Guild Wars 2

Hello everybody, I’m in the process of writing a fanfic and I need your help. I remember reading an ArenaNet blog post (which I unfortunately can’t find back) in which a Sylvari talked about how some of their kind fell from the Pale Tree from such a height they didn’t survive the fall. However, in-game it seems like they just ‘wake up’ instead of actually falling from the Tree. I was going to use the falling in my fiction, and I was wondering if it was still considered as actual lore.

The most lore packed of the articles was preserved here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dream_and_Nightmare. There’s certainly nothing there about falling, though I suppose there might have been in the one with the dialogue clips.

As to the current depiction of awakening, I believe there’s an NPC either in the Grove or Astorea that explains that when a pod is ready to open, the Pale Tree lowers it to the ground, and from there the sapling awakens and steps out into the world.

It’s said in an idle dialogue that not all sylvari survive the fall of awakening. I presume that like a ripe fruit, the pods fall and then the sylvari wake… And they can wake stillborn.

They might be using “fall” on a methaphoric level here. Something like “He fell from grace” or “ha! you fell for it!”.

How they say it that they fall several dozen feet before being born. Doesn’t sound metaphorical to me.

Is this what you’re referring to?
“Some dropped like autumn leaves, slowly drifting down to root level. There they stood, stretched, and then set out into the void, disappearing as they cleared the spreading canopy. Some never made it that far, staggering, falling, and withering within the shade of the great tree.”. https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/short-story-what-scarlet-saw/

I think Carys landed on her head.

I always thought of it in a way similar to the elevators in the grove.

Ps. I got an asura with your username. If you want the name Smeen, just reply and I will change it.

@Swift: No, I was talking about in-game idle dialogues.

Sorry to bump this old topic, but does anyone knows exactly where it’s possible to hear the ambient conversation about Sylvari actually falling from their pods ? Or does anyone has screenshots about it ? I remember seeing it once, but I can’t find any proof to actually convince someone who think it’s not true.

Yeah, there is a conversation of it between a sylvari and a norn, though I don’t recall where unfortunately. I do recall its existence because it was highlighted during ‘sylvari week’ pre-release, and I had heard it once or twice in-game. Most – if not all – of those dialogues used during the racial weeks in the blog were in early areas (cities or starter zones). So check in the Grove or throughout Caledon.

I found it !
Is there any confirmation that it isn’t some kind of metaphor ?

Out of context, a bit, but doesn’t the norn talk about screaming and blood for birth first, which is not very metaphorical, and afterwards said norn mentions that sylvari are tougher than they seem for such a birth, indicating it isn’t so metaphorical.

Full conversation.
Norn: Someone told me that sylvari aren’t born, they’re hatched. Is that true?
Sylvari: We’re born, but in our own way. We’re the fruit of our mother, the Pale Tree.
N: For us, birth is a matter of blood and pain. It’s the infant’s first great battle. Many don’t make it.
S: And for us, birth is like falling from a great height, all the way down to the hard ground. Not all survive the fall.
N: No parents? Who cares for you when you’re small and weak?
S: We’re not born small like you. We emerge full-sized from our cocoons and immediately enter school.
N: Born full-sized? Maybe your race is stronger than I thought.

I really don’t want to take a size in this again, but do consider that the sylvari uses “like”, which in that context can only denote figurative language, and that Serimon explicitly tells sylvari characters that the Pale Tree lowered their fruit when they awoke.

I’d guess the amount of help the tree can offer by lowering it’s branches is highly dependent on how high up the “fruit” is growing from. There need not be any contradiction for both to be true. Especially when we start to think about the practical mechanics of what is described.

Of course, if we need the sylvari’s description to be figurative, we have to answer what possibilities it could be describing. How is all pods gently being lowered to the ground like falling from a great distance all the way down to a hard ground?

PetboyJoshua.3108:

I found it !
Is there any confirmation that it isn’t some kind of metaphor ?

It’s not a metaphor at all, it’s a simile. “…like falling from a great height” I’ll assume it’s not literal falling, but it’s not always easy, either.

The ‘sleeping’ sylvari are tended and cared for by two sylvari named Ceoltoir and Gheimridh. Gheimridh tends to the pods health, making sure they are safe, while Ceoltoir greets those who have newly awakened. The saplings stay in pods while they sleep; still in the Dream. It is recommended to stay very quiet around the sleeping sylvari, especially when the pods are soon to open. The health of the sleeping sylvari were originally cared for by the Pale Tree directly, however, after there have been incidents, the health have been tended by the sylvari. These incidents are said to be simply the act of nature. Sometimes the pod dies, killing the sleeper within- a cause for great sadness.

Source: Ceoltoir and Gheimridh, The Grove.