#ebonhawke

[skaald-of-the-hearth-fires]

I read your post on Logan and the blame/hate he gets from the playerbase because of what happened with DE and I just wanted to say that, while playing, I understood why his relationship with DE suffered so much. I judged him for his decision, but I still liked him as a character. He was very human.

After reading the book myself, however, I've realized that any ill emotions I had towards him immediately shifted to Jennah herself.

She's been shown to be strong and calculating over and over again. She put an illusion on all of Ebonhawke to trick Kralkatorikk's minions and it was so strong that no one realized what was happening until she lifted the illusion and explained herself.

There was absolutely NO reason to call Logan to her. She would have been 100% fine.

It's not super clear if she was truly aware what he was doing at the time (aka literally about to fight Kralkatorikk), but their bond seems to be a lot more magical so... could Logan have not gone had he chosen to remain? Did he even have a real choice?

The book really changed my perspective of queen Jennah tbh. I've developed some nasty feelings about her.

Simultaneously, my feelings on Logan went somewhat into pity. No matter what would have happened on that day, what he would have chosen, he would have been ostracized by one side or the other.

Ngl that's a pretty common perspective a lot of people have, but I just don't see it. Let me explain.

Firstly, Jennah couldn't have cast that illusion without a lot of time and preparation - just looking into Kralkatorrik's mind nearly undid her. Logan being there bought her enough time to actually save what remained of Ebonhawke, and iirc she needed to draw from Anise's power as well to be able to cast it. That was a team victory, not a solo party. She would NOT have been fine without Logan - Branded hyenas had already killed Dylan, who was the only guard at the tower Jennah was in, and would have gotten in quite quickly.

(Something similar went down in S3 when she put a shield over the entirety of Divinity's Reach, which a lot of people interpret as her Just Being That Powerful. But it's clearly stated that 1) those spells were prepared WELL in advance, 2) with the help of some of the Shining Blade's best mesmers. All Jennah actually did was activate the spells.)

Jennah is a queen. You don't have a queen without a council of advisors, assistants, etc. You don't have a kingdom without people to delegate to. You don't have authority without the good will of the people - which can be pressed far but is not unlimited. Jennah knows all this.

She bonded Logan in part because she wanted a hero, and in part because she needed someone she could trust outside the politics of Kryta. If she were truly as powerful as to cast these spells by herself, she wouldn't really need Logan, nor have any reason go bond him outside of her own attraction to him. Now she IS powerful, no doubt - able to kill off assassins with a snap of her fingers. But she's not ALL-powerful.

As for whether Logan had free choice, that's a common question... but I do think he did. Jennah didn't make that magical bond until AFTER he'd (voluntarily!) sworn to come whenever she called. She wanted to be able to call him if needed - not summon him against his will. Also, if the summons was against his will, I don't see how he could have done anything else WITHIN his will while he was in Ebonhawke.

He was making assessments, analyses, and decisions from the moment he arrived - "the queen is currently safe, but the courtyard needs a better defense. We have charr prisoners that I'm uniquely situated to try to recruit," etc. He didn't arrive and go "gosh golly gee! How did I get here?? I'm supposed to be fighting Kralkatorrik!"

Jennah hadn't thought to recruit the charr prisoners - she had no friendliness to them until after they helped fight. That was Logan's decision given his history with Rytlock, and showed Jennah how valuable a treaty with the charr would be since the dragons were rising.

You can't have both "Logan was mind-controlled to come" and also "Logan was making his own decisions" at the same time.

But you're absolutely right: no matter what decision Logan made when Jennah called, come or stay, there would have been disaster. We saw what happened when he went: DE split up, Kralk alive, Jennah safe.

If he'd stayed, Jennah would have died and we'd have Caudecus and the Ministry in charge; Ebonhawke would be a Branded city; humans and charr would still be at war; Kryta would fall apart. If anyone knew Logan could have helped, he'd be blamed for most of that. But Kralkatorrik would be dead, the first Elder Dragon to fall, and the hope that that would put into the hearts of all Tyrians would be massive. Destiny's Edge would still be together, Snaff would be alive, and they'd be capable of trying the next Elder Dragon.

I don't think the narrative gave him a right choice.

Logan was doomed to make a wrong choice no matter what he did. I don't think he OR Jennah were at fault.

And I think that tells a story about us a lot of the time; we're faced with impossible choices and have to make the best of it. What matters is less the choice we make but how we handle it afterwards... and also, how do we treat our friends when they're in similar situations? Are we going to be like Rytlock and ruin the friendship over it, or can we be like Caithe and try to forgive and move on?

...

Thanks for the ask, as you can tell I love this subject, especially when it's not just This Side versus That Side but rather a nuanced, thoughtful conversation on the problems at hand. Logan's story is deliberately kept a complex topic to grapple with. "What if I did it differently" is, as you said, an incredibly human doubt to grapple with. I think Logan approaches it very maturely by concluding it was a bad choice no matter what: someone would have died.

So yeah! Thanks for the question :)

[cathedralofeternalradiance]

Headcanon time: Blorbo of Ascalon talks candles

OOOOKAY, hello people and welcome to this new subsection of my lore posts featuring Ascalonian culture via the lens of Nyra. And this topic has been on my mind for a while now, and it seems to be universal for like human cultures in gw2, but I wanna add a special twist & angst, probably :)) PoF &S4 spoilers in there!!

Let’s start with canon: we see a lot of candles in Kormir’s temple in Elona (image by Dulfy) as well as in the Shrine of the Six in DR (image) so this leads me to believe that candle lighting is a universal thing used in human worship of the Six, regardless of culture. We unfortunately don’t get a temple in Ebonhawke (though we see priests in the Hawke heart), but my point still stands.

I think the candle is a symbol of thinking about someone, when used outside of religion; even atheist humans light candles for their loved ones, not because of any faith reasons, but simply as a physical manifestation of their love for the person. Lighting a candle for someone is always a positive thing, so when a human tells you they’ll light a candle for you, it’s like saying “i’ll pray for you” or “i’ll keep you in my thoughts” which is a nice sentiment I think!

But let’s zoom in on Ascalon now that we have laid the general foundation. From here on out, this is my total headcanoneering, so keep that in mind. Balthazar is a god of fire, amongst other things, and for Ascalonians, the heart of the practice of candle lighting is in what you’re lighting - fire. A controlled fire. Fire is in the domain of Balthazar, as is war, and in a culture as defined by war as Ascalon is, keeping a candle up at all times, one for the living and one for the dead, is a constant reminder what you’re fighting for.

That is why you’ll find two candles lit at all times, safely at a corner so nobody gets hurt, in any Ascalonian home, rich or poor. The one for the living goes on top, while the one for the dead goes beneath it. If the upper one went out suddenly, it means that someone has died, and if the lower one goes out, it means that a deceased person found peace in the Mists, and you hope it’s one of your deceased loved ones.

Nyra grew up observing this custom and in fact diligently did so (instructing servants to keep them up while she’s away even, one on each floor of the mansion) in her own home, ‘till after PoF. She knows of the tradition’s ties to Balthazar and to this day, she cannot stand him, nor keep reminders of him in her home (her home shrine lacks any representation of Balthazar, she asked her family to remove all statues of him from their home as she found them to be disrespectful since he’s the one who killed her; the only mentions of him around are in the prayer books and sacred texts.) She also didn’t want any fire around, no matter how controlled, because trauma is a bitch, and she is adamant about not observing it anymore, even if it brings conflict with some of her family members (fun fact, but after Aurene died and Nyra’s all mad with grief for her child, she straight up toured some parts of Kryta waiting for the world to end for about a week or so and destroyed some Balthazar statues. The gang in Thunderhead Keep could just hear broken, angry shouts and stone coming down. I think she apologized for that later to the communities whose temples she went to and blamed it all on the maddening grief. I mean understandable, Nyra. But also, her going all out on a statue all of a sudden till it’s in pieces is just-- ma’am)

No applicable ending to this one, I hope this makes sense because writer’s block is a bitch, enjoy <3

[panic-in-tarir]

Inside the new dragon response mission in Ebonhawke, if you go visit the chickens, you find who we really should be teaming up with against the destroyers.

[talk-of-tyria]

Ascalon - Fields of Ruin - Stronghold of Ebonhawke Prison Guard: (laugh) - Prison Guard: That’s the last time I listen to your advice.

[sylvarbullet]

Though the hope of a treaty has helped us expand from our walls we still have issues within. Throughout Ebonhawke's markets and residential areas human Separatists pander their cause, sewing dissention and destruction. We of the Ebon Vanguard have to be vigilant to keep our training and supplies up to these challenges. Even out in the Blackwing Excavation the miners struggle to adjust in these changing times.

— Vanguard Moeller

[shahina-art]

GW2 Commission - Home

Third commission done for Joseph featuring his wonderful sylvari Duana; Secondborn of the Sylvari, Duana was kidnapped and experimented on by the Asura. After surviving this treacherous ordeal, the heavy-hearted Duana was returned to the Grove, who found peace and eventually love with one of her fellow secondborn, an up and coming warden by the name of Andraste. However, this would not last, and soon Andy would fall to Cadeyrn’s newly formed nightmare court. With her heart and will shattered, she ran away from the Grove. She journeyed far and eventually sought refuge in the fortress city of Ebonhawke, where she’s lived a quiet life ever since, hiding from the demons and pain of her past.

[charrior-of-ash]

I love Ranesh sooo much it’s hard to believe I used to hate Mesmer (sorry, Mesmer-lovers!). 

Featuring his brand new armor with Azimuth and Ebonhawke Sword+Shield :)

[nev4da]

Today in Guild Wars 2, we had a Pride march. It was pretty damn fun, if I do say so myself. Our company began in Lion’s Arch, and we traveled by foot for quite some time. The final destination was Ebonhawke, but alas, I had to depart before arriving at that destination.

We had quite the coalition, so many people that we were spread across at least three Instances during our march. Shoutout to my guild, Furimorph, for banding together and representing. Had a blast, killed some mobs to keep the road clear, made new friends, answered some trivia, an all-around wonderful time. And no trolls that I saw, which was wonderful.