I dunno. Yeah, Canachās writing was pretty darn annoying at the beginning (cursed capitalist Canach), but I do not vibe with the opinion that Canach should be against Vloxx because of the Vorpp massacre.
Vloxx is an anarchist, he has tried to help people in the past, but was blocked by the Arcane Council. Now he doesnāt trust any people in power, including the Tyrian Alliance, because he thinks that leaders will allow people to suffer in favor of bureaucratic nonsense. We just donāt know what the threat is that he sees right now, and we donāt know what exactly it is heās planning to do about it.
Canach is an anarchist, in LW1 heās a terrorist against the Consortium. Heās watching people be exploited by the Consortium and decides that taking direct action to bring the Consortium down is the answer. He later admits that he was wrong for the actions he took, because those actions didnāt help the people he meant to help. But he still knows he meant good.
Of course Canach wants to give Vloxx a chance, since theyāve lived a very similar trauma. If Canach were to whole heartedly stand against Vloxx and deem Vloxx a fundamental bad guy, then what would that say about Canachās on intensions back then?
My cherished log taker- I am afraid it has been far too long.
Let's chat.
You would think I have taken any amount of distance from Arterium Haven in the time since I recorded your Alpha variation. And that is because you, my silly, beloved audio recorder, are inanimate and only perceive sound.
I have not left the Haven. I had meant to- I really had truly meant to. After all the testing progress I had made in the day prior to recording the Alpha variation, one would naturally think that the momentum would keep going. However- I met a truly puzzling obstacle.
She looked as if she was walking kindling- she was a Sylvari valiant with bark-like skin, darkened charcoal, and eyes like heat-painted steel. In the night we met, she was glowing orange- it was like the Pale Tree made the illusion of a walking flame, robed in a strange brown jacket with baggy, multipocketed trousers. She locked in on me before I her- I was very obviously a fellow traveler and not Lionguard.
Amergin Cecht's first words to me were, "What's your song?"
To which I replied, "I beg your finest fragging pardon?"
She laughed at that for an uncomfortable amount of time- and I don't remember her exact answer. But the gist I do remember is that she knew I had no Wyld Hunt- but knew that most people had an equivalent to search for. The conversational equivalent she had found useful when talking with the norns had been song- what was the adventure they'd want to be remembered and sung about. However, I being her first asura she'd had any interaction with beyond asking for travel directions- she hadn't known that wouldn't work on me.
So once she did explain- I explained back. That I was using Mesmer magic as a baseline to understand how light works in relation to magic, sensory organs, and the different effects I could do with my crossbow. Seeing it, Amergin lit up (somewhat literally) and pulled out a crossbow of her own. Proportionally, hers was a hand crossbow, while Dreadful Tidings is more rifle-based proportions. She explained with fervor that she was an Elementalist- and that she was using her own crossbow to help her deliver her pyromancy.
"What about the other elements?" I asked. "Surely rocks get stuck."
She smiled. "I don't care for them. They're over-studied by my siblings." She then tilted her head, her smile shifting conspiratorially. "What about clones? Why not utilize them as a lens to understand light and senses instead of your martial partner?"
I opened my mouth. Shut it again. "...I believe I understand."
She clicked open her crossbow, shocking me again as she let me look inside without any preamble or contract negotiations or intellectual property defense meetings.
I put both hands over my eyes. "W-wait!"
"What?" she asked, voice confused.
"You can't just show me that! What if I steal it?"
Little did I know that question would seal my fate. The two weeks that followed became a philosophical hell- literally. As I did small favors about the Haven with Tidings to pay my stay and the rations I received, Amergin followed me. There was an unending tidal current of questions- why was knowledge treasure, why was sharing perceived as theft, what was intellectual property, why did I feel the need for a contract to just share "cool ideas", what was a krewe, what was a college, why did I care about what they thought or my place within them. I could have shot her- but- well. I hadn't spoken this long with anyone wanting to hear what I thought.
And what was the conclusion to all of what I explained to her? Let me- let me play you the recording.
"Asura society is broken."
"What? How did you even-"
"It all sounds like to me that the large majority of your government's systems aren't built on protecting individuals- but cornering each one to use them. Why even learn, grow, build as much as you do if it's all to be hoarded in the end? Even your teachers and mentors- it all sounds like your society chases nothing but ego. Does anyone wonder how they could help people?"
"I...I think they leave Rata Sum when they do. To go to the Orders. Is...is that not how it is in the Grove?"
"No. In the Grove, we have so many outlets to let people help how they want to. It's the same in Hoelbrek with the norn too. Listening to you talk it almost sounds like- you're a boiling frog."
"What?!"
"Oh wait, is that not a common metaphor? Here- one of the norn children explained it to me, as it'd been taught to them by a traveling human. You can put a frog in room temperature water and it not try to escape. But if you tried with water that's already boiling, the frog would reject it. But- if you put the frog in regular water and slowly boiled it-"
"...the frog doesn't try to escape. I think I know the paper this is referencing- the frog doesn't realize the environmental changes occurred and lets itself die thinking everything is as it should be. You...you think I'm like that?"
"You panicked so thoroughly at the idea of possibly stealing something I was freely giving you- how could I not wonder what pain you carry? And then you tell me about your home and the systems you live in...Friend Luzze. Oh...oh I'm sorry, Luzze. Please don't cry-"
To calm me down, she started teaching me things. Anything that came to her mind in that moment, holding me. Melting points of different metals, measured by some charr system she'd picked up in her travels. Different words in languages. How to communicate in flowers. The one that stuck was when she started defining a concept.
In theory, all asura are taught about the idea of the democratization of knowledge- it's a corner stone of the idea of schooling our progeny at all. The asura talk about it though in ways of building walls to house legacies, so that in the wake of another Primordus level disaster, we are not forgotten. But the way she put it- that knowledge is a garden that we all must tend for the betterment of each other. Dandelion puffs instead of walls- with ideas as seeds on the wind.
I- I rather like that idea.
I don't know if I'll be coming back to Rata Sum any time soon. Maybe if Zojja asks- but who knows if she will? What use does she get out of me?
Today has been quite the eventful day, my dear Log 1-Alpha.
Today I did thorough and undeniable testing with my prototype spell-launching crossbow, hereafter referred to as Dreadful Tidings, all while exercising my problem solving capabilities with the following categories of events:
> assisted Zojja with the Inquest's meddling not just once, but twice- one during even my Krewe's presentation of the teleportation device we made (some of its workings being vaguely based off of Dreadful Tidings's mechanisms- I shan't bore you, my adorable Log 1-Alpha, but the intricacies of the rune-work within the barrel are exquisite)
> troubleshooted several krewes' issues throughout Metrica Province- each mark of renown gave me new ideas for spell-bolts for Dreadful Tidings, though I think the most I should tinker with in a portable model such as this is five spell-bolt typings: Friendly Fire (healing bullets), Journey (portal and illusion combination shot- by utilizing atmospheric lighting, any magic is possible), Inspiring Imagery (some may say this one is cheating, as it is technically a two-in-one spell-bolt. I would argue that it isn't cheating if one is simply overloading the rune-netting structure of the bolt), Phantasmal Sharpshooter (a favorite- simple, clean, tidy), and Singularity Shot (any Mesmer can do a portal. Few link a portal to their own mobile location for allies to utilize as an escape route)
Ah. I suppose I should mention Zojja alleges at Varkk's betrayal of the krewe. You are an nostalgic piece of equipment, Log, so you are not recording my face- please transcribe that I am wearing the neutral face of expected outcomes. He always did nose around my notes for Dreadful Tidings- I'm simply glad I had the foresight to give him the minimum amount of my magitech work to chew on as a distraction. I'm rather surprised Zojja did not expect for me to rescue Pol- even if the rescue nearly did almost kill me, Pol is entirely too useful to let rot in a cell.
After all, he does all the paperwork that I don't want to do so happily.
I'm resting in a small side room of Arterium Haven tonight- it's warm enough that I can get away with this here. I'm sure elsewhere, I would not be so lucky- but mayhaps by the time I get Elsewhere, luck will no longer be a variable.
Last night I was talking to my boyfriend, and I couldnāt think of the word ālibraryā, so I said ābook ranchā. He thought it was hilarious and started making up alternative names for ālibrarianā.
āCowbook! Like cowboy! Noā¦Readcher? Like Rancher? No, fuck this is hardā¦ā
and just now I heard him yellĀ āBOOKAROOā from the other end of the apartment in the most triumphant tone of voice iāve ever heard
So, since I'll be playing this again on stream, I figured I should rewrite this with some improvements
Immersion, roleplay, slowing down and smelling the roses, redicsovering your love for the game, especially the very, very old core game - think of it like a GW2 nuzlocke challenge.
You're encouraged to take screenshots and keep an In-character diary! Use the #gw2adventurerchallenge tag or just tag me directly if you do!
Setup:
- Make a new character.
- Once you exit your starting instance, turn around and go to your capital city. Buy or craft a few buff food items, then return to your starting map.
THE RULES
Permadeath. If you fully die, the challenge is over. If you get rezzed, let your character rest for the rest of the (ingame) day.
No tomes, no WvW/PvP, no crafting except for cooking (and that not for levels, but to make buff food).
No mounts, except to jump/fly up to annoying Vistas you struggle with.
You can only waypoint if you stand near another waypoint. Asura Gates are allowed.
You must always be under the effects of buff food as soon as you can (I think the level requirement is at least 10). You lose your challenge by virtue of starvation if your malnourished status effect runs out
During the ingame night cycle, you must find a place to shelter at (Lionguard haven, tavern, tent, little cave, whatever) and emote /sleep once
You must use outfits or spend transmutation charges to dress for the climate that you're in
WIN STATES
Map Completion
Level 80
Personal Story Completion
Getting from one point on the map to another on foot
The biggest changes here were the rules regarding level tomes (does it really make sense to play this if you can sit your ass down in a library and spam tomes?) and the nighttime rule (why on earth would I make you STOP playing during nighttime? Am I on crack?)
DISCORD? YOU WANT DISCORD?
https://discord.gg/c46ZUJAFe8
I keep remembering that in the Edge of Destiny book itās written that Rytlock (and charr in general??? maybe I dunno) regularly lock horns or head butt kinda thing as an equivalent of smashing your shoulder into someone when theyāre in your way, seeing as its in the books it might not be canon
but nothing makes me happier than imagining that kinda behaviour being in charr society in general, like a quick tussle happens between two charr cuz neither will move out the others way, itās less bad blood between then and more a small spat with alotta dust kicked up, and its usually used in this style to settle small issues or to just let off steam but can escalate - and techniques re of course taught about how to best use your certain horn type for battle, depending upon size, angle, and whatever carvings are in the horns
or thereās the option of two dear friends, siblings or bandmates seeing each other and just charging each other, scaring the living daylights out of anyone in the vicinity, but itās all in good fun and is more about who can yell the biggest insult as a greeting
thereās probably also horn stereotypes, that get more and more intricate depending upon Legion and other factors
And then for Charr who are making friends with other races, thereās almost inevitably a moment where they forget that non-charr donāt do that. So they just go and, friendly as you please, headbutt their buddies so hard they knock them the fuck out.
