#gw2 elona

[littlefoxgw2]

i forgot about the fishing trying to get the perfect night sky picture

[clemmykins]

The Desolation

It's a pretty place when you can actually catch a breath between the sulfur and the mobs! :')

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

GW2: Why Elona matters

Since I am on a Guild Wars kick, let me tell you why I love Elona so much. (Note, Northern European white person here.) When I started playing Guild Wars, I started with Nightfall. What stood out for me was the location and how it was depicted. This was the first time I saw Africa depicted not as a place of poverty and misery or a place where lions and such lived. Elona was depicted as a beautiful place of both culture and history. Libraries, their own warrior caste and politics. All without forgetting where it was set. This continued in GW2, where Path of Fire lets us see Elona in higher definition. Africa has always been a continent of colour and GW2 truly leaned into it. Going around Amnoon you will see painted buildings and bright clothes, nevermind the wealth seen in Vabbi. Elona is also, like real Africa is, a place of different ecosystems. Sure, there is the savanna, but there are swamps, snowy mountains and jungles as well. What makes Elona even better in GW2, is how it is framed. Elona is a place of history, of ancient knowledge and people. While Cantha is a place of progress and technology, Elona is a place of wisdom and tradition. Elona matters, because it is a depiction of Africa without the burden of colonialism. While it is important to unpack the colonialism Africa faces, it is also important to show the immense value Africa has in itself. It's culture, history and art are rarely shown in works set in the real world, in fantasy it is often ignored entirely. It is a look into a place rarely given attention to, without defining it by its worst qualities.

[rosy-opal-commander]

Human race being tired to region. And then not having Braham's father be one of the last Norn from Elona is such missed world building opportunity it drives me insane. When Braham shows up in story his clothing isn't modeled after a lot of other Norn characters. It's actually pretty close in my opinion to Sunspear Marshal's

Maybe that's just lazy design but I don't think so.

Because the Norn designs are more like this

So Norns are up to be my mate your legend has to match mine. And Borje was just as great as Eirs who had already killed a lieutenant of Jormag at that point. So what the fuck was Borje the Sun Chaser doing?

Here comes the theory.

Everyone thinks Fortune's Vale area of the Crystal desert was an old dwarven structure. But what if it wasn't? What if that was Norn area that was genocided by Joko?

Remember what joko's forces look like? How fucking big they are?

So you have these guys.

Then you have these.

This is where I'd also like to point out that Norns can shape shift. That is a Norn fucking werewolf my friends. Because is there a tribe of shape shifting gaint in elona currently? No.

I think that Braham dad was the last of the Elonain Norn and he lead a small group of them all the way to shiverpeaks only to find that there where people their that where also refugees there via Jormag, Borje was the leader of Cragstead after all.

It makes so much sense!

[inthecarpets]

Still remember the time i bought the GW2's Path of Fire expansion for the mounts and i was soo Peeved that the game forced me to play through the story to get the mounts (A game? Forcing a player to play through it to get what they want?? Wild. Absurd. Ridiculous. How- How dare they?!).

It was actually the first time i got to playing the GW2's story and at first i was just 'when do i get the mounts when do i get the mounts'. (Don't mind me. When it comes to open world games i just Never really done the story. MMOs? Skyrim? Oblivion? these were for jumping on fantasy buildings, exploring and tiniest sidequests. Plot whom? Laziness win. And from other MMOs i was used to the tagline of 'pay and you immediately get a mount')

But it turned out to be nice. And i actually remember the exact time i got hooked on the story. We just fought Balthazar and Rytlock ran to the side. The commander goes to him and asks what's up. And then it turns out Rytlock Brimstone is an idiot who freed some guy, who was actually an evil god, From Some Forsaken Shadow dimension. And only so said guy could lit up his firey swordie again. I facepalmed, i wheezed. "That guy would sell his soul for his firey sword". And i immediately at that moment knew, I loved that nasty rude grumpy cat with edgy armor and firey sword, and i could play through entire story just for him.

[ringofwarding]

“ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ ʜɪsᴛᴏʀʏ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴘᴇᴀᴛ ɪᴛsᴇʟғ ɪғ ᴡᴇ ʟɪsᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ɪɴ ᴀᴡʜɪʟᴇ.” ― ᴡʏɴɴᴇ ᴍᴄʟᴀᴜɢʜʟɪɴ

[glitchgw2]

hey umm "Gliaster but mesmer", why do you have a peacemaker's sword? 🤨🤨🤨

[sylvaridreams]

new duds

[gristlegrinder]

I scrolled a bit through your blog - have fun trying out gw2!! halloween’s a really fun time to start playing.

i haven’t played ffxiv so I can’t comment on zenos as a character or the narrative reasons people find him polarizing, but:

the character i’m talking about (his name’s palawa joko) doesn’t show up until a little over halfway through all the story we have so far, and sticks around for the equivalent of about half an expansion, and then he’s a special guest for halloween. joko is kind of a lot, just as a person, and we all have fun with it, but he’s not actually on-screen very much. so if you end up not liking him, it won’t affect the large majority of the story campaign.

halloween is THE guild wars 2 holiday. come with me, we’re going to run around in circles in a decrepit, hallowed nightmare dimension, killing plastic spiders and glow-in-the-dark skeletons and candy corn elementals. the looming ghosts of a deposed pumpkin-headed king and the lich who wanted to fuck you so bad before your daughter ate him for breakfast are going to make gay passive-aggressive digs at each other every other minute like you’re not even there. sometimes steve is there too

[charrcoalart]

a character sheet i made about half of a year ago! remark: shop is actually called "Silktail Luxuries" character: Maville Silktail belongs to: charr-coal

[salty-medley]

Desert Highlands

This maybe will sound stupid but I had a question about Elona, and the Desert Highlands.

We know that after the Pretenders war, the 3 province, Istan, Kourna and Vabbi, are created. We also know that Amnoon is independant. But what about the Desert Highlands?

Their last known rulers were the Primeval kings & queens if I'm not wrong..?

So how does it work?

[littlefoxgw2]

The Crystal Skies of Vabbi

[clemmykins]

The Crossing

[sylvarilining]

Say hello to Mheop!

Quick summary on how she became a Revenant: She's from the Elona deserts, and all her life she was greatly inspired by Vlast. When Vlast was blasted, she was crushed, and felt that Vlast's mission was left unfinished. During her mourning, she heard a voice calling to her, leading her to a crystalline lair of memories. There she met Glint, who offered her, the meek and timid asura a chance to continue Vlast's mission. And Mheop agreed.

She basically has Glint as a constant presence in her head, giving advice on how to be braver and on the everyday choices. Glint has taken a guiding role, where she wants to help Mheop better herself, but knows she cannot give her the ready answers, but that Mheop has to arrive to them herself. Mheop is not a fan, and just wants to hear what she should do to become better, faster, stronger and cooler, but she still listens to Glint.

As their connection's grown stronger, with Glint's aid, Mheop has manifested crystalline wings, mirroring Glint's own. As someone who has grown up in a cave in hiding all her life, Mheop finds the prospect of flying terrifying, what if she gets stuck and won't be able to land back down?? Glint finds this fear adorable, but won't push Mheop to trying out the wings before she's ready.

Having this connection with Glint herself, and having sworn to continue Vlast's mission, Mheop becomes somewhat of a helper of Elona herself, participating in the Commander's mission (PoF and lws4 basically), though the Commander has trouble trusting this person who refuses to tell anything about herself, and who has these strange Mist powers. If asked, she will say she doesn't regret her chosen path, but she does wish she had thought more about the amount of public speaking and "sufficient amounts of showing off," as Glint puts it, that following Vlast's footsteps would bring.

ALRIGHT GW2BLR im not sure if ive made a post like this before but whatever

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR REVENANTS!

since the lore around them is so wonky, tell me your headcanons! how did they become a rev? what does it even mean for them (or you) to be a rev? what legends do they channel/communicate with, if any at all? if you have multiple revs, how do they and their powers differ? if theyre a rev in game but something different in your canon, why? what are they?

[therealpactcommander]

Norn canonically express a high body heat and dress lightly. I am a student biologist who mains a norn.

In the book The Ghosts of Ascalon, an asura named Kranxx mentions that Norn generate a lot of body heat at the slightest exertion. While this is just another thing that differentiates norn from humans, it actually makes sense as a species! Let's talk about it!

What is homeostasis?

Homeostasis is the term for the state in which an organism's body needs to function. Your body self-regulates to keep proper temperature, blood sugar and pressure, hormone production, and more. This is an equilibrium that you and other organisms need to live. Right now, we're going to focus on the former.

Mammals and birds are all warm-blooded, meaning they produce their own body heat. With the exception of Sylvari, Hylek, Quaggan, and Krait, it seems that most sapient races in Tyria are warm-blooded species. Obviously, this includes norn.

The purpose of body heat is for the body to regulate it's internal temperature. We give off body heat because all of the systems in our body give off more heat than our body needs to self-regulate, so it gives it off. Thermodynamics says that warm temperatures will seek out colder areas until they both reach an equilibrium. This is why that even without fur, we can be outside when it's colder when a lizard would fall asleep.

What the fuck does this have to do with GW2?

Now, lets talk about Norn. They live in snowy mountains comfortably when other races will complain about the cold. (Charr might be an exception because of their fur, but I couldn't find anything that gives a hint one way or the other.) The wiki states it well- "Despite the cold weather of the Shiverpeaks, the norn are often only lightly clad, exposing skin which is frequently covered in elaborated tattoos in Scandinavian/Norse style motifs."

Why would they prefer less clothing? Because they'd overheat!

We wear heavy clothes in winter because our body heat is not enough on it's own, and we must use something to insulate it so it stays in our body. Norn give off more body heat because they live in the mountains, meaning they're able to give off enough to keep themselves at a comfortable temperature. The body heat they give off goes into the cold air, and they stay at a temperature okay for homeostasis. If they covered up any more, that heat would be insulated and kept in their bodies, causing them to overheat.

This also means that norn would also be susceptible to high temperatures, like that in Elona. I mean, the only norn I remember seeing there in-game were Braham, Eir's Ghost, and my norn commander.

In conclusion, Norn giving off high body heat and dressing lightly makes sense for their species from a biological sense.

I have tons of other things I want to yap about norn so look forward to that. You have no choice.

[anghraine]

Sometimes I just feel the need to share my Guild Wars 2 hobbyhorses in poll form, so I'm doing that! This one is for GW2 appreciators whose main is a human, or who at least sometimes play/would play a human they have particular interest in.

There are a ton of human communities and subcultures in the game, but the plot forces you to come from a pretty specific one: you have to be a Krytan citizen, loyal to Queen Jennah, from the Salma District "melting pot" area of Divinity's Reach in Kryta. Only one choice of backstory lets you even choose your family's ethnicity (and this choice has no impact on any later dialogue or story). But if you could choose one of these different human origins than canon allows, which would it be?

*There are canonical descendants of Orrians who, at the time of the Cataclysm, presumably happened to be traveling or visiting away from home, or had moved elsewhere—but they seem to be very rare and "Orrian" overwhelmingly refers to the undead menace.

**The crimes in question include "heresies against Palawa Joko," "treasonous talk" (also against Palawa Joko), and "not a pleasure in class." This Commander still finds themself slipping into habits of "praise Joko" etc and are trying to get over it by repeating the standard praises in what would be wildly inappropriate or blasphemous contexts back in Vabbi.

***A stranded human orphan reared in kodan traditions in Frostgorge Sound, a brilliant human transfer student attending an asura college, a human stepchild or adoptee of a different-species parent, whatever.