Guild Wars 2

Konig Des Todes.2086:

He’s effectively restating what Oola says in a more specific manner: souls are magical energy (or can be used as such.

But that statement is separate from his mention of asura and mesmers. While some asura do use souls as magical energy (Inquest, primarily), his mention of asura was that they have managed to manipulate and store magic (both related and unrelated to souls). Similarly, mesmers are capable of manipulating magic (as are all other magical professions, just in different manners and focuses).

Is there any dynamic event or dungeon in which we learn that the asura are using souls? More specifically, why would the mere act of storing magic be enough to keep it “balanced”? I would have thought that the bloodstones demonstrated that such an approach was unsustainable in the long-term scheme of things. Furthermore, hasn’t what the asura are doing (i.e. storing magic) been around for centuries in the form of artifacts (such as the artifacts from Abaddon’s Temple that Zaithan consumed)? How would asuran power crystals be any different?

draxynnic.3719:

However, mesmers and asura have both shown the capability to convert and manipulate magical energy without requiring shedding of blood or taking of lives.

The asura in particular already have a variety of magic batteries – all you’d really need to do is keep enough of it stored at once and that would avoid a crisis from excess magic.

Can you help me to understand your perspective? Are you stating that asura and mesmers are capable of transforming souls into various other forms of magic, or something else?

draxynnic.3719:

Killing [a] dragon means that the dragon is no longer soaking up the energy of [their associated] sphere, so the sphere crashing into Tyria is a metaphor for that sphere’s power being released in an unbound form upon Tyria.

The question is what these “unbound” forms of magic do when they coalesce (i.e. when each dead dragon’s magic is released into Tyria). I imagine that the result would be similar to that which followed the Thaumanova Reactor meltdown: a big explosion.

draxynnic.3719:

However, they’re not doing so out of any higher purpose than being hungry, and there’s no reason other, less destructive methods can’t be employed to have the same result: regulation through the Bloodstones or artifacts of similar nature, for instance.

Draxynnic, as you noted earlier, various forms of blood sacrifice have been practiced in what could be considered an effort to generate magical energy (i.e. change magic from one form to another). Thus, I do not think that alternative ways of renewing magic in Tyria will be any less bloodthirsty, violent or destructive than those of the Elder Dragons.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

[G]iven that two of the three known bloodstones landed approximately the same distance from the volcano that launched them (while the third landed right back at said volcano), I doubt that there was enough power in launching those gigantic magical stones to send one to Elona – without going further than the others, the closest would be landing in Orr. So best chances are that the remaining two are underwater somewhere.

That seems plausible.

draxynnic.3719:

Killing [a] dragon means that the dragon is no longer soaking up the energy of that sphere, so the sphere crashing into Tyria is a metaphor for that sphere’s power being released in an unbound form upon Tyria.

I’d go one step further, and assert that magic is no longer being “renewed” for that sphere. I don’t think that it is a coincidence that Tequatl has survived the assault on Zaithan. Because he lives, the sphere dominated by Zaithan will not be damaged beyond repair.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Hidden Arcana*

Arcana Obscura is part of Episode 8, which doesn’t feature this. Either way, all of this is well known and had been commented upon a lot during Episode 5’s release. Pretty much we’re seeing a lot of hints pointing to “killing the Elder Dragons without replacement will destroy the world” – the “without replacement” comes from Ogden in the same episode who states the Brotherhood of the Dragon believed Glint could become an Elder Dragon given time and magic. This leads folks to think that’s the purpose of Glint’s egg, and why Tequatl got a power boost. Given that the Pale Tree is indeed a minion of Mordremoth, she and the sylvari could also – theoretically – function as such (even Malyck could).

IMO, anything other than a dragon cannot replace it. I base this on the testimony of Glint in Edge of Destiny regarding what Elder Dragons feed on, the statements of both risen Prince Nekandezzar and the Mouth of Zaithan. Elder Dragons feed on living beings, whether they be humans, charr, norn, asura, dredge, plants, bacteria, whatever. This is their foremost diet. Granted, they do feed on artifacts, but this is not their foremost food source. Because of this, we can only really surmise that Oola’s statements about living beings embodying magic are correct (i.e. we are a form of magic).

With these thoughts in mind, only beings capable of feeding not only on “ambient magic”, but also artefacts and life-forms can replace Elder Dragons. To date, only Glint and Tequatl form viable alternatives.

lakdav.3694:

Not trying to strengthen the idea of the connection between gods and dragons, but isnt it strangely convenient that only the Deep Sea Elder dragon’s name is damaged beyond recognition in the Tome of the Five True Gods? Given that Abaddon was a god of the seas as well as secrets, and that the tome is specificly assigned to 5 gods, without Abaddon, whose name was nigh erased from history after his fall.

This detail has been overlooked by the lore forums for a considerable amount of time. To date, this is perhaps the strongest hint that there may be a correlation between the dragons and the gods.

Avariz.8241:

One plausible good reason why all six elder dragons reside on continental Tyria is to do with the bloodstones. This is as in the previous elder dragons awakening they completed all their natural intended function of consuming all magic on planet Tyria with the only exception being the large portion of magic sealed away in the bloodstones. As we all know the bloodstones were created on continental Tyria. Well, with no where else to feed except continental Tyria of cause all the elder dragons eventually headed to continental Tyria. They converged and congregated there. This would lead me to the conclusion that once these dragon gods were spread out wide apart with each one residing on different continents but because of Seers meddling with the bloodstones now caused an unnatural imbalance of all elder dragons being located on one continent.

Edit: Magic within the bloodstones had drawn the elders dragons from wide and far to come to continental Tyria.

It is possible that Kralkatorrik flew south in search of a piece of the bloodstone. It will be interesting to see what was down there.

IMO, the continent is only special because the Elder Dragons reside in and around it. As per Ogden Stonehealer, civilizations “evolve” following each cycle of the dragons. If the dragons are magical autotrophs, it follows that we should expect civilizations to develop in and around them, especially because said civilizations utilize the dragons’ magic. Now this doesn’t mean that a civilization is always literally “on top” of a dragon, such as was the case with the Orrian civilization and Zaithan. Civilizations may be located some distance from a dragon yet nonetheless utilize magic generated by it via the leyline network/ocean of magic.

I have a main who is somewhat attached to his staff. I’m still waiting for the staff to get “some love”. With the majority of “tweaks” centering around the d/d weapon set and disproportionately strong cantrips, I wonder whether Anet will ever give the little guy a break. I guess one can dream.

With a main with no “hard counters” to stealth, invulnerabilities and the like, I agree that stealth has problems. If I could change anything about stealth, I would improve how hidden enemies are revealed. For example, running through a fire field should reveal stealth, together with the application of the burning condition.

That being said, there are problems with the current physics engine inside the game that exacerbate the frustration of players trying to counter stealth. Whilst melee and aoe attacks may hit hidden enemies, many ranged attacks do not. Sure, ranged “channeled” attacks might, but they normally only hit when the channeled skill begins before the targeted enemy enters stealth. Once an enemy enters stealth, ranged auto-attacks are completely useless. In my opinion, this is a major balance issue that needs to be corrected and has only really arisen because of the stealth mechanic. This does not mean that stealth is “broken” – it means that there are inherent problems in the combat system that probably will never be resolved.

R. I. P. stealth counter-play.

Hey guys,
Can anyone provide a rundown on how the creatures in the EoTM actually got there? Particularly the kodan and ogres? Thanks.

Why Create The Bloodstone?
The bloodstone may have been created to function as a replacement of the Elder Dragons for the lesser races. According to this theory, the Elder Dragons are the source of all “usable” magic in Tyria. Essentially, what they do is harvest the lifeforce of beings, processing it into magic. (This is similar to what the mursaat were doing. However, the mursaat needed something akin to a dragon to complete the cycle of magical generation.) Dragon biology is uniquely adapted to this role, nothing else is capable of it. But dragons and lesser races don’t get along. So the races harvested the blood of the Elder Dragons in order to ensure that they could enjoy access to magic without having to contend with dragons for the right to use it.

Questions In Closing
Glint was heralded as the last known good dragon to the lesser races, and a traitor to her peers. In my opinion, Glint has far more to answer for than we realize. It is not my intention to sully her reputation, but I’m not here to praise her to the Six either. Having said that, I wish to leave us with some questions:

1) If Glint had the gift of foresight, why would she assist Destiny’s Edge when she knew that both she and Snaff would die?

2) Did Glint send Logan away by tricking him into thinking that Queen Jennah needed him? After all, when Logan finally reached Ebonhawke Queen Jennah needed no assistance and was able to divert the attention of Kralkatorrik’s forces away from her city single-handedly.

3) Would Glint have approved of the death of Zaithan? Did Glint really want to kill Kralkatorrik?

4) Was Glint trying to soften Kralkatorrik’s heart by allowing Snaff into his mind? Was Glint trying to let the lesser races “get through” to Kralkatorrik in the same way that they “got through” to her?

These are questions that we may return to in the future, if not now.

We need to keep in mind that Destiny’s Edge battled dragon and dragon-champion many years before the asura developed their “magic-poisoning” technology, which was instrumental in killing Zaithan. As such, they were relying on older, yet nonetheless effective, ways of rending dragon flesh. Kralkatorrik’s spine is interesting, not only because it was capable of piercing dragon hide, but also because it suggests that both Jormag and Kralkatorrik lost blood in the past not to each other, but to the lesser races. Why? Well, because it was fashioned into a spear. Now, why would Glint fashion it into a spear? Glint did make a garden out of Kralkatorrik’s blood, but a spear out of his spine? What use do dragons have for spears? None whatsoever.

But the lesser races would have a use for such a spear, not only for killing dragons but also for drawing blood from them. In my opinion, then, the spear was used like a needle on at least two of the dragons to fashion the bloodstone.

Glint had formerly been charged with guarding Kralkatorrik’s life. This left her with special knowledge of the weaknesses of dragons. When Destiny’s Edge expressed their desire to kill Kralkatorrik, Glint asked them, “How do you fight the wind?”. The little band of merry adventurers did not seek Kralkatorrik’s life with mere Deldrimor steel – no, they were given something far more valuable: basic instruction in dragon anatomy and a spear fashioned from Kralkatorrik’s own spine.

It is said that Aesgir Dragonrender entered the mouth of Jormag and from the Elder Dragon of Ice drew one of his teeth. What is not said as often, however, is that one does not simply stab a dragon in the side. Aesgir attacked Jormag at one of the latter’s weak-points and is rumored to have had the aid of both the Spirits of the Wild and an ancient jotun artifact. In the same way, Destiny’s Edge tried to kill Kralkatorrik by taking advantage of a weak-point in the armor of his hide. Of course, to a dragon, this is a weak-point, but to the lesser races, the weaknesses of dragons are always strengths. There was no way (at that point in time, at least) that anything short of dragon-bone would pierce the hide of a dragon. Which is why Glint gave Destiny’s Edge the spear fashioned from the spine of her former master, with which to smite him.

The Mysterious Origins Of The Bloodstone
I am, of course, merely speculating that the bloodstone is the petrified blood of dragons. Although we know that Kralkatorrik literally bleeds precious stones (as per Edge of Destiny), they are described as emeralds or emerald-like, green gemstones. But the bloodstone is red. Admittedly, this doesn’t exclude the possibility that Kralkatorrik’s blood wasn’t used to form the stone, as real-world bloodstone is often green with red flecks. However, we only know that Kralkatorrik’s blood forms gemstones. There is nothing to indicate that the blood of other dragons does the same. I mean, come on, when Zaithan was bleeding over the ruins of Arah, the city wasn’t exactly being showered in Tyria’s finest riches now, was it?

That being said, we know that at least two dragons have lost blood: Kralkatorrik and Jormag. How? Well, in Edge of Destiny Glint treats Destiny’s Edge to a special showing of Kralkatorrik’s “bits” – a garden fashioned from the latter’s petrified blood. Additionally, in the Personal Story we learn about the Sanguinary Blade, a sword fashioned from the petrified blood of Jormag. The question, then, is not whether Elder Dragons have lost blood, but to who. Now, a successful argument can be made promoting the idea that in previous dragon-rises the Elder Dragons have had territorial conflicts that have led to violent clashes between them. Thus, knowing what we do about Jormag and Kralkatorrik, we could say that these two dragons fought each other personally at some stage in the past, were both grievously injured, turned tail and ran. From this fight, the lesser races recovered the remains of various dragon “bits”, like blood. I’m not averse to this idea, but I’m not going to explore it either, for another reason. That “reason” has to do with another of Kralkatorrik’s “bits”: his spine.

Magic. You wield it, but do you know how it is generated? Sure, you may get it from a broken bloodstone, or any other stone for that matter, but are said stones the true source of magic, or merely magical energy containers?
Doubtless, the bloodstone was important somehow. Just ask the mursaat. They’ll probably tell you that they waged a bloody war with the seers for it. To find out why the stone was important, we may need to look at the way in which the mursaat were generating magical energy.

We know that the mursaat were sacrificing chosen atop a piece of the bloodstone. Presumably, this was to generate magical energy. This may be an important clue, as it suggests that the souls of living beings – or more specifically, lifefore – form the basis of magic. What’s more, the mursaat didn’t kill the chosen just anywhere, they killed them on the bloodstone. But they had “soul batteries” at their disposal, so why not just sacrifice them on those? Why the need to involve the bloodstone at all? In my opinion, the bloodstone is made of a substance uniquely suited to processing lifeforce into magic: dragon blood. Thus, the mursaat were using the bloodstone to process the souls of their victims into magic, something that a mere precious stone, such as a “soul battery”, could never do.

Hey Konig,
Thanks for responding to my query. Admittedly, I can’t be sure whether Kiel’s analysis of the post-Thaumanova situation definitively proves that chaos magic and dragon magic are two different things. Ceara’s wording during the Fractal, to me at least, seems to point in the opposite direction (i.e. chaos magic is the Inquest/asura description of Elder Dragon magic, they just don’t realize it until Thaumanova, perhaps because they were dealing with the magic of more than one dragon). Perhaps this is an example of how misleading the statement is? Hopefully Anet will clarify this in future episodes.

Hi guys,
Can we confirm whether we have been able to ascertain if chaos magic and dragon magic are two distinct things? I’m not sure where this might be stated as fact. Thanks.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the minions of Elder Dragons when they are disconnected from their master’s hive mind? Have you ever wondered where some of the races come from? I have a proposition for you…

Some of the races, in addition to sylvari, come from the Elder Dragons.

There is a peculiar property of dragon minions: evolution. When Zaithan died, Tequatl began to evolve into something more. The Inquest managed to make both destroyers and husks evolve. How the latter did this is not fully understood, although we do know that the Inquest has had considerable experience with what they call “chaos magic”. Chaos magic may be behind both the asuran gate and waypoint networks. Essentially, it displaces creatures and also changes them. A human may become a rabbit; a skritt, a chaos beast. If it does this to these creatures, I wonder what effect it has on dragon minions?

There is evidence that Mawdrey’s predecessor, the “Cultivated Vine”, was affected by chaos magic. The ingredients required to grow the vine include a “chaos orb”. How did this magic change the vine? Did it evolve?

If Elder Dragon minions do evolve naturally, especially when their masters return to sleep and no longer wield the same degree of control over them, how could this possibly be? Well, one thing about Thaumanova is that it sits atop a leyline intersection. Now, this intersection may be the convergence of the magics of different dragons. Mixing these magics leads to what we call “chaos magic” – raw, unbridled magic. In other words, what the asura did at Thaumanova happens naturally over a much longer period of time: Creatures, including dragon minions, are exposed to the leaking magic of various Elder Dragons. This exposure is the driving force behind their evolution into higher beings. I believe that they become more intelligent, only because Tequatl is said to have become smarter, which suggests that increased intellect is one of many affects chaos magic has on creatures.

If former Elder Dragon minions walk among us, who could they be? Well, there are two races that I would like to suggest, aside from the sylvari of course. First, the dwarves. Second, the skritt. Why? Both exhibit residual mental faculties facilitating the creation of hive minds or hive-mind-like mental connections. Furthermore, the dwarves turned themselves into stone, suggesting that they may have originally been created out of it. The dwarves believe that they were created by the Great Dwarf, how then can they come from an Elder Dragon? Well, much like the Pale Tree, the Great Dwarf may have been a former Elder Dragon champion with the ability to create minions.

But he might have gone rogue.

I wonder if the existence of Nightmare is an indication that whatever aids the tree in withstanding Mordremoth’s corruption is not as effective as, say, the forgotten ritual in Arah.

teh persun.6517:

Malyck is a sylvari not born of our pale tree. Now that we know that sylvari are… dragon minions (vomits), how is it he isn’t shouting the greatness of Mordy and killing everyone? The playable sylvari are protected by the pale tree, which must have been purified of its corruption by a series of unlikely events. His tree is also pretty darn close to Mordy, so why haven’t we seen sylvari from his tree that are controlled by the elder dragon?

They were originally created to serve Mordremoth. The fact that there are those amongst the sylvari, such as Caithe, who do not wish to, suggests that stating that they are dragon minions is only confusing the matter. They are not true dragon minions, in that they start their lives as individuals, or with a degree of individuality, before being corrupted like any other race in Tyria right now. Because they are no longer bound to Mordremoth, we should expect to see signs of individuality from them, such as the consumption of food (they no longer gain sustenance from Mordy and begin to sustain themselves etc etc). The main issue has simply been how the sylvari were able to break free from Mordy in the first place.

The prevailing viewpoint is that a ritual performed in Arah is the only way that dragon minions can be liberated from their master. There has never been any suggestion that any other ritual, spell or technique can be used. However, the full story has yet to be told and I’m sure we will learn more about this curious mystery.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Stephen.6312:

Hi all,
Can anyone confirm whether we have fought any sylvari that were not born of the Pale Tree?

So far, we have not. Scarlet was definitely of the Pale Tree, and I can’t imagine Aerin came all the way from Malyck’s tree. Without Mordremoth driving him he’d have no reason, and the survivor accounts indicate he underwent a comparatively rapid but nonetheless notable personality shift as the corruption took hold, ruling out his being pre-corrupted.

Hi Aaron,
Thanks for clarifying that point.

• What are the differences between sylvari and true dragon minions? Konig has already listed several (for example, their ability to eat food). Are those intentional, and why are they there? *

The sylvari born of the Pale Tree may have developed individuality as a result of the work of several contributing factors, not limited to but notably Ronan, Ventari, possibly the forgotten etc etc. As a result, engaging in activities similar to those of other “fully self-aware” races should be expected.

Perhaps another important question we need to ask ourselves is this: Is Anet giving us a hint about the origin of a number of races presently living in Tyria? Have other races evolved in the same way that sylvari are evolving, to the point that they are no longer truly dragon minions but individuals?

Hi all,
Can anyone confirm whether we have fought any sylvari that were not born of the Pale Tree?

As to the mordrem angle, I propose that the sylvari born of the Pale Tree are evolving away from Mordremoth (i.e. they are no longer truly mordrem, they call themselves sylvari for instance). Whilst some may retain faculties which the dragon finds easier to break, I’m sure that the remainder are developing a sense of identity and may soon be as individualistic as any other member of any other race not known to be intended to be dragon minions.

The development of other ways of feeding has allowed some of the Elder Dragons to abandon the lesser races entirely. You may consider this sentiment unfounded. Since when did the Elder Dragons ever care about us? Well, Glint does demonstrate that dragons and lesser races can co-exist peacefully. Sure, she isn’t Kralkatorrik and there are those who believe that she was unique. However, thus far Glint’s abilities have proven no more exceptional than other dragons. The only thing about Glint that strikes me as intriguing is simply this: She choose to trust the lesser races again, rather than continue to fight them. It makes me wonder what we might have done to the Elder Dragons in the past that has made them so angry that they now hate all mortal flesh, despising all those who practice magic with free-will. Maybe the answer lies in the creation of the bloodstone, maybe in other acts of war and terror against dragon-kind in days far more ancient than even jotun stelae. Maybe one day we’ll get answers…

Not everyone will be comfortable with this idea. It makes Glint out to be a user, just like the Elder Dragons. But there is a difference between Glint’s relationship with the Brotherhood of the Dragon and that of Elder Dragons and their minions: Trust. In a previous post titled “Inside The Corral: Restoring Balance (P2)”, I suggested that part of the reason Elder Dragons corrupt lesser beings into minions (in particular, the Elder Dragons Zaithan, Kralkatorrik, and Jormag) is because they do not trust them. I also proposed that this behavior – namely, the creation of minions – is learned, not instinctive. In other words, it is because we have betrayed and injured the Elder Dragons in the past that they now hate us. The element of trust evident in Glint’s connection to the Brotherhood of the Dragon meant that the two parties formed a symbiotic relationship in which the magic of one party was shared with the other. This isn’t as far fetched as it might sound. The Elder Dragons, in spite of their mistrust of lesser beings, nonetheless already practice a form of sharing with them. Some minions are promoted within the ranks of their respective dragons; this promotion often involves the apportioning of more magic than before.

If this theory is correct, it suggests that each living being is like a mini-thaumanova reactor, a walking self-sustaining source of magical energy. What of the other Elder Dragons, then, the ones that don’t corrupt lesser beings? How do they feed? It appears that Primordus, Bubbles, and possibly even Mordremoth have developed ways of feeding that do not rely on corrupting lesser beings. I say developed, because I believe that all of the dragons once formed relationships with lesser beings, but half of them seem to have strayed away from this of late. How do we know that all of the Elder Dragons can form connections with lesser beings? Well, we don’t have conclusive proof that all six known dragons can do so, but we do have evidence that five can. What is this evidence? Specifically, Kudu’s Monster and Subject Alpha. Both of these creatures were infused with the corruption of multiple dragons. Subject Alpha, for example, was infused with the corruption of Primordus, Mordremoth, Zaithan, Kralkatorrik and Jormag, demonstrating that both Primordus and Mordremoth are capable of forming parasitic bonds with lesser beings, presumably to feed from them.

One thing we know about dragons is that they sleep. We can’t be sure how long each and every one does, but we know that they have an active and dormant phase in their lifecycle. The Elder Dragons feed in a manner that almost forces them to go into a dormant phase, the reptilian equivalent of hibernation known as brumation. They are so big, their appetites near-insatiable, that they binge-eat. Thus, they deplete their food sources rapidly, compelling them to go into a very, very deep sleep for an incredibly long time, conserving their energy until their food supply is replenished. However, Glint may not have slept at all following her release from Kralkatorrik’s enslavement. What this means is that she required a constant source of nourishment. From where did she get it, if she even got it at all?

It is possible that Glint fed on artefacts supplied to her by her custodians, the forgotten. Alternatively, she may simply have raided the magical store houses of the lesser races in search of their hidden booty. But there is another possibility entirely – the Brotherhood of the Dragon. Yes, that is right, Glint may have been sustained through her relationship with the dwarves of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s members state that they forged an alliance with Glint and let her into their minds, a manner of connection between dragon and lesser beings not entirely unlike that of Elder Dragons and their minions.

In the Edge of Destiny, Glint relates to Destiny’s Edge that the dragons feed on all flesh, all minds, and all life. In the Personal Story, iconic villains like Risen Prince Nekandezzar and the Mouth of Zaithan confirm this, with statements like, “You are worthy foes, but in the end, all will be food for the dragon” and, “Everything is prey for the dragon. Surrender. Accept your fate”. These sources suggest to us that the food source of dragons is living beings.
Just how dragons feed on living beings is not fully explained and there are certainly problems with Glint’s overly-simplistic description of their diet. Primordus, Mordremoth, and (presumably) Bubbles don’t really corrupt living beings, they create them. How then, do they feed on said creatures? Moreover, in the Personal Story we witness the Mouth of Zaithan consuming an artefact, and in the Living Story Mordremoth consuming asuran waypoints. If living beings are the food source of dragons, why do they also consume artefacts?
I suppose Glint was concerned about the fate of the races, not their artefacts, so she didn’t brief Destiny’s Edge on the finer points of the diet of dragons. Still, have you ever wondered how Glint survived all those years apart from her former master, if said master feeds on living beings, artefacts and the like, and no evidence has ever emerged to suggest that dragons can sustain themselves on anything else? If Glint was no longer receiving nourishment from Kralkatorrik’s magic, wouldn’t she have died of starvation long ago?
This gives us pause for consideration. Have we uncovered a major plot hole here, or an important clue?

Col. Jessep: “You want answers?”
Kaffee: “I think I’m entitled to [them].”
Col. Jessep: “You want answers?”
Kaffee: “I want the truth!”
Col. Jessep: “You can’t handle the truth!”

It is a truth so shocking, it has divided not only the characters of Tyria, but also the player-base of Guild Wars 2: Sylvari come from Mordremoth, belong to him, and were meant to serve him.
I wish to present the following theory in light of the aforementioned revelation. As of this theory, consider that I dismiss most of the other theories which I developed in the past, primarily because the majority of them emerged as a result of rejecting the notion that sylvari were created by Mordremoth.
So, having said that, let us begin.

I don’t mind the revelation that the sylvari born of the Pale Tree were intended to be minions. If I could say anything, I think that open-mindedness would have helped us all to appreciate the theory that they were, much sooner. I for one turned away from it due to the counter-arguments of others on this forum and although I know that some points raised against it were valid, there was never any definitive evidence for or against it.
If anything, the challenges laid down by the Anet lore team remind me to “be ready for anything” and try to encourage other players who have unique perspectives on aspects of the lore.

P.S. I don’t want anyone on these forums to leave

WOW! What can I say?

Mind. Blown. The revelation that they come from Mordremoth finally satisfies my long standing curiosity about the origins of the sylvari race. I must return to the theory-crafting drawing-board for more crack-pot theories!

Fighting is what the lesser races do well. How well, you ask? Well enough to injure Elder Dragons. Drawing blood from them is no mean feat. With swords for talons, a phalanx of scales, and bones like deldrimor steel, they aren’t easy to hurt. To wound them, you need special tools. Yet this did not deter the lesser races. Their heroes of today – such as Aesgir Dragonrender – and heroes of old have reminded dragons that although the latter outive the lesser races, the sun eventually sets on all. Dragons bled, and from their blood the dwarves fashioned the Sanguinary Blade, Glint constructed and maintained a garden of crystal, and other weapons such as Sohothin, Magdaer, the Staff of the Mists and the Scepter of Orr may have been forged. It is even possible that the bloodstone is the petrified blood of one or more dragons.

Believe it or not, dragon may not have started the war with civilization. Imagine if you and your family lived happily until one day you awoke to find your children, your spouse, or perhaps even your neighbors, fighting for their lives against a swarm of killer bees. One such bee is bad enough, let alone a legion of them. You could try to protect your own kind alone, or with the aid of others. Naturally, it is much easier with others. You might even use another species of bee to fight the killer hive.

Regardless of who started the war, the question must be posed: How should we end it?

Glint was Kralkatorrik’s former bodyguard. Although the Elder Dragon of Crystal can create armies of minions with ease, he entrusted his life to a fellow dragon. Indeed, those closest to the Elder Dragons are always either other dragons or dragon-like beings. This detail suggests that the long-standing conflict between dragon and civilization has left the majority of dragons so xenophobic that they will not trust anyone other than themselves and/or some other members of their own kind; this detail may also form part of the reason for the creation of minions. If you believe that lesser beings will ultimately fight you, you simply either enslave or destroy them before they can do so.

It is often the fate of those who do not live history to repeat it. In the mind of the modern Tyrian, far removed as it is from the origins of the conflict between dragon and civilization by innumerable generations, the dragons started this war; in the long-lived mind of a dragon, however, the exact opposite may be true. Whilst we don’t know who struck the first blow, we do know that civilization has landed its fair share. Kralkatorrik is missing a spine and plenty of blood; Jormag is missing a tooth and plenty of blood; Primordus may have lost blood (in the form of Sohothin and Magdaer); and Zaithan is almost certainly now dead. So the lesser races present a major threat to dragons and the latter are not oblivious to this. In fact, they’re so paranoid about their own safety that they even have bodyguards.

The chronicle of the conflict between dragon and civilization is written in the blood of both parties, and the most diligent of historians could not have conveyed the brutality of this history any more convincingly than the gore left in its wake. Memory is weakened by mortality, such that many of the most important details of this conflict have been forgotten by the lesser races. But dragons live for a very, very long time – and they never forget. Glint – a lesser dragon – was at least 3,000 years old. Some estimates put her elders at more than 20,000 years of age. Many even believe that dragons are immortal. Recent speculation by a prominent “lorerian” proposed that Glint would be reborn through her last remaining egg; Zaithan’s body was never recovered; and the Shadow of the Dragon is regarded by a few to be undying. Doubtless then, dragons – especially the Elder Dragons – remember the earliest days of their struggle with the civilizations of the lesser races.

Truly, the roads into the Mists are paved in blood. It is through death that Tyrians journey them, whether the death of oneself or the death of others. Each path requires the shedding of blood. Indeed, the human gods probably entered the Mists in like fashion. Balthazar is said to have emerged onto Tyrian soil, clutching the head of his father; and the six are said to have departed back into the Mists as a result of the death of Abaddon. Be sure then that murderers walk the Mists.

Lord Odran created numerous portals into the Mists across continental Tyria. In and of itself, this was not enough to disturb the planet’s balance. However, the fact that those aliens who found his portals could freely migrate to Tyria made it difficult to ensure that they would not also disturb the Elder Dragons. Like humanity and the elder races before them, aliens arriving on Tyria would doubtless be ignorant of the dragons and the consequences associated with the reckless practicion of magic. Thus, policing Lord Odran’s portals became paramount to the elder races, for which reason the forgotten were stationed at those portals most likely to be accessed by human and alien alike, such as the Tombs of the Primeval Kings; and for which reason the mursaat may have attempted to keep portals created by Odran in the western Maguuma closed. Yes, the mursaat were trying to hold Abaddon, a fallen human god, back. However, consider that Abaddon’s rage would mean that were he left to his own devices he would waken the dragons, thus holding him back not only ensured that the mursaat were not destroyed but also that they would have a Tyria to return to.

(To be continued…)

In days past, there was at least one human spell caster who traversed the Mists without the aid of his gods. This knowledge is the dirty laundry that even Minister Caudecus’ maids wouldn’t wash, laundry soaked in blood. It belongs to a man long forgotten by all but the most ancient of minds: Lord Odran. This powerful arcanist sacrificed countless souls to facilitate his travels into the Mists. When Krytans think of human sacrifice, they remember the mursaat. But don’t let that fool you. The masked stranger is easier to hate than the open-faced friend, and the true monster in this myth is not the bookah under Queen Jennah’s bed, its the man in the mirror. It was Lord Odran – a human – who developed the very techniques the mursaat later adopted; it was Lord Odran who began the mass murder of the chosen; and considering that creating the portals through which the dreaded lord traveled required the deaths of countless souls, its unsurprising to learn that the deaths of countless more was required to stabilize them.

“Blood is power”. The sundering of the bloodstone weakened the spell casting of human magicians, rendering Mist travel all but impossible for most practitioners, even modern-day mesmers. Thus, Odran’s lust for power led him away from the professions associated with the “True Gods” – professions powered by the broken bloodstone – to spells of his own devising; spells of similar power to those cast by human mages of old; spells requiring massive amounts of magical energy. He generated this energy through the sacrifice of souls.

The first race to whom we will turn our attention are the norn. Their havrouns are capable of entering the Mists; they can also create portals into the Mists for others.

The second race is the charr. They have largely abandoned the practice of magic in recent times. A work in the Durmand Priory’s Special Collections section suggests that they survived the previous dragon-rise, indicating that they may be indigenous to Tyria.

The third race, the asura. The asura have a knack for developing transportation infrastructure, pioneering first a network of gates, then waypoints, both of which allow for rapid displacement from one point of Tyria to another. However, thus far they have not exercised any magic capable of granting access to the Mists. The portals they have built at Lion’s Arch which lead into the Mists simply make use of an earlier version left by Balthazar.

The fourth race: sylvari. The Pale Tree, the mother of the sylvari, does have the ability to grant passage into her Dream (Caithe travels back into it from Tyria during the awakening of the sylvari PC and other non-sylvari later travel into it through a portal to witness a vision). It is unclear exactly where the Dream is located; prevailing theories propose that it is somewhere within the Mists..

Finally, we return to humanity. This race of spell casters has forgotten the power they once wielded, power with which they traversed the aether. For they tend to credit their ability to successfully navigate the Mists to their gods. It is said that the gods bought them from the Mists and later left them for the Mists. But do not believe everything that the servants of the Six tell you.

Although humanity was introduced to the bloodstone, their spell casting consumed the magic within it at such an alarming rate that it became imperative to reduce the magical profile of individual casters. If this was not done, humanity would soon need other sources of magic to satiate their demands, sources such as the Elder Dragons. So the human gods created “schools” of magic, a process that involved spitting the bloodstone into fragments and introducing the concept of specialization to magic-wielders. Basically, the magic within the bloodstone pieces could only be “accessed” through the practice of the professions associated with the human gods. Over time, these professions were adopted by rhe majority of the intelligent races (in more recent times, races such as the norn, asura, charr, and sylvari), allowing more than just humanity to draw upon the magic stored within the bloodstone shards.

If the migration of races to Tyria is a clue as to when the balance therein was disturbed, it may be helpful to look for other races, in addition to humans, that have recently emerged from the Mists. To identify them, we need to look for evidence demonstrating the ability to navigate through the multiverse.

What could the nature of this imbalance be? In the opinion of the writer of the Guild Wars 1 wiki, the arrival of humans to Tyria disturbed the balance. This may be an important point, as it suggests that the scales are more likely to tip when new races emerge from the Mists. The reason humans disrupted the balance is probably personified in their former god Abaddon. Players have long suspected that the dead diety risked waking the dragons; the dangers associated with this led to the war within the pantheon, the imprisonment of Abaddon, his eventual destruction and replacement. Essentially, because the fledgling race of humans was unfamiliar with the Elder Dragons, they showed little or no restraint in the practice of magic. In contrast, the elder races had developed ways of drastically reducing their reliance on the magic generated by the dragons. Part of this reduction involved the creation and utilization of the bloodstone.

The Elder Dragons have fixed their gaze on the planet’s “fertile crescent”, the continent of Tyria. They encircle it, forming a great corral restricting passage in and out of the region, and even seek to prevent movement within it. Primordus temporarily disabled the asuran gate network and Mordremoth is now disrupting the asuran waypoint network. Both transportation systems provide creatures with the freedom to circumvent the perimeter of the dragons’ corral (the Ebonhawke Gate, for example, allows travelers to avoid crossing the Dragonbrand). Air travel also facilitates this, but if the suspicions of the playerbase prove true, even it has been affected, with a Zephyrite airship blasted out of the sky by an Elder Dragon minion before it could pass the westernmost extremes of the serpents’ cordon. If the Elder Dragons are correcting an imbalance, then, said imbalance must be found somewhere within their corral.

The Kodan believe that, in some way, the world is imbalanced. Their opinions are divided about the source of this imbalance. Some believe that the Elder Dragons are the source, others, that the ancient serpents are in fact correcting it. I regard the latter opinion to be the reason for the races’ hesitance to discuss the balancing of magic in Tyria, as it presents the Elder Dragons as a necessary evil.

Civilisation fears the necessary evil. The Pale Tree speaks for this fear when she relates that the Elder Dragons raze everything. They are just like the firestorms of our world, such as the Old Fire of the San Bernardino Mountains. To the ordered mind, these raging infernos cannot possibly contribute anything good to life. But nature’s wilds know better. Recent studies have revealed that some ecosystems rely on fire to maintain biodiversity. This is the great irony of the untamed blaze. From one of the most destructive forces known to man comes some of the most vibrant life ever encountered.

“Over eight thousand years after the Giganticus Lupicus disappeared, a race of serpents known as the Forgotten were brought to Tyria by the True Gods to be the guardians of the world. For centuries, they did their job with order, though they couldn’t keep peace with races such as the Charr, they maintained balance in the world and the races flourished, until the Humans arrived.”

Balance. The Kodan speak openly of it, but their voices are lost in the din of others’. Hence, the topic is largely ignored by most. Scholars like Ogden Stonehealer represent those few who are prepared to explore the concept, although even he admits that he is learning. When briefing players about what he calls the “natural balance of magic”, Ogden confesses that the subject is difficult to understand, “somewhat abstract”. Personally, however, I don’t think that is why the majority do not discuss it.

For every right, there is a wrong; for every light, there is darkness. You cannot have one without the other.

You see, the Elder Dragons may awaken to defend our world against foreign threats. What kind of threats? In my opinion, the most common threat is that posed by a race incompatible with them. Responding to such a threat in no way diminishes the importance an Elder Dragon attaches to eating, however. Every creature is hungry when it stirs from sleep and spends time consuming nourishment. Elder Dragons aren’t exactly small and so they may feed for what seems to us a phenomenally long time before they turn their attention to other matters (indeed, they may never stop eating, as raising and maintaining a standing army must leave one utterly famished). In the past, the giganticus lupicus may have been an invading species against whom the Elder Dragons fought. To do so, they needed armies, conscripting members of races with whom they can form symbiotic (or parasitic, if you prefer) relationships (i.e. “corrupt”) before fighting the Great Giants. This would explain why the giganticus lupicus went extinct during the last rise, whilst so many other races did not.

I cannot pretend that Glint would not question my theory, however. “Firstly,” she would ask, “why would the arrival of a new race on Tyria pose a threat either to the dragons or the lesser races?” I’m sure that her chiding would include suggestions that the Elder Dragons are doing something far more mundane, like reproducing. So what of it? Was Zaithan reproducing? Dragons have to come from somewhere, I suppose, and the Elder Dragon of Undeath was surrounded by them: Blightghast the Plaguebringer, Tequatl the Sunless, Ogravros the Moondeath, Fafnarin the Heartslayer, and Horrogos the Soulbreaker. From Glint we learn that dragons lay eggs; so far, however, apparently no eggs have been recovered either from Zaithan’s corpse or his lair in Orr. I don’t think this eliminates the possibility that he was reproducing, though. Why? Many real-world reptiles carry their young in a special pouch in their throat. Careful examination of images of Zaithan suggests that he may have been transporting young in just such a sack, taking them with him to a watery grave…in which case, I still think that Ogden is mad.

Tucked away in the corner of the Special Collections section of the Durmand Priory Basement is a book titled, “Myths and Legends of Ancient Ascalon”. In this volume, Cita Commandheart relates charr mythology, including a fable about monsters that roamed eastern Tyria in bygone days, who used their sharp teeth and massive claws to prey on smaller animals, and whose solitary lifestyle left them vulnerable to the dragons. Essentially, the story goes, because these monsters did not band together like the charr to defend theselves against the Elder Dragons, they were wiped out. Does this fable refer to the giganticus lupicus? It might. In another book found in the collections, titled, “The Natural War”, the author Airkas speculates that the “Great Giants” (i.e. giganticus lupicus) had massive claws. In my opinion, then, it is entirely possible that the charr fable is refering to the giganticus lupicus , suggesting that these “Great Giants” were wiped out by the Elder Dragons because they failed to unite against them.

I don’t believe that the giganticus lupicus were as primitive as “The Natural War” makes them out to be, however. The tome suggests that the giants fought mainly with their hands and feet. The giganticus lupicus of Arah EXP would probably beg to differ. He is a clear example of a magic-wielding giant. Granted, his magical abilities have been augmented by Zaithan, making it difficult to differentiate his pre-existing arcane affinity from that of the dragon’s empowerment, but the fact remains that he is a magician of sorts. I would like to suggest that he is not the exception to the rule, he is the norm. The giants that went extinct in the last rise of the Elder Dragons were as much magic users as any other race. Why is this so important, though? Well, it may be crucial to understanding the work of the Elder Dragons…

The tragedy that befell the whaleship Essex formed the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic work, “Moby kitten”. The year was 1820. The Essex was hunting sperm whales in the South Pacific when, one day, the hunter became the hunted. Sperm whales produce a high quality liquid wax called spermaceti which, in the western world of the 1800s, formed the backbone of a lucrative industry in lubricants, oil lamps, and candles. In it’s time the Essex culled many whales – until, that is, the last of it’s days afloat when a solitary bull took exception to being harpooned. The crew of the Essex saw sperm whales as the producers of a resource to be harvested, nothing more. To me, the lesser races of Tyria see the Elder Dragons in a similar light. The latter’s magic is a tool that the former claims it has the right to wield and for which it will kill. But could the behavior of the Elder Dragons really be based on xenophobia? I have to admit, it could be.

One thing to note about the cycle of the Elder Dragons is that it simply does not lead to the extinction of all life on Tyria, whether the planet or the continent. Glint is said to have protected some races from the Elder Dragons’ wrath during the latter’s last rise – namely the seers, forgotten, dwarves, and jotun, but these few constitute only a portion of the many who survived it. How do we know that other races survived the Elder Dragons’ last rise? Mythology. The ogres, tengu, krait, kodan, even the charr, all tell stories of previous cycles of the great serpents. Not that every race lived to tell such tales. We do know of at least one species that did not survive the last rise: the giganticus lupicus. Why did the other races survive when they did not?

All dragons enjoy the ability to communicate with their minds to some extent, especially Mordremoth. Assuming that Ceara was corrupted by the latter, a cursory reading of her journal reveals that the Elder Dragon “communicated with [her] through images of death, destruction, and destiny”. (This form of correspondence is what Ogden hesitates to call a language.) Ceara was left pondering the meaning of Mordremoth’s attempts to converse, until such time as he appeared to learn language, as evidenced by the exchanges between the two recorded in Ceara’s holo-logs. I wouldn’t put the ability to learn languages beyond the reach of other Elder Dragons either, such as the late Zaithan, Kralkatorrik, or even Jormag, primarily because these three dragons use models of corruption that assimilate the citizens and cultures of civilizations. But if this is the case, why is Glint the only dragon to develop empathy for the lesser races? This is a hard question that remains an orphan, even in the midst of scholastic souls like Ogden Stonehealer.

Primordus, Bubbles/Steve/Sclerite, Jormag, Zaithan, Kralkatorrik, Mordremoth. These may all have resembled the Glint that we all came to know and love, once. But something changed them. It is said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perhaps, then, it is the power that magic affords them? Or maybe, the attitudes of lesser races towards them?

No one really knows why Abaddon, one of the gods, disagreed with the decision of his fellows. Perhaps he, like the human guilds, reveled in newfound powers afforded by Tyrian magic? His disagreement was so sharp that it severed any loyalties he felt toward the other gods and turned humanity back to the sword.

But Abaddon was once considered the wisest of his peers; I cannot imagine him choosing to war against them without first trying to reason with them. No doubt the Elder Dragons were discussed; no doubt Glint offered her own advice too. And so the wisdom of a god vied with the wisdom of a lesser dragon for the attention of the hearts of their hearers. The matter was eventually decided: the power of magic would be broken into the pieces of the bloodstone. Although the gods intended the gift of magic to be used for the good of all, introducing the practice of the arcane to an inexperienced mankind had only brought the fledgling race to the brink of annihilation. This was something that the gods were not prepared to risk, having saved humanity from just such a threat before.

The pieces of the bloodstone were probably modelled after the Elder Dragons themselves. Did Glint want to become like them too? I don’t think so. Once freed from her master’s magical grip, the lesser dragon lived out the remainder of her days in the infinitesimally humble confines of a single grain of sand in a barren desert. Forgotten. Ogden thinks that she could have become an Elder Dragon. I just roll my eyes. Glint was far too wise to risk becoming a fiendish monster like her elder kin again.

It is entirely possible that Glint wanted the bloodstone to replace the Elder Dragons as the primary (and perhaps also only) source of magic for the lesser races. This would practically eliminate civilization’s competition with dragons for magic. Glint appointed the forgotten to aid races unfamiliar with the Elder Dragonic cycle in adopting the bloodstone as their sole source of magic. Given that races such as humans were attracted to Tyria by its magical energies and that those energies were in turn emanating from slumbering Elder Dragons, the importance of instructing said races in the bloodstone cannot be overemphasized.

When the gods gave magic to humans, they probably did so under Glint’s supervision. This had disastrous consequences, however, because humanity was unprepared for the corrupting effects of the near-absolute power conferred by Tyrian magic. What was already in the heart of humanity found the dominance to overwhelm his psyche when infused with arcane energies. But there is some nobility in him. Doric, a human king, petitioned his gods to take back magic from humanity. It is unclear how many others supported Doric’s position. Presumably, the guilds fighting for mastery of mankind did not and they certainly must have constituted a significant proportion of the human population. Nevertheless, the gods acceded to Doric’s plea.