Guild Wars 2

(This fanfic is a book written by a character who lives in Tyria. I based it off of Marco Polo’s Book of the Marvels of the World.)

Travels In and Around Kryta
By Diri Arslan

Synopsis

This book was created during my travels throughout my homeland of Kryta. I wrote it so that others who read this can have a better understanding of this country, its people and its history. My travels took me from Divinity’s Reach to the very frontiers on the Shiverpeak Mountains. I also traveled through dark swamps, rolling grass lands and bustling settlements. As for me; I am Diri Arslan, a man of Elonan descent from the city of Lion’s Arch. The city is located on the southern coast of Kryta and is at the heart of Tyria. This book will also contain information on the history of various places as well as certain events I experienced while traveling to these places.

Chapter 1
Krytan History

Kryta is located in the heart of Tyria and is bordered the Sea of Sorrows to the south, the Woodland Cascades to the north, the Maguuma Jungle to the west and the Shiverpeak Mountains to the east. The first human settlement in Kryta was founded by King Doric at the site of Lion’s Arch. The site never expanded beyond an outpost and a summer estate for the Orrian royalty. This all changed in 300AE when the Elonans claimed the outpost and founded the city of Lion’s Arch. This event began the official colonization of Kryta by the Elonans. Settlements began expanding around the southern coast of Kryta over a period of close to a hundred years. In the year 358AE the Krytan colonies declared independence and chose a descendant of King Doric to be their king.

In the decades following Kryta’s independence the young nation rapidly grew in size and began expanding into the fertile plains of central Kryta, where they came into conflict with the Centaurs. The centaurs used to live throughout Kryta and still do in the Woodland Cascades, Maguuma Jungles and the Shiverpeak Mountains. Centaurs have the body of a deer with a longer tail, the torso and arms of a man and the head of a goat. They mostly live in a tribal society and are very warlike. The Krytans would launch an almost never ending war against the Centaurs just like the Ascalonians fighting the Charr. However unlike the Charr, the centaurs weren’t united but divided between the Harathi and the Tamini. After years of fighting and building castles to defend their new lands, the Krytan frontier was pushed as far north as Giant’s Basin, modern day lakes Doric and Regent. The newly conquered lands were divided among the nobility and used for farming.

Chapter 1 Continued

As Kryta flourished and Ascalon braced for the Searing a young man was exiled from Kryta. The man was named Saul D’Alessio and on his exile into the Maguuma something mysterious happened to him. When he returned to Kryta, he came back with tales of unseen gods and a golden city. Soon after a cult calling itself the White Mantle rapidly spread across Kryta. Many commoners and nobles supported the cult which caused their influence to grow across the country. With every noble and land holder their influence in Lion’s Arch and sources of revenue grew. Their power reached its height when the Charr attempted to invade Kryta through the Shiverpeaks. The king fled, the Lionguard were disgraced and according to the White Mantle, Saul gave his life to stop the Charr invasion. At this point in history the White Mantle held Kryta in their hands.

Not all peoples of Kryta gave into the rule of the White Mantle, many resisted them and they would form the Shining Blade. From their strongholds in the Maguuma Jungle the Shining Blade would launch constant guerrilla attacks against the White Mantle forces. The following events would be known as the Flameseeker Prophecies, where a group of Ascalonian refugees would ascend and defeat the White Mantle and their evil masters. While I will not go into detail, its effects on Kryta led to the fall of the White Mantle, the rise of the Shining Blade, the coronation of Queen Salma and the forming of the Seraph.

In the generations following the fall of the White Mantle, Kryta would undergo a radical transformation. The first was Zhaitan’s rising of the dead nation of Orr. Doing so caused a terrible tidal wave to destroy the souther coast of Kryta and the city of Lion’s Arch. The people fled north and followed their king to found a new capital on the Giant’s Basin. Another event was the fall of Ascalon. Between the rise of Orr and Ascalon’s fall, tens of thousands of refugees from all human nations fled to Kryta. Once land of Elonan descendants quickly became a multicultural nation. Kryta’s borders fell back in the south and east and in the north the centaurs finally united. The fierce Modniir tribe of the Shiverpeaks forced the Tamini and Harathi to unite against Kryta. While lacking the Charr’s discipline and technology they are fast and can strike deep into Krytan territory. Finally there is Queen Jennah heir to the House of Doric and queen of all Kryta. The Ministry conspires against her, the Charr have signed a treaty and the Elder Dragons now loom on the horizon.