In issue #9 of Traversing Telara, Valnyr quells a hostile takeover of Quicksilver College, while Anmar explores the history of Meridian

Traversing Telara is an exclusive series of articles from Trion Worlds that explores Rift's lore and gameplay mechanics through the eyes of one intrepid adventurer. It's a great read and a fantastic introduction to the world of Telara. Even if you're a veteran of Rift, you might enjoy hearing about the game from another perspective! Read on for Traversing Telara #9: Quicksilver and Meridian!

Catch up on all the past issues of Traversing Telara here!

Guardian

After last week's battles with Water Rifts, this week finds me in the calm, pleasant surroundings of Quicksilver College, just outside Argent Glade. Quicksilver College is the predominant seat of learning for the Ascended. A college that teaches mages everything they need to know. It is watched over by Elven masters, (which is no surprise, as the college only exists because the High Elves gave the Mathosians permission to build it in their forest.)

The first thing I do is seek out a trainer. I notice a small, downward-pointing arrow by an elemental pet. It seems he is lagging behind me in the level department. A quick bit of training (and a lighter purse), and he is back on par again, ready to crush our enemies beneath his rocky fists.

I speak to one of the lecturers, Jerome Drift. His students have been leaving all his books and scrolls lying around the college and he wants me to collect them for him. This might seem like a petty quest, but he tells me it's urgent. He needs the tomes on fire magic so he can learn how better to fight the Wanton cult that is rampaging throughout Silverwood.

I dutifully run around the college, collecting his books for him. But when I pick up one of the tomes of fire, an Imp trickster appears out of nowhere and attacks. I dispatch him quickly enough, but the same thing happens with the other books as well. When I return to Jerome and tell him what happened, he is not happy. He says it couldn't have been the students who left the books lying around. They must have been left there by the Wanton to kill the students. Which means Quicksilver College has been infiltrated.

Jerome next wants me to search for the Infiltrators and dispatch them. I find them hiding away in old barrels, and once I've gotten rid of them that leaves their leader, Firelord Smolder. I track him down and find a couple of "students" guarding his brazier. The students turn out to be Imps in disguise, and I soon dispatch all three of them.

Jerome is very happy with me. He thinks they were there to burn down the entire college. He gives me a Scorcher's Staff as a reward. It increases my Intelligence by 6, my Wisdom by 3 and my Endurance by 2. It also says Spell power +59. I'm not sure if that will speed up spell casting times or not, but it will be nice if it does, because it means I can get those fireballs off much faster.

It's time for me to leave Quicksilver College for the moment. There are some huge spiders nearby I've been asked to kill. Then after that, hopefully on to Sanctum.

Defiant

Today Anmar finally arrived at Meridian. And it is truly a sight to behold. I've spend ages wandering around and I still haven't spoken to everyone yet. The library itself is a treasure trove of lore on the history of the world and its people. I could spend a few hours in here reading up on them.

Sandstone buildings tower into the sky. Some of them are crowned with glowing; technomagic machinery and others are topped with Arabian-like minarets. The central plaza is huge, encircled by sturdy walls and buildings before opening into the main part of the city.

The history of Meridian is a bit strange, cloaked in secrets and betrayals. The location it sits on used to be held by the Abyssal dragon cult. But one of the top people in the cult, a mysterious figure known as The Faceless Man, betrayed his people. He approached the Guardians Orphiel Farwind and Asha Catari with an offer. If they promised him immunity and gave him a place with the Defiant faction, he would hand Meridian over to them. Orphiel Farwind and Asha Catari agreed, and The Faceless Man opened the gates, allowing the Defiant to charge in and defeat the Abyssal. The Guardians destroyed what was there and built Meridian on top of the remains.

In the first courtyard are many Defiant technicians taking part in their experiments. This area seems to be a free-for-all, where these people can play around with their technomagic and see what kind of results they can come up with. The second courtyard is dominated by a huge portal, the means of traveling across the vast distances of Telara. I speak to the portal master and bind my soul to the portcullum. Now I can travel back to Meridian whenever I come across a portal in my travels.

Next is a shaded balcony covered with stalls where you can buy and sell your stuff. I take a brief look around the Command Center and spot Asha Catari directing some of her troops. Next up is Orphiel's Spire. This is the library I was talking about. It's so tall that they have actually set up a mini-portal inside to take visitors up through the various levels. I climb all the way to the top and find myself face to face with Orphiel Farwind himself, the leader of the Defiant.

Exploring is great fun, but I need some quests to level up, so I head back outside again. Just to the right of the city I spot a Defiant camp and make my way over. It seems that this is where Jakub has been directing his forces from and I'm the one who has to take care of him. Sounds like fun. I'll get right on that.

Written by Paul Crilley