assist the Commander's dragon ally Aurene in the battle against Kralkatorrik. Ekolo used her power as a soulbeast to transport one wurm, Grace, within her as the Junundu would freeze if exposed to the frigid weather of the mountains. She showed eagerness to get rid of the Elder Dragon that had been terrorizing both Tyria and Elona, and battled alongside Grace against the Branded when Kralkatorrik assaulted Thunderhead Keep. Ekolo's fate after the devastating battle remains unknown.

Locations

Crystal Desert

• Jahai Bluffs
  • Almorra's Stand (During related events only)
  • Wurmhaven
    • Wurmmarshal's Encampment

Shiverpeak Mountains

• Thunderhead Peaks
  • The Grotto
    • Deldrimor Cellars

Story involvement

Path of Fire story

• Act III
  • Enemy of My Enemy
  • Beast of War
  • Small Victory (Epilogue) (If Amnoon allied with Joko)

Living World Season 4

• Episode 5: All or Nothing
  • The Crystal Dragon

Event involvement

[Group Event] Find food in the garrison for hungry Awakened before they eat the wurms (80)

[Group Event] Protect the junundu from the invading Branded (80)

[Group Event] Destroy the Death-Branded Shatterer (80)

Combat abilities

Effects

Dialogue

Jahai Bluffs

(first conversation)

Hello, Commander.

Wurmmarshal. You're still alive.

To think I'd out live the Eternal King himself. The world is full of surprises.

I didn't see you or your wurms at Gandara. Where were you?

Here, preparing to lead my wurms into battle. We were halfway there when my compulsion to obey Joko simply...dissolved. That must have been when you killed him.

Ah, yeah, that.

I do not mourn him. I have no ill will toward you. But had Palawa Joko survived an hour longer, I would have arrived at Gandara, and one of us wouldn't be here today.

I'm glad that didn't happen.

As am I. Anything else?

Nice wurm farm you've got here. (Same as below.)

What's next for you? (Same as below.)

That's all.

We both know which of us that would be.

Yes. The world would have missed you. Anything else?

Nice wurm farm you've got here. (Same as below.)

What's next for you? (Same as below.)

That's my cue to leave.

Nice wurm farm you've got here.

It's come together pretty well, hasn't it? Several decades of love will do that to a place.

What's ahead for you? (Same as "What's next for you?")

Where were you during the battle of Gandara? (Same as "I didn't see you or your wurms at Gandara. Where were you?")

I'll leave you and your wurms to it.

What's next for you?

If we had peace, I'd spend my remaining years caring for my wurms. But peace is far off. Until then, we fight.

You'll help us?

Yes. Without being tricked this time. Your "Pact" sounds intriguing. And I have to say, that charr general impresses me. Almorra, was it?

Where were you during the battle of Gandara? (Same as "I didn't see you or your wurms at Gandara. Where were you?")

Nice wurm farm you've got here. (Same as above.)

That's right.

It is, isn't it?

(subsequent conversations)

Do you need something else from me, Commander?

Where were you during the battle of Gandara? (Same as "I didn't see you or your wurms at Gandara. Where were you?")

Nice wurm farm you've got here. (Same as "What's next for you?")

What are your plans for the future? (Same as above.)

Nothing at the moment, Wurmmarshal.

Thunderhead Peaks

Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo: Commander. Good to see you again. Almorra convinced us to come along after our success with the Shatterer.

No wurms this time?

Well, I was able to carry one merged with me—benefit of being a soulbeast, I suppose. But on their own, they would freeze out here. Don't worry, though, Commander. We're more than enough on our own.

I see the troopmarshal came too.

Troopmarshal Pelu Egan: Indeed. And unlike our softhearted wurmmarshal here...my troops are more than ready to sacrifice themselves for this cause. Let's skewer ourselves a Kralkatorrik kebab.

Your help is appreciated. Both of you.

Glad to hear it.

Good to see you too.

Related achievements

• Raise the Banners: Salute to Palawa Joko: Palawa's Personal Tapestry — Earn by speaking to Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo in the story step "Small Victory."

Trivia

• Wurmmarshal Osa Ekolo is voiced by Cherise Boothe.
• In the Yoruba language "osa" means "shepherd" and "ekolo" means "worms", which corresponds with her role. The other two Awakened marshals also have names that translate from Yoruba related to their roles.
• She is a soulbeast, and can merge with one of her wurms, Grace.