Guild Wars 2

Finally got around to playing all my alts’ personal stories and while completing the “Battle of Forty Trinity” I started to wonder who built it. What was its purpose and how long was it there. Maybe I skipped some dialogue with some random npc explaining this but all I can recall is Trahearne saying “where should we set up shop? Oh that old fort stationed right on the door step of Orr looks like good real-estate!” “Well that’s very convenient” I thought. Its been bugging me ever since.

All we have on it is:

“I know a ruined fort on the coast of Orr. It will take work to make it defensible, but from there we can strike directly at the heart of Zhaitan’s forces.” – Trahearne, Retribution

“To defeat Zhaitan and cleanse Orr, the Pact needs to go on the offensive. For that, we need a headquarters. I suggest the abandoned fortress on Terzetto Bay.” – Trahearne, Forging the Pact

“I know the place: formidable, easily defensible, and right on Zhaitan’s doorstep. A solid decision, Marshal Trahearne. The Vigil is with you.” – Warmaster Efut, Forging the Pact

“I’ll begin preparing our new headquarters at the Terzetto site, which I have code-named Fort Trinity. I look forward to seeing you all there.” – Trahearne, Forging the Pact

If you look at the construction itself, most of what we see is Pact-made. There are stone ruins beneath it, which is the ruined abandoned fortress that is talked about. Most likely, this old fortress was a later Orrian design and structure (as there are a few Orrian structures across that straight which aren’t made in the same design as those on the peninsula itself), and was most likely the first line of defense against invasion from the northeast (such as the charr in 1071 AE).

I always viewed that the strait was dubbed Terzetto Strait (or something akin) before the Cataclysm, and that the fortress was a double of defense for Orr, a checkpoint for ships going through, and a dock for any ships that would be going back and forth between the peninsula and where the fort is. And there appears to me to be another fort-like structure on the other side around Xenarius Bayt though this seems to be more of a land passage fort of sorts (which has never made much sense to me, that the charr would invade via an archipelagos – or that such even existed there given that there was trade to Amnoon Oasis! How would ships get through pre-sinking of Orr?).

Konig Des Todes.2086:

How would ships get through pre-sinking of Orr?

Mesmer portals.

Huh, go figure. Took another look inside and sure enough a lot of the walls and gates in particular remind me of Iron legion designs. I guess I need to take into account the time frame in which it took to construct the new fort during personal story which to me always seemed to confuse me. One moment we fought off an army of undead on the doorsteps of LA. The next we have a fully functioning and battle ready fort (and a bad-kitten one to boot) There’s never any sense of time moving, at least imo. Thanks for clearing that up Konig.

Yeah, they never make it clear how much time passes. But as Trahearne says during Forging the Pact, he has to go oversee Fort Trinity’s construction. I personally take each chapter (of which there are eight) to be about 1-3 weeks long overall (exception of Chapter 8 which is thrice as long as other chapters in terms of steps, so I presume thrice as long in terms of duration too), with the personal story beginning in early spring (as there are norn who mention not being able to reach the Great Hunt, aka norn tutorial, due to a winter storm, indicating that it took place in either the end of 1324 AE or the very beginning of 1325 AE). Since we have confirmation The Lost Shores happens post-Zhaitan, presumably Thorn makes his return afterwards as well, so the entirity of the personal story has to be less than 10 months since we now have the dates in the journal marking the whole thing as 1325 AE.

Sadly, the only time telling device we have in the personal story is Occam (or is it the tengu smith) saying during Victory or Death that the time since we last talked to him were “several weeks”. Which indicates anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months (12 weeks); after 3 months it’d make more sense to say “several months” rather than “several weeks”.

If we were to take the Living Story’s timeframe (as silly as it is with the illogical constant desire and half- kitten d attempt to sync up the calendars) and apply it to the personal story, then it’d be 1 chapter = 2 weeks; and if we take chapter 8 (Temple of the Forgotten God to Victory or Death) to be thrice that due to being thrice the size, then the entirety of the Personal Story takes place over 20 weeks, with 8 weeks between Forging the Pact and Victory or Death (and a little less than 2 weeks between Forging the Pact and Battle of Fort Trinity), or 5 months in the entirety (which makes the norn’s comment make no sense but shrug – it’s obvious no thought was put into this other than “it all happens in the same year”).

LS timeframe is also messed up because then how do you explain parts of season 1 which explicitly take place once, yet two weeks later is the next update :P

Anyway, I figure the fort is based off the ruins of an Orrian fort/outpost.

That’s still a lot to build up….even over the course of a few months. Not only the assets but the logistical mastery of the orders alone must have been legendary to get a base up in that remote a place in only a few weeks or couple months.