The discussion around
Elder Dragonic corruption has been one of the most difficult to answer
questions in Tyria. It’s also a question that has far reaching consequences for
the future of the Living Story. What species are restistant against Elder
Dragonic Corruption and why? Is it possible for Dragon minions to escape from
their corruption and revolt against an Elder Dragon?
What follows tries to adress all these questions. FULL
CREDITS go to STEPHEN.6312, who’s the author of the article below.
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Introduction
This post is an attempted explanation of why Elder Dragonic
magic can be cleansed. As such, it is speculation. I’m sure that it will not be
the final word on this subject – it certainly isn’t the first; many other
Tyrian scholars have contributed alternative viewpoints about this topic. I
invite anyone who reads this post to scrutinize every detail which they
contest. In recognition of the fact that I often make mistakes in my posts, I wish
to acknowledge a few key errors I made in a previous series of posts entitled,
“Fertile Soils: Maguuman Jungle Wurms”.
Addressing Errors
Generated In Recent Posts
In “Fertile Soils: Maguuman Jungle Wurms” I suggested that
Great Jungle Wurms are the same species as Maguuman Jungle Wurms. Visually,
these wurms look identical. However, it is more likely that the two are
different species. I base this conclusion on the radically different eggs
produced by each. The Great Jungle Wurm of the Bloodtide Coast lays large round
eggs, even spitting them during the meta-event “Triple Trouble”. By contrast,
Maguuman Jungle Wurms (and all other wurms, for that matter) lay smaller eggs,
resembling hens’ eggs. Samples of these eggs can be found in Metrica Province,
near the …
In the same series I proposed that Great Jungle Wurms are
herbivores. However, there is evidence that contradicts this. During the
meta-event “Triple Trouble”, players battling the Amber Great Jungle Wurm at
the Whisperwill Bog are swallowed by the wurm. Trapped inside the monster’s
stomach, players can then fight their way out utilizing both fists and the
weapon of an unfortunate adventurer. Thus, it is more likely that Great Jungle
Wurms – indeed, all wurms – are omnivores.
Now, let us turn our attention to the purpose of this post.
Defining Terminology
For The Purpose Of Effective Communication
For the duration of this post, the term “magic” is used to
describe a form of potential energy. Magic is utilized (primarily) by
intelligent beings called “magicians”. Magicians process magic into “spells”.
Hence, any member of the seven classes – Elementalist, Engineer, Guardian,
Mesmer, Necromancer, Thief, and Warrior – is a magician.
The Elder Dragonic
Cycle
In “The Movement Of The World” a radically altered Tyria is
presented to humanity. The Six have departed into the Mists, leaving the
governance of the planet to six new godlike creatures: The Elder Dragons. The
life-cycle of these serpents can be likened to that of bears. Both are
positioned highly in their respective food-chains; both are selective in their
diets; and each spends proportionally more time sleeping than awake. Indeed, it
seems that everything an Elder Dragon does is designed to ensure that it can
enjoy as comfortable a slumber as possible.
When Did The Cycle
Begin?
There was a time when magic was “wild”. Although this was a
period within recent memory, it suggests that there was a similar interval in
which the Elder Dragons enjoyed their diet – magic – without contest.
Presumably, however, at some point this situation changed. It is this juncture
that may have motivated the serpents to begin casting spells intended to
harvest magic from those with whom they were competing, a process we have come
to know as “corruption”.
It goes without saying that corrupting minions involves the
consumption of some of the magic that the Elder Dragons would prefer to feed
on. However, the net return of corrupting must be in the dragons’ favor. Thus,
it is better for them to corrupt than not to corrupt.
But Elder Dragonic corruption may not have initially been as
effective as it is now. Different creatures may have offered varying levels of
resistance to the original spells cast by the serpents. In other words, the
dragons may have learned how to corrupt their minions.
Evolution: It’s An
Inextricable Part Of The Guild Wars 2 World
In 1326AE Tequatl the Sunless evolved. “It has been
gathering power in the depths. It is faster, stronger, deadlier. It has
returned to devour and destroy. [Tequatl the Sunless] has evolved.” This
champion of Zaithan joined a handful of other creatures within Tyria also said
to have evolved: a destroyer, a husk, a toxic hybrid – even maybe grawl (whom
human scholars theorize may have evolved into charr and charr scholars theorize
may have evolved into humans).
Evolution. It’s an inextricable part of the Guild Wars 2
World.
The Importance Of
Evolution
The evolution of Tequatl the Sunless, the toxic hybrid, the
destroyer and the husk is important because it is as much an enhancement of their
intelligence as it is the adaptation of their respective biologies. Tequatl
didn’t just get stronger, he also paraded “an kitten nal of new attacks and
lethal tricks”; the toxic hybrid grew bigger and adapted so quickly to the
fighting-styles of those against whom it battled that Kasmeer Meade was heard
to exclaim, ““I’ll be kitten ed if it isn’t learning as it goes”.” To begin
with, husks are normally quite stupid, but evolution heralds a larger size and
a new level of cunning comprised of novel skills and abilities.
In each and every case, a process of change is presented
that involves adaptation in all of it’s forms, including learning. Tyria lives.
Don’t let the seemingly-static nature of mundane everyday activities fool you:
The creatures you fight against, at least from a lore point of view, truly do
adapt. To date, however, only a select few have been used to demonstrate this.
Elder Dragons And The
Process Of Learning
Having demonstrated that the process of evolution within
Tyria involves learning, let us proceed with our speculation, which is
precisely this – that Elder Dragons may have had to learn how to corrupt other
beings. For them, this may have been a procedure of experimental spell-casting,
until each serpent settled upon an effective spell or spells. Realistically, if
developing a model of corruption did involve learning, in my opinion said
learning occurred during the serpents’ waking hours. Moreover, the rate at
which they learned was probably dependent on three variables:
1. The amount of time they were awake for (or, if you’d
prefer, how much time it took for them to consume enough magic to return to
sleep);
2. The number of test subjects available to them.
Of course, not every reptile developed the same kind of
spell. Factors such as competition with other Elder Dragons may have influenced
the direction that each took in developing their respective models of
corruption. Kralkatorrik, Jormag and Zaithan seem to have settled upon
predominantly mammalian targets for their spell(s). Primordus has largely
abandoned pre-existing beings in favor of creating minions from scratch.
Bubbles also appears to create minions directly. Thus, with each cycle of
awakening the model of corruption practiced by an Elder Dragon could well have
become highly specialized, so much so that it becomes increasingly difficult
for a model to radically adapt to major changes in the kinds of potential
minions available.
The Consequence Of The
Coming Of Humans And Sylvari To Tyria
For the most part, those Elder Dragons who target
pre-existing beings can integrate new arrivals into the ranks of their minions.
Thus, although humans (probably) came from the Mists (certainly, it is widely
accepted that at least some of the Six came from the Mists) they were
biologically similar to many of the other creatures that the Elder Dragons had
successfully corrupted in the past, making their assimilation into minions
straightforward. What has not been so simple, however, is the dragons’ ability
to counter some of the spells associated with the magic of the Six. These
spells represent new forms of energy manipulation that the serpents have had
very little exposure to (of the six reptiles, Zaithan was probably the most
familiar with the magic of the human gods). One spell in particular – the
ritual practiced by both the Forgotten (on Glint) and the Pact (on a risen
chicken in Arah EXP)) is so rarely employed that the dragons have not yet been
able to develop an effective response to it. (It is worth noting that the
spells of the Six are effective at cleansing minions, rather than the land
itself.)
The situation is nowhere near as clear-cut when we consider
the coming of sylvari to Tyria. Not only did they bring new forms of energy
manipulation, biologically they were radically different to any of the other
magic-users targeted by the reptiles. Thus, the sylvari have been able to
cleanse the corruption of the land by both Zaithan and Kralkatorrik. The
newness of the sylvari is, in my opinion, the primary reason why they appear
resistant to Elder Dragonic spells and also why their magic is so effective at
cleansing it (sylvari magic seems to be more effective at cleansing the land
itself, rather than individual minions). But this does not mean that the models
of corruption employed by the dragons could not be adapted to assimilate them.
The problem, however, as I have previously suggested, is that they need time
and test subjects and although, for example, Zaithan may have been working
toward incorporating sylvari into the ranks of his minions, he 1) lacked the
time, having been killed before he could succeed and 2) lacked sufficient test
subjects (most of his initial subjects died and one subject who may well have
become a minion (i.e. the mad sylvari) was liberated through physical intervention
by the Pact before this could be accomplished).
Some consider that at least three forms of evidence
demonstrate that sylvari resist Elder Dragon corruption for magical reasons
only. Most players will be familiar with the corrupted stumps of Sparkfly Fen,
the corrupted tree of Orr, and various branded plants of the Brand (there are
also mushrooms corrupted by Zaithan’s spell(s) in the Kessex Hills, although
technically these are not plants but fungus). This evidence is considered
sufficient demonstration of both Zaithan and Kralkatorrik’s ability to affect
(i.e. corrupt) plants and that, therefore, because sylvari are plants it was
not their unique biology that prevented either dragon (or Jormag, for that
matter, since he has also tried to) from integrating sylvari into their models
of corruption. However, it goes without saying that sylvari are plants of a far
higher order than mere shrubs or trees. Given the scant examples of
higher-order plants residing in areas affected by the corruption of either Zaithan
or Kralkatorrik, it seems reasonable to conclude that although they did have
the ability to corrupt simple plants, they never pursued the integration of
every form of flora. In short, sylvari biology is too complex to be corrupted
by the present models of these three dragons, although the situation may
change.
Furthermore, although at this point both human (i.e. the
magic associated with the Six) and sylvari spells may be somewhat enigmatic to
the Elder Dragons, it does not mean that with time they cannot learn effective
counters to them. Thus, it would be premature of us to state that Kralkatorrik
or Jormag will not adapt their models of corruption to integrate sylvari or
will not be able to counter spells cast to cleanse their corruption.
Mordremoth And Sylvari
Mordremoth, unlike the other reptiles, may have developed a
model of corruption specializing in the affectation of plants of all orders,
giving him a head start in the process of assimilating sylvari into his ranks
and deciphering some of their more cryptic forms of energy manipulation. Thus,
Mordremoth may be able to affect mammals, but to nowhere-near the extent to
which he can corrupt plants, leading to a scenario precisely the opposite to
that with which we are familiar – namely, mammals may be largely resistant to
Mordremoth’s corruption, whereas plants are almost universally not.
Conclusion
It has been my intention in this post to provide a plausible
explanation of why Elder Dragon corruption can be countered by both the
Forgotten ritual and also sylvari spell(s). From this explanation, it is also
possible to speculate that so-called sylvari resistance to Elder Dragonic
corruption may not continue indefinitely. In essence, this explanation likens
the current situation in Tyria to a state of war between the Elder Dragons and
their potential minions, in which one side may develop new ways to counter the
other’s magic and vice versa, so that nothing is ever truly certain and no one
side can rest assured of victory.
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