#when did crecia commit

[konig-varorson]

The Added, The Removed, and the Changed: Continuity Alterations of Living World Season 1 Return

So last year ArenaNet brought back "most" of LWS1 in 2022 after about 8 years of demands for it to be made permanent. What many people may not know is that, yes, ArenaNet did change things up. Be they for better or wose. As it got brought up while talking with friends in the GW2 subreddit's discord, I decided to write up what these changes are.

Overall: The Investigative Studies and Records

The most obvious additions to the lore span all five episodes, where each one got an achievement called Investigative Study. These were added lore books, using a UI created in Season 4, exploring backstory of various characters and factions.

Flame and Frost namedropped some Icebrood Saga characters like Crecia and Efram, while also delving into why the dredge and Flame joined Scarlet, for example.

From Clockwork Chaos onward, there were also the Investigative Records achievements, which were audio recordings from Scarlet to delve into her character a bit.

All of this stuff is brand new, and provides new insight on characters - especially Scarlet and her motivations.

Additionally, it is worth noting that when LWS1 first released, it was written from a perspective of "the events happen at any point in the personal story" - so you were not strictly "the Pact Commander". This created some dissonance in the original story for how characters reflected their state at the beginning of the Personal Story instead of the end - most notable being Destiny's Edge, who end the personal story claiming to stick with the Pact until the Elder Dragons are no more (specifically Logan doing so), but then when we meet them in LWS1, they're back with their nations doing their deskwork or what have you. That commitment didn't last long, huh? Well, it made sense if you were a level 10 going through LWS1. But the LWS1R firmly cements LWS1 as post-PS, dubbing you the Commander right off the bat to Braham and Rox, yet didn't change any this. Or explained it.

Flame and Frost

In addition to the above, Flame and Frost got one very peculiar change to it, which is arguably the biggest change in the entire LWS1R: Ottilia.

Ottilia is a norn from Cragstead that Braham had a "bit" of a crush on. In the original release, Ottilia was Braham's firm motivation for... the entire season, really. When the player first gets to ask about Ottilia, this is what Braham says:

Ottilia? Who's Ottilia? Well, she lives in Cragstead, and she's... kind of beautiful. I mean sweet. She's nice. Okay?

But in the re-release, Braham says this instead:

Ottilia? That conversation might require some ale. Ottilia is amazing... She's beautiful, and...not interested. But she helped me work through some angst about my family. My mom. I owe her.

Interestingly, despite 'helping him' cope with his issues with Eir, Braham's attitude towards Eir is still very harsh, unchanged from the original release. In fact, despite Braham "getting over her", Braham still writes cringy poems for her. Why say he’s over her, if he still acts like he’s pining for her and even writes cringy teenage puppy love poetry for her? Curious.

And in addition, there is an entire subplot following the entirety of Season 1 removed because the writers wanted to reduce Braham's puppy love.

First, Ottilia showed up in the bonfire in Hoelbrak at the end of Flame and Frost, though the wiki didn't record this unfortunately.

After, from Secret of Southsun to Cutthroat Politics, Ottilia and Braham had monthly dialogues in Cragstead. At the end, Ottilia leaves Braham for a merchant, and Braham joins Rox in leaving Cragstead. This is his motivation for being involved in the rest of LWS1.

In Clockwork Chaos, we first see him complaining about Ottilia. This complaining returns in his banter with Rox during Escape from Lion's Arch.

All three of those sets of dialogues were removed from LWS1Return. Ottilia is never seen by players now. According to Bobby Stein, the change was to "downplay the "puppy love" angle and tie in more as a support system for his strained relationship with his mother".

(Personal Rant: I do not like this change, as it flattens Braham's character, making him almost entirely just about his relationship to Eir with little else about him. Without him going to Rox as emotional support over the Ottilia breakup, their relationship seems simpler as well, like he's just tagging along just because - he has no reason to be involved with Clockwork Chaos, he's just there. Of course, I admit I am bias as back in the early 2010s I had a similarly bad breakup and Braham's bitter reaction to Ottilia was highly relatable for my late-teens self.)

Lastly, Flame and Frost saw a loss of the Lion's Arch refugee camp - NPCs that were tied to the non-returning Secret of Southsun arc vanishing along with it. Lorewise, this camp still existed, as it still gets referenced, and the events at Southsun still occurred. But the NPCs tied to the heirloom collections got moved to Hoelbrak and Black Citadel refugee camps instead.

Sky Pirates of Tyria

In the original release of Dragon Bash and Sky Pirates of Tyria, there were some protestors who showed up in the Grand Piazza - Merrik, Marren, Broll, and Roardina. These four would be protesting the celebration of Dragon Bash the first week, get questioned by Kiel about the assassination attempt in the second week, and call out for a hunt on the assassins afterwards as a point of concern for their own innocence being in question.

A small piece of worldbuilding that is lacking in LWS1 - more on the first part. The part where there were active protests against Dragon Bash. With the actual Dragon Bash returned celebration in Hoelbrak, we got new protestors about the celebration, but it was more of a highlight in the original patch that wasn't part of the story instances, and thus did not get a place in the LWS1R.

A somewhat weird addition is that at the end they added a line of Magnus talking about Southsun Cove's events as if the Commander wasn't there. But all the old reference tags for dialogue reflecting you having done that content in the original LWS1 releases remain. I guess Magnus is a bit senile.

Clockwork Chaos

In addition to Braham+Rox's dialogue about Ottilia, there is another duo dynamic that was changed a lot in this release. That of Hobo-Tron and Marcello DiGiacomo. While these two do still show up in both the Closing Ceremony instance (redubbed The Queen's Address) and Scarlet's Playhouse, there was an entire dynamic between them in open world which is now MIA, and paints the entire spat of the two which continues on into Lion's Arch to this day.

Additionally, a lot of their dialogue in Scarlet's Playhouse itself was simplified, reducing their banter during your fight with Scarlet. Though it didn't provide much depth, as it was just the two name-blaming the other as being connected with Scarlet.

On an aside, in LWS1Return, during Scarlet's Playhouse you confront a hologram of Scarlet... But in the original, it was Scarlet Briar herself. Odd change.

There's also the change of the Watchknight models, but that discussion has been done to death back when the content released. Here's referencing that can o' wurms.

Tower of Nightmares

Similar to the two above, there are some open world dialogues that did not make the cut for LWS1. Most can be found on the wiki. The most famous of these dialogue, or rather infamous, is Kasmeer telling Marjory at the end of the arc that her dress that she's been wearing the entire time in the Tower was an illusion, and that she was naked all along. With the change in society and media, I can understand the mentality of the changes. But this is also a very curious aspect of Kasmeer's mentality as former nobility - at this point in the story, Kasmeer has not yet entered that "adventurer's mindset", and still favors not tearing a dress over her own safety.

In addition to that infamous dialogue, there is other stuff. Most critical are the prologue and epilogues to the arc. The entire time of the camp being established with Marjory and Kasmeer studying the veil that hid the Tower is MIA, and so is the gathering afterwards in The Dead End.

Aside from the cut content surrounding our dear proto-Dragon's Watch, we also have a lot of Bloomanoo and Penelopee dialogues cut. For those who weren't around in LWS1, these are two quaggans first introduced in ToN, who had cameos in almost every (or every other) episode until they settled down in the rebuilt Lion's Arch at the end of Season 2. They would often show up in a place that would soon to be attacked by Scarlet's or Mordremoth's forces, making them a hilarious harbinger of doom duo.

Also not making it was the quaggans refugees who took refuge in Fort Salma. There wasn't much, but those poor quaggans.

Lastly, did you know that the finale of Tower of Nightmares was also the very first time we met Belinda? She even had dialogue for whether or not you were involved.

Overall, Tower of Nightmares had the most content cut from its return. Mainly, I imagine, because it was worldbuilding fluff and not part of the Golden Path, like Ottilia, the Dragon Bash Protestors, and Hobo-Tron.

Battle for Lion's Arch

Surprisingly, Battle for Lion's Arch was perhaps the most comprehensive and inclusive of all five releases, making the fewest reductions, changes, or additions. To the point that as I write this, I can only think of two points (besides the Assault Knight model change).

First, we have Canach. While he does show up in Fort Marriner, his audio lines and dialogue with Sheriff Siriam were removed. He was also removed from Escape from Lion's Arch instance, though it a minor appearance.

Escape from Lion's Arch is the second point. Due to the reduced area of the zone players could access during that story instance, several events and related dialogues were removed. The two critical pieces were the escorts of the ogres and the racing moas - especially, curiously, the racing moas.

Though the wiki does not have the dialogue (for some reason), it was a plot point that during the escort for the moas, the group woudl be attacked by a giant Toxic Wurm Queen, leading to the follow-up event. Narratively, this wurm queen eats the moas. Tigg even commented on it, blaming the players for the moas' deaths. And in Dragon Bash's return in Hoelbrak, we get a new set of moas, including one named after one of the dead moas.

But in LWS1R, the moas (and other escort NPCs) are there to interact with and they vanish, presumably escaping the city without issue. The moas never die - they survive now.

But the dialogue of their death remains.

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #lws1 #living world #Living World Season 1 #don't let lore get lost #Ottilia

[red-catmander]

i think part of the reason rytlock fought so hard to redeem ryland, even when he was committed to doing what was necessary (and he did!) is that, for all intents and purposes, they're very similar people. even at the very, very end, when ryland was well past the point of no return, rytlock tried one last time to haul him back. they both had the same horrid upbringing fraught with bullying, both are the leaders of their warbands, both had the same (terrible) father figure in bangar, both are ambitious. but the biggest difference between them is, at some point, rytlock looked at his life and realized the big flaming sword and high rank in the legions didn't actually make him happy. i think rytlock's extremely aware of all that which is why he just keeps trying long after crecia resigns herself. it's interesting to consider that, under even slightly different circumstances, ryland might be a hell of a lot more like rytlock

and I think it's interesting to consider that the rytlock we're seeing now is probably the 'best' permutation of him. he's fraught (FRAUGHT) with problems, but he at least recognizes that he has them

in another life, rytlock might be a hell of a lot more like ryland...

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #rytlock brimstone #crecia stoneglow #ryland steelcatcher #icebrood saga spoilers #champions spoilers #imagine going from 'i'm going to reconnect with my son' to 'i'm going to connect my sword with my bastard's trachea' #when did crecia commit? start of champions right. where she's like god I cannot wait to murder my shithead spawn #off the cuff apologies for any mistakes

[quintiliusheartripper]

(Baos GW2 Characters part 1)

Quintilius The Heart (or Heartripper)

Born: 1298

Height: 6'3"

Coming from a long line of Ash legion Torturers since Kala’s days, his narcissistic dame was ashamed she had a cub with a gladium, hiding the pregnancy and leaving quint to a fahrar only a week after his birth. He would eventually be picked up by her again when he was only 8 and would train as she had in the field that the bloodline has worked in for decades.

Cursed to go beserk when smelling blood by his mother as she died, beliving he would turn into a flame legioner like his spy father, he lost his position in the ash legion but would be picked up by the blood legion as a soldier. He rose to the ranks quick, becoming a centurion due to his skillful tactics and the fact he made sure as many, preferably all, soldiers came back from missions. He was also known for sleeping around. A lot.

If it hadnt been for a mission he was given due to the fact he was one of the more…charismatic and lesser threatening charr he most likely would have retired as a primus or commit suicide but destiny and greater forces had something else in mind. He was assigned to be a bodygaurd and tour guide for a kodan who said he was a Voice that came to the citadel in hope for help.  The two of them instantly hitting it off, quint being knowledgeable and open while Stray Cry would give affection he would never seen.  Smodur would even give the voice a small warband, quints warband. This charr who slept around, drank, and even in his youth did drugs, only wanted to be loved unconditionally and he had found it with Stray Cry and his Claw of Koda Stoic Mountain.

By the present day in Guild Wars 2, Quintilius fully lives with the kodan, having retired from the legions after a traumatic event with his father and the battle to death. Quint won and had no reason left to be tied to the legions, being an outcast since he was a cub. Being Nonbinary and having fun with the bears using potions, quint has 4 cubs, each snowy white, looking like kodan, but with two sets of ears and eventually growing horns. he hopes his hands will never be forced to teach them his bloodlines work.  Regardless, while it took awhile for the kodan to fully accept him and years of learning traditions and religious text, Quint is happily accepted into the sanctuary, which was thankfully lax beforehand anyway. He is called The Heart- mostly because without him the Claw and Voice would have continued to have issues reconnecting and has been a valuable member of the community.

Tryphon Mistsail

Born: 1289

Height: 10’

His mother, a blood legion soldier, dissented from the legions to become a pirate after falling in love with a human. Pregnant, she ended up having a son who would grow up on the pirate ship, taking her warband name as his last name.  Untill he was a older child he loved it, he had a friend, a mute human girl, who with her parents helped make a sign language for, and had a few other friends who were also born among these ships. His life became a lot more unfortunate when he was 8 untill he was 15 when things turned around. he decided to be the captain of his own ship, telling this to his mother and the current captain.  He would be scoffed at but given a small boat as long as they kept as business partners. An asura, curious about how everything would go down, ended up joining the three man ship consisting of a gigantic charr and his mute human friend. Being a gaurdian at this time and his co-captain being a necromancer, proficient with minions, they fumbled their way onto a ship carrying second born sylvari. Now tryphon has rules… They dont steal from the obvious poor, they leave civilians, and absolutely, no matter what, they do not traffick living beings. And the very fact that these asura were doing just that made him rage. He would storm the ship unexpecting such a attack from such a small group of people and he would be the one to come out alive. He still has many sylvari friends and has ties with the bank at the grove because of this.

Now days, a revenant, he goes between stealing from those participating in the mist wars, stealing from the rich and wealthy in elona, selling remade goods at cheap prices to the poor, and making Evon furious with the missing cargo.

How long will his reign as a mighty pirate last though…? when will he let his gaurd down and lose his ship and crew?

(*He has two plot versions.. one he meets Velak of @follow-the-velak after his ship is ambushed and hes the only one left alive and the other he continues pirating untill the day he dies)

Uriah Cloudpaw

Born: 1304

height: 6’

An Albino Charr with no magic… The last thing his father, a mesmer flame legion shaman wanted. His father was a ash legion soldier born in grothmar who, with his partner in crime, killed his own warband to gain power and fame within the flame legion. Issue is he kept having girls and wanted to continue his bloodline and prove he was able to be part of what he tried so hard to be. The mother of this child would be banished, working as a cleaner and a secret midwife when she could.  She would eventually lose her arms for helping mothers hide and send away themselves and their children. Meanwhile uriahs father, still with no luck, would appoint Uriah to train under a builder in the flame citadel. He was taught how to weld and make flame effigies but Uriah and his peers, born into gaherons ruling and harsher attacks from the other legions started to whisper of rebellion. They wanted equality like the rest of the legions…and when the legions and humans cease fired they wanted to join back up- repent for their past travesties and unite again so they could stop being killed just for who they were born under.

Helping head the rebellion, uriah and his friends did just that days after gaheron was killed but not enough people backed them up and their rebellion was squashed…uriah being the only one left alive due to his father, though badly scarred and having three of his horns broken, as a reminder of his place. His mother would beg him to leave because if the flame legion didnt lynch him for what he did, the rest of the charr will kill them till every last one of them was dead anyway

Uriah, with his mothers help, would run away and join the pact. He was shy, feeling out of place with his dialect and only knowing how to speak tyrian but not write it he would quietly find his place as a welder due to the fact he was unafraid of heights and was quite good at his job. On his days off he would make his mother replacement arms- ones that would work better for her that he would send away with letters whenever his Fathers best friend came by the check on him.  he even practiced his effigy making- trying to make them into suits similar to the asuran golems. For his father.. he had a sniper rifle being made, testing out bullets to make sure that once shot you lose your ability to use magic, even just temporarily.

Now in guild wars 2 he is in a poly relationship with the pact commander and his sylvari partner. He still welds and helps build things on the side and upon the news of his fathers best friends death he knew it was time to end his fathers life, knowing that he was one of the few shaman trying to keep the rank and order of gaherons ways. He would even be approached by crecias intelligence subordinates, his name being known for trying to do what she would succeed in the future. He would even help out in the end happy to see that some shamans had come to their senses and wished to see their daughters be treated equally too and to not be killed.  Now, feeling betrayed thinking   Bangar was talking about One Charr to help unite the legions again with the flame legions but instead using it to make more renegades he feels personally ashamed and angry, joining the his commander boyfriend in his fight for once.

(this is also all on my character page if you are on desktop!)

#Guild wars 2 charr #guild wars 2 screenshots #gw2 #guild wars 2 fanart #my characters #guild wars 2 oc #guild wars 2 rp #gw2rp #gw2 rp