Guild Wars 2

So back in GW1 we had the manuscripts that told us all about which professions typically revered which gods and this has typically held true to GW2’s time, with Warriors revering Balthazar, Guardians both Balthazar and Dwayna (like monks & paragons used to), Rangers Melandru, Mesmers Lyssa, Elementalists all but Kormir & Lyssa mainly (though I expect it’s now just Kormir that isn’t in the primary set, since Lyssa has domain of water now), etc etc.

So with Revenant brought into the picture, this raises an odd question. What god do they typically Revere as their primary one? I’d imagine it would be Grenth, but there’s room for Balthazar given their phsyical nature, Lyssa given some of their abilities are quite similar to that of a mesmer or thief in nature (game mechanics vs lore, I know). I imagine Melandru and Dwayna would likely be out of the picture and though there’s a temptation to say Kormir could be their most revered deity due to her blindfolded nature, I doubt it goes beyond that.

So what’s everyone’s thoughts? Personally I see Grenth as the primary candidate. That or they’re likely to be more Dervish in nature, revering all the gods completely equally.

Honestly.

1.) I don’t think revenants would have ties to ANY gods, since they aren’t from the first game and aren’t a human-origin profession (rhytlock being the first one)

2.) they focus on spirits, or rather…memories of the mists, not on elements, not on any aspect that a god has or has domain over. Revenants I guess would…revere the mists, like how the Norn shamans commune with the mists.

In summary. They don’t revere any god, the human gods have 100% of nothing to do with the way a revenant works, or how they would think….even human revenants, but that’s just my opinion.

In addition to what vanderwolf says.. Actually, I don’t think any of the human gods or their priests would give their blessing to a Revenant. I would even go as far as to call the Revenant profession heretical in human culture.

Why? They channel the powers of Shiro und Mallyx – both powerful servants of Abaddons evil during their lifetime, and both enemies of humanity (especially Shiro).

I don’t see the Revenant fitting into the faith of the Six at all. They are a dark anti-hero profession with a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude. That doesn’t work well with the virtues of the gods, not even Grenth and Balthazar.

I could even figure Revenants being equally hated and mistrused as the Sylvari (with HoT release and all the dragon minion knowledge) among humans.

I would imagine the same as ritualists, which hold a lot of similarities to revenant. Which would mean Grenth.

@Agroman: They channel them because they’re useful tools and nothing more. It’s nothing to do with faith but practicality in that respect. Furthermore, it’s not like every revenant out there in existence would channel those two.

Yes, the Revenant channels these powers as useful tools. However, it is implied that there is a certain amount of corruption included (hence the trait line name).

And while that does not necessarily make the Revenant himself a heretic to the Six if they use Shiro or Mallyx, I do think that most faithful humans would disapprove of using such powers and likely proclaim that as being blasphemous.

vanderwolf.7084:

1.) I don’t think revenants would have ties to ANY gods, since they aren’t from the first game and aren’t a human-origin profession (rhytlock being the first one)

I think this is important. I agree that Grenth is probably the single most prominent contender, but the link would likely be much weaker than for just about any other profession. The reason professions and gods were so closely linked in GW1 wasn’t just a quirk of human culture- the gods actually bestowed direct patronage on certain ones, essentially ‘buffing’ members of the professions that fell under their purview. Revenants, like engineers, are from a time after that patronage, so the relationship needed to form the link isn’t there.

A Char get magic from human gods? A very big plot twist.

Agroman.7190:

Yes, the Revenant channels these powers as useful tools. However, it is implied that there is a certain amount of corruption included (hence the trait line name).

And while that does not necessarily make the Revenant himself a heretic to the Six if they use Shiro or Mallyx, I do think that most faithful humans would disapprove of using such powers and likely proclaim that as being blasphemous.

I don’t think the specialization lines can be taken literally for what’s happening to the revenant, so much as what the revenant is doing.

The corruption line is a heavy-condition focused line that focuses on benefitting Mallyx’s powers, which is about corrupting boons into conditions. Taking positive effects of others and making them negative; taking negative effects of the self and making them positive.

Similar to how Devastation isn’t causing harm to the revenant’s body, but is about the revenant causing harm – or devastation – to opponents.

I would not disagree with revenants who use the powers of the gods’ enemies being proclaimed blasphemous/heretics/etc., but that’s a far cry from the revenants being such.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

vanderwolf.7084:

1.) I don’t think revenants would have ties to ANY gods, since they aren’t from the first game and aren’t a human-origin profession (rhytlock being the first one)

I think this is important. I agree that Grenth is probably the single most prominent contender, but the link would likely be much weaker than for just about any other profession. The reason professions and gods were so closely linked in GW1 wasn’t just a quirk of human culture- the gods actually bestowed direct patronage on certain ones, essentially ‘buffing’ members of the professions that fell under their purview. Revenants, like engineers, are from a time after that patronage, so the relationship needed to form the link isn’t there.

Don’t engineers tend to look towards Lyssa and Kormir though (creativity and knowledge), despite being charr-originating and post-Silence of the Six? Pretty sure I’ve read this before.

I really don’t think that the time period would be much issue. Otherwise couldn’t we say the same for guardians and thieves?

Revenant is a profession of charr origin, and dont need any connection with “divine” beings who fled at first signs of ED danger.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Aaron Ansari.1604:

vanderwolf.7084:

1.) I don’t think revenants would have ties to ANY gods, since they aren’t from the first game and aren’t a human-origin profession (rhytlock being the first one)

I think this is important. I agree that Grenth is probably the single most prominent contender, but the link would likely be much weaker than for just about any other profession. The reason professions and gods were so closely linked in GW1 wasn’t just a quirk of human culture- the gods actually bestowed direct patronage on certain ones, essentially ‘buffing’ members of the professions that fell under their purview. Revenants, like engineers, are from a time after that patronage, so the relationship needed to form the link isn’t there.

Don’t engineers tend to look towards Lyssa and Kormir though (creativity and knowledge), despite being charr-originating and post-Silence of the Six? Pretty sure I’ve read this before.

I really don’t think that the time period would be much issue. Otherwise couldn’t we say the same for guardians and thieves?

Sorry, I should have clarified. I’m not arguing that new professions can’t look to or feel inspired by the gods- just that they, or their separate component parts, aren’t going to be lashed so tightly to a single god, because a single god no longer directly empowers them where the others wouldn’t. I certainly agree that an engineer could feel special reverence for Kormir, or even Lyssa- but they aren’t tied to that choice the way GW1 professions were. Making offerings to Kormir presumably wouldn’t make them more inventive or their concoctions stronger, nor does it give them any explicit advantage that they wouldn’t get making an offering to, say, Dwayna, in acknowledgement of the curative properties of their alchemy. Granted, this is all built on a rather unsteady foundation- the attribute-specific blessings were presented as a mechanic in GW1 and absent altogether in Prophecies, and the actual direct role the gods play in Tyria in GW2 is similarly vague, but I feel fairly confident in saying it was a thing that happened that doesn’t anymore.

As a side note, I’m only neglecting guardians and thieves because they’re built on foundations that did receive direct divine benefit at one time. For the guardian, I wouldn’t be surprised if that association carried over the same way rangers are still associated with Melandru. Thieves… I’m more dubious about.

Rednik.3809:

Revenant is a profession of charr origin, and dont need any connection with “divine” beings who fled at first signs of ED danger.

We don’t really know the origin.

Rytlock might be the first revenant, but where did he get those powers?

For all we know, he ran into the Six Gods and they taught him how to be a revenant.

One can argue that engineer is of charr origin and thus don’t need a connection with “divine beings” but that doesn’t mean there won’t be human engineers who revere a particular god due to their profession.

And as an aside: The gods did not flee due to the Elder Dragons. They left the world over 1,000 years before the Elder Dragons began to wake, and even their silence isn’t completely so (as seen in the PS and the lore behind human racials).

Aaron Ansari.1604:

I certainly agree that an engineer could feel special reverence for Kormir, or even Lyssa- but they aren’t tied to that choice the way GW1 professions were. Making offerings to Kormir presumably wouldn’t make them more inventive or their concoctions stronger, nor does it give them any explicit advantage that they wouldn’t get making an offering to, say, Dwayna, in acknowledgement of the curative properties of their alchemy.

That would be more due to the silence of the gods than anything tied to the profession, TBH.

If the gods were as active as they were in GW1, then they’d no doubt have a “patron god” for the engineer profession. And revenant.

Even in GW1, while there might be a patron god for a profession is was far from uncommon for an individual of a profession to revere an entirely different god.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

I don’t think the specialization lines can be taken literally for what’s happening to the revenant, so much as what the revenant is doing.

The corruption line is a heavy-condition focused line that focuses on benefitting Mallyx’s powers, which is about corrupting boons into conditions. Taking positive effects of others and making them negative; taking negative effects of the self and making them positive.

Similar to how Devastation isn’t causing harm to the revenant’s body, but is about the revenant causing harm – or devastation – to opponents.

Fair point. However, regarding that Mallyx tries to tempt the Revenant with ‘ultimate power’ (at least I think that’s what he says, don’t recall it exactly atm) and that the Legendary Demon skills put conditions on the Revenant that can damage him if he doesn’t manage them properly, I tend to believe that the risk of being corrupted by Mallyx is quite real. Yes, that’s all jut mechanics, but thematically it appears that way to me.

I’d say that for revenants, either they have no patron god (being a new profession, and a charr one at that), or it’s whatever their preferred god in the bio is.

if we’re going to be literal about their patron god, it would have to be “none” however, since apart from grenth through his Reapers, they aren’t actually there to grant revenants their patronage.

or perhaps due to the “blank slate” of revenants, ALL the gods would be willing to grant patronage?

now I wonder: can a revenant channel a god?

Calcifire.1864:

or perhaps due to the “blank slate” of revenants, ALL the gods would be willing to grant patronage?

That would reduce the very meaning of ‘patronage’ to absurdity.

Calcifire.1864:

now I wonder: can a revenant channel a god?

The Revenant channels legends of the past. Dead people. The gods are neither, as far as we know.

Agroman.7190:

Fair point. However, regarding that Mallyx tries to tempt the Revenant with ‘ultimate power’ (at least I think that’s what he says, don’t recall it exactly atm) and that the Legendary Demon skills put conditions on the Revenant that can damage him if he doesn’t manage them properly, I tend to believe that the risk of being corrupted by Mallyx is quite real. Yes, that’s all jut mechanics, but thematically it appears that way to me.

It’s not temptation as I understand it.

When you use the Mallyx elite, he says something along the lines of “Finally, it’s time to show these fools ultimate power.”

So it’s less temptation and more of Mallyx being so egotistical with himself that he thinks he wields ultimate power.

Agroman.7190:

Calcifire.1864:

now I wonder: can a revenant channel a god?

The Revenant channels legends of the past. Dead people. The gods are neither, as far as we know.

We don’t know that they’re all dead. Jalis could still be alive.

And given the nature of the Mists, in that it connects all time and space (including the future) together, it’s theoretically possible for the revenant to channel legends of the future – or even possible legends of the future – just as much as it would be to channel legends of the past or present.

Though I doubt we’ll ever see a revenant channeling the legend of a future, more out of the explanation of “the revenant cannot channel what he doesn’t know.”

By the lore they’ve given, the indication is that revenants channel copies of people who had such a huge impact on the world that they were imprinted upon by the Mists and a clone was made. Said clones can come in various shapes and sizes and be of people, places, or events. The ones revenants channel seem sapient but for all we know are incorporeal.

All that said, to say that gods are neither dead nor legends of the past would be false. See Abaddon as a prime example – he is dead, and he had clearly had a huge impact of the world. He would have been copied by the Mists already, in fact, if Evon had won the election during S1.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Agroman.7190:

Fair point. However, regarding that Mallyx tries to tempt the Revenant with ‘ultimate power’ (at least I think that’s what he says, don’t recall it exactly atm) and that the Legendary Demon skills put conditions on the Revenant that can damage him if he doesn’t manage them properly, I tend to believe that the risk of being corrupted by Mallyx is quite real. Yes, that’s all jut mechanics, but thematically it appears that way to me.

It’s not temptation as I understand it.

When you use the Mallyx elite, he says something along the lines of “Finally, it’s time to show these fools ultimate power.”

So it’s less temptation and more of Mallyx being so egotistical with himself that he thinks he wields ultimate power.

Agroman.7190:

Calcifire.1864:

now I wonder: can a revenant channel a god?

The Revenant channels legends of the past. Dead people. The gods are neither, as far as we know.

We don’t know that they’re all dead. Jalis could still be alive.

And given the nature of the Mists, in that it connects all time and space (including the future) together, it’s theoretically possible for the revenant to channel legends of the future – or even possible legends of the future – just as much as it would be to channel legends of the past or present.

Though I doubt we’ll ever see a revenant channeling the legend of a future, more out of the explanation of “the revenant cannot channel what he doesn’t know.”

By the lore they’ve given, the indication is that revenants channel copies of people who had such a huge impact on the world that they were imprinted upon by the Mists and a clone was made. Said clones can come in various shapes and sizes and be of people, places, or events. The ones revenants channel seem sapient but for all we know are incorporeal.

All that said, to say that gods are neither dead nor legends of the past would be false. See Abaddon as a prime example – he is dead, and he had clearly had a huge impact of the world. He would have been copied by the Mists already, in fact, if Evon had won the election during S1.

plus, death gets strange when the mists get involved, Mad King Thorn is dead, but also still very much alive in the mad realm, you also get the occasional living person/thing trapped there (Abbadon pre-nightfall, Dhuum, Rytlock, Mai Trin (the real one, not the fractal clone), most of the lunatic court, Possibly Dessa depending on the nature of her being trapped in her fractal)

hell, Mallyx is a margonite, so who even knows how “living” is defined for him, he was made of mists and lived in the mists to begin with, what would be the difference to a living mallyx in the realm of torment and a dead mallyx in the realm of torment?

Calcifire.1864:

plus, death gets strange when the mists get involved, Mad King Thorn is dead, but also still very much alive in the mad realm, you also get the occasional living person/thing trapped there (Abbadon pre-nightfall, Dhuum, Rytlock, Mai Trin (the real one, not the fractal clone), most of the lunatic court, Possibly Dessa depending on the nature of her being trapped in her fractal)

hell, Mallyx is a margonite, so who even knows how “living” is defined for him, he was made of mists and lived in the mists to begin with, what would be the difference to a living mallyx in the realm of torment and a dead mallyx in the realm of torment?

Oswald Thorn is not alive. He’s a spirit. Souls aren’t alive.

And living beings can go to the afterlife – this is nothing new as we’ve seen it ever since Prophecies. Though in most cases, it’s a higher being (be it a god’s avatar or a Spirit of the Wild) which allows such.

Margonites seemed to have been souls too. Though this is going off of Varesh, who was killed as a human (though appearing like she was slowly transforming into a Margonite) and then came back from the Realm of Torment as a Margonite.

Margonites – including Mallyx – were not made by the Mists. They were originally humans (though Mallyx may not have been) that were turned into ethereal demons by Abaddon.

Okay, I got that Mallyx quote wrong, then. Really didn’t have the exact wording in mind. Nevertheless, I believe that over time, it is possible that a Revenant is being influenced by the legends he channels. Everybody is somehow influenced and even, to a certain point, defined by what he regularly does. The whole profession is described as being more sinister and more “whatever it takes to succed” and honestly I’d be surprised if that didn’t come at a price of some sort.

Jalis – yes, he could still be alive as far as we know, but I believe it can be said that this is highly unlikely. It is explicitly stated that Revenants channel “legends of the past”, and that usually means something that is truly gone.

And concerning the gods – well, fair point with Abaddon, but that doesn’t count for all the other gods. And honestly, I don’t think that ArenaNet would go as far as to let a Revenant channel the direct powers of a god, which should be beyond what a mortal magic user could control (Kormir could only do it because the five other gods gave her a special blessing to achieve it). They chose Mallyx for a reason, I believe.

Ironically, the most suited god for a revenant would probably have been Abaddon with his pratical-oriented philosophy:
“Act with magic, act within reason, act without mercy”.

As for the actual gods, using an ancient type of magic (somehow akin to ritualists’) to get power diretly from the Mists still give me the Kormir’s knowledge vibe more than anything else.
Nightfall history also helps Kormir in the “using the bad guy power” department.
After all to beat Abaddon they used Joko who has always been, and after more than two centuries still is, an enemy.
The 5 gods themselves didn’t seem to mind it as long as Abaddon was defeated, so I don’t see how they would care about using Shiro or Mallyx power in the present time to fight elder dragons.

The gods are not good guys, except maybe Melandru.

Kormir wasn’t “using the bad guy powers”. Abaddons powers weren’t bad or evil to begin with. He made them that way and Kormir took the raw power and cleansed it. So that’s no argument for the gods being okay with the Revenant channelling Mallyx or Shiro. Especially Shiro, btw., who stole magic gifted by Dwayna to wreak havoc in Cantha.

Agroman.7190:

Kormir wasn’t “using the bad guy powers”. Abaddons powers weren’t bad or evil to begin with. He made them that way and Kormir took the raw power and cleansed it. So that’s no argument for the gods being okay with the Revenant channelling Mallyx or Shiro. Especially Shiro, btw., who stole magic gifted by Dwayna to wreak havoc in Cantha.

Where did I say that Kormir used Abaddon power…?

Anyway, I can see Dwayna not liking Shiro that much but it’s not like anyone is bringing him back to life. Revenants are only using him (and other legends), why should the gods even care?

I could understand the conflict if the gods where some kind of good and pure beings , but they’re definitely not.

Agroman.7190:

The whole profession is described as being more sinister and more “whatever it takes to succed” and honestly I’d be surprised if that didn’t come at a price of some sort.

I’d imagine that any price there is, is simply that of moral decisions.

Agroman.7190:

Jalis – yes, he could still be alive as far as we know, but I believe it can be said that this is highly unlikely. It is explicitly stated that Revenants channel “legends of the past”, and that usually means something that is truly gone.

I disagree. The phrase “legends of the past” or even “hero of the past” is used more in line with someone who’s time of being great has come and gone. A similar phrasing is used to define Eir in Ghosts of Ascalon, when Gullik talks about her in distaste because she had given up adventuring and doing great deeds (due to Snaff’s death, as we later found out).

Agroman.7190:

And honestly, I don’t think that ArenaNet would go as far as to let a Revenant channel the direct powers of a god, which should be beyond what a mortal magic user could control (Kormir could only do it because the five other gods gave her a special blessing to achieve it). They chose Mallyx for a reason, I believe.

Well it’s pretty obvious that the powers a revenant recieves from the legend is only a fractal of their power. Shiro’s Jade Wind, for example, only temporarily solidifies others in the immediate area (~5 feet) for 3 seconds – with Shiro, it solidified half of Cantha for over 200 years. Jalis’ Rite of the Great Dwarf turns you and those near you into stone for less than a minute, but the original was permanent.

Etc. Etc.

The same would obviously be true for powers from greater beings.

Temihal.8651:

The gods are not good guys, except maybe Melandru.

Dwayna and Melandru were good, and probably Lyssa too.

Balthazar was certainly a human-promoting god and thus more or less a racist, and Grenth was more about fair rights rather than good deeds. Obviously, Dhuum wasn’t. Abaddon arguably was pre-fall, but the reason for his revolt is still clouded (asian pre-release NF lore indicated that either he was just defending his followers who were the original instigators, or that he was after having Tyria follow his own rules and not that of the other five gods). And Kormir is, imo, equally dubious – I would put her on the better side of the spectrum, but not necessarily a “good guy”.

And no, I don’t mean it because of any power-stealing. :P

Agroman.7190:

Kormir wasn’t “using the bad guy powers”. Abaddons powers weren’t bad or evil to begin with. He made them that way and Kormir took the raw power and cleansed it. So that’s no argument for the gods being okay with the Revenant channelling Mallyx or Shiro. Especially Shiro, btw., who stole magic gifted by Dwayna to wreak havoc in Cantha.

That’s not the argument being held. The argument was that the gods didn’t object when the PCs allied themselves with obvious villains (e.g., Joko) to confront Abaddon. That is “using the bad guys power”.

I would say that it is aspect patronage like in case of elementalist: ice magic for grenth, fire for balta etc..
So: Devastation – balta Salvation – x Corruption – grenth Retribution – x Invocation -x Herald – lyssa.
Where x there may one or two or even there isn’t. I tried to link only those obviously ones imo.
Maybe salvation to mel and retribution to dwayna (that stone/jade wind/jalis legend there hint me) so invotation would be kormir.

Temihal.8651:

Where did I say that Kormir used Abaddon power…

I messed that up, sorry. Nevermind.

Temihal.8651:

Anyway, I can see Dwayna not liking Shiro that much but it’s not like anyone is bringing him back to life. Revenants are only using him (and other legends), why should the gods even care?

I could understand the conflict if the gods where some kind of good and pure beings , but they’re definitely not.

I don’t see how this has got anything to do with the gods actually being good or bad. Abaddon was their enemy, and they already put a lot of energy in imprisoning him and his powers in the past.
It is, imho, quite naive to think they wouldn’t object because they can just accept that Revenants use Mallyx and Shiro as mere tools. We know that the gods, or at least some of them, care a good deal about etiquette. Balthazar was willing to wipe out an entire village just because he was angry about a breach of etiquette, and Grenth is known to be a patron of strict ethics.
And even if the gods really didn’t give a kitten , what would that change? Certainly nothing concerning the current state of affairs, because the gods remain silent. The human race clings very tightly to what’s left of their ancient traditions, and especially priests always have their own ways of trying to convince people about what is good and what is bad. I’m quite certain that a great number of people wouldn’t think as sophisticated about the topic, since Shiro and Mallyx are clearly villainous figures in human history. We as players have a very modern approach to these things, but not all inhabitants of Tyria are as open to everything as, say, the citizens of Lion’s Arch. There are NPCs in Divinity’s Reach that think the Elder Dragons don’t exist, and there’s lots of racism – people complaining about the Charr, for example. To people such as these, simply put, the gods are good guys – that’s what revering a god is pretty much about in most cases – and Abaddon’s magic is evil. I can absolutely see cultural biases against strange new magic that involes channeling evil legends of the past.

There wouldn’t be any point in presenting the Revenant as a darker, more anti-hero profession if we assume that they will be broadly accepted by anyone.

@Konig:
Again, you make a lot of good points, and under the assumption that the legends don’t need to be dead/gone to invoke their powers, I would agree.
However, we don’t know if that is the case or not. Knowing whether Jalis is dead or still out there would help to bring some light into this. Honestly, I still think he’s gone and that Revenants only invoke legends that have passed away. There was an article where it’s stated that Jalis is “overjoyed to be back in action”. Which is a heavy implication to me, because I can’t really see King Jalis backing down from fighting the destroyers after he basically turned his entire race into stone warriors with an eternal lifespan whose utmost goal is to fight Primordus.

Sorry I know this is a tad late but I just wanted to clarify.

I am strictly discussing HUMAN Revenants

I am fully aware of the fact that professions are not tied to specific Gods, however back in GW1 and still today in GW2 we see very specific reverence of certsin Gods when HUMAN is of a specific profession. E.g.

Warrior: Balthazar
Guardian: Balthazar & Dwayna
Elementalist: Balthazar, Dwayna, Grent/Lyssa, Melandru
Mesmer: Lyssa
Necromancer: Grenth
Thief: Lyssa (?) and Grenth (?)
Ranger: Melandru
Engineer: Honestly there is lacking information here but I’m going to assume a human engineer would most likely revere Kormir as their patron God.

I also understand Revenant is a new profession and worship will develop, as such what I mean is, “What is the most likely patron God of Human Revenants given time?”

Again my most likely guess is Grenth, Balthazar and Dwayna but I’m mot entirely sure.

I’ll edit the OP once I get back to my computer (honestly it could do with a tidy up anyway) to reflect this clarification.

Short answer: Kormir and Grenth.

Explanation: First, a lot of people are jumping on Shiro and Mallyx as having been villains, while forgetting that Jalis and Glint are almost certainly regarded as heroes to any non-White Mantle Krytan who knows who they are, due to the parts they played in the Flameseeker Prophecies and the downfall of the Unseen. Glint in particular was believed (rightly or wrongly) to be basically the caretaker of Tyria on behalf of the gods. So whatever humans may think of channeling Mallyx or Shiro, a herald with Glint and Jalis as their legends would probably be seen as perfectly kosher.

Coming back to the question: While it’s possible that Jalis isn’t dead, the revenant is basically about channeling the power of the past. In Guild Wars 1, keeping ancestral histories was generally seen as being among the responsibilities of Grenth’s clergy. With Kormir’s ascension as the god of Knowledge, though, it’s possible that responsibility for history has turned to her – my impression is that human members of the Durmand Priory see Kormir rather than Grenth as being their patron as a rule. Even if Grenth no longer has responsibility over history, though, he still has responsibility over the dead, and since most if not all of the legends are dead, revenants may well invoke Grenth’s aid in summoning and controlling them.

Similar, in fact, to GW1 ritualists, particularly since it’s strongly implied that not every spirit they summoned was necessarily heroic.

With Kormir, there’s the additional link that while Shiro and Mallyx were villains, they were destroyed at around the time of Kormir’s ascension (one just before, one just after) within the realm that Kormir claimed. A human revenant, then, may view channeling these legends as honouring Kormir’s victory, with their use of power derived from these beings making their defeat that much more complete. Alternatively, a revenant might believe that these legends reside in the (former?) Realm of Torment, and beseech Kormir’s aid in calling them from the realm Kormir claimed, or they might invoke Kormir to protect them from being influenced by the legends they are channeling.

Of course, this doesn’t mean other humans will react well to revenants wandering around with Embrace the Darkness running or otherwise showing clear signs of channeling a villainous legend… but necromancers aren’t always welcomed with open arms either.

So, basically: Grenth because of the connection with the dead, and because Grenth was historically connected with ritualists who had a similar theme. Kormir, because while Mallyx and Shiro were villains, they were also villains that were destroyed in Kormir’s rise. And both have the potential to be associated with an interest in history and legend.