Price of Steel quest

Was this quest available right at the beginning.

What I noticed was my first 2 characters didn't get this quest when they went through the game.

So last night I had someone who had not done mysterious message come with me and then I managed to get Price of Steel by talking to Alani or something in Silverwood.

The Price of Steel quest is gained from Alani after you complete the Mysterious Message quests, and it has always been there, or at least in the last two months when I started playing.

I started playing in Apr when it was launched and somehow I didn't get it.

I also noticed when I played in Apr, my character was not routed directly to Ventari's Refuge from Druid's Overlook if I did the Mysterious Message quest. This seems to be the case now...and also leads to the Price of Steel quest.

This is a new quest, added at the same time as False Gods (Temple of Ages) and Ascalon Settlement (North Kryta Province, just outside Lion's Arch). They were added to award skills that were previously only obtainable from skill trainers; they added one more quest like this shortly afterwards (Caravan in Trouble, Eastern Frontier) along with some pure experience quests from Sardelac Sanatorium and the Fissure of Woe/Underworld.