Sitting back and enjoying my coffee…….alright, so it’s hot and I’m mad to be drinking coffee in this heat! Hello! I’m drinking it in front of the fan!!…….and it suddenly dawned on me that GW2 is not just about dynamic events and WvWvW and heart deeds, but it’s also about the characters themselves. As there is so much to do in GW2 I think we tend to forget that it’s really all about the ‘people‘ . We, the players, have quite a job on our hands.
An aspect that quite intrigues me is when I think about the 3 orders and their role in GW2. The Durmand Priory, the Vigil and the Order of Whispers. Now according to sources:
The Durmand Priory
The Durmand Priory was established in 1105AE by scholars dedicated to protecting the knowledge and lore. They hoped that they would find some hidden text that would help them uncover the secret of the Elder Dragons and how they could defeat them. The scholars also contributed to the New Krytan alphabet. A language that all races could communicate with.
The Order of Whispers. This was a secret and ancient Elonian society. It’s members were thieves, spies and agents working along an extensive network throughout Tyria in the hope that one day they could defeat the Elder Dragons.
The Vigil was founded in 1320AE after the Dragonbrand. The Vigil’s founder and leader was the charr Almorra Soulkeeper. She survived the Dragonbrand, the deep scar in the charr homelands caused by Kralkatorrik. This order was a military one dedicated to defeating the Elder Dragons through force of arms. They believed that the only way to defeat the Elder Dragons was if all the races of Tyria were united.
So I wonder. How do these orders play out in the personal stories? I know that eventually we have to choose which order we’re going to belong to as we progress along our personal storyline, but I am extremely curious to see how it’s all going to develop.
Yet again I am knocked over by the depth of lore in GW2. Turn a corner and the lore just leaps out. It’s interesting to see how all these strings tie up together to form one cohesive history……….and now I sound like a university professor!!
Well, I think I know which order I’m going to join. Are you ready to take the order?
Vigil Castle in the Shiverpeak Mountains
Selir Wildspirit 
I have a strong personal affinity for the Durmand Priory, and most of my army of alts will join it, however, it’s possible that at least one of my characters will enlist in the Vigil and the Order each, although likely won’t get to either of those very early on.
It seems likely that the majority of my time will be spent on a sylvari necro and an asura engineer – at least initially, and both of those will likely be members of the Priory.
I’ve actually tried to join the Durmand Priory during the BWEs but, was told I needed “more worldly experience” to become a member (not sure if it was just not enabled for the BWEs, or if you really do need to be quite high level before joining.)
However, even without being able to join, I was still able to learn a great deal about the organizations from speaking with NPCs associated with them, and in the case of the Priory, there were books I found at various libraries maintained by the Priory which provided some historic background information.
Perhaps it was just because I was looking for them specifically but, it “seemed” like I was able to find Priory expeditions and dig sites in every map in the BWEs. Some of the NPC conversations at those locations were quite intriguing to me.
The whole “feeling” of the Priory is very reminiscent a mix of the Indiana Jones stories and the Da Vinci Code… being able to experience that along with the fantastic setting and lore of Tyria – combined with the awesome combat of the game – makes for an intoxicating and exhilarating mix.
I do like the idea of the Priory, but will probably chose The Vigil for my norn ranger. I do intend to eventually fill all 5 slots and am sure one of my alts will join the Priory. I’m not sure if it will be my necro or ele. What I do know is that the mere idea of having all these choices available just tickles me pink.
The Durmand Priory is sort of what I wanted from choosing Scholar in LOTRO but that never really panned out. I’m sure at least one of my alts will join but I have a really strong feeling for The Vigil and I can just see my Charr engineer joining that one 😀
That’s what I thought on reading about The Durmand Priory and I mean, we’re probably all going to try out all the races, so why not the three orders. I want to check out and play EVERYTHING in GW2! 😀