Fractal Lore: Silent Surf

[SunRoamer.5103]

Hey everyone, it seems like the newsletter finally gave us a bit more information on the fractal that's coming next week.

From the previous studio update, we already knew that we will get a chance to "peer further into the shadows under the Jade Sea". Here's what it says in the newsletter:

Catch your breath fast after the WvW beta, because on June 27 there'll be a new Fractal of the Mists to conquer - Silent Surf. As mentioned in the latest studio update, this new fractal will deliver a tighter gameplay experience while still providing exciting story content. Are you ready? A new threat emerges in the aftermath of the Jade Wind. Captain Thess and his Serpent Clan salvage crew arrive at the wreck of a trade convoy that recently departed for the Harvest Temple. Their search for fellow Luxon survivors leads them beneath the petrified sea, unaware of the growing evil that awaits them.

What's interesting to me is that it seems to be set quite close to just after the Jade Wind, since the newsletter mentions its aftermath in particular. Silent Surf also was an actual region in GW Factions, and this time the name was taken 1:1 (as opposed to the most recent Gyala Delve, which was quite far removed from the similarly named Gyala Hatchery). For reference, here you can find it on that_shaman's Historical Guide to Cantha. The Serpent Clan was also still active during the time of Factions and they are one of the major Luxon clans.

The studio update was written in the context of WLB/WLW, so with the "peer further into the shadows under the Jade Sea" line, I still expect the Fractal to go more in-depth on Oni/Kanaxai lore.

With how everything lines up, we might in-fact get to experience the first time the Luxons discovered Kanaxai, and therefore the origin of the Outcasts (maybe Captain Thess and his crew themselves will turn at the end). As per the lore of The Deep:

Deep beneath the surface of the Jade Sea, a demon of nightmares was trapped when Shiro's death wail struck. A remote Luxon tribe discovered the demon's resting place while mining the sea for jade and other resources and became corrupted—thereafter they were known as Luxon Outcasts. The Luxons ask their boldest heroes (who must be members of the highest rated alliance on the Luxon side) to seek out the source of the Luxon Outcasts, which may also be related to the reappearance of the wicked Oni in Cantha.

Edited June 21, 2023 by SunRoamer.5103

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

Calling it now that Captain Thess == Ravenous Wanderer (and probably == Kanaxai too).

In fact, I am pretty sure I see the Ravenous Wanderer at 0:27. Same shoulders and I *think* hair.

And the shot before may be him again but with the Mallyx visual effect like the champs in Gyala. Harder to tell because of the effects particles bloat. But I am predicting that:

1. That's the Ravenous Wanderer
2. That's Captain Tess
3. That's also Kanaxai
4. We'll find out what turned Tess into Kanaxai, which will be the expansion 4 big bad
5. This will result in outcries that WLW got neglected for side content and that these lore beats and big reveals should have been in the main story

We'll see how close I am next week.

3 hours ago, SunRoamer.5103 said:

With how everything lines up, we might in-fact get to experience [...] therefore the origin of the Outcasts

We already know this, and always did. Outcasts were Reavers - Luxon term for jade miners, as a reference to the show Firefly - which were driven insane by Kanaxai and his forces, much like we see happen to the Jade Brotherhood in GW2.

EDIT: https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Jefri_Whylir

Some who venture deep into the Jade Sea never return. Those we find have devolved into little more than mindless beasts we call Outcasts. Driven mad by some unknown force, the darkness has overtaken them.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Outcasts_in_the_Quarry#Initial_dialogue

[...] we now find ourselves under attack by the Luxon Outcasts! They are reavers who dug too deeply into the Jade Sea, and have gone mad. Now they tear our men apart and take the jade themselves.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[SunRoamer.5103]

2 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Calling it now that Captain Thess == Ravenous Wanderer (and probably == Kanaxai too).

That particular thought hadn't crossed my mind at all, but now I'm intrigued. However, I think I'd prefer if they keep it at a "double" identity at most, not a triple one - i.e., either Thess is the Ravenous Wanderer and Kanaxai remains a separate entity (could still be responsible for this transformation, but confirmed dead as per the story of The Deep), or the Ravenous Wanderer is Kanaxai (or an aspect of it) but then Thess either just survives as a human, dies, or becomes an Outcast.

2 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

In fact, I am pretty sure I see the Ravenous Wanderer at 0:27. Same shoulders and I *think* hair.

I grabbed a screenshot after you said that - it does seem very similar in both outfit as well as hairstyle, especially boots, leg armour, shoulders and hair seem to be a really close match. Maybe people more familiar with the meta can confirm? The Wiki only has screenshots of the Wanderer's Oni form.

Or who knows, maybe that's just the generic "historic Luxon look" that ANet decided on 🤷‍♂️ Speaking of which, I'm a little disappointed that the Fractal doesn't seem to transform us into actual Serpent Clan members - I always liked that about the Battlefield, Sunspear and Thaumanova fractals. I understand that some people might be disappointed to have their "look" taken away from them, but I think narratively it would have fit this fractal very well. Plus, it's a missed opportunity to see more historic characters.

2 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

And the shot before may be him again but with the Mallyx visual effect like the champs in Gyala. Harder to tell because of the effects particles bloat.

Also grabbed a screen of that. Seems like less of a match to me, especially the lower half looking like this foe is wearing pants that flare outwards toward the bottom (vs. the boots that overall slim down from calves to feet). What seems to be the top bun also looks more prominent than in the other hairstyle, but both observations might just be due to a difference in perspective and the lovely particles (Twitter video quality also clearly doesn't help 💀).

I didn't expect a major tie-in with the upcoming expansion (beyond "demons bad"), so your prediction #4 in particular caught my eye. Like you said, we will see next week!

2 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

We already know this, and always did. Outcasts were Reavers - Luxon term for jade miners, as a reference to the show Firefly - which were driven insane by Kanaxai and his forces, much like we see happen to the Jade Brotherhood in GW2.

I know, sorry if I wasn't being clear - by "experience [...] the origin", I simply meant that we might get to witness this process first-hand (well, by proxy of a fractal) instead of reading/hearing about it, not that this would reveal any new information about their origin.

Edited June 21, 2023 by SunRoamer.5103

[SoftPup.3048]

The twitter trailer has EoD style green jade but shouldn't this be taking place 350ish years ago? Jade Wind was 100 years before Factions, right?

 

EDIT: I'm not really sure how demon lore works in Guild Wars but I assume you kill Kanaxi in The Deep, right? I've never done the harder stuff in Guild Wars 1 but it would feel weird for him to be a major villain if we already killed him in an old raid.

Edited June 21, 2023 by SoftPup.3048

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

3 hours ago, SunRoamer.5103 said:

I didn't expect a major tie-in with the upcoming expansion (beyond "demons bad"), so your prediction #4 in particular caught my eye. Like you said, we will see next week!

Honestly it's the line: Their search for fellow Luxon survivors leads them beneath the petrified sea, unaware of the growing evil that awaits them.

This implies an active sapience. So either A) Thess != Kanaxai and Kanaxai is, somehow, already there. Or B) Thess is Kanaxai and a newly created big bad was behind Kanaxai this whole time (*gasp* just like the baseless bandwagon theories! Again!).

There's no real solid evidence to think that but it really wouldn't shock me if ArenaNet decided that the big foreshadowing reveal for the expansion 4 antagonist to be in the fractal, the last non-festival content update before expansion 4, rather than the main story before it.

1 hour ago, SoftPup.3048 said:

The twitter trailer has EoD style green jade but shouldn't this be taking place 350ish years ago? Jade Wind was 100 years before Factions, right?

It's a deep green not the toxic green of EoD's Dragon's End, no?

They don't seem to be returning to the classic GW1 range of blue-to-green hues for the jade, and sticking with a more traditional thought of how jade stone looks.

1 hour ago, SoftPup.3048 said:

EDIT: I'm not really sure how demon lore works in Guild Wars but I assume you kill Kanaxi in The Deep, right? I've never done the harder stuff in Guild Wars 1 but it would feel weird for him to be a major villain if we already killed him in an old raid.

Yes, you killed both Kanaxai and Urgoz in the elite missions. Despite this, Urgoz was confirmed in EoD as capable of returning because he was a forest spirit. And there's a lot of weird dialogue in Gyala that basically screams the Ravenous Wanderer is Kanaxai, particularly the Jade Brotherhood recording that talks about "not naming" the being behind it all.

There is no case of demons resurrecting after death - with the sole exception of the Ravenous Wanderer in this update. The closest we'd get is The Hunter from GW1, who was using lich magic to simply not die and only faked its death when overpowered, much like Palawa Joko.

[SoftPup.3048]

I rewatched the video and I agree that it's a different shade than Dragon's End and Gyala Delves. Still wish it was the classic color 😞

[SunRoamer.5103]

I played through it once now and didn't have time to hunt for extra lore "interactables".

Generally, it seems to tie in with some of Gyala Delve (corruption effects on the different kinds of mobs and mini-bosses) but more so foreshadow parts of Secrets of the Obscure?

More specific observations in spoiler tags:

Spoiler

• Kanaxai is back and he has a unique model. He's not the Ravenous Wanderer.
• I'm not 100% sure about what exactly happens to Captain Thess apart from the fact that he dies. I was trying to explore some other area when everyone proceeded to the final platform - I just heard Dessa commenting on his death, but didn't see exactly what happened there, so maybe there's something indicating that he was in fact turned into the Ravenous Wanderer (e.g. corruption effect being applied to his model). Might also be interesting to jump down early before he does/before the game prompts us to.
• Kanaxai introduces himself as the Scythe (?) of the House of "Name" during the fight - I'm expecting this to be one of the Kryptis factions.
• I really liked Kanaxai's design. It was instantly recognisable as Kanaxai from Factions but also added a lot more details to his model that seem more in-line with other demons that we've seen so far, both in the game and in the news drop for Secrets of the Obscure today. The fleshy growths, twisted extra limbs on his chest etc. really reminded me of Deimos and friends.
• In one of the few letters that I picked up, it comments on the weird flora and funga encountered the deeper they went. So I guess the ??? Mushrooms from Gyala Delve (and possibly the other somewhat contentiously reused models) were placed as a hint of sorts.

As for what this means for the future... it actually hasn't changed my opinion too much. Personally, I hope that the specific antagonists mentioned in this thread from both Gyala Delve and Silent Surf will remain dead and simply serve as a first taste of demonic influence on Tyria.