Guild Wars 2

Ok, so we know that Sylvari can and do sleep, but do they actually need to do it? I mean, if sleep was a reaction to a lower photosynthesis environment, wouldn’t they also fall asleep adventuring in a cave? The best I can think of is that Sylvari minds are approximate to Human ones, in that they have a limited information absorption rate per day. Sleep, in the case of Humans, is the brain’s time to sort out all of the information that was gathered, store that which was important, or caused an emotional response, and then discard the rest as short term memory (which is why you remember your first date but not what you had for breakfast on your first date). My theory is that Sylvari basically use sleep as a vehicle to ‘upload’ their memories to the Dream via the Layline network.

The reason I’m asking is because my roommate is starting a Savage Worlds Fantasy campaign, and I’d like to inject the Sylvari into it.

According to Ghosts of Ascalon they do. At the start of Chapter 13, page 170 in my copy, Killeen says she was asleep when Riona ran off. And they certainly seem to have beds in various houses in the Grove.

My guess would be that sleep serves a similar purpose for them as for humans – it gives their body a chance to rest and recover if they’re been doing anything strenuous and as you said it gives their mind a chance to sort through their memories of the day.

I’m not sure if that’s when they share memories with the Dream though, or if that happens as they’re doing things. I think though that what they share with the Dream is actual memories and not their own dreams because it seems to be pretty accurate to reality. Newly awakened sylvari can accurately describe places they’ve never been so that other people can identify them. I don’t know about anyone else but in my dream places often look different to how they do in real life, often a combination of real life places and some bits I might have made up because I don’t recognise them.

Acording to Ghosts of Ascalon (start of chapter 10 when I finally found it) once sylvari awaken into the world they mostly leave the Dream behind – they don’t continue to learn from it but what they learn does feed back into it and influence future generations. But it doesn’t say if this happens when they’re asleep or when they’re awake.

I think the fact that they do it is sufficient evidence that they need it- laying on your back, dead to the world, is hard to justify spending several hours a day on if you aren’t getting something out of it.

And as a note, it definitely doesn’t come down to ‘low photosynthesis environments’. While they are able to process sunlight to the extent that being out in the sun feels invigorating, the amount of energy they derive from it is at best a small supplement. The bulk of their activity is fueled by an essentially human-like digestive system. Even if they could run themselves on sunlight, it still wouldn’t remove the need for sleep- I can’t stay awake forever by eating a lot, after all.

Also there are sleeping sylvari npc in the open world (mostly wyld hunt valiants)
be kinda dangerous to do that in a risen infested area if they didnt need it!

Sleep is important for the brain – without it you’ll suffer from reduced mental ability, and eventually you’ll have hallucinations and psychosis. Sylvari have some sort of brain, so it’s not too much of a leap to assume they need sleep to rest their brain just like animals do.

Wanderer.3248:

Sylvari have some sort of brain

I’m sorry I haven’t done an insane amount of research into the anatomy or physiology of Sylvari but where does this statement come from?

• Did you presume it?
• Is there proof in lore?

We know Sylvari appear humanoid but they are not entirely physically alike humans.
For one they bear no flesh, their blood is supposed to be not unlike a golden ichor in apperance, their “minds” are somehow in a connection with the Dream (not arguing if it’s a one-way or two-way connection after awakening.), they posess no reproductive organs and have a luminescent glow while shrouded in darkness.

I’m not even sure if our Sylvari friends have toes.

What I intend to say however is:

Wanderer.3248:

Sleep is important for the brain – without it you’ll suffer from reduced mental ability, and eventually you’ll have hallucinations and psychosis.

• Yes this is very true, for human physiology.

Wanderer.3248:

Sylvari have some sort of brain, so it’s not too much of a leap to assume they need sleep to rest their brain just like animals do.

• This is where you lost me as per the reasons stated above.

I’m likely just out of the running but please explain where you found the information of Sylvari having a brain like humans do and how their brain would be in connection to their thoughts and need for sleep/dreaming as there is for humans.

My apologies if I appear rude, it was not my intention.
(eventhough you just summoned this thread from the dead like a true Necromancer!)

We know that sylvari have a skeletal structure – the material for their bones is wood instead of calcium – we know they have a digestive system, we know they have vital organs though no heart.

Basically sylvari organs are present but they’re made of the same material as plants, rather than muscle tissue, and there is only minor deviances. They may not have a stomach as humans would recognize it, but they do have a digestive track. So they would in turn have something that stores their thought processes – a brain of some sort.

And yes, sylvari have toes. Take off a sylvari character’s shoes and you see them.

And a four day late posting is hardly a “necropost” :P

Nero.8047:

Wanderer.3248:

Sylvari have some sort of brain

I’m sorry I haven’t done an insane amount of research into the anatomy or physiology of Sylvari but where does this statement come from?

Just an assumption: Sylvari think, therefore they have some sort of organ that I choose to call a brain, even if it is located in their butts.

Nero.8047:

I’m not even sure if our Sylvari friends have toes.

Off topic, but if you take off their shoes and run you can see toes – especially if they have a strong glow.

Nero.8047:

What I intend to say however is:

Wanderer.3248:

Sleep is important for the brain – without it you’ll suffer from reduced mental ability, and eventually you’ll have hallucinations and psychosis.

• Yes this is very true, for human physiology.

Actually any animal with even the smallest brain (even flies) need some sort of sleep. Fruit flies suffer memory loss due to sleep deprivation.

Now, while it’s true that all animal brains are made of nerve cells, and Sylvari brains are probably made of some other type of cells, I don’t think it’s a huge assumption to think that these brains would enter some sort of sleep, or a state resembling sleep, due to circadian rhythms. It’s not too much of a stretch to think that disrupting the natural cycle of this organ would result in impaired functioning.

On a slight tangent: even in the absense of a brain, Sylvari might still appear to enter a state similar to sleep due to circadian rhythms. Many organisms, even bacteria, have biological cycles lasting 24 hours, and curtail their activity at night.