Cantha prepping for invasion

[Kayberz.5346]

Just some random speculation 

Does anyone else get the suspicion with the way the devs keep talking about how "cantha means business"  when it comes to mining jade and how they "really need a lot of jade" for the empires needs that Cantha has bigger plans than just maintaining their technological empire?

The way they kind of stumble over their words whenever they mention how much the Canthan empire wants to quickly mine a lot of dragonjade it gives me the impression that Cantha may be planning a full scale invasion of Tyria before we get there and that they are all hands on deck with the jade processing because they are building a massive military force with jade tech.

What if when we get to Cantha we discover that Cantha is on the verge of a full scale conquest of tyria and the story focuses on us both trying to stop this AND save Cantha from the DSD at the same time?

[Legion.4198]

Certainly, the need for resources of industrial societies is voracious, but I wonder about what kind of resource they'd want to get from conquering Tyria. As far as we are aware, their tech is pretty centred on Dragonjade which is more or less exclusive to the Jade Sea. Unless dragonjade deposits exist beyond Cantha itself, they would need an alternative resource to power their civilization: kralkatite/branded crystals, dragon corpses, or the bloodstones themselves? Whatever the case, I think it would be more fitting for a LVS6 Canthan a plotline with the dragons gone where Canthan companies/factions competing over resources vs powers in Tyria and Elona, if we don't go with revolutionary political parties/movements fighting for the Canthan throne. 

[Vidit.7108]

I think it's more likely for conflict to arise between the factions in Tyria than a Canthan invasion. I think you could probably pick off a few cities, Istan is probably ripe for the taking by just about anyone. Though if the game is following real time it's been years since the Sunspear rebellion so it's probably recovered by now. 

Players like to joke sometimes but the Pact/Vigil is one of the most spectacularly successful militaries in Tyrian history at this point. Their ability to adapt to bad circumstances and recruit/train disparate groups of people with vastly different cultures and experiences is frightening. There was like 6 armies at Dragonfall that had basically never really worked together before on a field of battle. Then they carried out and implemented a really complicated plan involving untested technology and resources, organized in the span of a few days or weeks. 

Then there is the issue of trying to hold all that territory which the humans never really did when Kryta, Orr, and Ascalon were at their peaks.

As far as like story direction goes, I'm sure it's possible. Dumber choices have been made, but if the Canthans have done any research into who they'd be dealing with they should know better. They're welcome to try but I'm not going to be all that scared just because they have fantastically superior technology. 

I wouldn't want to deal with the army that dug up a by then ancient derelict searing cauldron to set blaze the shores of Arah. Or the one that lost most of it's troops to an ambush only to take a few days to march through and kill a dragon in the form of a jungle. Or the one that crisscrossed a continent picking up locals to fight a teleporting dragon in the middle of the ocean. Or the one that was crazy enough to stand between two hungry dragons and a pile of unstable magic in order to goad them into killing each other.

[Legion.4198]

26 minutes ago, Vidit.7108 said:

Players like to joke sometimes but the Pact/Vigil is one of the most spectacularly successful militaries in Tyrian history at this point. Their ability to adapt to bad circumstances and recruit/train disparate groups of people with vastly different cultures and experiences is frightening. There was like 6 armies at Dragonfall that had basically never really worked together before on a field of battle. Then they carried out and implemented a really complicated plan involving untested technology and resources, organized in the span of a few days or weeks. 

 

Of course, when the dragon threat is gone, many of these armies and organizations will cease to be and even a threat to the established powers. Many of the armies and organizations will likely be dismantled or demobilized en mass with a lot of dragon veterans with nothing to do or way to reintegrate into civilian life. An opening is here for Cantha (and other powers) to recruit them en mass as mercenaries to protect their commercial interest and become political players. A lot of successful empires have been built this way rather than outright invasion.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Legion.4198