[SP-F14] Remember the Watch <<RGQ>>

[Ashrah 0]

"Taint too many young folk around what cares to hear our tales these days," one of the older, gray haired veterans sat outside his tent chattered. Vanguard sat adjacent to him, head down. "It's nice when someone comes around willing to listen." The NPCs were programmed at length on this floor, specifically to talk about the abandoned Castle Blackwatch and its descent into ruin. There were players with an infinite amount of attention to spare for lore like that-

He just wasn't one of them.

"Time was when the old guard held it strong," the elder said wistfully, and something in his voice drew the armored player's attention. "Why, you could have sent platoon on top of platoon and barely shaken the walls."

There was a war on this floor, one that transcended life and death. The survivors had given up hope, but they still fought out of a grim sense of defiance. The dead continued to take, and the living continued to die. It was a losing battle, but more importantly, it reminded the somber player of his own life.

Fascinated with the brutal irony of it, Vanguard leaned forward and rested his palm on his knee. "The Old Guard fell in the end?"

"Ho ho ho," the veteran winked slyly. "That's what everybody says happened, but there's those of us who know better." The visor fixated on the NPC as he spoke, and Vanguard watched his expression carefully. If that was true, it meant there were things afoot on this floor no one else had explored.

And it meant that he might be able to prompt a quest out of the deal.

"Tell me what really happened," Vanguard instructed, "and what it means."