Guild Wars 2 Lore Q&A
 

Guild Wars 2 Lore Q&A
Guild Wars Guru 2 forum

We just got the answers back from our Q&A with ArenaNet’s Jeff Grubb and Ree Soesbee.

1. Will the Shining Blade and White Mantle still be around in Guild Wars 2, and if so what role will they play?

As might be surmised from recent web activity the White Mantle and the Shining Blade still have much going on in ‘Guild Wars: Beyond‘, so I don’t want to harsh their mellow.

However, I don’t think I am giving anything away by pointing out that 250 years later , the Shining Blade are the personal guard of Queen Jennah of Kryta. The White Mantle, like the Mursaat, are a bogey-man used to scare small children (“Listen for the curfew bell, or else the White Mantle will get you.”).

2. So far, four of the five races have a faction within their race that are in opposition to the rest (Flame Legion, Sons of Svanir, Nightmare Court, White Mantle/senators that are against the queen), is there an ‘evil’ faction within the asura race as well?

Yes. Yes, there is.

Oh, you want more? You know how the asura work in krewes? Well, one of them invented a corporation. They call themselves the Inquest.

This is a major innovation, by the way. For all of the brilliance of the Asura, their biggest weakness is their own egotistic and selfish nature. They tend to hide their notes, write in code, keep secret bases, train only a few apprentices and even then keep their biggest secrets to themselves. So often the most brilliant inventions of the asura become lost enchantments and technology.

The new revolution brings a number of asuran researchers together under a common leadership with a common goal. The individual members of the group may not be aware of the greater goal, but those running the organization know what’s going on. The gathering (and just as important, storing) of knowledge allows members of this group to build upon the research of predecessors. Of course, being asura, they don’t want to share that knowledge and power with anyone else.

The Inquest runs a very tight ship – once you’re a part of it, you aren’t going to be allowed to leave. They believe that everything you learn is proprietary knowledge, and they have the right to reach into your brain and take it out, if they so choose. Freed of even the tentative ethical limitations that keep the ordinary asura in line, the Inquest engage in research that even the maddest asura would shudder from. They are meddling in things that were not meant to be known.

The Inquest also have their own way of looking at the Eternal Alchemy; the unifying philosophy of the asura race. They believe that the universe is a great machine, and given enough power and knowledge, they can run that machine. They can control everything. And, being asura, they might just pull it off.

3. Is the Scepter of Orr going to make a comeback in Guild Wars 2?

It is unlikely that something as powerful as the Scepter of Orr will stay hidden forever. When we last see it, at the very end of Eye of the North, Livia is reaching for it. What happens next has yet to be revealed, but yes, she does command the power of the Scepter, for a time.

4. Originally, the Iron Legion was said to have their capital named the “Iron Citadel” but recently they have been said to have a capital named the “Black Citadel.” Are the “Iron Citadel” and the “Black Citadel” the same, renamed, place?

The Iron Citadel and the Black Citadel are one and the same. It is the headquarters of the Iron Legion, but the other legions have representation there as well. There are four great legions, each descended from the quarreling children of the last Khan-Ur, the ruler of all the charr. Each of the children commanded their own legion, and upon the death of the Khan-Ur, fell into squabbles (making it relatively easy for the humans to take and hold Ascalon). The four legions are Flame, Iron, Ash, and Blood.

Eventually, the Flame Legion, controlled by its shamans, dominated the other legions, and launched the attacks that resulted in the Searing. They captured a blasted, war-torn land, but their gods were destroyed and the shamans revealed as frauds. The other legions regained their power and drove the Flame Legion out – they refer to the Flame Legion as “the Gold Legion” because gold is soft, malleable, and weak. The Flame Legion’s lands were divided among the other legions, with the Iron Legion commanding the old human ruins of Rin, upon which they built their Black Citadel.

The Blood and Ash legions have their own major citadels, to the north and east, but the one closest to the other races is the Black Citadel of the Iron Legion. The Flame Legion is still active in this region as well, for they believe this land (and all charr lands) to be rightfully theirs.

5. In a recent interview with IncGamers, Ree stated that when an asura dies they “become no more than a facet in the Eternal Alchemy” – does the use of “facet” have any connection to the other seen facets? And what does this line mean?

‘Facet,’ in this case,is not to connected with the facets found in Glint’s Lair or in the “Paths of Redemption” quest. Those facets reflect a much older power.

Ree’s comment reflect the nature of the Eternal Alchemy. Living, or dead, we remain components of a greater whole. The system is effectively closed, and those things within it may transform or ascend, but still remains part of that larger alchemy – whether it be thought of a structure, a system, or an interlocked machine.

6. In the aforementioned interview, Ree said that the list of norn spirits is incomplete – are the two spirits, Eagle and Snow Lynx, which were released in pre-beta lore and the manual respectively, still canon lore?

The Spirits of the Wild that norn are in contact with are Wolf, Bear, Raven, and Snow Leopard. ‘Snow Leopard’ and ‘Snow Lynx’ are the same Spirit. There are others which have been lost (Eagle’s story is unknown) and a few that have been chased down and eaten by Jormag.

7. What can be said about the history of the norn? And for that matter, the history of the asura? Will their histories before the events of Eye of the North be expanded upon in the future?

Both races are integral to GW2, and players of both races will be able to delve into their racial history and discover a great deal about the past of both the asura and the norn.

For the norn, their great story is that of fighting Dragon (as Jormag is called by them). Great heroes went up against the beast, but to be defeated time and again, while the rimebound minions of the Elder Ice Dragon drove their peoples further and further south. Within Hoelbrak, the norn’s great stead in these warmer mountains, there is a single great tooth in its Great Hall. That is the legacy of Asgeir, the mightiest of warriors, who cut the fang from Jormag’s mouth and led the norn south to this safe haven.

The asura’s story with dragons is known to those who played Eye of the North – they were driven up from the deep places of the earth by Primordus’ lieutenant, the Great Destroyer. But they were not the only race driven to the surface. In their wake came a particularly irritating race of scavengers – the skritt. The asura have a particular dislike for these creatures, who seem intent on spreading to every corner of the world.

8. Among the frogman race, only the Hylek tribe have been mentioned to be around in GW2 – what has happened to the three other frogman tribes: the Ophil, Gokir, and Agari?

The hylek name now refers to the entire race, though many hylek can claim descent from the other sub-species of hylek as well. There are innumerable tribes of hylek along the Tarnished Coast and along the Sea of Sorrows, living in grounds that they have captured from other, weaker races, or in lands ignored by more powerful ones.

9. In Nightfall, the Skale race was expanded a bit with their own god, Moa’vu’Kaal: are there more of these gods and is there an origin to this one?

Moa’vu’Kaal is a great monster, venerated by the skale, but is not a god in human terms. Of course, the charr say that the human gods are nothing more than great monsters. Or great humans. Or possibly great lies.

The skale, by the way, are akin to seagulls – rapacious omnivores that feed on anything they can fit into their mouths (and a number of things that they cannot). They live at the edges of towns and cities, and survive by the fact that they breed in huge numbers.

10. How much did the Grawl evolve in that 250 years (technology, architecture, religious and “political” system)?

Only a little. They are still below the other races in technology and are still organized on a tribal system. As far as faith is concerned, they are similar to the skale, in that they venerate powerful natural objects and great monsters, and vary from location to location.