Guild Wars 2

Narcemus.1348:

Unless ArenaNet’s already thinking of more expansions past that, man these guys might make it so we’re barely able to keep up with free new content!

There are at least five paths that lead into unreachable areas, with a possible sixth. Caledon Forest leading to the Dominion of Winds, Sparkfly Fen leading into the Sea of Sorrows, Brisban Wildlands leading into the Maguuma Wastes, Mount Maelstrom leading into the Crystal Desert/Deldrimor Front, and Fields of Ruin leading into the Crystal Desert, with the possible being in Frostgorge Sound leading to the Far Shiverpeaks.

The only one with an actual visible zone portal circle is in Brisban though.

These are all probably just paths Anet added then blocked off because they want or think they’ll want to add content going into those places (every location has potential content). Or they’re like the blocked off portals seen in Nightfall – I recall two at least – which were there for lore purposes telling us “there’s a means through there, but you can’t access it” (one being a secluded closed door in Barbarous Shore, which we were told by a dev led to a smuggling route into Vabbi used by corsairs).

As others said though, the Bandit Engineers have been there since beta.

Narcemus.1348:

Each profession doesn’t necessarily correlate to a specific bloodstone.

Actually, that is the case.

We were outright told on the Elementalist page on guildwars2.com, before it got rehashed, that Elementalists utilize Destruction magic. Logically speaking, a profession cannot have more than 1 school used – thus cannot be tied to more than 1 bloodstone – due to dual professions in GW1.

Given that dual professions is gone, and that all professions have stronger healing now, one can argue that all professions go into Preservation as well, at the cost of dual professions. (Guardians, who most likely use Preservation as its base like monks, seem to use elemental abilities too thus would be, like the Elementalist, a Destruction/Preservation combo – just more in Preservation than Destruction, as opposed to the Elementalist).

Narcemus.1348:

Now things seem to have changed somewhat in GW2, and I’m beginning to think that perhaps the bloodstones are loosing their effects. I only say this because it seems that certain individuals have the power (without dragon magic) to do some pretty devastating things (see human beginner area and earth elemental)

The point of the bloodstones was to prevent the merging of schools of magic, not to keep things limited in of themselves. So you can do amazing feats while limited to a single school of magic.

Obsidian.1328:

Nice post, I’m glad you pointed out the inherent flaws in wiki, and all wiki’s for that matter. And I appreciate your scholarly take on lore gathering. My question is, since we know the wiki to be unreliable, what sources, other than playing the actual game, can we look to for legitimate source material?

Just to put my own view on this, there are effectively four kinds of sources:

1. Lore documents – these are, usually, written from a in-universe perspective and most can be found on the official wikis. They hold as much validity as an NPC’s dialogue in game.
2. Word-of-God – that is to say, lore information coming straight from a developer. These are facts until proven otherwise in the future. Reason being is that opinions can change, developers can change, and in turn so too can what’s not yet in the game. Once it’s in the game, then it’s canon – though as Tobias said, until that gets retcon (and in Anet’s case, usually in the form of “false history” so some things will remain truth). But effectively, treat this as “correct until proven wrong”
3. NPCs in game – these are the flimsiest of truths, given the nature of GW2 which is full of subjective truths and almost lacks any kind of objective truths. NPCs can lie, they can be wrong, so the truth is gleaned from multiple characters agreeing with each other. When you have just one statement, it should be treated similar to a developer saying its the case, but with weaker footing.
4. From the wiki – as said, it’s fan-made, so it’s decent as a general informer, but can be wrong too often and thus shouldn’t be taken as cold hard fact unless it’s a verbatim documentation (be it of a lore document or of in-game text). Otherwise, find other sources – the source of the wiki’s claims, if you will. Because of how the wiki’s are structured, they only reference out-of-game information, so if it’s not referenced, it can be found in the game (or is wrong).

Krakens are not related to karkas. They’re very different, and have been around while the DSD slumbered so no tie there.

The DSD does have tentacled minions, but nothing indicates the DSD itself is like such.

Zaxares.5419:

Given that the DSD and Zhaitan’s spheres of influence overlap somewhat, one has to wonder if their minions are not already battling it out under the waves though.

Come again? Zhaitan’s sphere of influence is around Orr. The DSD’s is – at least – in the Unending Ocean which is huge, and we don’t know where in the Unending Ocean either, except underwater.

Mojo.8431:

wonder if they have to do with the Mursaat to some degree, requiring infused gear be more effective against

Infusion has to do with the Fractals of the Mists dungeon, which is not Karka related as far as we know.

Karka are aquatic creatures, mursaat are not. There’s more likely to be a tie to krait, quaggan, or largos than anything.

jinx.2813:

Also one more thing,the screenshot for the Fractals show a monster that very much represents the artwork for DSD’s minions as well as the Leviathan encased in the deep aswell as in alot of places in the Jade sea.

Except there’s no artwork for the DSD’s minions.

I find it humorous you keep making connections between the DSD and Cantha without making an actual claim. But the DSD – which is, to all our knowledge, not connected to the Fractals of the Mists dungeon, given that the dungeon seems to take place in the Mists – is not in Cantha to our knowledge (or at least, didn’t awake there) and is implied to have awakened in the deepest parts of the Unending Ocean.

You ever see that drunken old norn singing songs of heroic deeds of a forgotten past in the Busted Flagon, or the Shadow Lion’s Inn, or the Serrated Tavern? That crazed, loony old man who knows a bit too many stories and had a few too many at all times?

That’s your stalker. A creepy old man.

/joke of course

Lonami.2987:

Most people speculate it’s Caithe, which would make a lot of sense.

I wish they used her in the first place :/.

Didn’t know Caithe talked about herself in the third person.

Eurantien.4632:

If the pale tree is a dragon then yeah

See CoE – dragon minions can be corrupted by other dragons.

Redamz.5038:

A popular theory is that Sylvari are minions of Mordramoth (possible 6th dragon with nature theme, check CoE) and the pale tree was “corrupted” by the ventari table becoming good. With the nightmare court being the true nature of the Sylvari.

Malyck disproves this theory by your claims.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

The asura have offered to experiment on the sylvari and determine why they appear immune to corruption, but so far no one has volunteered.

I’d imagine the Nightmare Court wouldn’t mind.

And, huh, CoE has Nightmare Husks made by the Nightmare Court. And Kudu somehow retains his personality after becoming corrupted, a minor immunity perhaps? Inquest don’t really take “volunteers” anyways.

I wonder…

drnuncheon.8029:

The main problem with the “sylvari are already corrupted, nightmare court are the real thing” is that corruption seems to be a one-way journey in the universe of GW. You don’t get better from becoming Risen or an Icebrood or a Branded…or from falling into Nightmare. (It’s a key plot element in the Moon Shield arc.)

Actually, the forgotten found a way to reverse dragon corruption.

Mentally that is. Hence Glint.

Charr Guardian.1497:

did Zhaitan create them, or did he repurpose them?

There were some wondering undead, supposedly, in Orr, but Zhaitan did rise some of those Orrian undead himself. I’d presume its a mixture, but I’ve never seen it mentioned.

BrunoBRS.5178:

remember this: with the humans came the human gods. the human gods were not in tyria before the humans, they arrived together. THAT is my proof. if humans came to tyria much after the first elder dragon attack, then so did the gods.

A bit off topic, but I just want to make a minor correction, a few actually:
1) The gods predate humans but, as Jeff Grubb says, “not by much” – how much is “much” in this case, is unknown.
2) However ,we know that the Six arrived after the mursaat-seer war and the writing of the Tome of Rubicon, which happened during the last ED rise (or rather, implied to have).
3) Given the forgotten are credited to be brought by the Six, we don’t really know when the Six arrived, and we know the forgotten were around at that time too. So the timeline could be: Elder Dragons rise->GL extinction at ~10,000 BE->writing of Tome of Rubicon and mursaat/seer war; mursaat flee the world->Six Gods arrive bringing forgotten->humans are brought to the world, the Elder Dragons slumber

We’re also told that the Forgotten arrived “on Tyria” in 1768 BE (iirc), about 1100 years prior to humanity’s oldest known records (but not when they arrived on the world). Though which Tyria is meant is unknown, this line is more than likely lies now. Though I propose an alternative to yet another lie:

I would argue personally that the forgotten went into the Mists, perhaps to chase down the betraying mursaat or find allies/tools against the inevitable return of the Elder Dragons. Here they stumbled upon the Six Gods, and together came to Tyria – hence why the Six Gods first arrived at Arah, which has known forgotten ruins in it. Zhaitan being there was, in this case, mere coincidence.

Irregardless of this, we’re given indications – though not proof due to the source – from the Durmand Priory that the Six Gods were, in fact, gods upon their arrival on Tyria. They were the ones, opening portals and sweeping the lands in fire or nature (Dwayna, Balthazar, and Melandru’s first recorded actions on Tyria respectively) right after arriving on Tyria.

Ah, sorry, went off on a tangent again.

BrunoBRS.5178:

there are hundreds of years where the human gods were gods and weren’t anywhere close to a dragon, and as such, their power does not come from the dragons. theory proven wrong. end of discussion.

Since you make this mistake repeatedly, allow me to state:

The Six Gods arrived on the world at The Artesian Waters – that is, at the water and magic source in Arah, separate from Zhaitan’s magic mind you. So when the Six Gods – and not the humans, as they didn’t arrive on continental Tyria until 205 BE – arrived on the world, they were relatively close to Zhaitan.

But to reiterate, I agree with you that the gods’ magic and the Elder Dragons’ magic is unrelated. If they were, then Zhaitan’s magic probably would have threatened to destroy everything, just like when Abaddon was killed.

DarcShriek.5829:

I understand that the current pale tree has only been around for 250 years. What I don’t understand is what created the seed that created the pale tree. It’s my opinion that Tyria has seen Sylvari in the past.

It is possible – and my belief – that the sylvari are a new evolutionary stage of previous sentient plantlife. We have treants that are still around in GW2, but a lot of mobile sentient plants from GW1 have disappeared for unknown reasons. I would not doubt that they are a sub-species evolution of treants (both are based from trees) that has adapted to fit in more with their surrounding races.

P.S., I just love all the people using the wiki as official source – unless it’s a verbatim document like The Ecology of the Charr or The Movement of the World, it is fan-written and can be wrong.

Overdone topic is overdone.

Alexander.4827:

Theory: The human gods somehow harnessed the raw energy of dragons while the dragons slumbered, just like the Asura did, which explains why their power has waned during the awakening of the dragons. Perhaps they were even weakening and prolonging the awakening of the dragons by doing so.

Except that the asura are corrupted. Specifically, I’m referring to the Inquest – those influenced by the draconic energies do indeed become corrupted. Kudu somehow kept his own personality (I suspect this is where Zone Green comes in, and not that it’s related to an ED, given that next to no one knows of the sixth ED let alone its nature – no pun intended). The asura using Primordus’ energies didn’t become corrupted because Primordus does not corrupt living beings – so in turn neither their bodies nor minds were being corrupted.

Jormag, Kralkatorrik, and Zhaitan – at least (we don’t know if the DSD or Sixth ED corrupt living beings or not) – do corrupt living beings, however.

Your connections also fail a bit:

1) Dhuum’s never connected to ice, Grenth was even before being a god, when he was a mere half-god (one can argue that Grenth never supplanted Dhuum in the same means Kormir supplanted Abaddon, given that Grenth has always been attributed to ice, mortality, and judgement). And nothing states that ice must always have had a god – given how what Kormir governs (order, spirit, and truth) is very different from what Abaddon governed (water, secrets), it is not necessary for a 1 to 1 representation ratio (furthermore, order and spirit came from no where).
Furthermore, while Dwayna brings life, Grenth brings undeath as well as death – and Zhaitan is not only the undeath dragon, but also the Elder Death Dragon.
2) I fail to see a connection between Lyssa and Kralkatorrik – yes, they are both purple, but that’s about it. Lyssa’s pure raw energy, but Kralkatorrik doesn’t have this. The closest he gets is a bit of lightning, which Jormag and Zhaitan’s corruption also upholds. That’s just how energy in high concentration is represented – lightning. Truth be told, all gods have domain over energy – Lyssa is just “unattributed” and “chaos” in this regards.
3) Lyssa is two beings, so this kind of harms the theory too, since it’s no longer 1-to-1 god-to-dragon, but now 2-to-1 in her regards. To keep your theory up, we’d need a seventh dragon and are required to figure out where Lyss’s domain ends, and Ilya’s begins..

Side tangent: Furthering the whole “not 1 t o1 representation” bit – a fun fact to realize is that Abaddon’s related to not just water and knowledge, but also lies, illusions, and other things – he grotesquely overlaps with Lyssa, especially now that they have water.

Alexander.4827:

The god’s influence and power waned when the dragons awoke.

Except that leaving does not equate becoming weaker.

And if they are becoming weaker in Tyria, then it’s more likely to be because the Elder Dragons feed off of magic – which, by the way, includes divine magic that is the gods’ and is outright stated to be different between the two (that is, draconic energies are outright stated to be 100% unique by Zojja in accordance to Snaff and the Inquest’s research – this includes being unique to the known divine magic which powers certain statues of the gods, such as the ones throughout Orr).

So, given that the gods’ divine magic is known to be different from the draconic energies used by the Elder Dragons, I think this goes to show that they are, indeed, of separate origins.

One can say there are a few kinds of magic in Guild Wars:
1) Draconic energy, unique unto the Elder Dragons
2) Divine energy, unique to – according to Kerrsh’s research – the Six Gods, Spirits of the Wild, and titans (side note: all of these beings come from the Mists)
3) Bloodstone magic, that is magic natural to Tyria uncorrupted by the Elder Dragons
4) Spiritual energy (may be same as Divine energy), energy gained from the innate power of souls (the source for Ritualists in GW1, and considered quite the delicacy by demons)

Alexander.4827:

The gods were active on Tyria before they even brough the gods and the humans were clearly no more sophisticated than the Grawl as stated by the Jotun when they first arrived.

As stated by a jotun who’s false in about half of his information.

We know for a fact Thruln the Lost is wrong on quite a few sides of his “knowledge” – this is one such known fact, given the fact that even modern grawl couldn’t sail across the Unending Ocean, let alone build kingdoms within five years of landing on a continent – the kingdom in reference being the Primeval Dynasty, which began in 200 BE; humans arrived on continental Tyria and Elona in 205 BE. Furthermore, Cantha had existed for well over 300 years at that point.

(continuing in another post)

Those huge kitten arches? There’s six in total – they converge at the Grand Temple of the Pantheon in Arah – where the Giganticus Lupicus can be found. One can be found in the Straits of Devastation in the southwestern corner. The other three’s outer ends go into unexplorable lands.

My guess is that they were just structures the Six Gods decided to make – one for each of them, perhaps.

Unlikely but possible. It’s really up to you yourself for how your GW1 character died. Keep in mind that not all who die turn into risen – just those who died fighting them, or were in/near Orr when Zhaitan rose.

Danikat.8537:

I always assumed it was either one of those things that many people could do but we just never happened to see

That was the case – we got a few mentions in GW1 about swimming, mostly in Istan I think but I believe there were some in Factions too (particularly Shing Jea and historical comments of before the Jade Sea froze – I’m surprised we don’t see fossilized swimming luxons in jade blocks in GW1 tbh).

Outside, yknow, naga swimming.

It’s a purely mechanical thing and not lore-based for the no swimming or easy jumping in GW1.

But don’t let that stop this thread’s silliness.

Right, as I said, that statue is of Melandru. But it’s not of Mellaggan. The quaggan simply… renovated it, so to speak.

Smodur the Unflinching, during one of the Iron Legion storylines, uses the Realm of Torment as a replacement for hell (“What in the Realm of Torment […]”). While the High Legions aren’t outright interested in the Mists, they don’t seem to be ignoring it. They recognize it as the afterlife, at the very least, and are very much interested in ghosts, so Halloween would probably be more of a “red alert” time for charr. The Mists just isn’t an immediate issue for them.

Actually, it’s not “quite clearly Melandru” – that’s just how human scholars believe the case is. The statue you see is not of Mellaggan but an abandoned human statue of Melandru that the quaggan simply use.

In a way, they do have space travel. It’s because of recent developments on the asura gates that WvW is possible. Though this is more of dimension travel than space travel.

Also keep in mind that their lasers are a rather recent development, and all of their “technology” – from golem to gate to floating cubes – is solely reliant on magic. Which is a Tyria and Mists-bound thing as far as they know. In other words, go into space (if they even ever cared about it – they seem far more interested in expanding their influence across the world first, which they more or less haven’t done due to a reset button being pressed on their civilization by Primordus, and due to their lack of large organization cooperation outside 5 very rare cases, 4 of which being multi-racial groups.

And why go into space, when you have The Mists anyways?

Technically, it seems to originally be Halloween – celebrated because it’s the day in which the barrier between Tyria and the Mists is thinnest. E.g., on Halloween, spirits from the Mists have a better chance of returning (much like the original belief of Halloween, before it became a holiday of dressing up and getting candy). I doubt this came to be due to Thorn’s death and/or return.

Mad King’s Day – as it’s known by humans – is, as far as we know, merely an alternative name for the holiday as Mad King Oswald Thorn returned on that day in the past. I do not think it celebrates Oswald himself – he’s just been a big part of the celebrations. And, after all, it’s only when he’s able to force through the seals keeping him from returning more than just Halloween that he’s seen as a threat after death.

Is that Thorn projecting his face, or just an innate design of the area to detect living beings (as villagers are “alive” while courtiers are spirits)? I wouldn’t doubt that he’s able to alter things – I mean, standard magic can alter Tyria, after all. I was meaning more on a large-scale concept like how Abaddon, rather quickly, creates nightmarish copies of Tyria’s landscapes via his mind alone (whereas Thorn likely utilizes powerful magic he somehow got a hold of).

TBH, it sounds like Thorn’s on par to a demi-god, more or less.

I just want to emphasize the last word of Lande’s first sentence. I was really really hoping for such statues – not that it’d be too hard. A statue of Balthazar, a statue of Logan (yup, that’s logan), and carved into the rocks a statue of Dwayna and Kormir (this could be easily done by placing the statues of Kormir and Dwayna into the rock textures, and changing the color to match). Would be so befitting of how the humans treat the gods. A small little valley of god statues.

@Lande: Actually, most of the loading screens is directly relevant to the area. I think it’s only Kessex Hills, Diessa Plateau (kinda), Harathi Hinterlands, and Hoelbrak who’s appearance is very different from the actual thing. I suppose Dredgehaunt Cliffs since the “Greater Ice Elemental” (as it was called in the BWEs) doesn’t exist there but in Wayfarer Foothills. And arguably Timberline Falls too – but that’s only 6 of ~30 zones/cities.

Blackout.5384:

Personally i wouldnt mind the mountains if they wernt so kitten perfect straight lines. All zones are literally boxes or rectangles with 1 or 2 exceptions.

I think the situation would be fine if they just put a lot more trees and grass on the “mountains” (as small of mountains that they are). Must like the border between Metrica and Caledon Forest.

Asura have an interest in the Six too, in that they view them to be part of the Eternal Alchemy. So a holiday focused around the gods may prove to be eventful for asura too. And then there’s just the general festivities that norn enjoy, regardless of gods.

Except for your excessive overgeneralization, yes. Fort Vandal is a bandit base full to the brim with level 80 champions in a level 23 area. It screams “future content” and it holds a PoI – in the BWEs, so did every dungeon we were able to get to.

Given we know that the White Mantle are tied to the bandits (this being a fact), and it heavily implied to be that the bandit group leaders are White Mantle while the grunts are just disillusioned citizens and criminals, it seems likely that Lazarus would be at the bandit base – if he still holds ties to the White Mantle, and if he’s seeking revenge on humans and asura, I don’t see why he wouldn’t make use of whatever tools possible, especially when those tools are, in GW2, ignoring the biggest threat (Elder Dragons) and siding with their most up-front alternative threat (centaurs).

The Mad Realm is located within the Mists – as a part of the Underworld, specifically. But it doesn’t seem to be a reflection of madness itself, but rather the place where the gods place insane people when they die.

The Six Gods are a fairly different case than Oswald Thorn – Os is merely a powerful human (spirit) that acts as leader of the souls in the Mad Realm – whereas the Six Gods are capable of terraforming and, supposedly, even controlling/channeling aspects of the Mists (per Abaddon being able to twist the Realm of Torment with his mere thoughts). Currently, nothing has shown Thorn to be able to alter the Mad Realm outside of having found a way to create portals in his liking (Haunted Doors).

That mysterious voice would be Shiro Tagachi, as said voice occurred during Factions and was the source for the Chalice of Corruption.

As far as I know, there’s only 3 unknown figures from GW1 who were plotting dastardly plots: The “mysterious stranger” who hired Zinn; the person who’d be attracted to the plans of the Lunatic Court to bring Oswald back to Tyria permanently; and the “growing darkness” that the Priest of Balthazar/Priestess of Melandru talked about during the Snowball Fight of the Gods quest during wintersday.

In order, I suspect Lazarus, Baron Wycker, and Dhuum/Menzies. And I suspect all three will be encountered in GW2, at/during Fort Vandal future dungeon, Halloween Act 4, and Wintersday.

I suspect that they did – and in fact, I believe that is one of the reasons behind the Sunspears recruiting Istan’s aid in their invasion of Gandara. But there’s no indication of their navy’s ranking officer being “Seamarshal.”

The only thing you’re wrong on, Mexay, is that the Elder Dragons are very much sentient – and sapient.

I… wouldn’t be surprised if Oswald did that Ratphink. Though I’m hoping for a father/son dispute (Oswald’s eighth wife and his son were killed on the same night as him, the villagers intending to end the Thorn line once and for all).

Having done a few events (but not the whole chain) in each zone, here’s my findings:

Baron Wycker is, as said, the leader of this rebellion. Those fighting him are under the orders of “the countess” (most likely the Countess of Hakewood from GW1, imo). How they’re stopping him – for now – is to simply reverse the flow of the Hunted Doors from being Mad Realm→Tyria to Tyria→Mad Realm. Though that seems to harm themselves as well, oddly enough.

What’s most interesting is the presence of norn, charr, and asura Lunatic Courtiers. And the lack of sylvari (once more, we lack any form of sylvari soul… – outside of the Lunatic Inquisition on sylvari players, I believe, but I can’t take that as lore). This indicates that the Mad Realm isn’t Thorn’s personal realm, but that he’s managed to take it over after his death. Which rather furthers the possibility of a real rebellion rather than Oswald merely trying to amuse himself – and that the Baron is trying to make a new king of the Mad Realm. The Mad Realm itself seems to be a form of afterlife asylum – a place for the crazy people and psychopaths to go after they die (as opposed to elsewhere).

Furthermore, it seems that the gods themselves had placed Oswalds victems into the Mad Realm. Zola is outright stated to have been sent there, but there’s implications of others. The reasoning behind this is said that it’s to “calm” him down. I suspect that they want in-fighting in the Mad Realm in order to keep Oswald’s power at bay – since he’s capable of returning to the human world after death, he obviously has powerful magic (and is said to have had such even when alive).

So I’m betting that this rebellion is more likely to be a puppetmaster plot by one (or more) of the Six Gods, with the intention of removing/dibilitating Thorn without direct intervention.

Even charr “celebrated” Wintersday – or rather, knew of it. But they hated the holiday (or seemed to – not sure if it’s Wintersday itself, its ties to the gods, or just simply winter), while the norn enjoyed it simply because it’s a celebration. I cannot see a holiday that lasted for possibly over a thousand years to end just because the annual battle between mother and son stopped, especially since the seasons still change.

Wintersday is more than a battle between Grenth and Dwayna. It is the Tyrian New Year – quite literally so, since Day 1 of the year is the first day of spring (if we were to use our calendar for when thei Wintersday is, it’d be in mid March – on the Spring Equinox). The end of winter and the beginning of spring. It exists with or without the gods’ influence, and will probably be celebrated more in a style befitting our New Years rather than our Christmas/New Years/Hedgehog Day combined.

As other said, the Six are viewed, by the asura, to be part of the Eternal Alchemy. However, the Eternal Alchemy isn’t a being, so the six cannot be one individual who is the Eternal Alchemy – even Koda can, at best, only be two of the six by reasonable deduction (specifically, Dwayna and Melandru seem likely).

The Eternal Alchemy is more of a philosophy or inter-relations of all things rather than a religion, let alone a deity. So no, the Six are not Eternal Alchemy, merely a piece of it – just as everything else is.

Bishop.8432:

Pretty much yes, probably a artifact from GW1 instancing.

More of an artifact of zone mechanics.

Anet has to create boundaries between the zones – though I for one wouldn’t mind a lot more areas to go to and fro the multiple zones – and there’s only so many ways one can do this without some issue here or there. Furthermore, the view must be blocked so that it can end relatively sooner – if it’s just flat land, then you’ll have to continue the map as far as textures can be processed.

So with that in mind, there’s really only 3 possibilities, one of which completely ignored:
Mountains, Buildings, and omgwtf thick forest (e.g., so many trees or boulders right next to each other that you can’t possibly pass). The third is ignored, probably because of how much texture and, in turn, rendering would be required. Buildings are used solumly – most often seen via the Great Northern Wall or city edges. Thus leaving mountains.

And it makes the world map feel very boxy. But this isn’t a remnant of GW1 instance – if you compare the two maps, GW2 is a lot flatter. A lot fewer, but straighter and more noticeable, “mountain” ranges.

You pretty much have to gain a bit of suspension of disbelief when observing game maps for tutonic plats, and only focus on the larger ranges. And if there’s no mention or lore on the mountains, pretend they don’t exist.

Narcemus.1348:

Well, in reality what is after death, it’s something that we on earth could never answer with 100% certainty, so why should the situation be any different in Tyria.

The fact Tyrians can travel to the afterlife. They know it exists. They’ve been there.

Is there a warm or cold sap difference? I don’t think a comparison would be possible – but like how plants can typically survive cold environments, so too would sylvari – consider sylvari to be among the most adaptable of plants, able to withstand most ranges any plant can. Moreso on Tyria when we got drakes (aka “lizards”) and skelk in the Shiverpeaks.

Zojja was responsible for the upgrades to the weaponry on the Glory of Tyria mega-airship that allowed the Pact to bring down Zhaitan.

However, Destiny’s Edge couldn’t wade through a nation of undead on their own – when facing any army before, their victory came from using the surroundings (avalanche versus icebrood), other others (Lionguard vs risen). Similarly, Zojja merely upgraded the weaponry, not create.

I’d say that, overall, the Pact is more important and helpful, but Destiny’s Edge has more experience compared to any other individual, and is worth more than any Pact individual (sans the PC, of course).

The only marshal title in Kourna I recall is Warmarshal – the leader of the province, which began, iirc, with Turai Ossa.

Istan and Vabbi had Clansmarshal (also known as princes in Vabbi), and the Seamarshal was the Istani navy leader, while Spearmarshal was the leader of the Order of the Sunspears.

(Can’t edit the above post oddly)

Just redid the Queensdale meta event, during the finale one Baron Wycker says: “The throne belongs to HIM, the true demented heir. Not that doddering old fool!”

His dialogue makes it sound like Wycker’s supporting Thorn, but he’s the leader of the rebel court which means he’s opposing Thorn. So who’s this “true demented heir” guy the Baron talks about? I haven’t yet done the Kessex Hills event chain, but didn’t see any such comments in Gendarran outside “the Baron” leading the rebel forces.

Perhaps Wycker’s referring to Ewan (as they’re both appearing in the same graveyard)? Or perhaps to Oswald’s son which was killed on the same night as the Mad King.

The true nature of the Mists is kind of hard to understand. In one view, it’s kind of like outer space. In another, it’s another dimension entirely. Given the norn quests, I’m inclined to think it’s a mix of them – another dimension existing at the same time and place as Tyria’s dimension but also elsewhere as well – it is also connected heavily to Tyria’s dimension. Think of the Mists and Tyria as two layers of a sheet, perfectly lined up and laying atop of each other – that’s kind of how I view them. But the Mists is more of the space between several sheets of paper which make up multiple dimensions (which we know exist via the asura Infinity Ball storyline, and possibly World versus World).

Though yet, the fact that there are things which are not pure copies but merely fragments suggest otherwise. TBH, I don’t think there is a set definition of what the Mists are or whether or not Tyria is part of it – we just know that Tyria’s touching it, and a bridge can be made in the form of portals – from either side, if the distance is thin enough (which is increasing in number – these weaknesses in the “barrier,” as it’s called, between Tyria and the Mists).

I’m not entirely clear on the “who’s side is who” yet personally. The Baron who leads the Rebel Courtiers says during the Queensdale meta event that he wants to put the true “demented heir” on the throne, not the, what was the word now, something that started with a b… well, a term that doesn’t fit Thorn.

It sounds like he’s opposing Thorn, while his dialogue is more befitting for supporting Thorn. So I’m not really sure which side he’s on.

But I’d say that Lutinz is right in that both sides are bad guys to varying degrees.

Except that west of the Maguuma is, quite literally, coast line. There’s not much left off of the map for that direction.

That is interesting, truth be told, that Zola’s father was a Seamarshal. Considering that’s an istani title. It seems that Zola was made out to be that unnamed istani princess, despite hailing from Vabbi.

I would argue that Gwen was one of the magically gifted individuals. There is an Orrian History Scroll in Malchor’s Leap which has the account of an Ascalonian merchant traveling to Orr for the first time, talking about how in Ascalon magic users have to train for years to be able to use simple spells and thus only using magic when other tools don’t cut it (with Orrians being vastly different).

I recall reading somewhere on the forums that someone found mention of the bloodstones having weakened over time, so it could be that magic became easier to use since that merchant’s time, and even since GW1’s time.

It’s a better question cuz it makes no sense. Sylvari not having nipples makes sense – no mammary glands. Charr having six covered by fur makes sense. Krait, reptiles, with two lumps that are breasts (and furthermore, wearing bikinis) however makes no sense whatsoever and in fact breaks the style Anet was going with other races (especially since males are naked, iirc).

Indeed, in medieval eras, a powerful king (physically and tacticiously) was a good king – so long as they weren’t tyrans like Oswald Thorn. Why? It made the kingdom safe and powerful in turn.

However, killing kidnappers (or invading armies) is one thing, but mind controlling the governmental body is another. And Jennah’s repeated stated to be a queen who’s goal is peace, not more conflict. That’s her political stance, more or less.

The Bone Palace was made about 73 years prior to Thorn’s death, so while Joko hadn’t invaded Elona yet, he was a growing monarch of undeath during Thorn’s reign.

I think that undead being a tired concept is why Anet did it first – they already set up Orr as an undead place, they probably kept Zhaitan as undead for the flowing theme of Orr. Then take him out first and fewer undead afterwards…

Oh right, forgot about that.

Actually, we know that the charr were NOT native to Ascalon. They took control of it from its inhabitants as well (one of which being grawl). From the Ecology of the Charr, it states that the charr pushed north, then south along the Shiverpeaks – this implies either they originate from between Ascalon and the Blood Legion Homelands, or they originate from east of the Blazeridge and effectively made a horseshoe movement around that mountain range.

Though how long they held Ascalon before the humans took it is unknown, as is whether there were anything civilized (to any degree) beyond grawl is equally unknown. Though the fact there was one Khan-Ur who was killed by humans would imply that they held Ascalon for less than a generation before humans attacked around 100 BE.

So, TBH, the charr’s claim that Ascalon is rightfully their land is just them claiming “finders keepers” – humans, technically, have more right for being there longer.

(P.S., Mechos: the Ecology of the Charr is written from an in-character perspective).

I don’t believe that explanation was ever given in lore for what gargoyles were, Rehashed. As far as we know, gargoyles were merely creatures with stone that had mesmeric or elementalist abilities, and enjoyed being in high places (as well as were numerous in the Ascalonian Catacombs).

Female charr have three pairs of nipples. They’re just under fur. Same with the males.

Right, ignoring the fact that Trahearne is in fact only 25 years old.

Trahearne’s actions are all off-screen, sadly, but he didn’t have “seemingly no effort” – he’s been traveling, studying Orr, and knowing people for 25 years (from tengu to norn from Whispers to Vigil). It’s just all off-screen.

Curuniel.4830:

I always thought that the ‘adventurer’ professions – thief, engineer, ranger – were pretty non-magical or at least low-magic.

No, only engineers lack magic in the adventurer professions (in total, engineer and warrior are without magic by appearances). Thieves use magic (stealth, shadow stepping – things which originate from Assassins in GW1, which were benefited by blessings from Lyssa)) and rangers do to (nature spirits, being able to create frost/ice, fire, earth effects – they seem to use similar magic to the elementalists, but on a lesser scale) – hence the “Nature Magic” trait line on them.

Of the four schools of magic, the respective profession which utilizes them, both old and new, seem to be:

Preservation: Monk, Paragon, Guardian
Denial: Mesmer, Assassin, Thief
Destruction: Elementalist, Dervish, GW2 Ranger (GW1 Ranger was likely without innate magic, only using spirits which isn’t tied to a school)
Aggression: Necromancers, Ritualists
“Spiritual”: Rangers, Ritualists, Mursaat
None: Warriors, Engineer

(side-note: I consider “Spiritual” a kind of magic as it’s the act of using magic through spiritual mediums – that is, it’s the spirits themselves using magic. This is why ritualists can use such a wide variety of abilities – mimicking all four schools (particularly destruction and preservation); mursaat are highly implied in GW1 to use magic which affects spirits, but their magic seems to predate the original bloodstone created by the seers; though this is all fairly speculative in nature)

WarriorOfAsgard.3705:

There is also the case of Orrians use magic as a tool in their everyday lives. So the ability to use magic definately varies from person to person and tends to be more common among those of higher level education.

Orrians’ ability for magic seems to be due to where they lived more than anything else – and Zhaitan wasn’t the only magic in the area, nor were the bloodstone shards scattered through Arah when the gods broke it into five pieces. The Artesian Waters themselves, where the gods first arrived on Tyria, is magical.

So being near magical hotspots allows an easier use of magic. Though it does seem that most magic users must train for it in years, with some exceptions being magically talented.