Guild Wars 2

I am writing a short diddy of a story between my character and a friends. Pre-Searing in Guild wars 1… is it possible that a couple Norn could have been spotted outside the Northern Shiverpeaks? Maybe as far south as Ascalon or Kryta or… Southern Shiverpeaks?

I suspect it’s possible. Ogden recognized the norn at the start of Eye of the North, but I don’t think we ever learned why. That’d give you room to invent some kind of contact between the two cultures.

The dwarves had dealings with norn, but most races knew nothing about them beyond charr and dwarves. But the dwarves also had some influence up north so it’s not clear whether the dealings between dwarf and norn was due to dwarves going north or norn going south.

I think it’s more likely from what we see in the game that the dwarves ventured north. Despite their adventurous nature the Norn didn’t really seem to travel much to the south prior to the events of Eye of the North. Atleast there is no case that I remember (except maybe Ulfarr Leadfoot, however he is still pretty close to the Shiverpeaks). The dwarves however, atleast the Stone Summit set up a few camps and strongholds in the Far Shiverpeaks, which takes atleast a few months to do, if not years. And they had the time to do it between the civil war of Prophecies and the events of EotN.

Though my guess would be that the first contact happened before that time, seeing as both races are rather ancient (if the Jotun are to be believed) and inhabited the Shiverpeaks for a long time. Again no sign of the Norn appearing outside the mountain ranges, so I guess they really didn’t like the heat of the flatter lands? Or they thought there was no worthy prey? Or perhabs the dwarves didn’t allow them to go south, Ogden doesn’t seem to trust them and that could be the general perception of them by dwarves? I don’t think the Norn would care though, even if there was a treaty that said so.

I would say there is probably no Lore reason for the Norn not being in southern Tyria, it’s just that they haven’t invented them back in the day.

Edit: That took me 15 minutes to post, because my cat distracted me with her cuteness. Curse you, you white fluffy charm ball!

I’m no lore expert, but I remember a WoodenPotatoe Video about the ice fractal, connected to the lore of a “hill giant invasion” to the southern shiverpeaks long ago.
It was just speculation, but those hill giants could have been norn.

Hill Giants are not norn.

And the Snowblind Fractal obviously takes place after Svanir’s death in Eye of the North – as apparent by the Sons of Svanir – the hill giant invasion was nearly 500 years before Svanir’s birth let alone death.

We don’t know exactly when the Norn and the Dwarves encountered each other, but we do know from the example of Kilroy Stonekin, the Outrunner in the Sepulchre of Dragrimmar, and others, that individual Dwarves had already established a presence in the North by the time the player character reached the area; the Stone Summit was already out in force in some places, and King Jalis himself came to establish his base camp not far from the Eye itself shortly after the anti-Destroyer alliance began assembling. The caverns where he set up, I always thought – maybe this is official, I don’t remember – were old Dwarven halls that had long since been abandoned. As for Ogden, it’s not so much that he didn’t trust the Norn as that he, from past experience both personal and of his fellows, knew that they were extremely dangerous if riled up, which is why he counseled caution when the party encountered Jora for the first time at Boreal Station.

(Indeed, Ogden’s statement is really Dealing with Norn 101: Do not make the Norn angry. You will not like it when they get angry.)

It depends with what time period you’re working with, exactly. Before Primordus’s rising, I don’t imagine norn were ever seen south of the Far Shiverpeaks (where exactly that boundary is, I don’t know). After the events of Eye of the North, though, they probably started to integrate with the other races.

If you want to create a story, though, I’m certain the odd norn ventured far and wide, looking for new lands to make their legend. So long as they could make it back to their people to have their legend told, they could be pretty much anywhere. However, they weren’t widely known by humans, so they were probably never near major settlements. Even small ones like the Nebo Village probably never saw one. Take that in consideration when you create your story.

The Stone Summit were exiled to the Far Shiverpeaks after their loss in the war in 1072 – largely caused by the players killing Dagnar and then destroying the Iron Forgeman. So the Stone Summit’s presence in the Far Shiverpeaks wasn’t even 6 years old – and Kilroy (amongst other Deldrimor dwarves) only went north to hassle the Stone Summit individuals (I believe those related to the Sepulcher of Dragrimmar was amongst them). Jalis’s camp was only established because Olaf sent him a message, though Olad stated that he knew Jalis personally so there had to have been contact between Jalis and norn before, whether this was up north or down south is anyone’s guess however. Nothing says the ruins are of dwarven make, though we see similar pillars in Sorrow’s Furnace which is likely where such a connection is made (however, said ruins are seen across the depths and Sorrow’s Furnace is as much an excavation of ancient ruins as it is a dwarven underground fortress).