THE ANNU A L

2018

IN T HI S ISSUE

EDITORIA LS

R A IDING M ISC O NCEPTIO N S MightyTeapot gives his take on why raiding isn’t just for the PvE elite.

38

16 BOUNTIES: A VISUA L GUIDE TO UN ST ABLE MAGIC ABIL ITIES Too much magic imbued into creature s is never a good thing! Learn how t o recognise the dangers that await you .

76 MAGIC SYSTEMS IN TY RIA We explore how magic manifest s itself in the world of Tyria, from Elde r Dragons to the Mists .

32 PA R ADIGM SHIFT Who says heavy armor isn’t for mages ? Amala’s latest fashion choices pu t scholars on the front lines !

FEATU RED 60 GUIDING ST A RS The latest Living World u p date brough t us to the Mists. Recap what w e encountered there . 65 TY RIA IN FLUX Our world is always changing, always in flux. A lot has happened since 1325 AE...

C OMMUN ITY GUILD SPOTL IG H T This issue w e feature Owl Legion, a WvW guild in NA with a great community.

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LORE & HISTO RY

23 THE FUNCTIO N OF D R AGO N S Elder Dragons feed o n ley energ y and other sources of magical power . Discover why Tyria depends on them . A FORGE OF ICE AND FI RE This year, Zommoros opened u p the Mystic Forge to raiders. P hoeni x unearths what was waiting inside ...

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WITH LE A PS AND BOUNDS Dra x ynnic continues his serie s exploring the lore behind elit e specialisations with the daredevil .

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10 M INOR R ACES, MAJOR MAGIC Many races in Tyria wield some form of magic, as Phoenix uncovers...

FICTIO N

THE MER CHANT PRINCE Starconspirator presents an epic poem on the life of Drooburt.

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THE CA T AC LYSM One minute Orr stood proud, the nex t it was nothing. J ust one spell was all i t took ...

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EMPTY SHELL Delve inside the mind of a ley-line anomaly with this short story by Jalinar.

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ANOMA LOUS VISIO N A revenant Commander is plagued by visions of a strange anomaly.

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2 GUILDMAG #23 | In This Issue

We’ve packed this magazine with amazin g art from talented community artists, as well as Guild Wars 2 concept art. Look out for this logo for o ffi cial art produced b y ArenaNet.

here do I even begin this time aroun d? It seems that every year our A nnuals grow in size and improve in quality, and this year is n o exception! We’ve partnered with more commun ity members, produced more conten t and raised more money for charit y than an y previous magazine, and as always I couldn’t be more prou d of the fi nal ou tcome. I’d like to start by talking about the amazing work u ndertaken by the World Child Cancer charity. You may b e forgiven for thinking that everyone in the world has access to solid healthcare, but this simply is not the case. Survival rates for children with cancer in developing countries are far below those in developed nations, and it is h ere where World Child Cancer choose s to work. They bring together healthcare professionals from

both sides to ensure that ch ildren in developing countries have th e best possible ch an ce of beating cancer, in a ddition to o ff ering support to the families. Many o f us have been a ff ected b y cancer, includ ing our very own Fearan whose child has a rare form of the disease. This is why we’re donatin g this year’s A nnual proceeds to World Child Cancer - so o n beh alf of the charity and everyone at GuildMag, than k you for you r donation that came as part of pre- ordering this magazin e. On a lighter note, the theme of this year’s magazine is Tyria i n Flux. For quite some time we’ve been experiencing the e ff ects of excess magic in the world of Tyria and how it has warped the game w orld. T h e GuildMag Annua l 2018 is an attempt to capture this in magazine for mat. We have a range of articles exploring the

nature of magic and the changin g nature of Guild War s 2 as an MMORPG, including contributions by Kora, Mighty Teapot and Jalinar (Chronicles of Tyria). We’ve also commissioned a set of posters from littleMURE which depict a timeline of events that have shaped the world of Tyria. An d as if that wasn’t enou gh, you’ll fi nd more custom artwork hidd en throughout th e remain ing pages - have fun exploring! So, all that remains to be said is that I hop e you enjoy the latest GuildMag Annual! Plea se remember to visit the channels of our partners listed on th e following pages, an d if th is is your fi rst GuildMag magazine, you can view all o f our previous editio ns for free at www. guildmag.co m. Happy readin g!

EDITO R’S L ETT E R

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Valiant MANA GING EDITOR Starconspirator GE NER A L MANAGER Drax ynn ic

C OMMUN ITY MANAGER Miko WRITERS Amala, P hoenix, Fearan

C OPYEDITORS Tau z, Talus, Kalabajooie, Arlee, Belph DESIGNE RS Maiirin

We lc o me to the GuildMag Annual 2018! This is the largest projec t we’ve ever taken on, all to s upp o rt this ye a r’s c harity: Wo rld Child Cancer. On beha lf of everyo ne involved in th i s m a gazi ne, tha nk yo u fo r yo ur s upp o rt and we hope yo u enj oy everything this Annual has to off er!

THE TEAM

W

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1 0 GUILDMAG #23 | LORE - Minor Races, Majo r Magic

M i no r Races Major Ma g ic

BY PHOENIX

dds are you know somethin g about the magitech of the asura, the Dream’s shared consciousness of the sylvari, and t h e shapesh ifting abilities of th e norn granted to them by the Spirits of th e Wild. But many of the unplayab le races and groups around Tyria have unique forms and uses of magic too. The most obvious exa mples are the fi ve ancient races - the dwarves, Forgotten, jotun, mursaat, and the Seers - but there are severa l other notable ones. This article isn ’t exhaustive; I’m instead focusing on the most m agical and prominent among them and have ch osen the fi ve we have the most information about.

Anyone who p layed Guild Wars Proph ecies will know all about the mursaat, a race of fl oating spellcasters who wore gold en armor and had long black feathers radiating from their backs. The

downfall of the mursaat was foretold by Glint in t he Flameseeker Prophecies. Afraid of their eventual doom, th ey manipulated a group o f Krytans that came to be known as the W hite Mantle in to doin g their bidd ing. The mursaat excelled in magic; they were all members of one of th e original spellcasting professions: elementalist, mesmer, monk, and necromancer. Lucent the Spectral, one of the last living mursaat, was an assassin in add ition to being a mesmer. Nevertheless, the only assassin skill he used was a signet, not a martial or melee skill. All o f the mursaat elementalists use d air magic. T his small detail turned out t o be an important tell in Rising Flames, the second episode of Livin g World Season 3. In it, Lazaru s the Dire, the last living mursaat, shows up and o ff ers t o h elp save Aurene from the enhan ced destroyers. However, this fake La zarus, who turns out to be Balthazar, uses only fi re magic, while the real Lazarus from Guild Wars was a dual-classed

O

Mursaat

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LORE - Minor Races, Major Magic | GUIL DMAG #23

elementalist and necromancer who used on ly air magic like the rest of his kin. Accordingly, whe n La zarus i s truly resurrected in the Living World episode One Path Ends, he c alls forth lightning storms and summon s necrotic orbs, as would be expected in converting his abilities from the original games to Guild Wars 2 . The mursaat also had two interesting and un ique abilities common to all mem ber s of the race. The fi r st was the ability to shift into a di ff erent plane o f existence, thereby rendering themselves invisible to those who did n ot have the Gift of True Sight. For this reason, they came to be known as the Unseen Ones. Th e Gift of True Sight was acquired by Ascen ding - communin g with the Human God s and being blessed with D ivin e Fire - or, in Canthan tradition, becoming Weh no Su (“closer to the stars”) b y ful fi lling the trials of the Celestials and Oracle of the Mists. The Tests of Ascension were taken by Central Tyrians and Elonians and proctored by th e Forgotten. The second uniqu e ability was Spectral Agony, a magic that i n fl icte d excruciating pain, health loss, and eventually death upon its victims. The Seers created a safeguar d against this de a dl y ability; they us e d the spectral essence of a phantom eidolon to infuse armor with special properties that would protect the wearer. The mursaat were also skilled crafters, able to create an army of jade constructs t o combat the Elder Dragons during their last awakening . They were not able to transfer their Spectral Agon y to th ese constructs so they could use it a t will, bu t they enchanted th em so that wh enever they attacked, Spectral Agony woul d be app lied to their en emies.

The Forgotten were a r ace of serpents that slithered upright. The y

had gray o r bronze scales and four arms. As previously m entioned, they oversaw pilgrims who wished to Ascend, but thei r c o ntributions t o Tyria are much larger than that. Like the mursa at, the Forgotten were a ll spellcasters, but their elementalists favored earth magic. They also decided to assault th e Elder Dragons head on b y bu ilding enchante d armors that could wield physical weapons like hammers, bows, and swords. Wh en th ey failed to rout Zhaitan, the mursaat planar shifted to protect themselve s and their magic, but the Forgotten agreed to seal their magic with that of the other races and work toward a di ff erent soluti on. To that en d they discovered Glaust, a champion of Kralkatorrik, and attempted to purify her. It is un kn own how exactl y t hey subd ued

her, but within Arah they managed to perform a ritual that cleansed he r of Elder Dragon corruption, thou gh she retained her magical abilit ie s and crystalline form. Afterwards, th e cleansed dragon champion took on the name Glin t. The spell used to cleanse her does not require magic speci fi c to the Forgotten. As a sylvari, War den Illyra managed to recreate the ritual thousands of years later with a Risen chicken in the now-ruined city of Arah. It was also discovered that Forgotten artifacts were immune to dragon corruption, so we kn ow th e Forgotten used their knowledge not just to reverse the corruption, but t o protect other o bj e cts f rom i t a s well . Abo ut 20 0 years ago, some of the Forgotten joined w ith a grou p of h umans, comprised mostly o f Canthans and Elonians, dedicated

Forgotten

12 GUILDMAG #23 | LORE - Minor Races, Majo r Magic

to preserving Glint’s legacy. T hey performed a ritual on the hu man s who volunteered, transferring their souls into the enchanted armor the y had made so long ago. Th ey used their preventative magic on the armors, ensuring they would never be corrupted by the Dragons. This group of humans came to be know n as the Exalted. Unfortunately, th e Forgotten’s restorative magic either did not wor k at all, or was not potent enou gh when it was attempted to cleanse an Elder Dragon. Kralkatorrik’s hunger was too great t o be cowed, and it swept through Elona, exterminating half of the Forgotten in o ne fell swo op. Presumably this is because the Dragons are primal forces of nature, in tended only to keep th e balance of magic in check. Interestingly enough, the Forgotten either could not - or never tried to - use the preventative magic on themselves because there are Branded Forgotten in the desert , including the former monk, Jo sso Essher. While the restoration ritual works on living creatures, the protective spell may on ly work on inanimate objects.

The Zep hyrites are n ot actually a race, but a neutral, nomadic sect of humans who were originally servants of Glint. After Glin t’s death, they traveled to her domain to collec t crystals from the site of her demise to prevent th em from falling into the wrong han ds. Some of the Zephyrites a re also the aforementioned hu man s who volunteered to become Exalted. They discovered the three Aspects of air magic: Lightning, S un, and Wind, and develop ed a way t o grow additional glowing crystals that contain the magical essence of each . Using these crystals, the Zephyrites’ physical abilities are enhanced. Wind crystals allow th em to ign ore gravity and ride th e wind, leapin g

much higher than normally possible . Lightnin g crystals enable them to dart from one spot to an other, much like ligh tning strikes the ground . Finally, su n crystals let them brie fl y travel at the speed of light. Scholars who have studied the Aspects in-d epth and can wield them with pro fi ciency are known as Aspect Masters. They guard these crystals and Glint’ s legacy closely, a ff ording strangers a chan ce to use them only w hen they host their Bazaar of the Four Winds, an annual tradin g event and market in the Labyrinthin e

Cli ff s. Damaged crystals, like those spread around after the Zephyrites’ crash in Dry Top, lose their pow er rapidly. Presumably this is meant as a deterrent against stealing.

A Crack in the Ice, the third episode of Living World Season 3 , took us into the northern Shiverpeaks. It was there that w e learned more about the origins of th e kodan, a race of humanoid polar bears, and their magic, which is closely tied to their religion.

Zephyrites

Kodan

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LORE - Minor Races, Major Magic | GUIL DMAG #23

The god of the kodan is K oda, also known as th e Ancien t One. Bear was the fi rst creature t o speak against cha os and instability and this pleased Koda, for the bears wh o were ready to guide the spirits of th e world h e transformed into ko dan. According to the Fla mebearers in Bitterfrost Frontier, Koda taught the kodan to guide all manner of spirits, from water and ston e to plants and animals. Naturally, the tribe of Flamebea rers accepted the spirit of fi re. Supposedly their sanctuary contains the last living fl ame begotten by th e original fi re spirit. It is unknown how much of the Flamebearers’ story is tr ue, but the fi res ten ded in their braziers do have special properties; they can make living creatures resistant to the deadly frostbite ca used by being so near to the ice dragon, Jormag. It may b e that kodan who have dedicated themselves to other nature spirits have unique magical abilities too, but we have yet to see any other tribes, save those fl eeing Jormag in their fl oatin g sanctuaries. The spiritual leader o f a grou p of kodan is called the V oice. They spea k to Koda and interpret his will as well as perform other record-keepin g duties and rituals. O ccasionally a fren zy consumes them known as th e Rage of Koda which may be caused by them casting their min ds to the Mists for so lo ng to seek guidance from their god. When the V oice is released from this religious fervor they seem to have n o memory o f what transpired sh ortly before or durin g their episode.

Guild Wars 2: Path of F ire brought back Elona and the d jinn. The djinn are spirits with elemental m agic that often protect items, places, or causes. Generally, they all fl oat and have four arms and a torso with no discernable legs, but their appearance varies based on their

element and they can take on di ff erent forms. They might also have wrappin gs or face or head coverings of some kind and emit an elemental aura. Unlike elementals, d jinn have agency and intelligen ce, enabling them t o communicate with d i ff eren t species and races. They ar e m asters of their respective element, each able to throw p r o jectiles of fi re, rock , ice, or lightning, summon storms, and embody the fl u idity of their element temporarily, allowing them to pass through en emies. The djinn are also able to modify th e tormented remnants of Abaddon ’s magic that infected Elona after Nightfall. They forge r unes, imbue these with their own essen ce, an d then arrange the runes in the shape of jackals to contain the corrupted sand. The jackals are then tamed so they do n’t act on the will of th e

fallen god. Since the jackals are comprised of nothing b ut sand and magical energy, they are able to travel through sand portals, using the Mists a s a gatewa y to get to another potentially far-o ff location instantly. The djinn have other special abilitie s too. It is said they can grant wishes and bestow powers on others who win their favor o r m ana ge t o subjugate them. All of them, no matter their element, can construct shields of white light that protect an area and all the creatures within it from the ligh tning of the Brand. The djinn can not be Branded and can theoretically imbue others with a minor form of their resistance. This might extend t o other forms of dragon corruption , but no other Elder Dragon has gotten close to the djinn to know for sure. Oddly enough, a fi re djin n n amed V emyen

Djinn

14 GUILDMAG #23 | LORE - Minor Races, Majo r Magic

was recently Branded . This may have been caused b y Kralkatorrik’s new control over the domain s of death, shadow, mind , and plants, courtesy of the deaths of Zhaitan and Mordremoth .

Like I said before, this is just a small smattering of the unplayable races and groups around Tyria th at use magic in uniqu e ways. Some races, such as the largos and tengu, likely have their own forms of magic or spirituality that remain a mystery due to their rare or secluded natures . The Seers died out before w e could learn anything particular about them, but we know they were great spellcasters in life. The jotun, thoug h still living, have forsaken magic, so we know little about t heir ancient powers except that th ey were tied to astronomy and the cosmos, and they consider the h arn essing of the eleme nt s “pr i mi tive .” W he t he r t h at’ s intended to mean it’s crude and unsophisticated or simply archa ic is up for interpretation. Wh o kn ows if the Canthan s, if and when we’re fi nally able to access their continent again, have some completely di ff erent sorcery in store for us. The spells w e use as players and the ra w magic we’re used to seeing in the Elder Dragons are but a few of th e many techniques developed over time in Tyria.

Other Races

16 GUILDMAG #23 | EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to Unstable Magic Abilities

BY AM ALA & MAIIR I N Commander! Reports of creatures driven insane by ley en ergy are coming from all ov er. What are you going to do about it?

ounties are a n open world, group-orientated activity introduced in Guild Wars 2: Path of F ire . The premise is that with the death of two Elder Drago ns, high levels of magic have been released in to the world. This ley energy is a ff ecting th e wildlife, making cer tain individuals of a species larger, stronger, a nd more dangerous. Bounties ar e contracts to take dow n speci fi c targets a ff ected by this magical in fl ux, wh ich can b e obtained fro m bounty boards in PoF maps. If you’re goin g to take a contract from a board, y o u ’ll need to prepar e for the di ff erent mechanics y ou’ll face o ut in the fi eld. The normal variety of targets a re Champions and will give you two mechan ics to deal with. Each bounty board will also have on e Legendary bo unty, which w ill have three mechanics. To see w hich mechanics you ’ll have to deal w ith, look for the blue b u ff s underneath the enemy’s nameplate . Each mechanic will a lso have visual cues during th e fi gh t which are easier to n otice in a combat situation, so to h elp you recogn ise these cu es we’ve pu t together this guid e.

B

While Exploiter is up, you will see a blue bubble arou nd your target. Touching the bubble will grant you the e ff ect Identi fi ed Weak Point. This lasts for 20 seconds and in that time you can damage your target. Without this bu ff you can’t damage your target. O f course you can also simply stand inside the b ubble and d o melee damage, but i f you are using ranged weapons y o u will need to reactivate the e ff ect by touch ing the bubble again .

Exploiter

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EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to U nstable Magic Abilities | GU IL DMAG #23

Ph a se-S hift e d

While this ability is active you will see two types of blue areas around your target: one in melee range and one outside of that range. You can only damage the target as long you are standing in the blue zon e - o utside of this zone your attacks will b e blocked. The best thing to do here is make sure your character is wielding melee and ranged weapons. When the area lights up brighter, you can then step into th e new blue area and co ntinue attacking. On the edge of the blue area there are arrows pointing inwards to show you where you need t o move to keep damagin g your target. P r opagator

With Propagator, tendrils will spawn around the target and heal it. You can take them down i n just a few hits, or entirely ignore them as they will decay over time. This mechanic depends heavily o n how many allies you have to take a bounty down. With a larger group, the amount of hitpoints healed will b e inferior to the group D P S. However , with a smaller group your DPS will be lower than the amount of hitpoints healed , in wh ich case taking d own th e tendrils becomes a priority. They also count towards the Plan t Slayer ach ievement.

1 8 GUILDMAG #23 | EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to Unstable Magic Abilities

Restorer i s similar to Propaga tor, but instead of spawning tendrils th is ability w ill spawn healing coalescences. You might have seen them before; they look like green air elementals. You can ignore them when you have a lot of allies because the coalescence s will not be able to outheal the amount of damage you deal. But, as with Propagator, they pose a threat whe n you have only a handfu l of peop le .

Restorer

Personally, every time I see this bounty, “Mambo Nr. 5” plays in my head. It is kind of like follow the leader . Your target will have a red or a green light next to it. A red light means you have to stand still and attack, wh ile a green light means you have t o move wh ile attacking. If you d on’t fo llow these ru les, your attacks will miss.

si gnaler

lEY-ENERGY BUILDUP

This mechanic is broadcast by glowing leystone spheres that levitate o ff the ground. You want to run to these ofte n and stand within their area -of-e ff ect to get the Resistor e ff ect. When you are o utside of these AoEs, a deb u ff w ill stack on you called Ley-Energy Buildup. The more stacks of this you have, the more damage will be done t o you per tick. Gaining the Resistor e ff ect wipes out all stacks o f Ley-Energy Build up. The safest method is to use ranged weapons and stay within the safe AoEs, but if you’re using melee just remembe r to dart back in when y ou get to aroun d fi ve stacks of b uildup . Note that if o ne of the leystone spheres sp aw ns where you are, you won’t get the Resistor bu ff until you leave th e AoE and r e- en ter.

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EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to U nstable Magic Abilities | GU IL DMAG #23

You’ll notice the Sniper mechanic by th e glow ing orbs that follow ran dom players. Stay away from these! Whether they will hurt you or not will depend o n if you’re Marked. Foreboding, isn’t it? This is a debu ff that can be seen o n your U I, but you will also have a glowing gunsight icon on you. The aforementioned glowy orbs are actually also gu nsights and if th ese touch you wh ile Marked, you’ll soon be h it with a p owerful sho t which will probably down y ou. This shot comes in the form of a blue fi reball which can be dodged, th ough if you don’t feel con fi dent with this and feel doom breathin g down yo ur neck, h eal up beforehand. Make sure you’re standing close to other play ers so they can revive you quickly.

snipe r

captor

Captor is similar to a move u sed by Balthazar’s Herald in The Sacri fi ce story instance. Random players will be surrounded by an ethereal blue ring. You can’t walk out o f these, they w ill ju st knock you back into the centre, bu t you can dodge o ut o f them. You can also shadowstep o r blink ou t. They don’t hurt, so you can ju st stay inside if the target is within your weap ons’ range.

2 0 GUILDMAG #23 | EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to Unstable Magic Abilities

FLASH FR EEZE

This is denoted by pulses of icy rings coming from the target. Being hit by these blasts will chill you and cause a small interrupt. Deal with these as you wou ld Tequatl’s w aves: ju mp over them.

With this one you’ll see an ominous depiction of an ey e above your target. Like in the Shattered Observatory F r actal, w he n yo u see this t ur n your c h aracter away. I f you are facing the target when the eye is present, you r character will be temporarily petri fi ed an d therefore vulnerable t o other dangers.

P etr ifi e r

There is really not much you can d o against this ability . The bounty will automatically block all attacks for a time. All yo u can do is wait for it to en d.

Su rvivo r

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EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to U nstable Magic Abilities | GU IL DMAG #23

POLLUT ER

If you don’t want to be poisoned and tormented, stay out of these dangerous fields. These fields spawn and expand around your target, but if y ou have a ranged weapon y ou can still attack. SC O RCH ER

This ability is the same as Polluter, except now th e fields are made out of fire in stead of poiso n. Standin g in fire is deadly ! S PINNING LASER

The central points of the spinning laser spawn fi rst. These will look like blue, crackling nodes of magic and their appearance should give you enough time t o get out of the vicinity before the lasers start spinning around them. If you don’t get out, they hurt - a lot. Don’t worry too much if yo u see yo ur friend get hit an d go down as th e lasers do not hurt people in downed state; if you try t o re vive th em, you’ll ju st go dow n you rself.

22 GUILDMAG #23 | EDITORIAL - Bounties: A Visual Guide to Unstable Magic Abilities

There will be several large, wispy circles with a sk ull - exactly the same one a s you see when you get feared - fl o at in g ab ov e ea ch c i rcl e. I f yo u st ep in to t he se fi e l ds , you will be feared. Be careful as these could send you o ff of a cli ff .

FRIGHT ENER

Three hammers will be rotating around the ta rget. Being hit b y one will knock you down . The hammers are a sizable distance away from t he tar get so be careful if you’re attacking from ran ged.

Hammerer

This list of mechanics is long, but with practice they will all become intuitive and you’ll be ab le to explain th em to others with con fi dence. Helping others understand may be the b est skill to take away from this guide as bounty targets cannot b e taken down alone. If you’re taking one on with only a handfu l of people instead o f a zerg, the pressure for each person to perfor m is much higher, so sh are your new expertise! Good lu ck with y our hu nts, Commander.

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LORE - The Function of Dragons | GUILDMAG #23

The Function of Drago ns

n his fi nal words, Palaw a Joko is reported to have claimed that the Elder Dragons are the “life force” of th is world. This is not the belief of the Priory. Magic is the tru e life force of Tyria. However, a s recent events have shown, there is certainly such a thin g as too much . Increased levels of ambient magic since the destructio n of two Elder Dragons a nd the Maguuma bloodstone have resulte d in the tearing o f rifts in reality and the creation o f destructive sentient coalescences. Simulations in dicate that further overloadin g of energy would be more destructive still. In fact, too much could risk tea ring apart the world in spontan eous

cata clysms. Instead of being the life force of the world themselves, th e Elder Dragons act as magical regulators. Wh en the levels of ambient magic rise, the Elder Dragons r ise with them, consuming this power an d cont a ining it within t h emselves u nti l they eventually go to sleep. Once they enter hibernation, th e dragons unknowingly begin t o slowly release energy back into the world, until the ambient magic rises to a level that causes them t o awaken once again. Wh ile this system h as kept Tyria alive in the past, the problem is that the dragons ar e indiscriminate in their feeding. Rat h e r t h a n feeding i n a manner that causes little harm to

the other inhabitan ts of the world, the dragons actively seek out energ y that is found within, o r otherwise in use by, other living beings. In fact, they seem to speci fi cally seek out the magic of sapient b eings when given the opportunity. From the perspective of their ecological purpose as magical regulators, this is a highly ine ffi cient system. It maximises the damage they cau se, wh ile mostly con suming power ‘ bound’ within artifacts or living beings, rather than the ambient magic that threatens to overload Tyria’s ley lines. In addition, the d ragon s do n ot stop once this ambient d weomer has been reduced to safer levels. Instead, they continue to consume,

BY DRAXYNNI C

I

An explanatory document on the shift of the Pact’s objectives regarding the Elder Dragons, penned by Scholar Eleanor Draxynnus in the Season of the Scion, 1331 AE.

24 GUILDMAG #23 | LORE - The Function of Drago ns

only entering hibernation wh en they sense n othing left to absorb. For Tyria’s biosphere, th is is just as dangerous as an overload; since living beings requ ire magic, consumin g it all would result in the death of those bein gs. The solu tion in past awakenin gs was to hide some of th is energy from the Elder Dragons, allowing Tyria to recover once they went into hibernation . The last time they were awake, this was accomplished by the combinatio n of th e original bloodstone, wh ich absorbed much of Tyria’s ambient magic before the dragon s could, and through Glint hidin g the elder races from the dragons. In principle, this suggests that the bloodstones coul d themselves be used as a regulatory system - as, in fact, th e gods appear to have done before their Exodus. However, those w ith knowled ge of the bloodston es to u se them in this mann er are believed n ot to be present on Tyria an y longer.