Guild Wars 2

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Gonna go check now.

EDIT: Did I say quaggan? I meant the most unnerving abomination of nature yet to appear in the game.

Ahem.

“The Nightmare sylvari came after that, [cut for brevity]. They hid it when it got too big.”

Great, thanks for looking that up

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Doesn’t one of the NPC’s say that the veil was made by the Nightmare Court? I think it was the quaggan.

Yikes, I hope that dialogue isn’t forever lost in the LS void. I would really like to know if that is true.

Silavor.6257:

That might possibly be why she went after the krait to begin with, to experiment with their natural metamorphosis abilities. They didn’t really seem to serve a greater purpose in the Toxic Alliance otherwise.

Yeah, exactly. Many speculators (myself included) attributed their supposed mesmeric prowess as the reason to include them in her plans, but I really don’t think that’s the case. Especially given Scarlet’s clues in her leftover lab atop the Nightmare Tower. It’s the aetheric output (that she produced artificially) that created the illusory barrier around the tower, not some special krait magic.

To me, the krait act as a sort of vessel, carrying the attributes that Scarlet has fused together and is trying to cultivate. Through the kraits’ natural physiological mechanisms, they themselves are the catalyst for such rapid growth and development of these fused attributes.

What exactly she is growing remains to be seen. Some have speculated that she is trying to create her own pale tree. The clues in her lab hint that this is a possibility (although obviously not the only possibility).

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Psynch.4087:

Thanks everyone for that clarification. So then, with regard to the toxic hybrid in the nightmare tower, is this essentially the first instance of a metamorphosis that we’ve seen in GW2? I know that they classify it as an evolution, but they seem like identical concepts when referring to the krait.

I think yeah you could probably say that. Since as you lower it’s health it is metamorphosing into different stages. But we do have to remember that it isn’t a naturally occurring Krait but rather something that has been biologically engineered. Of course Scarlet could easily having been using the Krait’s ability to metamorphose to give it said ability.

Yeah, that’s basically what I’ve been thinking about. If she is trying to biologically engineer some creature, then the entire reason for enticing the krait to cooperate is to exploit their metamorphosis capabilities. What ever she’s trying to build, she needs it to grow/evolve quickly.

(That’s all IF her plan is to grow something)

Thanks everyone for that clarification. So then, with regard to the toxic hybrid in the nightmare tower, is this essentially the first instance of a metamorphosis that we’ve seen in GW2? I know that they classify it as an evolution, but they seem like identical concepts when referring to the krait.

I was reading about the krait today, and I was a little confused by their description in the wiki. It reads:

“When they come close to death they enter a frenzy which shape-shifts them to another form, this gives them a second wind which makes them particularly difficult to kill.”

I went and fought some krait, but none of them changed physically in a notable way. They did, however, gain a ‘berzerk’ buff when they got low on health. Is this ‘shape-shifting’ simply a sort of frenzy mode? I mean, warriors can go into a frenzy, but we don’t say that they shape-shifted, as they don’t physically change (as a necromancer would, for example).

I know that the krait witches actually morph via mesmeric magic, but this seems to describe something else. Any tips are welcome.

Blurk.6231:

At first I didn’t think they looked like the tower of nightmares but these two are definately the same thing. I wonder though if it is really something or that it is just the same model. I havent watched the WP video as I am not interested in WvW but did he say something about the things while he showed them?

He actually compared them to the Do Not Touch towers, but I think that they are different.

I think you mentioned on Reddit that if it’s a real thing, then it’s probably chaos/dragon energy. I hadn’t thought of that, and I think it works. I’m reminded of the green glow of the chaotic material around Thumanova and the Anthill. I’ve also seen that material at Tekki’s lab in Brisban Wildlands, suggesting a link to the mists/Asuran gates.

Hi folks,

A while ago, I posted about a neat similarity between the assets seen in the TA Aetherpath and the Nightmare Tower.

Image: http://i.imgur.com/gijTti1.jpg

Well, now those exact assets have shown up in the Edge of the Mists (credit to WoodenPotatoes for the video), only now they are active with a green glow.

Image: http://i.imgur.com/uleC9Sw.jpg

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the new NPC dialogue since the tower’s collapse, and they hint heavily at Scarlet setting something up in the mists. This may be connected to that. I can imagine an insane ‘open-world’ dungeon where large groups of players fight Scarlet in the Edge of the Mists (re-vamped to be her private base). This also would fall in line with the release of the map as a WvW area, such that once Scarlet is defeated, it is used as a battle ground. It also fits tech-wise, since large groups can participate together, but there is always a cap and a new instance of the map can be created when necessary.

The actual motives for Scarlet’s large-scale activities are still unclear, but the mists have always been in her sights.

Will definitely check this out. Thank you!

Hi all, I’m not a PvP player, but I was trying to get a sense of the mists map. What is in this spot circled here? (attached)

mexay.3902:

Any correlation?

A while ago, I overlaid this globe onto a map of Tyria. It doesn’t seem to correlate with anything other than possible a tectonic plate type of system. You’ll notice that the lines fall on major waterways.

http://i.imgur.com/S8p8DNI.jpg

yeah, very well could be.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

From above?

/15 and whatnot.

Just trying to give a sense of where exactly this trio of husks area. They’re not located in the main swamp w/ the jungle wurm, but rather above the TA wp (actually in between TA and Wychmire wp.

All of that makes sense. I’m thinking of the trail of mosshearts that sort of lead into TA from above. Why is the trail there? That’s what I’m trying to work out currently.

There is a sort of trail of husks above TA, and it looks like it leads into TA. Walk directly south of Wychmire WP and into the little nook with shadow imps in it. As for the one facing east, I figured that since it’s otherwise surrounded by the tree trunk, the only way for it to exit is to face east in that particular spot.

It’s hard to distinguish what is a husk and what is a dead mossheart. It seems like a husk might be a dead mossheart inhabited by a druid (because a druid is ‘naturally’ husk-less. Any thoughts on that? Attached are two images, one is a husk in the Toxal Bog, the other is a husk/mossheart at Wychmire.

Bog: http://i.imgur.com/UtQ5VTYh.jpg
Wychmire: http://i.imgur.com/5f4cgOGh.jpg

Just want to acknowledge the amount of time and work you’re putting into developing these ideas. Writing out a coherent explanation to the nuts and bolts of the living story lore can be really tough! At first glance, your ideas certainly seem reasonable. As you say, it remains to be seen exactly where this goes.

I do sort of question the angle of going to the underworld, or something underworld-based happening. I myself made a video where I linked to the underworld, but I’ve since eased off from that position. Especially with her mentions of draconic energy being involved.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

snip

Agree with all of that. The reason I started this thread is because I think that the behavior of these druids is telling of something really important, but it ultimately rests on when this arboreal spirit was ‘called down’.

The premise of my thought is as follows —

There are two sets of druidic husks. One in the Toxal Bog near the Henge. The other is around Twilight Arbor (two in the swamp and ~4 above TA). If you look at the orientation of the husks, they’re all ‘reaching’ in a very specific direction: toward the site of nearby GW1 Melandru statues.

This leads me to think that the druids left their husks to either gather at the Melandru statues, or get ‘instructions’ from the statues. Ultimately, I believe they are congregating for something. Why do I think that? Well, the arboreal spirit that you are helping is and elder druid. First, it refers to its husk as an ‘elder husk.’ It’s also much larger than the other husks. If we think back to GW1 at Bloodstone Fen, there is a moment where a group of druids come together to ‘call’ the elder druid because the ‘jungle is in peril.’ I’m saying that this arboreal spirit is an one such elder druid who was recently called out because the jungle is again in peril.

What peril? Well, that all ultimately depends on when we think these druids left their husks. Considering the elder’s vulnerability outside of its husk, I imagine that they haven’t been out for very long. So I wonder if this might be an indication of a major recent event in south-west Maguuma.

Would love to hear some feedback on this idea, as I’m planning on making a video about it soon.

Funny timing — i was just fighting chaos beasts in the Anthill on an alt.

When you engage with the chaotic material, you are knocked back and sometimes are even transformed into an animal. If it turns you into a rabbit, you have a debuff placed on you called ‘Magical Transformation’. The tooltip reads “The reactor’s unstable magic has temporarily transformed you.”

Occasionally, you are transformed into a chicken and the tooltip changes to “You are temporarily transformed into a chicken.”

Not sure what it means for chaos magic to tranform/polymorph you.

You bring up an important discussion here — any theory about the reactor and/or the ley lines will have to account for the chaos beasts and their anomalous existence. Identifying their true nature will really help in understanding how magic works at the site of the reactor, and across Tyria.

Here’s some text from the renowned heart (Scholar Issa) in the Toxal Bog relating to these husks:

-What’s the Durmand Priory doing all the way out here, anyway?
-We received word that the asura had discovered some petrified husks that resembled the ancient druids. But the druids disappeared centuries ago, so we came to investigate.

-What are you hoping to find?
-Answers. Are these husks of ancient druids? Where did they come from? Why do they still pulse with energy even though they appear dead? Why is the Inquest interested in them?

To me, the dialogue indicates that the appearance of these husks was relatively recent. Like, druids have been gone for centuries — suddenly, husks!

Curious to read how you all interpret this text.

I was reading up on druids in the GW lore and saw that they always appeared as spirits in GW1. However, in GW2, the only evidence of druids are their husks.

Were the GW1 druids simply outside of their husks while you interacted with them? Is there any evidence of husks in GW1? Just wondering how to reconcile these discrepancies.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

snip

Great, thank you for that clarification

Mystic Starfish.2586:

Obviously a mistype of some sort. In EotN, you can visit the ‘Pale Tree’, which is basically a small encampment with Ronan and Ventari and some others, with a small sapling which grows to be the Pale Tree. I suppose that’s what’s meant by the birth of sylvari.

Oh, okay. I wasn’t sure if it was based in ~1078, and then you just get like a preview cinematic of recent times. Okay, interesting.

Do you know if it’s possible to enter Maguuma (Henge of Denravi/Bloodstone Fen) during the EotN years?

I didn’t play GW1, so I’m trying to understand the timeline. Looking at EotN on the timeline, we see that it occurs at year 1078. But the wiki page also says that we witness the birth of the sylvari (which weren’t born until year ~1300). How did this work?

Unpack that thought a little bit. It’s tough to evaluate any statement without the line of reasoning that got you there.

Nike.2631:

That diagram would be really interesting if it didn’t ignore dozens of DO NOT TOUCH towers that don’t fall anywhere near that line.

Well, we have to consider what the towers are actually for. If they are surveying the land for some kind of activity underground, then it makes sense to place them everywhere until they find sites of interest. If they already knew what they were looking for, then what would be the purpose of the towers in the first place?

I was curious if this was some sort of event chain that might progress upon failure of killing the rotting oakheart.

Has anyone actually seen it fail (if possible)?

Fantastic thread, I love reading these. They are really captivating ideas, I can really imagine playing through the campaigns.

And if you don’t have the time or inclination to read everything, you may find it enjoyable to watch WoodenPotatoes’ play-through of GW1. He reads through the quest text and synthesizes the plot as he goes along. It’s sort of like an audio book: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD624C37CD0DA0E59

He also has a more condensed lore series on his channel, as well.

Chaotic Storm.2815:

Doofs.9348:

I think they will be a living story chapter about the steam creatures. They have very little mention outside of their spawn zones and are said to be from another dimension and are a major threat. Plus, the “do not touch” pillars look very similar to the steam mechagate and other steam constructs

I thought the same thing but when the aether blades or the clockworks (can’t remember which at the moment) made their appearance but scarlet was using machines to make portals that looks a lot like the ones steam creatures used and we never say a single sight they had any involvement then.

Steam creatures going to determine who is naughty or nice

Shiren.9532:

snip

Lots of points here. I do want to stress that the Thaumanova reactor has a very deeply fleshed out background. Anet was planning on releasing a novel based on the reactor’s story. Further, Scarlet’s story was in place years ago, at least a year before the GW2 launch (according to Scott McGough). So at least for the reactor, it isn’t some site that has been shoehorned into the story; it’s an integral part of Tyria’s current events.

GarthDreamWalker.7806:

Hi all, just made a revised version of the map key and changed a color so it would stand out better against the background.

Thank you for compiling this information, it’s really useful to have these maps as we try to speculate on the living story.
While I completely agree with giving credit to the contributors, I do find the map harder to search with so many colors. If it’s not too much trouble, could you post another version where the thumpers are one color?

Hi guys, I haven’t really been following the details of this conversation, but I did just release a data-driven video/explanation about a potential channel of magic. Among a lot of other data points, the Queensdale rotting oakheart fits perfectly on the path.

I posted about it in the general Living World forum: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/lwd/All-Scarlet-sites-fall-on-Thaumanova-path/first#post3315739

Hi folks, I posted this on Reddit and people were really receptive of the ideas. I figured that there are some people here who might not have seen it.

I plotted a path between the Thaumanova reactor and the Chaos Crystal Cavern (the source of Thaumanova’s technology). It turns out that this path accounts for all of Scarlet’s facilities (as well as Steam creatures).

Pic: http://i.imgur.com/zl6OxyM.jpg

Video with details: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V56zVCsZzZY

After this discovery, I went on a hunt to find the locations of crystal formations around Tyria, and found that almost all of them fall on Scarlet’s channel.

I then developed three criteria to help narrow the search for the second channel that supposedly runs through the reactor:

-The path will ideally cross through some crystal formation
-The path should account for the various creatures warping in/out of the reactor
-There should be evidence of ‘otherworldly’ events occurring on the path (see Aurora’s Remains; also Underworld Portals)

With those in mind, I started plotting out the next path.

First, I plot the only remaining crystal formation that didn’t fall in line with the primary channel from last time.

Then, plotting the locations of some of the more unique creatures ported into the reactor.

Then the locations of ‘otherworldly’ events around Tyria.

Full album of pics: http://imgur.com/a/Ncu12

I go into much more detail in the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH8gIRF6HQ4

These stones with writing on them are fundamental to Asuran architecture. Very, very common

MaesterTed.6571:

I may certainly be mistaken, but isn’t the portal to the Mists in Lion’s Arch also approximately placed around the hypothetical leyline between the Thaumanova Reactor and the Chaos Crystal Caverns?

Yes indeed

Stephen, I sent you a PM.

Stephen.6312:

Narcemus, thanks for the clarification about the association between multi-eyed beings and Abaddon: Clearly, there is no reason to believe that a link between them exists.

Also, a correction to what I previously posted: Although I think that a ley-line may exist between Thaumanova and the Chaos Crystal Cavern, it should be noted that that line does not pass through Queensdale. If a ley line does pass through Queensdale, however, I would suggest that it passes through Godlost Swamp.

So poignant to bring up the Godslost Swamp… new video coming in a day or two…

Stooperdale.3560:

“See, with the new Thaumanova Reactor fractal, Scarlet says that Chaos Energy is a misnomer for Dragon Energy. I looked up the word misnomer to get an exact definition, and it’s defined as basically giving a name to something before it is fully understood. So according to Scarlet, Chaos Energy IS Dragon Energy”

Mismomer means wrongly named or not taking a meaning from the literal name. So in this case she is saying that chaos energy should be called something else since the name is not literally correct and probably misleading. This could be related to dragon energy or could be referring to the organized patterns of ley lines around Tyria.

Came here to point this out as well. What Scarlet revealed here really turns the idea of chaos magic on its ear.

I was doubtful of this at first, but then I watched a play through of the Molten Facility from Flame and Frost. Here’s a scene from that dungeon:

http://i.imgur.com/NnAL3mF.jpg

Molten alliance mining loads of that azurite. It has to be important for something! Also, it may be nerdy, but we should set up a guild called Crystal Chasers or something

A lot of very thought-provoking ideas here! I have some thinking to do, and I’ll reply more thoroughly later. Thanks for sharing these ideas.

Mild Fractured spoilers ahead
Hey folks, in doing research for one of my lore videos, I mapped out the various channels (divulged by Scarlet) that might be associated with the Thaumanova Reactor. Some really neat patterns become apparent when you do this.
Considering the very tight associated between the reactor and the Chaos Crystal Cavern, I drew a line and connected them, and then looked to see if anything interesting fell in the path between them.

Image: http://i.imgur.com/zl6OxyM.jpg

It turns out that every facility associated with Scarlet’s campaign lies on this path. Additionally, the Steam creatures fall in this path as well.
In my video, I give more details and speculate on other paths that maybe intersecting with the Thaumanova Reactor.

(The video turned out longer than expected, but I added an annotation to skip ahead if you want to.)
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V56zVCsZzZY

I thought I saw a mob earlier today with a Hall of Monuments weapon. Was I mistaken? Has anyone seen something like this before?

Lore-wise, only a player character should possess these items, right?

draxynnic.3719:

Another possibility is that the OoW globe shows where the major lines are, but not the smaller ones. Like a travel map that shows the major highways, but where you need to switch to the local maps to see all the smaller side streets.

I also wouldn’t be so quick as to denigrate the OoW’s ability to locate fault lines just because the asura have only just discovered them. Regardless of what the asura may think, they’re not the only ones with brains – the OoW has access to secret knowledge, a network of agents that extends outside of Tyria, and a long history of dealing with threats of mystical nature. It’s possible that they’ve determined means of tracking sufficiently intense channels of magic that gasp do not involve asura technomagic.

Mind you, with one of the lines passing through the Shiverpeaks, it’s also possible that what the lines really represent is known continental boundaries…

The continental boundaries may not be incompatible with dragon energy. Over many thousands (millions?) of years, the dragon energy can have atmospheric effects, to the point of creating these types of natural boundaries. This channel splits the climates, but it also conveniently leads through the major waterways.

Here is the GW2 map with the Chantry of Secrets globe markings overlaid. The circle is actually filled on the globe. It’s reasonable to assume that this is the source of whatever those channels are, but it’s honestly not clear. Ultimately, we don’t know what these channels represent.

Clearly, none of these channels trickle into Maguuma. And so, based on these markings, if we assume they are dragon energy, they don’t fit with Scarlet’s description of the Thaumanova Reactor being on a ‘convergent’ zone. However, it’s possible that these markings do in fact indicate dragon energy, but a new dragon has appeared, and a channel has been opened in the fairly recent past that we didn’t know about before.

I went into the chantry of secrets, but that globe didn’t seem to match up. There are no lines going over to the thaumanova reactor at all. They don’t even connect to Orr.

Edit: After looking a bit more, they do seem to cross into Orr. Nevertheless, they don’t go into Maguuma/Kryta at all, which is where we would expect at least one more dragon (jungle). Honestly hard to say anything concrete at this point, but it definitely is fun to speculate

SpeedFiend.4521:

The CTC wasn’t built to contain Primordus, it just leeched the magical energy bleeding out from his hibernating body to power the old asura gate network. Primordus is very much awake and active in the depths of Tyria, though his exact location is unknown.

Thanks for that clarification. So, the Depths of Tyria is another way of saying ‘anywhere underground in tyria’ ?

Hi all, I was just reading up on the elder dragons, and I’m getting a bit confused about the location of Primordus. In reading the GW1 wiki, I see that Primordus had a (direct?) role in unleashing the destroyers, which drove out the underground races to the surface.

But as far as Primordus’ location, the wiki says that the Central Transfer Chamber was constructed near the dragon to contain it (honestly not sure how this works). But that chamber is in the Shiverpeaks, slightly northeast of Frostgorge Sound. As far as we currently know, is this the location of Primordus? Given its activity in Asuran areas, there’s a gap in these event descriptions that I just can’t reconcile. Are we assuming that Primordus is stationary/hibernating?

Any help is appreciated.

Eluveitie.1290:

This would give a lot of people peace of mind, Bobby, I hope you respond: is the end of Scarlet’s arch already on its way? It’s been a year almost. No offensse, but honestly no one cares anymore about her, we just want to end it and move on with more interesting things. We’re frustrated and kittened off. A lot, myself included, don’t even care about playing anymore.

Those are not signs of a happy community, nor of an interesting and compelling story.

You do not speak for the community. And you certainly don’t speak for me. So please stop spouting the same, tired complaints. They have been said many times before. The team is constantly on the forums, evaluating the feedback.

Further, the way that the story is told is partly a design issue as well. The writers can come up with a captivating story, but if it’s paced incorrectly throughout the updates (based on how the designers want to implement it), then we have hiccups or unnecessary stalls.

Eternal life seems to actually be the polar opposite of her ‘ideal’ system. In her story, she is disillusioned by the Pale Tree and the Sylvari cycle of life. In her rant against the Pale Tree, Scarlet emphasized the need for change and evolution. To then begin a campaign in an effort to live forever (i.e. never change, never evolve) seems extremely unlikely.

Further, recruiting armies is one thing, but then taking a turn to fuse races together as she did with the toxic hybrid, suggests an alternative motive.