Guild Wars 2

Although we may not fully understand the Sylvari dream state the current events unfolding in the Kessex Hills may hold a key to further insights into it. The Tower Of Nightmares is releasing a hallucinogenic spore into the air, creating a form of nightmare (or dream state, as I will henceforth refer to both the Dream and the Nightmare). It is possible that the dream state of the Sylvari is experienced through a hallucinogenic property of the sap of the Pale Tree. If this is indeed the case, it would go some way toward explaining why the Sylvari experience of the dream state is strongest when they remain physically connected to the Pale Tree (i.e. in the first stages of their development). (It is debatable whether this property is meant to be within the Pale Tree’s sap. Malyck’s Tree may not be in a dream state and hence may not have been affected by a hallucinogen.) Once the Sylvari “awaken” and are physically separated from the Pale Tree their direct experience of the dream state begins to fade. (They still experience it to some degree, of course.) In particular, the Sylvari no longer have the ability to peer into the future – whatever information about each individual’s Wyld or Dark Hunt can only be appropriated during the period of their incubation in a pod of the Pale Tree. From their “awakening” Sylvari can only really process the “raw data” of the dream state – they receive no new comprehensible information about their future directly from said state (although continued stimulation is experienced (consider the Soundless as an example confirming the presence of ongoing stimulation) it is not as extensive in nature (i.e. it may be the stimulation of some of the senses, but not all of them, in such a way that a full understanding of the meaning of the ongoing stimulation can never really be achieved).
On a side note, it is the ability to peer into the future that seems to distinguish the dream state from the Mists in general. The theme of the Mists seems to be historical – i.e. concerned with Tyria’s past, rather than it’s future. We will return to the possible importance of this later in this post.

What is even more baffling is the dream state of the Pale Tree herself – she appears to be sleeping, even though her children awaken. We usually associate a dream state with sleep and sleep, in turn, with inactivity of some kind. In this sense, it seems intuitive to conclude that trees (and plants in general) would be amongst the foremost candidates for dream states. They are not nearly as active as living beings. Thus, it is no surprise that the centaurs consider that trees can provide wisdom, since trees (potentially) spend all of their time in meditation.
So we have proposed that the dream state may be related to the sap of the Pale Tree and we have also noted that the sap may be contaminated with something. What could it be? It is possible that it is a spore and not just any spore, but a spore spread by a magical creature such as an Elder Dragon. Alternatively, it may be another kind of spore naturally occurring within the Maguuma Jungle capable of causing hallucinations, unrelated to an Elder Dragon. Either way, there may be spores in the Pale tree’s sap that have sent it into a deep sleep. If this is the case, it is interesting to note that spores drove the wildlife crazy in Southsun Cove and now appear to be disrupting the mental states of residents of and travelers to the Kessex Hills – except for perhaps two parties: The Nightmare Court and the Krait. It is possible that the spore has different effects upon different creatures. (In speculating thus we are ultimately proposing that Scarlet Briar may have been able to synthesize the spore from a sample of the Pale Tree’s sap.) After all, if this is indeed correct, the spore is not meant to be inhaled and is only meant to be processed by Sylvari physiology. Moreover, it is probably naturally occuring close to or in the ground within the Maguuma region so that only plants can truly absorb it into their “bloodstreams” directly (I use the word “bloodstream” for plants with some disdain and only for want of a better descriptive). By synthesizing the spore and releasing it from such a great height Scarlet may have achieved something: She has allowed creatures other than Sylvari (and a select few other creatures) to contribute to the dream state. Moreover, in doing so she has bypassed the Pale Tree’s role as caretaker of and (in a sense) grantor of access to the dream state. Now, creatures of every race can potentially benefit from and contribute to the dream state.
And there may be one big reason why this is so attractive to Scarlet: She can reenter the dream state that she left when she awoke. In so doing, she will be able to study and explore the dream state to it’s fullest, unburdened by the restrictions of either the Pale Tree or the brief period of Sylvari development within a pod of the Pale Tree. In other words, she will be able to see into the future, not just “her future” but the future of others too. What this means for Sylvari is something for us to ponder…

Except that the Dream is not a hallucination… You are trying to connect a very real connection with hallucinations, which are by definition not real.
We know that the Dream is part of the Mists, the fact that it is called the “dream” doesn’t mean that it is a dream or that there is a “dream state”.

note: haven’t read Stephan’s posts

Actually, FlamingFoxx, the Dream is not confirmed to be part of the Mists. We do know it is a physical (or at least metaphysical) location, but while there are similarities between it and the Mists we do not yet have confirmation it is part of the Mists.

One problem with that idea. We know the dream actually exists, because sylvari are still connected to it once they awaken. It’s sort of a hive mind for sylvari, it connects all of them except those corrupted by the nightmare that have been cutoff from the dream. There are sylvari in game that will confirm this. The one i’m sure most people have heard is the one in LA asking an asura why she’s cut off from the dream when she steps through an asura gate. I would say this suggests the dream is a kind of magic bond between the sylvari as asura gates are based on dragon energy and we know the dragons absorb magic.

But we don’t really know exactly what the dream is or exactly how it works, it hasnt been explained. We just know it does exist, it’s real, and it connects the sylvari.

Just a thought: But the hallucinations may still actually be a “dream” of sorts. It may be, however, that whoever is behind the Tower of Nightmares is using this connection to transmit disorienting images and sounds into the minds of non-allies. Kind of a psychic signal-jamming.

Stephen said:
" it is interesting to note that spores drove the wildlife crazy in Southsun Cove and now appear to be disrupting the mental states of residents of and travelers to the Kessex Hills – except for perhaps two parties: The Nightmare Court and the Krait."

I’m not sure the Krait are unchanged, though. They certainly look different. And Marjory and others have commented that their behavior towards the Nightmare Court does not add up with their previous behavior patterns.

I wonder, perhaps the Nightmare Court and the Krait are experiencing genuine communication with eachother – through Dream-like means. Since the Nightmare Court Sylvari are involved, I suspect that they might be using their knowlege of the Pale Tree to create their own, artificial, tree. The structure sticking up through the top of the Tower certainly has some similarities to the Pale Tree.

Perhaps the hallucinations are an “electric fence” of sorts to keep other Sylvari OUT of their private communications.

The krait are a very xenophobic race that would never see the nightmare court as equal, much less ally with them.

There would need to be a better reason the two would ally than that they reached some communication on a base level (or scarlet did it for that matter).