Thread of Introductions and Random Discussion

Greetings all! Welcome to the Overlook!

You may remember this place as just another outpost that you passed on your journey through Tyria. You came here only briefly, before setting out on a path that would lead you into the depths of the jungle.

Well, now you return to this rocky outcrop. Why, you ask?

Here on Guild Wars Guru, this place has another meaning. From the cliffs there is a beautiful view across the land, and the patterned rocks that rise above the ground seem almost to speak of ancient wisdom. The druids who long ago made this jungle their home may even have gathered here to debate on matters such as the origins of the world and the meaning of life.

Now, as intelligent humans who have learned much from our adventures, we are certainly ready to discuss things similar to those that the druids did. There is much that we still do not know, which could be revealed by discussion, research and deep thought.

We gather here to discuss the lore of the Guild Wars world and all that may relate to it.

Lore, as a general term, can include the following things in Guild Wars' case:

• races
• creatures
• the professions and their backgrounds (including related gods)
• countries, lands and their backgrounds
• important figures
• art and crafts
• architecture
• history
• geography/landmarks
• symbols/alphabet
• calendars - months, seasons, etc.
• religion
• stories/tales/myths/legends
• sciences, such as palaeontology, biology, etc.
• the adventure in the game itself and things encountered along the way.

This list is flexible and things may be added to it. If you have an idea for something else that could be included, just post it.

As to the basis of this forum, we can:

• discuss the lore that is given to us in-game
• discuss the lore that is given to us in the game manual
• discuss relations between information in the manual and in-game
• research inside and outside the game for lore aspects to discuss and build upon.

The purpose here is to unravel the game world in a more interesting way, to encourage you to take more time to observe your in-game surroundings and think about all the information given to you through the game. There is so much to talk about and research to help all of us build a greater understanding of the game world.

Discussions here should be of an intelligent and sensible nature. Please take the time to read over the Lore forum guidelines if you haven't already.

Konig Des Todes has made a brilliant thread here with links to some of the larger discussions and research threads on the forum, as well as compilations of the Official Lore.

As a side note, with the coming of Guild Wars 2, we will have a lot of new topics to talk about. By the time of the betas and eventual release (sometime in 2009 as far as we've been told), much of the discussion will probably move to topics relating to the new game.

Oh, and…don’t worry about any un-intelligent beings listening in on us. Trader Versai, Envoy Ero, Mosreh the Exile [Collector], Xunlai Agent [Storage] and all the henchmen have been removed, and are at this moment being thrust into the depths of the jungle to be feasted upon by the various creatures that inhabit it.

Welcome everybody, and let us make this forum thrive.

Cool a new forum.

Hey wait a minuite King Symeon when did you become a mod? ... and how.

I was wondering that too...

Nice!

Very nice forum idea

this should be interesting to read

One of things people forget about the lore is the in game Calendar. The mouvelian Calendar. You will find it on page 33 of you manul
there is 4 seasons.

Season if the zephyr

Season of the phoenix

Season of the scion

Season of the Colossus.

There are to many powerfull world changing events that errupt after at least 200 years of peace, all within a year , perhaps even less.

Shirow seems more of an underdog to someone with his own agenda, especially since he had a far to advice willing "friendly" seer

Even Verata, is doing fiendish experiments, and gathering followers

Not to mention that Fissures of Voe, Tombs of Kings (Hall of Heroes) & Underworld are under siege and thus in turmoil

Then its clear that Something else is stiring, perhaps it awoke when Ascalon was sacked by the charrs, or when Orr was destroyed by the Lich

That is true, alot of trouble seems to be stirring up in a very short amount of time in the GW universe. I suppose in the end the gods can toy with us all they want. Balthazar will be happy to see fighting, Grenth has no reason not to want more death. Melandru wants nature to prevail while devona wants things to live I suppose. Lyssa is probably in the middle, and the deciding factor most of the time - the line which makes the powers sway back and forth. Things are getting boring? Manipulate Shiro and the Lich into their plots, but if the worlds become under rain of their terror, little else will happen and it will become uninteresting so Lyssa has humans defeat the pair of them, causing things to fall back into balance. Probably a load of rubbish but I suppose you could look at it that way, two of the gods are "good", two "evil", while Lyssa is the balance -beauty and illusion are opposing each other. While beauty would generally be considered good, illusion could be evil because it is tricking the mind. Therefore lyssa is tipping the balance whichever way she pleases. Would be fun to be in her position

They are in 1 place in tyria, sorrows furnace. In the manuscripts it said that the dredge escaped the stone summit and made there way to cantha. So, the question is, where did they come from? There not from Cantha, and if they were from Tyira you'd think there would be more in the game.

The dredge are mole-like creatures, living underground (we do not know exactly where). Some were obviously captured while the Summit were building their tunnels into the ground to make Sorrow's Furnace, and enslaved. However, they escaped and dug all the way to Cantha - clearly they must be very skilled diggers.

Or the tunnels they had already excisted but got lets say blocked? by the stone summit when they enslaved the poor critters?

After the iron forgeman was destroyed somehow the entrance to the cave was reopened and the dredge escaped?
(hey just a theorie but so far i LOVE it)

But because the tunnels havent been used for hours some parts might have collapsed.... i dont know how the twisted mind of mo''lenin'' did this but he somehow did make it with his army of ''newborn'' dredge...

Er.. it says in the manual, seriously just read the damn thing it would save a lot of time.
Then again it only says in the factions manual, without that they would seam pretty wierd.

Simply put. If you were to fall at the hands of a necromancer what would happen to your soul?

I thought about it for a while and i figured that since necromancers serve grenth, each death is considering an offering to grenth and in turn, grenth gives the necromancer some energy.

Your corpse would be consumed by the necro i guess?

Depends.... the killing is a sacrifice that gets paid by grenth (energy ey) But the soul stays in the body i think unless you cast a Animate bone horror/minion spell etc the soul flies away towards or the underworld or the kingdom of dwayna (depending if he is good or evil)

My theorie ^^

This means that Gwen really is the spawn of evil and probably did have a hand in the Searing, seeing as how Sarah, her mother, can be found in the Underworld...

But yes, you are returning the individuals immortal soul to Grenth, and in return he repays you for your service with a bit of energy so that you may continue in your faithful endeavours... Sounds good to me.

Looking at the map of Tyria and think of all the stories we had already.
1. We had a lot of stories about Ascalonians. Rurik and the choosen ones.
2. We had a lot of stories about the Krytans. The choosen ones and the Mursaats.
3. Now we go to the south of Tyria, we have Cantha.
4. Now we know GW: Nightfall have a "holy Elonian" warrior. So that gives us a clue GW: Nightfall is going to be about Elonian

Now the missing part...
Since Elona is in East part of Tyria...

5. The missing storyline about the Druids in Maguuma Jungle in the west
6. The missing storyline about the Chars in the North

The missing 2 pieces maybe for chapter 4 and 5

Didn't the White Mantle kill all the Druids when they were first organized? It seems I remember something being said about a link between the two, maybe it's in one of the Maguuma missions, whichever one where the bonus is to awaken all of the Druids for some meeting or something.

The Druids died out long before the mantle organized to fight the Charr.

For the Charr story, heres a quick outline of what we got comeing to gether in the Charr Lore thread.

The Charr worshop the Titains, maybe event he mursaat.

Glint masterminded most of the events of prophecies, including the Charr attacking Ascalon.

The charr were nothing but tools in Glints "flameseeker prophecies" to get the heros (us) to move to kryta and make contact with the White Mantle and the Mursaat. The rest is history. (including the Mursaat)

Charr: As Jonval said, the searing, the Charr, etc, they were all just to set off a chain reaction that would lead you to fufilling the prophecy.

Druids: The druids didn't necessarily "die out". It is said by the Avatar of Dwayna in druid's overlook that they surrendered their mortal flesh to become one with the wilds. In other words, they willingly "evolved" into ethereal beings.

While ettin farming near North Kryta province, i found this rock. Its has a shiny, relfective border, and appears to be relatively flat, like a wall. What could this be, and my does it bear so much resemblance to the Temple Of Balthazar's (in Maguuma jungle) walls?

Paragon and that one lady I say they have connections.

I was walking around Kaineng today, and wondered how does the Canthan Empire sustain itself? It seems like cantha is ripe for revolution but you see no sign of it. There are many factors that point to a tipping point, these are some that i could identify.

1.food. where do canthans get their food. there is almost no arable land in civilized cantha. Shing Jea Island has good land, and some of the areas around the Jade Sea do too, but it's not enough to feed a city that covers an entire half of a continent. Fish provides some food, and trade some more, but the vast majority of the population must be starving.

2. The difference of lifestyles between the rich and the poor is huge. We know that Kisu and his family live well, as well as Minister Cho. I can't see this sitting well with most hard working Canthans.

3. Violence. The street gangs like the Am Fah and the Jade Brotherhood rule the slums of Kaineng. The government isn't able to stop them either. One more strike towards the Empire.

4. The living conditions of Canthans are horrendous, garbage is in the street, the city levels are build right on top of one another, the whole city is dark and cramped.

To me, it seems like society's like this tend to fall in our own history. Like Russia during WWI, and China with the last of its own Emperors, everthing seems to point towards the same happening in Cantha. but it doesn't. I guess my question is why do the Canthan people continue to suffer a government like this.(and to an extent where in the heck do they get their food?)

Why does Hong Kong come to mind? food is Imported.
Am Fah and Jade Brotherhood scares the crap out of the poor so they don't dare to revolt.

LOL you're right. But then again.. Maybe it ain't such a coincidence since Evennia is the leader of the Shining Blade. And a Paragon is basically a leader.

Nice find! I wonder where I left that.

One of the things that bothers me is that there are currently no live Elonians in Tyria or Cantha, other than the "Elonians" (us) who visited the Battle Isles. Before Factions, there were several Canthan NPCs, actually a lot if you include Xunlai Agents. The only connections we have to Elona are the ghosts of the desert. Is there some kind of allegorical political turmoil going on that the leaders of Elona prevent their people from traveling to Tyria or Cantha, and only recently they have let them visit the Battle Isles?

Also, this opens up another question. Since Elona is the last continent that has had any mention in the Prophecies, what will ANet do for future expansion(s)? Will they pull a new continent out of their you-know-whats? (a reverse Chuck Cunningham*, if you will) Or could they, maybe, hopefully, extend the story and land of existing continents (*ahem* Tyria)? Maybe make an actual expansion instead of a new game.

*In television, this is when a character who has never been mentioned before is introduced and supposedly always existed.

Most killed each other and the rest were slaughted by the forgotten out in the Crystal Desert. Any surviving their utterly shattered society have integrated with the populace.

I thought Elona is in Tyria. During the Dragon festival, Acolyte Norge was an npc talking about the creatures attacking Cantha. This is a small quote what he said:
"In the lands of Elona, there is a vast wasteland known as the Crystal Desert. My people, the Zaishen, have confronted these entities at the ancient Tomb of the Primeval Kings to destroy them where they enter our world."

Also with the Luxury Goods quest in Kaineng the dialogue goes like this:
"We have received a shipment of home furnishings ... mirrors, actually, from far off Elona."

Now this appears to me like they recently got the shipment from Elona. With Crystal Desert being part of the lands of Elona, I suppose we'll be seeing more of the desert further south and/or east.

I agree with Rathcail. There is far too much empty map to the east of the desert for it to be a coincidence. But the area also seems to small to be home to another campaign. I guess we wont find out til NF comes out.

Ok....the other night i did the first mission in order to ascend..but i was tired so i had sum guy run me through it and i couldnt watch cinematics so could sumone tell me what ascending actually is...all i kno is it has sumthing to do with that huge mesa that looks really cool...also i dont kno what the flameseeker prophecies are...i kno i might seem like a noob but i dont really have a good attention span....plus i left my The Guild Wars Manuscripts booklet at my dads house so i couldnt read that 2 get a hint of what the flameseeker prophecies were....thanks everybody....

A set of prophecies about the Chosen freeing the great Destruction, and the Bird of Prey taking command before being destroyed, sealing the gateway, and the sceptre of Orr fading from existance. Given by Glint, followed by the Seer and the Mursaat.

Ascending is gaining the personal favor and attention of the gods, and their combined blessings allow you to undertake quests of changing class or defending their realms.

The "First" mission to ascend...You meant Sanctum Cay.

I'm not going to ruin the story for you.

But basically Vizer has the Specter now (you gave it to him during that mission) and the Mantle are rushing the area to try to kill him, so you flee on a Boat with him to the Amnoon Oasis. On the ride there he tells you that you have to defeat the Mursaat, but aren't strong enough yet. He instructs you to Ascend to be able to defeat them.

Ascending is gaining the favor of the gods, which literally allows you to go to the God's Realms (UW and FoW), Change your professions, and seek Audience with Glint. Glint is an Oracle that will explain alittle more about the Flameseeker to you.

The storyline will give you details as you do missions, I'd probably spoil alot for you telling you the whole thing, as it explains alot of stuff that happens in the final stages of the game.

Ty for explaining this 2 me you guys.....and yes i did mean sanctum cay.......ty for all the help[

Something struck me today when I was talking to Headmadter Kuju in Shing Jea Monastery, that is, you hardly ever see any of the other headmasters anywhere other than the monastery. The only ones I can think of are Headmaster Amara, who you have to talk to in Altrumm Ruins, and you see Headmaster Greico from time to time (Kaineng Docks & Pongmei Valley?), and then there's Headmaster Vhang...

The good Headmaster Vhang appears to be "Togo's Favourite". "Togo's Chosen One". Headmaster Vhang must have been the one who brought Togo an apple every day when he was a student at the monastery as well... Vhang takes part in many a quest, I think the first being Zen Daijun? And then he's also in the Henchie lineup as well... Does the Monastery know he's moonlighting as a hanchman? Does the Monastery have a policy about moonlighting? Why doesn't Kuju or Lee or Kaa etc... actually do anything on any of the missions?

Can anyone help me out with this? I thought an answer might have been buried in the blurbs of text you get when you visit each character with quests but I've never taken the time to read them... Any theories?

The head masters are back protecting the monastery from the naughty afflicted and keeping the school going while Togo, his buddy Mhenlo, and teachers pet Vhang save the world.

I think I saw something about him possibly being a successor to Togo as headmaster (this is on Shing Jea island if I remember. so Togo is still alive at this point).

lol vhang is so full of himself, he thinks he did a lot but he didn't

The purpose of this subforum is to create facts from near-nothing, important or not, to develop enlightenment.


Anyways, it's probably simply because Vhang was selected among the others, volunteered, or has heirarchal superiority in the monastary.

I was in Lions Arch just now with my warrior , it is my character i started in ascalon and am now going through coops and watching CS and reading quests..

well i went to talk to Her and she said that shes the best archer this side of the "Tarnished Coast" ??? WHERES THAT!? They could talk after the update shortly after Factiosn came out.. so maby chapter 4?

"GuildWars The Tarnished Coast" SOunds pretty good to me and wanna else think this is interesting?

Im looking for secrets =D