Future of the Nightmare Court

[Biziut.3594]

So, at the Fashion Wars event in Lion's Arch we can meet Duchess Crysanthea, does anyone know or have some speculations whet is the current state of the Nightmare Court? Is it possible that they or at least some of them managed to get back into civilization despite the Nightmare. I am so curious, they were my favourite group of villans, wish some staff member could answer that, or give us some clue. Unless Duchess apperance at fashion event is a clue. 

[stormemperor.3745]

Spoiler

Died at hot, prisoned or killed offscreen. Whatever left remaining turned back to being ordinary salad

 

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

SPOILERS FOR PERSONAL STORY, LWS1, LWS2 AND HEART OF THORNS

Almost all the side groups are "dealt with", except the Ascalonian ghosts, who were severely thinned out.

 

The Nightmare Court in particular suffered many blows--in Twilight Arbor, then with LWS1 as part of the Toxic Alliance, and finally in Heart of Thorns. I think they've taken more damage over the campaign than any other faction, so I wouldn't count on seeing them again in any meaningful way.

 

This isn't exclusive to the Nightmare Court--the Sylvari are in very bad shape after HoT and were expected to take many years, perhaps even decades to recover. According to Mordremoth and Caithe, they weren't even supposed to survive at all, though this could be Modremoth lying but Caithe suggests she already knew.

 

That said, we do know that Nightmare is a separate entity from Modremoth that continues to exist and infect the dream, and still threatens Tyria. Its been heavily hinted that the Dream and Nightmare are beyond even the Elder Dragons, and may be part of The All itself, so it might return at some point even if not through the Sylvari in particular.

 

Other creatures like the White Stag have access to the Dream, and presumably, Nightmare as well.

Edited March 30, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Kalavier.1097]

7 hours ago, Biziut.3594 said:

So, at the Fashion Wars event in Lion's Arch we can meet Duchess Crysanthea, does anyone know or have some speculations whet is the current state of the Nightmare Court? Is it possible that they or at least some of them managed to get back into civilization despite the Nightmare. I am so curious, they were my favourite group of villans, wish some staff member could answer that, or give us some clue. Unless Duchess apperance at fashion event is a clue. 

Living story season 1 has letters talking about that Duchess, and her views.

She basically wants to withdraw the public image of the nightmare court, and limit their violent actions to prevent the wider world/other nations from declaring them a threat and burning them all out. She has some backing at the time, but the Twilight Arbor raids, Aetherblade Base construction, and the Toxic alliance sapping a LOT of recruits and people from the Nightmare court have wiped out a good chunk of Faolian's group. IIRC it's basically said you have Faolian, and then Crysanthea in terms of actual leadership in the court.

So after Heart of Thorns? She's hinted at becoming the outright full leader of the Nightmare Court and her viewpoints are "Don't poke the world, just recruit Sylvari and keep our actions under the radar to prevent us from getting completely wiped out."

[Drawner.2619]

Is it something about this jury canon? Because it seems as canon to me as the giant cats.

- I'm pretty sure Phlunt has quite a few things to waste his time on before fashionable jury duty.

- Jhavi certainly DOES have plenty of things to do, like rebuilding the Vigil.

- At a fashion show, Faren would go bare-faced to flirt. C'mon, it's Faren!

Idk, we need your wisdom @Bobby Stein.3612

[Jimbru.6014]

On 3/31/2023 at 7:58 AM, Drawner.2619 said:

Is it something about this jury canon? Because it seems as canon to me as the giant cats.

- I'm pretty sure Phlunt has quite a few things to waste his time on before fashionable jury duty.

- Jhavi certainly DOES have plenty of things to do, like rebuilding the Vigil.

- At a fashion show, Faren would go bare-faced to flirt. C'mon, it's Faren!

Idk, we need your wisdom @Bobby Stein.3612

Correct that most of them have much more important things to do, except maybe Snargle, who I can easily imagine taking in a fashion show. The fact that they're mostly non-interactive also makes me suspicious. I don't think most of them are who they look like; in fact, I'd bet they're just illusions. Mesmers gonna mesmer.

 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Jimbru.6014

[Zola.6197]

Starting her fashion empire is what she’s been up to all this time. 😎

Maybe now we’ll finally see more plant themed armors!

[Tom.8029]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:11 PM, Zola.6197 said:

Starting her fashion empire is what she’s been up to all this time. 😎

Maybe now we’ll finally see more plant themed armors!

Lights, Camera, Nightmare!

[Gibson.4036]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:11 PM, Zola.6197 said:

Starting her fashion empire is what she’s been up to all this time. 😎

Maybe now we’ll finally see more plant themed armors!

The Devil Wears Flora

Edited April 6, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:04 PM, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

SPOILERS FOR PERSONAL STORY, LWS1, LWS2 AND HEART OF THORNS

Almost all the side groups are "dealt with", except the Ascalonian ghosts, who were severely thinned out.

Wouldn't consider the Ascalonian ghosts as "severely thinned out". Season 2's ritual only worked in that isolated crypt, unaffecting the rest of the Foefire ghosts across Ascalon. And since they reform over time, they're bound to have recovered from early charr PS stuff.

There's also centaurs who're still around, and would have held a major story subplot in IBS if it wasn't cut short for EoD and suits paychecks.

On 3/30/2023 at 6:04 PM, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

The Nightmare Court in particular suffered many blows--in Twilight Arbor, then with LWS1 as part of the Toxic Alliance, and finally in Heart of Thorns. I think they've taken more damage over the campaign than any other faction, so I wouldn't count on seeing them again in any meaningful way.

 

This isn't exclusive to the Nightmare Court--the Sylvari are in very bad shape after HoT and were expected to take many years, perhaps even decades to recover. According to Mordremoth and Caithe, they weren't even supposed to survive at all, though this could be Modremoth lying but Caithe suggests she already knew.

I'm not sure I agree with the second paragraph. Sylvari being in bad shape isn't really implied - the Mordremoth's Minions Invade event pretty heavily suggested that Brisban wasn't affected by Mordremoth's Call, and thus neither would sylvari further away, like in the Grove. So the most damage sylvari took was by reputation, the Pale Tree's injuries in S2, and the members within the Pact itself.

That said, this all seems to ignore the fact that seven years has canonically passed since Heart of Thorns. As you point out later, Nightmare is separate from mordremoth and still around - so the Nightmare Court could easily recruit new members to replenish their losses. Similarly, with the short story installments "Taimi's Notes from Rata Novus", it is noted that new sylvari are being born - seven years of newborn sylvari, even if it was at a slower rate than it was during 1325, would mean that a lot of losses would have been made up since HoT.

And that would include for the Nightmare, and thus the Nightmare Court.

On 3/31/2023 at 7:58 AM, Drawner.2619 said:

Is it something about this jury canon? Because it seems as canon to me as the giant cats.

- I'm pretty sure Phlunt has quite a few things to waste his time on before fashionable jury duty.

- Jhavi certainly DOES have plenty of things to do, like rebuilding the Vigil.

- At a fashion show, Faren would go bare-faced to flirt. C'mon, it's Faren!

Idk, we need your wisdom @Bobby Stein.3612

Who says the giant cats aren't canon? 😏

Commandos were canonized, as was SAB. And several later ones were canonized as Black Lion contraptions (like Bobblehead).

Maybe the cats are real, and so is the fashion wars.

 

Also about Jhavi, two things. First, she's not the leader, Laranthir is - and as seen with EoD, he's returned already. Second, the Vigil doesn't need rebuilding - it was only Jora's Keep that was wrecked, the rest of the Vigil was fine sans Almorra's death, which got handled with Jhavi as temporary leader until Laranthir returned, which he did 1-2 years ago now.

[Jimbru.6014]

You could think of the Nightmare Court as much like ISIS in real life. They came out strong at the start, were a force to be reckoned with, carved out their own turf. Then all the enemies they made got fed up and the course of events turned against them, and they lost nearly everything. Now the Nightmare Court and ISIS are both greatly reduced in number and are keeping a low profile to avoid being hunted to the last man. They might still make noise every now and then just so they're not totally forgotten, but they're nowhere near threat they once were and the world is happier for it.

[Biziut.3594]

On 4/21/2023 at 5:58 PM, Jimbru.6014 said:

They might still make noise every now and then just so they're not totally forgotten, but they're nowhere near threat they once were and the world is happier for it.

Don't mention that part anywhere near Chrysantea, since shes now slaying all the competition with her Balenciaga fashion. xd