Almuten Mansion

One of my favorite places in the game is a rather out-of-the-way house called Almuten Mansion in Gendarran Fields.

At first glance you notice two themes: a cool-looking mansion and a rather bland renown heart asking you to clean up the house. If you are unfamiliar with renowns, these are extremely different from dynamic events, and instead are basically your standard run of the mill quests with the reward of permanently unlocking a vendor offering you decent upgrades. However, as I completed the arguably “boring” quest, I slowly became attached to the place.

What I really began to feel was the complexity of the emotions and storyline of the household. The pretentious asura owners, the eager little golem-butler, the over-worked servants, the salty uncle, the heroic Norn bodyguard Tholaun, and of course the absolutely, adorable Mipp. Mipp is the daughter of the owners, and shows the kindness that her parents so desperately lack. She is really the only small joy to be found in that giant, sprawling mansion.

As I began to clean up spills around the lavishly covered floors, I fell in love with that gorgeous little asura. I had nearly completed the renown, when suddenly a dynamic event started. Pirates broke in and began killing the guards and stealing valuables around the house. Mipp and her parents were transported in the corner of the basement by the bodyguard Tholaun, and I struck up a position attempting to stop the bandits from pouring in. This event was a little overtuned, at least for a single player, but God did I have fun. I was simply overwhelmed by the numbers of pirates, and kept aggroing far too many. I couldn’t even save the guards or gain enough time to resurrect them, and I began fighting for my life. I tried using the environment as an advantage, ducking behind hallways or pillar to line of sight my enemies, but I was slowly pushed back from the entrance. Wave after wave pushed offensively against the house, and I fell under their oppressive weight. When I resurrected and ran back, the valuables were stolen, Tholaun downed, and worst of all, precious Mipp was taken. For the first time in Guild Wars 2, I failed an event. Not only that, but I failed adorable, little Mipp. I vowed my revenge.

I began to resurrect Tholaun and once up, triggered another event. Tholaun, having lost his beloved Mipp, began running off to rescue her from the pirates. I ran after him, and along the way we picked up a couple of other players. At the end of the day, we fought long and hard, and eventually saved the day. We returned Mipp to her parents, and I actually was moved by the dialogue between Tholaun and Mipp.

What started out mundane ended up being a wildly, thrilling ride with a complex, multi-layered storyline woven in. From my point of view, dynamic events really have made the world of Tyria seem alive and offers the opportunity to actually become attached to the NPC’s around you. A feat, to be frank, no other MMO has managed to pull off.


(Image above adapted from guildwars2gossip.blogspot.com)