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Archives
Official Lore Documents
Lore Interviews

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Timeline
Stories
History of Tyria
Canthan Culture
Conflict in Cantha
An Empire Divided: A Selected History of Mysterious Cantha for the Traveling Scholar
History of Elona
GW:EN and Now
War Chronicles
The Ecology of the Charr
The Movement of the World
Cultural Diffusion in Contemporary Kryta

The Human Gods

Calendars

The Mouvelian calendar (named after Grand Patriarch Mouvel, the first high priest of the Church of Dwayna) begins counting years from the moment the gods left Tyria. This event is known as the Exodus. Years before this date are labeled BE (Before the Exodus). Years after this date are AE (After the Exodus). Years prior to the year 1 AE count down, getting smaller as they get closer to the time of the Exodus (just as they do in the Gregorian calendar).

There are 4 seasons and 360 days in the Mouvelian year.
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The Canthan Empire uses its own dating system for strictly internal and local affairs. When dealing with outsiders such as the Tyrians of the northern kingdoms, most Canthans can easily convert from the mathematically sound Canthan calendar to the more commonly used Mouvelian dating system. The Mouvelian calendar begins counting years from the moment the gods left Tyria, an event known as the Exodus; years are labeled BE (Before the Exodus) or AE (After the Exodus). In Cantha, the years are counted from the date the clans unified into the Empire of the Dragon under Lord Emperor Kaineng Tah: the year 510 BE according to the Mouvelian calendar. The years before this date are not considered important enough to number, and are simply referred to as the early, middle, or late pre-imperial era.

Unlike the Mouvelian calendar, which divides the 360-day year into four seasons aligned with the elements, the Canthan calendar—also 360 days—is broken into 12 months of 30 days each. Each month once aligned perfectly with the cycles of the moon, but over time the two cycles have diverged. Today, the new moon usually appears roughly halfway through any given Canthan month.

Most months of the Canthan calendar have names whose origins are lost to history and predate the empire by centuries. Only two—Changhai and Kainengtah—have relatively recent origins. These months, which bookend the Canthan year, are named for the two most celebrated emperors in Canthan history: Kaineng Tah, the Lord Emperor who united the Canthan clans; and Chang Hai, a prince who followed the path of the hero and became Ascendant before taking the throne. Chang Hai became the first of many such "Ascendant Emperors."
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Whenever Elona's scholars write about history, they use their own conventions for writing about time. Different countries use different systems: Tyrians use the Mouvelian calendar, while Canthans have their own Canthan calendar. When dealing with outsiders, Elonians have little difficulty converting their dates to one of these other calendars.
On the continent of Tyria, all history is relative to the year the gods left the world, an event known as the Exodus. Elonians begin their calendar two hundred years earlier, when the first of the Primeval Kings began their rule over Elona. All years in Elonian history include the letters “DR,” measuring years after the Dynastic Reckoning.

Like the Mouvelian calendar, the Elonians divide a 360-day year into four seasons aligned with the elements. Each season is ninety days long.

Priests proclaim that each season is sacred to a different god or goddess. Merchants have their own names for the seasons, passed on from the Tyrians with whom they trade. Mages believe each season corresponds to an element.

Some Elonian festivals mark the passage of one season to another with tributes to the gods.[list][*]Dwayna, the Goddess of Air, is featured in many Spring rituals, since that season is Air-aligned.[*]Lyssa also features prominently in many Spring rituals, particularly events dealing with courtship and matrimony.[*]Many of the greatest sacrifices to Balthazar occur during the Summer, since it is typically the best time of the year for raiding.[*]Practical Elonians think that Autumn is the best time for harvests. They thank Melandru for her bounty with Earth-aligned rituals at that time of year. Tyrians, on the other hand, think of Autumn as a Water-aligned season, perhaps because of the many ships that set sail at that time of year.[*]Elonians speak of Winter as the season of water, the element associated with cold. Though their country does not have ice or snow, priests perform their most elaborate rituals to Grenth during the coolest and darkest time of the year.

Important Figures

Factions and races

The Human Kingdoms

Regions and Landscapes

The Lands of Elona

Then and Now

The Asura

The Asura of the Tarnished Coast are a brilliant, if diminutive, people who dwelled, until recently, within the Depths of Tyria, where they regularly dealt with Dwarves, Dredge, and other underground races. However, a dangerous race from even deeper within the world—the Destroyers—overran their subterranean homes, forcing them to the surface. Now, the Asura must learn to survive in a hostile, strange, and all-too-brightly-lit world. Still, the surviving population is of two minds—half of them long for a return to their underground empires, while the other half believe their former lands are lost forever, that their future lies among the strange races of the surface world.

The Asura fled from the encroaching Destroyer hordes through magical gates that link the caverns of the Depths throughout Tyria. While these refugees reached the surface in a variety of locations, the bulk of the exodus came up along the Tarnished Coast, across the Sea of Sorrows from the sunken remnants of Orr. Here they found abandoned ruins high in inherent magical energy—the perfect location for a race of magical researchers to settle and continue practicing their craft. Rata Sum, the largest of these settlements, sits at the western end of the massive canyon known as Riven Earth. Many Asura meet in these magical ruins to exchange ideas and plan for the future.

The Asura brought their culture, heritage, and architectural styles with them to the surface, renovating the ruins by magical means to more closely resemble their subterranean homes. In addition to pyramids and great gates, the Asura erected geomystic generators to focus the magical energies brimming in the Tarnished Coast to further aid in their research. They also built large forges and kilns to produce prototypes and finished magical devices. This is no collection of lore-gathering scholars—the Asura are inventors and builders. And their creations tend to work more often than not.

In addition to architecture and magical devices, the Asura brought another important piece of their culture with them to Rata Sum: the game of Polymock, which they have begun spreading among the other races of the surface world with varying degrees of success. The Polymock master, an Asura named Hoff who lives in Rata Sum, is willing to instruct interested individuals in the basics of the game.

Rata Sum is also home to Mamp, the closest thing to a leader among the Asura. Mamp is a genius, like many Asura, but his genius lies in an innate ability to get other Asura to work together, putting aside rivalries and personal conflicts for the common good. Mamp's gestalt outlook allows him to pull together diverse individuals, make critical connections, and find combinations that are truly greater than the sum of their individual parts. He is less a leader than a herder of cats, which is the way most Asura like it.

The Asura are nothing if not adaptable, however, and take pride in their ability to conquer new challenges through the strength of their prodigious intellect; a pride they display exuberantly to all around them. Faced with the impending destruction of their race at the hands of the Destroyers, they have instead found new lands to tame, new races to ally with and/or manipulate, and new opportunities to seize and profit from. The Asura are, of course, confident of their inevitable success.

In the Shadow of Dragons

Asura

Charr

Human

Norn

Sylvari

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2010

2009

MMORPG | Guild Wars 2: Exclusive Interview

Quote:

MMORPG.com: The new game trailer gives some insight into the races. What storyline is your favorite of the group and why?

Ree Soesbee: Favorite?! We love them all!

Each of the races have their own challenges and their own story. In the end, however, they all share a common world--and therefore a common danger. Zhaitan, the dragon of Orr, plans to destroy all life on Tyria, and the other dragons are not far behind him in power. No matter where the individual races begin their story, all of them must come to see that their survival against these powerful foes is inextricably tied together.

MMORPG.com: Can you talk about the relationships between the races?

Ree Soesbee: Sure! As most fans know, the charr and the humans have a rocky relationship. Ascalon is ruled by the charr, but the human fortification of Ebonhawke still stands against them. Many charr and humans still dwell on old enmities and hatreds and are not willing to give up their feud even in the face of mutual destruction.

On the other side of the world, the young race of sylvari arose and began to explore the world--finding first the cunning asura. Among the asura, the sylvari experienced an initial lesson in trust--or mistrust--which they will not easily forget. The asura treated them like expendable helpers at best and experiments at worst, leading to a mistrust between the two races that is not easily overcome.

The norn have a sense of independence that keeps them somewhat apart from such matters, but also makes them distant and less informed about the larger movements in the world. They admire the charr for their boldness and find the human queen weak because she is compassionate, but they do not interfere in Ascalon. They feel the other races must stand alone--even as the norn do.

Kotaku | Guild Wars 2 Explores The Five Races Of Tyria

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Kotaku: Who are these characters in this video and what's their significance in the overall story of the game?

Ree Soesbee: The characters in the video are the members of the famous adventuring group, Destiny's Edge, renowned for their bravery and skill. Although Destiny's Edge no longer travels together, tales of their heroic deeds are told in every part of Tyria.

Logan Thackeray - Captain Logan Thackeray is a commander in the Seraph guard of Divinity's Reach, defender of the last human kingdom. When danger threatens, Logan faces it with the determination of a man who knows that he is the only thing standing between all that he loves… and its utter destruction.
Rytlock Brimstone - This ruthless charr warrior has risen quickly through the ranks of the Blood Legion to become a Tribune of great renown. He stands foremost among the charr of the Black Citadel, carrying a sword of fire and leading their armies to greatness.
Eir Stegalkin - Eir is a norn hero and tactician of great renown. There are those who call her a visionary, who say she speaks to the Spirits of the Wild. With her companion wolf, Garm, Eir roams the icy Shiverpeaks, bow and blade in hand, searching for meaning in the snow's silence.
Zojja - The foremost apprentice of the venerable asura inventor Snaff, Zojja seeks to live up to her mentor's legacy. Zojja's intellect is unrivaled even by members of the Arcane Council of Rata Sum, and her ability to multitask across a spectrum of disciplines inspires awe and jealousy among her fellow asura.
Caithe - Her blades are as swift as a blooded sunset, her movement as silent as the fall of night. Caithe was among the first sylvari to step upon the earth of Tyria, but where the others turned toward the sun, she sought shadow. She has never been afraid to gaze into darkness – or to seek truths that others fear.

Kotaku: You show off some very interesting environments in the Races of Tyria video. Can you tell us more about them?

Ree Soesbee: The video takes us across the vastness of Tyria to the homelands of each of the five signature races of Guild Wars 2.

Divinity's Reach - A breathtaking monument to the human spirit, this shining city is the capital of Kryta and a bastion of hope to embattled mankind.
The Black Citadel - Capital of the Iron Legion, this massive charr war-keep was built on the ruins of the conquered human kingdom of Ascalon.
Hoelbrak – In the frigid heights of the Shiverpeaks the norn have built this grand encampment, with huge lodges where they seek the wisdom of the Spirits of the Wild.
The Grove - Deep in the Maguuma Jungle, this mystical settlement has grown around the Pale Tree, the birthplace of all sylvari.
Rata Sum - Rising from the jungle, this metropolis of geomystic generators and giant ziggurats is full of brilliant asura and their golem servants.

Onlinewelten | ArenaNet im Interview - Teil 2 (The English translation starts on page 4.)

Quote:

Onlinewelten: Is there some kind of hierarchy among the dragons? Eye of the North gave the impression that Primordus was the boss.

Ree Soesbee: There is no hierarchy. Primordus is the boss of Primordus’s servants, whom we saw in Guild Wars: Eye of the North as the destroyers. Primordus was also the first dragon to ‘awaken’ in the world, although the actions of the player characters in that chronicle pushed back his actual rise for several generations. The other dragons, including Zhaitan and Jormag, are independent entities, powerful and inscrutable like forces of nature – and completely uncontrollable, even by one another.

Onlinewelten: There are considerable concerns that firearms do not fit into a fantasy setting. Didn’t you have any qualms?

Eric Flannum: This reaction is actually something that we were a bit surprised by. The world of Guild Wars has a tradition of using “black powder,” from the powder kegs used to blow open doors in Prophecies to the fireworks and giant turtle cannons in Factions. We thought it was a natural evolution over the course of 250 years for our races to advance their technology. This was especially true of the charr, who have pioneered the use of technology since they have given up on the notion of gods and consider the use of magic to be a sign of weakness.

Onlinewelten: Will the charr cults play a role in GW2? What about the remaining dwarves?

Ree Soesbee: The charr have changed a great deal since the original Guild Wars, and have reestablished their Legions and their original culture. The Flame Legion, led primarily by the shamans who were in charge during the Searing, still exists, but they are reviled by the other Legions.

The dwarves have left the surface of Tyria to hunt Primordus and the destroyers below ground. There is one dwarf active in Tyria, and the players can interact with him, but the others have not been heard from in generations. They have become little more than legend to those races who remained behind.

Onlinewelten: Is the sylvari’s telepathy going to be of any relevance?

Eric Flannum: Sylvari don’t have telepathy as most people think of it. Instead, they have a racial empathy and feel the emotions of other members of their race in a more abstract way. They aren’t able to communicate to each other directly without actually speaking. This empathic sense will indeed have an effect on the game for sylvari players.

Onlinewelten: Will the gods return some day to Tyria?

Ree Soesbee: The humans still worship their Six Gods with devotion, despite the fact that the gods no longer take an active hand in the destiny of Tyria. Have they truly left? Are they watching, but choosing not to directly answer prayers? These are questions that the people of Divinity’s Reach struggle with on a daily basis. Only the gods themselves know the true answer -- to their questions, and yours.

Onlinewelten| ArenaNet im Interview – Teil 1

Quote:

Onlinewelten: Could you tell us a bit about the “evil” sylvari, the Nightmare Court?

Ree Soesbee: The Nightmare Court can be compared to legends of the Unseelie Court, the Dark Fae, and other faerie creatures of darkness. They are evil, like many things in Guild Wars, but they are intelligent and rational – they have chosen a path that they believe is the ‘correct’ one, and they are eager to convince the rest of the sylvari race to embrace their ways. We’ve said before that The Dream has two sides – it is neither wholly good, nor wholly evil in itself. The Nightmare Court have an affinity for the darker side of The Dream, and they seek to understand its depths. They hold Dark Vigils filled with regal depravity; twisted courtliness and sadistic tournaments that pervert sylvari chivalry.

The Nightmare Court don’t consider themselves ‘perverse,’ and some among them might even argue that they are not wholly ‘evil.’ They simply follow the darker side of The Dream and explore depths of the sylvari soul that already exist. Who is to say that the sylvari were not wrongly influenced by Ventari’s ancient teachings, that clinging to the lessons of his Tablet has not changed them from what they were meant to be? The Nightmare Court feel that they need to commune with all parts of their spirits, with all parts of nature – no matter how horrible or vile. There, they find secrets and enlightenment that other sylvari are too chivalrous – or too afraid – to seek.

Onlinewelten: In one recent interview it was mentioned that the sylvari correlate with a certain season. Is this relevant for the player? Do the characters differ depending on the time of the year in which they were created?

Eric Flannum: The season that their sylvari character correlates to is very relevant to the player. We don’t grant the character anything that is power-related, but their season is one of the many things that differentiate one characters personal story from another’s.

Onlinewelten: Do you plan something similar for other races?

Eric Flannum: Each race has a number of factors that will change their personal story. Some of the things that are equivalent to sylvari seasons include a human’s racial heritage, a norn’s animal totem of choice, a charr’s legion affiliation, and an asura’s college.

Onlinewelten: Are the kodan just another form of the norn or a species of their own? They seem to be living on an iceberg with sails. Does that mean that their city is constantly changing position?

Ree Soesbee: Kodan are not norn. Kodan are not shapechangers; the form you see is their sole physical form. Some scholars hypothesize that the two races may share a common history, but they are not at all the same race.

The great kodan sanctuaries, their cities, are mobile. However, with the rise of the dragon Jormag in the far north, their Sanctuaries have been pushed out of the massive ice seas and into the shallow bays and harbors that border the Shiverpeaks. They cannot return to the arctic oceans, for fear that the dragon will destroy them utterly.

Onlinewelten: We have seen news that norn can transform into ravens. Will players be able to fly?

Eric Flannum: Players will not be able to fly in Guild Wars 2. When we were looking at new places to take Guild Wars 2 we decided pretty early on that we wanted to tackle the underwater exploration aspect both because we thought we could make it really visually appealing and do it in a way that was a lot more accessible than it usually is in other games. Underwater exploration adds a lot of playable space to our world that we need to populate as well as providing us with a lot of technical and artistic hurdles to overcome. Because of this we thought it was prudent to only take on the underwater exploration.

As for the second part of the question, norn do not transform into ravens so much as a half norn/half raven form. Unfortunately for the norn (and fortunately for everyone else), they are not able to fly in this form.

Onlinewelten: Could you tell us a bit about how the races relate to each other in general?

Ree Soesbee: Old angers and different values make the races unwilling to ally with one another; too many of the leaders in Tyria have their own ideas about ‘how things should be run’ to make for easy or simple relations. Further, some races – like the humans and the charr – are still skirmishing and arguing about historical grievances even while they’re trying to make peace. The sylvari are so new that most races view them with a certain amount of uncertainty and mistrust, while the asura go to great lengths to make sure everyone else realizes their intellectual superiority. As for the norn, they’re more focused on the individual hero than the overall ‘nation,’ so it is nearly impossible for any of them to say they speak for their race as a whole.

As a player in Tyria, all races will be able to work and adventure together, and experience the wonders of the world. There may be cultural biases or other difficulties, but it is possible for a human to visit the charr’s Black Citadel, or for a charr to walk the streets of Divinity’s Reach. And all races congregate in Lion’s Arch – the one true haven of cooperation and peace.

Onlinewelten: Many fans have longed for dwarves. Why didn’t they make it as a playable race?

Eric Flannum: One of the things that we try to do with our story and lore is to build a sort of roadmap for where the world and all the races that inhabit it have been and where they are going in the future. The dwarves have played an important part in past events (more than players are even aware of at this time) and will have a role in the future as well. Because of the destiny we chose for the dwarven race, they didn’t make a particularly compelling playable race for Guild Wars 2. But who knows what the future holds for them?

Mondes Persistants | Une interview exclusive pour GW2! (English translation)

Quote:

Mondes Persistants: ArenaNet is famous for its original design and background. But dragons be dragons. They look probably like the most classic creatures of the Guild Wars world. Nevertheless, how did you work their design for Guild Wars 2? What did you do so your fans don't just go : "oh, dragons... meh"?

Chris Lye: The Elder Dragons are ancient, elemental beasts, exponentially more powerful than any of the dragons players know from Guild Wars. They’re more powerful than the human gods or any other being that has ever been seen in Tyria. Fighting an Elder Dragon is like battling a hurricane or a tidal wave.

ZAM | Important Guild Wars 2 Questions Answered

Quote:

ZAM: Can you set the story up for us, Jeff?

Jeff Grubb: Guild Wars 2 is set in Tyria, which was the setting for Guild Wars I. It's 250 years after the events of Eye of the North, and during that period, the dragons have awakened. But these dragons are just like shadows, echoes, you know, mere sparks compared to the elder dragons. The elder dragons—which you saw in the video—are these powerful, titanic, elemental forces. Zhaitan, who is only one of them, brought the sunken nation of Orr up from the depths and reanimated its population as undead minions, and makes its lair in Arah, which is the city of the human gods. That's how powerful the dragons are, and Zhaitan is just one of them. So this is the ultimate threat; they've awoken hungry, they corrupt anything they touch, they devour anything that gets in their way and they destroy anything that opposes them. And in this world—this is the meta-story; the largest story—is the story of the five living races coming together to fight against the dragon. Each of the races have their own conflicts; we have a large story, then we have racial stories, and most importantly, we have the story of you. Your story runs through this epic background of basically leading them past the war.

ZAM: Why were the dragons asleep, and why have they awoken?

Mike O'Brien: They have always been here. They are power; raw, incarnate power. The City of the Gods was built on top of a dragon, the central transfer chamber that the sewer used in Eye of the North was built on top of a dragon...they're just literally magical reactors to a great degree. And the ‘why' and ‘where' are something we're going to get into, in the game itself; it's part of that story. But right now, it is like hurricanes and earthquakes hitting; it's a natural force, it's a uncaring force, it's a mindless force to a great degree. You can't reason with these dragons; you can't play Bilbo and Smog—you're not going to have a conversation with these things. They have their minions and corrupted lieutenants; each one has the different tendency, and all have left their mark on Tyria. The Charr lands have a huge scar basically dragged across the dragon brand, which was a dragon flying and breathing over that territory. And all along that area is a corrupted, nightmare landscape. You can see some examples of art form; we started asking [the art department] to give us some nightmare terrain, and they created some beautiful shots that we turned around and incorporated into the game.

ZAM: So the dragons play a pretty big part of the storyline. From a quest-to-quest or daily basis, will they be there in the backdrop? Or will they be an eventually-emerging theme?

Mike O'Brien: Not every adventure will be a dragon adventure, but the adventures will build to the war. As you discover the world, the story expands with you. The humans, for example—since the time of Guild Wars I—have had a hard time. They've been driven out of their nations, they've had nations sink and blow up; they're reduced to one major nation, Kryta, in the city of Divinity's Reach. Their big problem is that they're confronted on all sides; they have bandits, they have centaurs that have come down out of the mountains, they are trying to basically make peace with the Charr, which have been their rivals and enemies for 250 years. There's a very tentative truce between the two big sides that we had in 'Prophecies.' This is not everybody getting together to sing Kumbaya; there are some major obstacles that have to be conquered?

Massively|Let’s Talk Guild Wars 2

Quote:

Massively: We're intrigued by the concept of evil Silvari, called the Nightmare Court. What all can you tell us about them?

Ree Soesbee: The Nightmare Court are Sylvari who have embraced the darkest parts of the dream; a terrifying nightmare that contains as much horror as the dream contains inspiration. Those who choose this path are evil, cold, emotionless, cruel creatures who enjoy propagating evil. They want to burn out their emotions, forcing their converts to do horrible things in order to destroy all the sympathy, empathy, or compassion they might possess. They seek to purely understand the depths of Nightmare – and feed yet more horror to the dream. Their Dark Vigils are things of legend, filled with regal depravity; twisted courtliness and sadistic tournaments that pervert Sylvari chivalry. Their greatest ambition: to turn the Pale Tree herself to the Nightmare, and envelop the world in cruelty and bedlam.

Ten Ton Hammers|The Future of Tyria: An Exclusive Guild Wars 2 Interview

Quote:

Ten Ton Hammer: With so much uproar and devastation, has that shaken people’s belief in the gods at all? Are they still going to play an important role in the future?

Jeff Grubb: Yes and no. At the end of Nightfall - after Abaddon was defeated and Kormir became the new Goddess of Truth - the gods pulled back. They basically said, “Humanity, we’ve been mucking with you, we’ve been too hands-on, we’re going to step back and this world is yours to do with and succeed or fail as you can.” So the gods are somewhat like parents and humanity has been riding a two-wheeler for the first time. They’ve been running along behind and they’ve just released the seat and the kid is going back and forth across the highway, and the parent wants to grab the seat again, but the kid has to learn for itself.

That’s what humanity is doing right now. They’re not doing as well as you would expect after being left on their own, but the gods are not as involved as they were. Humanity’s faith in the gods is still strong and there’s still response, but not to the same level of interference that you’ve seen previously.

Kill Ten Rats| Guild Wars Interview

Quote:

Ravious: Now that the gates have opened on Guild Wars 2 information, will any secrets to Guild Wars 1 be further explained, such as Bahltek, the undeciphered Asuran banner, or the giganticus lupicus?

Jeff Grubb: Short answer – yes. It is the same world, so we will be using the lore and history of the world. What pieces get revealed and explained will develop as the story evolves. And just to drive you mad, at least one of the items listed will be addressed.

Ravious: The focus of the story in the trailer seemed to be on the unification of the races and one elder dragon, Zhaitan. The other awakening dragons are only mentioned in passing. Will the first Guild Wars 2 story (campaign, story arc, etc.) deal primarily with Zhaitan and Orr, or will we encounter the other elder dragons as well?

Jeff Grubb: The ultimate foe of Guild Wars 2 is Zhaitan, but the influences of the other dragons run deep through Tyria – Jormag’s worshippers are active among the Norn, Kralkatorrik’s brand is carved across the charr lands in Ascalon, and the minions of Primordus continue to surface across the land. But the story of GW2 leads to Orr, and the City of the Gods which is Zhaitan’s lair.

Ravious: Why did the elder dragons awaken now, and nearly all at once?

Jeff Grubb: By “nearly” you mean “once every fifty years or so over the past 250 years”. This is a lifetime in human terms, but an eyeblink in the history of the world. They are primordial powers that now are growing restive and unleashing their power on the world.

Why exactly are they waking up now? Unrevealed, but they are waking up hungry.

Ravious: Humans are an interesting wild card in the Guild Wars world. What we know is they first appeared in Cantha, the Empire of the Dragon, and the now-called human gods were very relevant to all the lore built up in Guild Wars 1. Now, with the awakening of the elder dragons and waning of the human race, the human gods are less involved in the world of Tyria. Who or what created the human race and what is their point of origin? Why do the other races seem to hold so little value in the human gods, who allegedly “created” Tyria as we know it?

Jeff Grubb: The full story of the origin of the humans has yet to be revealed. They arrived in the Tyria (the continent) sometime after they first appeared on Tyria (the world). It seems, from their previous appearances, that they have come up from the south, so the “human homeland” may be further south than Elona and Cantha. The idea of human gods “creating” Tyria is viewed by other races with mixed reactions. The charr think of it as theological propaganda (and that the human gods are not true gods, only more powerful, once-mortal, beings). The asura are perfectly willing to accept the idea of gods as (rather large) gears in the Eternal Alchemy. Norn are perfectly willing to allow the idea of gods, but think of them as a different type of their own animal spirits. The sylvari consider them unproven, since the gods have not shown their presence directly to the sylvari.

Ravious: Which came first to the world of Tyria, the elder dragons or the human gods (current pantheon or predecessor pantheons)? Do they have any prior relationship, especially since the human gods created Glint, a dragon, to shepherd their creations?

Jeff Grubb: The Dragons, as we said, have always been here. The gods predate the humans, but not by much. Much of what we know about Glint comes from Glint herself. The truth of the matter may be very different, and she has her own reasons for saying what she has said.

Ravious: Kerrsh’s quest line in Eye of the North (ending with the quest The Path to Revelations) is a hotly debated topic on the lore forums. Why are the facets of the human gods depicted as dragons? Can the gods’ cryptic message be explained in terms of Guild Wars 2?

Jeff Grubb: Dragons are power, and the facets reflect the nature of the power that the human gods have harnessed. Both the Asuran Central Transfer Chamber and the City of Arah were built on places of power, which turned out to be directly over Elder Dragons.

It is possible that the cryptic message refers to the Dragons – “a land unwaking” could be the risen kingdom of Orr, and answers to the origin of the dragons do lie there.

Ravious: Dwarves are also an interesting race in that, according to the trailer, they actually had legends about Zhaitan. Given that they also had legends about the Great Destroyer, the dwarves seem to have much more knowledge about the elder dragons than the other races. What year were the dwarves created, and what legends did they have about Zhaitan?

Jeff Grubb: As one of the elder races, dwarves know more about the Primordus, his minion the Great Destroyer, and their dragon kindred. Only a portion of that was written down in books such as the Tome of Rubicon, but the knowledge still survives elsewhere.

[B]Ravious:]/B] The Mursaat was one of the favorite races of the players, even though their demise was caused by players’ hands. What can you tell us about the few Mursaat that were left after Eye of the North? What have they been up to for 250 years? Will they make an appearance in Guild Wars 2 or will more Mursaat Rallies have to be held?

Jeff Grubb: The Mursaat are a favorite race here at ArenaNet as well, and we have a number of creatives that are big Mursaat fans (which is why they showed up in the Bonus Mission Packs). Their ultimate fate has yet to be revealed, so keep holding the rallies.

Wiispace | Wiispace Interview With Ree Soesbee, World Designer and Writer For Guild Wars 2

Quote:

Wiispace: Will there be any continuation of the original Guild Wars story or at least some mention of it in Guild Wars 2? Will there be any old characters revisiting us in Guild Wars 2?

Ree Soesbee: The world of Tyria in Guild Wars 2 is the same as the one players are familiar with from the original Guild Wars game. The passage of more than two hundred and fifty years has changed the world, altering both the culture and the landscape significantly, but the world has many things that will be familiar to returning players. The story of the world is a continual one, and events that the player characters shaped in the first Guild Wars game are turning points in the history of Guild Wars 2.

Due to the passage of time, most characters that were important in Guild Wars are no longer present. Their names are legendary, and their contributions are still recognized in the game, as are the events of our previous releases. From those starting points, we shaped the new world of Tyria – and many of the organizations, gods, and locations from the first Guild Wars will be present in the second.

Wiispace: What can you tell us about the Sylvari race, and how they fit into the whole picture?

Ree Soesbee: The sylvari are a very young race of nature spirits, who have awakened with the rise of a new age in Tyria. They are beings of light, as yet uncorrupted by the world. As a people, they have not yet truly learned of sorrow, suspicion or hatred. The typical sylvari approaches life with curiosity, openness, and resolution, always seeking new experiences. The sylvari do not have the history or learned traditions of older races, but they do have a shared connection with one another, learning things instinctively through the Dream that guides them. With the guidance of their Firstborn and the gentle Call of their dream, the sylvari quest throughout Tyria, going where destiny leads them.

Wiispace: The Guild Wars 2 trailer showed a lot of impressive environments, one of the shots being that there is a sense of real time as the sun went down and the moon came up. Will there be a real time environment as in transitions between daytime and night time and weather changes?

Ree Soesbee: We do, indeed, have a day/night cycle! The transition will not be real time, but rather a sped-up in-game cycle based on the game timer. The transition of day to night will have a big effect on the world, as certain events in the game won’t happen until it is an appropriate time of day. Centaurs may attack the garrison at first light, for example, or spooky ghosts appear at a haunted ruin only during nighttime.

Wiispace: Guild Wars had a very strong lore involving the gods and goddesses in the world, will this also be a major factor in the lore of Guild Wars 2?

RS: Lore will always be a strong factor in the guild Wars franchise. We love writing story and creating a strong world of imagination; our players love experiencing the epic quests and seeing their actions change the world. However, the gods of Tyria as our players have experienced them are primarily human gods – and while the humans continue to maintain a very strong faith, the other races have their own forms of religion. The atheistic charr swear to never again accept the yoke of ‘false idols,’ the mathematical asura keep a steady eye on their Eternal Alchemy, and the norn respect, but do not ‘worship’ Bear and the other Spirits of the Wild. The sylvari are more agnostic, sensing that there is a greater force directing their actions, but not yet able to give it a name – their path is one of questing, seeking answers rather than following blindly another race’s path.

Wiispace: Previous Guild Wars installments have proven that you tend to follow a theme for your environments and lore.(Factions based off Asian themes, Nightfall based off African themes) Will you have set themes for environments in Guild Wars 2 that are based off of real world locations?

Ree Soesbee: The majority of Guild Wars 2 takes place on the primary continent of Tyria, within the lands that Guild wars players would recognize as Kryta, Maguuma, Shiverpeaks and Ascalon. Orr, as we have mentioned in the trailer, has risen from the sea and is also an explorable area. Those areas have definite ‘themes,’ but are shaped more by the events going on in our game.

Wiispace: In the Guild Wars 2 trailer there was a clip of an underwater environment, will there be fully explorable underwater environments in Guild Wars 2?

Ree Soesbee: Absolutely. One of the things we’re extremely excited about is the new ability to explore the lakes and underwater areas of Tyria. We’re designing underwater activities to be fun, and easy to take part in – the ability to go underwater won’t be an extraordinarily annoying or difficult thing to do, because we actively want the players to explored this new environment and enjoy the events occurring beneath the surface of the water.

Wiispace: Will we be seeing anything familiar; as in cities from Guild Wars in Guild Wars 2?

Ree Soesbee: Definitely. The city of Lion’s Arch still exists, although it has changed a lot. Many of the territories of Ascalon retain their original names, if not their original owners. Rata Sum, Kryta, the Shiverpeaks all exist and will be explorable. Other familiar areas, like Sorrow’s Furnace, may have retained their location and be recognizable – but the passage of two hundred and fifty years has changed them in dramatic and exciting ways.

gametrailers.com | Video Interview with Jeff Grub and Daniel Dociu

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Jeff Grubb: Guild Wars 2 takes place 250 years later and at a time between the events of the first game and the events of the second game, the dragons have awoken. They are elder, powerful, elemental forces which are destroying the world and in order to defeat them the races come together.

The races have all advanced in the past 250 years, the Charr which is a race well known from our original Guild Wars, have overthrown their old religious leaders for example and have became a supreme military, technology civilisation. The Asura which came up from below, the short little guys, have really developed their civilisation on the surface, with beautiful, magical technology with golems, gates and everything.

The Sylvari have awoken, which is a plant-like race, which is new to this world, they feel it is their destiny to fight the dragons. The Norn have been driven from their northen homelands by the dragons and now are settling up with their own lands. The Humans finally have been pushed back on all sides, their an enbattled race. In the original Guild Wars, the Humans ruled and they were fighting these other races, in the 250 years since then they've been losing more and more ground, till finally they have just a few cities left.

The tree of the story is through the dragons, is the threat of the dragons to the world. As we discover more about the races, as we discover more about the places, other stories come forward...the humans against the centaurs, the Charr against their former religious shamen caste that used to run things back in the days of Guild Wars: Prophecies.

As we develop the art, as we develop the story behind it they become other stories and they give us a very rich world. Not every task goes back to dragons, but the important tasks will come back to dragons.

IGN|Guild Wars 2 PC Games Video Interview

Quote:

Jeff Grubb: We are setting the game in the world of Tyria, the setting for Guild Wars Prophecies, but 250 years later. And a lot has happened in the 250 years, during this time the dragons have awoken and these are powerful elemental beasts which have been sleeping for a millenia beneath the surfaces as all civilisation and life thrives. Now they are waking up and they're a little bit peckish.

In the new game one thing we're looking at is player mobility, not only getting from place to place, we had the old Map travel in GW1, but also as far as the ability to jump, run, swim and dive underwater. Now in addition to our traditional ways of getting around we also have the Asura, a magical race have taken over a large chunk of the south and they use magical gates to get from place to place, these Asura gates are a vital linkage within Tyria nowadays.

IGN|Guild Wars 2 - First Details and Q&A

Quote:

IGN: How does Guild Wars 2 fit into the overall Guild Wars fiction?

Ree Soesbee: When we designed Guild Wars, our goal was to look at standard fantasy settings and then take a sharp left turn to create a unique world with a completely distinct history and lore. It is important that fans of fantasy recognize and feel comfortable within the world, but at the same time, we wanted Tyria to be an extraordinary place to explore and discover. We do a lot of historical research before we create new lore for the Guild Wars game, and within that research, we ask "What is it about this myth (or culture) that makes it truly unique and exceptional?" From that starting point, we take a new approach and build unparalleled fantasy settings that nevertheless feel inviting and intriguing to any fan of fantasy.

For an existing Guild Wars player the story of Guild Wars 2 uses familiar locales, races, and themes, but shaped in an entirely new manner. 250 years have passed in Tyria; not everything is as a returning player would expect it. Lion's Arch is no longer part of Kryta; Ascalon belongs to the charr; a new race, the sylvari, now walk in the Maguuma forests. We plan to build on the familiar locations as well as incorporating surprises that will further reveal the lore of Tyria as a world. We want to show players the new lore--like the sylvari and their mysterious past--but also expand on what we've built, and explain secrets of lore that we didn't get to reveal in Guild Wars due to time or location constraints.

IGN: What can you tell us about the new races and classes?

Ree Soesbee: Well, we're not releasing mechanics right now, so I can't tell you much about the classes. The people of Tyria and their technology--both magical and physical engineering--have advanced. I can tell you a little bit about the races, and there's a lot of really great stuff to tell. So much, we could probably write a whole article just on the races, their backgrounds, their perspectives and their history! But I'll try to be brief.
The five playable races in the initial release of Guild Wars 2 are the asura, charr, humans, norn, and sylvari. Although they begin in different areas, and have slightly different storylines, all the races must come together in order to defeat the Elder Dragons, because no single race is powerful enough to do so alone.

The humans are the most well known race to our players, but they're also the ones who have suffered the most changes. Ascalon has been taken by the charr. Elona and Cantha are lost, unreachable, and Lion's Arch is no longer beholden to the human throne. Only the nation of Kryta, led by its Queen Jennah, stands as a bastion of human civilization. Their last great city, Divinity's Reach, shelters humanity from total destruction. They still worship the Six Gods, but the human gods are less active in the world, perhaps reflecting the decline of their followers.

The charr are the conquerors of the human kingdom Ascalon, a land they claim is their homeland. They are ferocious, warmongering creatures--the foes of humanity for hundreds of years, as violent and cruel as they are cunning. They have led the revolution of physical technology--guns, explosives, and war machines. Ascalon thrives under its charr masters, and the three Legions--Ash, Iron and Blood--march inexorably onward toward their goal of conquest.

Forced by the ice dragon to leave their homes in the far north, the norn have settled in the Shiverpeaks, building new homesteads and totem lodges on the high peaks and in snowy valleys. The greatest of these settlements, Hoelbrak, provides a central meeting point for these rugged, individualistic hunters, but none would dare call the norn a people. They worship the Spirits of the Wild--Bear, Snow Leopard, Wolf, and Raven--and can shapeshift into mighty bestial forms.

Once, the asura ruled the caverns and tunnels below Tyria, contemptuously calling the races above them "primitive" and "unintelligent." The rise of the Elder Dragon, Primordus, drove the asura to the surface--but they have not only survived there, they have prospered. Their great intellect and incredible ability with magic has given them an advantage the other races do not have: an innate mathematical understanding of the magical nature of Tyria, and how best to control and wield it. Now that they have settled into their new homeland and capital city of Rata Sum, the asura aim to rule the surface world with their powerful golems and ingenious plans.

The sylvari are the youngest of the races. Their Firstborn blossomed from the Pale Tree only 25 years ago, and since then, they have attempted to explore the world and understand the strange call within their souls that drives their Wyld Hunts. They are a mystical, naturally curious race, searching for their purpose in the world. Their society is shaped by the proverbs on the Ventari Tablet, the wellspring of sylvari honor and chivalry, as well as the Inner Dream that guides them toward their destiny.

MmorpgItalia|Video Interview (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Grubb

Guild Wars 2 is set in the same setting and Prophecies in Tyria, but it is 250 years later, and things have changed in the past 250 years for the area. I think we’ll see areas changed by time and changed by the catastrophe. Things have really altered what we have and some of which you’ve seen here on the screen.

In the past 250 years, since the last GW, the dragons have woken up throughout Tyria, and these are incredibly powerful creatures. The ones you know from Guild Wars 1 like Glint and Rotscale are shadows of these engines of destruction. They’re like earthquakes or tsunamis. They are power incarnate, and they destroy anything that is in their path. They corrupt anything that they touch. And they intend to consume the world, that is their nature.

You saw here, the Orrian Dragon, Zhaitan rise the sunken the continent of Orr back to the surface and reanimate its former population and turn them into mindless zombies. It makes its lair in the former city of the gods of the humans. This gives you an idea of how powerful these dragons are and what a threat they are to the greater world.

Now the only way to resist these dragons is for the living races to combine, to basically come together, to fight this power. Now we have 5 character races in GW2. The humans, which you know from the original, the past 250 years have not been kind to them. They have been driven back. They have lost territories. The Charr and the Centaurs have all made their lives difficult, so they are now withdrawn to their last great walled city. They are still holding on, their troubles may have passed.”

The Charr are also from Guild Wars 1, they are also the feline war-like race. In the past 250 years, they threw off the shackles of the Shaman Caste that has controlled them for so many years, and have reestablished themselves as a military operation. They are highly military organized, they are very effective, and they are very ruthless. You’ve seen the smoke stacks of their cities in the trailer, you’ve seen them with firearms. Those are two of the races.

The third one comes out of Eye of the North, which was our last product. These are the Norn, and they are big brawling half-giants with shape-shifting abilities. And they used to live further in the north, but were driven south when the ice dragon, Jormag, arrived and basically destroyed their culture. They are seeking a new home, but they’re also seeking to preserve the nature of what it means to be a Norn; which means heroic deeds and brawling and drinking and more drinking. So they’re a fun race from that stand point.

The Asura also come from Eye of the North, and you saw them there as the short, long-eared characters with the power glove. And basically you push the button and the golems behind them activate. They are a magically technological race. They understand magic at a base level which allows them to build magical teleport gates, golems, and floating architecture. That pyramid structure with the blocks at the top, which is an Asuran city. They’re near in here in my heart.

The last race is a new race, they are the Sylvari. And they are a race of plant creatures, who have basically only arrived in the last 25 years. They are a young race, they are born as adults. They share a common dream, a common forebirth (?), that gives them a level of knowledge where they understand the world around them, but they are still trying to find their place in the world. But what they do know is that their place may involve fighting dragons.

So those are the five races. You can play any one of them; you have different lore, different background, different characters, and different attitudes. One of the things that we did when we created these races was that we tried to create different races that people would naturally gravitate to. Some people would like to play the big brawling Norn, some people would like to play the more organized and cunning Charr, and some would play the brilliant Asura. They all have their own advantages and only by coming together can they hope to overcome the force of the dragons.

Part One|Part Two (Note: The videos have been removed, I have not been able to relocate this interview, nor who originally uploaded them)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Grubb

Dragons are the heart of Guild Wars 2. Dragons in Tyria, these are the elder dragons, these are the dragons of power. The dragons that you know, you've met, Kuunavang, Glint they are the mere shadows, the echos of these great elder dragons. One of which has basicly brought up the city of Orr and now resides in the holy city of Arah, city of the gods.

*Carried over to part 2 in a question on if total peace has been attained between the races*

The Humans and Charr for example have been at war for 250 years. They are trying for a tenious truce right now against the dragons that could fall apart at any time. There are those who dont want peace between the Humans and the Charr. The Norn, our half giant race, have been driven south from their homelands and they are trying, the Sylvari are newcomers to the area and the Asura, well the Asura are up to their normal tricks

*Question regarding the Charr with the gun*

We have firearms in Guild Wars 2, and the Charr are the most technoloicly advanced as far as martial weaponry but all the races have firearms, all the races have weapons built based upon the nature of their race. The Sylvari grow their weapons, the Norn forge out of ice and steel, each one takes a different approch to equipment but all will have firearms.

fadekill

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2012

15 Jul 2013 at 19:56 - 5

I hope I'm allowed to post here (didn't saw anything against it in the guidline).

I was looking for some lore documents and it seems especially the GWO articles are deleted. Did someone save them or move them to another adress? It would be sad if all of that is lost.

draxynnic

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2005

[CRFH]

19 Jul 2013 at 09:40 - 6

Good question. I'll ask around, but if GWO has wiped them, they're probably gone, unfortunately.

Konig Des Todes

Ooo, pretty flower

Join Date: Jan 2008

Citadel of the Decayed

The Archivists' Sanctum [Lore]

N/

19 Jul 2013 at 18:36 - 7

GWO did move threads around back before GW2's release. The original URLs were meant to remain working, so I never updated the pre-09 ones (which seems to be all), but it may be that is no longer the case.

Edit: Just looked, I managed to find one of the archived threads. So it seems that they're there, but it seems the URL is different and likely only need updating. I got other projects going on so I won't really have time atm, but I'll keep this in mind.