#riannoc

“I do not wish to harm her,” he entreats. “Say I can shape my Dream, Eldest Brother, and I shall at least have your word’s security behind my sculpting hands.”

Truth be told, Trahearne has no idea what will harm their dear Mother and what will not. “Do what you will, but start small,” he advises. “Come to me if you have any hesitations at all, and I will speak with her to guide your path.”

Kahedins clutches his arm with both hands, squeezing in thanks. Trahearne watches him leave, uncertainty nibbling at his vines. But he dismisses himself with a brusque shake of his head—even with all their emptiness, there is no space in Mother’s branches for his doubt. He must lead his fellow sylvari in their endeavors, staying strong and flexible as a young tree no matter the winds that batter it.

“Another crisis averted by your leading hand,” a voice murmurs into his ear. He barely represses a shiver, turning his head to the side.

“Riannoc,” he greets as a hand cups the back of his neck. It is an easy to thing to give in, to taste the warm mouth pressing to his. It still feels new, this, despite them being joined for many months now.

“Eldest amongst us,” his lover returns, just scraping low enough to be teasing. “Have our siblings worn you out yet today?”

The casual regard for his wellbeing makes his heart swell. “Kahedins seeks only a path forward,” Trahearne defends regardless, not entirely knowing why. “If I can assist him, why shouldn’t I?”

Riannoc holds his face, worry in his brilliant eyes. “I do not wish for you to stretch yourself too thinly, dearheart,” he says. “Kahedins—or any of them—can wait until the morrow.”

Trahearne leans into the touch, although he is caught on how to feel about the words. Yes, they can all wait, but they do not have to, if he can help them. Then again, why does his soul yearn so for the rest and care his beloved provides?

“I suppose you’re right,” he acknowledges, perhaps a bit too easily. Riannoc smiles, radiant as the sun.

“Perfect,” he says. “Make no mistake—I harbour no desire to discourage our brother from his pursuits. He has even said he will shape us a house, though the Grove is already our home. Imagine that—privacy. We can do much out of sight from seeking eyes.”

This time his tone is certainly teasing. Trahearne feels himself flush. It is ludicrous how easily this man can summon such a response in him, when his role amongst them all is to retain his composure. Ludicrous, embarrassing, and a little dangerous. Riannoc probably delights in his mysterious ability.

A strong hand winds around his waist and he yelps at it, caught by its grip and surprise. Riannoc grins, his daring spiking the Dream—he has too much, more than enough for both of them and then some—and pulls him close.

“But nothing that cannot be done beneath a shadowed enough canopy,” he says.

“Rian—noc!” Trahearne pushes at him, though his indignation is spiking to something warmer. Riannoc is—he is a lot, sometimes, and he wants… things, other times, perhaps more than Trahearne would want them, but that are nonetheless thrilling. And he has a way of getting what he wants, just as he had gotten Trahearne, and speaking of having Trahearne—

Roza surfaces from the Scrying Pool with a cooling inhale, shaking the water from his head. Well. Never should anyone say that history is boring. Trahearne, seated on the pool’s lip, reaches down to help him out.

“Did all go well? You emerged rather abruptly,” he asks in concern as Roza swings his legs out of the water.

“You were about to start fucking. Thought it might be best to make my exit.”

Trahearne makes a face like he has just stepped in a mountain of griffon shit he somehow hadn’t seen directly underfoot. Roza grins at him, wringing out his braid.

“Not that the show wouldn’t have been entertaining,” he says, “But I have better things to do with my two minutes.”

Trahearne doesn’t even argue that. “Thank you for—by the Tree. There should really be some sort of censor.”

“I could feel everything you were feeling—woo!” Roza fans himself. “You definitely have a type, by the way.”

Trahearne gives him a long-suffering look. Roza chuckles and bends down to his diary on the ground to note his observations. Strong build, slightly above average height, strong grip. Woo. And a twinkle in his eye that he does not think a commemorative statue can capture.

“It is a kind thing you are doing,” he says when he has written all he can remember. “The newborn need guidance now more than ever, in this new chapter of society. Your home will give them a connection to the past that is ever more elusive.”

Trahearne shifts, always uncomfortable in the face of sincere praise. “It was not just my home,” he replies. He looks down. “Is not. He… would not have wanted it to stay empty and purposeless as it has been all these years. To turn it into a place of learning is a connection to our younger generations he never had the chance to form. I think I just did not want to share.”

Roza lays a hand on his arm. “He was very special to you,” he says in a lower voice. “I could tell. The respite he offered to someone in your position must have been so very rare and precious.”

Trahearne looks sad. “It was,” he acknowledges. “We had our disagreements, but… in the moment you just saw, he was mine alone. Then he died and became everyone else’s.”

Roza squeezes his arm. “I am sorry,” he says softly.

Trahearne swallows his sudden grief. What is it, to attack him here? Not just for Riannoc himself, but for every circumstance they were in in those early days. How could they have known how much they would lose? They barely knew how to live, and then they knew how to die.

“Thank you for agreeing to do this in my stead,” he says. “I do not know if I could have… well, you are aware.”

“Of course, darling.” Roza tips his head to the side, a gleam in his eye emerging not unlike one from thirty years past. “Do you want to stop at the Diving Pelican? The Priory?”

“As a consolation prize for knowing you nearly experienced getting skewered by my old lover firsthand?” Trahearne grumbles good-naturedly.

“As a consolation prize for perhaps never getting to do the skewering yourself, hm?” Roza bats his eyelashes. “Although you did not seem to have any issue with that.”

This is what he gets for opening the gates to the wilderness. “Let us away to the Priory,” Trahearne chooses, getting up. “I am taking advantage of your pass to the restricted section.”

“Didn’t seem terribly restricted,” Roza shoots in right before the gates close. Trahearne taps him on the tip of his pointy nose as admonishment.

“Get it out of your system before we get there,” he sighs, resigned. They wave to the gate guards as they near. They salute smartly.

Roza salutes back. “We are heading straight for the erotica,” he bargains without moving his mouth.

“Deal. But no stealing,” Trahearne returns similarly.  

“We’ll see what you say when we get there.”

In Retribution, when the Pact is first formed and we return to Claw Island, of course:

Trahearne: I... I never wanted to be a soldier. I'm only a seeker of truth. But... yes. I will lead this pact to the gates of Arah, and together, we will see Zhaitan destroyed. First, to Claw Island. Let us send our defiant message straight into the heart of Orr: Tyria stands as one!

This mission has some altered dialogue. The current version reads as follows:

Trahearne: All my life, I've watched Orr. Studied it. Researched the abominations that Zhaitan spawns. I have avoided the challenge of my Wyld Hunt. I hid, always claiming I was not yet ready. I did not think Orr could be cleansed. I feared failure. But you're right. It is time to act. We'll either cleanse the land... or return to it.

The old version changes the order of his sentences a bit, but also had these extra lines:

Trahearne: But you're right, my friend. I must lay down the pen and take up the sword. In the end, it's better to fight and lose than never to fight at all.

One question: why now? Why is now the time to act? This isn't explained in the current dialogue, which is supposed to be 'clearer,' but in the old version he says "it's better to fight and lose than enver to fight at all."

Stuff that happens on the continent doesn't necessarily affect Orr, so a grey-morality Trahearne wouldn't necessarily care. But I think he does, and that is why he has chosen to act.

That is the first time he chose to lead the Pact. The second time is after cleansing Orr, and before defeating Zhaitan.

Trahearne: It has been a part of me since I took my first steps, but now my Wyld Hunt is complete. It's time I redefine myself. A rare and unique challenge... but I have the Pact to keep me busy.

Note: at this point, the Pact is just keeping him busy. This is not yet his decision.

When you find him standing by himself on that one airship by Fort Trinity, this conversation occurs:

Commander: Cleansing Orr seemed "impossible," but we did it. With allies like ours, ridding the world of Zhaitan will be tough, but not impossible. Trahearne: Well said. And you can rely on those allies to stand by you to the very end. My Wyld Hunt may be over, but the coalition that we've built will fight on. I hereby pledge the entire Pact and its resources to your task. By the Mother Tree and all who have made the ultimate sacrifice, Zhaitan will fall.

I used to wonder: why is he pledging the Pact now? Hasn't killing Zhaitan been our mission from the start?

But what he's really doing is pledging himself. To your task. "You can rely on those allies [read: himself] to stand by you to the very end."

From there on out, he is not the Marshal of the Pact because he felt he had to, because it had been in the Dream, because it was needed, because everyone he knew was pressuring him, but rather he chose it, for himself, because it was the right thing to do... and because of you, his Commander.

3) His absence in Season 1 and extremely low-key presence in S2.

I've seen people argue that this means he just didn't care. But Anet tried to make S1 spoiler-free and playable no matter where in the story you were. So he couldn't show up as Pact Marshal, but if he also couldn't show up as not Pact Marshal, in case the player did get that far. Different developers at Anet have expressed different understandings or opinions about what timeperiod S1 was set in, while it was in development, and it was only retroactively stated that S1 comes after the PS.

Trahearne's absence in S1 is completely not related to him. There is an explanation shoved in at the very end: Scarlet Briar was not an Elder Dragon and it was not the Pact's place to get involved with her. The Pact was trying not to appear to be Tyria's police, essentially. Now, the Vigil and the Durmand Priory and maybe even the Order of Whispers were all involved on their own, but they were representing their own orders and not the Pact.

I think it's Laranthir who tells you "the people were here." Maybe they weren't officially representing the Pact, but the people who are the Pact were here regardless.

Either way, I regularly make headcanons concerning what ways he was involved in S1, because the only reason he wasn't is because Anet was being weird.

As for S2 - by that point, the hate for Trahearne had set in, and if it caused his death it certainly could cause screentime reduction. Honestly I don't get the S2 argument, because he was around. He was busy with the Pact in Camp Resolve.

An argument could be made that Trahearne seemed to really not care about Glint's egg, contrasted to other NPCs who are all up in arms over Caithe, not to mention Caithe herself.

But Trahearne could easily have ordered the Commander to come with the Pact Fleet. The Commander's support is the only reason he was able to complete his Wyld Hunt and then kill Zhaitan; he knows that. And yet he flew into the jungle to fight an Elder Dragon (and this is only ED #2, guys, Zhaitan could have been pure luck for all we knew) - he went to fight an Elder Dragon without the Commander, because of how important the egg was.

Trahearne expresses himself with less excitement and strong words and more with consistency, dependability, and action. In this case, his action was to let the Commander go, even though we know he desperately wanted the Commander with him. And rather than delay the Pact Fleet further, waiting for the Commander to join (which I think he'd done already, as much as he could), he did the responsible thing and left, trusting the Commander would catch up eventually.

4) His friendship with Sayeh al'Rajihd.

Sayeh: The Marshal is also a solitary creature. He avoids the attention of others, but not mine.

When Trahearne was in Orr by himself, Sayeh was the only person around. He did have friends; Forgal, Sieran, Tybalt, the Master of Whispers, various random people we later recruit to the Pact. But Sayeh was the only one who would've been in and around Orr. His only companion for months on end.

If anything, this is a testament to how lonely and ostracized he was from sylvari society; he actually has very few sylvari friends. Caithe, Sieran, maybe Occam, the smith. Otherwise, he has found his friends among the other races.

But just because he's friends with a largos assassin doesn't mean Trahearne himself has grey morality. At best, he doesn't care what you do. But he certainly cares what he himself does.

5) We NEVER see Trahearne talking bad about anyone. Ever.

Not the people who mock his Wyld Hunt, not the people who completely misunderstand him and think he's some kind of hero, not the people like Canach who dislike the Firstborn just for being the Firstborn.

A good way to tell what kind of person someone is is to see how they treat people they don't like. Insults, curses? Stiff formality? Lack of respect? Disregard for them as people? Fake sweetness? Talking about them behind their back? Even just venting dislike or resentfulness to a friend?

Trahearne doesn't do any of that. He just avoids them. Constantly. He doesn't even talk about them, and we all know Trahearne would talk to us about anything. We don't even know how he handles people he doesn't like because he surrounds himself only with those he does like.

Or, actually, he has this dialogue in Further Into Orr:

Trahearne: In life, Alhazred was said to be a cruel, vicious man. Death will not have improved him.

And another in Romke's Final Voyage.

Trahearne: You there! If you want to survive, help us defend this beachhead. Sharn the Vindictive: Nice try, Mr Fancy Pants, but we only fight for gold. Run for it, boys! Trahearne: Run, you filthy cowards!

And yet, if anything, this does communicate that Trahearne has a sense of right and wrong. Someone with 'grey morality' would understand acting in only your own best self-interest. Instead, Trahearne calls them cowards, and this is quite clearly a bad thing to be, in his eyes.

6) He has a sense of responsibility.

After the Greatest Fear arc, Trahearne has some comforting words for the Commander. For the 'making another suffer' Apatia storyline, he has this to say:

Trahearne: May I have a word, Commander? I know you think you failed Apatia, but I've experienced that kind of failure, and this isn't it. Every decision I make as Marshal of the Pact means people die. That's the burden I've been called to carry. [...] Apatia gave her life to defeat Zhaitan. The best way to honor her is to see that task completed.

(Note: By 'that kind of failure,' I think he was talking about Riannoc.)

He also has this line in Further Into Orr:

Trahearne: Undead quaggan! Zhaitan will use anything that falls prey to his servants.

And then, in the Ossuary of the Unquiet Dead, these lines:

Trahearne: By the Pale Tree, they're stitching that beast together from body parts!

Trahearne: Those urns scattered around the room are steeped in Zhaitan's magic! [...] Smash them. Smash them all! Risen Prince Ellasal: Who dares? This is a sacred place. First to Lyssa, now to Zhaitan. Begone, or you will defile it! Trahearne: You already defiled it when you betrayed Lyssa and desecrated the remains of her followers. (after the fight) Trahearne: Zhaitan's depravity continues to destroy everything it touches. At least now this place is safe. Well done, everyone.

These lines clearly convey that Trahearne has a sense of right and wrong. Notice the emotion in "Smash them. Smash them all!" - it's not enough to tell the Commander once. He adds 'all' and an exclamation mark. He's clearly passionate about this.

Here's a big one: in Against the Corruption, the failed attempt to cleanse Orr:

Trahearne: No! We were so close! By the Pale Tree... it's impossible. All this, all these lives, wasted. All for nothing. [...] Trahearne: You're right, Commander. The Pact stands between Tyria and destruction. We cannot give up. For a moment, I lost my faith.

He's clearly devastated. And part of it is the lives lost.

And now, for the big one that proves that even for those he might not care about so much, who maybe don't care about him at all, but are his people that he is responsible for.

In The Second Vision, while healing Caladbolg:

Commander: Mordremoth was defeated, by my hand and yours. You... sacrificed yourself to save us all. Trahearne: Thank the Pale Tree. I felt such a terrible fear, to see my kin in the thrall of that monster. [...] Commander: You're taking the news of your death well. Trahearne: It's certainly disquieting. If it was the price to defeat Mordremoth, however, I pay it gladly.

Note: he doesn't say Pact soldiers "in the thrall of that monster." He doesn't say those who followed me into Maguuma or those who trusted me. He says "my kin." He means all sylvari.

Even those who mocked his Wyld Hunt once upon a time, even those who didn't like him, even those who were never his friends. Seeing them under Mordremoth's control was awful enough that he didn't mind dying. If this is his mindset now, in the dreamscape, when he cannot remember how he died, it was certainly part of his mindset when he asked you to kill him.