Cantha in GW2

So far, we know that GW2 takes place a century or two from the end of Eye of the North.

We also know that the Emperor that replaces Kisu unites the Kurzicks, Luxons, and closes down access to Cantha for foreigners. (So we won't see it for quite a while.)

Now, what I was wondering about, is the state of Kaineng in those couple of centuries, and the kind of changes that would take place.

I'm not exactly sure how many lives were lost during the plague. It must've been a significant amount, though the question is, was it significant enough to alter the city? With the decrease in population, would sections of that cardboard jungle become useless and abandoned, or torn down?

And assuming a good junk of people ended up dying, would the population return to its original state in the next couple of centuries?

Also, in that vein, similar to Ascalon's slow recovery, will the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest see any changes?

For one thing, will the population even out as some Canthans move into these lands, or will Kurzicks and Luxons be forced to relocate from here into Kaineng? (Likely not, seeing as amber and jade are a valuable resource.)

Also, I have seen some mention around the forums of life returning to Echovald, pools of water found in the Jade Sea, etc. Is it possible that with Abaddon's power absorbed by Kormir, the changes created by the Jade Wind will slowly reverse? (Or was the Jade Wind solely Shiro's power, augmented by the power he gained from the Emperor, so Abaddon doesn't have much direct influence?)

Just something I've been thinking about. ^_^|||That is a good question, about the Afflicted and their impact on Kaineng City. I'm not sure if they did cause much other than panic in terms of damages..We only see them in the central area of Kaineng City, so it seems likely the other parts of the city were unaffected.

Especially if you keep in mind that the Afflicted arise when a spirit comes too close to Shiro and his powers. However..It may take Shing Jea Island awhile to recover, Shiro seems to have coated the island in Afflicted. Although how much damage that caused is uncertain..|||Actually, pretty much the entire city was affected. There are some exceptions, such as Nahpui Quarter, where as players we don't see any Afflicted...though at the end of Nahpui Quarter, we see a cinematic where Shiro offs two Canthans. Given that the sky is that peculiar purple colour similar to celestial weapons, we can assume he's somewhere close to that area.

Also, there isn't much activity in Wajjun Bazaar either.

Everywhere else though, his presence seems strong, including the Undercity.

I took a map of Kaineng and tacked an "x" everywhere were afflicted could be observed...they go right to the edge of the city.



Spoiler


|||I define that as the central section of Kaineng City. |||I thought the central part was referring to Kaineng Center XD My bad.|||It's never been quite determined whether the Affliction could actually be spread from an infected victim to a healthy person. Personally, I'm under the impression that it can be passed from one person to another even without Shiro's presence, in part due to the information from this quest. The fact that some of the family fell ill much later than others might mean that Shiro was just walking back and forth in front of their house every few days, but it seems more likely that they were infecting one another due to proximity.

Even if that seems insufficient evidence, we also know that the Am Fah were actively spreading the Affliction everywhere they had a presence and, being one of the two largest commercial organizations in Kaineng, that probably meant every part of the city, even the neighborhoods we never got to visit during Factions.

Judging by the reaction of Jinzo, a trained and experienced professional killer, during Mayhem in the Market, everywhere the Affliction spread, the results were very, very bad. Since we only ever saw Cantha in the throes of the plague, I think it's probably pretty hard for us to really compare what we experienced to what Kaineng was like in times of peace, but it seems likely that Cantha was hit extremely hard by the plague, and that the results were almost as bad everywhere in the city.|||I'm glad you brought up those points, actually. Perhaps we should begin a thread that compiles and analyzes the information we have on the Afflicted..

At any rate, let's retain focus on the subject of Cantha in 250 years.|||Has there been any real consideration of possible Lore consequences to the whole "Empire of the Dragon" notion? Is this a title only, does it refer to Kuunavang only, or are there possible connections somewhere to the ancient dragons? If there is an ancient connection, it might have some bearing on how we find the state of the empire and it's self definition once the ancient dragons awake.

I tend to get the impression that humanity is not doing so well in GW2. I am inclined to think that the various races that have been losing in GW1 make a resurgence against humans even in Cantha, that the Naga, the Dredge, and Tengu will have pushed most of the humans back to the city proper itself, with maybe an outpost in old Luxon or Kurzik territory at best.|||That's a nice map Nikhera, but I just realised that Afflicted appear in many other places as well. You can find them in the Jade Sea and various Kurzick areas as well. It seems they've spread across all of Cantha.

As for the contagion, I remember seeing people transform in Vizunah Square, so I think it's very contagious. Why us players aren't affected in beyond me though.... from a lore point of view (from a gameplay point of view it of course makes perfect sense).|||Well since it is a spiritual disease perhapses the players character remained unaffected because they had a stronger willpower?