Guild Wars 2

Were there zero Orrians outside of Orr when the Cataclysm happened?

I find it hard to believe that every single Orrian was in Orr at the time of the Cataclysm.

Why have we heard of no humans of Orrian descent?

I’d love to say “lazy writing” now, but the Clockwork Chaos forums are doing just fine with keeping the necessary quota up.

There’s only one person in the entire game who’s had Orrian ancestors in her family. A Priory Explorer girl walking up and down on the outskirts of Rayhan Bayt (Malchor’s Leap), occasionally getting offed by a a risen bull or eagle. If you find her, she’ll tell you a branch of her family lived and worked in the Bayt at the time of the Cataclysm. The Bayt worked as a communistic (in the positive sense) farm where multiple families lived and farmed.

There were probably plenty of people of Orrian descent who survived. But most of them would probably no longer consider themselves Orrian.

“There are few who survived that day, now known as the Cataclysm”

“Few”, still means several survivors. But would they still call themselves Orrian, after Orr no longer exists? Take the people at the Ascalon Settlement for example. Some of them may have some Ascalon blood in their family. But with Ascalon now conquered by the Charr, would any of them still call themselves Ascalon(ian)? Most of them would simply consider themselves Krytans, as I’m sure plenty of Orrians would too.

Besides, 250 years is a long time. That’s several generations. And Orr sank even longer ago than that.

I See No Tomorrow.7302:

Were there zero Orrians outside of Orr when the Cataclysm happened?

I find it hard to believe that every single Orrian was in Orr at the time of the Cataclysm.

Why have we heard of no humans of Orrian descent?

At the time of the cataclym yes:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Cataclysm (for a good lore story)

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

There were probably plenty of people of Orrian descent who survived. But most of them would probably no longer consider themselves Orrian.

“There are few who survived that day, now known as the Cataclysm”

“Few”, still means several survivors. But would they still call themselves Orrian, after Orr no longer exists? Take the people at the Ascalon Settlement for example. Some of them may have some Ascalon blood in their family. But with Ascalon now conquered by the Charr, would any of them still call themselves Ascalon(ian)? Most of them would simply consider themselves Krytans, as I’m sure plenty of Orrians would too.

Besides, 250 years is a long time. That’s several generations. And Orr sank even longer ago than that.

Orr sank 254 years ago. That doesn’t qualify as that longer, especially when human lifespan is around 80-100 years on Tyria. If the Orrian survivors formed close-knit groups they could’ve easily maintained their identity and customs long enough. Then there’s this:

The few humans who claim Orrian descent never proclaim their heritage publicly; being connected to those dark lands is dangerous in these times.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lore/The-flame-seeker-prophecies/first#post2670537

The true sons and daughters of Orr have been hiding until now. Chances are the writers have forgotten about them by now and will never resurface again – not sure if that makes me sad or happy, for if they’d try to include these survivors with the same wirting quality as the one that spawned That Which Should’ve Never Existed (Scarlet), then they’d better let poor Orrians sink into oblivion.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

There were probably plenty of people of Orrian descent who survived. But most of them would probably no longer consider themselves Orrian.

“There are few who survived that day, now known as the Cataclysm”

“Few”, still means several survivors. But would they still call themselves Orrian, after Orr no longer exists? Take the people at the Ascalon Settlement for example. Some of them may have some Ascalon blood in their family. But with Ascalon now conquered by the Charr, would any of them still call themselves Ascalon(ian)? Most of them would simply consider themselves Krytans, as I’m sure plenty of Orrians would too.

Besides, 250 years is a long time. That’s several generations. And Orr sank even longer ago than that.

actually, as far as i know all ascalonians are patriotic to a fault. even those that agree with the treaty are still all “ASCALON HOORAH”.

BrunoBRS.5178:

actually, as far as i know all ascalonians are patriotic to a fault. even those that agree with the treaty are still all “ASCALON HOORAH”.

Even those in Kryta? I have not encountered such dialogues yet.

But as Thalador pointed out, Orr has a bad reputation. It’s not something to be proud about. I’d assume with Zhaitan’s rise it has an even worse reputation now.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

BrunoBRS.5178:

actually, as far as i know all ascalonians are patriotic to a fault. even those that agree with the treaty are still all “ASCALON HOORAH”.

Even those in Kryta? I have not encountered such dialogues yet.

But as Thalador pointed out, Orr has a bad reputation. It’s not something to be proud about. I’d assume with Zhaitan’s rise it has an even worse reputation now.

well they have the default ascalonian greetings, like “FOR ASCALON”. they might have some dialogue about it as well.

and i don’t disagree with the point on orrians, just thought i’d mention the ascalon thing :P

We do know of Orrians outside of Orr. The Orrian military – and perhaps some travelers – were not in Orr at the time, and we meet one Priory member who is of Orrian descent in Malchor’s Leap even (SE corner of the map iirc, near the farmland).

Why don’t see we more? We had that answer since 2007:

The few humans who claim Orrian descent never proclaim their heritage publicly; being connected to those dark lands is dangerous in these times.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Movement_of_the_World#Orr

So I would hardly call it “lazy writing” when it was a notion brought up before the game was in serious development. As to not seeing Orrians now, I don’t think the storyline has given enough focus to it.

Though with them writing Cantha district out despite the fact it’s mentioned in-game even… THAT is lazy writing there.