Amongst the new Lionguard patrol, there’s dialogue with a sylvari that shows the growing discontent for them. The sylvari mentions an illness his lover has: Scarlet’s Rattle. Dialogue of patrol in full linked above.
So what do you all think this mysterious new disease is?
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
There are actually quite a few instances of this (the growing discontent for Sylvari).
As a Sylvari if you talk to Urmaug the Ogre in LA he says something along the lines of ‘I don’t want to look at your face because it reminds me of Scarlet’.
And on the opposite end of LA there is a new character whose name is a play on Eleanor Rigby (Beetles Song) and she says something equally distasteful if you’re a Sylvari.
Not sure i like all the hate I’m getting, I was, after all, instrumental in Scarlet’s defeat -_-
I’d guess that it’s residual effects from the miasma. It certainly sounds like it’d be a breathinkitteniment, and iirc the miasma primarily affected the eyes and lungs.
EDIT: impediment, for kitten’s sake.
R.I.P., Old Man of Auld Red Wharf. Gone but never forgotten.
@FlamingFoxx: I wasn’t talking about the sylvari discontent, but the mention of the “Scarlet’s Rattle” illness by the genericly named Citizen sylvari.
@Aaron: though it isn’t said to be a breathing issue. Honestly speaking, my first thought was that it may be a sylvari-only illness that’s Scarlet’s madness being passed on through the Dream (Anet did make a heavy-sounding hint of her knowledge having sylvari-Dream ramifications in a TowerTalk interview/recap of Season 1). Though thinking on it, I doubt such a thing would have a cure… though that wouldn’t prevent folks from thinking it does.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
There are too many possibilities for Scarlet’s Rattle really. She’s been launching any number of toxins into the air, experimenting on prisoners, disrupting ley lines, blowing up reactors, crossbreeding races, and that’s only considering the physical stuff. I expect that it isn’t anything to do with Southsun but someone might want Canach to look into it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is blight that comes from the Jungle Dragon.
A rattle usually means the sound made by air being obstructed by mucus in the throat and lungs, usually the symptom of a respiratory disorder. So my first guess would be something to do with the miasma as well.
Was the person who suffered from the ailment a Sylvari? That might mean something else.
The person who mentions it is a sylvari, the person who suffers it is the sylvari’s “beloved” – but given that it’s fully possible for a sylvari to fall for another species, that doesn’t say much. But there are few cases of sylvari dating non-sylvari (though we see a case of a human having feelings for a sylvari in Cursed Shore).
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
I imagined it was a mental thing. Like how Scarlet was crazy with voices in her head, I was thinking that the “Rattle” involved sounds bothering the sylvari’s minds.
Perhaps this discontent for sylvari, and the Rattle, will escalate into a bigger arc where we have to quell riots and crowds.
Thanks for those screenshots, Konig! Whereabouts is this Lionguard patrol? I’d love to see their dialogue for myself.
They start in Fort Marriner, goes to where Tigg and the moa racing began/ended, through the crafting stations to pass by the Consortium at water level, make their way Eastern Ward Waypoint, through the wreckage of the Old Gangplank Bridge, and north along the water level until they reach the sylvari civilian, then they head back to Fort Marriner via Grand Piazza and the new Gangplank Bridge (the PoI).
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
I would have probably missed this bit of dialogue myself, so think you for the screens Konig!
On what Scarlet’s Rattle may be my first inclination is it’s what the respiratory issues caused by the miasma are being called. Liongaurd Healer Halloway mentions that those that survived being affected by the miasma describe “it’s like being scraped from the inside out” and “They got a cough that’ll haunt them until they die.” I would think the introduction of Scarlet’s effects on the Dream would be introduced in something a little harder to miss and would be told as sylvari-specific.
The person who mentions it is a sylvari, the person who suffers it is the sylvari’s “beloved” – but given that it’s fully possible for a sylvari to fall for another species, that doesn’t say much. But there are few cases of sylvari dating non-sylvari (though we see a case of a human having feelings for a sylvari in Cursed Shore).
I see where you’re going with this but I am leaning towards some kind of post-exposure suffering similar to what happened to nuclear blast survivors and things like agent orange. It feels more in line with the kind of story they’ve been telling (searching for a cure makes me think it’s physical and not “mental”). It’s rather strange though, Scarlet’s Rattle is a new illness but I think it’s lacking in context – I assumed Tyrians have disease etc (Shiro had the miasma and the afflicted plague, necromancers spread disease in GW1 and bandits poison the water supply in Queensdale) but I don’t really recall many references to illnesses in Tyria.
I think Scarlet’s impact on the Dream is being saved for a different plot. Maybe it’s how they intend to answer some of the questions Braham and Marjory stopped Scarlet from answering, a newly awoken sylvari has a Wyld Hunt to be the hero Scarlet couldn’t be? Mysterious threats are coming from the Maguuma Jungle and a new sylvari character is introduced with the Wyld Hunt to use the knowledge Scarlet left behind in the Dream to fight back.
Well most likely just the result of the various poisons she’s been using, as already stated. However if we can get a few more cases (ideally sylvari only) then we can start speculating about the dream, and mordy’s possible connection to the nightmare etc etc.
From what I gather from NPC dialogue both during and after the Attack on Lions Arch.
Scarlet’s Rattle is indeed a new infliction, caused by exposure to both the miasma and the toxic spores still airborn in many places around Tyria. It has varying degrees of severity, from an annoying tickle to violently coughing up blood. Most likely there are some NPCs who have been mis-diagnosed due to proximity, and cures for the rattle range from the possible (for those afflicted by the spores) to the terminal (for those who get a nasty dose of miasma).
Given that the same Lionguard patrol also confirms that there are still pockets of Miasma trapped inside buildings in Lion’s Arch, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re hearing about this for a long time to come.
Similarly (and this last part -is- speculation) we don’t know if the surviving Aetherblades, Toxic Alliance or Molten Alliance have the ability to reproduce the miasma without Scarlet, or how much of a payload they still have left over from the attack. We could be seeing it again.
I don’t get why miasma is such a problem in Tyria. If coastal winds can deal with it, wouldn’t a team of air elementalists with gas masks and aqua breathers be able to cleanse it with a little work? The writers frequently make use of mesmer mechanics (Kasmeer has the most powerful portal ever, she removes illusions, Anise and her team? use mesmer magic to power the Pavilion) in the story, why not the class that controls the elements?
In the Sea of Sorrows, the elementalist himself states that the elements can be unpredictable when he accidentally struck his own allies. We don’t see it in gameplay because our characters are just full of awesome, but there you have it – elementalism is less reliable than mesmerism.
And it doesn’t seem like coastal winds dealt with all the miasma (especially since the alliances were unleashing containers constantly), just the biggest portion of it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the pockets of miasma gas is dealt with by elementalists.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
To be fair, the book describes Verahd as insane. I’d take any claim of his with a pinch of salt, especially this one made during the only scene that tries to illustrate said insanity. At every other point in that book where elementalism is used on a large scale (and there are quite a few, including several more displays of Verahd’s air magic) there’s no sign of any unreliability or unpredictability.
R.I.P., Old Man of Auld Red Wharf. Gone but never forgotten.
Whereabouts is this Lionguard patrol? I’d love to see their dialogue for myself.