Guild Wars 2

Is magic learned or inherited in Tyria? For example: Are you born being able to summon a blood fiend or born being able to create illusions?

magic is a gift by the gods to the humans in Tyria. At some unknown point the other races got capable of doing magic as well. What is known is that originally you could study and learn all schools of magic. The magic comes from what is known as the bloodstone. cause of that humans became to powerfull and the war between the human guilds (a.k.a. the guildwars) became overly violent and agressive. On request of King Doric, the gods splitted the bloodstone in 5 pieces, 4 representing the 4 schools and a 5th used as a keystone. Since then it was only possible to study one school of magic. Wich one was up to the individual to decide.

So magic is like a force of nature, all beings can use it at birth. But you are required to choose a school and are limited in what magic you can wield. The individual skills are learned by using magic (you start with one skill).

The four schools are: Aggression, Denial, Destruction, and Preservation. Also see http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Magic

Thanks! So would it be probable for a street rat or commoner to learn magic, or is it something that the powerful tend to have due to something like a monetary cost? I’m just trying to figure out if from a lore-point, my Mesmer makes sense (He’s a street rat)!

Okay, so Mercury you got a few things quite wrong, but the overall concept is correct.

The gods, specifically Abaddon, gave magic out freely, not just to the humans but to everyone. Because of this new found power many of the races went to war, and the biggest target was Humanity because the humans pushed many races out at Balthazar’s request. Because of this bloody war King Doric asked the gods to get rid of magic, so they broke the bloodstone into 5 parts. 4 parts representing the schools of magic and the 5th was a keystone that would be required to piece them back together again.
The Guild Wars didn’t happen until many years after this. It is stated that Abaddon’s Mouth (the volcano that held the bloodstones within it) erupted and spewed the bloodstones throughout Tyria. The keystone landed back inside of it, one landed in the maguuma wastes and another in the southern shiverpeaks, the other two are unknown. At this point in time it is stated that magic seeped back into the world, and desire for more magic lead to the original Guild Wars.

Axyl.9408:

Thanks! So would it be probable for a street rat or commoner to learn magic, or is it something that the powerful tend to have due to something like a monetary cost? I’m just trying to figure out if from a lore-point, my Mesmer makes sense (He’s a street rat)!

In my mind, as a human each profession makes sense at any rank of citizenship. More than likely nobles would pay for the best teachers to give their children the best chances to succeed as their profession, but commoners also likely learn through schools as well, probably of a lower caliber. And as a street rat you would most likely learn your skills from a mentor. A mesmer, being a mind altering profession, would have many uses within a community of street rats in my mind.

Narcemus.1348:

Okay, so Mercury you got a few things quite wrong, but the overall concept is correct.

The gods, specifically Abaddon, gave magic out freely, not just to the humans but to everyone. Because of this new found power many of the races went to war, and the biggest target was Humanity because the humans pushed many races out at Balthazar’s request.

From: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Ecology_of_the_Charr
‘Then, the humans came, an infestation caused by beings called gods that had been enemies to the Charr since the beginnings of history. The humans worshiped and revered these gods, and in return were given magic the likes of which the Charr had never before. This upstart race spread like a plague across the continent, and the Charr soon faced the true challenge to their dominance–the threat of humanity’

This text shows that initially only humans where given magic or atleast not the char. The problem is that different lore sources (the mursaat fought the sears before the arrival of the humans and the gods ,and knew the magic skill spectral agony) and current game mechanics (currently all races know magic) are contradicting each other. So it is debatable if this piece of text is right.

“In the year 1 BE, Abaddon gave the ability to use Magic to the sentient races of Tyria. However, this gift was given too freely, resulting in immediate and bloody wars. The leader of the human kingdoms in Tyria at the time, King Doric, traveled to Arah to seek audience with the gods and begged at their feet for their compassion and to take back their gift of magic.”

Directly from the article you posted.