Guild Wars Nightfall - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

The player's character is recruited as a junior officer in Elona's independent guardian force, the Order of the Sunspears- they are led by their Spearmarshal, Kormir. The player quickly earns respect and rank in the Sunspears dealing with unusual occurrences around Istan, where the headquarters of the Sunspears is located.

The strange deaths of a dig team excavating a long abandoned city, information about an event called Nightfall and its ties to the return of a forgotten fallen god, Abaddon, start to cause concern for the Sunspears. Evidence builds that a delegation from the nation of Kourna, which is conveniently visiting the Sunspears, are behind these unusual happenings. When the Kournan General, Kahyet, attempts to strike a deal with the corsairs harassing Istan, the Sunspears intervene. Kahyet is killed, plunging cautious relations with Kourna into strife. During a hearing with the elder council, Kormir - who had temporarily left in order to seek allies in Cantha and Tyria - returns, citing that similar occurrences have happened elsewhere.

Realizing the danger in the activities of Warmarshal Varesh Ossa (the current Kournan leader), Kormir convinces the Istan council to cease diplomatic talks and instead start civil war to prevent Varesh from bringing about Nightfall.

Rallying the troops the Sunspears sail from Istan to Gandara, the largest fortress in Kourna and Varesh's seat of power, to confront Varesh and bring her to justice. Upon breaking through their heavy defenses, Varesh plays her trump card, summoning the demons of Abaddon which rout the Sunspear troops. Kormir is left for dead as the remaining Sunspears flee through Kourna province.

The character establishes a hidden base of operations in Kourna, rescuing Sunspear prisoners including the now-blind Kormir from the Kournan forces, freeing the region's local centaur tribe, and preventing one of Abaddon's demons from corrupting Kourna's water supply. However these are only stalling tactics as through Varesh's rites Nightfall continues to come closer. With the help of agents from a mysterious Elonian organization called the Order of Whispers, the Sunspears travel to Vabbi to convince the three Princes of the region that Varesh represents a threat to all of Elona. The task proves difficult, as they all believe her intruding forces will protect them from both the Sunspears and other natural threats to Vabbi.

They are ultimately convinced of Varesh's treachery as her forces destroy a nearby temple. Although the princes use the power of Djinn in conjunction with help from the Order of Whispers to protect their people, she has already summoned Abaddon's demons, the Margonites, to fight alongside her own military. The Sunspear's best efforts seem to simply stall the inevitable, as the signs of Abaddon's coming begin to appear throughout Elona. After a Chaos Rift appears and sucks Kormir into the Realm of Torment, a part of the Underworld where only the most wicked souls go, the Sunspears decide they must pursue Varesh into The Desolation to stop her from completing the rites to return Abaddon to the world.

To pursue Varesh to the northern part of The Desolation, where Abaddon's link to the world is the strongest, the players release the undead lord Palawa Joko, a tyrant who at one point waged war against Elona. He reveals to the Sunspears that the only way to traverse the sulfurous wastes is to tame the Junundu - giant desert wurms, one of the few creatures in Elona that can survive the toxic atmosphere. Unlikely an ally as he is, it is he who aids the Sunspears in crossing The Desolation.

The heroes eventually reach Varesh, who is just about to open a rift to the Realm of Torment, and kill her. Unfortunately, it is too late, as the boundaries between both worlds are weak enough to be breached. The only option is to head into the Realm of Torment itself, find Kormir and face the God of Secrets face-to-face. The players cut off the Margonite source of power, the River of Souls, and discover that Abaddon is seeking aid from Dhuum, the god of death before the current god Grenth overthrew him, and Menzies, half-brother to the god Balthazar. They also discover that two of Abaddon's main generals are none other than the Undead Lich and Shiro Tagachi, the primary antagonists from the previous campaigns.

Battling through Titans and Shiro'ken, the players reach the Temple of the Six Gods, a part of the world taken to the Realm of Torment when Abaddon was imprisoned by the five other gods. Before the heroes can ask for the help of the Gods to defeat Abaddon, they must defeat Abaddon's generals, Shiro and the Lich who defend the Temple. After defeating them, Kormir and the players request assistance. Avatars of the Gods appear to say they will not help but to take their blessing "already within the heart of each human". The Sunspears must face and defeat Abaddon alone.

In the final battle, Abaddon is breaking free from the bindings holding him to the Realm of Torment. The Sunspears renew his bindings long enough to inflict enough damage to defeat him. When defeated Abaddon's power grows out of control and his Realm of Torment threatens to merge with Elona causing Nightfall without him. Thinking quickly, Spearmarshal Kormir sacrifices herself by running into the mouth of Abaddon, hoping to control or stop his energies. Kormir is successful and takes the dying God of Secrets' power and is reborn as the Goddess of Truth. Kormir then sets about undoing the damage done to the world by her predecessor.

The player may return to the Chantry of Secrets, base of operations for the Order of Whispers and enter the Domain of Anguish.