Guild Wars 2

What do centaurs have with earth elementals? They summoned one at shaemoor and so they at Modniir Gorge in Harathi Hinterlands. And why do they only summon hands and not full elementals?

I don’t think that the Maguuma centaurs were ever said to be protecting what they found to be sacred – though I could be wrong on this. The closest I can think of would be the monks being called “Maguuma Protectors” – though that could simply mean they protected their herd/pride/tribe/whatever-the-term-is.

But it is correct to say that the centaurs have a heavy reverence for the earth (not necessarily the world in general, but the element of earth as well as plantlife). It should be noted that Rock Dogs, mechanically, register as elementals iirc, as do War Beasts – both are earth elementals of sorts, the latter outright in lore though I’m unsure of the former.

As to the hand thing – well, the technical name of those “hands” is simply “Greater Earth Elemental” though they’re also called the “Hands of Ulgoth” – in other words, those hands are the full elemental. And the lore around greater elementals is that they’re very hard to control, and usually only naturally forming. In the entirity of the game we only see two greater earth, ice, and fire elements (earth being in human tutorial and Modniir Gorge; ice being in The Frozen Maw meta and in Snowblind Fractal; fire being in Thaumanova Reactor and in a personal story step occurring within Maelstrom’s Bile) – and in these cases, only the earth and ice are controlled, and the earth only by a high sage and Ulgoth (so very powerful elementalists).

Kind of interesting we never see a Greater Air Elemental.

The Centaurs in the Guild Wars Universe have traditionally been very centered around nature. Even 250 years ago, their time spent in the Maguuma Jungle was very much in regards to protecting what they considered sacred, so their connection isn’t so much with ‘Earth Elementals’ so much that is a connection with the Earth Itself.

I believe it was also Grubb who mentioned that Elementals in general are basically embodiments of the land itself. So if the Elementals are angry it’s because the land is in pain or angry, if they Elementals are neutral it means you’re generally ignored as a potential threat. I think the suggestion with the Earth Elemental summoned at Shaemoor and in the Harathi Hinterlands is that the Centaurs general reverance for the land has given them the ability to call upon it in their times of need.

Also in regards to your second question about ‘only summoning the hands’, why do you think there’s more than just what we see? Elementals are not required to take humanoid shapes (ie Air Elementals) so why would this Elemental be forced to have more form than a pair of Giant Fists? At the end of the Day, Elementals can look however they please. They don’t visibly eat, drink, or sleep so there’s requirement for a more humanoid shape unless its desired.

@Ratphink: Before we get too caught up in thinking of the centaurs as being more ‘in tune’ with the land than the Krytans, it’s worth noting that there seems to be a distinction between spontaneously generated elementals (most enemies encountered in the world) and summoned elementals. The former is as you say, but elementalists of all races can summon elementals and the Ulgoth is clearly a powerful elementalist, so while the centaurs do revere the land, his ability to summon a greater elemental probably just means he has access to a ritual that we as players don’t. (It is worth noting that one of the possible interpretations of Tahmu’s story is that she summoned a greater fire elemental that appeared as a dragon.)

I do have to ask. If the centaurs of Guild Wars 2 are so earth/plantlife, why are the zones controlled by them so dead. Everything has been trampled to death, cut bare, and left to rot. Not a very nature attuned race in my book.

The Modniir, Tamini, and Harathi are less plant and more ground.

Barren earth is still earth.

Only the Velderunners have shown reverence for plantlife.

Pretty much. It’s the earth they care about, not the plantlife growing in it – although I would say that the sylvari Whispers level 28 step suggests that the centaurs do have some reverence for plant life. However, that doesn’t mean they necessarily care much for common grass or human crops – they probably figure that whatever damage they do, they can repair once Kryta has fallen. Kinda like the charr with the Searing except less extreme.

The centaur may well respect the land and it’s plants without holding a fantasy elf’s reverence for it. They may hold a RL Native American outlook in the sense that their lifestyle will make use of the plants and they may alter the ecosystem but it is a working dynamic that the ecosystem can handle. And it will be more natural than a classic european use of the land. e.g.: istead of clearcutting trees for farmland, they may plant natural growing plants in areas that the plants can already prosper.

I did keep that story step in mind, drax, however I think calling sentient mobile plants “earth spirits” is very different than having a reverence – regardless of degree – for plantlife.

There’s also a fire elemental in Iron Marches being summoned by a Flame Legion champion, by the way.