Guild Wars 2

You’ve got this part in the personal story if you choose the the honourless gladium option, where you can save or kill Vallus.
the PC always calls the their own Father by the Name, except of at the very end and they don’t seem to have close contact to neither the father nor the mother.
The very practical and military approach in combination with the cubs always mentioned to growing up and their talents being studied in a Farrar , I’m pretty sure that the concept and feeling of “family” is fastly replaced by feeling as a member of the respective warband.
So I’m pretty sure, that the concept of conception (sry for the bad pun) is less romantic and classically family-oriented in charr society than for example in human society, and it’s probably a lot more seen as producing new soldiers for the respective legion.
being a very practical race, also means they’ll probably let the females fight and join their warband again, as soon as they’re ready to go.
This could mean that the importance of “family” is probably seen as a duty to the legion to pass on good genes and produce new soldiers, and the emotional bond between parents and children being not really strong.
does this fit the race lore for charr? did i misinterpreted something?

We still had single Charr cubs in LA for example, so there must also be family concepts, where the cubs grow up with their parents and/or another adult guardian in a smaller context and not in a Farrar.
So I’ m a bit confused, how much family relations are actually seen as belonging to a family in the social sense and not seen as coming from a good, healthy, strong, loyal, whatever genetical background to support the own warband and legion.

I’m asking because have a few thoughts about fleshing out a background story for a female charr elemetalist.

I think it’s more that, in charr society, the foundational unit of society is the warband, which takes on most of the roles that a family would play in human society. So fundamental is it, in fact, that we’ve seen several examples of charr split off from their society for one reason or another adopting non-charr groups that they find congenial as their new “warbands”; I think, for example, of the charr cub at the orphanage in Dredgehaunt Cliffs, who outright said that the other children there were fellow members of his warband, or the charr who had left her original warband in disgust with their actions and found a new home with the Grey Company in the Harathi Hinterlands. Tybalt Leftpaw himself is probably another good example; he seems to have been dismissed from his warband as an invalid after he lost his hand, so though he never says so outright, he seems to regard the Order of Whispers as his new legion and the people he works with the most closely – including the player character – as fellows of his “warband”.

hm. this fits my thoughts.
Do you think it is likely that the PC has already offspring in some Farrar when the story begins?
It’s not like, for a charr, it would probably matter a lot for their everyday life since the everyday life is likely to be mostly military duty.
Some of the female charrs in the citadel talk about their offspring (today a scar, tomorrow a hero) and they don’t look older as the PC.
I’m playing with the German sound, so I’m not one hundred percent sure, if it is the same dialogues in the original.

To the Charrkids in lions arch: Those are likely born outside of the legion-hirarchy and offspring of the black lion trading company charr or charr pirates.
While our species(humans) is greatly hindered during pregnancy, charrfemale are only hindered the last few days before giving birth, and after that happend they are fully combatfunctional again. The cubs learn to crawl and walk in a very short time and get placed in the respective Fahrar soon after they are able to speak.
So yeah, it is totally plausible for your Charr character to already have offspring, since he is around the age of 20-25 according to arenanet(although you can easily just say any age as you please for your lore, I personally view mine more around 30)
The concept of warbands does not only concern charr military, which sounds a bit strange, since every charr is trained in combat anyway, no matter if they are soldiers or not, but there are also warbands of miners, scrappers, farmers and many other roles that contribute in one way or another to the great warmachine.
On one last note: There are special cases within the high legions where a cub is not placed in a fahrar right away, because of special circumstances(there is one npc if I recall correctly, that tells you she got her cub in the brand and it took months to get it out of there) but no charrent(I combined the words parent and charr, I don’t know why but I didn’t want to correct it once I wrote it) would take the risk of their offspring not finding a conneciton to a warband in time and ending as a gladium willingly.

Oreithyia.3064:

We still had single Charr cubs in LA for example, so there must also be family concepts, where the cubs grow up with their parents and/or another adult guardian in a smaller context and not in a Farrar.

Well it does get a bit confusing. For the most part Charr cubs can be described as being gladium and the children of gladium. So obviously not belonging to any of the legion there wouldn’t be the same imperative to send the young off to a fahrar. All the Charr in the lionguard for example clearly aren’t working for the legions so it wouldn’t be unexpected for them to have children.
However the confusing part comes in with characters like Snarl Backdraft (if memory serves) who apparently was raised in LA but is now a part of the legions. Although that could be explained by the cubs of a gladium still being allowed to join the legions if he or she demonstrates enough talent or skill. As we’ve seen with Rox (and the PC to an extent) it is possible to form new warbands or join existing warbands.

How funny Oreithyia, I was thinking about this the other day because I have a female Charr guardian and I was wondering what kind of maternity leave the warbands have (does that make me weird?).

Anyway – lorewise – do pregnant females become gladium until they give birth or are they considered inactive members of the warband? Also, are there any actual farrars in game? There is a devourer hatchery in Diessa Plateau but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a farrar. Or am I thinking of it in the wrong way – is the farrar an organizational category like “warband” or a place like “school”?

Inactive, and only briefly at that. Fahrars are a social unit- or, at least, I’ve never seen it applied to a building- and there are a few. Off the top of my head, there’s one just outside the BC’s north gate, another in the home instance, I think a third that shows up every so often and tours the Citadel (although that might be supposed to be the same as the home instance one) and a few clusters of cubs in Ashford, Diessa, and the Marches who are probably fahrars but too much part of the scenery to be directly called such.

Michael.8562:

How funny Oreithyia, I was thinking about this the other day because I have a female Charr guardian and I was wondering what kind of maternity leave the warbands have (does that make me weird?).

Anyway – lorewise – do pregnant females become gladium until they give birth or are they considered inactive members of the warband? Also, are there any actual farrars in game? There is a devourer hatchery in Diessa Plateau but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a farrar. Or am I thinking of it in the wrong way – is the farrar an organizational category like “warband” or a place like “school”?

i don’t think they become a gladium by getting pregnant. they’ll probably be active until it really doesn’t work anymore and then they’ll be an inactive member of their warband until the cub is born. It’s probably similiar to a charr that got injured, that they are out of combat and do something to support the warband behind the lines until their injury healed and then they can go back in combat or if it is permanent find another useful job.
After Birth they give the cub in the Fahrar as fast as possible to get back to their work… that’s way I interprete it.
there is this cub, Pica, in the Ashfurt forum that tells another cub, Alfi, that it was a bit late in the Fahrar, since its mother was stationed in the Brand, it was already 6 months after they stopped nursing until it came to the Fahrar.
Alfi said he was late because his mother has born him while stationed at the Frontlines, so it is pretty sure she as in a warband and not a Gladium.
We can be pretty sure it is considered normal to give the cub to the Fahrar after they’re weaned.
The only thing we don’t know is how long a charr cub is usually been nursed.
if it were by cat standard, it would be 8-14 weeks, if it were by human standard it would be around six months to a year.
I personally prefer 8-14 weeks, since it keeps the time away from the job short and the the cubs grow up and do all their bonding usually within the fahrar and later their warband.

i think the Fahrar is more a cathegory like “warband”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a place. It’s more the name of a group of cubs being trained/evaluated/guarded by some adult charr.
But I’m sure there a group rooms for Fahrars that we just don’t get to see.

Thanks for the information/thoughts Aaron and Oreithyia.

I have a follow up question regarding the fahrar – if it’s an organizational category and not a place then is the implication that cubs of an age to be in the fahrar take care of themselves in and around the Black Citadel or are there adult charr charge with their upbringing? And if so, are the caretakers considered gladium? This would seem like an odd place for an adult charr to be. The status of gladium seems to be ultimately undesirable to the point of being a derogatory epithet within charr society, but a warband of caretakers doesn’t seem very plausible because they could be called away to fight at any time. An honorary warband seems like it would be as bad as being a gladium. Is there a third class of citizen that I’m missing?

I think, just because they working in a job behind the lines doesn’t necessarily make them a gladium.
While the charr are for sure a very war-focus species, they also have people that work behind the front-lines, for example craftsmen and farmers. the Farmers have a surname and don’t seem to have a negative image, so Iconsider them as members of a warband that not directly involved in the war.
If you want that both fathers and mothers are working and you also want to have well educated soldiers in the next generations and evaluate the talent of the cubs, you need someone that is good at that job.
So i suppose the adult “leaders” of the Fahrars are part of a warband that especially educated for educating and evaluating the cubs. .)
they for sure have lower position than our hero, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a Gladium.

Oreithyia.3064:

While the charr are for sure a very war-focus species, they also have people that work behind the front-lines, for example craftsmen and farmers. the Farmers have a surname and don’t seem to have a negative image, so Iconsider them as members of a warband that not directly involved in the war.

Looking at the short story for Rox it seems that her warband was specifically tasked with mining. So warbands do more than fighting. They’d probably also have farming warbands.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rox%27s_Tale

@Michael There is indeed adult supervision, and it even has its own title, Primus. They’re role is teaching and training, though, not caretaking- closer to a drill sergeant than a babysitter. They aren’t gladium, although it’s never mentioned what the rest of the warband does. That’s not entirely unusual, though- we also know barely anything about the warbands of officers (centurions, tribunes, imperators).

Charr don’t always join warbands. Much like the Primus, they also have smiths who make the weapons and armor, or farmers who ensure the army’s stomach is filled. A charr is only really considered a gladium if the warband they are assigned to is lost, or they abandon their troop. Of course, some of these ideals are outdated, as the shift in focus goes from a conquering warband to defense against the dragons and an unending tide of ghosts.

As far as pregnancy goes, I presume the pregnant charr would go on a form of maternity leave, as giving birth on the battlefield would be awkward and dangerous for mother and cub. As stated above, a soldier is only a gladium if they lose their warband in some way, either being the last alive or abandoning the duty. Once the child is sufficiently mature to be taken to a fahrar, the mother most likely goes back to her duty.

As for actual family bonds, it seems that most are pretty loose. It’s been hinted that Rox is Rytlock’s sister, which is why the two are so close, but unconfirmed. In the Vigil storyline, Almorra has you kill her own son (for the greater good). She regrets it, but saw that it had to be done. In “Ghosts of Ascalon”, we see Almorra meet her granddaughter, but the two barely acknowledged the relationship. The charr residing outside of Ascalon, like Lion’s Arch, might have a different method of raising children, but that isn’t expanded upon any more than traditional charr upbringings.

Ranchers and smiths and even fishers, all such support personnel, are also in warbands. Any charr with no warband to turn to is gladium, and no charr raised within charr territory doesn’t at least start with one.

why is it awkard to get a child when in the frontlines.
Alfi was actually born while his mother was stationed in the frontlines in the north, so obviously there are charr women in duty during their pregnancy.

I think the main thing to remember is, that charr are not humans, so charr pregnancies probably also “feel” different than human pregnancies.
They’re a predatory cat-like species, so when wanting to find out how charr women act, when pregnant we should probably look more how tiger, lions and other big cats act while pregnant.
Most predators don’t stop hunting, just because they’re pregnant…it’s not like you’re sick, when you’re pregnant, most of the time, when it is a normal pregnancy, you can be the normal lioness that supports their pack with food, like before the pregancy until right before delivery date.
You also have to be fast in getting well soon enough to support and protect your litter.

Charr of course aren’t cats, but that’s where they come from, so it is probably normal them too, to be pretty able to do their work until right before birth and start working as fast as they could after birth again.

Not all human women are frail and weak during pregnancy. I remember reading a news article about a woman who ran (and won) a marathon and then gave birth hours later.

I actually have a backstory for my charr that his mom ended up killed during a dragon attack soon after birthing him and it was a pair of humans that took care of him for the first 3 years of his life. The idea being he eventually goes to a fahrar and even grows up with a warband, but the bond of a family goes both ways (family to child as well as child to family). I think it’d be an interesting dynamic to write around, a charr dealing with these conflicting ideologies. . . Or has this story been written already lol?

Leo G.4501:

Not all human women are frail and weak during pregnancy. I remember reading a news article about a woman who ran (and won) a marathon and then gave birth hours later.

I actually have a backstory for my charr that his mom ended up killed during a dragon attack soon after birthing him and it was a pair of humans that took care of him for the first 3 years of his life. The idea being he eventually goes to a fahrar and even grows up with a warband, but the bond of a family goes both ways (family to child as well as child to family). I think it’d be an interesting dynamic to write around, a charr dealing with these conflicting ideologies. . . Or has this story been written already lol?

You’re right.
I know several women who worked until birth and started a few weeks after birth again. one of them had already 7 children, while one was disabled and could walk very well, so it had to be carried up and down the stairs.
But in the overall modern western concept, people expect women to take it a bit easier if they start to look really pregnant.
even though the annoying and dangerous phase is probably early pregnance when most women don’t even tell anyone that they’re expecting.

I think it would be very difficult for your cub to be accepted and it is probably a bit more difficult in training, since the other cubs have had already atleast 2 years of training, when your cub starts out.
but i think when your cub has potential one of the adult fahrar leaders would take it under their wings and give it some extra training.

Thanks Aaron for the information re Primus. I have seen that mentioned by ambient dialog in the the Black Citadel or in the town just inside Diessa Plateau and wondered about it. So knowing is great. I’ll have to pay more attention.

@Leo, yes that’s true. I’ve read stories about women that have done extremely heavy work in an agricultural setting, rice paddies, farms etc and work until they go into labor, give birth and then go back to work.

Great topic!

and to the one on tybalt and lost hand I think if do the scritt mission you hear him talk about the explosion which is why his hand is eather A missing or heavly burned. you see the hand is disfigured and burned in the drunk pirate mission. so don’t think he lost the hand but its mearly heavly burned like scarred and he hides it due to him causeing the explosion that killed his warband. and no one wanted a skittish engineer.

you also see him use said damaged hand in opening of whispers. so its still useable so I think its eather one hell of prosthetic or asura cyber arm or its really just heavly burned and he hides it under the glove due to it reminding him type thing.

I like to imagine Tybalt has a prosthetic hand. He’s an engineer, after all. Sounds kind of awesome if he managed to craft a hand for himself.

As for the the comment about my Charr, yes. He would have trouble fitting in. I actually envisioned he got taken in by a more misfit group of Charr that worked as blacksmiths (he’s a weaponsmith), most of his warband went missing on a taskforce in Iron Marches and he eventually went gladium for a while until the personal story picks up. Ultimately, I enjoy hearing about Charr who break the mold, dealing with tragedy, family or love differently than what would be considered Charr-like, so long as the background of their story gives them reason.

Leo G.4501:

I actually envisioned he got taken in by a more misfit group of Charr that worked as blacksmiths (he’s a weaponsmith)

Probably scrapper warbands
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Scrapper