Guild Wars 2

Hi fellow guild wars players!

I have created a human necromancer and am about to do the fall of falcon company quest in which I am to choose the origin of my character’s background. Now I know this has really no impact on the game what so ever or well except for the appearance of the dead sister, but none the less I like to have some sort of history to my character which I can relate to.

I have nailed it down to either Ascalon or Kryta, but as I am not too familiar with the lore regarding these places I would love to hear your opinions as of which place would be the best suited, well, lorewise for a necromancer?

Maybe Ascalon, due to it’s huge catacombs and the bloody background of it’s fall. Ascalon had some powerful necromancers, like Verata (for a time, the owner of the Garenhoff Wizard tower), Eve or Kasha Blackblood.

however cantha was the ‘homeland’ of humans after they came from.. wherever they came from and before they went to the continents of elona then tyria

Verata wasn’t the owner of the wizards tower. He was outside and trying to find a way in.

The only few things we know bout the ownership of that tower is that the current owner relocated it. Indicating that it currently has an owner (he/she is called Isgarren by the inhabitants of Wizards Fief).

Necromancers were known to have had origins in both Kryta and Ascalon. Verata, Oberon the Reviled, Kasha Blackblood, and Eve were all Ascalonian, but you can’t forget the BA necromancer that was Livia who was from Kryta. A vast majority of NPC’s in Kryta were warriors, rangers, or monks, but I would take that as seeing mostly unskilled NPC’s, more than the fact that they do not trust as much in magic. There were many good and bad magic users in the newer War in Kryta content they included in the game.

Either would suit really. Neither nation was more magically inclined than the other (unlike Orr). As for the theme of death, Ascalon had it’s catacombs, and Krytans had a strange funeral rite where they’d mummify their dead, tie them to the mast of a boat and send them out into the swamps. It doesn’t seem to be practiced in modern times but I thought it was pretty interesting.

Knox.8462:

Either would suit really. Neither nation was more magically inclined than the other (unlike Orr). As for the theme of death, Ascalon had it’s catacombs, and Krytans had a strange funeral rite where they’d mummify their dead, tie them to the mast of a boat and send them out into the swamps. It doesn’t seem to be practiced in modern times but I thought it was pretty interesting.

Where did you get that information about Krytans mummifyingthe dead and sending to swamps? I would see the exact same thing in a couple of swamps but I figured the undead Orrians did it to show they should be feared. (mostly because I would see the “mummy boat” surrounded by a group of undead)

Verata had his own cult, and they were hunting him and his followers. So if it is an evil necromancer you want to play, then belonging to his cult could be a way to go (or you can be one of my followers, hehe). How ever, verata and his cult are not mentioned much or at all in GW2, so I’m not sure what happened to it (if someone can dig something up, that would be very interesting). It is quite possible that the cult no longer exists, so your character could be a member of some sort of splinter cult.

But keep in mind that the Kingdom of Ascalon was destroyed quite some time ago. So it is unlikely that your necromancer him/herself is that old, unless his/her family used to be Ascalon(ian), and then later fled to Kryta.

In Kryta necromancers have continued to practice their rites, since they are still much needed for funerals and such. Even though not many statues of Grenth remain. A new statue was made in Divinity’s Reach, so you could be part of a new wave of necromancers born in Kryta.

Grenth also still has an ancient statue in Lornar’s Pass. It is not unlikely that lone necromancers in the Shiverpeaks still honor the ancient God of death there, even though many may have forgotten the statue is even there.

Well, when it comes to Ascalonians, Ebonhawke does still exist, and the Ascalon Settlement and Rurikton also keep Ascalonian culture alive. The impression I get is that the Ascalonians were probably more necromantically inclined than the Krytans in GW1, but that might just have been because we saw GW1 from the Ascalonian perspective, and it’s still distrusted by humans in general. Ascalonian necromancers – those that didn’t go rogue – mostly occupied themselves by tending to cemeteries and the spirits of the dead. Krytan necromancers, off the top of my head, I don’t recall having such a focus (although they probably still do it).

In Elona, necromancy seems to be regarded as an ‘old’ magic – many Elonians feared it, and those that had it regarded it as the darker ways of their ancestors (although like in Tyria, they were practical enough to keep using it). Among the Canthans, the Kurzicks mostly had necromancers among the record-keepers and historians – otherwise, it seemed to be regarded as just another type of magic, although ritualists seemed to be more highly regarded. Mind you, it’s looking as if necromancers and ritualists might have effectively merged in Tyria.

Essentially, though, I’d probably make the decision based off the culture you want your character to come from rather than which is most necromantically focused, since they’re all roughly the same. Cantha is mostly Asian, although the Kurzicks and Luxons are kind of mixes of Germanic goths and piratical Greeks respectively with Asian. Elona is North Africa, with Vabbi in particular also showing strong Middle Eastern influences. Kryta and Ascalon you’ve probably seen enough of – both are essentially European (Kryta was more Mediterranean in GW1, but modern Kryta seems more Tudorian English), but Kryta is still more-or-less intact while Ascalon is distinctly the last vestiges of a nation desperately holding on to what it has left.

Necromancers in GW1 were those who followed Grenth. And I mean really followed Grenth, the powers of underthings were an extension of his will so to speak, allowing necromancers to harness the power of Aggression (if memory serves).

So they originate from where ever humans worshipped Grenth or from where not worship ears harnessed aggression magic.

That’s pretty much everywhere, though – there’s no known human nation where Grenth was not worshipped.

Avatar Rage.4369:

Necromancers in GW1 were those who followed Grenth. And I mean really followed Grenth, the powers of underthings were an extension of his will so to speak, allowing necromancers to harness the power of Aggression (if memory serves).

So they originate from where ever humans worshipped Grenth or from where not worship ears harnessed aggression magic.

Not so much aggression, just power. Raw power. Grenth’s first follower Desmina wanted revenge. But not all necromancers follow Grenth for spiteful reasons. Grenth promises his followers true power. From the manuscripts:

Necromancers learn early that the way to true power is by bowing down at the foot of the god of death and ice and pledging total, undying allegiance. Statues of Grenth depict the god with the body of a man and the skeletal head of a drawn-faced beast. Often, there are followers at his feet, grasping toward his open, clawed hands, clamoring for the powers the unforgiving deity may feel so inclined to heap upon his subjects.

Linky: ftp://ftp.guildwars.com/downloads/gwp-manual.pdf