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Atravidua
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re: August 28th, 2016

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Seriously The Best Guild:

You all love hearing about how wonderful you are, right?  Good, because I'm here to gush.  Remember that post last month about how the guild wanted to make four legendaries to donate to Pink Day in LA?  Well, those are done.  That post was only one month ago and we finished FOUR LEGENDARIES!  Incredible!  Thank you  Babel,  Milo,  Charred,  Entro,  Everskye,  Angel,  Lyra,  Scooby,  Ebony,  Sweets,  Marcooz,  Derk,  and everyone who has participated in any of the guild raffles! (let me know if I missed you)

AND, remember when a guildie hosted a raffle for a ghostly infusion to raise gold for Pink Day?  Another guildie hopped on the giving train and held ANOTHER raffle!  Storm (Osiris.3064) raffled off four dyes.  Thirty-two guildies entered and he raised 417g for Pink Day!

Four lucky guildies got some nice dyes:

  • 1st Place: Ashara (Remaran.2963) - Imperial Red Dye (340g)
  • 2nd Place: Herenyiaa (TheShniper.1852) - Celestial Dye (78g)
  • 3rd Place: Mithril (MithrilSole.2048) - White Dye (30g)
  • 4th Place: Brittene (singingbamagal.2108) - Black Dye (26g)

The first Pink Day in LA Volunteer Meeting was on August 14th and we were happy to see so many of you there!  Our guild will be working with Barbie in the main megaserver this year.  How exciting!

But wait Atra, there's still so much gold in the guild bank AND mats and stuff. What are we doing with the rest of that?  Ah yes!  The officers have a fun thing in mind for you all.  But it's a surprise!  I'm sure you'll be hearing about it soon tho.  ;>

~Atra

 

New Land? New Laaaaaand!: (Possible Spoilers)

With the latest Living Story addition, we have welcomed a new part of the map that is now open to be explored called Bloodstone Fen.  If you haven't been there yet, you don't need to worry about it being another large and difficult HoT map with a meta that requires a fair bit of organization and people to pull off.  Instead, this map is actually quite small compared to every other map in the game.  This makes getting full map completion very easy, but that's an added bonus.

The first thing that sets the Bloodstone Fen apart from the other HoT maps is that you can essentially glide from the very bottom of the map to the upper tiers of the map quite easily with all the updrafts and ley lines that have been stingily used in the other HoT maps.  And, for the one area on the ground floor that doesn't have as much gliding access, there are sequenced bouncing mushrooms that can have you well on your way up with just a single hop.  When all else fails, jump into a rift and you'll quickly find yourself near the top of the map.  More on that later, though.

Oh, if we can get back on the topic of gliding for a moment, you can actually unlock special skills that can only be used while gliding in the air.  Yes, that's right, you can actually shoot at things while you're gliding instead of needing to land to engage in combat!  You can also speed your way around with a powerful surge forward thanks to all the unbound magic floating around.  There's just a slight (deadly) issue that you'll probably discover – but don't worry, you'll get an achievement for it!  Really!  (Plus, you can get a daily by just mashing glide skills.)

Now then, you may be wondering about the meta that comes with this map.  Well, there are actually a few smaller metas that seem to work independently of each other instead of needing to build towards one big meta.  However, you may insist that there must be one main one.  In that, you are partially right.  There is the Jade Maw which takes place in the giant crater in the map.  There are many platforms where there is a shard of bloodstone and Jade constructs that need to be defeated before they can destroy the bloodstone fragment.  After a number of successes that take you further and further into the crater, you go to the very bottom of the hole to confront the Unbound Guardian.  If you've done Raids, you could be forgiven if you mistake him for the Vale Guardian.  You'll see what I mean.

What are the smaller metas?  I'm glad you asked, they are as follows:

  • Starting with the top of the map, there are rift events – that you can either glide to or use those rifts I mentioned earlier to reach them.  You basically have to kill random displaced creatures in order to get them to go back through the rift and close it.  If you do this enough, you'll get another daily.  Then, once eight rifts have been successfully closed, a bloodstone elemental champion will spawn.  Not only does the elemental itself hurt, but there are a bunch of tiny elementals that like to blow up on you and cause you to get knocked around.
  • A little down from the top of the map around where a coliseum like building resides, you'll find another small meta event that will earn you another daily.  You'll first see an exorcism event that requires you to kill spirits to make them friendly.  (Who needs a priest and holy water anyway?)  Once the progress bars get to full, you'll face the Ghostly Justiciar Hablion in the arena.  One word of caution to those that haven't participated in the fight, bring condition removal unless you like having torment stack at will on your character.  This is one of the events that may appeal to lore buffs – especially when Hablion calls on the Chosen to protect him.  For the rest of you, he's just another walking champ bag.

Moving all the way down to the ground floor level, there are a number of things you can come across down here.  The main meta event is also preceded with an exorcism event that works the same way as the one just described.  Except this time, you'll end up fighting a number of lost soul champions.  For those interested in achievements, there are a couple that are part of the ground floor mechanics.  Then, you can toss in champion events like the bloodstone crazed champion, treasure mushroom, and a champion White Mantle patrol.

Another bonus (for those of you that like the lore of the game), there are journal pages scattered across the map.  The journals belong to three members of the White Mantle.  Once you find all the pages, you are awarded with the full journal and can read them at your leisure.  They provide some info into what’s been going on in Bloodstone Fen since the start of the game!

ArenaNet really pulled out all the stops for this map.  We’re hoping that any maps that follow will be just as fun and keep the ease of travel we so enjoy.

~Ashara

 

 

 The Fairy Tale Ends:

Dearest Olyvir,

I fear that Logan is losing his mind.  He is seeing imagined threats to my life every day now and this time, it’s gone too far.  The Vigil, Priory, and Order of Whispers are here in the Palace as guests.  He’s convinced that this threat in the Lychcroft Mere will make it’s way to the Palace and believes my life to be in danger.

I’m sure it would lessen his fears if his good friend, Olyvir Skye, would investigate this threat and convince him that all is well.  I assure you that I am well protected.  Logan and Countess Anise never leave my side.

Please help me with this Olyvir.  Convince Logan that I’m safe.

Your Queen,
Jennah

 

My Friend, Olyvir,

The Queen’s life is in danger once again, this time from outside the Reach.  The Priory Researchers and Vigil Crusaders stationed here in Divinity’s Reach have expressed concern over a situation in Lychcroft Mere.  A man is wandering around the Mere, followed by the Risen, but never becoming one.  They protect him, but he can’t outrun them.  They say he’s crazy, continually talking about Royal Blood being the cure, the antidote.

Jennah refuses to believe me.  All I want is to protect her.  Even Anise in convinced, though she doesn’t confess it to the Queen.

Please my friend, you’re the only one I trust Jennah’s life to.  Please go to Lychcroft Mere with the Researchers and Crusaders to eliminate this threat to Jennah’s life.  I could not bear to lose her from an oversight on my part.  I must not leave her side.  Please go and report your findings to me.

With all my appreciation,
Logan Thackeray

Captain of the Seraph

 

I received these two letters moments apart.  I wrote back to both Queen Jennah and Logan and told them that I would check out this alleged threat and report back on my findings.  I left the city the same day.

By midday I reached Shaemoor and by nightfall I was at the outskirts of Godlost Swamp, nearing Kessex Hills.  I went to the monastery at the Krytan Freeholds and the Abbey Brothers and Sisters allowed me a room for the night.

I awoke at first light and started through the swamp.  A few hours later I arrived at the fort where I would take passage into Kessex Hills.  I stopped to verify my route by the conveniently placed map at the passage entrance and I quickly realized a minor navigational error I had made.  If I initially headed West instead of East, I would have arrived in Kessex the night before!  Although there was little I could do about all those lost hours, my own stupidity infuriated me.  Deciding not to rest, I immediately took the passage to Kessex Hills.

I continued heading South and came across the fort in Triskellion Vale.  The Seraph know me; some of them fought beside me against the centaurs at Shaemoor Garrison.  They offered me food and lodgings for the night, which I graciously accepted.  I inquired about Lychcroft Mere and was given precise directions on the map, which again reminded me of my poor navigational skills.  Had I started on the right path, I would’ve arrived at my destination by the end of the day.  The Mere is only a few hours walk when I wake in the morning.

I rose before most of the Seraph and set off, grabbing a hunk of bread to eat along the way.

When I arrived, both the Vigil and the Priory were already there (apparently they are not complete morons like some of us).  They informed me of the situation.  There are children in the Mere, scared and too afraid to move for fear of awakening the score of Risen.  I promise the Researchers and Crusaders that I will rescue those children safely.

  

 

I shadowstepped to the bushes that scattered throughout the Mere, finding children in most of them.  Some told me that the scary man was coming and then ran off when I told them that I was here to protect them.  One of the children had more to say.  She was of noble birth, and told me this: A Seraph was running through the Mere, talking about Queen Jennah.  “Something about Royal Blood,” she said.  He was trying to get away from the Risen following him, but he couldn’t keep them away.  She said he carried something in his hands, and she thought that it protected him from the Risen, but also drew them to him.

She was the last child I saw hiding, so I scooped the shaking girl into my arms and shadowstepped back to the safety of the Vigil and the Priory.  She never told me her name.

I told the remaining team members what the girl had said.  That’s when a Lightbringer from the Order of Whispers stepped out of the shadows and clued us in to what was really going on.

Corporal Kellach was once a member of the Seraph and was Logan’s second-in-command.  He was charged with protecting the Queen in Logan’s absence, but felt as though he never fully measured up to Logan’s standards.  He was either too slow or too weak to protect her the way that Logan could.  So he sought out an Order of Whispers seer, Alastia Crow.  Alastia told Corporal Kellach of an Orrian artifact that would give him the strength and speed he desired.

What she failed to mention was that the artifact was cursed, as most artifacts in Orr are.

Kellach found the artifact, but once he had it, Risen started following him everywhere.  He could not rid himself of them.  When he sailed the Straits of Malediction, the Risen swam behind him, their numbers growing.

Kellach sought out Alastia again, wanting her to break the curse and free him of these stalking undead.  He found her on her ship, The Ravenous, with her crew.  She wanted him gone, but he wouldn’t leave.  In a rage, he killed her crew, and for that, she told him that the only way to break the curse of the artifact was to bathe in Royal Blood.  He killed her then too, and had been making his way to the Palace ever since.

I had been too late in getting to Lychcroft Mere.  Kellach was gone.  Logan was right, though.  Queen Jennah’s life was in danger.

With the children safe, and the Risen cleared out of the Mere, the Vigil and Priory came with me back to the Palace.  We travelled quickly, anxious to get back and warn the Queen.

A day later (so much faster than going East, I’m such a moron), we arrive at the Palace and I immediately sought council with Queen Jennah, Logan, and Countess Anise.  However, as soon as we gathered I felt a change in the Queen.  Something was off.  She could hardly look at me, a courtesy she had always shown before.  Then I noticed that she didn’t really look at anyone, except maybe a glance at Anise.

I told them what I knew.  Everything.  Kellach and Alastia.  Queen Jennah’s beautiful face now full of fear, Logan’s of determination, and Anise’s of interest.  Logan and Anise started discussing how best to protect the Queen, but it was too late.

Kellach was here.

And with him, a horde of Risen.

He told Jennah that he needed her blood to break the curse.  I tried to reason with him then, telling him that Alastia Crow lied to him to punish him for taking the lives of her crew.  He wouldn’t hear it.  He rushed the Queen, but then, she was gone.

Logan and I fought the Risen horde that followed Kellach, barring the door to keep more from entering.  Anise created clones of the Queen, confusing Kellach and keeping him busy while we finished off the horde.

Once the Risen were all defeated, Logan and I rounded on the Corporal.  Again, Logan and I tried to reason with him, but he could not, would not, be convinced.  Logan looked at me, and I knew what he wanted.  I shadowstepped behind Kellach and stabbed him in the back just as he reached for the Queen, and again, she disappeared.  He drew his last breath upon her throne.

  

Jennah came out of a side room, completely unharmed.  She hugged Logan and then me.  She hugged dirty, stinking, filthy me and thanked me for saving her life.  Anise apologized for the mesmer clones of the Queen, but admitted that she knew the threat was real and took the necessary precautions to keep the Queen safe.  Logan forgave her almost immediately, knowing that it was all done to protect his Queen.  Jennah apologized for not taking Logan seriously, but as long as she was safe, that was all the mattered to him.  And to me.

She thanked me again and then dismissed me.  As I closed the throne room door behind me, I glimpsed her reaching for Logan as he reached for her.  A small pang of jealousy hit my stomach.  I hoped, foolishly, that she would one day look at me the way she looked at him.  Laughing at myself, I walked home to eat and wash the stench of rotting flesh off of me.

Olyvir Skye, Investigative Journalist

 

 

Of Fire and Brimstone: (Possible Spoilers)

I received a letter from Chef, my contact within the Priory, and from it learned two things.  The first is that these orbs of light have been deemed Coalescences by the Priory and the Consortium.  Second, more of these Coalescences have been spotted throughout Tyria.  The closest of which lies on the peaks of Mount Maelstrom.

I have yet to receive word from Queen Jennah, but I know the importance of the information and need to continue to gather as much as possible.  I cannot take the time to travel back through the city.  I must take the fastest, most direct route possible.

Which means crossing the Brand, again, and the dwarven wasteland known as Deldrimor Front.
[Editor’s Note: Deldrimor Front has been abandoned by the dwarves and overrun by Destroyers.  I discovered an ancient underground city that I used to navigate most of my journey to Mt. Maelstrom.  Along the way I acquired a few treasures, the most precious being a new skill.  A skill of stealth that I have a feeling will prove extremely useful.  The rest of that journey is a story for another time.]

I arrive in Mount Maelstrom starving and filthy from travel.  A gracious Quaggan family feeds me and allows me to stay the night.  I repay their kindness the best way I can, by telling stories of the Pact and how they’d defeated Zhaitan.  To my chagrin, they were unaware of Zhaitan’s end.  They celebrate and speak of rejoining their families in the Sea of Sorrows.

In the morning I continue my journey, making my way to the top of Mount Maelstrom.  The climb is arduous and staying hidden is extremely difficult.  The information and its importance to my Queen keeps me moving.

I reach the bottom of the volcano and stop in my tracks.  Destroyers are flocking to the top.  They haven’t spotted me yet, but I’m completely exposed.  They seem to have more awareness of their surroundings than the Branded in Blazeridge Steppes.  I shadowstep back into the darkness that the overhanging peaks provide.  There I use my new-found stealth ability.  I find that I can maintain stealth for an almost infinite amount of time, as long as I don’t move.  Nice!  I continue watching the Destroyers in relative ease as they pass me in huge numbers.

Around midday their ranks begin to thin.  I’m still surrounded by Destroyers, but this might be the only chance I have.  I break the stealth and shadowstep up the mountain as far as I can before breaking into a run.  I shadowstep again, and when the summit is in view, once more.  I quickly return to my stealth and survey my surroundings, ensuring that I was not spotted.  I could get used to this!

I can clearly see the ley line gathering.  It multiplies faster than it did in Blazeridge Steppes and there are far more Destroyers here.  They wait, and I continue to watch them.

 

Eventually the ley line energy condenses, agitating the Destroyers, and I see what Chef was talking about.  A Coalescence appears, seemingly out of thin air.  Ley line energy is a strange thing.  It’s almost alive, more so than any other energy I’ve ever encountered.  It remains dormant and then takes on a life of its own.  It very closely resembles a spark, just... larger.  Much larger.

The Destroyers immediately go after the Coalescence, using their lava attacks to overpower it.  Within seconds it’s gone.  The energy seeps into the Destroyers, and for a short time they literally glow white and blue before returning to their normal magma and obsidian skin.

I watch this cycle for quite some time, not daring to move a muscle.  The Destroyers come in droves while the ley line energy gathers.  The more Destroyers there are, the faster the energy accumulates.  More and more Coalescences form only to fall to the Destroyers.  The ley line energy is like a drug that they can’t get enough of.

A noise behind me draws my attention and I see a small band of Priory and Vigil members approach the ley line energy.  I can read the energy now, and I know that a Coalescence is about to appear.  The energy shimmers so bright that it burns my eyes, and the Coalescence spawns.  The Destroyers move to attack; but the Vigil crusaders are quickly upon them, protecting the Coalescence.  The Priory researchers use their magic to surround and shield the Coalescence from the Destroyers’ attacks.

This is the longest I have seen the Coalescence live.  It’s only been a few minutes, but a few minutes of life is better than the few seconds the previous Coalescences experienced.

After a few more minutes the crusaders are overcome by the Destroyers, but the researchers are able to hold the shield.

As the shield continues to hold I see the Coalescence dissipate all around, its energy flowing back into the ground.

I spot Chef among the researchers.  I do my sneak thing and pull Chef back into the shadow of the volcano, the other researchers completely unaware.  The sun is starting to set so I’m less worried about being spotted.

Chef tells me that the dragon minions all across Tyria are still gathering and continue to consume the Coalescences, storing this energy for their masters.  The Branded in Blazeridge and the Icebrood in Snowden Drifts, that made sense.  Kralkatorrik and Jormag are both awake and reeking havoc against the Charr and Norn.  But here?  In Mount Maelstrom?  There are no dragons here.

There must be a reason why the ley line energy is gathering here, atop Mt. Maelstrom, and I need to find out why.  For myself, for Tyria, and most importantly, for Queen Jennah.

~Olyvir Skye, Investigative Journalist

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