White Mantle

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Spoiler alert: The following text contains spoilers relating to the personal story, Forsaken Thicket raid wings, Living World Season 3, and Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds.

Emblem used by the White Mantle.

“

The Mursaat preyed upon the weak and impressionable, who in turn worshiped them as gods. Calling themselves the White Mantle, these converts sacrificed innocents and toppled the Krytan monarchy. The chaos they inflicted on Tyria was short-lived. They were eventually crushed, and their scattered remnants went into hiding. But pockets of their fanatical followers have been operating in the shadows ever since.

— Squad Leader Bennett

The White Mantle are a group of human outlaws based in the Maguuma Wastes and northern Heart of Maguuma. Once leaders of Kryta for a brief time 250 years ago, the White Mantle view themselves as the rightful rulers of the last human nation on Tyria. With intentions to retake their role of rulership over Kryta, the White Mantle have infiltrated deep into the political system of the kingdom and stir strife across the land.^[1]

Though most Krytans have long believed the White Mantle a distant historical threat, the Shining Blade are few who know the truth: that the cultists fund and lead the bandits plaguing the countryside in secrecy. Though the White Mantle lead the bandits, not all bandits are members of the cult or know of their existence—many are those fooled by the White Mantle's trickery, or are those left destitute by the cult's actions with little choice but the life of crime.

History[edit]

Rise of the White Mantle[edit]

Saul D'Alessio going on his final mission.

The White Mantle originated as a religious cult formed in Kryta by Saul D'Alessio in 1067 AE. Saul was a drunk and a gambler turned thief who was exiled into a deep forest and had stumbled upon powerful spellcasters whom he had called the Unseen Ones. They rescued Saul from the brink of death and returned him to Kryta, where he preached the doctrine of his new Unseen Ones as gods. Saul proclaimed salvation during Kryta's darkest hour, when the charr invasion threatened the nation's survival and when King Jadon had fled the throne.

Under Saul's leadership, the White Mantle were kind to non-believers and defenders of the weak. Saul led an small elite unit in the middle of the night to strike the charr's invading forces' leaders. Though the charr leaders were killed, the battle had alarmed the charr camp, and their entire army marched upon Saul and his few faithful. Saul prayed in the White Mantle's time of need, and three of the Unseen Ones named Optimus Caliph, Mercia the Smug and Lazarus the Dire arrived and aided them in defeating the charr.

However, this aid came at a steep cost: all but the most faithful White Mantle would be slain by the mursaat for having gazed upon their Unseen gods. Witnessing the death of his fellow men, Saul grieved and realized the true nature of his so-called gods. The Unseen Ones took the disillusioned leader of the White Mantle with them to a remote location to ensure his silence.^[2]

The survivors, becoming leaders of the White Mantle under Confessor Dorian, spread stories that Saul had valiantly sacrificed his life in the battle against the charr. With no threat and no king, the White Mantle took over Kryta. To strengthen their cover story of Saul's fate, the cultists built a tomb for Saul at Holy Demetra. Confessor Tenad the Faithful was so moved by Saul's sacrifice that he dedicated himself to protecting the Martyr's Tomb in life and in death.^[3]

War in Kryta[edit]

The White Mantle grew arrogant and abusive during their reign, thriving off of the wealth of the land and leaving non-believers in poverty. Worst of all, each year Krytan citizens were chosen for "special education" and never seen again. In truth, the White Mantle offered these ill-fated Chosen, people with magical potential identified with the Eye of Janthir, as sacrificial victims atop of the Bloodstone in the Maguuma Jungle.^[4]

Born from this strife, a group of rebels situating themselves in the Maguuma Jungle formed. They called themselves the Shining Blade and vowed to hack away the corruption and decay that robbed Kryta of her greatness. The true nature of the White Mantle and the inhuman sorcerers they worshiped was exposed for all to see in a series of violent conflicts that left the Mantle high council dead at the hands of Chosen heroes.^[5]

However, the White Mantle remained strong and became even more ruthless under the new Confessor Isaiah who plunged Kryta into a full blown civil war. This war heightened in 1079 AE, and culminated in a battle at Lion's Arch, where Confessor Isaiah and the last of the Unseen Ones except for Lazarus were killed off. Expecting losses, Isaiah had sent many White Mantle into the depths of the Maguuma Jungle to ensure the cult's survival, and they immediately began to attempt to sow distrust against Queen Salma and the Shining Blade for the time they would one day return.^[6]

Personal story[edit]

In 1325 AE, after several years of preparation, the White Mantle attacked Kryta again. This time, they planned to destabilize the rule of Salma's descendant Queen Jennah by assassinating several of her key supporters. The list of targets included Logan Thackeray, Countess Anise, and a young human orphan who had recently distinguished themselves in battle against the centaurs and earned the title Hero of Shaemoor. The Hero knew nothing about their parents, but the White Mantle had recently learned that the Hero was the child of two royal spies who had worked for Queen Jennah's father. The White Mantle had killed the royal spies, but missed their infant child.

The White Mantle chose to start their string of assassinations by killing that orphan in the palace gardens. Unfortunately for them, the Hero had not gotten their reputation by luck, and defeated the first wave of assassins. The fight attracted the attention of two Shining Blade exemplars, alerted there by the words of a mysterious benefactor, and together the trio defeated the rest of the assassination team. In two strikes, one on a hunting lodge near Beetletun and one on a White Mantle hideout in northeastern Kessex Hills, a team consisting of the Hero, Logan, and the Shining Blade killed Confessor Esthel and other high-ranking members of the White Mantle.

In the now ruined Holy Demetra, the ghost of Tenad the Faithful discovered that Saul's tomb was in fact empty. In his anger at being tricked, the spectral White Mantle confessor enraged various spirits to enact vengeance upon the living, making the area dangerous for travelers. An Emissary of Dwayna manifested to the Pact Commander who stopped by the location and urged them to defeat the confessor's ghost so the angry spirits would finally find rest.^[3]

Forsaken Thicket[edit]

White Mantle soldiers. Concept art by Kekai Kotaki.

In The Silverwastes and eastern Brisban Wildlands, scattered papers and objects left behind by the bandits that once operated the fortresses there revealed that the White Mantle had taken to calling their lands "New Kryta" and had become even more militant since their fall. Their numbers remained a mystery until the Pact unintentionally stumbled upon the outskirts of the White Mantle's primary fortifications in the Forsaken Thicket.

The White Mantle had not only survived but thrived in their exile, rebuilding their forces in the Forsaken Thicket and around Bloodstone Fen to the south. In recent years, the White Mantle had become focused entirely on two goals: resurrecting Lazarus, the last of the Unseen Ones, and recovering ancient mursaat magic to make a full-blown assault on Kryta to topple Queen Jennah's regime. To fulfill both of these roles, under the newly appointed Confessor Caudecus Beetlestone's orders, the White Mantle had begun experimenting on the Bloodstone of Bloodstone Fen, cracking its shell and figuring how to utilize its magic.^[7]

Living World Season 3[edit]

After Lazarus was seemingly resurrected, the White Mantle split between those loyal to Lazarus and those loyal to Confessor Beetlestone. The White Mantle loyal to Caudecus regrouped and assaulted Divinity's Reach, using Bloodstone-empowered weaponry, jade constructs as well as centaur reinforcements led by Siegemaster Immelhoof to take over the neighbouring region of Lake Doric. However, the combined might of the Seraph, Shining Blade, Nylia Steelpaw's Blood Legion warband, and the Pact Commander retaliated and crushed the invaders. Caudecus was killed in an assault on his family manor.

Meanwhile, Lazarus' faction of White Mantle built a new stronghold in Draconis Mons, gathering strength for their own plans to take on the Elder Dragon Primordus. Once their treasury and resources were exhausted, however, Lazarus turned on his White Mantle followers, imprisoned them and hired mercenaries to continue his work. Escaped Prisoner Arissea's confession to the Commander during their encounter left it unknown whether the White Mantle had found out that "Lazarus" had been an imposter all along.

The few surviving White Mantle, who were still loyal to the real Lazarus, fled to their remaining hideout deep in Brisban Wildlands where they safeguarded an Aspect of Lazarus under orders of Justiciar Araya. The justiciar grew more erratic the more she relied on the addictive power of the Bloodstone shards, however, and she made sure to kill anyone who tried to flee or defy her will. When the Pact Commander and Shining Blade Exemplar Kerida entered the hideout in search of the Eye of Janthir and the aspect, they fought their way through the cultists and ultimately Araya herself. The fall of the last justiciar signaled the end of the once mighty White Mantle.

Janthir Wilds[edit]

Unbeknownst to the Shining Blade, however, some White Mantle cultists had avoided their comrades' grim fate. This group, led by Ulrich, had been left behind to explore Janthir by Caudecus himself when the confessor had been forced to abandon the quest and been called to participate in the siege of Divinity's Reach. Ulrich's mission was to locate Bava Nisos, the fabled mursaat city where Saul had once walked, as Caudecus believed it was his destiny to walk Saul's "golden path" and unlock the secrets of the mursaat. Following the benevolent mursaat wizard Mabon's demise in the war between the Tyria-defending Astral Ward and the demonic Kryptis invaders, the wards Mabon had placed around Bava Nisos weakened, allowing the White Mantle to enter the city without further magical injuries at last.

While exploring Janthir Syntri at the behest of the Durmand Priory in 1337 AE, the Pact Commander discovered journals left behind by Caudecus and his followers and pieced together information about the White Mantle's quest for Bava Nisos.^[8] The Commander also discovered other journals relating to an earlier White Mantle occupation of Janthir from Saul D'Alessio's time and the tragic events surrounding the village of Gavril whose denizens had been sacrificed atop the Janthir Bloodstone at the Unseen Ones' behest.^[9]

Known bases and ruins[edit]

See also: Bandit#Known bases

Heart of Maguuma

Bloodstone Fen

Forsaken Thicket
- Stronghold of the Faithful
- Salvation Pass
  - Temple of Salvation

Janthir

Janthir Syntri (Abandoned)^[10]

Kryta

Harathi Hinterlands
- Ruins of Holy Demetra
  - Martyr's Tomb (Abandoned)

Lake Doric
- Fort Evennia (Captured from Seraph)
- Unnamed camp in the Eastern Hunting Grounds
- Unnamed camp in the Harvest Cascades

Queensdale
- Hunting Lodge (Undercover cell)

Maguuma Jungle

Brisban Wildlands
- White Mantle Hideout (Instance)

Caledon Forest
- Ruins of the Unseen (Abandoned)

Ring of Fire

Draconis Mons
- Heathen's Hold (Abandoned)

Types[edit]

See also: Category:White Mantle

Gallery[edit]

Emblem used by the White Mantle

Trivia[edit]

The White Mantle emblem c. 1079 AE features as one of the available guild emblems.
The Unseen Ones are in fact the mursaat, an ancient race of spellcasters. After the release of the titans during the first Guild Wars campaign nearly all of the known members on Tyria were eradicated apart from Lazarus, who was weakened after his final aspect was corrupted in the Eye of the North mission The Justiciar's End.
The White Mantle have their own leitmotif, called "White Mantle Theme", which was composed by Maclaine Diemer.