Three organizations dedicated to combating the threat of the Elder Dragons. The Durmand Priory are scholars who hope to uncover a key to victory in ancient knowledge; the secretive Order of Whispers aims to keep peace from the shadows; and the armies of the Vigil battle the minions of the Dragons wherever they may arise. Player characters join one of the Orders as part of their personal story, but eventually come to conclusion that they need to work together if Tyria hopes to survive. To that end, they unite and form the Pact.
Tropes applying to all of them:
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: The player character is paired with a more experienced member of their Order to guide them as they learn the ropes. Said mentor will pull a Heroic Sacrifice during the Battle of Claw Island, holding off hordes of Risen so that you can escape with your allies.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Whenever their representatives cross paths, they tend to spend precious time butting heads and belittling each others' preferred methods - this even extends to their leaders. Zhaitan's attack on Claw Island serves as a wake-up call that the Elder Dragons will destroy Tyria unless they put their petty squabbles aside and fight as one.
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The Durmand Priory
Sieran
An Elementalist with the Durmand Priory, she acts as your mentor through the Priory's story branch. Cheerful, energetic, and always ready for any kind of adventure, she'll drag the player with her through anything she deems interesting enough to look into.
- Adventurer Archaeologist: While some members of the Priory fuddle about with things like research, study, or even just storing artifacts, Sieran brings a fresh recruit through an abandoned dwarf tomb, jury-rigs a containment device from old unused historical artifacts, and royally pisses off her superior.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite her childish energy, curiosity, and recklessness, she's an absolutely brilliant scholar and mage who always manages to make amazing discoveries and inventions, much to her superior's eternal frustration.
- Catchphrase: She always says a cheerful "Cherry!" whenever she gets happy or excited.
- Ditzy Genius: Magister Sieran is highly intelligent, as her high rank in the Priory would suggest. She's also capable of being a complete airhead.
- Genki Girl: Her natural curiosity and enthusiasm as a Sylvari about the world around her makes her an excellent fit for being a Priory explorer, not to mention how excited any kind of discovery makes her.
The Order of Whispers
Lightbringer Tybalt Leftpaw
He is a charr engineer and the NPC partner if the player chooses to join the Order of Whispers. He actually never has been on a field mission, and the player's first mission with him is his first as well.
- Artificial Limbs: His right arm is a prosthetic. It's the reason why he doesn't do field duty until the player comes in.
- Cowardly Lion: Cowardly Charr: Due to his missing arm, he suffers from serious self-esteem issues and doesn't really think he's got it in him to make a good field agent. All things considered, he's still pretty badass and cunning when it counts.
- Disguised in Drag: Disguises as a human female to lure a pirate captain. Hilarity Ensues.
- Living Emotional Crutch: The player character ends as this for him.
- My Greatest Failure: The explosion that mangled his right arm also killed most or all of his original warband, resulting in him being kicked out and becoming a gladia until he joined the Order of Whispers.
- Sad Clown: His goofy sense of humor belies the fact that he doesn't have a whole lot of confidence in himself.
- Survivor's Guilt
- Trademark Favorite Food: Apples. In fact, he's so fond of apples that he pretends to be an apple seller in his first meeting with the player, disguises traps as barrels of apples and uses apples as a password. As a Mist Champion in Stronghold, his skills are all apple-themed.
The Vigil
Almorra Soulkeeper
Founder and leader of the Vigil. Her warband was Branded by the awakening of Kralkattorik, forcing her to kill them to defend herself.
- Four-Star Badass
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic
- Killed Offscreen: The Commander finds her corpse in the first episode of the Icebrood Saga. Visions of the Past reveals that despite being exhausted by fights with the Svanir and Ryland, she still defiantly told Bangar where he could shove his We Can Rule Together offer, and he killed her in a rage as a result.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
- Offing the Offspring: She doesn't do it herself, but she does approve of Forgal and the player character having to kill her Renegade son - Ajax Anvilburn - out of necessity.
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Sole Survivor: Of her warband, from when Kralkatorrik flew over the cavern they were patrolling.
- Working with the Ex: She and Bangar were an item in the past, with Ajax being their son. Despite diametrically opposing views having made them extremely bitter towards each other, they at least tried to hold up a veneer of civility until he killed her.
Laranthir of the Wild
A secondborn Sylvari, Grand Warmaster of the Vigil, and the current leader of the Pale Reavers. Laranthir has been a very prominent and visible member of the Pact since its inception.
- Frontline General: Although he's a very high rank in both the Vigil and the Pact, he's more commonly seen out in the field than anywhere else.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: He explains in the Vigil Keep that, since he's been unsuccessful in finding love, he would instead serve the Vigil as if it were his beloved.Laranthir: You're very lucky to have this opportunity. Adventure, travel... love. Would that I could find the same.
- Put on a Bus: Despite being Almorra's chosen successor, he's nowhere to be found during the Icebrood Saga. Jhavi makes a point of how she hasn't been able to reach him and she's worried about her interim position becoming permanent.
- You Are in Command Now: He's the one calling the shots when the Dragon's Stand Meta event is going on, partially because most of the Pact leadership at that point are either dead or MIA. The Commander also assigns him to lead the Pale Reavers this way.
- He is also slated to take command of the Vigil in the event of General Soulkeeper's death. In light of Almorra's death, he will presumably take command of the Vigil.
Forgal Kernsson
A Warmaster of the Vigil; he accompanies you during your first mission as a Recruit in the order, and subsequently requests to be your mentor throughout your service.
- Dual Wielding: Seen wielding a pair of axes in your introduction to the Vigil. He never does this in the game proper; instead he wields a sword and a warhorn.
- Fantastic Racism: He's not fond of the Skritt, as can be seen in the Skritt Recruitment mission. He gets better about it at the end of it, though.
- Grumpy Old Man: On occasion.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Stays behind at the Battle of Claw Island to give the player character time to escape with the remnants of the Lionguard, and to earn a heroic death that will be remembered in song and story.
- I Am X, Son of Y: "I am Forgal, son of Kern! My father was the last Dolyak Shaman! I am a Warmaster of the Vigil! You will never make me kneel!"
- Like a Son to Me: Or daughter. This is how he ends up feeling about the player character, should they have chosen the Vigil as their order.
- Sole Survivor: Revealed to have lost his entire family - and therefore, his chance to get his legend passed on. The player becomes his substitute for them, should they have chosen the Vigil as their order.
- You Shall Not Pass!: At Claw Island.
The Pact
Trahearne
A Firstborn, Necromancer, and Warden of the Grove. His Wyld Hunt is to cure the land of Orr from its corruption by the Elder Dragons, a task he believes he cannot see through. Sylvari characters may encounter him in various scenarios within their racial storyline.
Regardless of race, all characters will eventually make Trahearne's acquaintance and have him join them as their traveling companion after their order's mentor dies gloriously at the Battle of Claw Island, buying time for the player character to escape with the remnants of the Lionguard garrison. In one of the following personal-story events, the character and Trahearne go on a vision quest into the heart of Orr, mentored by the Avatar of the Pale Tree. As the pair journey through this dream of Orr, they encounter visions of a united Pact of the three Tyrian orders, led by Trahearne. To encourage him to make this dream become reality, the Pale Tree gives Trahearne the legendary Sylvari blade Caladbolg.
- Badass Boast: Delivers one during a post-Claw Island story mission, after one of Zhaitan's higher-powered minions traps him and the Commander.I was born to undo your master's work. If I must kill you to achieve that, so be it.
- Badass Bookworm: A studious Valiant who spent his life studying the history of Orr, while also using his knowledge to help cleanse the land as leader of the Pact.
- BFS: Is given the greatsword Caladbolg by the Pale Tree.
- Big Good: As the leader of the Pact, he's in charge of the war effort against Zhaitan and is responsible for beginning the cleansing of Orr.
- Chekhov's Gunman: For sylvari player characters, who meet him at a relatively early point in the personal story.
- Cool Sword: Caladbolg.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Being a necromancer doesn't stop him from being one of the kindest and most heroic characters in the game.
- The Determinator: Pretty much required for a Pact Marshal, though in particular resisting Mordremoth for an unspecified amount of time note and providing an opportunity to kill it, despite being imprisoned at the Dragon's heart at the time.
- Distressed Dude: After his capture by Mordremoth.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Begs the Commander to kill him so the last seed of Mordremoth, implanted in his mind, can be destroyed.
- Heroic Willpower: Only the strong-willed sylvari could resist Mordremoth's call. The fact that he wasn't fully transformed like Faolain was when we finally catch up to him speaks volumes to his character.
- Honorary True Companion: Shares a bond with the Commander, but does not join them on missions outside the Pact.
- Leitmotif: The instrumental version of 'Fear Not This Night'. It plays when he cleanses Orr and, tragically, when he asks for Caladbolg to be brought to him, so he can be killed.
- Magic Knight: After being given Caladbolg.
- Necromancer: The most prominent Necromancer you come across in the personal story.
- Nice Guy: He's one of the most consistently friendly characters in the game, supportive of and helpful to the Commander. So much that one of the biggest clues that something's not right in one possible story mission is that "Trahearne" is being uncharacterically rude against the Commander.
- Phlebotinum Rebel: Being corrupted by Mordremoth allows Trahearne to provide the Commander with a means of defeating the Elder Dragon.
- Reforged into a Minion: Though he keeps his own mind until the very end, when the Commander finds him, he is partially transformed.
- The Stoic: He's very soft-spoken.
