Firstly the main wiki link:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Winds_of_Change
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Winds of Change is the third chapter of Guild Wars Beyond. Taking place in Cantha, Winds of Change will explain some events that happen after the end of Factions and, like previous chapters, will foreshadow events leading to the situation during Guild Wars 2. Completion of the Factions campaign will be the only requirement to begin Winds of Change.[1]
[edit]Notes
The story of Hearts of the North has a connection to Winds of Change, most likely through Miku and her background story.
"Involves the plight of the tengu, the origins of the Ministry of Purity, and the isolation of the entire continent."[2]
The amount of story content will be comparable to a small expansion.
So there are a few hints:
1) Miku
WoC will be related to her story. Here is what we know about her.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Watch...us_Beginnings)
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Where the Embedded Arrowhead is
Keiran Thackeray: "Why are you so intent on finding Danthor?"
Miku: "I had finally found a home in Kryta. He...took that away"
Miku: "He branded my loved ones traitors. They were all I had left."
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At Danthor
Miku: "Danthor! Turn and face me!"
Danthor the Adament: "I don't have time for this. I must see his plan is set into motion."
Danthor the Adament: "You there. Handle this.."
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Majes...nce_of_Blades)
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At Danthor's Location
Miku: "There you are, Danthor! Accept your fate and die in peace, or die struggling in Futility!"
Danthor the Adamant: "Such tenacity. You still pursue me? It makes no difference, you know."
Danthor the Adamant: "His plans are already coming to fruition. What happens here will change nothing."
Miku: "Anything can change; all that's required is the will to do so. Let me show you mine!"
After Danthor dies
Miku: "At last...now the fallen can rest easier."
Keiran Thackeray: "It looks like some of the White Mantles escaped further into the Maguuma Jungle. What will you do now?"
Miku: "I need to continue. This time, for myself. The question is, Keiran, what will you do?"
Keiran Thackeray: "It's dangerous to keep on alone. I will accompany you."
Miku: "That's kind of you. I wonder, though. Maybe your kindness reveals that you rely on others too much."
Keiran Thackeray: "What do you mean?"
Miku: "Oh, I don't know. Is protecting me an excuse to keep on like this?"
Keiran Thackeray: "Let's keep on going; we don't want to lose them."
-Danthor killed Miku's "family" in Kryta by branding her "family" Shining Blade supporters. This might somehow "support" the goal of a certain someone.
If we can find a list of all the people killed by the White Mantle we might have a better clue.
-Miku either have family back in Cantha, or she is an orphan. My guess is the latter.
-Donthor is serving someone, who wanted something done in Majesty's Rest. All we know of this "someone" is that he is male.
2) Plight of the Tengu
There is no info on this right now. But sounds like some kind of promise the Tengus made to somebody.
3) Ministry of Purity
Once again, no info on this whatsoever. Sounds like a ministry to "cleanse". Cleanse what is the question.
However, the timeline gives a hint of what this ministry will do.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Timeline
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1127 AE: Emperor Usoku defeats the Kurzicks and the Luxons, unifies Cantha and begins purging non-humans and political enemies.
Emperor Kisu ruled from 1058 AE to 1127AE (69 years). So he probably started the war before his son Usoku finished it.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Timeline
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1058 AE: Kintah dies and is succeeded by his son Kisu, who becomes the 31st Canthan Emperor.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Emperor_Kisu
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Kisu's reign has lasted 69 years and he is one of only 3 emperors for which we know the length of tenure.
4) Isolation of the entire continent
No surprise here, as that is destined to happen on 1219 AE with the awakening of Zhaitan. However since the current timeline is 1080 AE, my guess is there will be hints of the upcoming disaster. Or someone does something in 1080 AE that leads to the awakening Zhaitan.
So with everything together, here is my guess.
1) That "certain someone" is Emperor Kisu. He needed something from Kryta to defeat the Kurzicks and Luxons. He bribed Danthor and other White Mantle members to do the dirty work for him. Kisu might have secretly supported the White Mantle since the beginning.
2) Whatever it is, it won't be good for Krytan people. Miku's "family" found out and tried to stop it. They got killed instead.
3) Kisu will start the war against the Kurzicks and the Luxons as soon as he gets his "thing".
4) Tengus will "plight" to help Kurzicks and Luxons in their war against Cantha.|||Skimmed your post. But regarding Miku's original family. It's also possible that they died during the plague (during Factions). That is, imo, the most likely reason why she went to Kryta in the first place.
Danthor most likely was fulfilling Isaiah's plans. I see no reason why Danthor would do Kisu's work, personally. And Isaiah is said to be someone who'd have plans in the case of his death - and we see the White Mantle fleeing en masse to the Maguuma, which was most likely his plan (aka the White Mantle Missive found in the third mission). Danthor's goal wasn't in Majesty's Rest - it seemed very clear to me that he was heading to the Maguuma Jungle (hence why he was at the eastern exit).
A lot of innocent people were killed during the White Mantle's regime, especially when the Peacekeepers got involved. I don't think there's anything hidden behind Miku's family's death - it was just lies and tyrannical killings.
Kisu has always been shown as a man who seeks peace and helps those who are needy - multiple times in Factions he is said to have had his personal soldiers, those meant to protect him and only him, to aid the people because the Celestial Ministry was caught up in their documents and wouldn't get anything done. I don't see him as starting a war against the Kurzicks and Luxons - something he promoted for the opposite of in Factions.
The Tengu's plight is most likely a continuation of what we've seen in the shadows during Factions - the repercussions of the Tengu Wars (again, something that Kisu worked to end). There are multiple quests in Factions of the tengu having issues and some individuals hating them or oppressing them. That's likely being continued into Winds of Change.|||Kisu did appear to be a nice fellow, however was he really? A lot of politicians pretended to be an upstanding man, only later to show his real self and commit atrocities.
Another evidence of my theory is the timeline. Kisu ruled from 1058AE-1127AE. After he died his son Usoku took over. And in that very same year, 1127AE, he conquered both Luxons and Kurzicks to unify Cantha. So it appeared that Usoku did this great conquest within 1 year.
There are 2 possibilities.
1) Usoku conquered Luxons and Kurzicks within one year.
Cantha might have became so strong that it simply overpowered both. Another possibility is Luxons and Kurzicks had fought each other for so long that they both had became almost non existent.
This story follows the history of Qin's unification of China. Qin used its enemies' hostility with each other to conquer them one by one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yique
I personally don't buy into this story. I don't see how Cantha can conquer both Luxons and Kurzicks within a year, from start to finish. The land of Cantha isn't much bigger than Luxons and Kurzick territory. Not to mention Cantha also need to fight off the Wardens and Jade Sea creatures to take over those territories.
2) Cantha had been at war against Luxons and Kurzicks for years. Usoku merely finished what his father started.
This makes much more sense to me. Nations like Luxons and Kurzicks don't just fall in a year, even less so when both within the same year. Even if Cantha had superior advantage over both, it will still take them a lot of time to transport men and supplies needed for the conquest. Without automobiles, even walking takes time.|||Actually, I highly doubt that he managed to:
1) Gain enough public support to not have revolts while performing 2 (no such knowledge of them exists so we can only assume they didn't happen).
2) Spend 1 million gold to boost the nation's military strength high enough to complete 3 through 5.
3) Defeat the Luxons and Kurzicks
4) Force the Luxons and Kurzicks to merge into the empire.
5) Force non-humans out of the land.
The Movement of the World merely states that 1127 AE is the year he "took a firm hold of his nation" - which doesn't mean ascending to the throne that year. So your lacking a third assumption:
Usoku didn't ascend to the throne and do all that stuff in one year, but rather managed to merely finish steps 2-5 in one year (again, "took firm hold of his nation" merely states that's when he had control - this could mean when he began his conquest, ascended the throne, or finish his conquest - the last being most likely, given the age of Kisu).|||Keep in mind that winning a war does not mean you have to conquer a foe or his territory in all out battle. It CAN be done by "pursuading" the opposing leaders to surrender or swear fealty to you. The Mongols "conquered" countless city states by simply showing up at their gates and letting their reputations win the fight.
Hitler conquered millions of square miles of Europe without firing a shot in the late 1930s.
I'm not saying that's how it happens, just that it CAN be done without a drop of blood being spilt (either the threat of blood, or some other political reason can be motivation enough).|||I somehow doubt it... the GW universe is full of combat (yay).
But... it could happen via relatively important but small-scale events that the heroes participate in, and may not involve a full war.|||What about the players? Thousands of heroes (players) are allied with the kurzicks and luxons, heroes that have killed gods! am i the only one who thinks it would be rather odd for us to stand idly by while the luxon and kurzick nations are annihilated?|||maybe kisu was a good guy, but one of the white mantle infiltrated his ranks as an adviser type (been there sometime)...and was telling lies/saying bad things etc.....could be why cantha ultimately thinks krytans are all bad, and then isolates itself---|||Quote:
What about the players? Thousands of heroes (players) are allied with the kurzicks and luxons, heroes that have killed gods! am i the only one who thinks it would be rather odd for us to stand idly by while the luxon and kurzick nations are annihilated?
I hope you realize that Usoku eliminates the Kurzicks and Luxons 38 years after the War in Kryta - that's 57 years after the Searing.
The heroes will be pretty damn old by then - which, btw, there isn't going to be thousands of heroes in the lore, but rather most likely a situation of 3 nameless heroes (one per campaign) and then the heroes and henchmen; so really, the god-killing hero(es) is highly likely to be unrelated to the Factions campaign and therefore the Kurzicks and Luxons.
@cosyfiep: I don't think it was ever mentioned that Usoku or other Canthans think Krytans are bad... Cantha actually has a history of going from open to isolationist to open again. I think Usoku is 4th emperor to go isolationist from Tyria.|||Maybe it's possible that Kisu is droven mad by his brothers dead. And now sees it as a fault of the tengus. something like that. The Kurzicks and The Luxon will become 1 alliance by the help of the hero (you). something like that sounds a bit simple but if you work it out in a big story it could be the thing that happend. And maybe Kisu reveales a spell that awakes a dragon that split the continents appart.
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|||Well, this should be fun, please do not bother with utilizing any of the archives. With the revamp all of the links are broken.