As a new comer to the guild wars lore I find it very sadden and disappointing that at this point there is not much info of the other realms that the Human Gods domain over. All there is are the Underworld(Kinda ridiculous since it’s in the mist and not under anything to my knowledge) and the Fissure of Woe, and we remain in the dark to the other four realms.
And since Kormir is still the new deity in town, she most have taken over Abaddon’s realm so it be nice to know what changes she made to it. It should not be so difficult for Anet to throw a bone every once in a while, I am sure everyone is hunger for some info and background to the guild war universe.
Eternal Paradise is an afterlife mentioned in Factions, which I believe to be Dwayna’s realm. As you mentioned, the Realm of Torment was taken over by Kormir – so we’re only really in the dark about three. Which yes, it is kind of saddening that we don’t know about them.
But I’d just like to see all the other afterlives too. Sometime.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
I remember reading something about Lyssa’s realm ages ago, but I don’t remember the name. I have a feeling it was speculation based on GW.dat finds, though.
Yeah, other than the gods realms we also have the Sky above the Sky and the Great Forge. How these are tied to the other realms (or whether they are tied at all) is unknown. I would love to see how Kormir’s spruced up the Realm of Torment or what the realm of the goddess of illusion and beauty would even look like. This, sadly, doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the near future’s worth of additions to the game.
There is nothing in-lore that says eternal paradise is Dwayna’s realm, and while I’m in the camp that agrees that it likely is, it might be Melandru’s realm, or Lyssa’s- the goddess of nature and growth and the goddess of beauty would both likely live in realms a human would call paradise. Or maybe Eternal Paradise isn’t linked to a goddess’s realm- after all, the Canthan cultures are the only known human civilizations that have a religion encompassing more than the Five/Six.*
And while it is true that Kormir took over the Realm of Torment, I greatly doubt she would have left it as such. The entire realm, including the name, has probably been changed, in which case one could only say “Kormir used to rule the Realm of Torment.”
*Excepting, of course, the White Mantle.
R.I.P., Old Man of Auld Red Wharf. Gone but never forgotten.
I’ve heard that the gw.dat suggests so, but until it appears in a canon source- in-game, word of dev, etc.- it is not confirmed lore. All that really tells us is ANet was toying with the idea during Nightfall’s development. It may have been discarded since, or changed.
R.I.P., Old Man of Auld Red Wharf. Gone but never forgotten.
But if Anet were to care about the gods, that would put focus on gasp humans! Can’t have that, can we? That would be fantastic racism! Think of all the super-offended Charr!
But seriously, the afterlife and the realms of the gods really need more explanations. I’ve been wondering what happens to other races after death, because they really have no solid beliefs about the afterlife (other than the Asura, from what I’ve seen).
We know every playable race but sylvari can have souls go to the Mad Realm, and the Mad Realm is a portion of the Underworld. So at the very least asura, humans, charr, and norn can go there, which means it is quite possible we have only seen a human portion of the Underworld when we were playing before.
In continuation with Narcemus’s point on the Mad Realm, we also know that Charr can be sent to the Realm of Torment (source). So it’s not unimaginable that other races have cross overs in the various after lives in the Mists.
“I have begun my journey in a paper boat without a bottom.”
Giving more explanation of the after life and how the Gods play a role in them can actually be a prefect way to connect certain races culture. For example lets say that the Sylvari have souls that go to Melandru’s realm, they have a ton of nature abilities so they should be connected to the deity of nature.
We know every playable race but sylvari can have souls go to the Mad Realm
Honestly, I’ve been questioning since release whether or not sylvari even HAVE souls.
You never once see a sylvari spirit/ghost in the world. Not. Once.
And there’s only two mentions of sylvari souls in the entire game as well – one for a Warden conversation where a sylvari speculates they return to the Dream upon death, and one in the later personal storyline where...Tegwen dies and Caryns (sp?) says she'll enjoy exploring the Mists. But in both cases, it feels more like how we take souls – we think they exist, and that they move on to an afterlife, but we cannot prove it… yet.
In continuation with Narcemus’s point on the Mad Realm, we also know that Charr can be sent to the Realm of Torment (source). So it’s not unimaginable that other races have cross overs in the various after lives in the Mists.
We also know that Norn go to the Underworld under Raven’s Wings.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
It could be that the Gods tied their realms to Tyria when they first came to Tyria. I could imagine that they may have lived to Arah they had portals to each of their realms in Arah.
I’ve personally theorized that Dhuum was always tied to Tyria. I want to note that there has been little information tying Dhuum to the other gods. No information about how he came to Tyria or anything. If this is the case then the Underworld (which was Dhuum’s Realm) would have already been tied to Tyria and it was then taken by Grenth when he overthrew Dhuum.
@Narcemus: We don’t know how Abaddon, Lyssa, or Abaddon’s predecessor came to be (either as gods or to Tyria). So Dhuum’s far from unique. Most of the knowledge on him was removed, like with Abaddon, it seems. But done better since he seems to have been taken down sooner. Our earliest knowledge of Dhuum came from the Underworld itself, and then the Realm of Torment, but only those two places except the Dragon Festival 2006 due to the Fury. And in GW2, we only hear of Dhuum from the Priory’s knowledge (most of which being knowledge of Grenth’s history) or the Grenth priesthood’s knowledge which is said to be secrets of their priesthood.
Dhuum had a tower in the Underworld which was, iirc, where he ruled from. And the Underworld is definitely within the Mists.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
I understand that the underworld is within the mists, and that he ruled from the tower that was thrown down to create the Chaos Planes. There is no denying that. In my mind, though, I like the idea of an “angel of death” tied specifically to the world forced to watch again and again as the dragons purged the world of life. I feel like it gives him more depth, making it understandable how he became so jaded against the effect of death on the living. I understand that this is entirely a personal view and we do not know enough information about this instance to make either way wrong. So until then, I choose to think him different from the others.
You completely overlook the existence of the Void, which certainly sounds like the very opposite of the Mists (neither is exclusive to Tyria). If anything, Dhuum is an agent of the Void and he is/was hell-bent on sending every soul to final destruction.
My personal theory on Dhuum is that he was either the original member of the Pantheon, or the second in the line of gods of death. In any case, he came to Tyria with the others, but at one point he came into contact with this mysterious, foreboding Void, and it changed his outlook on life and death (“When you gaze long into the Void [abyss], the Void [abyss] also gazes into you.”).
Scarlet’s Alliance Wars(a.k.a. “Guild Wars 2”)
A fantasy of sci-fi cyborg implants grafted into the desiccated flesh of Guild Wars’ corpse.
@Narcemus: That seems too unlikely to be true, though. He’s of the Six Gods pantheon. This has been so since forever.
@Thalador: Keep in mind that “the Void” is only mentioned in one of Dhuum’s title – The Voice in the Void. (And, iirc, Linsey said that it had no lore behind it, precisely – though this was just after the Halloween quests’ introduction).
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Wrong. There is a much more specific mention of the Void in the very same quest:
Reaper of the Chaos Planes: “Quiet! Do you hear that…? It is the sound of the Void, calling to us. I thought him dead, but the Song of Dhuum heralds his coming.” PC: “I’m sorry, but I don’t hear anything except your confirmation of Dhuum’s rise. Will you attend a summit with King Frozenwind and your Reaper brethren? They gather even now at the Hall of Judgment.” Reaper of the Chaos Planes: “That noise…both deafening and silent. It is the sound of Death beyond Death… I will travel to the Hall of Judgment, emissary, but I fear it may be too late."
It is also important to note that it is in the Chaos Planes he hears this sound or song, where Dhuum’s tower stood and where he might have had something connected to the Void.
It might not have had lore behind it then, but that could have easily changed in that 4 years that passed since Dhuum’s introduction. Especially when, hopefully, ANet is going to return to the history of the gods. I’d be shaken if the whole lifetime of GW2 is about dragons.
Scarlet’s Alliance Wars(a.k.a. “Guild Wars 2”)
A fantasy of sci-fi cyborg implants grafted into the desiccated flesh of Guild Wars’ corpse.
I thought the mists was a great dynamic to adding some cool environments, lore and challenges to the GW universe. I definitely miss it and would love to see what they can do with it in GW2.
Kisare, have you done the Fractals? That’s 9 absolutely new environments entirely in the Mists. I personally think they will expand the Mists a lot, we’ll just have to give them time to do that.
@Thalador: Ah yes, I forgot that line, however, the second bit you quoted is “the Song of Dhuum” not necessarily the “noise of the Void” – though reading through it, the meaning seems to be that the two are one and the same.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
