Guild Wars 2

For RP reasons I’ve been curious lately what life was like in Orr before the Cataclysm. What I’d like to know about is what the average Orrian was like, any special words or phrases they would use, or basically anything that made an Orrian different than a Krytan or an Ascalonian.

Currently, all I know so far is that magic was an integral part of Orr since nearly every citizen had some sort of magical ability, and that they likely had a great reverence for the Six since they lived with them, in their empire at least. I’m hoping if not much is know then maybe we could even come up with some lore friendly ideas for what they were like, speculation and guessing is completely acceptable!

Here’s my take on the little I know about Orr:

Names and Titles
Named Orrian NPCs in GW2 generally have Mesopotamian, Arabian or ancient-Greek sounding names. Mazdak the Accursed, Risen Prince Nekandezzar and Veteran Risen Prince Alhazred are some of the characters named in the GW2 Wiki. Orrians in GW1 have names that I can’t really match with our Earth counterparts, like Orrian Spirit Kandril, Orrian Spirit Minos and Vizier Khilbron – but seem to follow the trend of Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern names. A vizier is a title once used for high-ranking ministers in the Mid-East region.

Art and Aesthetics
Orrian art tends to have (IMO) a very sci-fi-esque look to them, featuring smooth, flowing lines that either radiate from the centre, form concentric rings (but never crossing) or appear as parallel lines (there are a lot of lines, basically ^^). Concept art found here <http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ruins_of_Orr>;, here <http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Orr>; and here <http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Vizier_Khilbron>; give an idea of what I mean.

Mindset and Culture
Note: The writings below are purely of my own speculation, but are based on the lore tidbits I’ve found strewn about this forum and the various GW2/GW1 wikis:

Before The Cataclysm occurred, Orr was a “vibrant, proud and prosperous nation”. The ancient Orrians were a peaceful people, were deeply spiritual and were favoured by the gods. They generally took a neutral stance, and distanced themselves from the conflicts of the First and Second Guild Wars. Only when fights from the Third Guild War spilled onto the streets of Arah, did King Reza summon his army to defend Orr. <http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/exploring/tyria/story/kingdomorr.php>

With the obliteration of their homland, most Orrians these days are probably too embarrassed and too afraid to disclose their heritage. The wanton display of magic from the Cataclysm, resulting in the sinking of their entire nation, was probably a big blow to their psyche, and since most of what remains of Orr is Risen, modern Orrians probably don’t want to be associated with them. You can find more about that discussion here <https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/lore/lore/Orrian-Descent>

They had spoons too! http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/23675

Good summary. A few points that might be of interest:

*Kryta was originally an Orrian colony founded by Prince Mazdak (who appears as an undead in the sylvari personal story), but eventually developed into an independent nation. I think it would be fair to compare this to the Middle Eastern groups from the Fertile Crescent establishing the first Western cultures and eventually spreading to other areas in the Mediterranean. Later, Kryta was colonized by the Elonians (North Africans), sort of like how the Moors took over Spain in the Middle Ages. The Krytans at the time of GW1 were dark-skinned, sort of Mediterranean (Italian, Spanish, Greek) mixed with Asian Indian (not Native American). Over time, humanity has become more of a melting pot, but the native Krytans from the time of GW1 are descended from the Orrians, and likely the Elonians.
*The Orrians were, as previously mentioned, extremely religious. The gods first revealed themselves to humanity in certain small villages in Orr. In GW1, the ubiquitous statues of the (at the time) Five Gods each had an inscription explaining the first appearance of each god and (in most of the stories) the god’s choice of his or her first disciples. There are two places in particular, the Village of Ewan and the Village of Wren, that were specifically noted in GW1. Ewan was where Melandru turned the inhabitants of the village into stewards of nature for their failure to respect the land, and Wren was where Lyssa chose her first disciple, Sara, the only person who could see through her illusions and show compassion towards her.
*The architecture of Orr feels extremely weird to me. Virtually every culture on earth has architecture based on straight lines, with arches and domes complementing those lines, but overall regular angles are the bread and butter of human construction. Orr breaks all of these rules. Everything has to do with curves and circles, which are often laid out in impractical ways. There are HUGE ring structures that seem to serve no obvious purpose, and instead of public squares, there are public series of circles that join one another. I can’t figure out if this is a ceremonial or ritual practice related to the gods, or whether it symbolizes the Orrians’ over-reliance on magic to the point that they’ve forgotten about mundane practicality and utility. I’d argue towards the latter, since the Orrian History Scrolls discuss how an Ascalonian merchant is completely bewildered by the grandiosity and exorbitance of everyday Orrian life:

“My early career as a merchant began in Foible’s Fair, in southern Ascalon. Imaging my shock at my first encounter with the enchanted markets of Wren. Fishmongers display live catch in watery orbs above their tents. Porters enhance their strength with spells, routinely carrying loads that would cripple a pack bull. The finest silks ripple in the air, showing their quality: songs play themselves on golden lyres; parents project their voices across the square to find the ear of a wayward child. Yet the real oddity is just how normal all this seems to them. It makes me ponder: How did magic become so common, so everyday? In Ascalon, we apply magic only to things of import-when ordinary means cannot succeed. For the Orrians, magic is like any other tool, to be used at whim and with little concern. I worry at what this means for Orr. Such great feats with so little caution. Surely, even in the land of the Gods, there must be a cost…”

We also have no idea where the scroll that caused the Cataclysm came from, but I would wager that the Orrians were so incredibly talented that they were able to create a magical nuke. The charr, which were a primitive culture at that point, were able to create the Searing with the help of the Titans, so I don’t see any reason why the much more advanced Orrians wouldn’t be able to come up with something similar after more than a thousand years of being able to experiment.

Posted this awhile ago, but not many people cared to listen. This is what I thought of Orr – both what it was back in the day, before the war, and post-war, right now.

https://soundcloud.com/tim_six/shadows-of-the-past

Sounds nice, Reisinger. A little dark though.

It’s a nitpick, but the impression I had of the Scriptures of Lyssa was not that Sara had actually had some pre-existing mystical ability to see through the illusion and recognise the goddess, but that that she showed compassion to what appeared to be a crippled and possibly infectious woman. The line about Sara seeing the beauty behind the illusion is not one of her having seen through the actual literal illusion, but having perceived that behind the physical appearance was still a human being worthy of assistance.