Awakened Wandering in Sparkfly Fen

Not sure whether or not this relates to upcoming things, but there are groups of awakened (usually two occultists and one ravager) that wander the southwest shore directly west from the Brooloonu Waypoint. Has anyone else noticed awakened showing up anywhere else in core tyria?

There are some in Mount Maelstrom if I recall correctly. It relates to the Halloween event, since one of the Mad King dailies was to kill Awakened, and people without PoF had no option to just go into the Crystal Desert to kill them... So ANet spawned some in core Tyria maps. If there's more beyond that, who knows?

Those were added so that even those without PoF could complete the two Halloween achievements requiring folks to kill Awakened. There are spawns in Mount Maelstrom, Sparkfly Fen, and Southsun Cove (maybe also Bloodtide Coast?).

I've been meaning to check if they all remained post-Halloween, based on this post it seems they did.

Kind of surprised they didn't remove them afterwards.

Dead people need holidays too :)

@CedarDog.9723 said:Kind of surprised they didn't remove them afterwards.

Unless it was an intentional move by ArenaNet to set up the next living story.

@Narcemus.1348 said:

@CedarDog.9723 said:Kind of surprised they didn't remove them afterwards.

Yeah, perhaps Joko's planning an invasion. :) Joko attacks Lion's Arch which gets destroyed again.

@CedarDog.9723 said:

@Narcemus.1348 said:

@CedarDog.9723 said:Kind of surprised they didn't remove them afterwards.

I look forward to hanging around Joko Arch. Alongside his new mayor Jok-o-tron

I wonder if Joko can muster a strong Navy to attack LA with. He has never been said to use one before, since his campaigns have mostly been in land locked desert areas. He has coastlines now, though, and has managed to make Istan a vassal to his empire. It's not exactly a conquer, but it's the next best thing.

It might be neat to see things shift to a naval conflict between the Lions Arch Navy and a levied Istani Navy. They're both supposed to be pretty good. But I really doubt we'll ever go that route.

@Squee.7829 said:I wonder if Joko can muster a strong Navy to attack LA with. He has never been said to use one before, since his campaigns have mostly been in land locked desert areas. He has coastlines now, though, and has managed to make Istan a vassal to his empire. It's not exactly a conquer, but it's the next best thing.

It might be neat to see things shift to a naval conflict between the Lions Arch Navy and a levied Istani Navy. They're both supposed to be pretty good. But I really doubt we'll ever go that route.

Given the setup needed that'd probably be more like the finale or at least halfway through. I'd hope for it maybe in the second to last or something. It makes sense he'd attack a human city too, instead of the grove or rats sum which are closer sailing from Istan to LA. Maybe we see all that talk of the new defenses put to the test, and/or we get a new or somewhat redesigned LA again. Somehow it tells us where joko is and we kill him in the finale, by which point we've gotten most or all of Elona?

@Fenom.9457 said:

@Squee.7829 said:I wonder if Joko can muster a strong Navy to attack LA with. He has never been said to use one before, since his campaigns have mostly been in land locked desert areas. He has coastlines now, though, and has managed to make Istan a vassal to his empire. It's not exactly a conquer, but it's the next best thing.

It might be neat to see things shift to a naval conflict between the Lions Arch Navy and a levied Istani Navy. They're both supposed to be pretty good. But I really doubt we'll ever go that route.

1. Lion's Arch hasn't been a human city since old LA was buried when Orr rose.
2. Lion's Arch is the nearest port to Istan, as far as settlements go. Droknar's Forge might have counted before it was flooded, but you'd have to go straight across the Sea of Sorrows to get to Rata Sum, while LA is just following the coastline north.
3. The staff mentioned that it was a lot of work having to remodel LA over and over again, so unless it needs something new to be added, don't expect any major changes to happen there.

@Squee.7829 said:I wonder if Joko can muster a strong Navy to attack LA with. He has never been said to use one before, since his campaigns have mostly been in land locked desert areas. He has coastlines now, though, and has managed to make Istan a vassal to his empire. It's not exactly a conquer, but it's the next best thing.

It might be neat to see things shift to a naval conflict between the Lions Arch Navy and a levied Istani Navy. They're both supposed to be pretty good. But I really doubt we'll ever go that route.

I feel like we won't see LA attacked again so soon - there's only so many times you can use an attack on LA as a turning point in your story. What would be more interesting is if the Awakened established a political foothold in LA on the basis that they're a sentient race and have just as much of a right to be there as the asura, charr, norn, or sylvari. Maybe they try to get an asura gate to the Desolation built. It'd set them up to be more complicated and devious villains than others we've faced, and I reckon they'd have some success bribing the Captain's Council with Elona's plundered riches. All of this would be with a view to capture a greater prize than Lion's Arch (to Palawa Joko, at least): Divinity's Reach, capital of the last great human kingdom. They could even run a propaganda effort in Kryta as well, offering to wipe out the troublesome centaurs in the same way that he wiped out the Elonian ones.

Or maybe the presence of Awakened in that area is supposed to address who will inherit reclaimed Orr. The question is raised a few times in Siren's Landing, and if Joko wanted to expand his empire to include Scavenger's Causeway and the Ruins of Orr, now would be the time to do so with Zhaitan and Kralkatorrik out of the way. Of course, just because Kralkatorrik isn't in the Crystal Desert anymore doesn't mean that it isn't still a threat (or even more of one, as it appears to have moved further into Elona). So Joko might have enough on his plate without wanting to expand his empire. But then that doesn't address the question of what his Awakened are doing so far north.

It's a lot to extrapolate from just a few Awakened appearing in a core map. But if we're doing baseless speculation, I feel like we can do a lot better than yet another attack on LA!

@Tamias.7059 said:

It's a lot to extrapolate from just a few Awakened appearing in a core map. But if we're doing baseless speculation, I feel like we can do a lot better than yet another attack on LA!

I just want Lion's Arch to get destroyed again. :) They don't have to put in TOO much work, since they could just leave it destroyed forever. ;)

It is worth noting that Kryta was once classified as an Elonan colony. So if Palawa Joko has a 'must have everything that was once Elona' attitude, then that might give him incentive to attack Kryta. Including areas that were once part of Kryta, such as the northern Caledon...

Attempting to seize Orr is also an interesting possibility. The Pact wouldn't be happy with that, but in their current state, would they be able to stop him? Could be interesting to see a warzone in Scavenger's Causeway as he tries...

Maybe we> @Rognik.2579 said:

@Fenom.9457 said:

@Squee.7829 said:I wonder if Joko can muster a strong Navy to attack LA with. He has never been said to use one before, since his campaigns have mostly been in land locked desert areas. He has coastlines now, though, and has managed to make Istan a vassal to his empire. It's not exactly a conquer, but it's the next best thing.

It might be neat to see things shift to a naval conflict between the Lions Arch Navy and a levied Istani Navy. They're both supposed to be pretty good. But I really doubt we'll ever go that route.

1. Lion's Arch hasn't been a human city since old LA was buried when Orr rose.
2. Lion's Arch is the nearest port to Istan, as far as settlements go. Droknar's Forge might have counted before it was flooded, but you'd have to go straight across the Sea of Sorrows to get to Rata Sum, while LA is just following the coastline north.
3. The staff mentioned that it was a lot of work having to remodel LA over and over again, so unless it needs something new to be added, don't expect any major changes to happen there.

Joko might still think it's a human city. Bu I liked the awakened being welcomed as a sentient race plot betyer

@draxynnic.3719 said:It is worth noting that Kryta was once classified as an Elonan colony. So if Palawa Joko has a 'must have everything that was once Elona' attitude, then that might give him incentive to attack Kryta. Including areas that were once part of Kryta, such as the northern Caledon...

Attempting to seize Orr is also an interesting possibility. The Pact wouldn't be happy with that, but in their current state, would they be able to stop him? Could be interesting to see a warzone in Scavenger's Causeway as he tries...

I think there was already a war between risen and awakened there. They spread in all directions, meeting resistance in tyria and dominating the seas nearby. But how did they fare in the direction of Elona? I think we were they met halfway and we're locked in battle. Given how the Risen seemed stuck in their last directives, this could still be going on.

@Rognik.2579 said:

2. Lion's Arch is the nearest port to Istan, as far as settlements go. Droknar's Forge might have counted before it was flooded, but you'd have to go straight across the Sea of Sorrows to get to Rata Sum, while LA is just following the coastline north.Sailing from Amnoon, that's true. Any fleet from Istan would have to go around Orr, however, and through the Strait of Malchor. At that point you're basically on top of the Grove, and much closer to Rata Sum than Lion's Arch.

@Tamias.7059 said:But then that doesn't address the question of what his Awakened are doing so far north.

It's a lot to extrapolate from just a few Awakened appearing in a core map. But if we're doing baseless speculation, I feel like we can do a lot better than yet another attack on LA!I mean, we did get a bit of an answer there. According to Kernel, the Awakened in Sparkfly, Mealstrom, and... I think Bloodtide as well... were sent as a response to our activities in Path of Fire. It's retaliation at this point, or at least a probe feeling out the possibility of retaliation. I wouldn't put it past Joko to turn it into a land grab if he smells weakness, but it doesn't sound like there's any great master strategy in play (yet).

@Aaron Ansari.1604 said:

@Rognik.2579 said:

2. Lion's Arch is the nearest port to Istan, as far as settlements go. Droknar's Forge might have counted before it was flooded, but you'd have to go straight across the Sea of Sorrows to get to Rata Sum, while LA is just following the coastline north.Sailing from Amnoon, that's true. Any fleet from Istan would have to go around Orr, however, and through the Strait of Malchor. At that point you're basically on top of the Grove, and much closer to Rata Sum than Lion's Arch.

@Tamias.7059 said:But then that doesn't address the question of what his Awakened are doing so far north.

It's a lot to extrapolate from just a few Awakened appearing in a core map. But if we're doing baseless speculation, I feel like we can do a lot better than yet another attack on LA!I mean, we did get a bit of an answer there. According to

Kernel

, the Awakened in Sparkfly, Mealstrom, and... I think Bloodtide as well... were sent as a response to our activities in Path of Fire. It's retaliation at this point, or at least a probe feeling out the possibility of retaliation. I wouldn't put it past Joko to turn it into a land grab if he smells weakness, but it doesn't sound like there's any great master strategy in play (yet).

The Grove lacks a port.

@Hesacon.8735 said:

@Aaron Ansari.1604 said:

@Rognik.2579 said:

2. Lion's Arch is the nearest port to Istan, as far as settlements go. Droknar's Forge might have counted before it was flooded, but you'd have to go straight across the Sea of Sorrows to get to Rata Sum, while LA is just following the coastline north.Sailing from Amnoon, that's true. Any fleet from Istan would have to go around Orr, however, and through the Strait of Malchor. At that point you're basically on top of the Grove, and much closer to Rata Sum than Lion's Arch.

@Tamias.7059 said:But then that doesn't address the question of what his Awakened are doing so far north.

It's a lot to extrapolate from just a few Awakened appearing in a core map. But if we're doing baseless speculation, I feel like we can do a lot better than yet another attack on LA!I mean, we did get a bit of an answer there. According to

Kernel

, the Awakened in Sparkfly, Mealstrom, and... I think Bloodtide as well... were sent as a response to our activities in Path of Fire. It's retaliation at this point, or at least a probe feeling out the possibility of retaliation. I wouldn't put it past Joko to turn it into a land grab if he smells weakness, but it doesn't sound like there's any great master strategy in play (yet).

I know. I was using it as a marker of how far west you'd wind up going, not proposing that a ship could actually land there.

Well if we're talking invasion, ports don't matter. A shoreline does. And The Grove has that (though inaccessible to players because reasons).

In context with Daybreak's ending mission, were these Halloween Awakened a foreshadowing all along?

@Eldrake.1543 said:In context with Daybreak's ending mission, were these Halloween Awakened a foreshadowing all along?

Yes, I think so. I'd also note that after the end of that instance, you can go around to the console and see all of the destinations - all but one. If you query the location of the central console, you get an error. From looking through the asura gate, I'd guess that it is some kind of Inquest Central Transfer Chamber.