GWX

a Guild Wars fanfic

by RielleLynn

*Writer's note: This is a story of pure fiction based on the lore and story of Guild Wars 2 and beyond. It involves original characters as well as some pre-existing ones. I consider the story to be somewhere around future AU territory but categorize it how you will. Any reference to names and places or real people are purely coincidental. Now please enjoy the show.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Growing up as a gamer... Wait, what is a "gamer" anyway? Is it someone who's competitive and plays in tournaments? Or someone who just does nothing but sitting in front of their computer or television with a controller in hand? Or maybe it's simply someone who now and then enjoys some escapism from the day-to-day routine. Regardless of what others defined it as one thing was for sure, escapism was what Rielle got out of it. The routines, the daily 9 to 5's, and the general uninteresting world we fooled around in was just dull to her. There had to be more to it than she thought. That's what games were for though. An almost second life you could live in. A fantasy world where the rules are completely different. There you could be someone else entirely. Someone powerful, someone smart, or someone who wasn't afraid of anything. This was the world she would much rather be in.

"Wake up..."

The year was 2021. The Video Game Industry was at a peak it had never seen before. Almost everyone you knew played some sort of game in their free time. It was the favored art form of the era. From band simulators with virtual concerts, to romance games with real or artificial dates. The only problem that persisted was the difference between reality and the virtual aspect. It wasn't until early that Spring a particular company announced the next best thing in games: a true Virtual Reality fantasy game. That game was Guild Wars X or otherwise known as "GWX".

"Hey, wake up!"

This wasn't the beginning though. Before this came Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, both of which Rielle was a huge fan of. They offered something that other MMO's didn't. In these games she found companions, not just some online people she could run around with. In the first game she was apart of a small but closely tied guild called Blood Oath. At this point though, it was pretty much just that: a game. You logged in and talked to your friends, did some quests, and logged out. Simple, huh? A few years later the next big hit was announced. Guild Wars 2 was far superior to it's previous installment, and Rielle's second family Blood Oath carried over into the new world. Unfortunately this didn't last long and she didn't have as much time as before to play. In between days Rielle got to spend time in the game something seemed to be brewing. The next thing she knew Rielle logged in and witnessed her friend's relationships crumble before her. Arguments were constant. Rage and betrayal were all but uncommon. Nothing was the same anymore and Rielle wasn't completely sure what had happened. They ended up going their separate ways and most of her old companions didn't get online again.

By the time the game reached it's second anniversary Rielle had moved on though. After getting with a couple different guilds nothing really seemed the same as before. She had made new friends certainly, but no group was like the family she had before. This was the decision that lead her to start her own guild. "It only takes one person to make a guild technically", she thought. There really wasn't much fun in that though. So teaming up with her two high-school friends they founded the best three-person guild they could form, Eternal Dragonborn or the DRGN as the guild tag displayed.

So as time went on they leveled their characters and before they knew it the maximum level was already within sight. Things were not only getting stronger though as they progressed, It was almost as if the game was becoming unbeatable. Stories and rumors began to be told around the towns of impossible to beat final bosses and entire guilds being defeated by certain bosses that took days to reach. Naturally Rielle and the DRGN were up to the task, but things were beginning to seem strange. Why would the developers start to change the balance of the game this way? What would be fun about the average player not even being able to finish the main story mode of the game? Her guild mates didn't think much of it and reassured Rielle that they could manage.

The night that the DRGN stepped into Orr, the final area of the game, they meet an informant that told them of a certain guild's defeat at the hands of Kralkatorrik itself. This extremely powerful Elder Dragon was one of the enemies in the game some players thought only to be a legend. It was said to be a thousand feet tall and had a wingspan that could block out the sun. The guild LGN fell victim to it's might, but told the public they wouldn't give up. This was the confidence Rielle needed. These Elder Dragons could be defeated she thought, and so the DRGN set out to finish their main quest. After many game play sessions and time spent into overcoming the harsh final dungeon they finally met their last foe.

They called it Zhaitan, the Elder Undead Dragon. It controlled hoards of undead corpses and it's domain was a realm of shadow and death. It seemed impossible at times but the group held their own against the waves of enemies. Their synergy was on point, and at times it almost seemed as if they weren't behind their screens at all but actually in the game fighting along side each other. It was this surreal feeling that was why Rielle enjoyed it so much. These weren't just players in your party. You weren't just here fighting a common enemy because the game's text said to do so. This was teamwork among fighters that held a bond of trust and loyalty with each other regardless of how fictional the circumstances were. The fight seemed to go on for hours, but in the end Zhaitan was defeated by the trio and an exceptionally large airship. There was that too.

Within the next coming few weeks reports and forum posts confirmed the defeat of the remaining Elder Dragons, almost out of nowhere. Then something extremely strange happened. Twelve days after the final Elder Dragon's defeat the game went offline. Character's accounts were refunded a percentage of their game costs and the game's site went down completely. Reporters went to the company's offices and found them empty. It was like they vanished completely. The community was half outraged and half bewildered. The media eventually dubbed it a viral marketing stunt and people calmed down. A few years later it quietly became just another internet urban legend.

"Come on, wake up! You're not dead, idiot."

Then out of nowhere it was back into her life. In Spring of 2021 the company that created Guild Wars was back and seemingly going strong. Preorders for their newest game opened up but all they really told the public was "That it was going to change the world of video games forever." Of course Rielle preordered the game and it's special hardware. "It looks like a Virtual Boy to be honest with you. Let's hope it doesn't melt my brain or something if my character dies."

The night the game was to be released Rielle sent out a message to her old DRGN guild mates. After defeating the dragon and the game going offline they couldn't help but to fall out of touch a bit. The physical distance between them and as time went on it was inevitable. In her message Rielle noted, "This will be like old times, huh? For the DRGN!" She glanced at her phone one more time before falling asleep, eager to start this new adventure in the morning.