Then and Now, Here and There

Overview

Summary

1. Travel to the ruins in the Diessa Lowlands.
2. Defeat the Charr guarding the ruins to free the prisoners. You have 4 groups remaining.
3. Reassure the Charr's prisoners.
4. Find Dahgar the Eye of Flame in Old Ascalon and destroy him.
5. Find Gwen's hidden treasure in the ruins of Ashford.
6. Bring news of the Charr's defeat to Duke Barradin in Piken Square.

Obtained from

Hall of Monuments

Requirements

Tapestry Shred in inventory

Tyrian-born Character

Required Hero : Gwen

Complete The Missing Vanguard

Reward

• 15,000 XP
• Gwen's Flute (Unique) (Not stated in quest log)

Dialogue (from the Quest Log)

"Ah, <Name>, how I treasured this little shred of tapestry as a child. I remember the day I gave it to you. For you to have held on to it for so many years... well, it warms my heart to know I was not forgotten. Please, allow me to hold it once more. I wish to keep it as a token of our friendship. So long as I hold this, I will know that there are some things in life that cannot be taken away from you.

"There's something I would like to give you in return. I didn't think the day would come for me to say this, but we must return to my home... our home... to Ascalon. We must head to the Diessa Lowlands, where I was held prisoner for a time. I have something hidden there, that I want you to have. Will you accompany me?"

Intermediate Dialogue 1 (On approaching the temple) Gwen: "These ruins were once a great temple. I think that's why the Charr used it as a temporary prison. Every passing second, our presence was nothing but a reminder of a destroyed past and a denied future, built on top of a monument to our broken faith.

"I have never known a creature more hateful than the Charr. Had I not escaped from them, I would be dead by now. Or worse, a prisoner.

"Before the Ebon Vanguard found me, I was little more than a scavenger. Although I had an empty stomach, my mind was filled with thoughts of vengeance.

"Now that I find myself here, these broken pillars do not seem as tall or frightening [cutoff]"

Intermediate Dialogue 2 (After killing the Charr guards) Duke Barradin: Hail! To whom do we owe our lives?

Gwen: We are from the Ebon Vanguard.

Duke Barradin: The Ebon Vanguard! It has been long since we heard word from them. We thought you had all been lost.

Gwen: Not destroyed, just beset on all sides by foes. I see the Charr still plague these lands...

Farrah Cappo: [cutoff]

Intermediate Dialogue 3 (Approaching Dahgar) Dahgar the Eye of Flame: So predictable.... Threaten their holes, and all of the little mice scamper out.

Gwen: Silence, you thrice-damned monster! I will have your heart in compensation for the one that you broke!

Intermediate Dialogue 4 (After killing Dahgar) Gwen: As a child, I found myself haunted by the sight of his remorseless eyes staring into my own...and then nothingness. When the world appeared to me again, I was seeing it for the first time as a prisoner. For all the horrors I have witnessed while under the captivity of the Charr, few compare to the murderous visage of the one who took me from everything that I knew. That was Dahgar.

You will torment me no longer, demon. As you have taken from me, I have taken from you. A life for a life.

But I must apologize....I did not mean to drag you here for my own personal vendetta. There is something I mean to give you, but I had to see to the safety of my homeland first. [cutoff]

Intermediate Dialogue 5 (At Ashford Ruins)

[cutoff]

Reward Dialogue (Duke Barradin) "You say that Dahgar the Eye of Flame is dead? Perhaps defeating a monster so terrible as that one will break the will of the Charr that followed him. Ascalon will continue to do what she always has: fight to protect herself, and her own. Do not worry yourself with our affairs, <Name>. I know that you have your own battles to fight. May Dwayna watch over you and illuminate the paths you walk upon."

Walkthrough

Take Gwen and other heroes and leave from Nolani Academy. This area will now be filled with level 20 Charr as they appear in the Charr Homelands, however they aren't as large in groups so you have a better chance. Follow the quest marker to the ruins and carefully begin to pick off the Charr groups from a distance. The ranger Charr boss is still the same level he allways was so he's an easy morale boost if you need it. This shouldn't cause any major problems, even with 1 healer, if you have someone who can attack at range, it will help greatly in taking out Charr from where they cannot get to you thanks to the map layout.

Upon defeating the Charr you'll free Duke Barradin and Farrah Cappo who will lead you inform you of the new boss in Old Ascalon. Leave from Sardelac Sanitarium and go south, taking out the Charr carefully as you go (They are level 20 here too). The boss is lightly guarded and can be taken out without many problems. Once you do this, Gwen will take you to where the farmer kept his pigs in Ashford and ask you to kneel and search for something. Doing this gives you Gwen's Flute (Unique) and a conversation with Gwen about her friendship with the character. To end the quest, talk to the Duke in Piken Square.

Notes

• The flute she gives you is supposedly the same one the player gave to Gwen in Pre-Searing, only now it's become a mesmer focus.
• She will remove the Tapestry Shred from your inventory upon accepting this quest. Do not abandon this quest unless you are prepared to get another!
• Consider using this quest to vanquish Diessa Lowlands. The maximum size of Charr groups is 3, and none of them use dangerous skills like Shield of Judgment or Power Block. This makes the area vanquishable with even a party of four.
• This quest finally answers the popular question about the point of Gwen's quest items.

Trivia

• This quest's title is a reference to the anime series Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku, known in English as Now and Then, Here and There.