Is Jade Tech only 8 years old?

[Gibson.4036]

If Jade Tech is powered by Jade that has absorbed dragon magic, does that mean Cantha has only been developing Jade Tech for 8 years?

As I understand it, elder dragons consume magic while alive, and it’s when they die that their magic is released into the world. So for the Jade Sea to have absorbed large quantities of Elder Dragon Magic, it would mean the death of an Elder Dragon. The first time that happened was in 1326 AE when the pact killed Zhaitan.

So Cantha hasn’t had 250 years to get all technological, they’ve had 8.

Unless the tech was developed in some other form, powered from some other source, and Jade is just the newest?

[The Greyhawk.9107]

1 hour ago, Gibson.4036 said:

If Jade Tech is powered by Jade that has absorbed dragon magic, does that mean Cantha has only been developing Jade Tech for 8 years?

As I understand it, elder dragons consume magic while alive, and it’s when they die that their magic is released into the world. So for the Jade Sea to have absorbed large quantities of Elder Dragon Magic, it would mean the death of an Elder Dragon. The first time that happened was in 1326 AE when the pact killed Zhaitan.

So Cantha hasn’t had 250 years to get all technological, they’ve had 8.

Unless the tech was developed in some other form, powered from some other source, and Jade is just the newest?

That's actually a good point.

[EdwinLi.1284]

it is hard to say for now since there is still a lot of mystery about why Jade Tech was founded. 

We know who invented it but the why question still remains. 

So far it is hinted by the Developers that there is something very lore important in the Jade Sea Map that may related to the whole mystery in the storyline or atleast one aspect of it. We just have to wait and see what that thing they are keeping a secret is.

[Diovid.9506]

Jade always had magical properties and was already being mined in GW1. Probably the research into jade tech was already well underway when Zhaitan's death supercharged it. 

[Tachenon.5270]

Or Bubbles is involved, somehow. Be funny if we went to Cantha and wound up fighting to rescue Bubbles from the people behind jade tech.

 

/sings 'I have a theory, it could be Bubbles...'

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

As EdwinLi says, it's hard to say because ANet is super hush hush about everything.

That said, Jade Tech doesn't require dragon magic to be made into jade tech. Jadeite and amber was always magical even in GW1, it was just far less potent than during EoD.

 

That said, Jade Tech is said to have been made after contact was cut off, and contact was cut off with Zhaitan's rise in 1219 AE. So Cantha didn't have 250 years to develop jade tech. They had 100 years, or more specifically 116 years by the time of EoD. However, in addition, we know that Joon is the inventor of jade tech, so unless she is far older than she appears, jade tech shouldn't be older than a couple decades.

 

There are alternatives available for "dragon infused magic" predating Zhaitan's death though. The wholesale slaughter and/or imprisonment of dragon species in Cantha being one of them, Kuunavang being another, and the DSD (though "they killed the DSD a century ago" would be a massive retcon - the DSD's death at any time before Season 4's finale would be a massive retcon, unless the DSD was also replaced in that time, say by Kuunavang).

[The Greyhawk.9107]

3 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

There are alternatives available for "dragon infused magic" predating Zhaitan's death though. The wholesale slaughter and/or imprisonment of dragon species in Cantha being one of them, Kuunavang being another, and the DSD (though "they killed the DSD a century ago" would be a massive retcon - the DSD's death at any time before Season 4's finale would be a massive retcon, unless the DSD was also replaced in that time, say by Kuunavang).

Wouldn't that be something, it'd be a fascinating turn of events, but I think most of us would feel even cheated by it than the lack luster fight against of Primodus.

 

[Rognik.2579]

We also know that elder dragons have always had minions. Zhaitan had the Risen, Mordremoth the Mordrem, Primordus the Destroyers, Jormag is Icebrood, Kralkatorrik the Branded, and there'll be one for this last dragon, too. Presumably, at least some magic is expended to create these minions, or convert the living into them, and maybe that's how it gets into the jade. Or, the jadetech only gets the dragon magic infused into it after it has been treated. There's still a lot intentionally being withheld on the story that true theorizing depends on our imagination.

[HotDelirium.7984]

This expansion seems like its going to go the route of unforeseen consequences from the dragon infused jade. It sounds like they were still mining the jade and retrofitting it into current technology and maybe that's the stuff we will uncover in the story. Jade barriers, machines, mechs, weapons etc  versus dragon infused ones....what would be the difference and consequences? I suspect similar volatility like the ley-enhanced creatures to that effect. Its too spoilery for them to confirm DRAGON INFUSED JADE attracted the attention of the DSD, or its slowly killing Canthans etc. Lots to be discovered.

[Gibson.4036]

It does make sense that the tech was developed around weaker, pre-dragon Jade magic. Then, starting with the death of Zhaitan and subsequent dragons, it keeps getting exponentially more powerful. That means Canthan society has been going through something like the real world has been experiencing over the last forty years, with Moore's Law regarding integrated circuits. The kind of pressures that the explosion in computing has put on the real world would be heavy on Cantha with their technology taking leaps in power each time an Elder Dragon was slain.

The idea that dragon magic is released when minions die is also interesting. The Jade may have started getting more powerful back when Primordus first started stirring back in the 1070s, and with its most significant initial bump happening with the defeat of the Great Destroyer. That would mean Canthans have had three centuries to work with Jade as it gets more and more saturated, but the biggest spike would still have only been eight years ago.

[Ashantara.8731]

On 11/28/2021 at 3:25 PM, Gibson.4036 said:

Unless the tech was developed in some other form, powered from some other source, and Jade is just the newest?

Oooh, what a great point!

What if they have (against all odds) managed to capture the Deep Sea Dragon to use it as a power source?

[Dawanarth.4601]

Would Jade also have absorbed the magic from the ascension of Kormir and the fall of Abaddon ? Or the death of Glint (Though it would not give that many years.

Or even the Searing and such ?

 

[Gibson.4036]

32 minutes ago, Dawanarth.4601 said:

Would Jade also have absorbed the magic from the ascension of Kormir and the fall of Abaddon ? Or the death of Glint (Though it would not give that many years.

Or even the Searing and such ?

 

Interesting thoughts.

This made me wonder about the versatility of it. We've seen that absorbed magic retains its flavor, so to speak. Life dragon absorbs death magic, and gains death properties from it.

Would Jade have originally had a more limited use, being formed by Dwayna's magic, but then, over the years absorb more varieties of flavors, so that it could be used for more things over time?

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

On 11/30/2021 at 8:56 AM, Dawanarth.4601 said:

Would Jade also have absorbed the magic from the ascension of Kormir and the fall of Abaddon ? Or the death of Glint (Though it would not give that many years.

Or even the Searing and such ?

 

Glint wouldn't have had enough power to feasibly make it across the ocean. The Searing occurred before Factions, so it's unlikely to have affected it (same with the Cataclysm), otherwise it'd have been noteworthy then. As for Abaddon's death, that also seems unlikely since it takes place before Winds of Change and the Dragon Festival dialogue talks about it, but no mention of effects beyond "a new god is born" stuff.

The first major magical event that we don't see of Cantha after is the Foefire, but it didn't even affect the Bloodstones so I doubt it'd affect the Jade Sea. Same goes for the rise of Elder Dragons.

First thing to affect the Bloodstones with the absorption of magic is the death of Zhaitan. If anything prior to that affected the Jade Sea, it likely happened in Cantha and not Tyria.

[Dawanarth.4601]

But weren't the bloodstone already filled ? While the Jade was mostly new/empty

[The Greyhawk.9107]

2 hours ago, Dawanarth.4601 said:

But weren't the bloodstone already filled ? While the Jade was mostly new/empty

This assumes that the bloodstones have a limit to their magical capacity, and even assuming they do that they were anywhere near said possible capacity.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

On 12/4/2021 at 3:49 AM, Dawanarth.4601 said:

But weren't the bloodstone already filled ? While the Jade was mostly new/empty

Only the Maguuma Bloodstone was, and this was because the White Mantle destablized it with mining and experiments and soul sacrifices over the past 250 years.

The Ring of Fire Bloodstone and Shiverpeak Bloodstone have shown no sign of issues, otherwise it'd be brought up. Taimi was able to notice the Maguuma Bloodstone's issues while in Rata Novus with her ley-line observing equipment.

And of course, that goes for the two remaining unknown Bloodstones.

[Dawanarth.4601]

Could the Destabilized Bloodstone have leaked magic, that the Jade sea could have absorbed ?

[Faridah.8431]

On 12/3/2021 at 3:59 PM, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Glint wouldn't have had enough power to feasibly make it across the ocean. The Searing occurred before Factions, so it's unlikely to have affected it (same with the Cataclysm), otherwise it'd have been noteworthy then. As for Abaddon's death, that also seems unlikely since it takes place before Winds of Change and the Dragon Festival dialogue talks about it, but no mention of effects beyond "a new god is born" stuff.

The first major magical event that we don't see of Cantha after is the Foefire, but it didn't even affect the Bloodstones so I doubt it'd affect the Jade Sea. Same goes for the rise of Elder Dragons.

First thing to affect the Bloodstones with the absorption of magic is the death of Zhaitan. If anything prior to that affected the Jade Sea, it likely happened in Cantha and not Tyria.

Technically didn't Kormir essentially absorb Abaddon's power to replace him as a god? Not to mention they were on a different plane at that point. 

Agree with the rest.

[Tachenon.5270]

Apologies if this has been discussed, but is it possible that the DSD was sleeping at the bottom of the Jade Sea when it was jaded?

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

2 hours ago, Tachenon.5270 said:

Apologies if this has been discussed, but is it possible that the DSD was sleeping at the bottom of the Jade Sea when it was jaded?

No. The DSD was deep in the unending ocean, and woke up there.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

17 hours ago, Dawanarth.4601 said:

Could the Destabilized Bloodstone have leaked magic, that the Jade sea could have absorbed ?

Balthazar absorbed the majority of that leaked magic during S3E1, so that's not very likely.

16 hours ago, Faridah.8431 said:

Technically didn't Kormir essentially absorb Abaddon's power to replace him as a god? Not to mention they were on a different plane at that point. 

Agree with the rest.

Yes, but the released magic from Abaddon was enough to make Primordus (and the other Elder Dragons) stir from slumber as confirmed by Kormir in Path of Fire. So presumably some magic made it into Tyria - and that's no surprise given by the end of Nightfall, Tyria and the Realm of Torment were overlapping, and according to the Hero PC's journal, Abaddon's released magic was enough to destroy both the Realm of Torment and Tyria if it wasn't contained by Kormir.

16 hours ago, Tachenon.5270 said:

Apologies if this has been discussed, but is it possible that the DSD was sleeping at the bottom of the Jade Sea when it was jaded?

It's corruptions' presence and lore indicates that it was originally in the Unending Ocean, despite Taimi's most recent in-game claim (which is hard to tell if it's meant to be unreliable narrator on Taimi's part, or ANet retconning their 2007-2012 lore). Whether it stayed there is the question worth asking.

[Randulf.7614]

What is Taimi’s most recent in game claim?

[Faridah.8431]

1 hour ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Yes, but the released magic from Abaddon was enough to make Primordus (and the other Elder Dragons) stir from slumber as confirmed by Kormir in Path of Fire. So presumably some magic made it into Tyria - and that's no surprise given by the end of Nightfall, Tyria and the Realm of Torment were overlapping, and according to the Hero PC's journal, Abaddon's released magic was enough to destroy both the Realm of Torment and Tyria if it wasn't contained by Kormir.

 

Ah thanks, I had forgotten some of this. That makes sense.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

15 minutes ago, Randulf.7614 said:

What is Taimi’s most recent in game claim?

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Current_Events

Quote

End Conjecture

Taimi: You did it, Commander. All your adventures from these past years! Quite a trip down memory lane.

Gorrik: The deaths of Primordus and Jormag released an unprecedented amount of dragon magic into the ecosystem.

Gorrik: And if there is another Elder Dragon-

Taimi: Which we don't know for sure-

Gorrik: Right. But if there is... Wherever he is...it must be pretty bad.

Taimi: The most popular theory is the water dragon's somewhere in the depths of the Unending Ocean.

Gorrik: Not exactly a narrow search range.

Taimi: It's a hypothesis with no empirical basis.

Taimi: It's clear to me that we need to-

Taimi: Ah!

Gorrik: Taimi?

Taimi: I-I'm fine. It'll pass.

Gorrik: You need time off. We both need some.

Taimi: There's too much to do! We don't fully understand the ramifications of the dragon cycle yet.

Taimi: The other shoe can drop at any moment. We have to be ready.

Gorrik: I know. Just dont...push yourself too hard.

And

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Taimi#Eye_of_the_North

Quote

Updated with Return to Champions patch

Taimi: You've relived it all, huh? I hope that's giving you a fresh perspective. We're starting to draw some conclusions over here, but it'll still be a while before the end. I mean, before we're done.

Player: Can you give me an update on the dragon fallout?

Taimi: If it's dragon magic you want to talk about, I'm your specialist. What's up?

Player: Any update on the flow of magic from the dragons' deaths?

Taimi: Directionally, it went south. The distance is unexpectedly far, so it'll take longer to triangulate. But we're getting closer to knowing.

Basically, the unconfirmed Deep Sea Dragon is speculated to be somewhere in the Unending Ocean, and most of the magic went WAY far south.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Sajuuk Khar.1509