Guild Wars 2

I’d like to make this thread an examination of the geographical changes in Tyria, their reasons, and theories of those who don’t currently have a reason to them. So, to start…

Frostgorge Sound
A large portion of far Shiverpeaks became an inland sea. This was caused by the Elder Dragon Jormag’s awakening.

Dragonbrand
From Blazeridge Mountains to Crystal Desert, a crystallized “brand” now pierces the Charr homelands and Ascalon. Caused by the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik awakening and flying south.

Orr Peninsula rising
The formerly sunken Orr Peninsula has resurfaced. The Elder Dragon Zhaitan did this to make a base for himself.

Elon River coursing through the Crystal Desert
The former lifeline of the Elonian states, Elon River, now runs through the Crystal Desert. Caused by Palawa Joko kitten the river in 1135 AE, redirecting it to run through his own kingdom and starving the rest of Elona.

Kryta’s Climate Cooling Down
Kryta used to be a very warm land, with palm trees growing on every hill and every shadowed valley was a swamp. While the amount of swamps is still great, deciduous forests have appeared on Tyrian soil. People also were darker of skin, and wore less clothing (example 1, example 2). The most likely explanation would be that the rising of Orr has changed the sea currents coming from the Unending Ocean so that less warmth is carried over to Kryta. Note that Bloodtide Coast retains this pre-climate cooling nature.

Volcanic Activity Around the Ring of Fire Increased
250 years ago, there was a single active volcanic caldera visible from high above in the Ring of Fire islands, the Mouth of Abaddon. Now, three such calderas can be noticed on the map. Possibly caused by the Elder Dragon Primordus working underground, or a side effect caused by the tremors from the Elder Dragon Zhaitan rose Orr from the sea.

Now, that’s not all of them, of course, just a few to get started. I’ll be thinking up of more, and do not limit yourself, comment, think, study. Preferably in reverse order.

Some palm trees/palm tree-like trees can still be seen in Kryta, though they’re mainly used for logging iirc. I think this is more just a redesign of Kryta so that it makes more sense in putting on par to Ascalon’s climate. Though if an in-game reason came, I’d put it less to the Rising of Orr causing a wind current change (as the old Krytan appearance couldn’t be made in just two years!) and more to do either with Jormag’s activities to the north, Ascalonians bringing plants from their home, or the flooding causing by the Rising of Orr tampering with the climate.

For Krytans’ skin, keep in mind that there was a lot of refugees from Ascalon coming in, and even then there were some whiter Krytans in GW1.

For the “less clothing” bit, I point to the Prophecies manuals: “There are two types of humans in Kryta: those who worship the mysterious Unseen Ones and those who do not. […] Those inside the organization receive special privileges (more food, better clothing, access to books)” In other words, the “lesser clothing” is because those people were forced into poverty. It has little to do with their cultural choice and would be no different than pointing to homeless people in a city and saying “that’s what this city’s culture is really like!”

I don’t think that the Ring of Fire is related to Primordus. While he may be moving around, there’s no ties between the two and I think it’s an improper assumption to just presume the Elder Fire Dragon caused two new volcanos on the same island which was already highly volcanic (the two southern ones cover the Hell’s Precipice mission area of GW1, while the northern most would be Abaddon’s Mouth). It’s likely just due to pressure plate changes more than anything.

One change you didn’t mention would be the Steamspur Mountains – the eruption of Mount Maelstrom (I suspect Primordus caused this) melted the southern Shiverpeaks.

There’s also the regrowth of Ascalon and the drying of the northern Maguuma Jungle (in-lore speculation tying that to the Elder Dragons activity, while I’ve seen players also attributing it to possibly the bloodstone in Bloodstone Fen (possibly the Preservation bloodstone) being tampered with and/or the magical waters of the Maguuma Jungle being drained somehow).

I didn’t mention everything, for a few reasons, one of them being the time it took to think of them in this state of sleep deficiency. As for your arguments, I can see what you mean, but the change in climate is undeniable when you walk around Kryta in GW2. The time window argument is valid, Jormag being the one behind it does seem more likely.

About the Ring of Fire, I was simply providing plausible explanations, as it was a clear difference with no confirmed cause. I do see Orr’s Rising being the more likely of the two explanations I presented, as such a mass upheaval would surely cause unrest in the crust of the earth, especially in such a volcanic hot spot as the Ring of Fire.

Lastly, I didn’t make this thread in attempt to explain anything, nor to ask a question – I made it to create discussion regarding the lore behind the geography of Tyria. Quite like what is happening between these posts.