Guild Wars 2

I’ve noticed several of the Risen in Cursed Shores and Arah explorable mention she’s been eaten. Is this true? I didn’t think the Gods were on earth, hence out of Zhaitan’s reach.

Which one? Ilya, Lyss or both? :P

I honestly find it hard to care about anything that’s been gone that long and if they were having problems I’m sure they would have sent an avatar asking you to clean it up for them.

I am doubtful it’s true but nice job for catching it.

I would take anything a dragon minion says with a gain of salt, since that are bent on world domination/destruction after all.

And while the Elder Dragons are known to enjoy a meal of the divine nature, or at least powerful spirits of the mist, I can’t see them eating one of the Six God. Well… not off camera anyway. Since they are such a huge part of lore, even more so with humans, a dragon devouring one kind of deserves its own cut scene.

Complete with the total destruction of Pact and human morale…

Elder Dragon: Abandon All Hope! Gobble… Gobble…

The Risen spout a lot of psychological propaganda, they seem to want demoralize their opponents as much as possible. In fact, if I remember correctly, the Risen Priestess of Lyssa says that Zhaitan devoured gods plural.

But even if the Risen believe what they say in this regard – Zhaitan has clearly deceived its servants in the past, as some Risen claim Zhaitan promised them immortality (such as the Priest of Grenth in the Cathedral of Silence mission). I would not for a second believe anything the Risen spout, and there’s been no indication that Lyssa – or any of the gods – have been devoured. So most likely, it’s just ‘propaganda’ – whether used by the Risen to demoralize their foes, or for Zhaitan to deceive its followers. Either way, it’s most likely a lie.

As Caledore said, the Risen like to try and make you think everything’s already lost. Zhaitan very much seems to want to demoralize those who fight against him, a tactic made easier because he knows everything that his risen once knew.

Anyways, the line spouted by the Risen Priestess of Lyssa is brought into jeopardy when you remember there’s that Story mission that takes you to the temple of Grenth. One of the Reapers explicitly states what Grenth desires, and though we’ve never seen the God in Person, his Reapers are his most powerful avatars and speak for him.

Honestly, the Gods went silent for their own reason. Chief among them I’m positive that both Grenth and Balthazar are still having troubles at home on their native slices of the Mists (Dhuum and Menzies respectively). The rifts to the Underworld are solid proof that the Underworld at least is still a contested war zone between the two Gods and that Dhuum is either still struggling to return or potentially has returned and left Grenth backpeddling in his own domain (you know, since nifty players haven’t been around for 250 years to knock Rattles back to sleep).

The Sovereign Eye of Zhaitan says that your mentor is waiting next to Zhaitan’s side. This may be believable for the two charr, but I find it highly unlikely that Zhaitan found a way to make a risen Sylvari. It’s just another piece of their psychological warfare.

I like to believe there’s a small chance that the constant use of only mentioning Lyssa as having been killed is more than mere psychological warfare (why only Lyssa? Why are Balthazar, Dwayna, Grenth, and Melandru never said to be dead/devoured?) – also no, Lyssa’s not on Earth, but she’s not on Tyria either, however at least one Elder Dragon has made influence into the Mists so why not others when Zhaitan’s forces occupy the area around the Door of Komalie which leads to one of the Six Gods’ realms?

Hmm Ilya got devoured, but Lyss got away. What would happen to the surviving half of a god? Could make an interesting plot twist, but as always take a salt shaker with ya when listening to risen orrians

I’m inclined to agree with the Pact officer that says that the Risen are just trying to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes.

One thing to keep in mind here is that of the Five, Lyssa was the deity most associated with deception – thus, of the priesthoods it’s probably her (former) followers that are likely most inclined to employ deception to achieve their goals. It’s also possible that some part of the priestess is aware of just how wrong things were in Orr, and figured that the only way Lyssa would allow it is if she was dead and consumed by Zhaitan (first explains why she didn’t step in, second why she’s still granting her gifts to her former followers – keeping in mind that humans at the time of the Cataclysm had a number of misconceptions about how important the gods were for their magical powers).

One thing to note here is that the priests seem to have had different responses to becoming Risen and how that shapes their relationship with the gods. Former Lyssans claim Lyssa is dead. Former Dwaynans seem to think that they’re somehow still beloved by Dwayna as well as Zhaitan. Former Grenthans have rejected Grenth as weaker than Zhaitan. Melandru and Balthazar priests aren’t so clear what they still think – the Melandran priest seems to have taken the corrupted “ecosystem” of Orr as what it must now protect, while the Balthazar priest seems just interested in fighting, but there may be things I’ve missed or forgotten with both of those that would narrow down their opinion.

It’s not so much that Grenth’s followers have rejected him because he’s weaker, but rather they say that the Mists is full of lies (this comes specifically from the keeper of the Cathedral of Silence who is said to have had his soul “stolen” from Grenth by Zhaitan) and that Zhaitan grants immortality. In other words, they’re doing a complete 180 on Grenth’s teachings which preaches the concept of mortality.

As Drax have perfectly put it, it is easy to see a pattern in the behavior of the priests that is closely tied to what they represented in their lives. Balthazar’s priest is as fanatical to Zhaitan as he might have been to Balthazar, and he cares not about anything else other than slaughtering his master’s enemies in grand battles. Melandru’s “beaked” high priest is one of the most interesting of all, as he usually shouts “You will suffer just as our land has suffered!” when fighting for control of the Cathedral of Verdance. It’s hard to tell whether he refers to the Cataclysm, Zhaitan’s corruption, or both. Dwayna’s high priestess could not abandon her love for Dwayna, but a similar devotion to Zhaitan was implanted in her cursed mind (I highly doubt it was Zhaitan who wanted the priestess to retain her faith in Dwayna). Grenth’s acolyte rejects his former master’s teachings, calling them and the Mists blatant lies, while firmly believing that Zhaitan offers true immortality. And Lyssa’s, of course, plays minds tricks on us to deceive and demoralize.

To put it in a nutshell, it seems like Zhaitan played to their desires when corrupting them into his servitude, perverting what was good in them:

• Balthazar’s HP – Love for courageous and fair battles -> Love for slaughter and betrayal
• Dwayna’s HP – Love for life and its goddess -> Love for undeath and its master (though the conversion wasn’t entirely successful)
• Grenth’s HP – Acknowledging the truth and judgement in death and the afterlife -> Calling them lies and accepting the improper way beyond death as the true one
• Melandru’s HP – Love for nature -> Love for corruption
• Lyssa’s HP – Teaching people to see through illusions to glimpse the truth and the real radiance of others, elevating themselves in the process -> Using illusions to drive others mad and speaking horrible lies to break their resolve

So no, the High Priestess is trying to undermine the faith and hope of those she’s fighting. Remember, as a powerful mesmer she probably sees into people’s minds, and if we consider that one Pact soldier who is said to have been blessed by Lyssa in all his life and is there battling the priestess with the rest of us, it’s very easy to see that she lies just like the Emperor does to Luke to break him and make him do something stupid.

Also, it is just that one priestess that utters such lie. Prince Ellasal who Trahearne calls out for the atrocity they were doing in the ossuary says that while it was a sacred place to Lyssa, since she is no longer with them they turned to serve the dragon. The prince is a mesmer too, yet he speaks plainly and squarely. Then, Priestess Farnax in Arah uses the same psychological warfare again, but she mentions nothing about Lyssa getting devoured, only that Zhaitan eats gods. Which is actually true to a certain degree, as Zhaitan consumed almost all of the divine power they left behind, including Abaddon’s. Just look at their colossal, corrupted statues. Those were indeed mere prey for Zhaitan.

It’s just the way the Risen Priestess of Lyssa has to attack your morale (she mentions in different quotes Lyssa, and all the gods to have been eaten), to make you believe Zhaitan has already won the war. Remember she was the Priestess of the goddess of illussions, so she should know how to trick your mind.

Also, in that temple there is a guy (I think from the Priory) that says he can feel that Lyssa is just not there, but not death, and it’s said that he was blessed by Lyssa.

Both quotes don’t have any solid proof, but honestly, if I had to chose believing a manipulative and corrupted agent of an elder dragon and a guy that apparently has been blessed by her (btw my main character too :P) saying he can feel she’s still alive, I would chose the last one.

PS: Thalador, very good points made about the motto of the 5 priests, I always though that was the case for Lyssa’s, but it’s easy to see how all of them have been perverted.

Just a small clarification, Lokheit. The Pact/Vigil soldier I mentioned is the one blessed by Lyssa, and he’s the one who is shaken most by the priestess’ lie. The Priory Magister leading the charge says that no one should believe what the wench said, and that Lyssa is not dead, she’s just not there. Which is the absolute truth given the Exodus, then the silence, and their apparent absence from the Mists. Then even another corrupted servant (Prince Ellasal) of Lyssa states that she is gone from the world.

And yeah, my main character has also been blessed by Lyssa in all her life. :P Lyssans and Lyssa FTW!

Lokheit.7943:

Also, in that temple there is a guy (I think from the Priory) that says he can feel that Lyssa is just not there, but not death, and it’s said that he was blessed by Lyssa.

She doesn’t mention not feeling. She just says that Lyssa’s simply “not there” but “not dead” and that’s why she’s, well, not there – though there’s really no way for her to back her statement up.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Lokheit.7943:

Also, in that temple there is a guy (I think from the Priory) that says he can feel that Lyssa is just not there, but not death, and it’s said that he was blessed by Lyssa.

She doesn’t mention not feeling. She just says that Lyssa’s simply “not there” but “not dead” and that’s why she’s, well, not there – though there’s really no way for her to back her statement up.

Then I thin I’m mixing her statements with the other guy at the temple who says he was blessed by Dwayna. I will check that event later as I don’t fully remember it.

Anyway I think the most probable option is that the priestess just uses her former abilities to trick minds against you in the name of Zhaitan by throwing lies hoping that despair will prevent you from fighting at full potential.