Guild Wars 2

Soo they try to build on southsun and cause the Karka attacks, then conveniently the dredge and flame legion attack the north, sending refugees all over the place and in steps the nice consortium building a haven for then on SOUTHSUN out of the goodness of their hearts. I’m not buying it, i’m sure there’s a thread somewhere in here that addressed this already because I highly doubt i’m the only one who noticed this. But if not there are my thoughts on what’s going on. I think they’re trying to make a profit from southsun by any means necessary. They’re probably trying to populate and spruce up the island to attract more tourists and other people to come live there. I read somewhere that they were set up by the Asura, could the inquest have something to do with them as well?

Pretty much every thread on the topic of the Living Story/Flame and Frost touches this aspect of the story. The most dedicated one being this one.

I doubt they’re related to the Inquest but yes, they’re very clearly trying to make profit out of a mostly lost cause that Southsun Cove became. There was a reddit thread – don’t got link on me – which gave supposed datamined hints to next month’s content which says the contracts the Consortium signed basically made the refugees slaves – but I think said thread was a troll because it said rather unbelievable things (Knut caring about and trying to help the Southsun Cove refugees, when he wouldn’t for the Cragstead ones; Lord Faren having a plot related to the cat contest talked about in the mini and the Ascended amulet, and having to flee to Southsun incognito, and other things that basically make GW2 a sitcom – and a terribad one at that).

My personal theory is that the “holiday resort” the Consortium is trying to set up on Southsun is only a front; it’s cover for the REAL reason they’re there, which is still unknown (but I suspect has something to do with the Karka).

Ever since I found out about the consortiums involvement in feb, Ive suspected they had somethin to do with the molten alliance. Somehow they have to be tied. Its too convenient for them. THAT, or they did have no connection, and are using this situation as a ploy to gather refugees towards southsun cove for their own nefarious means. Somethin with the karka. We still dont know much about the karka, so who knows. Im very excited to see what happens next though.

I’ll give you that the Consortium can be clever, sometimes. The refugees from the MA attacks to them are probably more of a “fortunate disaster”. They needed people to put on their island, and here they come.

My personal theory is that the Personal Nemesis is probably behind both of them, and both organizations got duped into being her(?) cat paws. She made the Molten Alliance to possibly gain their advanced hybrid ‘Molten’ technology , and as an addition; she weakened the Norn and Charr, if only a bit.

Southsun is a bit more tricky. She wants something from the island, but what is the point of bringing more people there, and that might be the karkas. This hurts for me to say, since they killed me numerous times, but I think they are the ‘good’ guys in this equation, if only because they are protecting their new home. They are protecting their new home very very well. So much so, the whole area is a dead zone to players, since they don’t want to deal with them.

By bringing in the refugees, the new possible settlers, it is forcing them to deal with the karka problem. They can’t live safely there as long as the karka are roaming around, so the easiest way to deal with the problem is to kill them. Once the karka population is culled, the Nemesis is free to do what she will with the island.

Though, I do wonder if it has anything to do with Southsun being volcanically active. “Molten” and all….

My pick is they were just looking for an excuse for a while and finally got one.

Zaxares.5419:

My personal theory is that the “holiday resort” the Consortium is trying to set up on Southsun is only a front; it’s cover for the REAL reason they’re there, which is still unknown (but I suspect has something to do with the Karka).

I believe that the Consortium was either “used” by the Inquest or at least some of their members are involved with the Inquest. The Inquest have a lab in the Infinity Coil specifically made to store a Deep Sea Dragon minion, I believe the Inquest used the consortium to stir up trouble in Southsun in order to find out minions of the Deep Sea Dragon, instead they got the Karka.

Or something along those lines.

We do know from the Veteran Dredge at the end of the story that the Flame Legion came to them with a “fast-talking man from the city” that convinced them to join together. Sound familiar? Perhaps Consortium? Of course I do not have the motivations yet, unless it has to do with the refugees and the cove.

maddoctor.2738:

I believe that the Consortium was either “used” by the Inquest or at least some of their members are involved with the Inquest. The Inquest have a lab in the Infinity Coil specifically made to store a Deep Sea Dragon minion, I believe the Inquest used the consortium to stir up trouble in Southsun in order to find out minions of the Deep Sea Dragon, instead they got the Karka.

Or something along those lines.

Makes little sense because:

1) The Inquest has a DSD minion, had one before The Lost Shores content. There’s idle dialogue between two Inquest members periodically at Zone Blue (Under Construction) PoI mentioning such.

2) There’s no reason the DSD’s minions would be on a volcanic and supposedly newly formed island.

3) We know why the Consortium went to Southsun Cove, and how they “stirred up trouble” (100% unintentionally, might I add), and it holds nothing to do with the Elder Dragons whatsoever.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

3) We know why the Consortium went to Southsun Cove, and how they “stirred up trouble” (100% unintentionally, might I add), and it holds nothing to do with the Elder Dragons whatsoever.

At face value, yeah, the Consortium may be nothing more than opportunistic rogues seeking to make their holiday resort into a success. I just have the feeling that someone high up in the Consortium is using the corporation as a front for their own agenda. The low-level staff may even genuinely believe in their stated goals; all this shadowy figure would need is a few dedicated minions who know the truth and can carry out the real plans behind the scenes. (Was Canach one of these minions? Hard to say. We don’t learn enough from conversations with him to really know for sure.)

That would make them WAY too similar to the bandits, IMO, who’s higher ups know their real purpose, while the lower grunts are thinking they’re doing a “necessary evil” to free Kryta from who they honestly believe is a tyrant (Jennah). I don’t think – or at least I hope – that Anet will be making two groups completely the same.

Given what we know, the Consortium only wanted to make Southsun Cove, a brand new unexplored island, into a vacation resort. They sent Canach as the leader of an expedition team telling him not to mess with any of the wildlife there, but in the contract he found a loophole where he’d be legally allowed to study the flora there. He did so. The karka got kitten at this for unknown reasons, and attacked the Consortium expedition team – wiping most of them out except three known members (Canach, Noll, and that insane sylvari I’ve forgotten what her name is), then chased the two who fled (Canach and Noll) to LA and then their hiding places (Caledon Forest and Garrenhoff). Since they got found out, the Consortium decided to place the blame on Canach and cut their ties with him (despite him believing they would defend him to the end).

There weren’t any form of hints or implications of nefarious intentions, and though lots of folks seem to have missed it there was plenty of plot information (I blame it on the events happening too fast for folks, being over a single weekend) – luckily, half of it is on the wiki (if not a liiiitle bit more).

How they treated Canach proves that they’ll do anything to keep blame and the like from themselves, and trying to do harm to the refugees for whatever reason does just what they don’t want. It wouldn’t fit the personality given to them in The Lost Shores if they go about with nefarious deeds. And how they treated Fractals (a malfunctioning gate going to an unknown location full of treasures – perfect for adventurers! Let’s advertise… CITIZENS!) proves them to be opportunistic to the nth degrees, so there’s no doubt in my mind that they just saw the refugee situation flooding into Lion’s Arch and went “hey, we can make money off of this, and improve our rep after that karka incident!”

I believe The Consortium is certainly after more than just monetary gain. I think their true purpose is attain power -overwhelming power- for whatever purpose they might have. They’re certainly after something else than recreational business at Southsun Cove -and my doubts were confirmed just about now: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/may-14-2013/- and I believe they’re behind the Molten Alliance as well.

My suspicion is that they’re -or already have- establishing important connections within the “evil” organizations and races in order to fulfill their agenda by using them as tools. Whoever are behind the The Consortium, have big plans on their minds, in my opinion, and money is not really that important for them.

Erukk.1408:

\
My personal theory is that the Personal Nemesis is probably behind both of them,\

Who??

@Eluveitie: Nothing in that says the Consortium’s behind anything. Honestly, the Consortium got nothing really going against them, nor have they shown any interest in power – political, militant, or otherwise.

And as I’ve said elsewhere, this thought on the Consortium is exactly what the Bandits (aka the White Mantle behind them) are. And I highly doubt that ArenaNet’s going to make two groups completely the same.

The Consortium’s an economical group established by asura to be an economical group. They’re not the Inquest nor the White Mantle. I can’t wait to see how the Consortium turn out to be victims of the personal nemesis, who were while not innocent, completely unconnected to the MA or the rise in Southsun wildlife aggression.

Personally, I’m thinking the nemesis hide herself (?) among the refugees and showed up in Southsun Cove, and decided to make some havoc before high-tailing it out of there.

They may not be after anything more than trying to profit from Southsun, but the questions I have are how far would they go to reach their goals? Are they going to be a new enemy faction? Is the Nemesis among them? What are they planning? Why ARE they so focused on Southsun? I don’t know, they could end up being perfectly legit but they are way too suspicious to ignore.

Edit: Found this video that hint some things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4usI3LWcHc&feature=player_embedded

The new update page describing the refugees “like prisoners” makes me very suspicious.

Yeah, I’ll bet the consortium are an evil bunch. Just the fact they’re incredibly unfriendly says a lot.

Kain Francois.4328:

The new update page describing the refugees “like prisoners” makes me very suspicious.

Yeah, I’ll bet the consortium are an evil bunch. Just the fact they’re incredibly unfriendly says a lot.

Definitely not good people, I can wait to see what they are really up to!

I don’t find malice in the consortium. Are they good guys? No. You can be sure that they’ll use whatever means they can to find profit. Are they bad? Perhaps in a sense, because of how they messed up in Southsun Cove in search of profits, the karka attacked Lion’s Arch, endangering the citizens. Are they mustache swirling villains? No. They wouldn’t do anything deliberately that would hurt their profits.

In short, they’re greedy, but you can trust them to be greedy.

About the refugees feeling like prisoners, I see this as a result of two things: the wildlife getting aggressive (can’t wander outside), and as they’d want to leave, some kind of contract they possibly made with the consortium prevents them from doing so.

Invizible.2960:

They may not be after anything more than trying to profit from Southsun, but the questions I have are how far would they go to reach their goals? Are they going to be a new enemy faction? Is the Nemesis among them? What are they planning? Why ARE they so focused on Southsun? I don’t know, they could end up being perfectly legit but they are way too suspicious to ignore.

Edit: Found this video that hint some things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4usI3LWcHc&feature=player_embedded

That video answers what the Consortium’s goals are 100%:

@ 3:40: “Southsun Cove was never intended to be a vacation paradise. But the Consortium, being the Consortium, once they had started to put in money and time and effort into making Southsun Cove a resort, they’re not giving up. They’re bottom line demands that they have some sort of return from their investment.”

So the Consortium’s involvement is simply getting some sort of coming out even from their costs, if not a profit from it.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

That video answers what the Consortium’s goals are 100%:

@ 3:40: “Southsun Cove was never intended to be a vacation paradise. But the Consortium, being the Consortium, once they had started to put in money and time and effort into making Southsun Cove a resort, they’re not giving up. They’re bottom line demands that they have some sort of return from their investment.”

So the Consortium’s involvement is simply getting some sort of coming out even from their costs, if not a profit from it.

I just want to see how far they’re willing to go at this point

Its worth noting that the Consortium maybe exploiting the refugees and using them but they sound like they covered their bases here. Remember all the refugees signed lengthy contracts so legally the Consortium is probably covered. The rest they can cover with spin.

I expect the Consortium to be more the extremely unethical evil corperates rather than part of some huge conspericy. I actually expect that if we have agents of ‘our nemesis’ in Southsun Cove, they will be behind the animal attacks as a means to drive the Consortium away.

Resources you see. In Flame and Frost we discover that the Molten Alliance are harvesting and using some new mysterious ore. We see prisoners used as miners, harvesting crystals. To the question of what a third party might get out of the Molten Alliance, this occurs to me to be quite likely the prime contender.

So what about Southsun? Southsun is a volcanic island, highly likely to be resource rich. What if there are deposits of a similar ore or something like it underneath Southsun? What our mysterious third party has already set up shop there or intends to set up shop there but needs to drive the Consortium away before they discover the truth?

Hmm, good point on resources in Southsun. Take note: The Molten Alliance’s “new mysterious ore” is Azurite (or seems to be – those crystals being mined were the same color, and Azurite could only be obtained in MF). Now, what do we know about Southsun other than it being volcanic?

1. It has Orichalcum – which is only found in Orr and in Jormag territory elsewhere (and the Mists)… and also Molten Facility.
2. It has unique flora, which can be used for powerful items (Ascended gear). Dunno if the crafting bit of it is lore-wise too though.
3. It has karka. Why’s this important in resources? Two reasons: 1) the webbing stuff the karka spit out hardens into material harder than steel (it’s what their shells and nests are made out of, and why the acid was needed in the Lost Shores content), so that’s pretty strong stuff – not picture obtaining that and crafting it into weaponry… 2) they keep folks away from what someone wanting to mine Southsun wants to mine.

So while maybe not intended to do originally, it’s possible that the personal nemesis either riled up the wildlife, or convinced someone to rile up the wildlife, so as to pit karka versus norn and charr (two of the strongest races) refugees, to get rid of both threats in the area, so that the personal nemesis can obtain the materials there with more ease (perhaps even kidnap a few karka hatchlings or eggs to raise to make that webbing materials).

Hmm… I hope this means that Azurite will be added to Southsun Cove as a source for them after F&F is over. And also that Passionflora and Karka Shells become somewhat easier to obtain.

The theory that the personal nemesis is interested in the karka themselves is one I can get behind. It makes sense for the reasons Konig mentioned above, and let’s not forget that the karka are also incredibly dangerous and powerful. If they could be tamed or controlled, they would make excellent troops for combating the Elder Dragons or for subjugating the other races. This kind of thinking would match typical Asura strategy too, if it does turn out that the personal nemesis is one of the Asura backers of the Consortium.

Asura “founders” not “backers” – unless you’re just talking about unimplied “whomevers” may be economically backing Consortium activities for who-knows-what-unimplied-reasons.

Founders, yes. Given its nature, I think the Consortium is probably stable enough to operate without needing financial support from investors.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Hmm, good point on resources in Southsun. Take note: The Molten Alliance’s “new mysterious ore” is Azurite (or seems to be – those crystals being mined were the same color, and Azurite could only be obtained in MF). Now, what do we know about Southsun other than it being volcanic?

1. It has Orichalcum – which is only found in Orr and in Jormag territory elsewhere (and the Mists)… and also Molten Facility.
2. It has unique flora, which can be used for powerful items (Ascended gear). Dunno if the crafting bit of it is lore-wise too though.
3. It has karka. Why’s this important in resources? Two reasons: 1) the webbing stuff the karka spit out hardens into material harder than steel (it’s what their shells and nests are made out of, and why the acid was needed in the Lost Shores content), so that’s pretty strong stuff – not picture obtaining that and crafting it into weaponry… 2) they keep folks away from what someone wanting to mine Southsun wants to mine.

So while maybe not intended to do originally, it’s possible that the personal nemesis either riled up the wildlife, or convinced someone to rile up the wildlife, so as to pit karka versus norn and charr (two of the strongest races) refugees, to get rid of both threats in the area, so that the personal nemesis can obtain the materials there with more ease (perhaps even kidnap a few karka hatchlings or eggs to raise to make that webbing materials).

That’s mostly along the lines that I have been thinking as well, as I stated earlier. Even if half of it is true, the Nemesis seems to be (hopefully) shaping up to be a good antagonist. With the Elder Dragons being spaced apart, the game needs a continuing bad guy(/girl) to keep the month to month story alive. I just hope she doesn’t fall into the classic fantasy villain pitfall… insanity.

The best antagonists are the ones that you can almost agree with.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

There was a reddit thread – don’t got link on me – which gave supposed datamined hints to next month’s content which says the contracts the Consortium signed basically made the refugees slaves – but I think said thread was a troll because it said rather unbelievable things (Knut caring about and trying to help the Southsun Cove refugees, when he wouldn’t for the Cragstead ones; Lord Faren having a plot related to the cat contest talked about in the mini and the Ascended amulet, and having to flee to Southsun incognito, and other things that basically make GW2 a sitcom – and a terribad one at that).

Hindsight is amusing.

I’ve been thinking about Scarlet (who I assume is the sylvari from the Opening Ceremony) and thinking about how she could be linked to the Living Story so far. Someone questioned why a sylvari would be interested in human politics, but the truth might be she’s interested in all of Tyrian politics. If she’s the boss of the Aetherblades, she was trying to get Mai Trin on the Captain’s Council. That shows she has an interest in Lion’s Arch politics. If she was the silver tongued person behind the Molten Alliance (people say it was a male, but the actual quote is gender neutral "Yeah, the flaming cow pies and their fast-talking friend from the city. Never again! Lying silver-tongued, snake-nosed trickster! Never again. ") then Scarlet has tried to destabilise both Hoelbrak and the Black Citadel by starting a war between them and the Molten Alliance, we never found out why or who.

What I can’t figure out (and why I’m posting in this thread) is why would Scarlet be involved with Southsun? At the time it seemed like a coincidence that the story would go there as a consequence of Flame and Frost, to introduce Kiel and as a convenient way to finish the map. If Scarlet was involved in all the other plots up until now, how was she involved there? If she turns out to be a sylvari, she might have a link to Canach? He had Molten Facility gauntlets. Maybe the two of them have a history? Canach is (presumably) a warrior yet he was using mines all over his hide out. Was that just to create an interesting encounter or do the mines have a link to someone else?

I read that Noll isn’t the leader of the Consortium and in the “Meet the Consortium” video, Scott says we don’t see the Consortium decision makers so “we don’t know what their secret agenda is”. He also says they are neither good nor evil, they are capitalist. Is it possible the Consortium are a kind of front used to fund the Aetherblades? Pawns used by Scarlet to fund her other plans? Kasmeer was on Southsun for a reason. Officially she was there to meet with clients as part of her PI business (what did the clients want from her?), but there was mention of her being occupied with a serious problem. Did this have anything to do with Southsun or was the resort a convenient location for a business meeting with nobility, and Kasmeer’s serious problem is always in Divinity’s Reach?

One of the writers said a Southsun character returns, people mentioned that Faren did (as does Hobo-tron), but he always felt like a cameo. I was expecting Noll, Canach or Levii.

How does Southsun fit into the bigger picture? Assuming there is a common link with Scarlet being involved in all the other plots, is Southsun just the odd one out?

About Scarlet’s ties to MA – it was actually said to be female not male that united the Flame and Dredge. I think her goal with them was more for tech (everything that she is hinted at being involved in relates to tech – MA, Dragon Bash thieving the hologram projectors, allies with Inquest, and now hacking Watchknights), with an addendum of wrecking havoc with Tyrian governments (so far, four of six were outright targeted; she may go after some Firstborns next if not stopped, and the Inquest already have influence in the Arcane Council so no need to go after them openly).

As for the Aetherblades’/Scarlet’s connection to Southsun – there may not be any. That felt more like a transitory storyline more than anything else, though if she had a connection I’d place her as the source of how Canach got those pollens. Him having Fused Gauntlets was explained in a post or video by someone saying that he was helping raid the Molten Facilities and got them as loot himself – much like the players (supposedly he was solo’ing a few, but it’s a darn shame we didn’t see him there ourselves).

I cannot see the Consortium – a business founded by asura – to be tied to either the Inquest or Aetherblades. Those two groups are evil (though the Inquest are presented as amoral, I wouldn’t consider them such) and possibly geared towards advancement in technology/understanding. The Consortium are amoral and care about profit. If it gave them profit, the Consortium would probably send themselves back to the stone age.

I don’t reall any mention of a “series issue” for Kasmeer, but then again I was out of town for most of the content. But the only problem Kasmeer talked about or hinted at that I heard of… was Faren.

I remember reading the Canach bit on the forum but it always felt like a lame afterthought used to explain why the devs made an aesthetic choice for his design. It’d be much more satisfying for him to have history with Scarlet (maybe making her a secondborn like him) and he had other reasons for snooping around. Wishful thinking on my part perhaps, I did read that dev comment. I just want it to be more. It seems really random that he would be in the Facility for no reason, even the player was working with Braham, Rox and the Vigil.

As far as Kasmeer goes, it takes a bit of reading between the lines and could be less than it appears (but most of the Living Story “secret plot” is that way). It’s sort of a theme you see pop up a few times in her dialogue.

Lord Faren: I never “fled to Southsun Cove.” I…came to secure my reservations for the upcoming festival.
Lord Faren: But what about you? What brings you to this fair island?
Lady Kasmeer Meade: Business and pleasure. I’m fact-finding for Jory, and I heard this was a one-of-a-kind resort.

We know from the lore story on the website that she told Kiel she was meeting a couple of wealthy clients, but that doesn’t sound like fact finding to me.

“Please: Kasmeer. And thanks for the advice. I work for a private investigator in Divinity’s Reach, and I’m meeting a few potential clients for dinner on Pearl Islet. I don’t imagine they’ll serve us outdoors.” She smiled a warm, dazzling smile. “Not at the prices they quoted me, anyway.”

The specific word serious comes from Kiel’s inferences.

She was a striking blonde woman in a gold ensemble that struck Kiel as somehow indecent and elegant at the same time. The woman was clearly cultured, maybe even nobility: perfect poise, a graceful lilt to her step, her expression composed and serene. Her eyes were anxious, however, and Kiel recognized the look of someone preoccupied with a serious problem.

It’s reaching a bit I admit, but nothing with Scarlet and Kasmeer has been straight forward. When a writer writes something, it’s always for a reason. Maybe they were just trying to get players to take Kasmeer seriously, her blond bimbo appearance doesn’t match her serious demeanour kind of thing. Maybe it can be explained by her feeling pressure to do her job, or deal with money issues. Or maybe she was on the trail for clues to investigate her father’s disappearance and something on Southsun island seemed worth the investigation? Kasmeer and Marjory both have the common link to the mysterious disappearances, something the Living Story hasn’t dealt with yet. We can assume that’s the real reason why they teamed up, but why are seemingly random disappearances important? Maybe she was just casually being introduced in Southsun, kind of a cameo, but I’d like it to be more.

I agree that Southsun sorta just feels like a consequence, kind of like how Cutthroat Politics is clearly not part of Scarlet’s plan – she never wanted Kiel VS Evon, she wanted Mai Trin to win. Still, there is enough mystery left behind in Southsun to make me think we don’t know the full story yet. Scott did say the Consortium decision makers are not known to us. Maybe the lower ranking members have no clue what the motivations of the decision makers are. This would give the appearance of a capitalist organisation while acting as something else at a higher level. If there’s nothing more to know about the Consortium, why haven’t the writers revealed who the decision makers are? Why intentionally point out that we don’t know who they are?