Guild Wars 2

It’s a tall order, but I would be very happy if they added a long, flowing hairstyle (with bangs that go past the eyebrows) like this.

8/10
I love her eyes. <3
The only thing that I see as a little odd is that her lips look a little too close to her nose, but it could be just the angle and/or the lighting. I reckon she looks much prettier in better lighting where the shadows on her face are more defined (like what you see in the character selection screen). But yeah, I really love her eyes and plus points for the lovely name.
——
I gave my necromancer a complete makeover, to better suit her personal story and (imagined) personality. I wanted a look that would convey her status as nobility while still retaining that “necromancer” air about her.

StinVec.3621:

You have quite the artistic eye with how the elements of your image are presented, especially with respect to your character and her facial expression. Very nice.

xCmderz.2876:

The use of the word “Sapling” was really cute. Nice shot aswell

Late reply, but thank you, guys!
It’s been a while since I posted here. Yuurei has since reached level 80 a few months ago and she has been my regular for Fractals and other dungeons these days. Figured I should post a new screenshot showing her current look. I also have a new sapling to take care of: Naerwën of the Cycle of Night. She’s a warrior currently at level 39.

9/10

I love the determined look on her face. Really good choice of hairstyle, too.
It matches her class as a warrior

I made another human character! Meet K U R E N A I, an engineer with a penchant for blowing things up and setting things on fire. She has the existential ennui of a relocated Ascalonian and the snootiness of an Asura, and bears the eyebags of a person who spent countless nights researching on whatever project she’s got her hands on at the moment.

I finally got around to rolling an engineer. I can’t believe I ignored this profession for a long time. This is the most fun I’ve had with a character in a while.

Here’s K U R E N A I, my level 23 human engi. Decided to test out some wardrobe stuff on her despite the low level.

My mesmer sapling, Yuureibana. Perhaps my first and only decent screenshot of her, so far. Still under 30 so she’s still in low-level armour (and wearing the colours of the flower she was named after).

I really like the ceiling on the second floor of the Grove. D: ?

VocaPeach.6285:

9/10 I love different language and spelling use!

My elementalist is called Valresti. The r and l are like a rolled d sound… kind of like a japanese r.

10/10

I love it. It sounds very regal and I do like how the ‘rolled d’ sound rolls off the tongue.

I have two:

Eirilysse [Elem] – my attempt at following the Sylvari naming convention, a modification of Eirlys (welsh. “snowdrop” —one of my favorite flowers), since somebody already took the other variations.

Yuureibana [Mes] – something I settled for after failing to find a Welsh/Celtic name for Lycoris radiata. It’s also one of my favorite flowers. Yuureibana (tr: ‘Ghost flower’) is one of the numerous nicknames given to the Red Spider Lily by the Japanese, in connection to the legends surrounding this flower. Needless to say, my mesmer looks a bit like a ghost: black eyes, white skin and hair, thin body. (no screenshots yet because she’s just a few days old).

@Blurk: LMAO I see, I see… at least we got that out of the way. : ))

@Horst: Interesting theory. Either way, it’s almost undeniable that there’s something not quite right with the current Krytan government. Plus ANet has a penchant for adding some sort of betrayal in the stories, so who knows.

@Camarell: I’ve been hearing convos about how ANet wanted the story to have the same sort of ambiguous morality and the sense of “no one’s safe” like Game of Thrones. Not sure if this is true, but yeah.

Huh. That’s an interesting development. And a very clever one, indeed.

Mine is a bit more sinister…hahaha. Same sort of thing, but Anise working for the White Mantle. But really, right now, her intentions are really vague. It’s really intriguing, the way she presents herself vs. the way she is being presented. There’s just so many mysteries surrounding her. And I’m particularly interested in her possible involvement in the murder of Minister Brios.

Same goes for Queen Jennah. What if… what if… she’s just an illusion? What if she’s that woman being tortured in Marjory’s backstory? What if they didn’t really anticipate Scarlet’s attack during the Queen’s Jubilee and the illusion was just conveniently there? What if, the reason why the Seraph spies at the Hidden Lake are taking so long to get recalled back to Divinity’s Reach is because the current ruling body isn’t really aware they’re there (secret mission and all). On the flipside, there’s the fact that Anise acts as an adviser as well as bodyguard for the Queen, so there’s still the possibility that she knows about the Seraph posted at Brisban Wildlands.

Another thing that’s been bothering me is the fact that the devs changed Jennah’s original costume design. From blue & gold (Shining Blade colours) to white & gold (White Mantle colours). I mean, sure, it’s probably done for purely aesthetic reasons…to create a distinction between characters, but why white and gold of all colours?

So many questions right now. And so many possibilities. Honestly speaking, the more I look at this right now, the crazier it all just sounds. : ))

Oh, hello. Sorry for the absence these past few. I’ve been oddly absent-minded as of late. Anyway, for that other theory, while the idea of posting it as a completely new thread is really tempting, I think it’s still better for me to post it here instead. As I mentioned a few replies back, it mostly started out as a joke that I brought up with Xeno during the height of our theorycrafting, which slowly evolved into a semi-serious discussion once I started noticing things that sort of fit nicely into the scenario (like a proper conspiracy nut). I feel like right now, there’s still too little evidence aside from those tiny details for it to warrant serious discussion. On top of that, I’d really like to do Caudecus’ Manor first (haven’t done much dungeons yet coz my main is out of the current meta. haha) before I further this theory.

The main idea, though, is that there’s something not quite right about Queen Jennah (might not be really her…maybe?) and that this could provide a way for Logan Thackeray to finally get some character development.

Right now, my so-called ‘evidence’ is still really disjointed to put together into a coherent theory , so yeah. I swear Xeno is much better at sharing this people that I am. >_>

Mist.6217:

SkeletalHorses.2108:

This is a very interesting read, and sure is still worth pondering on as an alternative possibility to the Living World’s direction. I was personally absent for the most part of the last Living World story, so I’ll mostly stick to observing and taking in everyone’s points. However, there is one part in the discussion that bothered me a bit.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

DarcShriek.5829:

Also, anything that has the ability to take the mind of a victim, would easily be able to gain the victims knowledge. So knowledge of modern technology doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Yet no two Elder Dragon corrupt in the same fashion. And Jormag does the mental stuff.

Jormag isn’t the only dragon who did the ‘mental stuff’.

If you go back to the events of the personal story, during the fight with the Sovereign Eye of Zhaitan at the Artesian Waters, at some point, if you pay attention to what the characters say, the Eye will try to use your despair over your mentor’s loss to give in to the Dragon. (In my case, since I am from the Priory, his dialogue went along the lines of: “I see in your heart that you have lost someone to Zhaitan. Someone named…Sieran. She is waiting for you now, beneath the dragon’s wings… " ) Now, neither the Eye nor Zhaitan himself was present during the times you were with your mentor or at the Battle of Claw Island (where your mentor dies). But a ton of his minions were. From this alone, we can already draw the most logical answer to the question of how Zhaitan could ever know about your sorrows: that he got this knowledge from his minions and/or his victims.

I’m also a bit confused by your statement that no two dragons corrupt in the same fashion. If you mean it by the elements and the resulting creatures, then yes, indeed they don’t. If by “fashion” you mean the methods they employ to corrupt things and beings, it’s a bit arguable. Jormag corrupted through his minions. Zhaitan raised hundreds of undead to do his bidding. Kralkatorrik can seemingly corrupt with his very breath. We’ve yet to see Mordremoth’s, DSD’s, and Primordius’ since they hardly have any presence in the current observable world. But if you analyze the ones that we do see, on a basic level, it’s pretty much the same. The very essence of the dragons (Draconic Energy?)—their presence, alone, can corrupt everything they touch. Coming in direct contact with the Sanguinary Blade drove Steag Frostbeard insane, just like that relic Kellach recovered from the Ruins of Orr corrupted him and drove him crazy.

Unless I completely misunderstood what you meant by that statement, then it would be nice if you could clarify it some more.

Zhaitan wasn’t trying to corrupt the PC using the mind, like Jormag does, it was trying to convince the PC that joining it would reunite the PC with whichever mentor they had, in the Priory’s case an impossibility as Sylari can’t be corrupted by Zhaitan. While it was a mind game Zhaitan was playing it isn’t how it corrupts.

In Sea of Sorrows a similar event takes place where one dies and becomes corrupted and then tries to convince the other to join them as a servant of Zhaitan, meaning the second would need to die to become a full servant.

Ah…that example about Zhaitan and the PC is more of something that I wanted to bring up from my observation that Konig seems to be staunchly opposed (or at least evasive) to the idea of the dragons gaining knowledge through their minions, regardless of what type of knowledge that is. And not about the dragon’s methods of corruption. I think it’s my mistake that I italicized that last part from his quote. The two paragraphs are separate ideas (first one is on the knowledge minion thing, and the second is on the similarities of dragon corruption). I hope this clarifies that.

Uruz Six.6594:

I still like to think there’s more to the Sinister Triad than ‘lets all team up against the good guys,’ though, but I’ll just have to wait and see. This is fun. :)

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I agree. And ‘fun’ is an understatement. It’s really exciting and refreshing to exchange theories and speculations like this. _

Xenophanes.8360:

Actually, SkeletalHorses and I are talking even more right now about possibilities and I’m encouraging her to post her thoughts on Queen Jennah on the whole situation! She has even more interesting ideas to add even til now! 8D

I’m not even sure if people would be interested in that. >_> * grumble grumble* * shy *
I’d like to share but for the most part, it’s pure speculation based on a few tenuous connections.

This is a very interesting read, and sure is still worth pondering on as an alternative possibility to the Living World’s direction. I was personally absent for the most part of the last Living World story, so I’ll mostly stick to observing and taking in everyone’s points. However, there is one part in the discussion that bothered me a bit.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

DarcShriek.5829:

Also, anything that has the ability to take the mind of a victim, would easily be able to gain the victims knowledge. So knowledge of modern technology doesn’t seem unreasonable.

Yet no two Elder Dragon corrupt in the same fashion. And Jormag does the mental stuff.

Jormag isn’t the only dragon who did the ‘mental stuff’.

If you go back to the events of the personal story, during the fight with the Sovereign Eye of Zhaitan at the Artesian Waters, at some point, if you pay attention to what the characters say, the Eye will try to use your despair over your mentor’s loss to give in to the Dragon. (In my case, since I am from the Priory, his dialogue went along the lines of: “I see in your heart that you have lost someone to Zhaitan. Someone named…Sieran. She is waiting for you now, beneath the dragon’s wings… " ) Now, neither the Eye nor Zhaitan himself was present during the times you were with your mentor or at the Battle of Claw Island (where your mentor dies). But a ton of his minions were. From this alone, we can already draw the most logical answer to the question of how Zhaitan could ever know about your sorrows: that he got this knowledge from his minions and/or his victims.

I’m also a bit confused by your statement that no two dragons corrupt in the same fashion. If you mean it by the elements and the resulting creatures, then yes, indeed they don’t. If by “fashion” you mean the methods they employ to corrupt things and beings, it’s a bit arguable. Jormag corrupted through his minions. Zhaitan raised hundreds of undead to do his bidding. Kralkatorrik can seemingly corrupt with his very breath. We’ve yet to see Mordremoth’s, DSD’s, and Primordius’ since they hardly have any presence in the current observable world. But if you analyze the ones that we do see, on a basic level, it’s pretty much the same. The very essence of the dragons (Draconic Energy?)—their presence, alone, can corrupt everything they touch. Coming in direct contact with the Sanguinary Blade drove Steag Frostbeard insane, just like that relic Kellach recovered from the Ruins of Orr corrupted him and drove him crazy.

Unless I completely misunderstood what you meant by that statement, then it would be nice if you could clarify it some more.

Xenophanes.8360:

Uruz Six.6594:

Xenophanes.8360:

I pointed out in the theory that this was interesting because of the Mursaat naming convention of “[Name] the [Negative Adjective]”. Out of curiosity, are there any more examples of this type of naming convention being used for other NPCs?

Knight of Embers, Lania the Feathered Death, Soira the Dreameater…

The Nightmare Court does seem rather fond of similar naming conventions. And if the bandits are with the mursaat and the Inquest is with the mursaat, then that just leaves us one third of the Sinister Triad left…

Hmmm, as much as I’d love to see this as a perfect example of the Mursaat naming convention, it seems a bit lacking to me actually.

The Mursaat were more fond of simple concrete adjectives and imposing titles like the Dire and Matron, instead of portmanteaus Dreameater or Feathered Death.

Here are some concrete examples of Mursaat names:

• Willla the Unpleasant
• Maida the Ill Tempered
• Kratos the Foul
• Lazarus the Dire
• Mercia the Smug
• etc.

Actually now that I’m looking at it, their names weren’t exclusively negative adjectives! Some mursaat were named nice sounding things, but usually in an ironic manner:

• Aily the Innocent
• Ambrillus the Guardian
• Melek the Virtuous
• etc.

This is actually why i ended up gravitating towards the name Kraig the Bleak. It sounded a lot like a mursaat name.

There’s also Eitel the Unlovable, Minister Zamon’s personal bodyguard, whom you fight in the personal story. Though he’s just a regular Norn warrior, it’s still worth noting his connection to the entire thing (Minister Zamon being found guilty of supporting the Bandits).

And while we’re on the topic, there’s also Tenad the Faithful and Saul D’Alessio (Saul the Defender). Saul’s original name is Saul Boltof and he only adopted “D’Alessio” after he encountered the Mursaat. Now that I think about it, this naming convention doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the Mursaat, but also extends to members of the White Mantle, too.

kimeekat.2548:

IDK if this tumblr user is one of you guys, but I saw a very similar theory written up at this post. They tie in the appearance of tormented weapons, and have a lot of visuals to go along with the text which makes reading through the denseness pretty fun. They even have caps of glitching into the fortress in (iirc) Brisbane with all the Champs on the wall and the unused portal into a new zone :3

Thank you for putting this all together!

And thank you for taking the time to read our theory. :)

Oh, that person isn’t us. And I actually saw the Tumblr post just last night, when a user on Reddit linked it in one of the convos there. It is indeed, a similar theory, though I disagree with it on a few points: (1) some mistakes in the naming of the factions mentioned and, (2) that Mordremoth resides in Bloodstone Fen. For one, that heavily fortified area is called Fort Vandal, and not Triforge Fort. Triforge actually refers to the alliance between the Peacemakers, the Wardens, and the Seraph present near that place (hence the Triforge Waypoint, where you find them). The Inquest, the Nightmare Court, and the Bandits are the Sinister Triad, or more specifically, the three individual—higher ups— from each group that you’ll encounter patrolling the area. It is constantly implied that they are undergoing negotiations to join forces (for reasons unknown as of now) and you’ll encounter dynamic events there wherein you are tasked to stop the said negotiations.

As for Mordremoth residing in Bloodstone Fen, there is a really slim chance of that being the case right now. If we go back to our history, the original Bloodstone was created during the previous awakening of the Elder Dragons to seal all the magic in Tyria and starve them, forcing them to go back to sleep. When Abbadon used the stone to wantonly grant magic to humanity, eventually causing the Guild Wars, the remaining Gods decided to split the stone into six (five of which represents each school of magic, and a sixth “reassembling” Keystone) and throw all of them into Abbadon’s Mouth (the volcano) to put a stop into the Guild Wars. Well…the volcano erupted, causing four of the pieces to fly all over Tyria (LOL Good job, Human Gods). And, as we all know, one of the pieces is the Bloodstone found in the Maguuma jungle. Now, for an area as big as the Maguuma Jungle, what are the chances of a stone being randomly flung from a caldera to land on the precise location an Elder Dragon is slumbering in? One can argue that Mordremoth could have moved closer to the stone (after all, it’s full of magic) but we need to keep in mind that he’s long been asleep by the time the stone landed there, and that, basing this on the ones that have been observed while they were still in slumber, the Elder Dragons don’t really move in their sleep, to the point that they practically become part of the landscape they are in. Unless Mordremoth is actually freakishly huge (I’m talking, bigger by a long shot than Kralkatorrik or Jormag here), it is highly unlikely we’ll find him in Bloodstone Fen. I’m not saying that this is impossible but the chances are really slim.

Also, I forgot to add, the Bloodstones were used by the White Mantle as sacrificial altars on which they slayed the Chosen, whose souls they use to power the soul batteries to keep the Titans locked away behind the Door of Komalie, in the Realm of Torment. The Chosen were instrumental to the fulfillment of the Flameseeker Prophecies (that chronicle the eventual downfall of the Mursaat at the hands of the Titans) which is why they did that. And considering the Titans and the Tormented are of the same realm, hence enemies to the Mursaat, I don’t see a reason for them to summon the Tormented creatures. Unless I’m mistaken. (could anyone who played GW1 confirm this?)

Scipio.3204:

Anyone mentioned him yet?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mini_High_Inquisitor_Maut

I only noticed this now. I’m not familiar with the guy, however, I am now highly disturbed at how the White Mantle and the Inquest share the same titles for their higher-ups. Could be just coincidence (or a mistake in interpretation of ‘Inquisitor’ by the person who edited that article), but who knows.

8/10
It’s a really nice armor set, though the brightness of the gauntlets throws me off a bit. I like his face, he looks like a really good guy. :))

- – - – - -

Here’s my necro who doesn’t look like a necro (at first glance, at least). I was aiming to create a nice contrast between an innocent face and incredibly morbid abilities. I somehow ended up creating an Anna Tsuchiya look-a-like. I still love her, though. I like how her ‘aura’ changes depending on the lighting. : ))

Lostwingman.5034:

SkeletalHorses.2108:

Luquatic.3825:

This might be very interesting for this theory.

http://imgur.com/pCPiOjE,3vkFKj2,EPgV20x

Look at what she says at the third picture. This conversation can be found in Brisband when talking to the Seraph Sentinel at the Seraph Observers Waypoint.

I was just here earlier, and I took a number of screenshots. Xeno will upload them later (I was playing on his laptop so he still has the screenshot). The dialogue with the NPCs changed once I completed Brisban Wildlands. And all of them mention being there to look for evidence of White Mantle activity at some point in the conversation.

So all of the White Mantle mentions are new? I didn’t pay horribly close attention when I went through Brisban on my thief but I took my ele there last night and I was hearing a lot about the White Mantle from NPCs.

I’m not really sure if all the White Mantle mentions are new. I just recently completed Brisban Wildlands (I think just a day after this thread was created) and I only went back there early this evening. I do remember during the day I was completing that map, when I completed the heart quest at Seanan’s bandit camp, the letter from the NPC mentioned the same thing about them being sent there to investigate the White Mantle rumours. That was the first mention of them that I encountered there.

I’m leaning more towards the idea the this information only becomes available to you once you complete the bandit-related heart quests (therefore, pre-patch). Though, it’s also worth noting how the lieutenant at the camp in the Hidden Lake specifically mentions the black market traders and their knowledge of the bandits being backed up by a bigger force.

Luquatic.3825:

This might be very interesting for this theory.

http://imgur.com/pCPiOjE,3vkFKj2,EPgV20x

Look at what she says at the third picture. This conversation can be found in Brisband when talking to the Seraph Sentinel at the Seraph Observers Waypoint.

I was just here earlier, and I took a number of screenshots. Xeno will upload them later (I was playing on his laptop so he still has them). The dialogue with the NPCs changed once I completed Brisban Wildlands (I only did so recently). And all of them mention being there to look for evidence of White Mantle activity at some point in the conversation.

MaesterTed.6571:

I can’t elaborate too much right now, as I’m on a smartphone, but I don’t think anyone mentioned this yet. The ghostly looking Root Behemoth has positively nothing to do with Mordremoth. It is a nod to the boss (and his minions) you needed to beat in GW Prophecies to gain access to Aurora Glade, and appeared in the same mission the other ghostly characters (the ghostly White Mantle and Shining Blade) are constantly recreating.

wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Henge_Guardian

I see. Very interesting. Thanks for clearing that up!

@MooCube:
It’s kinda amusing how even an in-game place name is censored here. But back to the topic. I’ve never done Caudecus’ Manor before so it’s interesting to see the connection of the place to the Caverns (I don’t know why I never bothered to check that part of the map before). It’s also a very strategic positioning because the normal entrances are in the Hinterlands, which makes it difficult for investigation. And it’s also interesting to note how Caudecus is the only minister who lives outside Divinity’s Reach (as far as I know). Though, right now, we can only speculate about Caudecus’ identity, as well as the whereabouts of Saul and Lazarus.

Updated because she got some new, shiny gear (and better screenshots). I’m a bit fickle about her appearance but I am going for a more subtle approach on the ‘deathly’ look. And I love how the afternoon light brings out the evil-ness in her more than anything else. :))

Antara.3189:

Very interesting. It’s possible we could see a White Mantle/Mordremoth Hybrid appear in the future (Similiar to Svanir). We have to see how the corruption influences it’s victims.

As of late the only thing we have to look at was Scarlet, and we killed her before finding out what exactly motivated her, though it definitely was hinted that Mordremoth was the source of her madness.

Maybe the White Mantle will try to become a stronger force with the use of Mordremoth to overthrow Kryta, only to later be consumed by the dragon.

One thing to note though, In past events, the Mursaat never were the type to stick around during the dragons, and were noted to flee into the mists during the previous awakening. With the White Mantle faithfully following the Unseen Ones, I wonder how this would play out with a dragon in the mix.

Indeed, we’ve yet to see how Mordremoth’s corruption truly works to be able to make a few more good guesses. But, I think it’s highly unlikely for the Mordremoth and Mursaat storylines to intersect to that extent. As you’ve said, the Mursaat tend to be very evasive when it comes to the elder dragons—especially considering their numbers have been significantly reduced (unless, of course, they’ve somehow figured a way to reproduce again). A more plausible timeline, I think would be something like the White Mantle insidiously seizing power again in the Government (by way of the Ministry/bandit activity/moles), eventual return of the Mursaat, another battle with them, and then Mordremoth fully awakening afterwards (due to the amount of magic involved and such). Of course, this is all just speculation as, I’ve said previously, we still don’t know the full effect of Scarlet’s actions regarding the leylines.

It’s also rather interesting to note another “hook” regarding the politics in Kryta. If you take the time to walk around Divinity’s Reach (as well as the surrounding villages) and listen to various NPC dialogues, you’ll start noticing the increasing amount of resentment among the common people for the Queen, and the praise for Caudecus. Add to that the amount of bandit activity in the countryside except for Beetletun, and you’ll get a population that’s largely unhappy with the current rule. If Caudecus seizes power, then that gives the White Mantle a good foothold for their eventual return.

Also (and I warn you, this is crossing conspiracy nut territory. Please remember that this part is purely speculation now.),
I find it extremely suspicious how Countess Anise and the rest of the Shining Blade are being overly protective of the Queen Jennah. (ref: when you speak with Logan in “A Moment’s Peace” http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Origins_of_Madness:_A_Moment's_Peace )

Add to the fact that she was a suspect for the murder of Minister Brios (see: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Line_of_Duty_%E2%80%93_The_Three_Military_Orders_of_Kryta) as well as the attitude she exhibited during the Queen’s Jubilee, it’s quite easy to see the villainous potential of her character. Of course, at this point, we can only speculate. On one hand, she’s probably aware of the connections of the Ministry to the White Mantle and she’s doing her job as the Master Exemplar to stop them, whatever the means may be.
Yet, on the other hand, she could be a mole, and that removing a ‘good’ member of the Ministry (remember that not all of them are with the White Mantle) could pave the way for more WM members to enter, or prolly Brios knows something that cost him his life. Xeno and I even joked about how maybe the woman being tortured by a minister in “The Last Straw” is the real queen and they’re just maintaining a clone/fake queen by means of Anise’s magic. But yeah, this part is all just speculating fun.

Vexander.9850:

I’d be surprised if the White Mantle was brought up anytime soon to be honest. Arena.net has made it clear they’re hesitant to embrace Human Stories because the original game was all human story. The Living World is a good example of this, as we see a lot of the other races and their stories and villains getting screentime. The only human story element touched on was the Queen’s Jubilee which was ultimately a passing thing that didn’t have much impact on the story itself. Kasmeer and Marjory are major characters who are humans, but being human doesn’t actually add to the story for them.

I mean, you could substitute them for two of any other race and the story would progress the same way. Considering the next Living Story Season seems poised to delve into Mordremoth, we’ll likely see more of the Sylvari and the Asura, as they’ll be in direct danger from it.

(Honestly curious) May I know when/where the devs explicitly mentioned that they’re holding back on the human stories? As for Marjory and Kasmeer, it’s really less about them being human but more the fact that they’re conveniently running a Detective Agency during the time the LS events were happening, as well as having the benefactor, E, who is implied to be looking out for everyone.

And Mordremoth, I think right now, it’s still too early to conclude that it really is him that we’re gonna be fighting next LS. Sure, we got to glimpse him stirring, but that’s it. No other implications of characters in-game being aware that another dragon is beginning to wake up. There are NPCs who are implied to be aware of its existence, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they are aware of it awakening already. And even if he does wake up, a full-on fight seems unlikely. Sure, we might get another rescue/evacuation mission from another central area but that’s only if we do get a fully awakened Mordremoth. With so many loose ends and possible red herrings, it’s really hard to pin down at the moment. I’m really looking forward to the epilogue that’s gonna be released next week, as I think that’ll at least narrow down the possible paths the Living Story is gonna be taking.

Jelle.4623:

Yeah, devs have said to leave plenty of hooks for future devs to develop further on, that’s why it’s so hard to predict which way they’re going.

And I think that’s the very reason why it’s so much fun speculating about the direction of this game’s story. :)

Rainbow Sprint.3215:

Has nobody played the human adopted storyline? You deal with the remnants of the white mantle during it. Also possibly one of the best parts of the PS.

I’m sure a lot of people have.
I, myself, chose the Noble/Unknown Parents background for my main which resulted in a lot of throwbacks during the first part of my Personal Storyline (prior to playing, I had no clue it would be touching on that). Come to think of it, even the later parts (Priory and the Pact) had some form of throwback to GW1 by way of pure luck that I picked the ‘right’ choices.

Rym.1469:

Highly doubt. Seems like most of GW1 lore has been already forgotten or thrown away, because they’re making “a new game”.
When you liked the story of first game, seeing Staff of the Mists to buy on TP or some random backpack “Tome of Rubicon” , such things make you tremble.

Anyway, back to the point. My “speculation” is that it’s mostly Plant People story going on because it wasn’t enough already and staff seems fascinated about making more and more lore regarding to them.

For White Mantle etc. – Story here is pretty complicated, involving politics, and from what we’ve seen till now, I can guess we will see maybe some sidequest or random tomb, if anything.

Don’t ruin those.

Ah…Personally, I wouldn’t want to completely give up on the old lore just yet. If ANet doesn’t want to touch upon GW1 lore anymore (the White Mantle and the Mursaat, for example) why are there still signs their activity sprinkled here and there? If the Mursaat and the White Mantle are trully gone, they could’ve opt to just mention them in historical texts as old curiosities instead of having these allusions and shifty organizations operating in the background. They could’ve just said that they’re dead and gone. That’s it. But it’s not the case. There are still a lot of loose ends regarding that part of the lore. Lazarus is probably still out there, still harboring his hatred for “countless generations”. Whatever happened to Saul D’ Alessio? What happened to Livia and the Scepter of Orr? Why are there still ghosts of the old factions lingering in key areas throughout Tyria?

Dragons and plant people are cool and all, but I think it’s the complicated politics that makes the lore of this game truly interesting. Adds more flavor to the standard “big bad dragons out to get us all” formula that is found in fantasy. Plus we have been getting sidequests related to the White Mantle. In Harathi Hinterlands, the Ruins of Holy Dementra houses the alleged “tomb” of Saul D’ Alessio and you get to fight the ghost of a loyal follower of Alessio there. It even employs an old mechanic in GW1: if you kneel in front of the statue, an emissary of Dwayna will appear and tell you about the tomb and the ghost that haunts there. And as mentioned by Xeno in his post, you can trigger an event in Aurora’s Remains that reenacts the conflict between the Demagogue and some members of the Shining Blade. If you pay close attention to some of the letters in bandit-related heart quests, the White Mantle are mentioned once in a while. But the point is, why allude to all these present-day activities if they’re not gonna touch upon it anymore?

Shockwave.1230:

This is interesting speculation. I think Marjory would would point it out as just that though, and say we need to gather more evidence.

Either that, or once the story comes into play, there will already be a significant amount of information amassed. I recently completed Brisban Wildlands and earlier, I was sifting through my inbox and noticed that one of the NPC letters (the one from completing the renowned heart that involves infiltrating Seanan’s Bandit Camp in the Brisban Wildlands) mentions that they’re investigating for White Mantle activity on the orders of Queen Jennah. They’ve been onto this thing for a while now.

• Edit * Here’s the letter in question: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infiltrate_and_disrupt_Seanan%27s_bandits

Cenex.4089:

Or, if not have them as enemies, then set up a betrayal storyline akin to what happened the last time the dragons showed up.

Now that you’ve mentioned it, (and I’m well-aware I am prolly overstretching it) one of the reasons why this whole thing made perfect sense to me is because of the overarching themes and throwbacks that appear time and time again in the timelines of GW. Again, there’s the two Battles for Lion’s Arch. The first one paved the way to the weakening of the enemy that lead to their eventual defeat. And the current one (if we bank on this theory), might lead to their return. And even if this theory isn’t true, the current Battle for Lion’s Arch already feels like a subversion of the one from 250 years ago, as another enemy (Mordremoth) is already stirring.

Other parallelisms we’ve noticed are:
• Glint and the Pale Tree (if the Sylvari Minion theory is true, that is)
• The role reversal between the Shining Blade and the White Mantle
• Destiny’s Edge and Destiny’s Edge 2.0
• Then there’s the overarching theme of constantly being uprooted from one’s home (the fall of Ascalon and the eventual move to Kryta, all the Norn/Kodan/Quaggan/Krait/Largos migrations because of the Dragons, Kessex Hills, the current Lion’s Arch, etc)

+
And on a tangential note (picking up from the whole ‘being uprooted from one’s home part’), if we consider the proximity of some key areas like Rata Sum and the Grove to Magus Falls, and the devastation brought about by the awakening of an Elder Dragon, then we can also postulate the possibility of the Asura or the Sylvari being driven out of their homes. Taimi’s story can provide an opening for that (after all, she still hasn’t gone home, and might never get to do so).

But then again, this is just my imagination going wild from the recent events.)

kgptzac.8419:

I apologize for not reading through the entire thing… but I am curious, is there any direct or indirect reference to the White Mantle other than “they’ve been in the jungle” and the fact that we are getting a jungle Elder Dragon?

If you are pertaining to the game, in general, then yes, there been. Spoilers But in the human personal story, if you chose the option of “Unknown Parents”, it’ll be revealed that the bandit activity in Queensdale is the remnants of the White Mantle. There are implications that the Ministry (or key members of it) is working with the bandits. So one can put two and two together.

On the other hand, man, we really should’ve posted this on the lore forums, huh. @Xeno