Curse

Longasc · Feb 20, 2008, 01:18 PM // 13:18

I just cannot help, I always feel regret that this area will never be filled with explorables in GW1. Everytime you open the map you gaze at this gaping green hole and I could not help to ask myself, what could/would have been there... maybe someone knows some more facts or can make an educated guess.

This map shows the big green gap in the GW map.

We have only one area there, the Verdant Cascades, and it looks a lot like the dinosaur-jungle of the Tarnished Coast. Interestingly there are no Bison/Buffalo herds like in Varajar Fells. Probably because of the dinosaurs...^^

This is a huge area. We know the Umbral Grotto, Dwarves are there (at least the guy in Umbral Grotto), Dredge are there (Molenin), and the Asura are there, too, there is an Asura gate after all.

But besides that, it is a big green unknown spot. Enough place to make GWEN a full campaign or for GW Utopia or whatever.

But who rules there? Who lives there?

The pink/purple area "4" is part of Kryta, the BMP mission with Saul takes place there. The Charr came that far before the Mursaat/White Mantle pushed them finally back.

Areas 2 and 4 really cry for human settlements. The new capital or at least a major city of Kryta in GW2 will be a the south shore of this lake, btw.

And, as cataclysms across the world displaced other humans, and Canthans and Elonians joined the wave of humanity fleeing to the new city of Divinity's Reach, they found a welcome home in the high bastion created to replace Lion's Arch when the floodwaters of Orr claimed it. Divinity's Reach, a breathtaking monument of white parapets and high, pale towers, was built on the edge of the Divinity coast, far from the rising waters of the southern bays. - http://www.pcgamer.com/archives/2007...-_ultimat.html

This could the the island castle near Watchtower coast/Divinity coast.

That there are so many watchtowers calls for the question if there are raiders or conflicting kingdoms besides fishermen you would suspect there:

The Divinity Coast is the site of several of the region's oldest settlements. Humans have occupied these lands for over seven hundred years. Many generations of Krytan fishermen have grown up trolling the same sacred waters of the Giant's Basin, the huge saltwater lake that defines the northern edge of the coast.
- http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Divin..._%28outpost%29

Then we also have this huge delta at "2", it really cries for major cities. Think of the Nile delta or even the swampy Mekong delta, all deltas over the world tend to be highly inhabited - but by WHOM?

In GW2 the whole area could become the extended human kingdom of Kryta, with a northern area we do not know yet.

The Charr would hold their homeland and the former Ascalon area, the Asura the Tarnished Coast/Maguuma, the Norn the "white" mountain areas of the almost extinct Dwarves.

draxynnic · Feb 20, 2008, 02:24 PM // 14:24

I'm guessing that there aren't any dinosaurs up there. Similar terrain or not, it's a long way north from the Tarnished Coast proper and dinosaurs can't exactly use the Gates. Unless there's two seperate populations that were seperated when humans moved in to Kryta...

I suspect, though, that you're right and that humans have extended into those northern areas - although at the time of GW1, they may have all been abandoned due to being overrun by the Charr. If there aren't human settlements there, however, it's probably because there's a darned good reason - considering that there are Tyrian Centaurs in both the Northern Shiverpeaks and the Maguuma Jungle, for instance, it could be that this is actually the central part of their range.

chozodude · Feb 20, 2008, 02:38 PM // 14:38

ever noticed the island in the top left corner? everytime is see it i wanna go there

^^

cataphract · Feb 21, 2008, 11:45 AM // 11:45

I'm guessing the Charr just had to pass through Verdant Cascades and Area 1 while wall-hugging foothills of the Shiverpeak mountains. Which, in turn, would mean they had to pass over the Shiverpeaks at some point. I'm betting the Norn turned a blind eye and let them through. There's simply no other logical path they could have taken in order to get to Area 3. Reaching Orr was no small feat either. Orr's army must have sucked terribly in order to get beaten by an army that just marched a couple of hundreds miles through rough terrain.

The biggest mystery to me are the paths Charr took to invade the human kingdoms. I doubt they would be crossing the Shiverpeaks through Deldrimor territory. The good Dwarves do not mention them at all. The Stone Summit would not yield the Frostgate easily neither to Humans nor the Charr. I'm thinking that the invasion might have looked something like this:

What happened to the Kryta-invading forces? Did the Mursaat wipe them out or are there stragglers and lost units making their homes in the jungle between Kryta and Verdant Cascades? And what about Orr - did the explosion kill every single last invader? How big was Charr army prior to invasion if they could sustain 2/3 losses and still pose a serious threat?

Sirius-NZ · Feb 21, 2008, 09:32 PM // 21:32

The Charr could have circled the eastern side of Ascalon to get to Orr...

mrmango · Feb 21, 2008, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Yea, we know from the old old old prophecies manual that they went through Ascalon to Orr.

Fangclaw · Feb 22, 2008, 03:10 AM // 03:10

I do not know who (or what?) lives up there at the time of GWEN, but I think i know who will live there by GW2; The Sylvari. But as for the time of EotN, I think theres probably either some sort of Centaur colony or abandoned Human settlements.

Better yet, have you seen the warning post from Quetzals in Verdant Cascades? It says that they hold the land, will kill anyone who ventures in it and leave their (dead) bodies outside their boundaries. I sure as hell doubt theres only one Quetzal settlement in all that huge region.

So if its not Centaurs, Druids, or just plain jungle monsters, I'll put my money on the Tengu.

cataphract · Feb 22, 2008, 10:29 AM // 10:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmango

Yea, we know from the old old old prophecies manual that they went through Ascalon to Orr.

That means they would either have pass the Shiverpeaks at their widest section (through Deldrimor outposts and forts) or go even more to the south through the northern parts of Crystal Desert. Not the best choices.

Longasc · Feb 22, 2008, 12:48 PM // 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fangclaw

I do not know who (or what?) lives up there at the time of GWEN, but I think i know who will live there by GW2; The Sylvari. But as for the time of EotN, I think theres probably either some sort of Centaur colony or abandoned Human settlements.

Better yet, have you seen the warning post from Quetzals in Verdant Cascades? It says that they hold the land, will kill anyone who ventures in it and leave their (dead) bodies outside their boundaries. I sure as hell doubt theres only one Quetzal settlement in all that huge region.

So if its not Centaurs, Druids, or just plain jungle monsters, I'll put my money on the Tengu.

I think the Sylvari will live more in the southwestern areas of Maguuma, this is too far north and more Kryta than Maguuma.

But you make a point with the Quetzals. Those are abundant not only there, but also in the Asuran areas to the south.
A huge birdmen kingdom? Or just a whole bunch of savage Tengu tribes? Who knows, some people even believe it is possible that the Tengu might become a player race.

The problem is that Tengu seem to be just everywhere. They are in Cantha, at least in the southern mountains and on Shing Jea. Numerous enough to wage war with the Canthan Empire. We have seen them in Kryta, Maguuma and elsewhere. They are even in the Shiverpeaks, the Avicara Tengu.

Regarding the Charr, this is taken from another thread about their invasion paths. Whatever path they have taken... they do not seem to have settled in the "big green gap".

But we can make some assumptions: Either at least the southern part of the green gap is just an extended Kryta, which was attacked by the charr warbands OR that the masters of the green area were not human.

Otherwise we would have heard more about the Charr waging war there - or are there really only animals of all kind.

Fangclaw's suggestion makes the most sense for now:
These lands belong to the Quetzal. Trespassers will be killed and their bodies left at the edges of our land as a reminder to all others of what fate awaits them should they violate our boundaries!

Retrieved from "http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Notice_to_Trespassers"

-> So area 1 would belong to Quetzal-Tengu, the southern part probably partly to the human kingdom of Kryta.

-> To whom the northern shore of the great lake 4 and the river delta 2 belong is still unclear. Maybe Quetzal-Tengu, too.

-> It is still possible that all this is just too much interpreted into the savage tengu tribes in the Verdant Cascades and that it is all just human settlement space that has and will probably never be revealed in GW1.

Azael Durge · Feb 22, 2008, 07:11 PM // 19:11

The builders of the floating castles, if i remember correctly the loading screen is of floating bits of land so it makes slight sense. Maybe a Dwayna like species.

Edit:

Oh oh oh! Had a thought what if the builders of the floating castles and inhabitants of this place are the Mursaat? They are going to be in GW2 http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mursaat maybe this is their home, they may also keep a few White mantle stashed away. Your thoughts?

Sirius-NZ · Feb 26, 2008, 01:00 AM // 01:00

That area won't be revealed in GW1, no, but in GW2 there is a possibility, at least. We don't know exactly what Kryta has done apart from moving their base of operations north a bit, but they could have expanded into that area.

Also, the range of the Quetzal hasn't been thought out very well, since they also appear in Alcazia Tangle, which is pretty far away from that region. There is no explanation for how they got there, unless they somehow use Asura gates or something (unlikely since they appear not to be on friendly terms with the Asura!).

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they're the dominant race in the area north of Kryta at this time. By GW2, who knows, but much of the world will have changed anyway.

arsie · Feb 26, 2008, 02:24 AM // 02:24

Description of Beetletun:
Historians speculate that in time out of mind, these now-ruined watchtowers guarded Kryta from some unknown northern threat. Now the crumbled towers stand like ancient stone soldiers still awaiting the arrival of that mysterious enemy from across the great saltwater lake called Giant's Basin.

That's the clearest mention about the lands north of Giant's Basin so far. With EotN, the speculation that the threat could be Norn, but it's quite far away from any Norn land. So possibly some sort of Giant.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Basin

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/The_Great_Giants

arsie · Feb 26, 2008, 02:30 AM // 02:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by cataphract

I'm thinking that the invasion might have looked something like this:

I go with this theory, that the Charr crossed through Norn lands, whom they have a truce with. They marched south through North Kryta Province into Orr.

arsie · Feb 26, 2008, 02:33 AM // 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by chozodude

ever noticed the island in the top left corner? everytime is see it i wanna go there

^^

Who knows, that might be Utopia.

Its big enough to be a campaign for sure.