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skaald-of-the-hearth-fires · 2 months

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@nyoka-gorefell

I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about Logan! Yeehaw!

I mained human so I kinda liked Logan. I've always been biased toward him. I didn't necessarily think he'd made the right decision, but I supported his right to make it. Like he said in the Dream-vision of him: you would have made the same choice, any of you, if the one you loved was in danger!

Basically, it was a bad spot all around. Lose-lose situation. He made the most of it. That was my view.

I'm planning a rewrite of Edge of Destiny (someday lol) to make it better + clearer what was going on with Logan + etc.

And I found something: the narrative in the book does not condemn or exalt either decision. Either decision would have been bad, no way around it.

One problem: that's not how books work.

The way the climactic decision-point works is that you make a personal sacrifice for the good, moral quality being extolled by the narrative. If the thing you sacrificed was, itself, considered good by the narrative, there would come a surprise twist that would mean the thing wasn't actually sacrificed, as a "reward" for making the selfless decision to uphold good and moral purity or whatever.

The problem with Logan's story is that neither option was presented as the 'moral, good' option. As Logan was leaving, Eir said "you have to do what is right," but beyond this, no indication is given to Logan which option is morally superior. You can? sorta? infer that of course the main conflict with the dragon is the preferred one. Rytlock and Eir's dialogue after Logan leaves also clarifies this.

But Logan himself was never presented with a clear moral dichotomy; he was merely given the trolley problem, which is bad however you slice it.

I bet Logan would have haters even if he'd stayed; Kryta would have fallen into disarray. The Ministry would have taken power. We'd have Caudecus in charge. Human/charr relations would heat up. We'd have the return of the White Mantle like snap, or else all-out anarchy. Humanity would be toast. Logan would get all the blame from the playerbase.

So in my rewrite of Edge of Destiny, I'm fixing the problem. I'm going to assign a clear moral status to each option, and make it clear where Logan stood on that moral issue when deciding. How did I pick which option was favored?

Easy. I look at the rest of ArenaNet's storytelling. Their centuries of lore and worldbuilding. The lessons of the other story arcs. Anet's message is consistently unity. Stand together. Stand strong. The races stand unified. The Orders stand unified. With unity, many impossible things [slaying an Elder Dragon] may be achieved.

So the preferred option, the morally good option according to the storytellers, was that Logan stay. Stand with his allies. Represent human/charr unity. Defeat an Elder Dragon.

And, somehow, Queen Jennah would survive, because love and protecting people is not morally bad. If Logan sacrificed the queen for the sake of the moral truth of the narrative, proving his selflessness and commitment to the ideal of the narrative, then the queen would survive to "reward" him for his virtuousness.

It doesn't seem in-character for Anet to write Jennah as a typical damsel-in-distress, hero-gets-the-girl type of story, BUT: he didn't. Logan DIDN'T choose the morally-good option.

Typical Corruption arc: hero begins with the ideal of the story (unity is good), then over time, some negative trait overtakes him. Greed, selfishness, over-protectiveness, whatever - and leads him to destroy everything he holds dear (Destiny's Edge; his broship with Rytlock; Snaff dying; Glint, hero of humanity, dying; Kralkatorrik surviving).

I think if the book had actually written Logan like this (with the base game of GW2 being his redemption arc), he would have a lot less hate. I think a lot of the hate comes from the fact that the Edge of Destiny narrative DIDN'T outright condemn Logan's actions. And even the base game is a bit vague.

Logan didn't get his comeuppance for his bad choices (beyond the queen ditching him a few years down the line, I suppose). That's where the hate comes from.

Because nuanced, flawed characters exist, and those are the best kind. I really like Logan's character. He's one of the most human characters in the game. I like that for him.

(Also, perhaps, some of the hate stems from the assumption that Logan was simping the whole time. I'd be fed up with him too, actually, if that were true. But the queen for sure returned his feelings. Logan was acting within the bounds of an established relationship.)

This has been

Character Study: Logan Thackeray (part II)

thank you for reading!

#logan thackeray #rytlock brimstone #destiny's edge #edge of destiny #queen jennah #logan/jennah #jennah/logan #kryta #minister caudecus beetlestone #white mantle #ebonhawke #gw2 #gw2 human

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queer-as-used-by-tolkien · 1 year

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Character Study: Logan Thackeray

At the beginning of the PS, Logan Thackeray had been living in a blissful paradise for five years, one that said the dragons were not truly threats or at least could never threaten Kryta or at least could never threaten the queen, one that said he was capable enough to defend her because he had sacrificed everything for her.

It was a blissful paradise that was shattered when a single Risen soldier made it all the way to the queen's throne room, thirsting for her blood - a Risen that all the might of the actual Orders of Tyria could not pin down or kill beforehand.

The threat to the queen, despite all of Logan's actions to protect her, despite all of his sacrifices, makes Logan realize that what he has done is not enough; and if the queen dies now, as the battle rages in the throne room, was Snaff's death worth it? Was Glint's? Was it worth it letting down his team, failing to protect them? (No.)

Even when the queen survives, the threat is not gone, because the Elder Dragon that sent the threat is still out there. Logan knows he cannot shy away from this duty; he has to go against the dragon, and for that he needs Destiny's Edge. But just a moment ago he had a glimpse of the reality of his decision to leave his teammates, that it was selfishly motivated, and he feels a moment of remorse.

But he returns to denial, justifying his decision as he always had, that Queen Jennah is worth it and more important, that he did nothing wrong. He now needs to slay the Elder Dragons (or at least the one) so his queen will be safe. Always, everything for Jennah.

(Rytlock, of course, doesn't stand for any of this.)

Logan has some things to work through first, though he doesn't realize it yet.

~oOoOo~

It is notable that, throughout the PS, Logan's descriptions of himself and his actions to save Queen Jennah in Edge of Destiny go through several stages, each peeling back a layer of self-deception.

In Setting the Stage, the first confrontation between the members of Destiny's Edge, Logan says "I've done nothing that needs to be forgiven." Later, he sends a mail to the player saying "I made a choice to save Jennah; a choice I don't regret." This is his starting place; this is how he's felt for the last five years since he made that decision.

For most of the rest of the storyline, in terms of quantity of time, he acts rather than thinks; he leaves Jennah to go traveling when he is told to; he realizes things about the actual world; he seeks out Rytlock to make amends.

But once he has determined to solve things with Rytlock, he starts realizing things about himself; perhaps that he'd thought of before but didn't feel like sharing with the player. Most of this happens within the last ten levels of the PS.

In the Citadel of Flame dungeon, he tells Rytlock that "I left when I should have stayed. And I spent the last five years trying to justify it. I still like I did the right thing, but I'm sorry I left." He knows what he should have done, what he did instead, and that he's spent the last five years justifying it. He says he's sorry!

But does that mean he regrets having left? No. He contradicts himself; he still thinks he did the right thing. He's in cognitive dissonance, a psychological state where two held beliefs about the world don't line up. It results in the kind of self-contradictory or outright nonsensical dialogue (often termed 'word salad') we see here.

There could be many things at play here; perhaps he still thinks he was wholly in the right but wants to reconcile with Rytlock; perhaps he is starting to see he was in the wrong but doesn't want to admit Rytlock was right or lose moral standing in Rytlock's estimation. I think his word salad isn't quite so deceptive as that, at least not consciously. (This may be my bias, however, because I love psychological intrigue.)

I think he is starting to realize he was in the wrong, and is sorry for it, but does not truly regret his actions; he is, secretly, selfishly, glad things happened the way they happened, for whatever reasons, and he doesn't want to admit to himself that this selfishness is wrong. He does love Queen Jennah, he is glad she survived, and above all he does not want to re-calculate his priorities going forward. He wants to be able to admit he was wrong (but right, actually, so he still has the moral high ground within his own psyche), without having to change his behavior or the belief system that got him in this situation to begin with. See, even my explanation looks like word salad.

He wants to reconcile with Rytlock and go back to fighting dragons, but is not willing to do the internal, mental legwork to get there. He is willing to verbally say things that sound like an apology, he is willing to do lip-service to Rytlock's narrative of the world. "I left when I should have stayed. And I spent the last five years trying to justify it. I still feel like I did the right thing, but I'm sorry I left."

His dialogue is a word salad stemming from his psyche, but it is also littered with narrative hints.

I tried to justify it. This is true, and a valuable insight to his psychology. He's making excuses for himself because he can't live with the fact that he got Snaff killed, and it allows him to take the moral high ground against the rest of Destiny's Edge.

I still feel like I did the right thing - this is all that he is aware of right now. He doesn't realize all the self-denial and justification going on in his psyche.

I left when I should have stayed [and] I'm sorry I left - he does want to reconcile. He is sorry, consciously, but subconsciously he isn't willing to face the ramifications of that just yet.

That's his state in the Citadel of Flame dungeon. It isn't much, but it is progress from his prior state of 'I did nothing wrong, I don't regret it, you would have done the same, Queen Jennah was worth it, you just don't understand.'

Later, during the Crucible of Eternity dungeon, Logan says this: "I have to admit I feel bad about the break-up" great! Some honesty about what he's actually sorry for! (We know this isn't him becoming more self-aware because he's been trying to reconcile for fifty levels.) This also indicates that he's being more honest with himself, which is a necessary change that foreshadows/sets up his next dialogue.

He says, "I made what I thought was the right choice. I take responsibility for it, but I still feel I let the others down."

I made what I thought was the right choice - he retracts his earlier contradiction/word salad. He is now admitting that it was not the right choice, that he was wrong - which is solid progress and clears the way for the next step of the journey to clearing away his self-deception.

I take responsibility for it - perfect! He's manned up, taken the L, swallowed his pride, and is now taking responsibility for his own actions. Go Logan! This is brilliant. The character development-to-screentime ratio is really close with this one lol. I wish Anet would let us dig into it more. He has processed his own psychological barriers.

I still feel I let the others down - now we get to the real root of the problem: the guilt he feels for letting down his teammates, losing Snaff and Glint, and failing to defeat Kralkatorrik. That's some pretty weighty stuff there. It's not easy to live with the guilt - fully earned - of being responsible for the death of someone you care about. Logan is a guardian by profession; he protects people, especially those he cares about, and he failed. That's a blow to his pride as well. As a guardian, he's also innately a team player, so to have let them down is real problem for him.

No wonder he was so burdened by this guilt that he went into self-denial! He started justifying his actions by saying that Queen Jennah is more important than DE, therefore he made the right choice, therefore they can't blame him, and therefore he did nothing wrong. He's come a long way in a short while!

A lot of people hate on Logan for his bullheaded, idiotic, dumb, and dangerous decisions - and while that's fair, they fail to see the underlying character development and honest change that came from it.

A character that's willing to change and to face his own failures is infinitely more compelling than a character who never failed to begin with.

In the Arah dungeon, he reiterates the point, saying this: "I'm partly responsible for our group's break-up, and I owe the others a debt that I can never re-pay. [...] It's true that Rytlock and the others seem to have forgiven me. I'm just not sure I forgive myself."

So, of course, the next step to healing and wholeness is to actually deal with the guilt: he can't do anything to change his actions then, he certainly can't change the deaths of Snaff and Glint or the failure to kill Kralkatorrik.

But he needs to redeem himself in his own eyes, regain respect for himself, and realize that he can be better. He said something like this back at level 30, in a rare moment of self-perception after the queen was threatened by one of her own soldiers. "Do you think we can overcome our mistakes, my friend? Make up for things we've done?" (This was his first trigger, really; seeing himself in a corrupted soldier and realizing, for a moment at least, until it gets hard when DE meets up for the first time, that yes, he was in the wrong. This is what starts his journey of self-discovery.)

This moment in Arah is the climax of the journey that began where it started: with love for his queen and concern for her well-being. I do find it significant that although he changes, he never stops loving Queen Jennah. His love for her was real. As the queen was threatened by her own soldiers corrupted by Zhaitan, now Logan finally defeats his own inner demons, and confronts and helps kill Zhaitan itself.

He defeats his own inner demons - guilt, shame, self-blame - when Destiny's Edge is preparing to launch an airship. Risen Giants are closing in on them, and a piece of equipment for launch is broken: someone must stay behind.

Logan, who has not forgiven himself and probably feels as if he is worth less due to his desertion in the past, volunteers to stay behind in the face of certain death. Eir says "you don't have to do this," and Logan responds with "Yes, I do. For all of you. And for myself."

So he goes... and although he survives, this plot point does far more than kill him off for shock and then bring him back. Logan did his part; he faced death, alone, for his companions (as they faced death without him when he left, as Snaff faced death inside his golem, as Glint saw her end in Kralkatorrik's many-faceted eyes). He proved his worth by doing something vital for the team.

The team also needed this moment. They each had their own struggles separating them from the others, and losing Logan, as it had torn them apart before, now brings them together as they mourn his death. Zojja especially, though I won't get into her story here. Logan, new and improved, with a renewed self-confidence, returns to cheers and delight. He can now take pride in himself again.

Caithe asks, "Will you return to queen now, Logan?"

Logan responds, "No. Not until I know that Kryta's safe."

In conclusion, Logan's story is far more than just a besotted love story, an eye-rolling infatuation, an out-of-place romance when the world is at stake. Logan's story shows that inner demons can be just as tough to defeat as outer ones; inner demons can hold up the world for the sake of one poor decision, and they are not to be taken lightly. But they can be vanquished.

Logan is also an example of how most if not all of those who fight against the dragons do so for home and country, for family and friends, for loved ones and for national pride. No titanic struggle is meaningful without the loved ones waiting at home, and Logan's over-dramatized love for the queen perfectly captures this. In the end, do we not all love, in one way or another? Do we not all wish to see ourselves as heroes? Do we not all make mistakes?

The real victory is in overcoming those mistakes and making the world a better place for the people we care about.

#logan thackeray #character study #storyline study #<- this is a little of both I suppose #rytlock brimstone #destiny's edge #gw2 #dungeon #personal story #ps #queen jennah #human storyline #zhaitan #risen

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anghraine · 1 year

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I really enjoy GW2 as a game, obviously, but I'm not sure anything gives a purer enjoyment than this specific brand of player whining:

Oh no, not everything revolving around your personal preferences at all times!!!

Anyway, just a few minutes later, I passed this:

(Note: Delaqua & Meade = Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade = the canon f/f couple among the main cast who kissed onscreen. Cry more, lol)

#there is some default het stuff in the game but also quite a lot of incidental queerness #in addition to the main couple being f/f #npcs aren't automatically playersexual; some will have platonic responses if you're their gender #and some will flirt with you; it just depends #also i was trying to think of what the main het romance would even be #logan->jennah maybe but it's very courtly and very doomed #there are also tragic queer romances in the background (a human representative dies and you can meet his orphaned son #with the grieving other dad #and obviously there's caithe/faolain in the main story #but enough aren't tragic that it feels natural and satisfying to get high tragic drama with queer relationships as well)#also trying to remember the oeuvre of snargle goldclaw lol #mostly interspecies iirc but all over the place as far as gender goes. i mostly remember the logan/rytlock expies lmao #anghraine babbles #long post #anghraine's pics #anghraine's gaming #a treeful of monkeys on nitrous oxide #ascalonian grudgeblog

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edmunderson · 9 months

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Just realized, but unless someone has caught zojja up on things, she has no clue who aurene is since aurene hatched after the end of HoT

#man. zojja goes into a decade(?) long coma and finds out that not only are all of the other elder dragons dead #but the commander's got an elder dragon daughter now #caithe got into crystals. rytlock also had a secret son.logan got dumped is hanging out in his beach house ig?#gw2 #guild wars 2 #the new expac is gonna be wild if they're actually committing to bringing zojja back into the story (the better be lmao)#ngl. it's probably for the best that zojja was zonked out during ibs becuz u know she would've read rytlock for filth for also #having a son that no one in their guild knew about #rytlock simply would not have survived that #same thing goes for logan getting dumped by queen jennah. then it'd just be caithe and zojja left of og destiny's edge #okay time for sleep since i'm misspelling and dropping words good nite lmao ✌️

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kerra-and-company · 1 year

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Now i gotta know what Kerra and Ari think of fregion (and also logan >:3 also i put he in my answer for ari by mistake ahhhh!!!)

Ooh, both of them? Sure sure!! :D (Also no worries no worries mistakes happen, tis all good!)

Kerra's thoughts on Fregion...hmm. Fellow Whispers member, fellow commander, also self-sacrificing; they definitely have some things in common. She'd laugh about his thing for mint but in a good way, since one of her partners is just as vehement a mint fan as Fregion. And though his singing is more of a private thing, if he ever wanted to sing with her, she'd absolutely love to. She's not the biggest fan of all his taste in romantic partners, though assuming she met him after that point, she wouldn't bring it up.

Logan is probably the member of Destiny's Edge that Kerra knows the second least well (that phrasing is terrible but it gets my point across I think asldjkf). She disagrees with some of his past decisions but also thinks he's more-or-less doing his best these days, and she had a first-hand glimpse into some of the emotional complexities of his position in DR, which garnered him both sympathy and confusion from her. He also has worked quite hard on behalf of the Pact and serves pretty well as Pact Marshal (though Kerra would never pick him as the favorite of the three they've had, considering the other two were her brother and her partner). And he's pretty much the older brother of one of her friends. She likes the guy overall, I'd say, but they're not particularly close.

Ari's kinda wary of Fregion just because she doesn't really trust the Legions much at this point, but she would appreciate that he believes that they can be a force for good. I don't think she'd be super eager to be friends with him, but she'd be looking over at him and his devotion like "if you think this can be something good and you can help that happen...you can certainly try."

As for Logan, Ari barely knows the guy, so not a whole lot of thoughts on him on her part. She would know him by reputation prior to the founding of the Pact, at least, and as a leader and eventually Marshal later down the line. This also is making me wonder: I don't know/ remember how widespread the specifics of Destiny's Edge's breakup are. Does everyone know that Logan left them to go to Jennah? Is that well known? Because if it is, then Ari's opinion of him is Not Great on that point alone.

#gw2 #kerralind #ari stormshield #fregion bondbreaker #other ocs #fregion-bond-breaker #thanks a bunch for the ask! :D #to ari knowing that logan left DE to go to jennah's side would mean that he left his warband alone to face kralkatorrik #and she would think that was Really Bad #kerra likes logan mostly and knows him pretty well but they're still somehow kinda 'friends of friends' with each other asljdf #and as far as fregion goes--kerra's cautious but would enjoy talking with him i think #and ari would mostly steer clear #and tyty again

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ascalonianlightbringer · 1 year

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I took Gwen through "The Accusation," the follow-up to "The Fall of Falcon Company."

I talked a little here about wishing human PCs could be something other than totally uncritical Queen Jennah stans (it's not like plenty of human NPCs don't have issues with her!). In my head, if not on the screen, Gwen's street origin/revolutionary crowd has left her with very little investment in the status quo and she theoretically opposes royalty and (especially) aristocracy. But she doesn't want Jennah replaced by another (worse) monarch and the person/people plotting against the queen are responsible for the death or suffering of Gwen's sister, so for now, okay.

Anyway. Gwen enters the royal court for the first time in her life to find Logan just arrived, and Queen Jennah attended by Minister Arton, Countess Anise (problematic fave!!!), and Minister Caudecus. Given that Caudecus is the ultimate villain of the noble storyline ... hmm.

We jump into the cut scene and actually see Jennah for the first time:

(Hope the throne room isn't drafty!)

The character design shows its age a bit, though I like the patterning on the gold overlay, and the neck piece. I also really like that she looks like a GW1 Krytan—I like that Ascalonians got less white in GW2, but Krytans got wayyyy lighter and I've always found it uncomfortable.

Right, back to the story. Jennah and Logan talk Very Normally about the treason and not about Logan's undying passion for her, and Gwen tells her about Tervelan's confession, without even naming the minister in question. Arton, who is elderly and seems pretty nice, immediately guesses the accused minister must be him and goes under voluntary house arrest.

Also, I want his robe.

Enter Anise, whom Gwen briefly met in the street arc. Anise was introduced back then as the head of the Shining Blade—the group that helped save Kryta back in GW1 and seems an elite bodyguard for Jennah these days—and apparently keeps track of everything, since she recalls that a random sergeant transferred out of Falcon Company, back in the day. Logan knows where the guy is currently patrolling, so he sends Gwen off to question the sergeant while he stays and protects Jennah.

You can actually talk to Jennah herself afterwards, deferentially. She's actually pretty upset because Arton has always served both her and her father with every appearance of loyalty (as I recall, not something that could be said of all her ministers). The charm response was the more neutral ("Captain Thackeray and Countess Anise will ensure your safety"), so I went with that.

Anise remarks that accusing a minister in front of the queen is not only bold, as she knew Gwen is, but fearless. Gwen says, "Not fearless. Determined." Sounds about right!

Caudecus also has a dialogue option, but just kind of whines about all the commotion. Yeah, I've got my eye on him.

Meanwhile, in conversation with Logan, Gwen grimly assures him that if this sergeant knows anything, she'll get him to talk.

That's my girl :)

#t: greetings friend #p: honor the past #h: everyone has a secret #s: fight what cannot be fought #c: gwen velazquez #c: logan thackeray #c: jennah #c: caudecus #c: arton #c: anise #long post #gw2 spoilers

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cindermetalheadgw2 · 3 months

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Anyone else notice that bit of lore in skywatch that in a fracral scenario where queen jennah dies logan takes the throne and becomes tyrannical out of fear and grief. And then that post from earlier today pointing out the personal story dialogue where it's implied queen jennah isn't the only one left in the royal bloodline. And the fact anet periodically tries to keep logan relevant. And the fact the monarchy/seraph/shining blade definitely have some shady stuff going on (the differing accounts of the great collapse, having the commander take an oath to secrecy and never to act against kryta or Die Of Magic). And so many other little things scattered around in the game. Krytan politics could go in an interesting direction and I really hope they do something cool with it

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guildtree · 1 year

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#gw2 #guild wars 2 #polls #this ranges from abusive to just confusing #dont take it too seriously

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i-mybrunettelady · 16 hours

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For the NPC game: Logan Thackeray

@purple-saladleaves also asked for logan, so here are logan, jennah and canach :>

logan: nyra's mentor! she rather likes him and they are privately friends, even if there's an age gap between them. he taught her the basics of guardian magic so she doesn't blind people, and she respects him as the marshal of the pact (most of the time, anyways.)

jennah: jennah has her respect as the queen and as a leader to her people. nyra's openly pro-jennah, but knows she isn't above criticism. she had a little crush on her back when she was younger and first entering the court of kryta.

canach: buddy!!!! i think canach was the first to call her out on her bs back in maguuma and she didn't take it well at first but then saw his points and they've been friends since. she appreciates his honesty through sarcasm and he draws out an impish side of her half the time too

#gw2 #ask meme

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sylvaridreams · 7 months

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Boss, can i have uuuuuh 9 and 15 on Bourbon and 8 and 16 on Aeris?

I'm on it boss o7

Ask meme!

Bourbon:

9. What is/What would be a rumor spread about them that's actually true?

Rumors would spread among Pact (especially humans) that he is/was a bandit, which isn't really something he's ever tried to hide, he just doesn't go around broadcasting it to strangers. There's also a rumor for a long while after he joins Alba that he's just a jilted Aetherblade trying to hone in on killing the Commander WHICH ISN'T TRUE ANYMORE, but you know. Basically there's often talk about him being shady. And sometimes he still does shady things even if he has good intentions. Mostly.

15. If they went back in time and told their younger self about their life thus far, what would be the most shocking part to them?

Depending on how young his younger self is... pre-teenage Bost would be horrified at the thought that he'd ever left the dredge labour because how could you ever (and he largely wouldn't understand what the rest of the story is about,) teenage Bourbon would be shocked and hurt to hear that Glaz died and he didn't stay and try to save him or die by his side (because again, how could you? How could yoh choose to save yourself?) Pre-Aetherblade Bourbon would be in disbelief that he's ever found a place or at least a group of people that are kind of like a home again (why bother? Why are you even trying to get your hopes up just to get hurt again?) And Aetherblade Bourbon would be most alarmed hearing that Chesha was killed, and his future self later joined her killer as an ally, knowingly even. Regardless of which one, Bourbon’s past selves think little of him!

Aeris:

8. What is a conspiracy theory they believe?

I like to think Aeris is very smart, being in the Priory and having studied the brand forever, but she's also socially stupid and a loser... she could definitely fall into traps of believing in fantasies, especially if she's not in a good mental or emotional state overall. I don't think she'd fall for many huge conspiracies like those that surround the formation of the Pact or the slaying of the elder dragons... she's more likely to fall for conspiracies relating to things she understands less, like other races politics and culture. Queen Jennah was imprisoned as a child and her advisor is using a mesmer illusion of her to maintain power, Logan Thackeray died in Maguuma and was replaced by a double who now runs the Pact, if you go through an asura gate without proper protection you could be implanted with a chip that controls your thoughts... all stuff she doesn't understand or have any real connection with, so she can easily believe theorists when they mutter something about it.

She mentions the Logan theory to Alba and he stares at her in silence until she repeats it and Alba's like "no I heard you, it was just stupid. You're smarter than that. Say something else now."

16. What is a joke idea you had for them that became canon?

She's been pulled over and arrested by MinSec for speeding on a roller beetle through Kaineng (she likes the thrill of the chase!) Alba had to bail her out while in the midst of being investigated by MinSec himself for terrorism.

#bourbon #aeris windkin #asks answered

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skaald-of-the-hearth-fires · 6 months

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DoF:RefTE chapter 1 - Centaurs in Shaemoor

Dreams of Freedom: Reforging the Edge

Chapter one: Centaurs in Shaemoor | (AO3 link)

“CAPTAIN!”

Logan looks up from his desk in surprise, startled, mind running through all the possibilities of what can it be now? and already thinking of who he can assign to protect Queen Jennah. As always, of course, he wonders if he should just do that himself and not leave it up to chance (however miniscule). Then he sees that it is only Lieutenant Groban, who had been to Shaemoor Garrison, just outside the city, to get a report.

But Groban is standing in the massive door of Seraph Headquarters with wind-blown hair and a desperate expression on his face, and Logan blinks, this time just confused. Shaemoor is only just outside of Divinity’s Reach, nothing could have scared him too badly. To be fair, Logan reflects bemusedly, he doesn’t leave the walls of the city that often… perhaps he was frightened by something relatively mundane. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Centaurs, Captain! At the garrison!”

Logan raises an eyebrow in surprise and not a little confusion - the nearest centaurs are quite a ways southeast of Shaemoor. He checks the reports scattered around his desk. Out in the Krytan Freeholds, in fact. The centaurs couldn’t have got past the Seraph forces in the area without a lot of effort, manpower (or horsepower? Logan never knows), and most importantly, time - nearly two days’ travel, assuming they didn’t flat-out gallop the whole distance. There’s no way the Seraph wouldn’t have had warning. "How did they - ?”

“I don’t know, Captain, but they’re there. If they get past the garrison, Divinity’s Reach itself will be in danger.”

Logan furrows his brow. That's true... he admits reluctantly to himself, finally accepting the gravity of the situation. He nods at Groban. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Send runners to the Krytan Freeholds. We need to know how the centaurs got past the Seraph there without being stopped… or even noticed.” Logan pauses and frowns. The Wintersday festival was just yesterday, which might be enough to explain any lack of attention… but a whole troop of centaurs passing right outside the walls? That’s hard to miss.

The whole situation is… fishy. But Logan needs more information - he doesn’t know if the centaurs at the garrison came from the Krytan Freeholds at all, and if not, how they did get to the garrison. He doesn’t know how many centaurs there are at the garrison, or - well, he doesn’t know much of anything yet. That is easily remedied.

Logan glances at the lieutenant. He seems to have calmed down a bit. Groban could do with more time in the field anyway, Logan reflects. “Correction: go yourself, and get me a timeline of the centaurs’ movements. Handle the disposition of the troops stationed at the Freeholds once you’ve gathered all relevant information. Dismissed.”

Lieutenant Groban comes to attention and salutes, thumping his chest, before turning and striding out of Seraph Headquarters.

Logan speaks to the other Seraph in the room. “Someone send to Shaemoor Garrison for a report on the strength of centaur forces there and the ability of the Seraph stationed within the garrison to withstand the attack.” A corporal salutes and hurries off. Logan calls after him, “find out how soon their shift changes, too!” Logan himself had been looking forward to heading home to Rurikton soon, but it seems those plans will have to be delayed.

In any case, Shaemoor Garrison had not, in Logan’s memory, ever had to withstand any attacks. The centaurs had never pressed so far north before, and the garrison, as a result, is only lightly defended. Logan usually sends new graduates of the Seraph Training Academy there for some risk-free experience ‘in the field.’ The centaur attack, however, may be similarly light. Hopefully.

Logan glances across his desk, looking for anything on the small village that Shaemoor Garrison defends, then turns to one of his aides. “Get me the files on Shaemoor and the surrounding fields. I need to know the significance of the land we’re defending.”

The man nods, rummaging through some papers on the long desk Logan shares with his aides, and finally comes up with a stack of papers. Shuffling through them all briefly, he says, “Lieutenant Francis is the ranking officer in Shaemoor, sir, and the village’s primary complaint is bandits. It’s mostly farmland and there aren’t many Seraph on patrol except in the village itself, so the outlaws are… unrestrained. I believe Shaemoor’s fields are the primary source of food supply to Divinity’s Reach."

“Ahh.” Logan sits back thoughtfully while his aide goes through the papers more thoroughly. Valuable land, then - to be protected at all costs. Divinity’s Reach wouldn’t survive a siege without it - Shaemoor Garrison is the last defense. Logan's breath hitches momentarily. “Is the garrison the village's only defense?”

“The only man-made defense, sir. Shaemoor Garrison straddles the river - Altar Brook - which goes around all the east and south side, and there’s a mountain to the southwest… that the civilians have nicknamed the Bandithaunt Caverns… I…” he tilts his head at the paper. “I guess it’s got caverns in it…?”

Logan tunes him out for the moment. He doesn't need to hear about the bandits - he'd done what he could about them long ago. Between a mountain and a river, Shaemoor Garrison is a quite tactically useful choke point for holding off the centaurs… but if it fails, not only do the civilians in Shaemoor get trampled over, but Divinity’s Reach could be sieged easily and starved out within five weeks - less, coming out of winter and with no spring crops in production yet. Logan realizes his heartbeat had sped up in anxiety, but he forces himself to hold his leisurely position. His men can't see him worried. A siege is not a likely possibility, Logan reminds himself. A large enough force to achieve that could not have gotten this far without being noticed.

Logan takes a deep breath. “Who’s the ranking officer at the garrison itself?”

“Lieutenant Ryder, sir.”

“Ah, an experienced man, then." Logan nods decisively. "And he has Lieutenant Francis in the village for backup. They’ll do fine, with sufficient manpower.” He'll have to keep an eye on the situation, of course. IT wouldn't do to let such a strange threat go unmonitored so close to home.

A minute later, the massive doors of Seraph HQ open to admit a Seraph soldier. “Captain, I have a report on Shaemoor.”

“Continue,” Logan says, leaning back in his chair.

“Centaurs are currently attacking the garrison. They seem to have a temporary camp on the southern edge of Scaver Plateau and are only sending forces in small waves. It’s a sizable force at the camp, but the garrison is holding - for now at least. Our lieutenant requests replacements for the newer soldiers so he can get them out of the frontline fighting, and reinforcements to handle the centaurs when they decide to mount a full-scale attack. He’ll need more than the command stationed in the village, and he’s already using twice the manpower.”

"Where'd he get extra manpower from already?” Logan questions with a frown.

“The centaurs hit us right at our shift change, Captain. The lieutenant kept the day shift on guard to help the night shift with the defense.”

Logan grimaces, but otherwise doesn't let his worry show on his face. That’s over half the men on duty tired from a day of service. These centaurs have far too much information on Seraph troops and movements. More than Logan’s own active information, at that. “Send as many men as he needs,” Logan says aloud to his aide, who scribbles notes frantically. “Call in men from Altar Brook Crossing, even Claypool if need be. We may need them - we still don’t know how the centaurs got here or where they came from.” There may also be Seraph forces incoming from Krytan Freeholds, too, depending on Groban’s findings.

“Yes, Captain!” The man salutes with a thump of his fist to his chest, and leaves.

Logan takes a deep breath to settle his nerves and stretches slightly. He had never been built for desk work, and rather itches to be on the battlefield where he can actually be helping instead of gathering information. But, alas, such are the trials of love. With that thought, Logan rises from his desk. “I need to report to the queen. Send Lieutenant Groban to me when he returns.”

~oOoOo~

Logan enters Queen Jennah’s throne room and bows with a flourish. Jennah would not have minded if he’d strode right up to her - and Logan certainly would have preferred to - but appearances must be maintained, for nobles, ministers, and commoners alike. They need to see the Seraph Captain showing proper respect and deference. Logan hides a smile; showing the Chamber of Ministers that the queen has the full support of her military is one of his favorite pastimes. It wouldn’t do to let them forget, after all. So he follows the forms with all the respect and dignity he can muster. Passionate embraces can be saved for… less public spaces.

Jennah meets his eyes with a warm smile from across the room. "Ah, Logan!” She beckons him come closer.

Logan approaches gladly. “My queen,” he murmurs, kissing her hand. Now, that part of the ritual… well. But there is business to be done.

Straightening, he goes on, “I’m afraid there’s no time for pleasantries. Centaurs are sieging Shaemoor Garrison as we speak - threatening the Village of Shaemoor and the Shaemoor Fields, farmland that provides for most of Divinity’s Reach. Even more worrying, we don’t know how they got so far into Kryta.”

Jennah frowns. “Where were they before?”

“At closest? Krytan Freeholds, beyond the Eldvin Monastery. Our usual battle lines are drawn even further out, past Beetletun and Guardian’s Pass.”

“And you say they threaten the city?”

Logan forces himself to let go of the tension between his shoulders. “The lieutenant at Shaemoor Garrison isn’t certain he can hold out for long. I’m gearing up the Seraph to assist them already. The centaurs also have displayed an uncanny knowledge of our operations - shift changes particularly. I’m confident we can handle it, but it’s a worrying development.”

“I agree,” Jennah says softly. She sighs. “I do not see the point of continuing to spend lives on this war. Is there any chance of a parlay?”

"I wish," Logan mutters resentfully. How do they know our shift changes?? He takes a deep breath to calm himself. “You know we’ve tried before, Your Majesty. They won’t settle for anything, reasonable or unreasonable - they want to claim all of Kryta and do who knows what with humanity. Kill us all, possibly; or enslave us. Most generously, I can imagine they’d pack us off to some remote corner of the country while they have free rein of the rest.” He shakes his head, anger bubbling in his chest. The centaur war had been taking its toll on the people for far too long.

Countess Anise speaks up from Queen Jennah’s right hand, almost like the lady-in-waiting she pretended to be. “Their view is understandable. By nature, we shouldn’t even be here - we’re relative newcomers to this world, and the centaurs know it best of all. They have better reason to than most - well, save the charr, and we’re at war with them, too. Excuse me, ceasefire. Of course the centaurs resent our presence on their land.”

“We can’t exactly leave,” Logan replies sharply.

“Of course not, Captain,” Anise says easily. “It is a tragedy that we’ll have to beat them into submission the hard way, but one that must be endured. What concerns me more is their appearance out of nowhere - right at twilight and the day after Wintersday, no less.”

“I have scouts on the problem already,” Logan says, speaking more to Jennah than her advisor. “They’ll take longer to report in, but I thought you should know of the situation. I’ll let you know when I know more. Also, I may draw Seraph from the city to supplement our ranks in Shaemoor.”

“That is good to know,” Jennah tells him. “Thank you.” She hesitates. “Might I suggest going to the garrison yourself? You’ve seemed restless of late - the combat will do you good.”

Logan frowns. “I’d like to, but I should stay where I can coordinate things…” He's still waiting for Groban to report in about where the centaurs came from, and then he has to make executive decisions from there; he needs to find out where the centaurs got their information and plug that leak; he has to be able to reallocate men to the garrison as needed; he needs to be able to respond quickly to any new information that might come in - surprise attacks elsewhere in the kingdom, for example -

Countess Anise grins at him. “You mean you should stay where you can keep an eye on the queen? Don’t worry your head, Captain - nothing will befall her.”

“With Divinity’s Reach itself in danger from a threat that materialized out of nowhere, I’ll ‘worry my head’ until I’m one hundred percent sure she is safe,” Logan snaps. “As should you.”

“Oh, I do," Anise says with a slow smile. "Concern yourself first with the centaurs at the gate, Captain, and leave me to handle our… internal affairs.”

That means Anise suspects an information leak or inside job of some kind. Logan wishes he could investigate and manage everything. But Anise has her job, he has his, and…

Jennah smiles at him. “Go, fight your battles, Logan. I’ll be here when you return.”

Logan bows, then turns and leaves the throne room. He really should stay at Seraph HQ and coordinate... But a command from his queen is a command from his queen.

But he won’t stop worrying about her.

#logan thackeray #queen jennah #logan/jennah #jennah/logan #countess anise #gw2 #salt and light #divinity's reach #centaur #gw2 human #lieutenant groban #seraph #defending shaemoor #writing #fanfiction #fanfic

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