LIGHTNOVELONLINE Forum Interlude - Death Wish Information?
Arcadia Community Forums → Current Events → Death Wish Information?
SlothHiveMind
[Verified Journalist] [High Standing] [Fact Checker] [Arcadian]
Hey everyone, Sloth here. So it’s been a few days now since the huge, worldwide Anathema attack was fought back. There’s been a lot of discussion and theorycrafting about what that was all about, but there’s been an almost conspicuous lack of talk about the events that led to the end of the siege in Arcadia. So, I figured I would compile all the information I’ve been able to gather so far and put out a call to anyone who might have more to add. Bear with me while I get through some background information, I promise it will come into play later.
What we know: During the unprecedented, city-wide attack (that also targeted the other six sanctuary cities), one of the shielding stations failed. There’s a few theories floating around, but the general consensus is that it might have had something to do with the Grand Arcadian Mall, the location where the shielding station is located. The mall is a fairly new construction, not originating from when the Zenith teleported the island in, and the shielding station was relocated there from a different spot because it made for a better location. The only real theory we have right now is that the installation must have been done incorrectly. This combined with the massive amount of Usurpation rifts put too much of a load on the station, resulting in the shield going offline.
With the shield down, the Anathema were able to bring in a TON of creatures. Although the zone wasn’t the strongest (highest levels reported in Arcadia were house sized zones in the high 200s) the massive amount of Anathema were able to claim a large amount of territory and begin hunkering down. Guardian Command stated that because of the sheer number of Anathema, their tactic was to wipe out the other, smaller zones first while formulating a proper attack plan. This way, they wouldn’t risk the smaller zones becoming stronger and lashing out during what would be a long and arduous process of clearing out the bigger zone.
Here’s where things get hazy. A lot of people have been claiming various things, but let’s start with the facts. Although there were many Usurpation Zones, the city was far from completely covered, and about seven hours, thirty minutes into the “invasion,” a notification went out through the city’s emergency broadcast system. This broadcast can be heard in the various videos from people outside the zones, and was recorded many times. Listen to a cleaned up version here:
DeathWishNotification.mp3
(Point of clarification for those of you who may not be well-informed about the intricacies of Guardians: A Death Wish is a classification of “quest” or task they can be offered. Doing these quests help Guardians get stronger, and each quest is given a difficulty level. Death Wish is the highest level and is defined as a task that the Guardian is not expected to survive. These quests are offered when there is a critical situation that desperately needs to be resolved even though it almost guarantees the death of the Guardian who takes it.)
As you can hear, Magical Guardian Error Machina seems to have used his powers to broadcast the alert. Shortly after, Guardians from all around Arcadia used signal flare spells in a sort of tribute and acknowledgement. There are plenty of videos of the event circulating, so I won’t bother linking any here. What I will note is that shortly after the notification went out, Guardians from across the city began breaking from their previous positions, rushing to the Usurpation Zone where the shielding station failed. Thanks to drone footage observing from safe areas, we have tons of footage of Anathema beginning to pour out of buildings and start running to the center of the zone where the shield failed. The incoming Guardians took advantage of the Anathema mindlessly turning their backs on the perimeter, and with the hundreds of Guardians working together, a vast majority of the Anathema were slaughtered with relative ease. Around five minutes after this event began, the shielding station reactivated, further weakening the Anathema.
This raises a few questions: Why did the Anathema all start moving to the center of their zone, and how does the Death Wish fit in?
From the events I’ve just described, I think it is safe to assume the Death Wish in question had to do with reactivating the shielding station. These stations require a LOT of mana (magical energy) and have a long start-up process. From my research, it appears that this starting process also produces a lot of mana. As Anathema are naturally attracted to mana, it makes sense that every Anathema in the zone suddenly abandoned their positions and beelined it to the station. This would explain why the quest to restart the shielding station was classified as a Death Wish, because with that many Anathema heading toward you, not many Guardians could survive let alone a completely NEW Guardian on their first day.
Now, this still leaves a few crucial questions that must be answered:
First of all, why was it necessary to restart the shielding station? From what my sources say, Guardian Command had a competent, safe plan for pushing back the Usurpations. Granted, restarting the shielding station DID get all the Anathema to rush out into the open, making them easy targets for the massed Guardians to defeat. In fact, many have credited this turn of events for how Arcadia was cleared much more quickly than the other sanctuary cities. The Anathema seemed to have portaled most of the forces into what they thought was a weak point only to make the mistake of being lured out by the shielding station’s startup sequence. This opened their back up to the Guardians who took advantage, attacking them as they ran.
But still, why did the shielding station have to be restarted? What made it so critical that a Guardian on their first day was given the task? And also, maybe most importantly, what is their status? Error Machina said in his message that a strike team was on the way to save them, but it sounded like prospects of rescue were dubious. The lack of announcement on if the rescue was a success is more than a little ominous.
I’ve made inquiries to my contacts, but it seems like the government is keeping things quiet for now. Even the Guardians I’ve contacted have told me they don’t have any information on the matter or won’t make a comment. That’s why I’m turning to all of you. If anyone has any information, please feel free to share it. I’ll update this post with anything we figure out only after I’ve confirmed it myself.
Let’s see if we can figure this out together!
TenderLion
[Arcadian]
God I hope the Guardian is okay. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like.
Saklin
[Arcadian]
@Tender Lion. LOL of course they are okay. U really believe this whole death wish thing? Pretty obvious the guardians just wanted to farm points instead of actually doing their jobs. Typical. Leaving the rest of us sitting in shelters while they only help themselves.
SocklessKhajiit
[Mainlander]
@Saklin. Obvious troll is obvious. Go cry somewhere else that you were inconvenienced while people were literally putting their lives on the line. Try harder next time.
@TenderLion. I think the Guardian in question is probably okay. Government is pretty quick to have announcements/memorials when one falls. My guess is they are keeping quiet because the Guardian in question is so new they don’t even have a name. They’re probably working on figuring out how to manage this properly. It doesn’t help that they’re at the center of such a big event and now have millions of eyes on them.
Saklin
[Arcadian]
[Message deleted by Moderator]
SyntheticBliss
[Moderator]
@Saklin. None of that now. Your first comment was somewhat off topic, but I allowed it. If you’re going to get angry about somebody calling you out and respond like that, then I’ll go further than just deleting your comment. Consider this a warning.
@SocklessKhajiit. Try to remain cordial towards others. If someone needs to be bonked, leave it to the mods.
OopsItsOrion
[Mainlander]
Damn. Don’t know about anyone else, but the videos of that tribute the Guardians did make me tear up every time. I’m hoping for a good ending to all this, but every time I remember that scene I can’t help but get depressed. Somebody message me if we find out the Guardian made it?
XenoAlertTV
[Arcadian]
It’s fairly obvious that we’re all missing what really matters. Some poor kid was drafted by the Zenith to die in THEIR war because they “deemed it necessary.” Anyone who’s read the Zenith Accords knows this goes DIRECTLY against what they promised. “No person shall be given the gifts of magic for the sole purpose of resolving a dire situation happening in their immediate area.” Yoinking some random kid, forcing them to fight as a child soldier, and then giving them a task that is certain to get them killed? Does NOBODY else really see the problem with this???
And before any of you say “oh they had a choice, nobody forced them,” need I remind you about the socially manipulative parasites that call themselves Familiars? I wouldn’t call it much of a choice when those things will do everything in their power to make somebody feel like they are doing the “right thing.” Can a kid really be expected to see through the lies of an alien whose only goal is their own survival? And, of course, it just so happens most Guardians that are chosen are easily manipulatable teens because “matured adults aren’t usually compatible with soul gems.” I mean, come on!
This is just another disgusting showcase of how little the Zenith really care about us. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’ve been saying it all along that it was only a matter of time before the Zenith became more blatant in their ways. We’re just cannon fodder in their war, and this is all the proof you need.
ChairMimic
[Arcadian] [System Fanatic]
SocklessKahjiit has the right of it. Another thing to consider is the new Guardian might have been injured and is currently incapable of making decisions. Magical healing can still take quite a bit of time depending on the circumstances, and with how resigned Error Machina sounded in his message, it seems fairly likely the Guardian was hurt. It’s entirely possible they are keeping news quiet until the Guardian is in a position to make their own decisions. Until then, all we can really do is hope and pray they make a full recovery.
As for why the Death Wish might have been issued, these quests are generally only offered under three conditions. First condition is that if the task is not accomplished, there will be a significant loss of life. Second is that whatever the task is, it needs to be finished urgently, meaning there is some sort of time factor involved. The final condition is that the task is significantly beyond the Guardian’s relative power level. As for how many people might be in danger if the task is not accomplished, the lowest amount of people recorded being saved in a Death Wish quest was 237 people by Magical Girl Broken Blade.
With that in mind, I’d agree with the assumption that restarting the shielding station was necessary to save lives, so the situation must have been one that couldn’t wait for Guardian Command’s strategy of clearing the zone at a later time. As for situations that might cause that… I’m not entirely sure. While I pride myself as a System nerd, my understanding of magitech isn’t nearly at the same level. It doesn’t help that the shielding stations are VERY complicated with a variety of functions. Let me do some research to refresh myself on their intricacies, and I’ll post back with what I’ve found.
@XenoAlertTV. You make some bold claims when we don’t even know what exactly happened. I know you’re one of those people who don’t trust the Zenith, and I’m not even going to try to convince you differently. Hell, I think remaining cautious and open-minded is a good thing, but don’t go trying to exploit this event without even knowing how any of it played out. There’s any number of reasons explaining how this could have happened. Let’s wait a little before sounding the alarm bells.
Barookia
[Arcadian]
Don’t know if this is relevant, but my friend works as a secretary for one of the mall’s owners (the mall the shielding station is in) and said the police came around to bring him down to the station for some questioning.
GirlInYellow
[Arcadian]
A new Guardian doing a Death Wish on their first day… One thing’s for sure, whatever caused this tragedy goes beyond just bad luck or an accident.
Though, that’s just par for the course with most Death Wishes…
SlothHiveMind
[Verified Journalist] [High Standing] [Fact Checker] [Arcadian]
@XenoAlertTV. Lots of speculation. I know I’ve said this to you before, but I’ll say it again: if you have any concrete proof of your many claims about Zenith overreach or abuse, I would love to see it. I’m aware of the “theory” you like to spread to your viewers, but I have yet to find any significant shred of evidence on it. Regardless, I agree with ChairMimic. It is much too soon to claim they violated the Zenith Accords.
@Barookia. Interesting. Following your lead, I asked around, and it does look like there is some sort of investigation going on. Of course, I didn’t get much further than that because it was an “active situation,” but it’s better than nothing. I’ll keep an eye on how that is playing out.
@ChairMimic. Great insights, and I’d appreciate any more info you come up with.
@GirlInYellow. Although there’s no proof yet, I’m inclined to agree. After your comment, I was inspired to look into the circumstances in past ones. Interestingly enough, over 80% of them involved human negligence or misconduct in some manner that led to the situation being as bad as it was. Good catch, though it doesn’t necessarily mean it was the case here.
BeepBeepImAJeep
[Arcadian]
Calling it now, the newbie Guardian totally survived and is going to be famous from all this. Probably a Pink too.
QuitFix
[Arcadian]
Honestly makes no sense why they won’t just tell us if they survived. Feels like they're just trying to build up a bunch of hype or something, maybe make some big reveal to distract us from all the uneasiness the attack left.
MermA
[Mainlander] [System Fanatic]
For those of us who know the different colors/origins and what they mean, anyone want to take bets on what color this new Guardian was/is? I mean, something like this is a classic Pink move, right? I mean, They single-handedly turned around the entire attack on Arcadia by themselves in a heroic last stand. Also, couldn’t that be the cause of the Death Wish? Maybe the Zenith predicted more lives were going to be lost in the long run if the attack wasn’t stopped immediately. It doesn’t really fit with the urgency other Death Wishes have had, but this wasn’t any ordinary event, either.
TieRANT
[Arcadian]
@MermA. Definitely sounds like something a Pink would do. Though it seems like they survived, so maybe a Green? Lines up with peace and protecting people and all that. Plus they’d have the defensive bonuses, so it makes sense.
JustTodd
[Arcadian] [System Fanatic]
@MermA. Maybe let’s not? We all know the Pink bias is strong, and it’s just rude to the other Guardians to constantly remind them of that. At least make a different thread, this one is for information gathering. As for your idea bout the Death Wish, I kind of doubt it. Like you said, the urgency requirement isn’t really there.
Was going to post what I know about Death Wishes, but ChairMimic beat me to it. I’ll confirm/endorse what he’s said so far though. He knows his stuff, so probably best just to wait on him unless anyone else has any relevant information that hasn’t been added yet.
ChairMimic
[Arcadian] [System Fanatic]
[Message deleted by Error Machina]
Error Machina
[Magical Guardian - Peace] [Operator] [Tier Three]
Oookay, and that’s my cue. Let’s try to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand.
@ChairMimic. Just to be perfectly clear, this is a soft little bonk. I didn’t put a black mark on your account or anything because I don’t think you did anything wrong on purpose. However, some of the information in your post could prove problematic, so I’ll take it from here. I suggest you keep the “extra” things you found out to yourself.
First of all, let me begin by saying that yes, the Guardian who went on the Death Wish did in fact survive. The only reason we’ve been quiet about it is we were hoping they would wake up so we could get their input on how much we should reveal. They’ve been in a magically induced rest, and it looks like its going to take them a little longer to recover. Unfortunately, curiosity knows zero patience, and some sleuths in this thread and others have begun digging up information.
So instead of people poking their noses where they don’t belong, I’ll just make an “official” statement. I even ran it past the Guardian Command to make sure it wouldn’t muck anything up, so here we go. First of all, some information on shielding stations.
Shielding stations have a secondary function that rarely gets discussed, especially in Arcadia. Basically, if a shelter activates its emergency shield, the shielding station can power it indefinitely. If there is no shielding station to power it, shelters have batteries that can last nine to ten hours (in Arcadia, at least) before they run dry. When this happens, the shelter opens up as it can no longer maintain basic life support functions. Normally, such a situation wouldn’t be an issue in Arcadia. Most Usurpations don’t take longer than an hour or two to clear out, and even the trickier ones only take around five.
With that information in mind, you’re probably able to guess the problem now. The shielding station went down, and a shelter under its protection activated its emergency shield. Because of the Anathema “invasion,” every Guardian was busy clearing out other zones, and because the shielding station went down, the zone with the shelter that needed rescuing was filled with too many Anathema for a Guardian or even a team of them to get close. Worse, if we pulled every Guardian from their tasks to clear out the zone and save the shelter, the Anathema would have been able to fight us every step of the way, buying time for other zones to mature and get worse.
The one thing nobody could have counted on was a new Guardian already inside the zone. After they contacted Guardian Command and found out the situation, the Death Wish was issued to restart the shielding station, allowing the emergency shield to be powered and saving the people in the shelter. The rest is history. The new Guardian managed to activate the shielding station which also had the side effect of drawing out all the Anathema in the zone, the Guardians rushed in to save the new Guardian and take advantage of the Anathema revealing themselves, and a strike team was able to save the new Guardian by sky diving directly onto her location.
Now, let me be clear about this next part. There is, obviously, a few investigations going on regarding this situation and what occurred. Feel free to ask questions in this thread, I’ll check back periodically and answer what I can, but I would highly recommend not investigating into this further on your own. There are some very serious issues revolving around this event including some completely unrelated things that only add further complications. Consider this your one and only warning.
An official statement will be going out on the news relaying this same information soon as well, so look forward to that.
SlothHiveMind
[Verified Journalist] [High Standing] [Fact Checker] [Arcadian]
@Error Machina. Thank you for the information! This clears up a lot of things, but most importantly, I’m happy to hear the Guardian is safe and recovering. I’ve got a few questions, and I’ll try to ask some that I know others will inevitably bring up.
- Is there anything you can tell us about this new Guardian? I know you probably won’t say anything, but people will ask so I figure I’ll just get the question out of the way.
- Can you share any information on what caused the Shielding Station to go down?
- Which Guardians were responsible for the daring rescue?
- Did the shelter activating the emergency shield have a valid reason? From what I understand, it would take an especially strong Anathema to breach Arcadia’s reinforced shelters, but the Usurpation Zone in that area wasn’t reported as being that strong.
- Any word on how this is going to affect the introduction of this year’s newest Guardians?
Thank you for your time and your service!
ChairMimic
[Arcadian] [System Fanatic]
@Error Machina. Sorry about that. I should have realized some of the information I posted could have been problematic considering privacy concerns and the weirdness of the situation. I’ll be more careful next time. I guess the only question I have that Sloth hasn’t asked is… How do I get a space in my name like you?
MermA
[Mainlander] [System Fanatic]
@Error Machina. What Origin is the new Guardian? How old? What kind of weapon and magic do they use? Can you get them on here to answer these questions if you won’t?
Error Machina
[Magical Guardian - Peace] [Operator] [Tier Three]
@SlothHiveMind.
- Nope. There will be no information given out about the Guardian unless it is by them directly.
- Nope. It is an ongoing investigation.
- Fantasy Fatale (who are currently serving as a strike force in Arcadia) went and did the deed. Everglaive, Thorina, Naiad, and Gildscales. Big damn heroes, the lot of them. Don’t even think about trying to bother them for details, though. If I’m not sharing, they won’t either.
- The shelter’s emergency shield activation was a manual, unwarranted one. Technically this is an ongoing investigation too, so don’t press for more details.
- Currently, nothing has changed as far as I am aware. Introductions should begin around the same time as previous years.
@ChairMimic. No worries, I know you weren’t being malicious. As for how to get a space in your name, it’s actually pretty simple. Just become a Guardian.
@MermA. Refer to answer 1 above. I’ll let them know there’s interest regarding them, but don’t expect them to come onto the forums anytime soon. They’ve been through a lot and deserve a slow, gradual introduction into all of this.
NosTrix
[Mainlander]
@Error Machina. Operator tag, wtf? Why are you wasting your abilities doing what an intern could do for minimum wage?
JustTodd
[Arcadian] [System Fanatic]
@NosTrix. What you just said is so stupid on so many different levels I can’t even…
TieRANT
[Arcadian]
@NosTrix. Uhh… you realize you’re talking to a Guardian right?
MermA
[Mainlander] [System Fanatic]
@TieRANT. Shh! It’s going to be funny when he realizes what happens when you’re an asshole to a Guardian. Just get the popcorn ready!
Error Machina
[Magical Guardian - Peace] [Operator] [Tier Three]
@NosTrix. First of all, my whole gimmick is digital magic. Sitting behind a computer is literally the best place I could be. From Guardian Command, I can cast my magic throughout most of the city, creating barriers, summoning creatures, and empowering other Guardians while utilizing some powerful technologies and ritual implements to strengthen my magic. While not as effective as me being there in person, I can affect DOZENS of Guardians in different locations at once.
Secondly, while I find your comment more amusing than anything else, other Guardians might be less chill. One thing that you may not know about Guardians is that we have something called “Guardian Immunity,” meaning we’re legally immune to prosecution for most non-violent crimes. So you being rude to me is just… astronomically stupid. In fact, it’s so stupid I think I’ll edit your tags to make sure everyone knows you messed up.
Finally, being an Operator is a lot of work. I could explain all its intricacies, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t understand. I mean, you are only a fitness blogger working part time as a night shift security guard. Nothing against security guards or anything, but judging by the fact you spend most of your shift playing Magical Girls Sunset: Rebellion, your particular job doesn’t require much effort. So maybe you aren’t in the best position to lecture people on job complexity?
Also, stop using your underleveled, slow, power-type Magical Girls in the third dungeon. Your team keeps wiping because you can’t dodge any of the attacks. It’s been eight attempts now, don’t you think it's time to change strategies?
Now, I know what most of you are thinking. “OMG, Error Machina just found out that guy’s personal info and spilled it online! How could he? That’s kind of messed up!” Well… yeah. It is a little bit, even if I didn’t post anything too personal.
And that’s my point here. Yes, as Guardians we try to live up to the reputation of idols and heroes, but for the love of all that is holy, remember we are just people. We put our lives on the line on a daily basis, watch as our friends and allies get hurt and die around us, and witness some of the most horrific moments in human history. So when somebody comes around and does something to ACTUALLY piss off a Guardian… you may get a reaction that isn’t as restrained as mine was.
Now, just to be clear NosTrix, I’m not really mad at you. I’m doing this as a lesson to treat other Guardians better and to just take a moment before you say something dumb online, or even worse, in person. Other Guardians (or even normal people) with less self-control might react poorly, and that would be unfortunate for everyone involved. It makes the Guardian look bad for punching down, the authorities look weak because they can’t really punish the Guardian so long as they don’t go too far, and you just end up getting hurt in the end.
Finally, I’ll be around in Rebellion tonight during your shift, so I’ll send you a friend invite. Let’s see if we can’t get you through that dungeon, shall we?
Okay! Back on topic, I’ll be stepping away for a bit. Got a lot of paperwork to do from recent events and some other developments need my attention. Nothing serious, but it’ll take my attention away for awhile. I’ll be back eventually to answer any more questions that get asked.
NosTrix
[Mainlander] [Dummy]
@Error Machina. Uhh, sure. Sorry.
NosTrix
[Mainlander] [Dummy]
@Error Machina. Dummy!? Seriously? How do I get rid of this tag?
MermA
[Mainlander] [System Fanatic]
Aww, a surprisingly tame reaction. Was hoping for more of a complete and utter thrashing.
But yeah. Error’s lesson is a good one. Guardians will put up with a lot, usually, but Error’s right. If they snap at you, there’s not much you can do legally so long as they don’t just murder you (which they wouldn’t do anyway, because you know… GUARDIANS). The Guardian Diplomatic Protections Act gives them about as many diplomatic protections as a country. Sure, the public can get mad at them, but otherwise… what can really be done? They’re super magical warriors who use literal magic to fight world-ending monsters on a daily basis. Be nice to them because they deserve it… and can cast fireballs from their fingertips.
Or I suppose you can just f*** around and find out. Let me tell you though, there’s an entire wiki page of people who’ve done that, and it NEVER ends well for the non-Guardian.
XenoAlertTV
[Arcadian]
[Message deleted by Moderator]
SyntheticBliss
[Moderator]
@XenoAlertTV No. Just no. This is not the place to baselessly accuse a Guardian of violent crimes and gross misuse of their power. Not only is it way off topic, but accusations like that without proof are highly volatile. Your posts already hinge on conspiracy-theory levels of statements, but this is going way too far.
Let’s get back to the topic, everyone. The Death Wish and survival of the new Guardian thanks to team Fantasy Fatale. If you wish to discuss other topics, there is nothing stopping you from creating your own discussion elsewhere on the forums. As this has become a fairly important informational thread, anything deviating too far from the topic will be punished from here on out.
Thanks for your understanding!
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