Guild Wars 2

When I was reading today’s article about the exalted, something struck me as odd (besides feeling disappointed about the lack of Mursaat) – that they shed their bodies for an incorporeal form some 300 years ago in Maguuma jungle. Now, does that sound familiar? It fits snuggly in the timeframe when druids abandoned their corporeal bodies. Now, I’m aware there’s little to go on beyond this, but I for one find the parallels intriguing. Did the druids have contact with the Forgotten? Were the druids split between those who supported Glint’s ideals and went with the Forgotten, and those who chose the path of non-interference to assimilate with the jungle? And did the druids learn the magic to transcend their physical bodies from the Forgotten, or vice versa?

Maybe some of the Exalted were recruited from the ranks of the Druids. However I think it is more likely that the “allies they had made among Maguuma’s residents” that went missing is a reference to the Druids.

I don’t think the Exalted are directly druids but allied with the druids. From this excerpt, "The Exalted discovered the jungle was even more dangerous than they remembered and that allies they had made among Maguuma’s residents were missing, perhaps gone forever. "

This tells me they presumably allied with the druids.

Possibly they used similar magic, or possibly the Druids were able to copy / steal the forgotten ritual.

I saw that similarity too, and I figured that the druids likely mimicked the Forgotten’s ritual that made the exalted, using plants as the shell for their energy instead of golden armor.

I also took the druids as being some of those allies that went missing – 1) the druids are the only civilized group we know of (other than the owner of the Tarnished Coast ruins) that have lived that deep into the jungle; 2) the druids disappeared since the supposed creation of the Exalted; 3) Most importantly, in GW2 there’s lines about the druids being called south from Brisban/Henge of Denravi. Turn this southwest and we have the approximate location of the Exalted (unless Tarir is north of Rata Sum – thus south of GW1’s Tangle Root/north of Magus Stones).

Konig Des Todes.2086:

I also took the druids as being some of those allies that went missing – 1) the druids are the only civilized group we know of (other than the owner of the Tarnished Coast ruins) that have lived that deep into the jungle; 2) the druids disappeared since the supposed creation of the Exalted; 3) Most importantly, in GW2 there’s lines about the druids being called south from Brisban/Henge of Denravi. Turn this southwest and we have the approximate location of the Exalted (unless Tarir is north of Rata Sum – thus south of GW1’s Tangle Root/north of Magus Stones).

The druids are the stronger candidate, but the centaurs also seem likely- they lived in the same area, we’ve been introduced to peaceful offshoots in S2 that had lived near Forgotten ruins, and they seem to have been driven from their places since GW1 (or, at least, that’s the interview rationale for the Harathi attacking Kryta). Of course, nothing’s saying both groups can’t be former allies.

The issue with the centaurs being former allies is that the centaurs are major enemies of humans and were even in GW1’s time.

They also lived in what became the Maguuma Wastes – the drying of the land is why they lost their homeland and, along with their hatred of humanity, became more willing to work with the Modniir to assault Kryta.

It’s a good pick.

They were humans.
They lived in the Maguuma Jungle.
They disappeared without any true explanation.
All of this happened decades before Guild Wars Prophecies’ events.

In my opinion, as I read the blog post, I don’t see any connection between the Exalted and the Crystal Desert (thus, the Ascension). You can argue that Glint is a connection, but her reach was bigger than the desert. And she had servants – the Forgotten.

And remember that with ’Living world – season two" in mind, we now know that the Forgotten had settlements in the jungle.

We had indications that they did back in the Prophecies Manuscripts:

“They left the coast and jungles. They abandoned their settlements in the highlands and in the mountains. Leaving the newcomers be, the serpents went to live in the only place where we humans did not, or could not: the Crystal Desert.”

The only question is the timeline of their retreat into the desert.

(Which reminds me: it’ll be interesting to see how the Exalted respond to charr. Forgotten have been enemies of the charr just as humans have, so unless Glint predicted that change (which is certainly possible), Exalted that were once humans may still respond poorly to charr.)

draxynnic.3719:

(Which reminds me: it’ll be interesting to see how the Exalted respond to charr. Forgotten have been enemies of the charr just as humans have, so unless Glint predicted that change (which is certainly possible), Exalted that were once humans may still respond poorly to charr.)

I was wondering about this too. It is something I’m going to look out for. As per the blog “Exalted retain their names, personalities, and memories of the past”. But the question is, how did these humans feel about charr? Was there any human communities (maybe isolated ones) that did not feel hatred towards charr?

I am really curious about the who the Exalted were before their trails.

For that matter, how will Exalted respond to any non-human. In GW1, norn were more or less fully unknown to humans while asura were considered urban legends due to no contact for centuries. And sylvari are brand new too – and mordrem.

I guess Charr will have to make couple golden rings out of melting them if they’re truly pre-EotN humans.

Plagiarised.2865:

draxynnic.3719:

(Which reminds me: it’ll be interesting to see how the Exalted respond to charr. Forgotten have been enemies of the charr just as humans have, so unless Glint predicted that change (which is certainly possible), Exalted that were once humans may still respond poorly to charr.)

I was wondering about this too. It is something I’m going to look out for. As per the blog “Exalted retain their names, personalities, and memories of the past”. But the question is, how did these humans feel about charr? Was there any human communities (maybe isolated ones) that did not feel hatred towards charr?

If the Exalted were former inhabitants of the Maguuma Jungle, and the trials took place around 300 years ago, I don’t really think that the Charrs were a major problem back then. At the time, Humanity had been destroying itself – it was the Third Guild War.

The only human inhabitants of the Maguuma back then were the druids, though we see several dozen of their people’s souls in GW1 and GW2 so it’s unlikely that they’re the Exalted.

Charr were an issue for Ascalonians, so it any Exalted hail from Ascalon…

Plagiarised.2865:

draxynnic.3719:

(Which reminds me: it’ll be interesting to see how the Exalted respond to charr. Forgotten have been enemies of the charr just as humans have, so unless Glint predicted that change (which is certainly possible), Exalted that were once humans may still respond poorly to charr.)

I was wondering about this too. It is something I’m going to look out for. As per the blog “Exalted retain their names, personalities, and memories of the past”. But the question is, how did these humans feel about charr? Was there any human communities (maybe isolated ones) that did not feel hatred towards charr?

I am really curious about the who the Exalted were before their trails.

considering the sort of person who would become an Exalted, it’s doubtful that they care, all that is in the past and the current generation is living peacefully(ish) with humans. their biggest concern with the charr would likely be to keep the peace going strong until all of the humans that hate charr and vice-versa are dead.

the Exalted are the sort who want peace above all else, to the point of literally sacrificing themselves to achieve that goal. They don’t seem the type to hold a grudge

Depends on one’s perception of “peace”.

Some would view peace as when their “civilized people” has “converted” all “lesser, barbaric civilizations”.

It would not be unexpecting to find an Exalted who’s perception of peace is “human dominated world” (ala Balthazar’s teachings) or just simply “world living under the Six’s rules” (keep in mind that the Forgotten are also devout followers of the Six).

Rym.1469:

I guess Charr will have to make couple golden rings out of melting them if they’re truly pre-EotN humans.

Depends on where they’re from. If they’re from Ascalon… well the Ascalonians and Charr really didn’t get along well, but until the wall fell (btw do we know how they managed to build that giant wall? Must have taken generations and with Charr constantly attacking) it seems the Charr were pretty much limited to Ascalon and above. Possibly the humans that became exalted might have been from Kryta (simply assumption based on proximity) and thus not have had much experience with the Charr other than stories from Ascalon (who they weren’t particularly chatty with after the Guild Wars).
Although my GW1 knowledge is at best sketchy…