Guild Wars 2

A friend asked me this while working out a character’s background, and I wasn’t able to give her a definite answer. Her suggested scenario was that her character met another sylvari in the Dream before waking, but her friend was killed by the Nightmare influences in the Dream. She wanted to know if a sylvari could be stillborn.

Now, my feeling is that the Dream as experienced in lore is not quite like the Dream as experienced in-game in the tutorial, and it might not be possible to ‘meet someone’ while immersed in the Dream if it is a sort of shared sylvari consciousness. We were also speculating that if it was possible to be hurt badly by the Nightmare elements in the Dream, perhaps one would instead awaken with some mental trauma or impairment, or just be very shaken? (Though the idea of a stillborn sylvari is a very powerful one to me, if it were possible).

Can anyone offer a more definite or authoritative answer on this question?

I think when sylvari meet others in the dream, it means they’re twins. (Don’t take this as gospel)
I find it hard to believe you’d die from nightmare influence, but being traumatized is definitely possible

Twin sylvari exist when they are born from the same pod. Sylvari who meet in the Dream of Dreams just find themselves very close to each other, often viewing them as family or lovers.

As for death in the Dream of Dreams… hard to say, truth be told. We’re given no indications of such, but the tutorial does present itself as a threat.

Well, the sylvari consider all other sylvari to be family. That’s why they don’t bother with surnames. Though that raises some interesting questions about sylvari who become lovers.

I’d guess that getting injured or ‘killed’ in the Dream by the Nightmare might be what causes some of the Courtiers. And probably is what their objective is, to have the Dream be so dangerous that everyone is ‘killed’ by the Nightmare and comes out… Nightmarish.

Sylvari consider other sylvari to be more like distant relatives, rather than brothers and sisters – on average, at least. They don’t bother with surnames since they all have one mother, but how they generally view other sylvari would be similar to how you view a brother, spouse, cousin or third uncle once removed – all depending on who it is and how much you interact with that person. Though they don’t use those terms – only brother/sister, friend, or love®.

Indeed. Remember, we’re all related to one another, distantly.

I don’t know about being killed in the dream (the unressable bodies in the tutorial seem to imply such, but I can’t recall if any of the NPCs in there state that it’s possible) but it’s stated by Gheimridh (second floor of the grove, you can only get the dialogue option as another race though) that sometimes Sylvari pods die and kill the Sylvari before they awaken, effectively resulting in a “stillborn” Sylvari.

It’s also possible for Sylvari to hear about or see things about each other in the Dream (Tiachren and Ysvelta, a Sylvari in Astorea to the west has a conversation about such) and usually seems to result in a closer bond.

The White Stag storyline also shows some of the result of the Nightmare attack you deal with in the tutorial, as there’s another newly awakened Sylvari in the care of the mentors, stated to be hurt and shaken by it.

SO BASICALLY I dunno about the Nightmare influences being fatal but nothing contradicts it and everything else fits, your friend’s idea is probably feasible.

Thanks athuria, those examples are helpful! I will have to go and speak with this Gheimridh next time I log in. My friend’s character idea did hinge a bit on the Nightmare being the reason for her friend’s death before awakening, but since we first had this discussion the whole subject has become interesting.

Thanks for the answers everyone!

Neilos Tyrhanos.5427:

Indeed. Remember, we’re all related to one another, distantly.

Of course, technically, all sylvari have the same parent. Which makes all of them full-blood siblings. Especially, say, Caithe and Faolain, since they were both one of the twelve Firstborn.

Just as an aside, because as an athropology student I can’t resist, incest prohibitions relate to sex specifically, not love (the boundary between romantic love and familial love is too hard to define anyway, in my opinion – doubly so with sylvari!). Since sylvari are not sexual beings, I’m not certain that incest rules can or should apply.

other than the fact they do not procreate sexually, do we really know whether sylvari are sexual in general or not?

They can have sex and certainly do so, but they can’t procreate. Therefore incest is no issue for them, since it’s technically only harmful to your offspring. So they of course also don’t have those cultural revulsions against it.
Pretty nasty, those wannabe trees. xP

Human incest taboos aren’t really applicable to the Sylvari given how different their reproductive and familial structure is (and such taboos haven’t exactly been consistent through our history anyway) and while there are plants with systems in place to prevent inbreeding because it can be just as damaging to them, it isn’t like they have a social structure where they can dictate the acceptability of it, or have any sort of feeling to contradict it.

Sylvari don’t view all other Sylvari like we do our siblings (although they use such terms with those they are friendly with)—they’re more like second/third cousins, I’d say (which are actually legal to marry America, because it’s far enough removed that your genetics are diverse enough to not cause any problems. Food for thought). Twins are probably the most standard sibling relation the Sylvari have, and they’re rare cases.

Saying what they do is “incest” is just being very literal, it’s an incompatible idea with their culture.