WARNING: Midnight spoilers in this post!
Harandar Main Story Quests
During our time in Harandar with Orweyna, we meet the haranir elder Hagar. Unlike her fellow elders, she is willing to help Orweyna and the player against the ongoing Lightbloom threat, and guides us through Harandar to do so.
Along the way, she and Orweyna have a conversation revealing that she was the Rootwarden for Teldrassil prior to its destruction at the hands of the Horde. Because of her failure to save the World Tree, she now understands the value of keeping the surface world safe as much as their home in Harandar.
Orweyna says: It is not like you to avoid conflict.
Orweyna says: Have your fangs dulled since I was gone?
Hagar says: Don't test me little sprout. I know when to roar and when to wait.
Hagar says: I could have pitted my pride against Ruia, but alone what good would it do?
Orweyna says: You are as strong as any.
Hagar says: First you left, then the roots of Teldrasil burned. Now the elders barely consider me one of them.
Orweyna says: Should I not have heeded the goddess's call?
Hagar says: You did what needed to be done. I have always told you to trust your instincts.
Hagar says: All I ask is that you trust mine. We must regain their faith in you.
Hagar says: And know that I will always defend you, even if you do not see.
Later on in the story, we journey to her home village of Har'mara, nestled underneath the still-smoldering roots of Teldrassil. There, Hagar has established a haven of peace between the rutaani and fungarians, two plant races that war against each other in other areas of Harandar.
The ongoing threat pertains to the Lightbloom, and we end up saving both Har'mara and the roots of Teldrassil from it as it attempts to spread through the village. Our story then takes us elsewhere in Harandar, but the story of Hagar and Teldrassil does not end there.
Hagar's Side Questline
In the wake of the main story in Harandar, we can return to Har'mara to find Hagar with a request. As the former Rootwarden of Teldrassil, she failed to save it from burning and now seeks to try to heal its roots.
First, Hagar sends us to fend off the encroaching wildlife that might damage the roots. Once the area is safe, she tasks us with retrieving the reagents for a healing salve from the local fen stalkers to apply to the roots.
Hagar says: Thank you for joining me, champion. Here, I honor Teldrassil.
Hagar says: There are many hungry creatures that would like to feast on the exposed roots here.
Hagar says: Keeping what remains of Teldrassil safe is the priority. Who knows which roots may be able to be saved?
Hagar says: I don't want anything that may hurt the roots nearby, champion.
Hagar says: My hope is we may be able to help restore what life is in the roots.
Hagar says: Sometimes hope is all we have.
Hagar says: Thank you for helping me in this, champion.
Before we can apply the healing salve, however, Hagar notices smoke rising in the distance -- the roots of Teldrassil still burn all these years later, periodically lighting ablaze and undoing much of Hagar's work. While Hagar prepares the salve, we go and douse the flames across the roots.
Hagar says: Go quickly, champion. There is nothing more important to me than keeping those flames at bay!
Hagar says: The flames will be back, but we must always extinguish them.
Once all the threats to the roots are settled, we begin to apply the healing salve to the roots at Hagar's altar. While the task is piecemeal and will take many years to see results, Hagar holds hope that the World Tree she failed to save will one day heal.
Hagar says: I do not know what losses you have experienced, or what pain you carry.
Hagar says: Being Rootwarden was the proudest part of my life, my greatest joy.
Hagar says: I will always wish I had known of the threat to Teldrassil, and acted differently.
Hagar says: But I will never give up hope that, through my work, it may be restored one day.
Hagar says: Champion, I cannot know if any of this may lead to the growth I hope for--or if any part Teldrassil is still alive, or could be again.
Hagar says: But today, you've at least helped me to keep my hope alive. And that, in itself, is meaningful.
Hagar says: I remain grateful for your help, champion. I will continue my daily work here, to see what may be possible.
In addition to the quest, Hagar also has quite a bit of optional dialogue pertaining to her role as Rootwarden and her feelings towards Teldrassil.
Do you blame yourself for what happened to Teldrassil?
How could I not, champion? I was the Rootwarden. Teldrassil was mine to watch over--my responsibility.
I've told myself countless times that I couldn't be expected to know the threat above the roots--that no one knew or expected what happened. And I know that is true, in a way.
But I also, as Rootwarden, was to devote myself to Teldrassil entirely. The tree should not have burned while I still had breath.
What's been most difficult about all of this?
The silence, champion. Teldrassil did not "speak" to me. But I heard her voice, like one hears nature around them. We are speaking now, but I hear the nearby stalkers, and the rippling of the stream around us.
Teldrassil was like that, yet moreso--always woven into my thoughts. For many years, then nothing.
<Continue listening.>
But worse than the silence is the knowing. The certainty that silence is all I will ever experience.
It feels very much like being afraid. But fear is about what could happen--what you hope does not happen. Teldrassil is gone, and I shall never...
That... "knowing" is a greater burden than I can express.
Why do you refer to Teldrassil as "her?"
It may seem odd. But for years, Teldrassil was everything to me. And since the burning, I have been haunted by her loss.
When your life is dedicated to one thing--especially something as great and full of life as Teldrassil--"it" does not seem like a sufficient word.
What do you hope to achieve with these roots?
Everything possible, champion--whatever that may be.
Perhaps some of these roots can be saved. Perhaps roots can grow again into a great tree. Such a tree might retain some essence of what I dedicated my life to.
Perhaps nothing except the freedom to die one day, knowing I tried all I could.
Where were you when Teldrassil was attacked?
I was at the Den with the other Rootwardens when...
<Hagar pauses before continuing.>
Others saw smoke and sent for me. The only light at Har'mara was from the burning roots above.
They were the last to catch fire--the tree was already gone.
How do you deal with your pain?
Seeing such greatness consumed by fire... was unspeakably painful. But the pain wasn't the hardest thing. And time has dulled its edge. The hardest part for me, champion, was the loss of my life's purpose. As Rootwarden, I knew what I lived for, and what I was willing to die for.
With Teldrassil gone... the void of purpose and meaning was a more difficult thing than I could have imagined. Helping the young haranir and others at Har'mara has become a greater focus for me. That has kept me from being overwhelmed by grief.
How do you find hope each day?
There are days I feel--or even hope--Teldrassil with one day grow again, champion. They are not often. Most days, I have no way to know. No reason to hope.
My only certainty is, if I give up, Teldrassil with only exist in my fading memories and dreams. I can't...
So I work for hope, even on the days I feel none.
Haranir Allied Race Quests
At the end of the main story for Harandar, some of the haranir join Hagar to go against their peoples' isolationist ideals and journey to the surface world to help us in Eversong Woods. In the wake of this, some young haranir now begin to journey out into the world on their own to pursue the voice of their goddess.
In a conversation with Hagar in Har'mara, now the haranir starting zone, she explains to new haranir players the impetus for her role in this. Just like the roots of Teldrassil, she sees how the haranir have overcome their hardships in Harandar, and she hopes to pass her experiences on to the next generation as they leave for the world.
Welcome, young one.
It is a grand day of most importance for you -- A coming of age where you will take your place in our society and help maintain our traditions as we follow the path of the Goddess' will.
What is this place?
This humble hut? I chose this structure, the center of Har'mara's community, to be close to the roots of the mighty Teldrassil. From its very creation, that world tree, and its roots, have been through hardships of pain and trauma. Despite this, the roots are strong and willing to live on.
I look outside and think on our people's hardships on our journey to Harandar. They left behind many blessings/ Many of them perished on the way here. And then the madness.
Yet we are still here, strong, as our traditions are strong, giving us our identity.
As for Teldrassil, the roots will heal in time, as will the entire world.
