This is hardly a lore heavy article. While you do manage to scratch the surface, lightly, there is no history mentioned, none of the story that makes up the lore. Without knowing, or mentioning what has come before gameplay, even what's revealed in the cutscenes as you make your way past the starter zones, you can't really begin to explain either the defiant or Guardians.
You also breeze past the point that the Guardians, were chosen, as the initial cutscene states, for no other reason than their might. In this way, Trion really helps paint both factions in shades of grey. While the Guardians are raised by the gods/Vigil, it is not for their altruism, and indeed, if they are only chosen for their might, may lead to Tyranny. It creates a much more dynamic choice for the player, as it leaves open the choices of how they view the world, the Guardians, and the Defiant, no matter which side they choose.
The history of Telara, and lore from Trion typifies this by showing that the Guardians take the fight to the Rift, and Riftspawn, without overly caring about innocents that get in the way (as the graphic novel points out.). This in turn starts the Eth "technomancers" looking for another means to bring back their own Ascended, with the result being Asha returning from the grave. Events then occur further, that widen the rift between the Guardian and Defiant factions until they finally split to go their own way.
You go on to the Defiant side, and mention exchanges with a few NPCs, but fail to mention that Sylver (not Orphiel) is the one to perfect the machinery, which is a HUGE development, since Orphiel was the person responsible for building the technology that Aedraxis used to destroy the Ward. Another curious ommission is that there is no mention of the fact that Guardians were destroying the Eth Machinery, or that one of the first major NPCs that you have to fight, mentions that the Guardians are destroying machinery, per Regulos' plans.
Also, no mention of the fact that the Defiant and Guardians used to be one group of people, until civil war broke out, until Eth Technology was used by a betrayer to Telara to open the Death Rift that destroyed Port Scion, and killed Zareph.
Withou mentioning these things, you fail to really give the backdrop of Telara, and the complex nature of each faction as it relates to not only Telara, but also the other faction, and itself.
Traversing Telara #1: Epic from the Beginning
Trion is kicking off a new ZAM-exclusive series of articles that focuses on the lore and gameplay of Rift.
The folk of three main races fill the ranks of the Guardians:
The ancient High Elves are devout, for their kind saw the gods plainly in the early days of the world. Since then, the High Elves have seen strife and division rend their peoples more than once during the long life of Telara, right up to the day of the Shade, when Aedraxis opened the death rift. Many High Elves became Ascended after dying in battle against Regulos's armies.
Dwarves, ever known as great craftspeople, sided with the Vigil to atone for past sins - including the creation of machines that harnessed the power of the dead! - and win themselves a new, honorable future… if Telara survives.
The Mathosians, humans of the chillier northern reaches of Telara, were created by all of the gods in unison, it is said. It was the mysterious death of the Mathosian king, Jostir the Ancient, that sparked the civil war between Aedraxis and Zareph and, thus, dealt such horror to Telara.
From these options, I chose to make a human from the Rogue calling. I wanted someone I imagined had a clear and dramatic stake in the conflict and a Mathosian certainly has that. Plus, I wanted to make someone who was maybe a little less forthright and direct in life, hence a Rogue. And I wanted to see how much other players were getting into their characters. So, I picked an RP server and created Wardhan (pronounced war-than).
Not far into the starting area, it became clear that Wardhan was on a heroic path, even if his methods were roguish. Guardians have a noble bearing and a good sense for the grand cause they're fighting for. As the NPC, Tam Daggerborne, told me: "Live gloriously. Die heroically."
At the same time, Marshal Kain would later tell me that, as a Guardian, he was chosen for "the sureness of my sword, no the virtue of my heart." So Guardians know the value of strength in addition to the value of a good heart - and maybe they believe that virtue can come from strength. I'm looking forward to playing more and finding out more about the Guardian philosophy.
For sure, they're more nuanced than I expected - and than the Defiant give them credit for. One NPC told me, "Harmony is hard to achieve," suggesting that Guardians give thought to harmony, not just fanaticism… even though they live in a time of extremes.
The Defiant
The Defiant are done with the Vigil. In the eyes of the Defiant, the gods have forsaken Telara, turning their back on the people who once needed them. While the Guardians seek a miracle to save the land, the Defiant work to enact a miraculous rescue through the power of forbidden technomancy - the hybrid art of machines and magic.
Defiant characters are all about taking their fate into their hands, forgetting whatever agenda the Vigil once had, and saving the world through muscle and mind. The Defiant believe that they can shape the future no matter what the Vigil thinks or wants. They just need the right machines to do it.
The Ascended of the Defiant are resurrected with magical technology, brought back to do battle not by the grace of the Vigil but by the ingenuity of mortal beings experimenting with mighty powers. Alas, the Defiant did not manage to perfect some of their technological marvels until it was almost too late. Fortunately, one of the newest Defiant machines is a device that can cast a character back through time to battle Regulos and save Telara before it is too late. If it works, it will send the Ascended of the Defiant back from the future to save the past.
The people of the Defiant come from three main races:
The Eth are the humans of the southern deserts of Telara and the inventors of the first technomantic machines, which were banned by the Vigil's faithful long ago. The Eth may well be the root of the Defiant movement; it's certainly their name that is associated forever with the faction's magical machines. Yet for all the trouble Eth machines have caused, they may be used for good as well.
Kelari are elves from the lost Kelari Isles. Known as spirit mediums and masters of camouflage, the Kelari follow their own path - they have no love for the High Elves or the Guardians. They're even precarious allies with the Defiant, though their spiritualism is based on eldritch bargains rather than devotion. It's a Defiant kind of spiritualism.
Bahmi come from the Rhaza'de canyons. Descended from air spirits, these strong and clever beings, known for war and crafts, have honed their tall forms to the verge of perfection. Their philosophy of personal improvement meshes well Defiant individualism and the pursuit of excellence.
I settled on a Bahmi for my first Defiant character and created Earanu, a warrior. I wanted someone straightforward, powerful, and direct, and she's it. I also wanted to use the Bahmi's Mighty Leap power to leap into battle.
The early Defiant quests reveal a lot of the faction's philosophy and character. "We make our own reality," said Asha Catari, and that reality is pretty grounded. Sometimes, it's even superficial. "A trainer of warriors should never be pretty," said Bellorus the Marked, a trainer of warriors.
The Defiant are not, in practice, exemplars of individualism and wisdom. Some favor progress over precision. Some are reckless, many are flawed. "Defiants are children awakening powers you do not understand," warned a Death Speaker, harnessed in a Defiant machine, before telling me that we were all "blinded by hubris."
Defiant characters are not without their own extremes, either. As one NPC said to me, an Ascended resurrected with considerable expense, risk, and challenge: "Succeed or do not return." The Defiant turn out to be as complex as the Guardians.
When I play Rift next, it's going to be hard to choose between these two characters. Whoever I play, though, when I return, I intend to succeed.
By Will Hindmarch
