High Councillor Flax
This article is about the leader of the High Councillor Flax
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“The world's best and only hope is for us to start running it. When Rata Sum defeats the dragons, Tyria will fall to its knees and beg us to rule it.
High Councillor Flax is the leader of the Arcane Council. To the public, he appears as a good-natured individual who promotes innovation, and promotes groups, even the Inquest, so long as the krewes' inventions are effective. He openly prefers non-Inquest inventions over Inquest, so long as they are more effective at the job, and shows interest in the Inquest's inventions only due to their cost-efficiency.
Beneath his public facade, however, Flax shows his intent to utilize whatever means necessary to promote the asura race as superior to all other races in Tyria, and actively controls information spread and even uses the presence of the Elder Dragons for this goal.
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
The Arcane Council was lenient with Zojja and tolerated her outbursts since Snaff's demise in the battle against the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik.[1]
Personal story[edit]
Experiments Gone Wrong[edit]
High Councillor Flax attended the Snaff Prize competition in Soren Draa in 1325 AE.
Interested Parties[edit]
Rescue Researcher[edit]
After the Snaff Savant fights Rakt following Gorr's conference in Rata Sum, Flax is dismissive of the Savant and Zojja's assertion that Tyria will hear the truth of the dragons consuming magic.
Living World Season 2[edit]
In 1327 AE, the Elder Dragon Mordremoth was spreading its influence over Tyria. At the Pact Commander and the asuran progeny Taimi's behest, Zojja reached out to the Arcane Council so she could help convince the Arcane Council to attend a summit of racial leaders in the Grove and discuss the growing Elder Dragon threat.[2]
Upon learning of Taimi working on a waypoint recalibration device to hide the waypoints's frequencies from Mordremoth's invasive vines, the council refused to attend the world summit without proof that the device would work and protect their valuable waypoints.[1] After Taimi had demonstrated the device's usefulness and reluctantly handed it over, Councillor Phlunt promised to attend the talks at the summit as the council's representative.
While in the Grove, Phlunt voiced the Arcane Council's skepticism about the Pact requiring more funding and troops as the soldiers had already shown their prowess by defeating the Elder Dragon Zhaitan. However, he was convinced to consider joining the other races in supplying the Pact once the Commander pointed out how Mordremoth's first attempts at the asuran waypoints would only be the beginning of sabotaging asuran technology. Flax and the rest of the council would eventually learn from Phlunt that the summit had come under attack by the Mordrem, however, which had targeted the leaders and damaged the Pale Tree. Realizing that Mordremoth was turning into too great a threat to ignore, the council ultimately decided to send supplies and troops to join the Pact for their upcoming invasion of the Heart of Maguuma where Mordremoth was suspected to dwell in.
Living World Season 3[edit]
Following Mordremoth's demise and the Pact's discovery of the lost asuran city of Rata Novus, the Arcane Council sent researchers to study the city to uncover its secrets, including its history and research data on the Elder Dragons, particularly Primordus.[3] Some of the councillors attended a tour of the city; Flax, however, was not present for the tour. Many asura were still jumpy about seeing sylvari after some sylvari had turned against the Pact under Mordremoth's influence during the Maguuma campaign when the race as a whole had been revealed to be the Jungle Dragon's creations.[4]
The Icebrood Saga[edit]
Following the Elder Dragon Jormag's awakening in 1333 AE, the Ice Dragon's champion Ryland Steelcatcher approached the Arcane Council with an offer to exchange knowledge and collaborate with the asura to defeat Primordus, Jormag's enemy, for good as the Fire Dragon's rise was inevitable. Flax and the rest of the council invited Ryland to Rata Sum. In the following talks, they agreed to Jormag's terms and saw the truce as logical in order to finally destroy the Fire Dragon which had driven asuran ancestors from the Depths of Tyria centuries ago.[5]
Councillors Vark, Ludo and Zudo attended the asuran researcher Taimi's briefing at the Advanced Metamystics Lab. Taimi explained that she had been using her network to track the recent earthquakes happening throughout Tyria although she was unsure if all of it was related to Primordus or movements of ley energy. Vark found Taimi's findings odd, though, as the council had never seen any activity that far below the crust.
Suddenly, Taimi's readings indicated activity beneath Rata Sum. As if on cue, the city was invaded by Primordus's destroyers which proved to be stronger than previous destroyer generations. Ryland summoned his Frost Legion underlings via a portal and ordered them to protect the Arcane Council, including Flax, from the destroyers. Flax fought alongside the rest of the council, the Frost Legion, Taimi, Braham Eirsson, Rytlock Brimstone, and the Pact Commander and forced the destroyers into retreat once they had felled the destroyer lieutenant leading the invasion force. Flax would eventually learn what Taimi and Gorrik had told Councillors Vark and Haia about their latest findings on Primordus in the wake of the destroyer attacks throughout Tyria: Kralkatorrik's death had amplified a feedback loop between Primordus and destroyers so that each of them strengthened the other in preparation for Primordus's rise.[6]
The council's commitment to helping the Frost Legion with Primordus research ended up giving Jormag the upper hand in the conflict, and it was costing lives. To deprive Primordus of magic in the ever escalating arms race, Jormag began trapping innocents throughout Tyria in ice as the Frozen to both leech on their magic and preserving them for a future fight against the Fire Dragon, while destroyer attacks became more furious as a result. Realizing the suffering caused by the Ice Dragon's actions, the council began bickering, trying to deflect the blame for their part in helping Jormag and framed it as all in service of protecting themselves from Primordus's threat. In a meeting with the Elder Dragon Aurene in 1334 AE, Councilor Vark acted as the Arcane Council's representative and voiced the council's disagreement with the creation of the Frozen as they had never intended events to escalate as much as they had done. With the council's data, the Pact's tacticians pinpointed a ley line nexus at Anvil Rock and decided to use Aurene's help to lure both rival Elder Dragons there to finish them off at the same time before their conflict would destroy Tyria.[7]
Following the deaths of Jormag and Primordus in a clash at Anvil Rock, the Arcane Council took credit of contributing to the victory with their research.[8] In subsequent weeks, the council began fulfilling all of Taimi and Gorrik's resource requests for their study on the magic that the two Elder Dragons' demise had unleashed. Primordus's death had skyrocketed the council's approval metrics, and Gorrik surmised that their help with the magic research could be from guilt, or just spreading the wealth.[9]
Location[edit]
Story involvement[edit]
Personal story[edit]
- Chapter 1: Experiments Gone Wrong
- Chapter 2: Interested Parties
- Chapter 3: Rescue Researcher
The Icebrood Saga[edit]
- Episode 5: Champions
Combat abilities[edit]
- Effects
Frost Aura - Chill foes that strike you (only once per second for each attacker); incoming damage is reduced by 10%.
- Skills
-
Vapor Blade - Cast a vapor blade that inflicts vulnerability and returns to you. -
Cleansing Wave - Heal yourself and nearby allies, curing conditions. -
Frost Armor - Protect yourself with frost armor that reduces incoming damage by 10%. While active, it chills foes that hit you. Each attacker can be affected by this only once per second. -
Frozen Ground - Coat the target area in ice, chilling foes that enter it. Grant frost aura to allies in the area.
Quotes[edit]
- Greets
- Well? Spit it out.
- My time is limited.
- What is it?
- Greetings.
- I'm a councillor, you know.
Notes[edit]
- Someone named Flax was on the Arcane Council in 1237 AE.[10] Whether this is High Councillor Flax or not is unclear, but if so then Flax is roughly a century old as of the beginning of Guild Wars 2 in 1325 AE, making him one of the oldest asura still alive.
- Flax wears Sorcerer's Masque, Epaulets, Livery and Shoes, combined with Embroidered Coat, and Masquerade leggings. As four of those pieces are human light Tier 3 cultural armor, he is one of the few NPCs wearing cultural armor of another race.
Trivia[edit]
- Flax is voiced by Mark Bramhall.
- Flax wears the Tier 3 Human Cultural Armor Sorcerer's armor.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b The Waypoint Conundrum
- Councillor Phlunt: I will attend the summit, but only after I verify that this device can protect our waypoint network from marauding vines. Otherwise, I'll have to return to my lab. [...]
- Arcane Council Guard: Agreed. The council has been too lenient with Zojja since Snaff's passing. Her recent activities are especially concerning.
- Arcane Council Guard: Entrusting a progeny with critical projects, allowing her to run around with those reckless door busters.
- ^ Rallying Call
- Braham Eirsson: Before I head to Hoelbrak, I should find Taimi. She's in Rata Sum. Maybe she can talk to Zojja about getting an asuran leader at the summit.
- Kasmeer Meade: But in their minds, she's just a student. No one there pays much attention to her.
- Braham Eirsson: I know, but she's got Zojja's ear. It's worth a shot. If she fails, we'll send in the boss to convince Zojja. They're friends.
- ^ Notes from Rata Novus
- ^ Research in Rata Novus
- Researcher: (scream) Run! It's a crazy sylvari!
- Technician: Please...get the dragon man away from me. [...]
- Guide: Councillor Phlunt and the other krewe leads here are confident they'll uncover heretofore unseen data on Primordus.
- Guide: We're collecting vast amounts of knowledge about Novan history.
- ^ Primordus Rising
- Rytlock Brimstone: Tell me I'm not seeing Frost Legion.
- Gorrik: Apparently the Arcane Council invited them. And Ryland. [...]
- Councilor Vark: Facing a common enemy, alliance is logical. I'd think the Pact commander would recognize the value of this arrangement.
- <Character name>: You would think.
- Ryland Steelcatcher: The asura have studied Primordus for ages. Foolish not to seek their knowledge. And Jormag's no fool.
- Rytlock Brimstone: Sure, as Elder Dragons go, Jormag's pretty reasonable.
- Councillor Zudo: Exactly.
- ^ Jormag's World
- Councilor Haia: Defeating Primordus will take more than just a Pact. Or its commander.
- Councilor Vark: Information is more precious than munitions in this war. Jormag's champion came to receive it. As have you, I imagine.
- Taimi: That link we discovered between the destroyers and Primordus? A feedback loop, amplified by Kralk's death.
- Gorrik: Destroyers burn more, Primordus gets stronger, destroyers get more rabid. The effect is exponential.
- Gorrik: With Ryland's help, we've identified and measured the ice dragon's cumulative power, versus that of the fire dragon.
- Taimi: Jormag and Primordus are polar opposites; the scales should be level. But they're not—not anymore. Fire is winning.
- Gorrik: We need to find a way to cut Primordus off from the flow, or reverse it back to the destroyers.
- Councilor Haia: Or boost Jormag's power to level the field again.
- ^ Dragonstorm
- Aurene: Champion, the Arcane Councilor has arrived. They've reconsidered aligning with Jormag; they're willing to work with us. Come quickly.
- Councilor Vark: Make no mistake: Primordus's death is our priority. Our intention was never to contribute to the...atrocity of the Frozen.
- <Character name>: We've all made mistakes. We just can't make any more.
- Taimi: Commander! We have a plan! Or the beginnings of one. First, Braham and the Spirits of the Wild did help even the odds.
- Councilor Vark: Fire and ice forces are clashing with increasing frequency. The death toll is staggering. It will only get worse. [...]
- Warmaster Jhavi Jorasdottir: With the Arcane Council's data, our tacticians have pinpointed a ley-line nexus with increased dragon minion activity. We'll engage the minions to hopefully draw out the Elder Dragon champions. [...]
- Story journal: I walked in to find members of the Arcane Council bickering over the current situation, trying to deflect the blame for their Elder Dragon research resulting in Jormag getting the upper hand. They framed it as all in service of protecting themselves from the fire dragon threat, but anyone who was paying attention knew that their plan would cause collateral damage. Both Ryland and Braham had been wreaking havoc around Tyria. The loss of life was incalculable.
- ^ Champion's End
- Councillor Phlunt: As I predicted, Primordus is now off the table, so to speak, and my forebears avenged. And it wouldn't have been possible without asuran research and support!
- ^ Gorrik dialogue at Eye of the North
- ^ "Chapter 20", Sea of Sorrows by Ree Soesbee:
- "Oh...oh. Oh!" he said, staring blithely at the empty space between them. A slow, droopy grin plastered itself on Yomm's features and his voice took on a woozy tone. "Councilor Flax! Why, yes, I would like an award...and here I didn't think you'd noticed. How wonderful...It comes with a research grant, you say? Marvelous...just...uumph..." Yomm's eyelids drooped. He muttered something indistinct, and his body sagged toward the floor.
