Meanwhile, in Tyria ...

Artje runs alone now. The will of a self-imposed exile ebbs and flows through her soul, fierce as any tide, shifting and changing pieces of her, gathering detritus and dumping it in secluded corners. Bitter sands scour her through and through, borne along by anger and pain.

It's said the ranger is the loneliest profession. Separated from the mob by the need for distance, the ranger is fast and light on her feet. She strikes from an unseen vantage point, and for it, is never quite trusted.

Artje has been learning to use her dual axes, though her beloved bow is always at her back. The jewelled and embossed Krytan axes, with their wicked curved blades, are satisfyingly lethal, especially in the madness of Lion's Arch. She has learned to fear close combat less, and to move through awkward spaces a little easier. It's not her mountains, but the urgency there, assisting Lion's Arch in the fight for it's life, is sufficiently distracting.

It suits her to travel light. She knows it's the Tyrian way to join a guild, and she is often invited, but she rebels against their rules and requirements. She thinks sadly of her old guild, the easy companionship of friends discovering their strengths together. But even there she ran alone, darting into the mists whenever possible, consumed by the urgent ferocity of battle.

She goes rarely into the mists lately. Her lassitude is enormous. Some days, it's bigger than she is. On those days she does not fight.

She tries to return to her old home, from the time before Tyria, but it's a despondent experience. All the betrayal is there, all the trouble she can't fix. Artje looks carefully where she enters, these days.

Sometimes she catches a familiar melody, and remembers the days of old Ascalon; the breezes through the red and green and golden trees, the crystal rivers and sunny villages. The swift run to the wall, the brutal process of fighting the Charr on their turf, the excitement of learning to draw them out, to meet their fierceness and to beat them at it. The time before time, when the world was an adventure she could not lose. The joy of conquering mountains, the shocking tragedy of Ascalon burning.

Artje watches, warily, the inexorable turning of the Wheel. The old life is razed but breath and pulse and thought still, somehow, go on. So it was and so it ever will be.

Meet Myf

I have noted before that I am not a "gamer". Apart from a couple of blasts around the track in Mario Kart, I have never been compelled to go in pursuit of the Super-Duper Sword Of Killingness*. This is in no small way down to the fact that I am fiercely competitive. I don't start things I can't win, and if I start it, you had better assume my endgame is to win it.

I'm not really one for shooting, blowing up or setting my problems on fire. And I like to dabble ... and dabblers don't win races.

Since knowing Shippy, and as a direct result of Second Life having become a place of work and not leisure, I have been logging onto Clone Wars Adventures and have completed Guild Wars - Prophecies.

I had to start from the very beginning. In fact I still don't know how to move with anything resembling agility, and every achievement has come as the result of repeated smooshings.

I started Guild Wars 2 last week. Please meet Myf Rogue, and her companion/mentor Jyotis Ravi.

 I could write at some length, believe me, about the game culture, and what it's like to stumble into this microcosm. How intensive is the preparation and research, how resourced these players are. How it's natural instinct to them to make use of tools within and without the world they inhabit. And I probably will consider these things at other times. Because I really love this game.

Myf and Jyotis in Rata Sum, the capital of Metrica Province
"we're setting out on the journey"

Myf and Jyotis are Asurans -:

"The Asura value intelligence and intellectual superiority over all other attributes. Individual asura will dedicate an entire lifespan to building a portfolio of successful projects or becoming the foremost expert of some tiny aspect of the arcane. They constantly seek to prove their own intellectual superiority, and by extension the superiority of the asura race. This typically results in asura being arrogant to the point of rudeness towards others, especially towards non-asura races. The asura have quickly established their intellectual and magical superiority over the other races and view them as useful primarily for heavy lifting, taking risks, and asking stupid questions."

No comment on that at all. I admit, I chose an Asuran because Shippy already was one, although it was also because he thought the character type would suit me. Before I entered Guild Wars 2, I would have told you I wanted to be a typically beautiful human-type character. I don't really "get" how people spend their online lives as other creatures, maybe it's just been to fantastic for my fairly pragmatic nature.

There is just something so endearing about watching these two tiny creatures scamper through Tyria, exploring, adventuring, learning ... and fighting. The game is best played full-screen, and to do so cuts you off, somewhat, from the usual distractions like facebook updates, emails and IM from other forums. It's also such a beautifully made world, it's so easy to immerse.

Jyotis and Myf are agreed it is like having their own movie to influence, participate in, and ultimately consume. That's not dissimilar to what their Second Life counterparts have been heard to say. "Proper" gaming involves quests, challenges, the acquisition of skills, and very little of the "lifestyle choices" of Second Life. It is very goal-oriented, and in that sense, a refereshing diversion for chryblnd Scribe.

I'm still getting smooshed. At time of writing, I am a level 24 stain on the ground :-).

You can expect to hear more of Myf Rogue and her adventures in this lovely alien environment.

Music to read this post with:

Track 06 from The Unofficial Soundtrack for Guild Wars 2, composed by Jeremy Soule