- 31 juli 2012
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An unofficial summary of the lore up until Guild Wars 2, intended to give people entirely new to the Guild Wars series enough information to have an idea of what's going on in a lore debate thread. This summary is by no means complete. If you want a complete listing of all Guild Wars lore in the history of forever, see the Archive thread stickied in the Durmand Priory.
Also, to other lore buffs, I am not as buffy a lore-person as some of you, so if there are any mistakes in this, it would be appreciated if you would point them out so I can correct them.
In the beginning...
Not much is known of the world before the Six Gods found it, except that five Elder Dragons (named Primordus, Jormag, Zhaitan, the unnamed Deep Sea Dragon (nicknamed Bubbles by yours truly, it seems to have caught on), and Kralkatorrik) lived there. 10,000 BE, approximately 11,000 years before the start of Guild Wars 2, the last of a massive race of creatures called Giganticus Lupicus, or true giants, died out. Some theorize that the Elder Dragons may have fought with the true giants, and that the true giants may have been exterminated by them. Perhaps the extermination of the giants led to a scarcity of food that led to their Elder Dragons' long hibernation. Or maybe the Elder Dragons predate even the true giants, and the two races never met. We don't really know.
There was an entity worshipped by the Dwarves named the Great Dwarf, who fought with the Great Destroyer. The Great Destroyer was a general of the Elder Dragon Primordus, who went to sleep with his master. According to Dwarven legend, the Great Dwarf shall one day awaken and do battle with the Great Destroyer at the end of the world. Two races of spellcasters called the Seers and the Mursaat also lived at around this time. At an unknown point in time, the two would go to war, and the Mursaat would exterminate the bulk of the Seers. As of the events of Guild Wars 1, there is only one known survivor.
At some point, the Charr clans were united by the first Khan-Ur, and conquered all the lands east of the Shiverpeaks, before the Khan-Ur died and there was a civil war between his four children, who each founded a legion. These became the Flame, Blood, Ash, and Iron legions. Some of them get along with each other better than others. It was also at some point during this time that the Charr first came into contact with the Norn in the Shiverpeaks. The two developed a mutual respect for one another based on the fact that they were both good at killing things.
Rise of Mankind
When the Six Gods found Tyria, the Elder Dragons were already asleep. The Six Gods were Dwayna, Goddess of life and air, Grenth, god of death and cold, Balthazar, god of war and fire, Melandru, goddess of nature and earth, Lyssa, goddess of chaos and illusions, and Abaddon, god of knowledge and water. Before Grenth, there was another, crueler god of death named Dhuum, and Abaddon's place among the pantheon is also relatively recent. Balthazar has a half-brother named Menzies who is not a god, but does appear to be immortal, which raises the question of what exactly one must do to be a god. The Six Gods' servants were snake-like people called the Forgotten, who arrived in Tyria in 1769 BE.
Humans originated from the southern continent of Cantha, which was home to the second campaign of Guild Wars 1, Factions. In 510 BE, the Canthan clans were united under Kaineng Tah, the first Dragon Emperor, establishing the Dragon Empire of Cantha, which has heavy east Asian influences. Soon afterwards, the German-inspired Kurzicks and the dark age Greek-inspired Luxons broke off from the Empire proper, becoming vassal states. These two vassal states do not get along.
In 205 BE, Humans arrived in Tyria, but they were not alone. The Charr, then a primitive, possibly nomadic culture, had already conquered the lands east of the Shiverpeaks up to the borders of what was then the Crystal Sea. Meanwhile, Humans also appeared on Istan, an island just off the continent of Elona, and in the Elonian valley on the mainland. Elona is just south of Tyria, the two being separated only by the Crystal Sea, as opposed to the vast ocean separating Cantha from the other two continents. The Primeval Kings established their rule over Elona in 200 BE from the city of Fahranur on Istan, and a seafaring faction of Humans called the Margonites set up shop on the coasts north and west of Elona in 175 BE.
In 100 BE, the Humans formed the Kingdom of Ascalon, just north of the Crystal Sea, which was ruled over by King Doric. The Ascalonian territory was taken from the Charr, who had previously taken it from other, unknown races. There is quite a bit of debate over which of the two races, if any, deserves Ascalon. Regardless, in the year 1 BE, Abaddon gave magic to the races of Tyria, and specifically the Humans. Unfortunately, magic was a bit too much for them to handle, leading to devastating wars.
King Doric of Ascalon begged the gods to take magic away before it annihilated the Human race completely. The gods sealed the magic of the world into a massive stone which was broken into five pieces (aggression, denial, preservation, destruction, and the keystone) and then dropped inside a volcano on the Ring of Fire just off the continent of Tyria. This limited the power of magic. This was followed by the Exodus of the Gods, which is the dividing event on the Mouvelian Calendar (BE stands for Before Exodus, AE stands for After Exodus). The volcano would later erupt, spitting the five bloodstones out across Tyria. One landed in the Shiverpeaks, one in Maguuma Jungle, and one in the Ring of Fire. The location of the other two is unknown.
Abaddon threw a tantrum over this, and attempted to overthrow the other Five Gods with his servants, the Margonites of the Elonian coasts. He was defeated and imprisoned within the Realm of Torment, in the Mists beyond Tyria. Margonite civilization promptly collapsed. During this war, the Crystal Sea was transformed into the Crystal Desert, linking Elona and Tyria.
After The Exodus
The peninsula of Orr, west of the Crystal Desert, became an independent nation. By 29 AE, the Primeval Kings had begun burying their dead in the Crystal Desert. In 174 AE, the Forgotten withdrew to the Crystal Desert, leaving the world of men. In 300 AE, Kryta became a colony of Elona, before becoming an independent nation in 358. This marked the beginning of the shared history of the five major nations in Tyria. The three Human kingdoms of Ascalon, Kryta, and Orr, the Dwarven Deldrimor Kingdom, and the Charr Legions to the north of Ascalon.
Around this time, a band of pirates known as the corsairs began to plague Elona, and in 456 the reign of the Primeval Kings was ended by the Scarab Plague in Elona. In 583 AE, a warring states period known as the Shattered Dynasties begins in Elona, which comes to an end in 640 AE, and in 757 AE, Palawa Joko established his Bone Palace in the Desolation, just south of the Crystal Desert. This was the beginning of the shared history of the four major nations of Elona. Istan, ruled by a council of elders, Kourna, the breadbasket and military power, Vabbi, a cultural center ruled by merchant princes, and the Desolation, ruled over by the powerful lich Palawa Joko and his undead hordes. The sulfurous wastes of the Desolation are toxic to mortals, and can only be crossed by riding the Junundu Wurms (or else by being dead).
Seeds of Evil
In 860 AE, Palawa Joko conquers Vabbi and comes for Kourna, but is met by Turai Ossa at the battle of Jahai. Turai defeats Palawa Joko and imprisons him. From then on, the position of Warmarshal of Kourna, which is both a military and civil position, is always held by a member of the Ossa clan.
Meanwhile in Tyria and Cantha, villainous things start happening. Specifically, the Burnt warband of the Flame Legion discovers fiery, godlike creatures called the Titans in a volcano called Hrangmer in 870 AE. The Titans are servants of Abaddon, and they use the Flame Legion to seize control of the Charr Legions. Meanwhile, in 872 in Cantha, the Emperor's personal bodyguard, a man named Shiro Tagachi, kills the emperor during the Harvest Ceremony, having been deceived by a servant of Abaddon into believing that the Emperor was going to have him killed if he did not strike first. Shiro Tagachi is cut down soon after by the famed assassin Vizu and the champions of the Luxon and Kurzick clans, Archemorus and Saint Viktor (respectively). Just before he dies, Shiro lets out a scream which causes the Jade Wind, which turns the trees of the Kurzicks' Echovald Forest to stone and the water of the Luxons' Jade Sea to, well, jade.
In 898, Ascalon finishes the Great Northern Wall, a project spanning centuries, to hold back the Charr hordes to the north, and with that out of the way they're free to help start the Guild Wars in 1013. These continue until 1070, when they're peacefully ended just in time for absolutely everything to go to Hell at once.
Also, to other lore buffs, I am not as buffy a lore-person as some of you, so if there are any mistakes in this, it would be appreciated if you would point them out so I can correct them.
In the beginning...
Not much is known of the world before the Six Gods found it, except that five Elder Dragons (named Primordus, Jormag, Zhaitan, the unnamed Deep Sea Dragon (nicknamed Bubbles by yours truly, it seems to have caught on), and Kralkatorrik) lived there. 10,000 BE, approximately 11,000 years before the start of Guild Wars 2, the last of a massive race of creatures called Giganticus Lupicus, or true giants, died out. Some theorize that the Elder Dragons may have fought with the true giants, and that the true giants may have been exterminated by them. Perhaps the extermination of the giants led to a scarcity of food that led to their Elder Dragons' long hibernation. Or maybe the Elder Dragons predate even the true giants, and the two races never met. We don't really know.
There was an entity worshipped by the Dwarves named the Great Dwarf, who fought with the Great Destroyer. The Great Destroyer was a general of the Elder Dragon Primordus, who went to sleep with his master. According to Dwarven legend, the Great Dwarf shall one day awaken and do battle with the Great Destroyer at the end of the world. Two races of spellcasters called the Seers and the Mursaat also lived at around this time. At an unknown point in time, the two would go to war, and the Mursaat would exterminate the bulk of the Seers. As of the events of Guild Wars 1, there is only one known survivor.
At some point, the Charr clans were united by the first Khan-Ur, and conquered all the lands east of the Shiverpeaks, before the Khan-Ur died and there was a civil war between his four children, who each founded a legion. These became the Flame, Blood, Ash, and Iron legions. Some of them get along with each other better than others. It was also at some point during this time that the Charr first came into contact with the Norn in the Shiverpeaks. The two developed a mutual respect for one another based on the fact that they were both good at killing things.
Rise of Mankind
When the Six Gods found Tyria, the Elder Dragons were already asleep. The Six Gods were Dwayna, Goddess of life and air, Grenth, god of death and cold, Balthazar, god of war and fire, Melandru, goddess of nature and earth, Lyssa, goddess of chaos and illusions, and Abaddon, god of knowledge and water. Before Grenth, there was another, crueler god of death named Dhuum, and Abaddon's place among the pantheon is also relatively recent. Balthazar has a half-brother named Menzies who is not a god, but does appear to be immortal, which raises the question of what exactly one must do to be a god. The Six Gods' servants were snake-like people called the Forgotten, who arrived in Tyria in 1769 BE.
Humans originated from the southern continent of Cantha, which was home to the second campaign of Guild Wars 1, Factions. In 510 BE, the Canthan clans were united under Kaineng Tah, the first Dragon Emperor, establishing the Dragon Empire of Cantha, which has heavy east Asian influences. Soon afterwards, the German-inspired Kurzicks and the dark age Greek-inspired Luxons broke off from the Empire proper, becoming vassal states. These two vassal states do not get along.
In 205 BE, Humans arrived in Tyria, but they were not alone. The Charr, then a primitive, possibly nomadic culture, had already conquered the lands east of the Shiverpeaks up to the borders of what was then the Crystal Sea. Meanwhile, Humans also appeared on Istan, an island just off the continent of Elona, and in the Elonian valley on the mainland. Elona is just south of Tyria, the two being separated only by the Crystal Sea, as opposed to the vast ocean separating Cantha from the other two continents. The Primeval Kings established their rule over Elona in 200 BE from the city of Fahranur on Istan, and a seafaring faction of Humans called the Margonites set up shop on the coasts north and west of Elona in 175 BE.
In 100 BE, the Humans formed the Kingdom of Ascalon, just north of the Crystal Sea, which was ruled over by King Doric. The Ascalonian territory was taken from the Charr, who had previously taken it from other, unknown races. There is quite a bit of debate over which of the two races, if any, deserves Ascalon. Regardless, in the year 1 BE, Abaddon gave magic to the races of Tyria, and specifically the Humans. Unfortunately, magic was a bit too much for them to handle, leading to devastating wars.
King Doric of Ascalon begged the gods to take magic away before it annihilated the Human race completely. The gods sealed the magic of the world into a massive stone which was broken into five pieces (aggression, denial, preservation, destruction, and the keystone) and then dropped inside a volcano on the Ring of Fire just off the continent of Tyria. This limited the power of magic. This was followed by the Exodus of the Gods, which is the dividing event on the Mouvelian Calendar (BE stands for Before Exodus, AE stands for After Exodus). The volcano would later erupt, spitting the five bloodstones out across Tyria. One landed in the Shiverpeaks, one in Maguuma Jungle, and one in the Ring of Fire. The location of the other two is unknown.
Abaddon threw a tantrum over this, and attempted to overthrow the other Five Gods with his servants, the Margonites of the Elonian coasts. He was defeated and imprisoned within the Realm of Torment, in the Mists beyond Tyria. Margonite civilization promptly collapsed. During this war, the Crystal Sea was transformed into the Crystal Desert, linking Elona and Tyria.
After The Exodus
The peninsula of Orr, west of the Crystal Desert, became an independent nation. By 29 AE, the Primeval Kings had begun burying their dead in the Crystal Desert. In 174 AE, the Forgotten withdrew to the Crystal Desert, leaving the world of men. In 300 AE, Kryta became a colony of Elona, before becoming an independent nation in 358. This marked the beginning of the shared history of the five major nations in Tyria. The three Human kingdoms of Ascalon, Kryta, and Orr, the Dwarven Deldrimor Kingdom, and the Charr Legions to the north of Ascalon.
Around this time, a band of pirates known as the corsairs began to plague Elona, and in 456 the reign of the Primeval Kings was ended by the Scarab Plague in Elona. In 583 AE, a warring states period known as the Shattered Dynasties begins in Elona, which comes to an end in 640 AE, and in 757 AE, Palawa Joko established his Bone Palace in the Desolation, just south of the Crystal Desert. This was the beginning of the shared history of the four major nations of Elona. Istan, ruled by a council of elders, Kourna, the breadbasket and military power, Vabbi, a cultural center ruled by merchant princes, and the Desolation, ruled over by the powerful lich Palawa Joko and his undead hordes. The sulfurous wastes of the Desolation are toxic to mortals, and can only be crossed by riding the Junundu Wurms (or else by being dead).
Seeds of Evil
In 860 AE, Palawa Joko conquers Vabbi and comes for Kourna, but is met by Turai Ossa at the battle of Jahai. Turai defeats Palawa Joko and imprisons him. From then on, the position of Warmarshal of Kourna, which is both a military and civil position, is always held by a member of the Ossa clan.
Meanwhile in Tyria and Cantha, villainous things start happening. Specifically, the Burnt warband of the Flame Legion discovers fiery, godlike creatures called the Titans in a volcano called Hrangmer in 870 AE. The Titans are servants of Abaddon, and they use the Flame Legion to seize control of the Charr Legions. Meanwhile, in 872 in Cantha, the Emperor's personal bodyguard, a man named Shiro Tagachi, kills the emperor during the Harvest Ceremony, having been deceived by a servant of Abaddon into believing that the Emperor was going to have him killed if he did not strike first. Shiro Tagachi is cut down soon after by the famed assassin Vizu and the champions of the Luxon and Kurzick clans, Archemorus and Saint Viktor (respectively). Just before he dies, Shiro lets out a scream which causes the Jade Wind, which turns the trees of the Kurzicks' Echovald Forest to stone and the water of the Luxons' Jade Sea to, well, jade.
In 898, Ascalon finishes the Great Northern Wall, a project spanning centuries, to hold back the Charr hordes to the north, and with that out of the way they're free to help start the Guild Wars in 1013. These continue until 1070, when they're peacefully ended just in time for absolutely everything to go to Hell at once.