Bill Willingham's City of Heroes storyarc a straightforward but nicely detailed story

Screenshot credit:  Cecil Adkins

Paragon Studios' latest addition to the Mission Architect feature in City of Heroes is the Guest Author program. Established authors from various mediums are invited to contribute storyarcs for the enjoyment of City of Heroes players. The following is a review of one of the Guest Author storyarcs.
Bill Willingham has written the Fables comic book for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint for eight years now. It's a quirky look at the lives of classic storybook characters and what happens AFTER "happily ever after." I've been a fan of Fables since its inception, so I was excited to hear that Willingham would be one of the first batch of Guest Authors.

Willingham's arc is titled "Quest for Magic" (arc ID # 337434), and it's the only one of the Guest Author arcs to not feature characters from the author's existing works. The contact for the arc is a young lady named Irena Faust. She's just a normal human being in a world of superheroes, and therein lies her problem: she doesn't want to be normal anymore. She wants you to help her gain super powers so that she can take her place alongside Paragon City's defenders. Since she can't afford high tech or weaponry, and she wasn't born with powers of her own, she's decided to pursue magic. She wants you to retrieve a number of magical artifacts to help her in her quest.

Screenshot credit:  Cecil Adkins

Throughout the arc, most players will probably be thinking, "Is it a good idea to be getting all these ultra powerful artifacts for this seemingly innocent young woman?" Of course it isn't, and the biggest fault of this arc is the obvious plot twist that comes from this. But for me, it didn't taint the arc all that much.
 

First Irena sends you after the Book of Lost Marvels, currently in the possession of the evil Doctor Marrow (no word on whether or not he is related to the psychiatrist from The Haunting). Doctor Marrow has hired a mercenary super group called The Pride to help guard the book. The Pride is a cat-themed super group consisting of custom characters that have appropriate powers and nice flavor text in their bios. During the first part of the mission, you rescue Statesman, the leader of the Freedom Phalanx, who is also here as a favor to Ms. Faust. Turns out he saved her life some time ago and watches out for her. The mission is pretty straightforward; you just need to find the book and then defeat Doctor Marrow. You learn that Doctor Marrow is trying to regain his former glory, but "so far nothing has come of it." You do find a note with locations of two other artifacts that Marrow was looking for.
 

After you take the Book of Lost Marvels to Irena, she asks you to find those other artifacts as well. First up is the Casket of Ancient Days, and Irena wants it to use as a power source for her magical powers. It's being transported to an undisclosed location via cargo vessel, and guarded by an ancient warrior cult known as the Black Legion. The Black Legion bad guys are custom mobs and recolored Cimeroran Traitors led by an immortal vampire. Marcus Londinius, the Black Legion's "vampire Cesar," has a nicely detailed backstory, as do most of the custom characters in this arc. After defeating the vampire, you can go back and collect the Casket of Ancient Days for Irena.

Screenshot credit:  Cecil Adkins

Irena decides that, in addition to offensive spells, which she can get from the Book of Lost Marvels, and the energy source that is the Casket of Ancient Days, she also needs some protective power. She wants you to retrive the Cloak of Protection, another artifact on Doctor Marrow's list. It's being used in some ceremony by the Snakes (of City of Villains fame). The mission entrance pop-up for this mission is quite entertaining. Another straightforward mission, you just need to defeat the Snake leader who was chosen to inherit the Cloak of Protection and then collect the Cloak itself.

After you give the Cloak to Irena, you discover that she's double-crossed you. She was using you all along to gather these items for her so she could use them not for heroic purposes, but for evil. This revelation isn't exactly shocking; most players have probably figured out by now that there was something more to Irena than met the eye. However, another twist happens almost immediately, as Irena's body is possessed by Doctor Marrow!
 

With some help from Azuria (and there's a joke thrown in about Azuria always losing stuff from the MAGI vault), you find where Doctor Marrow/Irena is hiding out and learn that Marrow has captured Statesman, which was one of his goals all along. He wants to absorb the power of Zeus from Statesman, making him unstoppable. You head off to put a stop to his scheme.
 

The final mission is filled with Hydra that are being controlled by Doctor Marrow. You rescue a couple of hostages from the enemy groups you fought earlier in the arc, and these hostages can help you in the fight against the Big Bad. Doctor Marrow/Irena can be tough, depending on your character archetype and build, but the allies you pick up in the mission can be a big help. After defeating Marrow and rescuing Statesman, it's all over and the city is safe. In the end, Irena, now free from Marrow's possession, thanks you for saving her from herself, even though she knows she's going to prison for her deeds.
 

Overall, "Quest for Magic" is a well-written arc with lots of nice details. There's a touch of humor in many places, but it's subtle and doesn't detract from the serious nature of the story. Some players may be disappointed with the lack of complex mission objectives (many Mission Architect storyarc writers have come up with some crazy stuff in the months since the MA was released), as this is a very straightforward arc. The missions and enemies are varied enough that the arc never gets boring, and the backstories and clue text are entertaining to read. Despite the relatively simple mission design and the somewhat obvious plot twist, this is a good arc that's worth a replay or three.