Guild Wars 2

Introduction
If sylvari are the reason the Elder Dragons have arisen, why is Mordremoth the first to attack the Pale Tree? The first sylvari emerged from the tree in 1302AE; they’ve spent nearly three decades wandering Tyria’s surface. In that time, Jormag, Zaithan, and Kralkatorrik have all tried to assimilate them into their hosts, so Mordremoth is not the first to encounter them.

Apathy Will Be Our Undoing
Elder Dragons are incongruous beings best studied by cryptozoologists (if any Tyrian scholars actually describe themselves as such), as no other intellectuals seem willing to do the work necessary to truly understand them. It’s been several years since Zaithan’s demise, yet no one has been willing to even suggest recovering his corpse for scientific study – at least, no one who wants to remain a functioning member of society. I’m surprised that even the haughty asura haven’t produced a freak willing to sink his fingers into dead dragon flesh. The best that race can manage is Taimi. No, the remains of the Elder Dragon of Undeath have been left to rot in the depths of the Sea of Sorrows, to Tyria’s shame.
Ha! And did you think that you were learning something about Elder Dragons surrounded by the likes of Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade? Marjory will never be able to see these ancient serpents as anything more than murderers, especially after the death of her sister. Kasmeer’s not much better. Now that the two are lovers, I doubt that Kasmeer will do much more than “support” Marjory, reminding the latter that she has a score to settle with the wily reptile Mordremoth. After all, when an elephant kills an ant, it must be personal, right?
The sad reality is that most Tyrians would sooner kill the Elder Dragons than try to relate to them. I’m embarrassed to think that my main considers Mordremoth a threat to Tyria and recently went so far as to counsel the lesser races to turn their sights and war machines upon him. I wholeheartedly empathize with the exasperation of other players who protest to the writing team of the Living World that their characters would never say such things, nor be found in the company of the bi-conics.

Ants Perceiving Elephants
So why haven’t the other Elder Dragons done what Mordremoth just did: attack the Pale Tree? Maybe sylvari really are the jungle dragon’s former minions? Like Glint, the tree may have betrayed her master; like Kralkatorrik, Mordremoth might be cleaning up his own mess. For a former minion, though, the Pale Tree is a bit odd. She’s a tree, after all – perhaps the only tree linked to Mordremoth, who seems all-tied-up in his vines. Moreover, there is no record of sylvari fighting for or against the Elder Dragons during the latters’ previous rise.
There is much to say about this absence of evidence. “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” If sylvari aided the elder races (the jotun, dwarves, seers, mursaat, and forgotten) it is highly irregular that their efforts went unrecorded. We’re dealing with a race of sentient plant creatures – the only such race of continental Tyria, I might add – capable of (at least partially) resisting the corrupting powers of (perhaps all) Elder Dragons, who until recently were hailed as the saviors of Tyria for said resistance, going unnoticed. Furthermore, if Mordremoth first allowed sylvari to mix and mingle with the elder races – much like sylvari are mixing and mingling with the races today – then corrupted them, using them to fight their former friends and allies, I cannot understand how someone would not have seen fit to write about it for posterity. Remember that the mursaat betrayed the elder races; it was such a big deal that not only was their cowardice written in stone but the infamy of their actions is universally despised by the player base. So all in all, it’s hard to pin Mordremoth with the creation of the sylvari race. It makes me think that sylvari probably are “the newest race to come to Tyria”, in spite of previous speculation on my part that this may not be the case.

The Taste Of Stone Dwarves And Dead Dragon Flesh
I lay the blame for the failure of the Elder Dragons to attack the Pale Tree squarely on both the dwarves’ and Zaithan’s dead shoulders. I should be careful to watch what I write, however, as there is no indication that the Elder Dragons intentionally work together and my post can be construed as implying this. I do find it very hard to disassociate the rise of one Elder Dragon from another. When six creatures who sleep for aeons awaken within centuries of each other, I don’t consult the dictionary for the definition of “coincidence”. I’m found thumbing through it’s pages for adjectives like “interconnected”, “interrelated”, and “intertwined”. Yes, yes, development have answered at least one question about the nature of the relationship(s) between the Elder Dragons thus:

“Can you give some detail on how the Elder Dragons behave towards each other?
The Elder Dragons are aware of each other, as would be any two apex predators whose hunting grounds overlap, but so far there is no record of them fighting each other (much as two overlapping apex predators can coexist, as long as they don’t encounter each other personally). Ascribing motives and reactions to them that we mortals can understand is a dicey business because they are so alien, but one of the most popular current theories among Tyria’s dragon researchers is that the Elder Dragons would fight each other (at least via their minion proxy armies) if they expanded into each [others’] territories, but multiple Elder Dragons completing the “devouring” stage of their life cycles (sleep, wake, claim territory, devour all the magic, sleep) eats up all the magic on Tyria before that happens. It’s kind of a natural predatory equilibrium: the dragons are separated by enough distance and their wake times are staggered such that they are able to sustain themselves and return to their more dormant state without having to battle each other for the magical resources they consume.”

But I’m sure you’d agree, even the sublime mind is nonplussed by the fact that all six awakened within a period of less than three-hundred-and-fifty-years.
Let’s take a moment to consider how you might waken an Elder Dragon. You could try dropping a tectonic plate on it. That’s what Vizier Khilbron did to Zaithan. Oddly enough, for a snake with a splitting headache, Zaithan sure took his time to stir. The continent of Orr sank beneath the waves in 1071AE; Zaithan awoke in 1219AE. Perhaps you could chalk up the 148 year period between these two events to the nature of Elder Dragons? They sleep for ages and probably take much longer to do things than lesser beings would expect. Thus, we are like ants, they are like elephants. Ants spy elephants from the vantage of the forest floor, remarking to one another that pachyderms don’t move their legs very quickly, whilst marveling that with each stride the great beasts cover more ground in a moment than any one ant may traverse in a single day. This explanation does much to answer players’ questions about the sluggish pace at which the ancient serpents act. However, I’m not sure that it explains why Zaithan arose a century after Orr sank. Do collapsing landmasses really bother Elder Dragons?

Elder Dragons Visit The Pharmacy?
If they did, by rights Zaithan should have been the first Elder Dragon to rise. He was closer to the Orrian peninsula than any of his peers. Yet Primordus was the first Elder Dragon to stir, in 1078AE (fully awakening in 1120AE). To me, this suggests that Elder Dragons don’t respond to physical stimuli in the same way that we do. They are certainly organic – Zaithan lost his tail and bled a sickly green from this and other wounds just before he died; Kralkatorrik has lost a spine, presumably during his last rise; Jormag recently lost a tooth – but this is where any similarity to us begins to diverge. The most important evidence gathered following Zaithan’s demise (namely, Mordremoth’s arousal) proposes that the Elder Dragons are more responsive to magical stimuli than any other fillip. If you want to wake one up, mess with the ley-lines.
That’s just what the asura did, I suppose. The technology behind their gate network must utilize the same ley-lines that their way-point network does; and when you’re using a sleeping Elder Dragon – none other than Primordus – to power said gate network, well it’s only a matter of time before the serpent is disturbed. But it’s not as though every other Elder Dragon was disrupted like this. Sure, Mordremoth was. Bubbles, Jormag, Zaithan, and Kralkatorrik? There’s no obvious evidence to demonstrate the same for them.
We’d expect major magical disasters to disturb the ley-lines. So let’s search for such catastrophes in recent history and try to geographically associate them with each dragon. There are only a few to choose from.
In 1070AE the Searing rained down on eastern Ascalon. Kralkatorrik was probably the most affected by this.
In 1071AE Orr collapsed into the sea. As previously noted, Zaithan was probably the most affected by this.
In 1090AE the charr legions capture Ascalon City. King Adelbern invokes the Foefire. Kralkatorrik is once again probably the most affected by this.

Having compiled this list, whilst we can suggest reasons for the awakening of Kralkatorrik and Zaithan, we’re left bamboozled by the stirring of Primordus, “Bubbles”, and Jormag. I have broached the idea that the tampering of the asura directly contributed to Primordus’s rise. Still, just as the cataclysm of Orr was separated from Zaithan’s awakening by over a century, the magical calamities that rocked eastern Ascalon occurred several hundred years prior to Kralkatorrik’s emergence. So what am I saying? This: It cannot be that either Zaithan or Kralkatorrik – or any Elder Dragon, for that matter – was aroused by any of the aforementioned magical disasters, as they would have stirred much sooner than they did. Something else must have caused them to awaken. What? Hence, this is why I find it hard to disassociate the awakening of one Elder Dragon from another. For if only Primordus and Mordremoth were stimulated by disturbances in the ley-line network, why aren’t they the only Elder Dragons to emerge? Wouldn’t you expect the other four dragons to remain in brumation? This brings us back to the question: “Why are all six dragons awake?”

Square One: Right Back Where We Started
I have two possible answers to this question to propose. First, Elder Dragons disturb the ley-lines naturally, such that when one arises, it does for the next what Scarlet’s drill did for Mordremoth, except with a little less rigor. Thus, when Primordus awoke, he disturbed one or more of his kin. Second, something entirely different caused the Elder Dragons to awaken. Only time truly will tell which of these two answers is accurate.

A Crackpot Theory
I’m all about shooting from the hip, however. I have a few holes in my feet from this approach, but it’s fun, so I guess that makes up for it. I’m fascinated by the possibility that the coming of sylvari to Tyria is the reason the dragons are awake. You may recall that in a previous post I speculated that the seed of the Pale Tree could have been planted between 1075-1080AE and that this action might have caused Primordus to stir. The transformation of the dwarves delayed the Elder Dragon of Fire’s rise for another four decades, however. This is one of two reasons why I believe that none of the ancient serpents attacked the Pale Tree sooner. By delaying Primordus’s rise, every other Elder Dragon’s awakening was postponed by approximately fifty years. In those crucial five decades, the serpents lost ground to the sylvari. Zaithan, whose forces may have been converging on Lion’s Arch to rouse Mordremoth, was slain before he could act to contain sylvari; had he awoken half a century earlier, Mordremoth might have prevented the Pale Tree from making those pivotal early gains against his kin.

“why is Mordremoth the first to attack the Pale Tree?”

If Elder Dragons want to create an army of minions then going after the Sylvari would be the worst thing to do. If Elder Dragons want to rule a corrupted domain then there’s no point in traveling all the way across Tyria looking for a tree. If Elder Dragons want to feast on ancient magical artifacts there is no point hunting down a newly born race.

You’re forgetting one thing, the Sylvari as a race are only 20 years old, they didn’t exist before, and the Elder Dragons normally awaken one at a time with a 50 year span between Dragons awakening, hence why Primordus was the first at the end of GW1. It’s also been mentioned in ancient histories that the Elder Dragons are known to have awoken at least 2 others time before this…and that’s about all that is known about them.

The thing about the elder dragons is that they are very territorial. Zhaitan mostly stays in Orr, Krakatorrik has the Crystal Desert and the Ascalonian Brand, Jormag sticks to the Far Shiverpeaks, Primordus stays in the Tyrian Depths, and Mordremoth lays claim to Maguuma. Now yes, the icebrood are travelling down the Shiverpeaks a bit, but they never leave the mountain range. Primordus’s destroyers only emerge in places where the earth has cracked and lava risen up. Zhaitan’s minion are probably the most travelled, but even then, they stick close to the water’s edge or some of the territory very close to Orr. Krytan lands are have almost no dragon influence at all, with just the odd patch cropping up here and there.

So why has no dragon attacked the tree before? Because it’s Mordremoth’s turf, and the other dragons don’t see the point of attacking it. Jormag only chased the norn from their original home; he’s not chasing them down. I doubt Kralkatorrik even noticed the charr fighting in Ascalon, let alone the human separatists. And the ocean dragon… aside from strong ocean currents and tales of wrecked ships, we don’t know what she’s been doing.

Rognik.2579:

~Snip~

And the ocean dragon… aside from strong ocean currents and tales of wrecked ships, we don’t know what she’s been doing.

We do know what the ocean dragon has been doing, driving the Krait, Largos and Karka from their homes, which are normally the deep sea. How we know this is from the Quaggans telling us that the Krait were driven from their home(s) in the Unending Oceans deepest trenches, and that the Largos used to hunt them.

Rognik.2579:

Zhaitan mostly stays in Orr,

Zhaitan attacked Caledon Forest, Kessex Hills, Gendarran Fields (including a full scale assault on Vigil Keep with siege weapons), Lions Arch, Claw Island, the Bloodtide coast, and Timberline falls.

Zhaintains minions are the most widespread of any of the dragons.

The Grove could have been subject to a Naval invasion, if he chose to do so. There are constant undead raids on the eastern shores of Caledon forest.

Clearly he saw Lions Arch as a more significant strategic target.

Personally, I don’t think there’s any evidence that the dragons aren’t interested in expanding their territory. Jormag’s forces have been pressing the norn south and some of their gains were fairly recent at the start of the game (the corrupted haven in Snowden, for instance). In the explorable regions we currently have, Jormag’s forces do limit themselves to snowy areas (probably partially due to the range of the Sons of Svanir, and partially because icebrood are generally stronger in places where they’re not at risk of melting…) but it’s possible that they’re more aggressive about venturing into the lowlands further north.

Primordus’ destroyers tried to seize pretty much all of Tyria in EOTN, and crop up on the surface in various places on a regular basis in GW2 – we’re told it’s basically due to the dwarves that Primordus is kept largely contained. Zhaitan and the ocean dragon have already been addressed. Kralkatorrik seems to be the only one that’s showing no signs of trying to expand, and that could be chalked up to Kralkatorrik having realised how close it came to being speared by its own spine and is now lying low.

draxynnic.3719:

Kralkatorrik seems to be the only one that’s showing no signs of trying to expand, and that could be chalked up to Kralkatorrik having realised how close it came to being speared by its own spine and is now lying low.

It’s also perfectly possible that he is expanding,but like the DSD not into areas the five player races have settled, and I believe we have evidence- several sources link the ogres coming out of the Blazeridge Mountains specifically with Kralkatorrik’s rise, and they also state that the ogres are seeking new lands. Given how otherwise strange it is that they would seek to move into a narrow strip of land next to a growing patch of dragon corruption, I suspect that they’re under pressure from the east, and given the timing, Kralkatorrik would be the likeliest cause.

Possible, although that could also be claimed by the ogres sensing weakness (the dragonbrand may be a threat, but it also makes it harder for the charr to respond to anything happening east of the Brand). Either way, I think ‘seems’ is accurate – Kralky may be seeking to expand elsewhere, but we’re not seeing it directly and, unlike the ocean dragon, we don’t have any stories of Kralky displacing other factions. (Except from the Brand, that is.)

Certainly, from Edge of Destiny, they were coming down from the mountains before Kralkatorrik rose. The distinction is that now they’re actually able to claim territory rather than simply raiding.