We have a brilliant new feature for our MMORPG.com readers. Called "Chronicles of One Telaran", the column is a series of basic guides and walkthroughs told in a journal fashion by a master storyteller. Chronicles follows the adventures of one man throughout the entire game. First writer Paul Crilley presents the story of Guardian Caedryn. Later, you'll hear the exploits of an as-yet unnamed Defiant. Sit back, relax and enjoy Chronicles of One Telaran: Caedryn Reborn!

Pull up a chair. Gather round and allow me to welcome you to On the Level. My name is Paul Crilley, and I'm a Scottish writer living in South Africa. I write novels, television scripts, and computer games, but here I'll be presenting a weekly series where I put my trusty dwarf warrior Caedryn through his paces in Trion Worlds’ MMORPG, RIFT. I’ll discuss some of the lore of the game, the history of the world it takes place in, plus touch upon some of the quests that will get you leveling up. I’m new to RIFT, but the game itself has been going strong for six months now, (Never let it be said that I’m ahead of the curve. I still have a pile of VHS tapes I can’t bring myself to throw away. Hey, you never know. DVD players the world over might suddenly stop working one day. Then we’ll see who’s laughing. Hint: It will be me.), so even if you’re at level 50 I hope some of the background information I present will make your game-playing a richer experience.

Read more of Paul Crilley's Chronicles of One Telaran: Caedryn Reborn.

cool good read

Fun read! Looking forward to the growing of Your dwarf! Getting to level 2 is a most important stage in every warriors life.

Good job. I really like the story telling. I am looking foward to the next installment.

Awesome. Can't wait to read more from you. That little background to the creation of the world was nice. I'm a lorehor myself and am pretty disappointed that I didn't know this. Great funny way to explain it.

Fun read and I also enjoyed getting to know the lore without having to go thru it ingame which sadly isnt as fun as reading this piece o_O

I love the idea of this, but am not sold on the initial execution. There are a few too many asides breaking up the real content. I fully understand the intention is to personify the text, but it feels slightly overboard with the author's self-commentary (often relating to the real world and not the thoughts of his character). I do give credit for trying something outside of the usual though, kudos.

Good start :)

I was expecting all serious and not humor but you did it right.

The hype sadly doesn't live up the article.  I was expecting a journal of a character, written by the character himself.  Instead I read a few brief paragraphs filled with game references and not a lot of information.  Is there a link to the "master storyteller" part or am I just not seeing it?  I was expecting "Caedryn Reborn" to be an epic journal of the life of a newly ascended dwarf.  Instead I get a brief "I created a character, read a book, left the sanctuary."  Maybe the author didn't know that the header would imply an epic role playingesque journal entry instead of a general information piece.

dude, shouldn't the game itself be presenting it's own story? To find out the GW2 story I won't have to wiki, to find out TOR's story, I won't have to wiki, to find out the story of TSW I won't have to wiki. This is pathetic that we have to read your column to find out Rift's story.

Awesome work! Love the writing.

I just have one piece of feedback...

There were a few glaring errors in the article that I woudn't always expect a writer to catch but should be caught by an editor. Doesn't MMORPG.com have any editors? I know they have a managing editor, but those of us who work as professional writers know that managing editors don't really do anything (except annoy the writers). ;-)

This article gave me more excitement than all the time I spent playing the game. Can I have the past six months back, Trion?

Originally posted by nomss

dude, shouldn't the game itself be presenting it's own story? To find out the GW2 story I won't have to wiki, to find out TOR's story, I won't have to wiki, to find out the story of TSW I won't have to wiki. This is pathetic that we have to read your column to find out Rift's story.

 

Funny I got all this off of Rift's actual site not a wiki http://www.riftgame.com/en/world/history/ .  Plus in the very early part of the game they even have nice CG videos telling the story.  So I am not sure what your complaint is.

Paul Crilley, nice write up.  I look forward to your further adventures.

Sadly the story is a hundred times more exciting and "re-playable" than the game.

OMG NO WAY!!!!!!!

CALL THE PRESSES!!!!

Not too long ago me and a female friend decided to create characters on a Role-play shard. we created two dwarfs, built our own backstory and even created custom chat emotes.

It was the most staisfying experience I ever had in Rift, going along with my story, interacting with her and using the world of telara as our stage. I only got to around level 20 with her before she stopped playing for RL reasons but those twnety levels lasted for months.

Reading this article reminded me of that so thank you.

Almost makes me want to roll on a RP-shard again.

Wow great article...I normally don't post on this website but i do give credit when credit is due, great job...MMORPG.COM you found a good guy here...Thanks

i wish the actual game was a quarter as enjoyable as reading this was.

why are people like the author not hired to write and develope mmo's? its always either people with money any no souls, or the game programmers who cram together the same boring lore and background for these games.  all mmo's would prosper from real writers being employed.  just sayin

This was a great read.  I have a level 45 and a level 25 and I wasn't even aware of the full story because I mostly PVP and gather for crafting.

I just want to mention that I love the writing style.  It is far more entertaining than I typically see online.  I thought the description of the lesser gods waking up and wondering what is for breakfast was particularly amusing.  I pictured them yawning and scratching themselves and putting on a pot of coffee.

Well done.  I'll keep an eye out for the next article.