Guild Wars 2

I would disagree, but there is no point in debating. We will just have to wait until they release either the content or the short story to see how big the flub was. My guess is that it was pretty big (but I’ve abandoned all hope by this point, and I want you to realize that I had hope up until they released the info on the new release).

Indeed. If you go poking around, there’s a thread where Narcemus and I bet gold against Konig and Thalador that this update WOULDN’T have Scarlet involved. Since the teaser, though, I’m about 80% sure I’ve lost that bet. (I still feel it was the right call at the time, though – I actually had a chance of winning, while their bet was more like taking an insurance policy – either way, they lose.) Point is, both Narcemus and I had had more optimism regarding ArenaNet with this release, and it’s been dashed.

Yes, it’s possible that we’ll get a well-thought-out, lore appropriate reason for this outside-all-expectations alliance. But what we’re expecting, since the reasons for the last two alliances have been speculated on but we’ve never been told just what Scarlet did to make them happen, is…

Scarlet waved her VillainSue wand.

The fact that the Krait and the sadomasochistic psychopaths were able to sit down at a table and not stab each other within the first eighteen seconds of glaring damages my faith in their faction personalities.

I might as well call the Krait the scary Slavers and the NMC the Basketball Court now.

…Basketball Court

Oh, it was Scarlet? That makes much more sense.

Hmm, so people seem to think Scarlet is a Dragon Champion now.
What if the Krait were corrupted or are being led by a corrupted “prophet”?
I think I’d like that…I hope it’s not just another “by our powers combined!” situation…

Lostwingman.5034:

Hmm, so people seem to think Scarlet is a Dragon Champion now.
What if the Krait were corrupted or are being led by a corrupted “prophet”?
I think I’d like that…I hope it’s not just another “by our powers combined!” situation…

What if Scarlet used holograms to make the Krait believe there was a prophet wanting them to align with the nightmare court?

Durzlla.6295:

Lostwingman.5034:

Hmm, so people seem to think Scarlet is a Dragon Champion now.
What if the Krait were corrupted or are being led by a corrupted “prophet”?
I think I’d like that…I hope it’s not just another “by our powers combined!” situation…

What if Scarlet used holograms to make the Krait believe there was a prophet wanting them to align with the nightmare court?

They would think their prophet is lying to them probably.
I was thinking a combination of a clockwork golem and mesmer magic. Then after the prophet/Scarlet lures the Lion Guard/Seraph/etc to the Nightmare tower she drops the mesmer facade and makes it look like the PC and his NPC allies are responsible for the fake prophet. Enter massive Krait loathing and epic dungeon crawl out of the tower to find Kessex, Caledon, and Bloodtide overwhelmed with Krait attacks in fury.
Maybe culminating in a massive Krait assault on the entrances to Lion’s Arch in Gendarren Fields and Bloodtide? Would be fun I think.

Lostwingman.5034:

Durzlla.6295:

Lostwingman.5034:

Hmm, so people seem to think Scarlet is a Dragon Champion now.
What if the Krait were corrupted or are being led by a corrupted “prophet”?
I think I’d like that…I hope it’s not just another “by our powers combined!” situation…

What if Scarlet used holograms to make the Krait believe there was a prophet wanting them to align with the nightmare court?

They would think their prophet is lying to them probably.
I was thinking a combination of a clockwork golem and mesmer magic. Then after the prophet/Scarlet lures the Lion Guard/Seraph/etc to the Nightmare tower she drops the mesmer facade and makes it look like the PC and his NPC allies are responsible for the fake prophet. Enter massive Krait loathing and epic dungeon crawl out of the tower to find Kessex, Caledon, and Bloodtide overwhelmed with Krait attacks in fury.
Maybe culminating in a massive Krait assault on the entrances to Lion’s Arch in Gendarren Fields and Bloodtide? Would be fun I think.

If this happens, I will cry tears of joy at the sheer amount of deception used as well as the glorious manipulation of a xenophobic race into hating your(Scarlets) enemies….

“What happens when the evil agendas of the krait and the Nightmare Court align? "
First line in living world notes.
sigh

Not the Krait Orb, apparently, but Obelisk Shards instead.

It’s interesting to note that some of the Nightmare Courtiers appear to be wielding swords modeled after Caladbolg. Where did they get the bark to do that? The Nightmare Court are also resorting to a form of biological warfare. What is the nature of the blossom they are using? And how did it grow so vigorously?

Apparently the splinter elements of the Court are making their own Tree?

Well, we don’t know the full situation yet, but religions and cultures do change over time. The krait have been hit pretty hard lately—adventurers going along the shoreline, slaughtering them and freeing their slaves, Zhaitan turning them into Risen, the Deep Sea Dragon blocking their path to the ocean, the Sylvari clashing with them regularly…. I can imagine some of them would be willing to change their ways, in order to make a comeback.
Plus, I recall the lore saying something about the krait religious leaders changing the religious teachings to meet their whims pretty regularly.

The historian NPC with the shard icon (forgot the name) already confirmed it’s Scarlet’s doing, also look at the preview picture of the next release. See you after it’s over in game!

zwierz.9012:

The historian NPC with the shard icon (forgot the name) already confirmed it’s Scarlet’s doing, also look at the preview picture of the next release. See you after it’s over in game!

Actually the NPC don’t confirm it.
It is only said that it SEEMS to be Scarlet (which is of course very likely, but it is not actually confirmed).

lordkrall.7241:

Actually the NPC don’t confirm it.
It is only said that it SEEMS to be Scarlet (which is of course very likely, but it is not actually confirmed).

When you look at the next update’s image, it’s pretty much a “Scarlet did it” right there.

The funny thing is, NOTIHNG so far is pointing directly to Scarlet being involved from what I saw, except that NPC.

And it comes to my mind to ask, how exactly did Scarlet get those obelisk shards from (logical assumption here) the depths of the ocean, where (another assumption) Bubbles is partying and chased away the Krait in the first place?

Oh, right, she’s Scarlet, why do I bother asking “how”?

Well, that and that you’ve got one of her steam portals going in the southern part of the zone. Maybe elsewhere too.

Xoee also implies Scarlet’s involvement. Unfortunately, I’ve completed the obelisk hunt, so I no longer have access to Dolja’s mention. Could someone who does transcribe it here, word-for-word?

EDIT: Oh, and one of Marjory’s ambient dialogues states her conviction of Scarlet’s involvement too. Still not a guarantee of her involvement, but at the very least we’re looking at someone imitating her.

Of course, I am not saying it is not Scarlet, I simply pointed out that the NPC in question don’t actually confirm that Scarlet it behind it.

zwierz.9012:

lordkrall.7241:

Actually the NPC don’t confirm it.
It is only said that it SEEMS to be Scarlet (which is of course very likely, but it is not actually confirmed).

And it comes to my mind to ask, how exactly did Scarlet get those obelisk shards from (logical assumption here) the depths of the ocean, where (another assumption) Bubbles is partying and chased away the Krait in the first place?

Nothing said they just went to the depths of the ocean. Considering they are Obelisk Shard it would be logical to assume that they ripped them from one of the real obelisk. ( and no one knows how tall they are. Anet left that open )

The new lore NPC says that they’re massive (forgot her exact words, but that’s the gist of it.) And while they may be ripped from the obelisks, that still doesn’t answer how Scarlet got them- it’d be even harder for her to track down little pieces of the things.

zwierz.9012:

The funny thing is, NOTIHNG so far is pointing directly to Scarlet being involved from what I saw, except that NPC.

False. Above at least one event in Kessex Hills, there is a portal just like above the Scarlet invasion meta events. The one above the caves to the SE of the tower that is about closing three Toxic Alliance portals.

Edit: I see Aaron mentioned that already.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

The new lore NPC says that they’re massive (forgot her exact words, but that’s the gist of it.) And while they may be ripped from the obelisks, that still doesn’t answer how Scarlet got them- it’d be even harder for her to track down little pieces of the things.

It does answer how she could get them. The Obelisks are massive and i believe that their top is above the water. It is impossible for the Krait to get there, it is impossible for everyone. Everyone but 2 Factions. The Pact, and the Aetherblades. They have Airships. And it is possible that the Aetherblades flew to one of the Obelisks and gathered some shards from them.

Nowhere is it said that the obelisks extend above the surface, and in a couple of places it is implied that they do not, though I grant that it is never outright said.

Anet left this one open. It is possible that there are obelisks high enough to have some of it above the surface. There is even concept art showing some Obelisks above the surface.. But right, nothing is outright said about this. But if think it is more than possible. It would even make sense on how Scarlet could gather these shards from the obelisks.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

zwierz.9012:

The funny thing is, NOTIHNG so far is pointing directly to Scarlet being involved from what I saw, except that NPC.

False. Above at least one event in Kessex Hills, there is a portal just like above the Scarlet invasion meta events. The one above the caves to the SE of the tower that is about closing three Toxic Alliance portals.

Edit: I see Aaron mentioned that already.

Oh, there is a portal? Well, I haven’t seen it, ergo my statement wasn’t false, ha ha :P!
But yeah, I didn’t catch that portal, but it provides more links to Scarlet, like you say.

You know guys, things change once in a while, even in fiction.

Walhalla.5473:

Anet left this one open. It is possible that there are obelisks high enough to have some of it above the surface. There is even concept art showing some Obelisks above the surface.. But right, nothing is outright said about this. But if think it is more than possible. It would even make sense on how Scarlet could gather these shards from the obelisks.

Actually, they rather didn’t in regards to the height of the obelisks. If you read the blog post from ages past – most of the information summarized by the lore NPC in the update – it states that the krait cities (“Deeps”) were built around one or more of these krait obelisks. The krait lived on the ocean floors, worshiping at the obelisks, while they built towers that reached up to the surface out of coral, shipwrecks, and goods stolen from the land during raids – the towers are where air-breathing slaves were kept.

The obelisks themselves didn’t reach the surface, it was instead the krait towers that did.

Not to mention the Kraits has been living right next to the obelisks for ages. Their gods never came. And then the sea dragon (bubbles) arrived, and surely the Kraits prayed to their gods for help. Their god never came, so the Kraits were forced to run away to the surface.

Important point 1: obelisks does NOT equal gods.
Important point 2: obelisks is nothing new. It is like your neighbor’s house.

So now the Slayer of Lores brings the Kraits a few obelisk pieces. Suddenly the Kraits are willing to team up with her? I am supposed to believe this?

If the whole obelisk didn’t bring the Kraits their gods, a few broken obelisk pieces will do nothing.

Prophets aren’t the same as gods. They don’t seem to worship any “god” but rather more messiah-like figures. Just powerful krait that had ascended into a higher plane of existence with the promises of returning with a powerful army to fulfill the krait’s birthright (more or less). The prophets wouldn’t answer or return until they are ready with that army – and I doubt the krait would have prayed to the prophets for aid, all things considered.

An obelisk in of itself will not bring the prophets back. The obelisks are full of magic and mark where the prophets ascended to and as such were places of worship. They’re holy artifacts of actual power, not some beacon for their prophets to return to.

I dunno, Konig… while the blog post didn’t mention it, the new NPC says that the significance of the obelisks are that they’re to be “the vehicles of the prophets’ return”.

On a side note, by a complete accident I made a krait attack a nightmare courtier (or vice versa, can’t be sure), and they then proceeded to try and bash each other’s head in for a moment before I wasted them.
Don’t think there is a lore significance behind it, but perhaps such mechanic (if it was indeed a mechanic) is the marker of tensions between two groups?

Hell it would be fun if we enter the tower and see krait an NC joyfully going at slaughtering each other, right?

The pairings come across as some poorly written ‘what if’ fanfics that get more rediculous every time a new one is released.

And like those fanfics, they have no regard for lore or realism.

zwierz.9012:

On a side note, by a complete accident I made a krait attack a nightmare courtier (or vice versa, can’t be sure), and they then proceeded to try and bash each other’s head in for a moment before I wasted them.
Don’t think there is a lore significance behind it, but perhaps such mechanic (if it was indeed a mechanic) is the marker of tensions between two groups?

Hell it would be fun if we enter the tower and see krait an NC joyfully going at slaughtering each other, right?

They still hate each other.

This sect of the Basketball Court is probably under Scarlet’s thumb. Most of them still hate the krait and are willing to attack them.

I’m not surprised at all. The Lore Slayer has struck again, this time uniting two races that have absolutely no business being together.

Thoughts? Nah, they’re just a waste of time anymore.
Concerns? Big time.

My quick thoughts on this:
-Scarlet wanted to grow some kind of corrupted tree (which would be in line with the Nightmare Court) for whatever plan she has going on
- The tree(or whatever) would need a lot of water, like the lake in Kessex Hills controled by the Krait.
-Scarlet was somehow able to contact a Krait leader and offered them the shards to help their Prophet return, and the Court as manpower in return for the seed to be grown.
So in all, the court isnt really working WITH the Krait, but more FOR the Krait.