Guild Wars 2

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/short-story-what-scarlet-saw/

This story is, by far, the best released until now, in my opinion.

“Please: go no further. In seeking to comprehend the forces that shape us, you will unleash them. Society cannot withstand that.”

Ominous. I’m looking forward to the continuation of this all.

Aye. This is what was needed to save Scarlet as a character, and it holds interesting implications for Tyrian metaphysics, and the nature of the Pale Tree. I just wish they hadn’t already depicted Scarlet as a shallow, nay, flat character, not unlike the Aetherblades. I worry that some may be unable to let go of that first impression.

I agree. This redeemed my view of her as character, but the bitter taste of what we already saw and experienced is there. It would’ve been a much better strategy to release this story beforehand the update.

All in all, this is really interesting and the implications it could have in the world are gigantic. I hope the next chapters live up to this.

It is interesting. And it does give me a theory that the Pale Tree might have some sort of connection with the Eternal Alchemy, or even be part of it.

On the other hand though, it is kind of worrying regarding Scarlet/Ceara’s portrayal. Yes, it did flesh her out and portray her as a Wunderkind, but then it went downhill. Remember Cadeyrn, and how he disagreed with Ventari’s teachings? He was surrounded by sylvari who, back then, didn’t want to debate that.

Granted, Scarlet at the time instead had Omadd next to her, but it seems to lead to a theme with the villain sylvari, in that they don’t want to be given directions or guidelines, and they didn’t have a proper support system to help reassess why they think that way.

Yeah, there is more information about her past but again it’s not delivered in game. Why not just bring in Marjory Delaqua to investigate Scarlet, and then have the players search out her background. We did this during dragon bash to uncover a conspiracy, and we used a similar method in order to flesh out the mad king thorn’s history. I was actually not surprised that they did this short story outside of the game again because people were flabbergasted that was no exposition to her past.

Hopefully we a get part two talking about what she did behind the scenes before her big reveal. Maybe explains the steam creature connection how she has unlimited resources at her disposal.

On that note I wonder what Caithe and Faolain think of her. Especially the latter because Scarlet seems to upstaging Faolain influence over the rest of the world.

Hopefully they go on with this. Right now it seems like she is just an evil person doing evil stuff.

Key note, it was said we would recognize the big baddie. If this is the big baddie, I will be disappointed.

Hopefully they make the end of this story interesting and not a typical run of the mill Villain wants to destroy the world and you stop her.

She saw the universe! And it made her want to…kill people?

Been done. Also lame.

PS – The writing is alright at micro level. Nice job there. Typo in the second paragraph though.

Lucky.9421:

She saw the universe! And it made her want to…kill people?

Been done. Also lame.

PS – The writing is alright at micro level. Nice job there. Typo in the second paragraph though.

Almost everything have once been done or been told. =p

Cyan.6904:

Almost everything have once been done or been told. =p

I guess but they could have given her a more meaningful motivation than BRAIN OVERLOAD NOW IM CRAZY!!!

PS – Something about dragons.

Lucky.9421:

PS – Something about dragons.

She is a dragon. All make sense now.

Before I had a chance to read this; I simply saw her as this comic book villain essentially much like the joker, but I see now this more grand idea or intention to her that makes for a much more interesting villain and I hope to see more from her.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Aye. This is what was needed to save Scarlet as a character

It redeems some aspects of Scarlet, but does not save her, since it lessens some aspects of her.

But that kind of thing is needed in the game itself rather than some short story blog post. Braham’s, Rox’s, and Kiel’s pasts were all good as short stories, because those pasts weren’t important to the plot, unlike this one.

Scarlet still has potential. But for every “good” thing about her they show, they produce equally “bad” things. And she certainly isn’t redeemed yet.

Lucky.9421:

PS – Something about dragons.

After killing Omadd (Umad?), she traveled west and burned down Malyck’s tree. Doing this awoke Mordremoth in a totally unobserved way at the same moment players looked through the jotun path Arah telescope to see the star form. Scarlet then brought out her Aetherized rifle that she somehow had despite the Aetherblades not yet existing and one-shotted Mordremoth in the eye, piercing to his brain. Then all the magic he had been absorbing began to leak out slowly, so Scarlet absorbed it and now she’s 8-feet tall.

Her lifelong goal is now to plant herself in the center of Tyria, to become the first ever Red Tree and bring forth a race of her children – the Twilvari (“Twisted Sylvari”).

Eluveitie.1290:

I agree. This redeemed my view of her as character, but the bitter taste of what we already saw and experienced is there. It would’ve been a much better strategy to release this story beforehand the update.

All in all, this is really interesting and the implications it could have in the world are gigantic. I hope the next chapters live up to this.

This has honestly been the biggest problem with these Living Story updates from what I’ve seen from my following of it recently. Anything worthwhile to ground their events with any context or substance has been tucked away in these posts that, I’m fairly certain, most people never get around to seeing. Most, I suspect, go to the update notes/page and maybe the guide post, then update their client (or vice versa) and go to the designated spot and carry on their way…With little understanding of why any of it’s happening or what more there is to it.

mingnonchan.2851:

It is interesting. And it does give me a theory that the Pale Tree might have some sort of connection with the Eternal Alchemy, or even be part of it.

Everything is a part of the Eternal Alchemy. The Eternal Alchemy is an epistemological notion that all is capable of being understood and manipulated at some level.

Lucky.9421:

She saw the universe! And it made her want to…kill people?

Been done. Also lame.

PS – The writing is alright at micro level. Nice job there. Typo in the second paragraph though.

You’re missing the forest for the trees, admittedly the presentation of the trees isn’t helping matters (in-game, this teensy bit of backstory, etc.). Seeing the universe hasn’t made her want to kill people, it’s seemingly devalued them to the point where their deaths are seen as fairly inconsequential to the larger systems at play that she wants to manipulate. Which frankly, isn’t too inaccurate of an assessment for systems based people like her, considering that the actions of some individuals in influential positions may seem psychotic or thoroughly lacking in empathy to those focused on the small scale systems like perhaps you or I, whereas they fail to see it because they can see the full breadth of their actions and see where the benefits outweigh the costs.

In short, killing people is irrelevant to her goals, it’s a means to an end that appears to be to rewrite the systems from scratch on her own terms. At least, that’s the gist I get from it.

The in-game embodiment of this pursuit, however, is completely silly and somewhat contrary to this suggested vision, from my understanding of how it’s being played out.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Aye. This is what was needed to save Scarlet as a character

It redeems some aspects of Scarlet, but does not save her, since it lessens some aspects of her.

But that kind of thing is needed in the game itself rather than some short story blog post. Braham’s, Rox’s, and Kiel’s pasts were all good as short stories, because those pasts weren’t important to the plot, unlike this one.

Scarlet still has potential. But for every “good” thing about her they show, they produce equally “bad” things. And she certainly isn’t redeemed yet.

Lucky.9421:

PS – Something about dragons.

After killing Omadd (Umad?), she traveled west and burned down Malyck’s tree. Doing this awoke Mordremoth in a totally unobserved way at the same moment players looked through the jotun path Arah telescope to see the star form. Scarlet then brought out her Aetherized rifle that she somehow had despite the Aetherblades not yet existing and one-shotted Mordremoth in the eye, piercing to his brain. Then all the magic he had been absorbing began to leak out slowly, so Scarlet absorbed it and now she’s 8-feet tall.

Her lifelong goal is now to plant herself in the center of Tyria, to become the first ever Red Tree and bring forth a race of her children – the Twilvari (“Twisted Sylvari”).

This would make an interesting Fractal

I hope they have something like the did for MKthorne on halloween when they have a possible future update (Preferably after halloween. I’d like a break from her storyline) where we actually investigate her story in the game.

Well, we were right about her being very much an anarchist. Though, certain parts of the short story brought me back to her poem…

“Please: go no further. In seeking to comprehend the forces that shape us, you will unleash them. Society cannot withstand that.”

~

“So much makes sense now. The Pale Tree, the Nightmare Court, Caithe and Faolain…it’s all part of a grand design.

“But I see the flaws in that design. My people don’t have to take what we’re given, or be what we were “born to be.” No people do. We can change the rules…well, I can. And I’m going to.”

They reminded me of this part of the poem…

Your world is built on fog and sand
You’re out of time, your jig is done
It’s time for Scarlet to have her fun

She is setting herself up to be an agent of chaos, and she will work against any plans the “forces that shape us” has for their “grand designs”.

Why o why did anet not put this ingame?! This story does not explain all her ties to the steam creatures and the molten aliance, but now she at least have a motive. At least she is a character now and not just a boss with some vague dialogue. This should have been out at the start of the event, so the players would not have the time to yell “bad writing” before there was anything actually writen about Scarlet.

I love how the story is based on the sylvarian curiosity. It’s something all sylvari experience, but Ceara is the exeption that drives it even further.

I love it, but for the love of Kormir put it IN the event next time!

She is like Tony Stark and Joker in one mind.

Nice interesting story, much to speculate about. Wish it was in the actual game though. Reading things outside the actual product always feels like a fanfic somehow.

Her motivation is alright i guess. She is pretty much an semi-anti-Soundless. Though not happy with Dream and Nightmare, she actually wants to change the system instead of isolating herself from it. Unfortunately she chooses the simplest way of changing a working system: Instead of subtly modifying one sub-system at a time like a good tinkerer would, she just jumps at it with a steamhammer on a random point with the hopes that the next system evolving from the ruins will be more to her liking.

and why do we have to read it to understand it HERE?..couldnt it been in game?id read it the same way

And now the “seeing” of the Eternal Alchemy. This is where the plot black hole nature of Scarlet starts. Are they telling us that a meager mortal mind could not only see, but grasp infinity? Does anyone here believe that he or she could survive understanding infinite knowledge? Scarlet’s exploding fruit for brains should’ve painted the isolation module’s glass red or green or whatever color sylvari brain is the moment she glimpsed eternity. Or wait… is it just another attack on the Six Gods? After all, the new writing direction just can’t have enough of downplaying or invalidating everything the gods did. So now they’re retconing again, saying the gods are pushovers, for even puny mortals can stare into Everything and survive.

Also, I just love how this wretch goes on to say that “the pinnacle of asuran thought was not a metamagical engine or a transcendent equation, but a key that allowed one to access the basic fabric of reality itself.” Yeah, in that few years of study she could come up with that like that, effectively contradicting millennia of research, study, and philosophies of the best asura minds. I see a parallel here, though: “the writers see the pinnacle of Guild Wars not as the established lore on which future stories should be built, but random cartoon craziness that allows one to access the basic fabric of the Guild Wars universe itself, and make a mess of it.”

I keep bringing up my silly dream (oh, how much I’d love to see Scarlet being eradicated through intense Inquest pain), but even there I offered a – in my opinion – significantly more believable way for why she became nuts. They tried something similar (personally, I’d make this “Project Eternity” an Elder Dragon related way of accessing the very core of magic – Crucible of Eternity and all), however, given it is impossible to achieve even for the most brilliant (mortal) minds, the experiment was shut down with Scarlet barely alive, her mind ravaged, and partially corrupted. Then this broken and maddened victim breaks out and goes full anarchy on the world.

Omadd’s research without the Inquest or the Arcane Council unknowing is just unbelievable. And what sort of module could allow one to access the universe in an out-of-body experience without killing said person? We got a lot of technobabble and mumbo-jumbo again (yay crazy sci-fi/fantasy mutant) with com- wait for it… plex devices and tubes and stuff and a pod… so? Just what was this stuff? What on bloody Tyria powered it to allow one to enter Eternity?

Sorry, but there’re just too many lore and plot holes in this to make for a compelling story (and then I’ve not included the Villain Sueism and the uncalled “I want to see the world burn for lulz” attitude… if anything, Scarlet should be an emotionless husk, a machine only seeing the cogs and the grand schemes, her soul completely burnt out). If Scarlet is not removed from Scarlet’s World/Sto- excuse me… so if she’s not removed from this Living World/Story of Guild Wars 2, then I’ll personally consider her non-canon to save my own sanity. (Doing the LS for grindfest and achievement points seems to be the only point to it, anyways.) Star Wars has quite a few comics, short stories (hello Wookiee Christmas!), and books that are fully non-canon. The dark side endings of dozens of SW games? Non-canon! Hell, even Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I-II are non-canon with where the story stopped!

If ANet wants to honor the Guild Wars universe, they should wrap Scarlet up quick – VERY tightly. If they’re in love with her so much, then so be it… finish it. But for the sake of lore and everything that is Guild Wars: make the LS non-canon…

Thalador.4218:

Obviously, it’s a joke to show what would’ve happened in the Tyria we’ve gotten to know over the years. Ever since Scarlet showed up (and even before that, with the appearance of the Aetherblades), the universe has started to become less magical, less Guild Wars, and more some aberrant sci-fi/fantasy amalgam, with more emphasis on sci-fi.

I don’t really mind the sci-fi elements to it, if done right, but IMO, the game’s story has been in decline before the Aetherblades by a month and a half – with The Secret of Southsun.

Though not part of the relevant plot (thank god), Faren was forced to flee Divinity’s Reach because of a riot caused by a cat popularity contest.

Seriously? A riot… over a freaking cat not getting first place?

If not for the extreme stupidity I’ve seen in the world, this would seem over the top, but it certainly is for Guild Wars. Unless Anet’s goal is to make the plots and elements of the game as pathetically reasoned by our own issues (yes, our problems are sad in that people are dying, but the reasons people kill are really pathetic in too many cases – example: some teenagers in, I believe it was Oklahoma, got bored and because of that, gunned down an Australian athlete to elevate their boredom >.>).

The Aetherblades were reasonable in of themselves, given their Inquest ties, but it really was stretching things. Scarlet does so far more.

we should have seen this into the game somehow… it’s not fair that i know about this character when i’m off game

A quick note about the supposed Inquest xenophobia- there’s no evidence for it that I know of. Actually, one of the asura story arcs show a sylvari member of an Inquest krewe. They’re interested in gaining knowledge, and I can’t see them turning away any potential sources of it, no matter what race.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Thalador.4218:

Obviously, it’s a joke to show what would’ve happened in the Tyria we’ve gotten to know over the years. Ever since Scarlet showed up (and even before that, with the appearance of the Aetherblades), the universe has started to become less magical, less Guild Wars, and more some aberrant sci-fi/fantasy amalgam, with more emphasis on sci-fi.

I don’t really mind the sci-fi elements to it, if done right, but IMO, the game’s story has been in decline before the Aetherblades by a month and a half – with The Secret of Southsun.

Though not part of the relevant plot (thank god), Faren was forced to flee Divinity’s Reach because of a riot caused by a cat popularity contest.

Seriously? A riot… over a freaking cat not getting first place?

I could come up with reasoning as to HOW that would have happened. If the cat in question was owned by a member of the Ministers, or the Queen, or a commoner . . . a riot could be orchestrated much as during the first part of the Personal Story for humans. Remember, the Ministers are not all loyal and some of them at least have been turned to other goals.

It wasn’t a riot about the cat not getting first place. It was a riot to try to show other races the human city has grown decadent and weak and is not to be supported. Then it’s all the easier to subvert.

Lucky.9421:

Cyan.6904:

Almost everything have once been done or been told. =p

I guess but they could have given her a more meaningful motivation than BRAIN OVERLOAD NOW IM CRAZY!!!

Well, for one thing, it’s less of a “brain overload” than an “I’ve seen so much your puny life is worthless to me and now I have seen a greater scheme than you can comprehend,” type thing. In this day and age it is almost impossible to create original, compelling stories that can both be told in a game and fit the Gw2 world.

Amadan.9451:

we should have seen this into the game somehow… it’s not fair that i know about this character when i’m off game

Then tell me, given the dialogue and cutscene systems and how books are used in-game, how they could put this in game without having an incredibly long dialogue chain or some such thing. It isn’t easy, especially if they had to put some design work to insert it in an easy-to-understand manner, and that would draw even more work away from the actual content that isn’t just a wall-o-text broken up by clicking a green arrow. It would be nice to present at least some of the story itself in-game, but the current systems can’t convey it well.

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Then tell me, given the dialogue and cutscene systems and how books are used in-game, how they could put this in game without having an incredibly long dialogue chain or some such thing. It isn’t easy, especially if they had to put some design work to insert it in an easy-to-understand manner, and that would draw even more work away from the actual content that isn’t just a wall-o-text broken up by clicking a green arrow. It would be nice to present at least some of the story itself in-game, but the current systems can’t convey it well.

Do you really want me to? Oooookay.

I think the smith mentioned in Hoelbrak actually exists somewhere in game. Have it be a dialogue option in the next Living Story to ask him about “Scarlet” and if he ever tried teaching a sylvari.

Next, allow characters to talk to people in the college areas in Rata Sum and actually use the “Charm/Dignity/Ferocity” to gate whether or not you get a reply (i.e. your Charm must be at least this value to use the Charm option successfully).

Have a LS instance to dialogue with the Pale Tree, who says something along the lines of “Poor (Scarlet’s original name), she could have had a large part in what must come if she hadn’t turned her back on it.” And explaining Scarlet has to be stopped since she now defies the order of things.

All these can be tacked onto or spaced out in minor bits during the SAB update, since it’s light and simple.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Then tell me, given the dialogue and cutscene systems and how books are used in-game, how they could put this in game without having an incredibly long dialogue chain or some such thing. It isn’t easy, especially if they had to put some design work to insert it in an easy-to-understand manner, and that would draw even more work away from the actual content that isn’t just a wall-o-text broken up by clicking a green arrow. It would be nice to present at least some of the story itself in-game, but the current systems can’t convey it well.

Do you really want me to? Oooookay.

I think the smith mentioned in Hoelbrak actually exists somewhere in game. Have it be a dialogue option in the next Living Story to ask him about “Scarlet” and if he ever tried teaching a sylvari.

Next, allow characters to talk to people in the college areas in Rata Sum and actually use the “Charm/Dignity/Ferocity” to gate whether or not you get a reply (i.e. your Charm must be at least this value to use the Charm option successfully).

Have a LS instance to dialogue with the Pale Tree, who says something along the lines of “Poor (Scarlet’s original name), she could have had a large part in what must come if she hadn’t turned her back on it.” And explaining Scarlet has to be stopped since she now defies the order of things.

All these can be tacked onto or spaced out in minor bits during the SAB update, since it’s light and simple.

Perfect example of how it could be done. Almost like an innocent child believing in Santa Claus, I went to several key NPC’s that could be connected to this whole story arc to see what they could tell me… and nothing. It’s really game-breaking.

The whole living story concept rather seems to be an excuse to sell items and hoard more achievement points than anything. The last time I was actually happy about an update was with Dragon Bash month, in my opinion, that was very well executed and kept things interesting. Also BotFW was pretty nice, but had more potential. Then Halloween and Winsterday are the only other memorable ones. Now…

It’s sad for me to admit the game is losing my interest, specially because the lore is what kept me interested in the first place.

Agreeing to what Thalador said in his post… the whole sci-fi feel, the major disconjectures, mostly flat/boring/typical characters, small updates that never really change anything, attempts at making the game a comical show (the only dialogue in Queen’s Jubilee was the Hobo-Tron and the minstrel -really?- while it was good, there was so much potential to give use to those random citizens around considering the history behind the Great Collapse… not to mention no riots or anything of the people who lost thier homes and jobs there).

I’m giving the game one chance to see how this -already too long and mostly dissapointing- living story reachs its climax.

Eluveitie.1290:

Perfect example of how it could be done.

No, it’s really not There are much better ways, and I know because I came up with THAT one first.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Eluveitie.1290:

Perfect example of how it could be done.

No, it’s really not There are much better ways, and I know because I came up with THAT one first.

Perhaps not, but it does sound like gold compared to what we have.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who does not like the recent “sci-fi”/technology overdose. Yeah, tech has always been in the game — I don’t like that much when it comes to fantasy, but I knew it was there, and since I don’t play asura and the charr tech is more hands-on warmachines, it was palatable. But lately, with the endless Aetherblades and now Scarlet, it’s just over the top. I’d like a magical/mystical plotline for a change. :/

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

DeShadowWolf.6854:

~snip~

Do you really want me to? Oooookay.

I think the smith mentioned in Hoelbrak actually exists somewhere in game. Have it be a dialogue option in the next Living Story to ask him about “Scarlet” and if he ever tried teaching a sylvari.

Next, allow characters to talk to people in the college areas in Rata Sum and actually use the “Charm/Dignity/Ferocity” to gate whether or not you get a reply (i.e. your Charm must be at least this value to use the Charm option successfully).

Have a LS instance to dialogue with the Pale Tree, who says something along the lines of “Poor (Scarlet’s original name), she could have had a large part in what must come if she hadn’t turned her back on it.” And explaining Scarlet has to be stopped since she now defies the order of things.

All these can be tacked onto or spaced out in minor bits during the SAB update, since it’s light and simple.

Last, have the players go to Orr, Kryta, and the Iron Marches in that order.
/sarcasm

It both 1) doesn’t show the story as it was written in the same way we can read the post, since it has to break it up and put it in-character rather than reading the story itself (which, imo, is written quite well).
2) leads players on a wild goose chase with very little reward. I suspect the people who might actually do this kind of thing (presuming we even know we can do it) are also the ones who keep up-to-date on Anet’s posts there. Given the way in which LS instances are designed, we would probably recieve a mail somehow telling us the Pale Tree has stuff to say, we walk in, her what the tree says, then get attacked by Aetherblades on the way out.Which wouldn’t fit one centimeter with the current events (that is, Scarlet is messing with DR). And the dialogue treasure-hunt might have LS stars like the investigation during DB.

And it wouldn’t be as interesting and immersive as reading the story full out on the official site.

I enjoyed the story, and I even think the timing of its release was right; we wondered who Scarlet was, now we know.

One of my problems with it is the involvement of the Flame Legion. As we know, they don’t even allow female charr any sort of liberty. So it seems odd that they’d be willing to align with a female “twig”.

The invasion events themselves are a blast, I love ’em.

I agree, this should be ingame.

Scarlet’s diary → drops when Scarlet get’s defeated in the Meta Event

later: book collectible tab
later: other books from older living story chapters drop as rare drops in the corresponding zones

Why is the thread discussing Anet’s marketing and writing is in the Lore section while the thread that discusses the actual content of what Scarlet saw is in the Clockword Chaos section?

As for the actual topic:

Im not convinced that Scarlet saw what she thought she saw. Its more likely that the machine/pod allow her to experience her own connection to the Dream in a new way. Maybe much like how the Pale Tree sees it, maybe above that level somewhere. The entire vision is focused on the Pale Tree, of the Dream and the Nightmare, and the purpose of sylvari. The experience might be overwhelming still. A common sylvari mind is still not on the same level as that of the Pale Tree. The magnitude of the experience would be easy to mistake with experiencing the Eternal Alchemy, especially if that was the goal you set before.

The other thing worth debating is the connection/relation between the Eternal Alchemy and the Dream of Dreams.

Marcus Greythorne.6843:

I agree, this should be ingame.

Scarlet’s diary -> drops when Scarlet get’s defeated in the Meta Event

later: book collectible tab
later: other books from older living story chapters drop as rare drops in the corresponding zones

This. Tenfold.

And then the thing that annoys me the most.
How can an arrogant, little stick figure with that weirdo hairdo… convince all the races to cooperate to let her study whatever she desires? I’d like to be informed of a manner to look past her Mary Sue’ness, in terms of how she’s so perfect despite being an insufferable individual both before and after taking on a new name.

That step up to a Charr and start demanding to be taught, and I just imagine two green legs sticking out of a Charrzooka about to be fired. A frozen plant girl in a lake in the Wayfarer’s when a Norn got air of this squirt’s intentions. The Asura stun me the most; their interest has never gone past their own kind… why now?

Introducing a super villain: sure thing.
Introducing another Sylvari: egh, okay, fine.
Introducing another Mary Sue: …hire some new writers already!

Now don’t get me wrong, mind. Looking forward to seeing where this all may go.
At the least so I can punch Scarlet upside the head soon…
But for now, the childish concept of a picture perfect girl with a nutter button, really weirded me out. I expected much better from Arena Net these days!

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

DeShadowWolf.6854:

~snip~

Do you really want me to? Oooookay.

I think the smith mentioned in Hoelbrak actually exists somewhere in game. Have it be a dialogue option in the next Living Story to ask him about “Scarlet” and if he ever tried teaching a sylvari.

Next, allow characters to talk to people in the college areas in Rata Sum and actually use the “Charm/Dignity/Ferocity” to gate whether or not you get a reply (i.e. your Charm must be at least this value to use the Charm option successfully).

Have a LS instance to dialogue with the Pale Tree, who says something along the lines of “Poor (Scarlet’s original name), she could have had a large part in what must come if she hadn’t turned her back on it.” And explaining Scarlet has to be stopped since she now defies the order of things.

All these can be tacked onto or spaced out in minor bits during the SAB update, since it’s light and simple.

Last, have the players go to Orr, Kryta, and the Iron Marches in that order.
/sarcasm

It both 1) doesn’t show the story as it was written in the same way we can read the post, since it has to break it up and put it in-character rather than reading the story itself (which, imo, is written quite well).
2) leads players on a wild goose chase with very little reward. I suspect the people who might actually do this kind of thing (presuming we even know we can do it) are also the ones who keep up-to-date on Anet’s posts there. Given the way in which LS instances are designed, we would probably recieve a mail somehow telling us the Pale Tree has stuff to say, we walk in, her what the tree says, then get attacked by Aetherblades on the way out.Which wouldn’t fit one centimeter with the current events (that is, Scarlet is messing with DR). And the dialogue treasure-hunt might have LS stars like the investigation during DB.

And it wouldn’t be as interesting and immersive as reading the story full out on the official site.

Not using the story as it was written isn’t a huge loss, and “chase with no reward” only assumes there isn’t any based on me not mentioning it. Which, of course, is such a trap because there’s a lot of people criticizing the game for “rewards for pressing F” right now that I actually sort of agree with.

Also, adding things or changing what I said because ANet might put it in that way defeats the purpose of asking me “well how would you do it?” because then you ignore how I would do it in favor of rewriting it to fit your argument. Please don’t do that.

Ever since Scarlet showed up (and even before that, with the appearance of the Aetherblades), the universe has started to become less magical, less Guild Wars, and more some aberrant sci-fi/fantasy amalgam, with more emphasis on sci-fi.

I’ve been seeing that even before the Aetherblades. The end of the personal story is when I said to myself, “Ok, so this is a sci-fi game now.”

There’s a lot of discussing going on here, but unfortunately besides the point imho. I’m still completely flabbergasted.

What exactly is it that she is trying to change? Fate?

I’ve learned so much,” Scarlet continued. “Now I have to put that knowledge to use. An insurmountable challenge is rising, and my people have been called to meet it. We are compelled by our creator to do so.

“But I reject that call. I reject the notion that that I must choose the Dream or be lost to Nightmare. The forces that push us this way or that can be redirected. They can be set against one another to the detriment of both, and now I know how.”

The Sylvari are called to rise against an insurmountable challenge. I would assume this is the Elder dragons right?
Then she continues talking about the forces that push us, with us still meaning the Sylvari I assume. Which forces does she mean? Does she mean Dream and Nightmare, meaning both are ‘sentient’? She means to set them against each other, but isn’t that what is happening already?

Or perhaps she means to put the Elder Dragons against one another.

I’m wondering. The Pale Tree was very clear about her message. Either you’re with me or you are a threat. Also, her purpose is clear: defeating the Elder Dragons.
But to what point? What does she gain out of it?

Considering what we know about the nature of magic and the fact that we sort of know the Pale Tree is rooted in that magical circuit, would it be a logical assumption the Pale Tree is to gain a significant amount of nourishment or power for each Elder Dragon that is removed?

Has she, by circumstance, become the embodiment of Tyria itself? She apparently can feel the soul of Tyria (A light in the Darkness) after all. I suppose that would push her into the cliché representation of Yggdrasill.

You all should ask, why target Divinity’s Reach? Why didn’t she attack the Grove instead?

Maybe she can’t attack the Grove, due to one reason, the Pale Tree is stronger than her and her army or she knows the Pale Tree is dying………which would make it pointless for her to attacking it…..

Evans.6347:

Considering what we know about the nature of magic and the fact that we sort of know the Pale Tree is rooted in that magical circuit, would it be a logical assumption the Pale Tree is to gain a significant amount of nourishment or power for each Elder Dragon that is removed?

Or perhaps the Dragons as magic-eating entities are a very direct threat to the Pale Tree’s existence. Most of the other entities could survive without magic, but the Pale Tree and the Sylvari could not.

SirDrygan.1823:

You all should ask, why target Divinity’s Reach? Why didn’t she attack the Grove instead?

Maybe she can’t attack the Grove, due to one reason, the Pale Tree is stronger than her and her army or she knows the Pale Tree is dying………which would make it pointless for her to attacking it…..

It’s more simple why DR was attacked.

Queen Jennah made a big show of how humanity still was strong and wanted to show off their creations. What better way to hammer down some enemies than spoiling that? Which, notably, is already done. Win or lose, the watchknights supposedly meant to be a fine creation became one rampant threat after another. And she proved the city is still vulnerable.

Again, win or lose, the point was made: “you are not safe”.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

SirDrygan.1823:

You all should ask, why target Divinity’s Reach? Why didn’t she attack the Grove instead?

Maybe she can’t attack the Grove, due to one reason, the Pale Tree is stronger than her and her army or she knows the Pale Tree is dying………which would make it pointless for her to attacking it…..

It’s more simple why DR was attacked.

Queen Jennah made a big show of how humanity still was strong and wanted to show off their creations. What better way to hammer down some enemies than spoiling that? Which, notably, is already done. Win or lose, the watchknights supposedly meant to be a fine creation became one rampant threat after another. And she proved the city is still vulnerable.

Again, win or lose, the point was made: “you are not safe”.

Quite possibly to destroy self-esteem too. The main thing humans have going for them is their will and confidence in themselves. If that’s gone, then they’ll start to fall apart.

RedSpectrum.1975:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

SirDrygan.1823:

You all should ask, why target Divinity’s Reach? Why didn’t she attack the Grove instead?

Maybe she can’t attack the Grove, due to one reason, the Pale Tree is stronger than her and her army or she knows the Pale Tree is dying………which would make it pointless for her to attacking it…..

It’s more simple why DR was attacked.

Queen Jennah made a big show of how humanity still was strong and wanted to show off their creations. What better way to hammer down some enemies than spoiling that? Which, notably, is already done. Win or lose, the watchknights supposedly meant to be a fine creation became one rampant threat after another. And she proved the city is still vulnerable.

Again, win or lose, the point was made: “you are not safe”.

Quite possibly to destroy self-esteem too. The main thing humans have going for them is their will and confidence in themselves. If that’s gone, then they’ll start to fall apart.

If she says the line “You all sound like pages from some self-help leaflet!” I’m gonna have to take a long break while I hunt down the writer who snuck it in and first congratulate them then give them a dope slap for it.

Evans.6347:

What exactly is it that she is trying to change? Fate?

What I get is that she saw the fate and purpose of the sylvari, claims to have seen the whole of Eternal Alchemy (but hasn’t), and is now trying to break the sylvari race from the chains of their purpose (aka Wyld Hunts).

How she intends to do this is still quite odd… but more importantly, it’s bloody confusing why she’s targetted four of the six major cities none of which sylvarian. Hoelbrak and Black Citadel via Molten Alliance; Lion’s Arch via Aetherblades; and now Divintiy’s Reach directly.

And not only that, but she’s gone and utterly ignored the Maguuma Jungle in not just the mechanical invasion placements, but in her text – a line she says “From DR to Ebonhawke, everything will burn!” (or something along those lines).

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

It’s more simple why DR was attacked.

Queen Jennah made a big show of how humanity still was strong and wanted to show off their creations. What better way to hammer down some enemies than spoiling that? Which, notably, is already done. Win or lose, the watchknights supposedly meant to be a fine creation became one rampant threat after another. And she proved the city is still vulnerable.

Again, win or lose, the point was made: “you are not safe”.

Then what was the point behind the Molten Alliance?

Or the attack during Dragon Bash?

You can easily say the same thing, but Scarlet’s been hiding herself and her forces until making a big strike. All for the purpose of saying “you are not safe”? Seems possible but given Scarlet’s personality shown, odd as all hell.

Not to mention that putting Mai Trin on the council would be pointless – unless that wasn’t part of Scarlet’s plan but her coying Mai and the Aetherblades into her ranks. Similar to her convincing the dredge and Flame Legion to work together for improvement of technology (dredge needing fire magic; Flame Legion needing technology).

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Then what was the point behind the Molten Alliance?

Or the attack during Dragon Bash?

Really? Well all right then.

The point behind the Molten Alliance as to start moving pieces to a place she could step in and control them. They were far too strongly idealistic at the start, believing themselves much stronger than they were and got beat down for it. (By an immature norn and a gladium, plus some riff-raff who may or may not be Commanders of the Pact.)

The point behind the attack on Dragon Bash was that it wasn’t the plan; Plan A was to insert Mai Trin into the Council later, but that was screwed up when Marjory proved to have some means of unmasking those involved. Plan B seemed to be poking at Lion’s Arch and their machines and seeing just what use they might be. After the Aetherblade Retreat was stormed, Mai Trin was a sacrificed pawn to make it seem like there weren’t many more Aetherblades and we were done with it.

You can easily say the same thing, but Scarlet’s been hiding herself and her forces until making a big strike. All for the purpose of saying “you are not safe”? Seems possible but given Scarlet’s personality shown, odd as all hell.

I did imply the big strike now was an opportunistic move, more a case of “I just can’t resist the drama here”. Scarlet seems very impulsive in both the story and the event.

Not to mention that putting Mai Trin on the council would be pointless – unless that wasn’t part of Scarlet’s plan but her coying Mai and the Aetherblades into her ranks. Similar to her convincing the dredge and Flame Legion to work together for improvement of technology (dredge needing fire magic; Flame Legion needing technology).

Putting Mai Trin on the Council would not be pointless if it had happened rather than been disrupted. Of course this assumes there was an actual goal to put Mai Trin there rather than Scarlet just telling her that was the plan and having something else in mind (namely, making the Aetherblades desperate enough and leaderless to fall in under her will).

There’s too many unknowns to do more than play “what if” for a long long period when most of what we know is Scarlet is a threat who was not necessarily blunted after this whole section of the LS.

Whatever her plan, she may have left the Maguuma out of it so far, but the chain of attacks definitely seems to be leading to one specific location. Hoelbrak/Black Citadel-Lion’s Arch-Divinity’s Reach-Maguuma Jungle?

I actually wonder now if it was indeed Scarlet who brokered the alliance between the Dredge and the Flame Legion. Scarlet’s definitely erudite, but she seems more borderline crazy than “silver-tongued”, and I think the Dredge and Flame Legion, both of whom don’t have very high opinions of females, would be inclined to listen to someone who seems mighty unstable. I’m starting to think that it might have been Mai Trin who actually approached them, on orders from Scarlet.

Here’s how I think the timeline might have played out:

1. After Scarlet views the Eternal Alchemy/has her conversation with the Pale Tree, Scarlet sets up the Aetherblades, funded by Inquest backers. At some point she recruits Mai Trin as her aide-de-camp and appoints her as the leader of the Aetherblades while she focuses more on research.

2. Scarlet instructs Mai Trin to approach the Dredge/Flame Legion to form the Molten Alliance, on the grounds that together they would have the technology and magic to kick out the Norn and destroy the other High Legions. They attempt to do so, but are foiled by the efforts of the players.

3. Meanwhile, Mai Trin attempts to gain a position on the Captain’s Council, perhaps with an eye to subverting the Council later (assassinating the other Captains and replacing them with more flunkies, or just leaving Mai Trin the only one in charge). Again, this fails when Ellen Kiel and the players thwart her plans.

4. Scarlet then attacks Divinity’s Reach. Her purpose in doing this is two-fold. One, she wants access to the Krytan Crown’s stockpile of Watchwork Knights, so she can corrupt them and turn them into her Twisted Watchwork army. Two, by killing Queen Jennah, she hopes to further her overall plan by creating anarchy and destruction across the civilised kingdoms, letting society tear itself apart before rebuilding it into a form more suited to her liking. (This is what she was trying to do with the Molten Alliance too, by destabilising the Norn and Charr lands.)

It’s a decent enough “Big Bad Plan”, I guess, but I still preferred my original theory of “Canthan Instigator sent by the Emperor to destabilise Tyria in preparation for a massive Canthan invasion”.