Fourth Lore Project: Elona

I'll admit, it's been a long time since the last Lore Project... but I have a sudden surge of interest with Elona. The time has come to begin looking through the lore-o-scope at the third chapter of Guild Wars.

Firstly, here is an extract from the most recent issue of The Scribe:

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The Distant Land of Elona

During recent days, I took some time to speak with a few of the visiting Elonians regarding their homeland. I learned that the realm of Elona is divided into three separate provinces, each offering a unique environment and exotic dangers. I spoke with representatives from each of the three provinces, and they gave me a bit of insight into their respective homelands.

The first of the three provinces I learned about was the Island province of Istan. Residents of Istan spoke of fantastic monuments left behind as remnants of a distant past. These monuments are scattered amongst the modern buildings of Istan, lending an intriguing appearance to the island province. Those Istani with whom I spoke were warm and kind, sharing information of their homeland with pride and delight. From what I understand, Istan is a land of heroes, and those who dwell within it are considered the protectors of Elona. Many of the standing monuments symbolize bygone glories of an ancient Elonian empire. I should very much like a chance to pay a visit to this fine land.

Next, I learned of the powerful military province of Kourna. A young Dervish and I discussed Kourna at length. While she seemed unwilling to talk about the politics of her homeland, she went into elaborate detail about the region itself, and the might of the army that dwells within. Kourna borders the vast Crystal Desert, and thus depends on a man-made irrigation system that brings water from the magnificent Elon River. The Elon River is essentially the only life source in an otherwise arid wasteland, enriching the soil and nurturing the land with its annual flooding. Despite the harsh environment, Kourna is the heart of Elona, housing a majestic army led by the descendant of a long-dead hero named Turai Ossa, whom the Elonians hold in high regard.

A noble Paragon spoke to me about Vabbi, the northernmost province of Elona. He spoke with pride about his home in the highlands, and praised Vabbi's marvelous wealth and beauty. The Paragon described the ornamental architecture used in the cities of Vabbi and, I must say, if his armor is any evidence of the land's splendor, I cannot wait for the chance to visit his homeland. The Paragon also mentioned that the surrounding mountains are littered with gem mines, and their treasures may provide an inspiration for the fabulous architecture seen throughout the province.

I was not able to discuss political or social issues with any of the Elonians. However, I learned enough of the Elonian homeland to make me desire more information. I hope the Elonians return to Tyria and Cantha some day soon. Or, perhaps, they will welcome us to their lands as we welcomed them to ours. Time will tell if this will come to pass. For now, let us remember the visitors with kindness and pray for their safe return to the lands of which they speak with such fondness and devotion.

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I have bolded certain extracts that help us place Elona on the map along with Tyria and Cantha.

First, some simple remarks based on the information above:

• Kourna = Egypt; Elon = Nile.
• Vabbi = Persia/Arabia, or perhaps even Ottoman Turkey and Syria
• Istan = not sure as it's an island, but perhaps this word could be related to Istanbul and therefore associated with Turkey.
• Note that Kourna borders the Crystal Desert. This immediately places Elona east of Tyria.
• Vabbi is the northernmost part, and is situated in mountains/highlands. If you look at the map of Tyria, there is a mountain ridge running east from the Shiverpeaks between Ascalon and the Crystal Desert - this could well connect with Vabbi.
• With these details we can now say that the map is not like Africa at all, as Kourna (Egypt) is almost certainly upside-down and Vabbi (Persia) is further north.
• We have no idea about the location of Istan, but I have an incling that it would be south and maybe slightly to the east of Kourna/Vabbi.

Now, here is a map I've put together of the three continents as they should, according to the details in the above passage, fit together (with a bit of imagination on my part for Elona).



Looking at this map I can see several areas that would be interesting to explore:

• A Lake Victoria/Victoria Falls-type area at the source of the Elon River
• The delta of the Elon River
• An area resembling Sinai between Kourna and Vabbi

Of course, I can't be sure the areas would be like this but imagination goes a long way.

So, after this map-making I jumped into Amnoon Oasis and hey, there's the Ghostly Hero Turai Ossa that the passage in The Scribe about Kourna talked of. Upon interrogating him he produced the following information (as well as other things):

My name was Turia Ossa. I was the Champion of Elona, the protector and leader of my people. At the Battle of Jahai, I single-handedly defeated Palawa Joko, the scourge of Vabbi. It was I who led the Elonians to the Crystal Desert.

From this, we learn that this was the fool who marched his people into the desert west of his homeland, and also that at least two of the provinces in Elona have been hostile to each other at one point (Kourna and Vabbi).

This is basically the only NPC that gives us any particular information about Elona. The rest of them all drone on about them building structures to try to climb up to the Gods, and failing - except for the Ghostly Hero in Thirsty River, who talks about the Margonites.

Here is the link to the GuildWiki page on Elona, which gives little more information (i.e. there are most probably no sources I have missed out):
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Elona

Essentially this Project is for discussion and speculation. If you find any relevant information then post it, and feel free to share any thoughts on anything about Elona/Nightfall.

My pressing questions:

• What about the Margonites and Seekers (other visitors to the Crystal Desert) - where do they originate from if not Elona?
• Are Kourna, Istan and Vabbi provinces of a kind of union or are they completely separate nations?
• What are the real-world influences of Istan?
• How will we get to Elona? Boat travel? A trek east from the part of the Crystal Desert we know?
• Are there pyramids and sphinxes in Kourna?

... discuss!

Boat travel does seem to be the way of it, but an overland route sure would be nice... maybe another oasis like Amnoon along the path...

Margonites sure sound like possible hooks for later expansions.

The map looks very cool Great job.

Its seems to be like ^ said its brg a view of great expansions next im guessing would be north like the charr land =D maby even BE a charr=DD maby not.

Boart like said, looks like most probable way, but caravan could also be a way, maby even a zoom buttonere u can zoom out 1 step further on map to c the continents that way=D

I think the Crystal Desert is more North-Western of Elona, instead of Elona being East of it and going North towards Ascalon area.

That map looks really nice. Although, I don't think Cantha is that big, it was just stretched to fit the full screen. Makes me wish ANet would give us a world map, but they probably don't even know what the whole world looks like, and it wouldn't let them make new continents for further expansions. I bet once they show us what Elona looks like, your prediction will be very close.

Erm, since it was Africa I figured, Istan = Madagascar.

great map
i also think cantha isnt that big
the other speices that came to crytal dessert such as forgotten may have come from elona

Oh god ,get your facts straight please.

There might be flaws with that m,ap ,will post soon.

sort of like this i think :

The problem with your map is that Cantha is located directly south of Tyria.

You must be Joking, that map makes no sense, how would we be able to travel by boat to Cantha, without having to actually get out and cross the Sinai Between Kourna and Vabbi?
And also the Battle Isles are actually in Tyria just off the shore of Kryta, where the guild Halls used to always be, before the first special event.

My version, with a few things added as well.



I realize Elona and its regions are much too big, compared to Tyrian and Canthan regions, but I was too lazy to resize it. I changed the Battle Isles, though. Elona is much too big, however, Kourna alone is as big as Tyria.

Where else did you expect it to be?

Because... this isn't the real world.
I followed this point in the Scribe in putting Elona east of Tyria:
And from Jiaju Tai or whatever her name is in Lion's Arch, we know that Cantha is far across the southern sea from Tyria.

Urban_Nomad, that map is pretty cool, there could well be more land like that west of Tyria, and Cantha is probably a lot further south than in my map.

Just... Elona is a bit too big...

Yeah, I need to go back and change that, Elona is way too big, I didn't resize the original picture. I will do it though.... when I feel like it.... eventually....

In my opinion, that most recent posted map is something I'd back up. Considering he got the geography right for positioning at least as far as we know.

When it comes to Kourna, you have to think. Ancient Egpytian culture, was based around the Nile. $5 says that 75% of the part of the campaign on that piece of land is on the river, and then there is an exodus type thing perhaps?

And yes, when I first read the stuff about Istan, I was thinking that would be east of Ascalon, in that mountain chain you see off to the side, and then the lake in the middle, with a river flowing south to Kourna.


AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaand I suppose I'll make a map of what I think it all looks like in a minute kthxbi.

We can't really be sure of anything as far as how Elona looks, geography-wise. All we know is that There is a large river in Kourna, which borders the Crystal Desert, and that Vabbi is to the north. It's all just opinions. The sinai between Kourna and Vabbi is complete speculation, but no one can prove anything right or wrong, so i left it like that. For all we know, Istan is an island inside a big-ass oasis up north next to Ascalon. .

Maybe I'll make it look a bit different when I resize it, but oh well. I just put it more in the area I thought it would be. Everything else was just filler to leave out blank spots. Basically, we can make as many maps as we want, the main thing is that now that we have a good idea of where Elona is, we can focus on lore a bit, which is good.

Really like the map, but to urbans, I wouldn't think elona would be so big. It is true that elona borders the crystal desert north-eastern though.

Looks like I'll be hearing about the gigantic Elona for awhile, lol. Actually, I wasn't making all of the represent Elona, a lot of that is just filler to avoid blank spaces. All of that area east of Vabbi and west of Kourna, for example, is just geography. Only the area immediately around the word Elona was meant to be considered. Although I admit I oversized Elona even when you consider that filler.

Anyway, it seems that Kourna and Vabbi used to be at war? That sounds interesting, given what Turai Ossa said about the Scourge of Vabbi. Perhaps it was just an isolated thing, though, and not the whole nation.

Actual Elona.

Well from the looks of it number 9 poster (who was banned for what ever reason) had the closest idea. Where Elona was located due to the post of number 19. Witch show's that Elona conects to the crystal desert from the south not east. And if any one wants to say other wise its a matter of looking at the full map of tyia and the full map of Elona. And you can see where they will conect. And also due to the boat in number 19 post it looks like we have to use the boat to go back and forth between places. (Was kinnda hoping just to go thier from crystal desert but heh o well)

1. Kourna and Vabbi used to be at war?

2. Huh now that will be some thing to wonder about will chapter 3 be a litte like chapter 2?? (due to the first question)

3. Will the Kourna and Vabbi be just like luxon and kurz fighting over terretory??

4. Will thier be Ab in chapter 3 if in fact the war between Kourna and Vabbi is still going on??

5. Will we get to choose a side Kourna or Vabbi??

very interresting guess we/I will find out on oct 27th
Or on the jump start event when ever that starts

uh the 9th poster? that awful map is closest?

anyway i think its a combination of this map posted in the nightfall forums and urban nomads. http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/7...iaelonaoi0.jpg

This game isn't factions. Stop treating it like it is. The key word here is that Kourna and Vabbi used to be at war. So did Kryta and Ascalon. Are they at war now? No they're not. Do they have alliance battles? No they don't.

Also, that in game map is really interesting. It shows a bit of what we expected but seemingly inverted, I'm not sure how it can border the crystal desert, unless the desert lies north of the map.

*EDIT* Just looked at bigwig's picture and thats what the last paragraph meant :P

um.... i wasnt treating it like factions with my guess/wonder.


I was not saying they are Still at war. (If in fact the war between Kourna and Vabbi is still going on)

I for one didnt really like factions very much so if Night Fall has nothing I said before (with ab, fighting over terretory ect..) I will be very happy..

But untill I see the box that says what night fall is all about ect.. this is just what im wondering. All A-net told us is that we can custemize the henchman save skill bars ect.... they have not released much of any thing els from what I have read about night fall so far..If i am wrong and have missed any thing about night fall please give me the link.



lol I know what you where probly thinking and yes his map was a awful map. But I wasnt really comparing the how good his map was to others. His map put Elona on the south side of crystal desert not the east side like evry one els did. And when I was comparing his map and the rest of the maps evry one els made in my eyes his was the closest

WTF??!!

They're either at war or they aren't. If the war is still going on, they're at war. If it isn't, they're not at war. There is no in-between!

And though I hate to mince words, I just want to make it perfectly clear: you said they're at war by saying that the war is still going on. There is no other meaning except something that is perhaps entirely contrived by your mind and has no meaning outside your head.

*sigh*

Ok I'll try to clear it up just a little more IF IN FACT THE WAR IS STILL GOING ON key words are (If) and (Still)

I am in no way saying the war is still going on or am I saying that the war is over I swear all you guys live for is to bash what others say and try to twist thier words up to mean some thing els so if you think my mind has no meaning outside my head well then dont comment on what I say/think or my input on things since you dont seem to understand what I'm thinking or you just fail to take in what I say and just reply with the first thing that comes to your head.

any was GO back on topic and stop trying to bash the things that other people say/think unless you get some kind of enjoyment off it.



If I read the scribe right I understand it as differnt nations witch would be more likly since in both Tyia and Cathan both have three differnt nations (Tyia- Ascolan, Kryta, Droks If you want to add the jungle and desert for nations go for it i just dont see them as one)....(Cathan- Cathan, Luxon, Kurzs).

You know what i think? I think Anet are sitting and laughing at us. They probably didn't put any thought into how the Continents interlock and connect, they just designed them to be cmpletely seperate!
And i know what you are going to say, the Elonians traveled to the desert so it must border Elona. Perhaps they had boats?

Well, there were sturctures made from boats in the Desert, but that was the margnites IIRC, but the elonians might have made the towers from their boats. But I'd say the map from the top of this page is probably the northern conitnent of elona and tyria, now, where does Cantha figure in to it?

HOLY CRAP?? WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT?

Sorry calm please calm, that is really sweet...
Are you in the beta team?

its been on a couple german websites. people saw it at the lepzeig convention.

But I do get enjoyment out of it. It spawns tangents and breeds argument over trivial things like strange wording and redundant points.

Less observant people would have seen 'still at war' in one sentence, 'war still going on' in the second, and assumed incorrectly. Now that you've explained yourself more clearly there is no question.

we arnt progressing very far...

Here's my speculation on the world map.



Getting there? Boat travel is most likely. However, the Nightfall Cinematic shows the Emperor of Cantha at the docks, and, as Prophecies characters cannot access Cantha, and each chapter is stand-alone, this is what I think.

Tyrians: Meet with Turai Ossa. He takes us on a trip or through a portal to visit "his peoples' homeland".

Canthans: The Emperor of Cantha goes to visit a foreign friend of his in Elona, or on diplomatic matters. You tag along.

It was confirmed a long time ago that Elona borders the Crystal Desert, so I'm not sure how much progress we're making lol.

Anyone else notice this though?:

Turai Ossa refers to killing "Palawa Joko," the Scourge of Vabbi.

The latest news we got of Elona referred to the Desolation, formed when "the undead lord, Palawa Joko, first invaded our lands."

Eh? Eh? *nudge*

Joko sounds likea Vabbi leader that went rouge or a famous crinimal, perhaps vabbi was never at war, crinimals are often reffered as Scourges.

also, to remark on the map, its looks like tyria is a crossraods, and that area with the ? is more of ascalon perhaps.

This my guildwars World=D

this map is wrong

"A thousand years ago, the spiritual ancestors of these heretics, the Margonites, fought an epic battle on the northern plains of Elona. The resulting carnage created a vast wasteland- the relm we now known as the Crystal Desert"

thus the cyrstal desert is the northern part of elona so the area south of the crystal desert is the map of elona ^_^

i like brokenmonkeys the most so far, but i think that cantha might actually be to the east of elona and tyria (unless they said somewhere that it was infact south). like the very top right courner of elona shows mountains, and i think those eventually fade into the cantan mountains you see in the south west end of it.

i think it's rather like this:

as u can see... the shore of the south of the crystal desert matches the shore of the northern mainland of elona



and cantha is somewhere south of kryta so puzzled together cantha should be west of Elona:

This is what Jiaju Tai, a merchant from Cantha, explains about the location of Cantha:
"Cantha lies south (of Kryta), across the ocean ... past the ruins of Orr, past the islands of fire, past the crystal lands of burning sun, and beyond the clashing seas. Only the greatest sailors dare such a journey, I assure you."

I guess noone ever considered that the maps MIGHT be on another scale respective to eachother.

Any conclusions made based on this is pure speculation.

ya i considered that...too lazy to make my own map though.