Guild Wars 2

Warning: This Is A Wall Of Text Read At Peril Of Your Own Boredom!

Introduction
The Heartwoods are located north-west of Phinney Waypoint, Queensdale. Here, you will find some of the finest specimens of Krytan flora: Around two-dozen grand trees, resplendently endowed with blossoms. They are the regents of their region, befittingly attended by a retinue of oakhearts. Every once in a while, however, the commanding presence of these trees wilts with the corruption of a member of their retinue: an ancient oakheart. The corruption appears to be a form of rot. The oakheart glows green and the earth of the Greatheart Weald exudes an unusual green discharge.
The Greatheart Weald is one of only two current, accessible locations in Tyria in which these unusual visual effects can be observed. The other is a garden within the Ogham Wilds of southern Caledon Forest. Lore enthusiasts have long-puzzled over the relationship between the two locations and also the nature of the phenomena observed at each. Suspicion is a sleuth unsatisfied and the attention of the curious usually wanders into Wychmire Swamp. Here also, strange discharges can often be seen erupting from the bog and the entire region is susceptible to blight; and although these discharges are not green in colour – they appear to be springs of water – and the local wildlife (when affected by blight) do not glow green, the three areas do share thematic similarities, warranting further investigation into possible associations between them.

Similarities Between The Three Locations
Let’s begin our investigation of any associations between these areas by comparing each in order to determine the similarities and dissimilarities between them. At least two of these sites are situated on ley-lines passing through the Thaumanova Reactor Facility. We know that the Greatheart Weald rests on a ley-line because the rotting oakheart of Thaumanova exhibits the same symptoms as the rotting oakheart of the Heartwoods, indicating that the oakheart at Thaumanova has been displaced from the Greatheart Weald. Moreover, Wychmire Swamp is also located on a ley-line. We learned this from the final cutscene of the Living Story Season 1. In that cut-scene a ley-line was revealed, running from Lion’s Arch through Kryta and Metrica Province in the general direction of Magus Falls. This line’s vector indicates that it did not run through regions of Kryta north of Lion’s Arch – specifically, Gendarran Fields, the Harathi Hinterlands or Queensdale. It ran in a south-westerly direction, passing through Wychmire Swamp. (This may not be the only evidence that a ley-line runs through the swamp. The Chaos Crystal Caverns of the Iron Marches are the displacement point of all manner of enemies, including Nightmare Courtiers.)
A second similarity between the Greatheart Weald and Wychmire is that both are either swamps or are located sufficiently close enough to swamps to be considered part of them. The Heartwoods are nestled to the immediate west of Godslost Swamp. This proximity is emphasized by the pre-event of the Secrets In The Swamp meta-event chain, in which portals normally restricted to the (presumed) confines of the marsh advance into the Heartwoods and must be cleared..
The final commonality is the local fauna.
By far, Ogham Wilds is the odd-one-out of these three spots. It is not, nor is it located near, any kind of swamp; it does not lie along the course of a (confirmed) ley-line.

A Proposed Explanation Of The Phenomena Observed At Each Location
In my opinion, there is good evidence in favor of associating the discharges from the ground (at each place) with some kind of bio-degradation. The label of the oakheart of the Greatheart Weald is one piece of evidence. It is described as “rotting”. The oakheart is also described as “ancient”, suggesting that it’s age has directly contributed to it’s current state. The parasite infestation from which it suffers may not be the cause of this rotting; instead, they may be feeding on the decaying fiber of the plant. So what is the cause of this rot, then? I propose that it may be due to drainage problems related to the Greatheart Weald’s proximity to the nearby swamp. Essentially, the trees of the Greatheart Weald are susceptible to a form of root-rot. They are a unique species of tree, found only in Kryta, and are probably intolerant to prolonged exposure to moisture.
Bio-degradation is probably also behind the discharges at Wychmire Swamp. I believe that Wychmire is a peat bog and in this regard distinct from Godslost. The primary reason for my belief is two-fold. First, Wychmire Swamp appears to be fed (predominantly) by a combination of spring- and rainwater and is poorly drained. In contrast, Godslost is fed by a river (assuming that it runs from west to east); the water there is much cleaner and free-flowing. Second, Wychmire Swamp doesn’t have a single dive-spot – there is no body of water within the region at which one can swim, indicating that the bog is full of grasses, mosses and the like. Godslost, on the other hand, does have dive-spots.
If we accept that Wychmire Swamp is a peat bog, the discharges erupting from it start to make more sense. They could well be some kind of swamp gas, easily mistaken for springs. Furthermore, these discharges occur during the Battle For Wychmire Swamp meta-event chain, when the entire region becomes blighted. Plant blight is often accompanied by decay; if said decay is also taking place beneath the ground in a peat bog, it will eventually result in gaseous discharges. Of course, during the meta-event the process of decay is magically rapidly-accelerated by the Avatars Of Blight, which explains why the discharges are only obvious when the former are present.
Having proposed that the discharges emanating from the ground at both the Greatheart Weald and Wychmire Swamp correlate to the decay of matter, we can now turn our attention to the Ogham Wilds. Here, the decay is not as obvious. We certainly observe green discharges, but we see little else to aid us in determining the meaning of them. There is, however, one tantalizing clue: In the corner of Arias’s garden, a root is entangled in what is described as “choking vines”. This is a solid lead in favor of the idea that subterranean plant-matter is decaying at this site.

The Husk
No discussion of Wychmire Swamp would be complete without a monologue about husks. These strange creatures are so reclusive that they are only really seen in this wetland. Husks aren’t dumb – they’ll shriek when injured – but they’re not exactly smart either. Guards stationed at the entrance to Twilight Arbor (EXP) describe them as “mindless”. It’s no wonder then that Vevina, the Countess Of Obedience, utilized so many of them. They make perfect slaves, servants and soldiers.
Husks also have strange physiological properties. One, a yellow-belly, has been the center of ongoing cogitation.

Yellow-Belly: Getting To The Heart Of The Matter
For a very long time now, the yellow-belly of the husk has been associated with the corruption of the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. The reason for this is manifold and, in my opinion, solid. What is even more intriguing about the yellow-belly of husks, however, is that it appears to be smaller in larger husks (such as the Avatars Of Blight, the Defiler and the Evolved Husk). This could simply be a matter of proportion. However, when one examines the belly of the unstable husk of Twilight Arbor (Story), which is approximately the same size as other large husks, it becomes apparent that this husk’s model is scaled such that it’s belly is larger than those of smaller husks, but proportionally the same. In my opinion, this is strong evidence in favor of the idea that husks age.

Husks May Age
This idea is supported by the sequence of events in the Wychmire Swamp meta-event. Something is responsible for the widespread blighting of the bog. In my opinion, the Avatars Of Blight are behind this. By killing these, Gamarien halts the spread of the disease. These husks are so powerful that they are able to affect entire swathes of landscape and even some of their own kind – blighted husks. Given that husks are plants, it makes sense to suggest that aged husks are not only more likely to be bigger but also more likely to spread disease than younger husks, especially if we compare them to trees and treants. Therefore, I propose that the reduced size of a larger husk’s yellow-belly, combined with the fact that they are capable of spreading plant diseases (think also of the Defiler of Twilight Arbor (EXP) when you consider this – the name says it all), is a fair argument in favor of the idea that husks age.

The Origin Of The Husk: A Presentation Of Theories
Husks must come from somewhere. If husks age, it is reasonable to assume that summoned husks are the youngest of their kind, possibly even newly-formed. I have detailed a number of possible explanations for where husks come from.

From Wurms
It is conceivable that wurms create husks in their stomachs, then regurgitate them (the Great Jungle Wurm of the Bloodtide Coast regurgitates husks). This is a strong possibility, although it doesn’t account for the sharp contrast between the husks of Wychmire Swamp, which do not show symptoms of bacterial parasitic infestation and the husks of the Bloodtide Coast, which do. Alternatively, wurms may simply summon husks. The fact that wurms eat husks, however, makes this latter suggestion very awkward. It seems like a tremendous amount of effort to go through just to feed.

From The Nightmare Court
Husks may be constructs, similar to the Effigies of the Flame Legion, made out of plant matter. If so, it is merely a matter of determining who creates them. Both Gamarien and Laewyn suspect that the presence of the Nightmare Court is somehow linked to that of summoned husks. So our first candidate is the Nightmare Court. But the recent emergence of the Great Jungle Wurm of the Bloodtide Coast introduces complications. The presence of husks in the wurm’s stomach suggests that it may have fed on them before even the Pale Tree was planted, casting doubt on the theory that husks are as young as sylvari born of the Pale Tree.

From The Nightmare/Mordremoth
Loosely, this theory corresponds to the former, in that nightmare and the Nightmare Court have strong associations. However, I will include it because sylvari of Briarthorn Den speak of how nightmare is older than dream, suggesting that nightmare is not uniquely bound to them. So then, husks may be formed directly by the nightmare. Given that husks seem to frequent the Wychmire Swamp region, it may be that husks are formed in swamps. If you subscribe to the understanding that the nightmare may be Mordremoth or any other Elder Dragon for that matter, you could liken husks to destroyers. But whereas Primordus may use lava pools to spawn his brood, the nightmare uses swamps.
There are some problems with this theory, especially when we consider that there are other swamps in the Maguuma (such as the Toxal Bog and large portions of Sparkfly Fen) similar in some ways to Wychmire. Why don’t we see husks there too? One could argue that the reason only Wychmire plays host to husks is because a ley-line running to Mordremoth passes through it; he can only create his minions along ley-lines. But even this suffers when we note that Godslost is another swamp located on a ley-line at which we see no such activity. At this point, this theory may have to resort to special pleading, maintaining that Godslost and Wychmire are two different types of swamp.

From Sylvari
I entertained the idea that husks come from sylvari at one point. This proposition is not without merit. In Twilight Arbor (Story) we see what are described as “corrupted pods” lining a passage leading to an unstable husk. These pods produce sylvari labeled “volatile nightmares”. The question is exactly what is meant by “volatile”. In Sector Zuhl of Timberline Falls there is a jumping puzzle; therein are a number of volatile destroyers. These destroyers move faster and explode on impact. Arguably, these destroyers behave differently because the site is a jumping puzzle and this introduces greater challenges to players – it could just be a game mechanic. However, if we consider why they are volatile, it may help us to understand the nature of volatile nightmares. In both cases, each creature moves faster. Volatile destroyers have super-speed; volatile nightmares also. What is more, destroyers and husks are the only beings in the Crucible Of Eternity described as “evolved”. The point is that both beings appear to be able to mutate.
So why would sylvari be candidates for mutation into husks? The Nightmare Court talk of evolution (see Apprentice Toindra of Briarthorn Den) and it is entirely possible that the process of evolution involves physical changes. If this theory is correct, the unstable husk is a mutated sylvari (i.e. the end result of what volatile nightmares are becoming) entering the next phase of it’s development.
This theory does have it’s problems and I certainly don’t endorse it. The main concern that I have is that the essence of volatile nightmares reverts the husk to it’s former size but does not completely turn it back into a sylvari.

From Sylvari Seed Pods
This is the final theory that I wish to present. It is possible that the Nightmare Court are stealing the pods of the Pale Tree and transforming them into husks. After all, husk is another term for pod. Moreover, the yellow-belly of the husk may not only correspond to Elder Dragonic corruption; it may also be evidence of a fresh wound (such as from a sylvari emerging from it’s pod or the ring-barking of a tree). This idea is further supported by the fact that aged husks have a smaller belly, suggesting that the area has healed somewhat.
However, this may not be accurate either. In one of the sylvari story-lines, “Where Life Goes”, Malyck shows Caithe his pod. Caithe is so familiar with sylvari seed pods that she is able to distinguish it from the pods of the Pale Tree and so deduce that Malyck is not born of it. Given that Caithe is so familiar with what pods look like, it seems reasonable to conclude that other sylvari are too. And if this is the case, it is bizarre that the jailers of the Grove’s prison would consider husks no more than wild beasts.

Conclusion.
I apologize for the wall of text. I am merely sharing my thoughts on this matter as carefully as possible. My verbosity is something that I am trying to work on. In my opinion, the three locations – the Greatheart Weald, Ogham Wilds and Wychmire Swamp – are all closely related. But whereas both Wychmire and the Heartwoods could be said to fall into decay through natural processes (note, not necessarily non-magical processes, just processes that do not require the intervention of a third party) the Ogham Wilds fall into decay through the actions of the Nightmare Court. Although others have been reluctant to see these three locations as linked, in my opinion viewing them as somehow linked is stronger than viewing them as isolated from each other.
I have also explored the nature of husks, particularly their origins. In my opinion, the best theory of the five that I can propose is the idea that if husks are Mordremoth’s minions, they are created in peat bogs and the like that are located on ley-lines. Still, the jury is out on that one and we will have to wait for the Living Story Season 2 for any further exploration of the nature of the origins of these elusive beings.

Great work.

After reading some theories here and putting them together with others it might be reasonable that the Pale Tree maybe produces husks and through the connection to the dream the soul(or whatever comes close) of a human is filled into the husk. We also have ferndogs are also born from the dream, the assumption behind it is that the soul forms the husk into the final form. We cannot see the birthchamber of the Sylvari, but everytime we enter the dream we get onto a whole new map (separate instance with separate exploration, maybe a parallel version of Tyria).

Stephen.6312:

The Greatheart Weald is one of only two current, accessible locations in Tyria in which these unusual visual effects can be observed.

I’ll note that the “unusual discharge” from the ground you make note of are used around certain Risen events/personal stories. So the effect isn’t only in the two locations. It’s only in those two locations that both the “discharge” from the ground and the rotting oakheart model are used.

Stephen.6312:

At least two of these sites are situated on ley-lines passing through the Thaumanova Reactor Facility. We know that the Greatheart Weald rests on a ley-line because the rotting oakheart of Thaumanova exhibits the same symptoms as the rotting oakheart of the Heartwoods, indicating that the oakheart at Thaumanova has been displaced from the Greatheart Weald.

This is purely speculative and non-conclusive. There’s nothing to indicate that the teleportation caused teleports beings from points along the ley lines.

Stephen.6312:

Moreover, Wychmire Swamp is also located on a ley-line. We learned this from the final cutscene of the Living Story Season 1. In that cut-scene a ley-line was revealed, running from Lion’s Arch through Kryta and Metrica Province in the general direction of Magus Falls. This line’s vector indicates that it did not run through regions of Kryta north of Lion’s Arch – specifically, Gendarran Fields, the Harathi Hinterlands or Queensdale. It ran in a south-westerly direction, passing through Wychmire Swamp. (This may not be the only evidence that a ley-line runs through the swamp. The Chaos Crystal Caverns of the Iron Marches are the displacement point of all manner of enemies, including Nightmare Courtiers.)

I don’t think we have anything like conclusive proof that the ley line from Lion’s Arch to Thaumanova passes through the swamp. It can easily pass around it – they don’t go in straight lines. Likely, but far from conclusive.

Stephen.6312:

A second similarity between the Greatheart Weald and Wychmire is that both are either swamps or are located sufficiently close enough to swamps to be considered part of them. The Heartwoods are nestled to the immediate west of Godslost Swamp. This proximity is emphasized by the pre-event of the Secrets In The Swamp meta-event chain, in which portals normally restricted to the (presumed) confines of the marsh advance into the Heartwoods and must be cleared..

I wouldn’t really say that the Heartwoods is close enough to be considered part of the Godslost Swamp. Keep in mind that lore-wise, the distances are greater than what we see. And the Secrets in the Swamp actually works against you as the state of the meta when the portals show up in the Heartwoods is “portals have been sighted outside the swamp.”

Stephen.6312:

The final commonality is the local fauna.

Which makes the Heartwoods the odd-man-out, as the other two hold Mosshearts, not Oakhearts.

Stephen.6312:

Having proposed that the discharges emanating from the ground at both the Greatheart Weald and Wychmire Swamp correlate to the decay of matter, we can now turn our attention to the Ogham Wilds. Here, the decay is not as obvious. We certainly observe green discharges, but we see little else to aid us in determining the meaning of them. There is, however, one tantalizing clue: In the corner of Arias’s garden, a root is entangled in what is described as “choking vines”. This is a solid lead in favor of the idea that subterranean plant-matter is decaying at this site.

It should be noted that at Ogham Wilds, the “discharges” only begin after the mosshearts have been twisted by the Nightmare (also the cause of their appearance).

Stephen.6312:

Husks aren’t dumb – they’ll shriek when injured – but they’re not exactly smart either. Guards stationed at the entrance to Twilight Arbor (EXP) describe them as “mindless”. It’s no wonder then that Vevina, the Countess Of Obedience, utilized so many of them. They make perfect slaves, servants and soldiers.

Hmm, them being called mindless is actually good support for them being dragon minions – low level dragon minions are often called mindless, with the only will being that of killing anything not tied to their dragon. Only the not-mindless minions can give them orders to make them function properly – which in turn furthers support of the Nightmare being Mordremoth’s influence.

Stephen.6312:

It is conceivable that wurms create husks in their stomachs, then regurgitate them (the Great Jungle Wurm of the Bloodtide Coast regurgitates husks).

I’m going to disagree with this. Joy’s End is a base of the Nightmare Court in which they are “taming” jungle wurms, yet there are no husks. Similarly, there are husks where no wurms are. The Bloodtide Coast’s Evolved Great Jungle Wurm does spit out some half-digested husks, but as the name implies they were likely eaten by the wurm – much like the Wychmire Swamp Great Jungle Wurm does.

Stephen.6312:

-snip “from the Nightmare Court”-

The presence of husks in the wurm’s stomach suggests that it may have fed on them before even the Pale Tree was planted, casting doubt on the theory that husks are as young as sylvari born of the Pale Tree.

I’d argue that this pushes for them being minions of Mordremoth, personally.

Stephen.6312:

There are some problems with this theory, especially when we consider that there are other swamps in the Maguuma (such as the Toxal Bog and large portions of Sparkfly Fen) similar in some ways to Wychmire. Why don’t we see husks there too? One could argue that the reason only Wychmire plays host to husks is because a ley-line running to Mordremoth passes through it; he can only create his minions along ley-lines. But even this suffers when we note that Godslost is another swamp located on a ley-line at which we see no such activity. At this point, this theory may have to resort to special pleading, maintaining that Godslost and Wychmire are two different types of swamp.

I’d like to note that while mechanically, Sparkfly and Mount Maelstrom are part of the Maguuma, they are not so in lore standing. They’re just counted as Maguuma for sake of achievements (otherwise Maguuma would be the smallest non-Orr region).

Again, the correlations here to the ley lines are not conclusive nor confirmed.

And it should be noted that we do see husks in Sparkfly – but only when the Nightmare Court’s involved. Even the presence in Wychmire Swamp can be related to the Nightmare Court’s involvement, due to proximity to Twilight Arbor – but as Gamarien says, they’re not caused by the Court there, but by something else. Still that doesn’t prevent the heavy presence of Twilight Arbor/Joy’s End (which are adjacent) being the cause of the presence growing there.

My suggestion would be that husks are dead plant matter than has been magically re-animated, in some similar manner to necromancy. This would not restrict husks to any location, master, or purpose. It seems like the sort of thing that the Nightmare Court and Jungle Dragon would do to create brutish minions.

I was going to post pretty much what Stooperdale did. Husks are pretty much the plant equivalent of undead. No reason that some husks couldn’t have been created by the NC, and others by the JD.

But that begs the question: why don’t we ever see husks on our side?

You don’t see many friendly undead, except those that player Necromancers summon.

I would speculate that the good guys don’t summon husks for much the same reason that you don’t see good guys summoning undead very often. They’re disease ridden, rather vile, and possibly dangerous. They probably smell like a compost heap.

(TBH, I never understood why MMOs ever allowed playable non-evil Necromancers).

I don’t think the undead are really “disease ridden” or dangerous. In Ghosts of Ascalon we see Killeen make a skeleton minion and a fresh corpse minion. Neither are really that dangerous (to Killeen’s allies) nor all that diseased – though off-putting to the rest of the group in the latter’s case.

Yes, you see occasional “good” undead, but it’s rare. Good reanimated plants may just have no place in the story. Unlike evil undead plants, which fill a need, plot wise. And I doubt that there’s much player demand for a plant necromancer class (or skills).

And judging by their rotted appearance, the (animal) undead are definitely host to all sorts of pathogens and parasites. I’d expect husks to carry plant pathogens. A fresh corpse might not have many diseases, but after a few days I wouldn’t want to be near it. Fortunately, necromancer minions don’t last very long.

As for dangerous, who knows. I wouldn’t want to be around if a necromancer lost control of a horde of shambling brain eating corpses.

Undead don’t eat brains in Tyria. Though some are known to be meat-eaters, the example seen were legs.

Something I noticed on one of the Gates of Maguuma previews, the name of this screenshot; “Mordrem, Brisban”. Assuming that ArenaNet provide the screenshot names to the websites (as they provide the screenshots), does this constitute proof that the husks are linked to Mordremoth, as many have suspected?