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The Orb


Loboling.5293

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Hey everyone,

I'm redoing the personal story on a fresh character again. (So glad I deleted one pair of gloves during the tutorial achievements, and now its nearly impossible to finish :anguished: )

Anyway, after working with Apatia, we found a strange orb being used by the Krait. The orb would block any new undead from forming, basically stopping the undead dragon from infusing his magics into fresh corpses.

After the personal story, we never once revisit the orb and it's powers... I would think that it's ability to block dragon corruption would be quite useful during a jaunt into the frozen lands of the ice dragon.

Why do you think the writers forgot or threw out this plot device? Such a powerful tool forgotten and never used again.

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@Loboling.5293 said:

Why do you think the writers forgot or threw out this plot device? Such a powerful tool forgotten and never used again.

The fact that it is so powerful may be why the plot never allowed it to be expanded to the other ED's or even expanded beyond it's physical location through study and replication. It basically becomes Supermans kryptonite and limits the ability of the ED's to be a major threat anymore. In effect, if it's allowed to grow, it's a story killer.

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Wasn't it speculated that it had something to do with the deep sea dragon and that's why it rejected Zhaitain's corruption?

I'm more interested in finding out what the floating golden orb in Malchor's leap is all about that's turning everything into metal/gold. Especially as it had special interaction with some sand junk item a long time ago and never seemed to get expanded upon. But then again neither did the Shadowstone or loads of other things.

Always found it interesting though that the golden orb looked like Mordremoth's "heart" after we killed him. And was this orb there pre-cataclysm or did it show up after?

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@"Loboling.5293" said:Hey everyone,

I'm redoing the personal story on a fresh character again. (So glad I deleted one pair of gloves during the tutorial achievements, and now its nearly impossible to finish :anguished: )

Anyway, after working with Apatia, we found a strange orb being used by the Krait. The orb would block any new undead from forming, basically stopping the undead dragon from infusing his magics into fresh corpses.

After the personal story, we never once revisit the orb and it's powers... I would think that it's ability to block dragon corruption would be quite useful during a jaunt into the frozen lands of the ice dragon.

Why do you think the writers forgot or threw out this plot device? Such a powerful tool forgotten and never used again?

Hi Loboling! Thank you for your question. If you aren't familiar with the most important speculation to emerge from the Blue Orb story, allow me to catch-you-up: Some, including myself, believe that the Blue Orb is a dragon egg, implying that the DSD is either female and searching for a male to fertilize her egg, or capable of parthenogenesis.

So why did Arenanet drop this storyline? Well, I don't think that they have. It wouldn't surprise me if we returned to the subject of the Blue Orb in the upcoming expansion.

Now, the question is why we haven't returned to the orb sooner and, when we do, why the orb would still be relevant to the overarching narrative of the game? Here's my take on the answer to that question, presented in two parts.

First, Zaithan's careful management of it's Risen forces around the blue orb suggests that the Elder Dragon is familiar with the hazards of mortals casting spells involving water magic. Foremost among these hazards is the risk of causing an explosion in the process of casting a spell. Consequently, Zaithan kept a close eye on the interaction between it's minions and bodies of water within it's territories. In Sea of Sorrows, Sethus tells Cobiah Marriner that the waters of Orr are "as black as night, like ink's been poured into the waves. It never gets lighter, and the sun never warms it. Sailors have used Orrian water to freeze things even in the Maguuma Jungle's heat. Just one drop turns meat into jerky. A canteen could ice over even the fires of Sorrow's Furnace". Note that Seethus is ultimately talking about the temperature at which Zaithan kept the Sea of Sorrows. And though Seethus never directly states it, we can infer that the way to prevent spells from causing explosions is to ensure that the temperature of water magic used in a spell never rises above 0°C. In the past, spells have been cast using water that wasn't regulated in such an extreme fashion. One such example of a spell is recorded in the Scriptures of Abaddon. Therein, we read that the waters of the Crystal Sea "boiled", "[t]he twilight sky shattered...stars streaked down [and] a maelstrom [was born] from which not even light could escape...transforming the sky above into a midnight void".

So, all in all, the blue orb represents unregulated, primal water magic. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this magic, as long as it is wielded by the right spell-casting races. Presently, the playable races are not counted among them. The defining characteristic of the playable races is their mortality. Races capable of responsibly wielding water magic, however - most notably dragons - tend to live incredibly long lives and it is possible that their relationship with water magic may be the source of their longevity. For in the Realm of Torment we encounter Mad Souls, inextricably bound to Abaddon, muttering something intriguing: "A fountain of youth. It was a fountain of youth, and now I will be young forever...." What is this "Fountain of Youth"? Are creatures like dragons capable of accessing it? And is torment the cost of drinking from it?

Second, the Blue Orb may be a little more than just a symbol of water magic. If it turns out to be the egg of the Deep Sea Dragon, we can only wonder why it hasn't been well received by any of the terrestrial Elder Dragons. Mordremoth, one of the terrestrials, made a play for Glint's egg through Aerin, but made no attempt to secure the Blue Orb. Here is where we leave the beaten track and delve into a world of wild speculation. Buckle up.

I believe that the Elder Draconic Cycle is linked to the way that magic works within the All. For some reason, water magic just doesn't get along well with the other magical elements. This doesn't mean that the elements can't or don't mix, though. There are plenty of examples of lifeforms living on Tyria who represent the harmonious convergence of the elements (air, fire, earth, time, water, and aether), including the playable races. Moreover, The Six, a work of Orrian prose, reveals a way in which the magical elements can coexist, albeit awkwardly. But there is one thing that defines all Tyrian lifeforms, something so insignificant it has barely been explored by the playerbase: urination. This biological process appears to be the only way in which the magical elements can agree to form life. "Yes, we will join together, but only if water cleanses our impurities." The fact that so many lifeforms urinate indicates that, in my opinion, the Mists themselves have blessed this union. Now, there is another agreement between the magical elements that expresses itself in life. It is the minority, however, and when it becomes truly sentient, it is so offensive that most other lifeforms destroy it. An example of this hated agreement is the Nightmare Incarnate.

The Nightmare Incarnate purges it's impurities solely through respiration, rather than urination. In other words, the Nightmare Incarnate represents the magical elements using air magic to cleanse themselves, rather than water magic.

Understandably, this agreement is repulsive to every kind of air spirit, including Dwayna and, if my suspicion is correct, Jormag too.

I hope that this helps clarify your understanding.

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@Stephen.6312 said:So why did Arenanet drop this storyline? Well, I don't think that they have.Pretty sure they have. The personal story always become wonky around that stage, with characters refering to other characters you never met as friends. It changed a little with the NPE, but they couldnt really get around the base story elements. I just think it was poorly planned out by Anet and nothing they intend to fix.

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@Dawdler.8521 said:

@Stephen.6312 said:So why did Arenanet drop this storyline? Well, I don't think that they have.Pretty sure they have. The personal story always become wonky around that stage, with characters refering to other characters you never met as friends. It changed a little with the NPE, but they couldnt really get around the base story elements. I just think it was poorly planned out by Anet and nothing they intend to fix.

I agree with this. If you pay more attention to it, you will notice multiple details being present in Vanilla GW2 that appear to be either forgotten or intentionally ignored by the writers later on, simply because they would simplify the plot too much.

 

Another great example is the Altar of Glaust that was used to grant Glint free will: It is still perfectly functional, as it is proven in one of Arahs exploration modes. There is no reason why the pact hasn’t used it by now. A perfect application would be one of the branded forgotten. They do not prove enough danger that they could not be transported to the place and the LS showed that Arah is now far easier to navigate than before. But even if it were a more difficult task, a purified Forgotten on our side could prove to be crucial because of their immense knowledge of everything related to the elder dragons, making them an ideal ally. Forget important potential allies, what about all the people the pact lost and could grant another chance by just establishing a save route to the Altar, cleansing corrupted pact members of said corruption routinely? At least their families would surly be pleased by that. There is no excuse for the fact that there was not at least a solid attempt being made at utilizing the Altar by now.

 

Well, that’s not entirely true. Yes, there is no reason ingame for the pact not to use it. But from the writers POV it would reduce the atmosphere of lingering danger. So they just ignore its existence. If it is ever mentioned again, I am sure they will conjure up some excuse like a necessary time limit between cleansings or something along the lines to explain its absence in the story until now. But that takes work, which nobody like to do, so they just sweep some parts of the lore under the rug and hope people will ignore them.

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