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For the past two months I’ve been immersing myself in the world of Telara in Trion Worlds’ MMO, Rift. While I definitely enjoyed the setting and the lore, I found myself doing, by force of habit, what I had done in every other MMORPG I have ever played: completely skipping the dialog during quests. I don’t do this in other RPGs, but in MMOs I feel the need to ignore the hundreds of thousands of words I’m offered in favor of running around and skinning wolves or killing Goblins. Because of this, I felt compelled to read the Rift four-part comic book, which has been bundled together into the Telara Chronicles, to help fill in the gaps in story missed by clicking “Next” over and over again. I was not let down.

Telara Chronicles #1-4
Written by Ricard Sanchez
Art by Pop Mhan

The comic’s story begins around the same time as the game does. Asha Catari is jumped by a patrol of Guardians while investigating a large rift into the plane of Life. See, in Rift, a great war (and the use of some forbidden dragon magic) tore the veil that separated the realms asunder, letting the different elemental planes invade Telara as they please. They do this by punching holes between the planes and marching out of Rifts, which, usually, are a one-way road from their world to Telara. This Life rift is different, however, and there are reports of creatures going back in.

None of that matters, though, as after a few pages of story-framing, we’re taken back in time to before the game, before the Defiants, before the Guardians, and before the planar invasions. We’re shown the history of Asha before she was the first Ascended Defiant, and we learn more about the wars that led up to the events of the game, and why there are two factions at each others’ throats during what, for all intents and purposes, is the end of their world.

As a Rift fan, it’s easy to find a million things to love within the pages of the comic. The art is fantastic, using a similar style to the game while still having a look and feel of its own, and the writing is stronger than most tie-ins are. The story really feels like an extension of the events in the game, and fits in extremely well with the canon. Just like in the game, the Guardians come across as ignorant Zealots, while the Defiants look like stark (sometimes brash) realists. It gives fantastic insight into the characters and their motives. With the game’s updates adding large-reaching story content, learning more about the characters is key to enjoying the few cutscenes, and makes the dialogue make sense, even if, you know, you skipped most of it.

The only issue I really had with it was the dropping of the framed narrative. After jumping back in time, we never even come close to catching up, let alone resolving, the plotlines that begin the story. Maybe they’re waiting for the possibility to make more comics, maybe they’re leaving it to the game to implement those stories, or maybe they just thought it wasn’t important, but considering how large of an effect the two-way rift would have on the lore, it’s strange to see it dropped outright.

Regardless, it’s obviously made for one group of people: Rift players. Others might be lost due to the lack of explanation of some of the game’s elements, but it’s a great read for those already interested in the goings-ons in Telara, and tells a story much better than walls of text in the game do. It’s now available in hardcover, and makes a great read while waiting for a group, or in between bouts of slaying ignorant Guardian fools.

The Telara Chronicles is published by DC Comics and is available at your local comic shop now.