Storyline (Factions)

This storyline article is a recount of the story of the second Guild Wars campaign released in April of 2006. Becoming familiar with the key dates in the history of Cantha as well as reading the background on Shiro Tagachi will help make certain events in this story clearer.

The story in the Factions Campaign follows the players in their quest to put a stop to Shiro Tagachi who has returned from beyond death to destroy the balance of the universe. In their quest, the players are guided by Master Togo, the head of the Shing Jea Monastery and half-brother to Emperor Kisu, and Brother Mhenlo, a former student of Master Togo and a famous figure in Tyria.

''Note: For existing characters arriving from another Guild Wars Campaign, then the story begins when they first arrive in Kaineng Center. New characters originating in Cantha start from the Beginning''

The Beginning
Players begin the story as promising trainees in the Shing Jea Monastery. They receive training from the several Headmasters in the Monastery, become versed in two Professions, and earn their Insignia.

Master Togo is impressed by the player's performance, and decides to introduce them to Minister Cho personally. When the group arrives at Minister Cho's Estate, however, they find only chaos. A disease has afflicted the residents of the Estate. The players follow Master Togo through the Estate as they rush to save the Minister. Unfortunately, when they reach him, they discover that Minister Cho has turned into this vile diseased creature and thus they are forced to destroy him.

The disease slowly spreads through the different areas of the Island, causing a frantic search by Master Togo and his students as to the root of this affliction. Examining different clues leads Master Togo into believing that the plague originated on the eastern side of the island. As the players make their way throughthe holy vally of Zen Daijun they discover that it was there that the affliction hit hardest. Battling hordes of Afflicted creatures and a vile miasma that threatens to wipe them out, the party is able to reach the sacred temple in the valley and defeat the Afflicted Kana who was leading the corrupted forces.

Evil has returned... Upon examining the temple, Master Togo makes a startling discovery... Shiro Tagachi, the betrayer, has returned once again to threaten the land of Cantha. Such a grave discovery warrants drastic measures, as such, Togo heads to Kaineng City to meet with his brother, Emperor Kisu. He also sends a request for aid to his former student, Brother Mhenlo. Finally, he asks his students to meet him in the city as they try to combat the disease and prevent it from destroying their homeland.

The Afflicted City
Tyrian players journeying to Cantha accompany Brother Mhenlo, who has received a letter from his former tutor telling him about dark times headed for Cantha and asking for his aid.

The players accompany Mhenlo, Eve, Aidan, Cynn and Devona to the Canthan mainland. They are greeted by Jamei, a former classmate of Mhenlo at the Shing Jea Monastery, who tells the players that Master Togo awaits them in Bukdek Byway. They pass through Kaineng Center, the seat of power in the Kingdom of Cantha, and arrive just in time to see Master Togo beset upon by the Afflicted.

The Seed of Evil

The Canthan students of Master Togo and the Tyrian visitors with Brother Mhenlo meet up in Vizunah Square and together fight off several waves of the Afflicted. They successfully purge the Afflicted from Vizunah Square, but in the final wave, they come upon a bound spirit in the service of Shiro Tagachi. When the players defeat this creature, Shiro takes his Envoy form and slays everyone. Satisfied, he departs.

Several other Envoys arrive at the scene. They are dismayed at Shiro, who unlike other envoys, is shirking his responsibilities of leading souls to the underworld and instead is using these souls to power his army of malice. To counter Shiro's methods they decide to play things his way. They restore the players' lives, but in return ask that the players put an end to Shiro. To do that, they must first become Weh no Su, Closer to the Stars, which will enable them to see and fight spiritual beings such as Shiro that are within the mortal realm.

And so the players seek out Suun, the Oracle of the Mists and custodian of the Star Temple.

Closer to the Stars
Weh no Su requires the players to undertake a test in Nahpui Quarter. They have to battle the Celestial creatures representing four major vices. When the players succeed in defeating the Celestials, Suun tells them that they may now seek guidance from the spirits of the legendary Canthan heroes at Tahnnakai Temple.

When the players reach the Temple, they are informed by Mhenlo that Master Togo and Nika, the Obsidian Flame assassin, have gone to stave off an assault of the Afflicted and are in grave danger. The players arrive in time to save Togo and Nika, and Master Togo gains them admission to the Temple.

Bound to the Betrayer

Once inside, they find a grim situation. Shiro Tagachi has imprisoned the spirits of the ancient heroes to serve him using spirit binders. While others fell before his power, Vizu the assassin that caused his defeat 200 years earlier still resists. The players have to move fast to free her from the spirit binder.

Free, Vizu tells the players about the way to bring about an end to Shiro: to use the artifacts of the Kurzick Champion Viktor and the Luxon Champion Archemorus.

The Urn and the Spear
The first task is to recover the artifact Urn of Saint Viktor from the Kurzicks. Luckily, Count zu Heltzer's daughter Danika zu Heltzer is paying a visit to the Imperial city, and the Emperor thinks that Danika may be the key to winning the Count's favor. The players track her down and enlist her aid, she agrees to help them.

Danika leads Mhenlo and the players to her father, who does not oppose giving the Urn to help defeat Shiro. However, the Urn is presently unavailable to the Kurzicks themselves: it is consecrated in Cathedral zu Heltzer, a once holy place that now lays in ruins. The magical wards protecting the place failed long ago and the place is overrun by Wardens and other fouler creatures.

A Cathedral Defiled

In the Arborstone mission, players accompany Danika and Mhenlo to the Cathedral to retreive the Urn. As they lift the urn, the Cathedral starts to collapse around them. To make matters worse, the players are blocked off form the entrance by a cave-in, and are cut off from Mhenlo, who alone manages to escape. The players make their way through the collapsing Cathedral and escape out of the back door.

Defeating the Kraken

Master Togo leads the players to Boreas Seabed to acquire the Spear of Archemorus from the Luxons, but when they get there, they face a minor complication. They arrive on the day of the Convocation, when the three Luxon clans compete in gladiatorial combat for the honor of wielding the Spear to slay the Kraken Zhu Hanuku.

The players enter the competition for the Spear and defeat the Champions of the three Luxon clans. The honor of defeating Zhu Hanuku thus falls to them, and they wield its power of the Spear admirably to slay the Kraken. As they are about to celebrate, Mhenlo comes rushing in with terrible news. The afflicted are on the march on the City and the Emperor fears an attack.

An End to Shiro, for now
The Imperial Guard discover that Shiro has been amassing an afflicted army in the Undercity. The Emperor tells the players to lead a squadron of Palace Guards to Sunjiang District, which is the source of the disturbance.

Shiro's plot is uncovered as it turns out he has been opening spirit rifts into the human world to bring forth bound spirits that will fight for his cause. The spirits are more powerful than the shambling Afflicted forces. The players manage to close the rifts and confront Shiro who inhabits four different constructs and assaults them. They succeed in defeating those constructs. However, everyone is certain that this is not the end of Shiro.

The Envoys tell the players to seek the aid of the warring factions, the Kurzicks and the Luxons. No longer will their ceremonial items be enough, instead their united might will have a chance to defeat Shiro once and for all just as it did 200 years earlier.

Everyone Must Choose a Side
In order to convince the two nations that they need to unite against Shiro, Master Togo and Mhenlo decide to split up, and encourage the players to do the same. Mhenlo heads to the Kurzicks to convince them to join the effort and Master Togo heads to the Luxons.

Here players must choose to either befriend the Luxons or the Kuricks by tallying 10,000 points of Faction with the respective nation.

The Forever Trees

Those players who befriend the Kurzicks are entrusted with a duty that is of utmost importance. They must lead three volunteers to the Eternal Grove, there to become Juggernauts. When they arrive at the Grove, they are attacked by Luxon forces bent on destroying the Forever Trees, the source of the Juggernauts, and thereby putting an end to the Kurzick war machine.

During the Eternal Grove mission, the players hold back the Luxon attack, but are surprised to see the Luxons surrender half-way through the fight. The explanation is soon apparent: an army of the Afflicted has arrived behind the Luxons, bent on destroying all humans in their path.

Against a common enemy, the remaining Luxons and Kurzicks ally and hold the Grove. The Luxons give the players news of Master Togo: he and the Luxons are headed towards the Harvest Temple in the Unwaking Waters.

Young Turtles

The players who come to seek the aid of the Luxons are entrusted with securing and delivering the eggs of their giant trutles to the Gyala Hatchery. At the Hatchery the eggs hatch into Young Turtles, who are then led to the Leviathan Pits.

During the Gyala Hatchery mission, players defend a caravan of Young Turtles heading to the Pits against raids from the Kurzicks who have a vested interest in destroying these Luxon beasts of war when they are most vulnerable. The players help the Luxons protect the Young Turtles and after defeating the final wave of Kurzicks, everyone is horrified to see the Afflicted besieging both the Kurzicks and the Luxons. Forced to ally against a common enemy, the Luxons and the Kurzicks halt the Afflicted attack.

Before the two sides can resume their animostiy, Master Togo instructs them that the return of the Afflicted signals the return of Shiro. They must stop their foolish war and form an alliance to put an end to Shiro. The Luxons and the Kurzicks see merit in Master Togo's advice, and do as he instructs.

On the Trail of the Betrayer
The Kurzick and the Luxon players meet up at the Unwaking Waters to seek an audience with the dragon Kuunavang, who now resides in the Harvest Temple. Kuunavang herself is corrupted by Shiro's influence and puts up a strong resistance against the players. The players have to combine forces and hold off several waves of the Afflicted and Kuunavang's devastating attacks until they finally make their way to the top of the Harvest Temple and defeat her.

Once defeated, her enslavement to Shiro is broken, and she offers her aid to the players. Kuunavang holds council with the players and Envoys as they try to figure out Shiro's plan. They conclude that Shiro is preparing a spell to return to the mortal realm, and he lacks only one ingredient to undo his original curse: spilling the blood of the Imperial line, again.

The Final Showdown
The Race for the Emperor

The players rush frantically back to Raisu Palace, but they are too late to stop Shiro. He had overrun the palace's defenses with a massive army of Shiro'ken bound spirits. With the guard scrambling to the defense Shiro himself makes it to the Imperial Sanctum, the Emperor's own throne room, where he slays all the gaurds and proceeds to bind the Emperor in his spell.

The players arrive to find the Palace locked down. With the help of celestial skills granted by Kuunavang, and the aid of several allies they have made along the way, the players begin a fight to the Sanctum through the Shiro'ken army. They succeed in making their way through the hordes of bound spirits.

A Brother for a Brother

When they reach the Sanctum, Togo rushes to his brother's aid. Shiro appears then in a flash and kidnaps Master Togo! He escapes with Togo deep into the Imperial gardens. Shiro had sensed Togo's Imperial blood and took advantage of the players' focus on the Emperor to obtain another soul who would fit his plan just as well. He slays Master Togo in cold blood and completes his return to the mortal realm.

An End to Evil

There is no time to mourn for Togo. Shiro must be stopped. Mhenlo leads the players to the final battle with Shiro.

With Kuunavang's aid, the players once again confront Shiro Tagachi. Shiro is tremendously powerful in battle, but he has one weakness now that he lacked before: he is now mortal.

It is a difficult battle, but the players truimph. As Shiro dies, the acolytes of the Star Temple led by the Oracle Suun appear and seal Shiro's mortal form in jade. Shiro's spirit comes into the keeping of the Envoys because he has died a mortal's death. When asked of their plans for Shiro, the Envoys simply say that they have prepared a special place in the Underworld for Shiro to do penance for his sins.

Epilogue
Divine Path

The players have saved Cantha. They have defeated Shiro, stopped the plague, united the warring factions, and saved the Emperor. This is a joyous occasion, and people form all around Cantha appear to pay their respects to the new heroes of Cantha.