prismatica - Extended History Section

[adrenalinerising]

☼ NOTE

I am going to write out the origin story for Rurik and, since the base personal story has choices that you can make, I'll go into some specifics where Rurik deviates from the base personal commander story, but afterward I will place links to the story arcs and do bullet point notes pointing out what Rurik was doing during those times and anything significant that may have happened. There is a mostly-linear plotline for the "commander" player character that Rurik and his sister follow along with, but their version of events differs in places. Neither of them become the true version of the Pact Commander.

☼ ORIGIN STORY / MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN BASE PERSONAL STORY

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away ... There was a couple who were part of the Shining Blade, one of the Queen of Tyria's personal squadrons of guards. The two were more specifically spies, stationed in Kessex Hills, in Kryta, looking out for the Dissenters to the Queen. The two were a married couple, and quite often were they working together. During their stay in their hideout, however, the woman of the two was pregnant, and during the winter months finally gave birth to a set of twins, one which she and her husband named Ilyana, and the other named Rurik. Both were named after important figures in Tyrian history, Ana being named for the garden of Ilya and Rurik being named after the Prince who brought many refugee Ascalonians to Kryta at the cost of his own life.

Unfortunately, the spies' position had been compromised, and out of fear for their young children, they sent them to be looked after by some friends until they could come back to get them safely. Unfortunately, they never did come back. Thus, the children were taken in by the friends they had been sent to, raised as part of their already large family on a farm in Shaemoor.

Growing up, the twins were very lively. It didn't take too long for them to develop very obvious personalities. Rurik was quite shy and a bit of a crybaby, so he was frequently picked on; Ana, protective of her twin brother, had to step in on many occasions. Rurik realized at some point that he didn't want to be the crybaby anymore, and he proclaimed that he was going to be as strong as a Seraph, the other squadron of the Queen's guards. Ana said she would join him in his endeavor.

Shaemoor - and Queensdale in general - had an issue with Centaur raids, and so the twins, along with their older brothers and sisters, had to learn how to fight from a very young age. Their mother taught them how to wield a bow, as she herself had been a ranger, while Rurik started trying to learn how to use a sword as well.

The twins often went on trips to the nearby city of Divinity's Reach with their father to sell the goods that came from the farm they lived on, and given the population of the city, they had to deal with the occasional thief or drunken bar patron. The efficiency in which they dealt with troublemakers in Divinity began to catch the attention of the citizens. They became so well known in Divinity's Reach that even the famed Seraph Captain and one of the Queen's right-hand men, Logan Thackeray, asked to meet with them.

It was like meeting with one of his idols. Rurik was automatically enamored with the man, and once it was out that he wanted to join the Seraph when he got older (Ana had decided in her teens that the Seraph was not her thing), Logan started having him assist him on some minor missions - nothing too dangerous. Missions that were just challenging enough to get an idea of what his skill-levels are.

While the twins were generally beloved, though, there were those who managed to find out about their family line, and one such group decided to take advantage of the fact that the twins didn't know what had happened to their parents to lure them into a trap, by sending them a note that they would be able to tell them about them. The two of them went to meet with the man who had sent the note, wanting to know more about what had happened ... only to be ambushed. They fought off the groups of White Mantle that had attacked them, eventually being joined by two Shining Blade members to fight them off. Afterward, the Shining Blade members told them that they were about to go on a raid to root out the White Mantle group's leaders. The twins obviously insisted they help, angry about being taken advantage of in the way that they were. Not only that, but the man who had sent the note also had an item belonging to their parents; a mark of the king's favor.

After successfully completing the raid, they found a hit list with names of some of the Queen's closest friends, and their own names, stating that they were children of the Queen's spies. It was then that they found out for certain who their Parents were, and what had happened leading up to their death.

Upon returning to Divinity's Reach, Countess Anise (Leader of the Shining Blade) reprimanded her subordinates for getting the twins involved, but eventually all of them (Logan included) decided on a plan to lure out the White Mantle and put an end to at least this group once and for all. Using Logan and his terrible acting as bait, they drew out the White Mantle group, and took them out.

The two Shining Blade exemplars that had helped them before told the twins that they had information on the last known location of their parents, and told them to meet them in a specific location. They did so, and after beating back a few of the monsters that had made a home there, they came across the graves of their parents. Someone had buried them and put the graves there, with an inscription that said their names, and that they had love for their twin children. Nobody know who it had been, but the twins were glad that their parents were taken care of, even in death.

Ana decided her talents were better suited to the Order of Whispers, and went away to continue her training with them soon afterward. Rurik promised he would write her as much as possible to keep her updated. It didn't take much longer for Rurik to start the official training to become a Seraph, and in no time, he was inducted as a full-fledged member. He was stationed in Queensdale for the time being, so he stayed relatively close to home, without actually going home too often. It was only when he got a message saying Ana had been involved in a large fight in Lion's Arch and was home and in horrible emotional shape that he took a leave of absence from the Seraph to come home and help her through the difficult times and coping with the loss of her mentor.

He went back to his station as soon as Ana insisted she was all right and that she was returning to her duties with the Whispers, but he was still very distracted and bothered by what had happened to her. Things were relatively quiet for the next several months for him, but for his sister it wasn't as such. While he was doing guard duties in Kryta, she was going all over the place to prepare to defeat the Elder Dragon Zhaitan. The next time he got to see her, Zhaitan had been defeated and she had come home for some well-deserved rest.

☼ IMPORTANT LINKS/TLDR

★ Tyria World Breakdown

★ Personal Story

▸ Went with 'dead parents' human story
▸ Instead of joining one of the Orders, Rurik joined the Seraph.

★ Living World Season 1

▸ The only part of this Rurik took part in was helping evacuate people after the attack on Lion's Arch.

★ Living World Season 2

▸ Rurik was still with the Seraph, but also accompanied the new set of heroes (Destiny's Edge, as they later became called) for part of it. When Marjory went to spend time with her family after Belinda's death, he went with her as a friend and former trainee of Belinda.

★ Heart of Thorns

▸ Rurik began dating a Sylvari lady that he met at the Festival of the Four Winds.
▸ Rurik later had to kill his girlfriend because she became a mordrem and there was no other option.
▸ Rurik became angry and bitter, but eventually learned to harness his fiery temper into a new fighting style that utilized a torch: Berserker. This is a huge change, as it it a style of fighting that he still uses even now.
▸ Shortly before the final battle with Mordremoth, Rurik informally resigned from the Seraph. He would make it more official after the battle.
▸ Rurik and Ana both held Caladbolg and killed Trahearne with it.

★ Living World Season 3

▸ After resigning formally from the Seraph, he joined Ana and their friends in their travels full-time.
▸ When creation of a new guild was proposed to them by Rytlock, Rurik and Ana were unsure of joining at first. They eventually decided to form their own guild instead of joining Destiny's Edge, but still do what they can to support DE.
▸ Ru and Ana became parents to a Dragon Daughter and were present for Aurene's hatching.
▸ Rurik went solo to assist Taimi in Rata Novus.
▸ Rurik took the oath of the Shining Blade solo.

★ Path of Fire

▸ Both Ana and Ru, along with their friend group that was with them at the time, were killed by Balthazar. They all endured their own trials to get their memories/lives back.
▸ Guild Hall was learned about, but not claimed until after the decision was made to form their own guild.
▸ Rurik used Sohothin to fight Balthazar.
▸ Rurik and Ana decided to form their own guild and announced it during the celebration.

★ Living World Season 4

▸ Rurik, Ana, Asteffiel were all imprisoned.
▸ Rurik went to deal with infiltrating the inquest base while Ana dealt with rifts in Central Tyria.
▸ Rurik and Ana went to an old friend for help financing the guild and the expedition to clear their eventual guild hall. It was successful and the hall was claimed.
▸ Both twins went into the Mists with Blish.
▸ BLDE members present at Aurene's "death" stayed in the area afterward instead of leaving.
▸ Both Ru and Ana rode Aurene into Dragonfall.

★ The Icebrood Saga

▸ After dealing with so much in the past however long, the twins decided to take a step back and let others in their guild help Destiny's Edge out while they worked on building their guild.