Guild Wars 2

Well I can tell you that this isn’t the first time that the Orrians have risen from the Dead. In GW1 there was a Lich Lord that took over the bodies of the numerous dead orrians (after the cataclysm destroyed the entire peninsula) and forced them to invade Kryta. It was originally believed that the first risen dead that Zhaitan produced were from these undead, but that is extremely unlikely seeing as they had been dead for over 250 years and there is likely very little left of them to reanimate.

This could be true, or it might not. We know from the higher level personal story missions that Zhaitan made new undead from corpses delivered (supposedly) from all over Tyria. He clearly doesn’t “recycle” slain Risen, or even thinking about liberating Orr would be impossible. It could be that he deployed the unfortunate “Orisenals” (get it?) to the front lines, where they were defeated by the Sylvari and Krytans. It could also be he deemed them unfit for zombification, and let them be.

So, I don’t know. Your theory does sound reasonable, though.

bionaknight.9210:

This could be true, or it might not. We know from the higher level personal story missions that Zhaitan made new undead from corpses delivered (supposedly) from all over Tyria. He clearly doesn’t “recycle” slain Risen, or even thinking about liberating Orr would be impossible. It could be that he deployed the unfortunate “Orisenals” (get it?) to the front lines, where they were defeated by the Sylvari and Krytans. It could also be he deemed them unfit for zombification, and let them be.

So, I don’t know. Your theory does sound reasonable, though.

it definitely seems odd that the risen aren’t recycled. But there are a few quests which deal with burning the corpses of the Orrians, so it might be because of that, Zhaitan is unable to recycle his armies.

Also, if the bodies of Orr have risen a second time, and that they’ve possibly decayed beyond use, how is it that Zhaitan managed to raise an army in the first place? Or could we attribute that to his elder dragon status, bringing back not only more decayed orrians (such as the orrians that seem to have corals growing on them) but also more powerful ones than those previously raised?

It could also be tied to the corsairs that sailed the area that were nearly wiped out when the country rose from the ocean.

In Orr, there are a great number of risen that seem to be the citizens killed off by the cataclysm. After sitting at the bottom of an ocean for 250 years, most bodies will have decayed to nothing. So, either the devs aren’t using logic, or Zhaitan can somehow take bones (and probably less in most cases) and add undead flesh to them.

Excelliate.7914:

In Orr, there are a great number of risen that seem to be the citizens killed off by the cataclysm. After sitting at the bottom of an ocean for 250 years, most bodies will have decayed to nothing. So, either the devs aren’t using logic, or Zhaitan can somehow take bones (and probably less in most cases) and add undead flesh to them.

Dear gods, Zhaitan was the son of a fleshreaver D=.

Actually those bodies would have only been at the bottom of the ocean for 148 years, not quite so decayed although it still seems unlikely that there was much for Zhaitan to use. But it has been over 100 years since Zhaitan rose, so maybe he has been collecting bodies from elsewhere in this time?
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Timeline

Drede, i had completely forgotten that Zhaitan arose 100 years earlier. Constant warring over 100 years would have fueled Zhaitan with enough corpses to raise the army he has currently.

It says this on the GW2 wiki: “In 1219 AE, Zhaitan’s awakening caused the sunken nation of Orr to rise from the ocean, flooding the coastlines of Tyria and drowning thousands. Zhaitan conscripted those killed into his risen army, alongside the ancient dead of Orr, creating a fleet spanning the Strait of Malchor, and blocking access to and from Cantha while also invading north towards Kryta and southeast towards the Elonian border.”

Also theres magic in this world so i wouldnt be surprised if necromancy had some way to stop or slow the decay of the corpse.

while unlikely that the previous use of necromancy persisted over 148 years, it could be a possile answer.

however, if it’s not the case, then zhaitan have very little to work with, seeing as the average orrian would have decayed beyond recognition by the time zhaitan arose.

Well, if we do say he conscripted the ancient orrian army, we could be saying that perhaps after the death of the Lich Lord, the ancient orrian undead continued to roam the remains of the penensula. With that being the case we could say that the necromancy of the Lich Lord (far surpassing the necromancy of the player necromancers) could have kept the bodies from decaying too much past the point of their death. I would like to note that in War in Kryta, unlike in Winds of Change, after the content was complete the undead came back and continued to attack Kryta. This could be a sign that the Orrian Undead are still around and following their masters last commands.