Of Things Religious

(this is just fact compilation)

Lets look at map of known temples to deities and locations related to them on Tyrian continent:



Note two things:

1] All the temples are in Northen part of Tyria, there is no evidence of temples to known deities in other parts of world (like Southern Shiverpeaks, Crystal desert, )

2] They are generally far away from Bloodstones, Arrah and Ascension place. But Closes to bloodstones are usually Major Temples (if we count Temple on rotscales island as major Temple (which i didnt on this map, while i marked Lysas temple ...)).

Since architecture of The Falls Balthazars temple is similar to architecture or Grenths temple in Lormars Pass, and they are closest temples to bloodstones. It might be that Theese temples were created as "Guardians of bloodstones" while Arrah was guardian of Key-bloodstone.

And both deities that have guardian temples do grant entrance to their realms to Tyrians when Tyria has "favor of gods".

I would say its not just coincidence.

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Lets Examine Favor

Just several years ago (before searing), statues were always alive, it seems that Tyria used to have Favor of gods all the time.

Now, gods grant favor only sometimes, only when Tyria has fought and won in Halls of Heroes.

Its quite radical change of policy. What caused it? Were Tyrians punished for allowing searing by their weakness? Do gods now only favor us when we show strenght?

As for Favor efects:

Every temple goes to like - suddenly, water pours on Melandrus statue, Dwaynas and Lysas statue reasemble themself, Grenths and Balthazars start displaying properties of their kingdons (coldness and heat)

When Tyria looses favor, Shrines return to their dead state.

When person kneels, gods aways reply in form of avatar, that offers services in return for bit of gold.

Some avatars offer nothing and only talk.

Some offer Dwaynas blessing (every god offers dwaynas blessing)

Some offer Strength (they increase life and magic aplitude)

Some offer Entrance to kingdon of their god for Ascended.

Lets see avatars:

Dwayna: Winged human girl

Lysa: Etheral Face

Grenth: Shaddow

Batlthazar: Ghostly Hero

Melandru: Druid

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One can force gods to favor him (via Crystals from Elona Reach).

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Raised questions:

1] Why can every god offer Dwaynas blessing and not only dwayna?

2] Why are all god statues are same, was it one culture that build them?

3] Who did build Greths Lornar and Bathazars Falls temples?

4] Why is no Temple located in southern part of Tyria, Why is none in Crystal desert when Desert is place of ascension?

5] What are desert crystals, where do they take power?

6] Where are remaining bloodstones?

(Also, there are usually Two seers in same location with one Elioden. coincidence? )|||Nice work on the map, really. :)


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2] They are generally far away from Bloodstones, Arrah and Ascension place. But Closes to bloodstones are usually Major Temples (if we count Temple on rotscales island as major Temple (which i didnt on this map, while i marked Lysas temple ...)).

Since architecture of The Falls Balthazars temple is similar to architecture or Grenths temple in Lormars Pass, and they are closest temples to bloodstones. It might be that Theese temples were created as "Guardians of bloodstones" while Arrah was guardian of Key-bloodstone.

And both deities that have guardian temples do grant entrance to their realms to Tyrians when Tyria has "favor of gods".

I would say its not just coincidence.






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Then the stones were dropped, one by one, into the volcano off the southern shore of the Kingdom of Kryta. And the gods left this world forever, confident that they had balanced out their gift and circumvented greed.





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As is ever the case with peace, it once again came to and end when the volcano eruped, spitting out the five stones and scattering them across Tyria.




After they were created, the Bloodstones were sealed away inside Abbadon's Mouth until it erupted about 100 years ago.

I would say it is just a coincidence.


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6] Where are remaining bloodstones?




Very good question. Maybe some landed in sea.. maybe they're not even on the continent of Tyria anymore..


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(Also, there are usually Two seers in same location with one Elioden. coincidence? )




Are we sure there are multiple Seers or is it just THE Seer that appears in several missions? Always wondered..|||As a member of TAOS, and the head of the Guild Wars Paleoanthropological Society, this is my field of interest, and I hope my explanations can answer some of your questions sufficently.


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(this is just fact compilation)

Lets look at map of known temples to deities and locations related to them on Tyrian continent:






Awesome job on that map. Personally, I think something of that caliber should be posted on the main site. It is a great map for casual explorers, sightseekers, and researchers alike!


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Since architecture of The Falls Balthazars temple is similar to architecture or Grenths temple in Lormars Pass, and they are closest temples to bloodstones. It might be that Theese temples were created as "Guardians of bloodstones" while Arrah was guardian of Key-bloodstone.

And both deities that have guardian temples do grant entrance to their realms to Tyrians when Tyria has "favor of gods".

I would say its not just coincidence.





I would agree completely there. If you are familiar with my research into the Mursaat, you may already know that I proposed exactly the same thing earlier. I believe the Mursaat are the builders of these Temples, at sometime before they abandoned worship of the Old Gods.


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Lets Examine Favor

Just several years ago (before searing), statues were always alive, it seems that Tyria used to have Favor of gods all the time.

Now, gods grant favor only sometimes, only when Tyria has fought and won in Halls of Heroes.

Its quite radical change of policy. What caused it? Were Tyrians punished for allowing searing by their weakness? Do gods now only favor us when we show strenght?




Ah, I believe I can answer this question.

"In the middle of the Mists is a...tear in the favric of the comsmos, the point of perfect balance between all forces... This place is known as the Rift, and there is nothing to which it does not connect, nothing that cannot be reached from inside it..." (Guild Wars 70)

"Using a spell of his own devising and the sacrifice of many souls, Lord Odran, a powerful arcanist who specialized in the study of temporal distortions, opened a portal that offered him access to the Mists and eventually into the Rift itself..." (Guild Wars 71)

"When Odran's mortal body died, the wards and enchantments that kept his portals hidden failed, and the gates to the Hall of Heroes were laid open to all who were able to find them. The wizard lord had been canny though; Odran knew that one day he too might be ensconced in the Hall of Heroes, so he hid the portals in the most treacherous locations he could find. The fear of death, he surmised, would keep the meek at bay.

But a long time has passed, and it is clear now that the wizard lord, like the gods before him, underestimated the greed of men. Over time, the whereabouts of the portals have been revealed. Though they remain difficult to get to, there are those with enough skill and enough bravery to reach them, and every day the numbers of intruders to the Hall of Heroes rises.

An unending battle for supremacy rages inside the Hall. The spirit inhabitants have taken to playing groups of mortals against each other for sport, placing bets on which will make it farthest and giving special aid to those they favor. Control of the Hall itself has its rewards-and costs as well." [Guild Wars 72]

So, as you can see, access to the Hall was not granted to us by any god, but rather, stolen by a wizard. It is his techology/magic that allows us to get to the Rift and Hall. Once he died, anyone could go to the Rift, but the spirits of the Hall still protected it and guarded the portals. However, they somehow found out that watching people fight is entertaining, and allow access to the strongest people. It is there that "favor" comes from.

In essence, each in-game server is another parallel universe to our own server. The Rift connects all of these multiverses, and because they are so similar, the spirits of the Hall let powerful groups from each of these universes into the Hall to battle for their entertainment. It is not a matter of punishment, and it is not related to the Searing.


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Raised questions:

2] Why are all god statues are same, was it one culture that build them?

3] Who did build Greths Lornar and Bathazars Falls temples?

6] Where are remaining bloodstones?







The god statues are all the same because at one time, the gods walked among the people of Tyria. Thus, the different cultures know what they looked like and were able to cast statues in their image very accurately. At that point in time, everyone coexisted, as it was before magic, and before humans had a strong standing. Thus, the cultures that built the temples were able to do so with remarkable similarity that shows the connection that the entire world had before the gift of magic.

I would argue that the ancient Mursaat, or the people that became the Mursaat did. See my article for my evidence to this.

The remaining Bloodstones could be anywhere. I think we will find out in Chapter 2.|||By "shrine", did you mean the statues? If so, you missed the statue of Lyssa just outside Ascalon City (to the north of what used to be the actor's stage).

Also, isn't there a statue of Melandru near the boatman who takes you Riverside Province? It's been a while since I've been out there, but I remember there being something there, a bit south of the Henge of Denravi, but not as far south as Maguuma Stade.

I'm just mentioning these in the interest of completeness.

Did anyone else notice that there are 4 shrines/temples on pretty much a single line of latitude? The two southernmost marked Melandru shrines, the temple of Grenth, and the temple of Lyssa all sit along a line (with the temple of Lyssa sitting just a bit below it). I don't know if there's any significance to it, but it jumped out at me.

Also, the two Balthazar shrines and two of the Dwayna shrines also line up with each other. Could we be seeing realms of influence, denoted by the areas the statues range over?|||Great investigation/map.|||Quote:








By "shrine", did you mean the statues? If so, you missed the statue of Lyssa just outside Ascalon City (to the north of what used to be the actor's stage).

Also, isn't there a statue of Melandru near the boatman who takes you Riverside Province? It's been a while since I've been out there, but I remember there being something there, a bit south of the Henge of Denravi, but not as far south as Maguuma Stade.




Thhaks for pointing out theese two, i missed them

Here is updated map:

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I would agree completely there. If you are familiar with my research into the Mursaat, you may already know that I proposed exactly the same thing earlier. I believe the Mursaat are the builders of these Temples, at sometime before they abandoned worship of the Old Gods.





But we see same strutures in Battle Isles, and inside Grenths realm. While Battle isles ocurence can be explained as Mursaat were in that region too, there is hole with Realm ... maybe Mursaat wisited it and were inspired, but their known genuine architecture is wery different (but that can be explained as they got rid of this style in process of abandoing old gods) Or maybe realm just mirrors current world to some degree (we have other evidence for that).


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In essence, each in-game server is another parallel universe to our own server. The Rift connects all of these multiverses, and because they are so similar, the spirits of the Hall let powerful groups from each of these universes into the Hall to battle for their entertainment. It is not a matter of punishment, and it is not related to the Searing.





(i like that different servers can be considered paralel universes ... )

I think that this is lacking a bit. If it was matter of victory before searing, we could have seen lost favor sometimes, and since favor was present ovel all known paralel dimesions simultaneously, Searing definitelly changed something. Or Searing was fueled by that change (charr saw change comming and used imbalance in divine force to create searing ...)


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The god statues are all the same because at one time, the gods walked among the people of Tyria. Thus, the different cultures know what they looked like and were able to cast statues in their image very accurately. At that point in time, everyone coexisted, as it was before magic, and before humans had a strong standing. Thus, the cultures that built the temples were able to do so with remarkable similarity that shows the connection that the entire world had before the gift of magic.





Well, i agree that people knew gods apearance as they saw them personally, but still, all shrines are nearly identical, while other depictions of gods wary a lot from them (see ascalon drawing near Simon the Scribe.)


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The remaining Bloodstones could be anywhere. I think we will find out in Chapter 2.




We shall see|||This is just a personal hypothesis, consider it by no means official lore:

I don't think Lord Odrin was human. I have a feeling he might have been some other species, such as Mursaat, and may help to explain the Mursaat's current position.|||Unless it was through the tear in the fabric of reality created by Lord Odran that the Mursaat and Seers entered the world...|||Quote:








Unless it was through the tear in the fabric of reality created by Lord Odran that the Mursaat and Seers entered the world...




That's also a distinct possibility. I really hope we are able to find out more about Odrin in coming chapters.