In the latest installment of our exclusive Rift dev blog series, Defiant Lore Lead Morgan Lockhart gives us a firsthand account of what it truly means to be an Ascended Defiant.

In Rift, players take on the role of a slain Telaran who has been brought back to life to combat the forces of Regulos. Each faction has a different point of view on what it means to be one of the Ascended, and the experts at Trion Worlds have been kind enough to give us an exclusive look at the finer points of Ascension from the perspectives of the Guardians and Defiant.

Last week, Guardian Lore Lead Nick McDowell explained how Ascended Guardians have reached a state of enlightenment. The process is quite different for the opposing faction, as Defiant Lore Lead Morgan Lockhart explains in our latest exclusive Rift dev blog entry.

Keep reading after the jump for a firsthand account of what it truly means to be an Ascended Defiant.

The Machineborn

Account of Acyala Nicolo, Ascended Defiant:

I have no memory of my time in the Soulstream, nor sense of how long I drifted through it. But I do recall with clarity the moment my time there ended. The moment of my Ascension; no miracle of the gods, but a flash of ingenuity in the world’s dying moments. My soul was wrapped in a strange sort of energy, and then tugged at, invited to steal away from complacent dead. This energy drew me back down toward Telara and into the belly of a great machine.

For just a moment, my essence hovered, free floating, and then tendrils of pure Source seeped from the walls of the machine, mapping themselves into the grid of a figure bearing a likeness that was all too familiar. This woman had once borne great power, with the bearing of a High Priestess among the Kelari. I recognized her as the woman I had once been.

Then the pain began. The gridlines began to harden to a physical form; first bones, and then coarse ropes of sinew, and then organs took root and exploded into shape until finally a sheaf of flesh spread to cover the whole of it. Every step hurt beyond description, but I did not cut myself loose from it. I embraced the agony of what I would later know to be my rebirth.

Finally, life returned with a final electric current. Cold breath struck my lungs, my eyes flew open, and a voice said, “Welcome back, friend."