Gwen (Pre-searing)

Gwen is a little girl that you first encounter in pre-Searing. Until Guild Wars, Eye of the North, no one knew what happened to her after the Searing, but little hints and clues were encountered in different areas of the game.

Gwen, Pre-Searing
You can find Gwen behind the Resurrection Shrine on the east-side of the Ascalon City entrance. The first time you speak to her, she will give you the Gwen's Flute quest in which you need to find her lost flute. If you complete the quest she will want to follow you in your adventures. She is a very useful sidekick as she is never targeted by enemies and can heal you for 20 HP when your health is down. Speak to her to have her follow you and speak to her again to have her wait. If you have any of the items you can give her, she will ask for one of them instead.

If she is following you, she will be waiting for you anytime you enter an explorable area (with the exception of the Catacombs and The Northlands) but if you log out or if you enter Ascalon City she will return to her original location.

Gaining Gwen's favor
You may also give any of the following gifts to Gwen to make her more attached to you: a flute, a cape, or some flowers:

Additional notes:
 * Gwen will not accept the new flute until after you have found her original (albeit, broken) one.
 * After receiving the flute, Gwen can be seen holding it in her hand and will play it occasionally. When she follows you around, she will also use it to restore your Health by 20 during combat.
 * After receiving the cape, Gwen will wear it whenever you meet her.
 * The flowers can be found anywhere in Pre-searing Ascalon; see iris article for details.
 * She will take flowers from you one at a time.

Gaining the Tapestry Shred
Once Gwen likes you enough, she will give you her most prized possession, a Tapestry Shred. The cheapest way to accomplish this is to give her the Broken Flute, the Flute, & three Red Iris Flowers (total cost: 4). You do not need to buy the more expensive cape.

Location

 * Pre-Searing Ascalon
 * Ascalon City (Pre-Searing) (cannot be reached)
 * Lakeside County (just outside Ascalon City behind the Resurrection Shrine)

Quests

 * Gwen's Flute

Skills Used

 * (Only at the end of the Beta-Test weekend)

Quotes
Gwen speaks of many things as she follows you around. All the characters she talks about are characters you meet in the game. The following are possibly all of Gwen's lines:

While following you: While Next to Ciglo (Monk Test): While not following you:
 * "Are we there yet?"
 * "Are you a hero, too, like Aidan and Devona? My daddy was a great warrior, but he died when I was seven. Mommy says maybe we'll see him again after we die. Do you think that's true?"
 * "Devona is so pretty! I love her hair. Do you think my hair will be that pretty when I grow up?"
 * "Have you met my mommy? Her name is Sarah. She's the town herbalist. She helps make sick people well again."
 * "I hope this isn't too dangerous."
 * "I'm on an adventure!"
 * "I wish I had a red cape like Sandra's. It's my favorite color."
 * "Lady Althea's father is a duke. That means he's important, and he knows Prince Rurik. I'd love to meet the prince someday."
 * "Mary Malone brought us apples today. They're so lovely and ripe! Mommy wouldn't let me have one. She's saving them to bake a pie. Yummy!"
 * "Mommy says I shouldn't bother the grownups so much, but there aren't any children for me to play with. Besides, they're all so nice to me! Well, most of them are, anyway."
 * "Mr. & Mrs. Hathorn have children, but they're too young to play with me. Sometimes Mrs. Hathorn let's [sic] me hold the baby. He's so cute!"
 * "Old Mac has a bull named Bill, and he's really mean. Once I saw him chase a man and hurt him real bad. Someone ought to do something about him. If my daddy was here, he'd kill that old bull and carve him into steaks!"
 * "Prince Rurik and Lady Althea are going to get married! I can't wait! I hope I get to attend the wedding. I just love weddings!"
 * "Some day I will be a famous musician!"
 * "When I grow up, I'm going to be a hero like my daddy. I'd like to be a warrior, but the mesmers' outfits are nicer, don't you think?"
 * Mommy and Ciglo are both healers, but Mommy uses herbs to heal people, and Ciglo uses magic from Dwayna. He told me. He's very nice to children."
 * "Eww! A big beetle!"
 * "I think I'm going to follow you!"
 * "I want to be an adventurer too. Can I come with you?"
 * "I wonder how many flowers it takes to fill a vase?"
 * "My daddy was an adventurer like you. Once, he let me go on an adventure with him."
 * "Someone help me!"
 * "The Red Iris Flowers are my favorite!"
 * "When I grow up I want to be just like you."
 * "You look really strong. Can you teach me anything?"
 * "That last flower had a bee on it!"
 * "Your friend found my flute. Thank You!"
 * ''"You're my favorite person, besides my mommy."

During her appearance in the Beta Weekend Event:
 * "My name is Gwen. And I don't like yooou."
 * "My mother? Let me tell you about my mother."
 * "Mommy always said not to play with fire. But Mommy's dead."
 * "Why does everyone I love always die?"
 * "We need no water, let the ..."
 * "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!"
 * "Painful to live in fear, isn't it?"
 * "Hey, where are you going?"
 * "You didn't save Ascalon, now I'm gonna hurt you."
 * "Burn it to the ground! Muhahahaha!"
 * "My favorite 3 things: skipping, playing the flute, and burning towns down."
 * "Ashes, ashes, you all fall down!"
 * "Burn baby burn!"
 * "Ok, time to die."
 * "If you don't get off me, I'll burn you, ."
 * "Do you like fire, ."
 * "Eeny Meany Miney Mo, I pick you, ."
 * "It's not an easy thing to meet your maker, ."
 * "Stop touching me,, that's inappropriate behaviour."

Trivia

 * At the end of one of the BWEs during the beta stage of the game, the developers at ArenaNet unleashed a destructive Gwen who used the skill Spontaneous Combustion on the unwary citizens of Tyria as seen in this movie.


 * In the Japanese Website of Guild Wars, Gwen makes an appearance as "Gwen-chan", and together with Dr. Boar, teaches the basics of the game to new players.
 * The quotes by Gwen during the beta event include a number of pop culture references:
 * "My name is Gwen. And I don't like yooou" is a likely reference to a line of a doll named Talking Tina in a Twilight Zone episode, who speaks outside of her programmed responses to the father, who does not like the doll.
 * "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire" and "We need no water, let the..." are likely a reference to the frequently sampled and covered 1984 hip hop song The Roof Is on Fire by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three and owing to the language in the song is why the second quote ends in "...".
 * "Burn baby burn!" is from the 1976 The Trammps song Disco Inferno.
 * "Ashes, ashes, you all fall down!" is clear reference to the nursery rhyme Ring a Ring O'Roses.
 * "Time to die" is the last line of both Leon Kowalski and Roy Batty in Blade Runner.
 * "Painful to live in fear isn't it?" is another of Leon Kowalski's lines from Blade Runner, during his fight with Deckard.
 * "It's not an easy thing to meet your maker" is yet another of Roy Batty's lines from Blade Runner, when he meets Eldon Tyrell.
 * "My mother? Let me tell you about my mother" is also from Blade Runner, said by Leon Kowalski as he shoots Dave Holden.
 * The "stop touching me" quote may be a reference to several Orc Grunt and Peon quotes from Warcraft 2 and 3 which they say in response to being clicked on.
 * Gwen is a Welsh name which means "blessed", "white" or "light skinned". See Wikipedia's Gwen disambiguation article for a list of celebrities, fictional characters and historical figures who Gwen may be named after.