Games PC GUILD WARS PROPHECIES User Manual

© 2005 ArenaNet, Inc. All rights reserved.
NC so f t, t h e i nt e rlo c k i ng N C l o g o ,
Arena Net, Guild Wars, and a ll associated
NCsoft and A renaNet logos a nd de signs
are trademarks or reg istered trademarks
of NC sof t C o r p or a ti on. Copy r i g h t ©
NCsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

All other trademarks are the property of

their respective owners.

6 The Nolani Academy

26 History of Tyria

33 The Mouvelian Calendar

36 The Human Kingdoms

36 The Kingdom of Ascalon
38 The Kingdom of Orr
41 The Kingdom of Kryta

46 The Old Gods

46 Dwayna
46 Balthazar
47 Grenth
47 Lyssa
48 Melandru

50 The Guild Wars Personalities

50 King Adelbern
51 Prince Rurik
52 King Jalis Ironhammer
53 Devona
54 Cynn
55 Aidan
56 Mhenlo

58 Enemy Armies

58 The Charr
59 The Stone Summit
61 The Undead

64 Regions and Landscapes

64 The Ruins of Ascalon
65 The Shiverpeak Mountains

66 Kryta
67 Maguuma Jungle
68 The Crystal Desert
69 The Ring of Fire Island Chain
70 The Underworld

74 Creatures of Tyria: an Introduction

74 Hostiles
74 Devourers
74 Gargoyles
75 Grawls
75 Elementals
75 Drakes
76 Tengu
76 Skales
76 Trolls
77 Other Creatures

80 A Hero’s Life

81 A Hero’s Career Path
82 The Six Professions
86 Warrior
88 Ranger
90 Monk
92 Elementalist
94 Mesmer
96 Necromancer
98 Customize Your Appearance

101 Playing Guild Wars

101 Explore Your World
105 In Town
107 Buy and Sell

112 Combat: Basic Training

112 Come Equipped
113 The Skill Bar
114 Your Hero’s Status
118 Fighting Creatures
118 Player vs. Player
119 Weapons and Armor

122 Skills

122 Skill Basics
124 An Insider’s Guide to Skills

132 Guilds
136 Missions and Quests

136 Missions
138 Quests
138 Don’t Go it Alone

140 Tournament Play

140 Common Factors
140 Other Factors
141 Tournament Battles

The following texts have only recently been unearthed
and reveal but the barest hint of what adventurers will
encounter in Tyria.

Book I: The Lore of Guild Wars contains a brief summary
of Tyrian history, along with an overview of the human
kingdoms and a few of humanity’s known enemies. These
manuscripts tell the story of the origins of magic, of the
Searing and the Cataclysm, and other key events that
brought our world to the state in which you find it today.

Book II: The Challenge i ntroduces adventu rers to the
basics of life as a hero in Tyria. Here you’ll learn about
the Guild Wars professions and their attributes and skills,
and how they work together to create a unique gameplay
experience for each hero you create.

These manuscripts are incomplete at best, but scribes
are busy compiling additional information, which will be
made available through other avenues. See the enclosed
Quick Reference card for more information.

evona stepped out of the swirling circle of light
into a small, roofless room and drew her sword.

She didn’t know exactly where she was, only that
it was somewhere in the ruins of Nolani. It didn’t matter.
Anywhere was better than being trapped inside the
Academy at Drascir with the Charr pounding down the
rotting wooden door.

Prince Rurik had been the first through the porta l.
He stood hu nched over something now on the other
side of the room. The F laming Scepter mage s t hey
had rescued crouched there as well. Just as they were
le av i ng Drasci r, the g roup h ad s t umbled upon t he
fabled horn Stormcaller. Devona had of course heard of
the legendary weapon, but until she had seen it with her
own eyes, she had assumed—as most people did—that
it was only a myth.

Erol, the first of the mages they had rescued from the
Charr, had seemed fairly certain the horn was the answer
to all of Ascalon’s problems. Devona wasn’t so sure, and
she was in good company: the prince had registered his
reservations as well. How could a horn hold the key to
restoring a ruined kingdom to its former glory? Well, no
matter what role the horn played in the kingdom’s future,
it didn’t hurt to have another weapon in the war against
the beasts from the north.

The portal behind Devona flared as Cynn, Aidan, and
Mhenlo stepped out.

“So this is what Nolani looks like now,” said Cynn,
materializing out of the swirling miasma. She kicked
at the reddish dirt with the toe of her boot, uncovering

6

Book I

part of the ornate marble flooring buried in rubble. “An
improvement, if you ask me.”

Aidan chuckled, nocking an arrow to his bow and

scanning the area. “Still hold prejudices, do we?”

“In the best of times, Nolani was a third-rate city,”
replied the Elementalist, still pushing the dirt around.
“Now it’s as good as any other place: just as ruined as the
next city.”

Mhenlo stepped around Cynn, letting his hand brush
across her hip as he did. “This building was a holy
place,” said the Monk. He crossed the small room and
approached a battered statue of Dwayna.

“It was an academy,” corrected Prince Rurik. “The sister
academy to the one we left in Drascir,” He had finished
examining the horn and now approached the group.

“Don’t venture too far,” Devona warned Mhenlo. “We
don’t yet know who inhabits this place.”

Mhenlo nodded as he bent down and picked up a broken
piece of marble carved in the shape of a feathered wing.
Lifting it from the ground, he tried to place it back on the
statue of the goddess. It fit where it was supposed to, but
it wouldn’t stay put.

Mhenlo held it in its place, admiring the temporarily

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

7

whole goddess. Then, after a moment, he respectfully
placed the wing on the ground at Dwayna’s feet.

“My friends, the Wall is not far. We can get to Rin within
the hour.” Prince Rurik turned and headed out of the
small room. “Come. We need to bring the horn to my
father, the king.”

Devona and the others followed the prince out to a
larger courtyard. It was much like the last academy.
Though the outside walls seemed to be mostly intact,
the roof was gone, and the windows smashed. A pair of
defensive magical obelisks sat perched atop the front
wall. Devona assumed they were erected during the Guild
Wars. Academies were among the most popular targets
for raiding guilds. Depriving a foreign nation of its most
promising young heroes was a good way to avoid having
to fight them when they were fully ready for battle.

The doors of the gate were still shut, but from this
vantage point Devona could see the silhouette of the

Great Norther n Wall through the academy’s r uined
façade. The arches on the upper level caught the morning
light as they rose proudly into the sky as if to say, “We will
never fall.”

“Home,” said the Warrior.

8

Book I

Aidan placed his hand on her shoulder. “We’l l be
there soon.”

Prince Rurik continued down a set of smashed stairs to
the base of the big wooden front gates. “Is there a switch
up there?” he called back.

The mage Erol was the first to reply. “Yes, my lord. It’s
up here, just on the rampart. I’ll get it.”

“Very good,” replied Rurik.

Devona, Cynn, Aidan, and Mhenlo headed down the
ramp to the prince, and the rescued mages followed.
Directly ahead of them, in the very place it landed after
smashing through the academy roof, lay the remnants of
a huge, jagged magical crystal. Devona had seen this sort
of debris all over Ascalon. There were several crystals
like this one still in the commons just south of the Wall.
The sight of them always sent a chill down the Warrior’s
spine. They reminded her of the Searing, of the carnage
that battle brought and the people who had died in it.

She shook her head, trying to clear the images so she
could focus on the task at hand.

It was still early morning, and in the shadow of the
front gate it was quite dark. Cynn ran her hand along the
metal frame of the gate. “Might as well have been made
of parchment,” she said.

Erol leaned over the rampart edge just above where the
group was standing. “I am ready, my prince.”

“As are we.” Rurik waved his hand.

Erol’s face disappeared from view, and the neglected
mechanisms that operated the gate began to move. The
decrepit metal and wood gave several loud creaks and
complaints, but the gates swung wide.

Before the academy, the scene was mostly what Devona

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

9

expected. Dust and bits of debris covered the ground.
Burnt trunks reached toward the sky like so many skeletal
fingers, the haunting remnants of what was once a lush,
tree-lined garden.

But as the gates swung fully open, Devona was granted
another view.

“Charr warband,” shouted Mhenlo. “Close the gates!”

The plaza before the academy was crawling with
Charr—furry upright beasts with huge fangs and even
bigger claws. In the center of their camp, built out of
tree limbs and straw, sat a towering, three-legged, flaming
effigy—a tribute to their fiery gods.

When the gate opened, every one of the furry beasts
stopped what they were doing and charged the now­exposed academy.

Cynn was closest to the gate. Closing her eyes and
crossing her arms, she rose into the air, incanting the
words to a spell.

The Charr were fast, and they reached the open gate
in a flash. Devona broke into a run, sprinting to shield
the Elementalist from the bestial onslaught. Bringing her
sword up in a powerful arc, the Warrior caught the first
Charr Axe Fiend in the breastplate, knocking it backward
and leaving a huge gash in its chest.

10

Book I

Devona stepped in front of Cynn and into the gap left
by the falling Charr, reversing her blade and slashing the
other way. She struck steel, connecting with another Charr
blade meant for her head. She cried out as she bashed
the attack aside. Running the length of her sword up the
Charr’s axe, she thrust the tip of her Rin Blade between
the seams of the creature’s armor, puncturing fur and
flesh and jabbing through to where—at least on a human—
there should be a lung. The beast howled and squirmed as
it struggled to free itself from Devona’s sword.

Another Axe Fiend charged into view, coming up behind
Devona. The Warrior struggled to pull her blade free
of her victim, but the creature convulsed and slumped
toward the wound, closing its flesh down tight around the
stuck weapon. The new attacker raised its axe, and Devona
spun away, leaving only one hand on her Rin Blade.

Despite her quick move, the creature’s axe came down
on her arm. Devona hissed and braced for the impact.
Her skin flushed with the blue-white glow of divine magic,
and the Charr’s weapon seemed to bounce off her flesh.

“Nice catch, Mhenlo,” said Devona through gritted
teeth.

A pair of arrows whizzed past Devona’s ear, catching
the Axe Fiend in the shou lder, knocking it back and
pinning the furious creature to the wooden beam of the
open gate.

Clea r of immediate threats, Devona lifted her boot
and placed it on t he wounded Charr still attached to
her blade.

“Get . . . off,” she shouted as she kicked with all of
her might. Her Rin Blade came free with a sickening rip,
and she whipped it to one side, clearing the steel of the
Charr’s black blood.

At that moment, Cynn lifted her head and extended her

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

11

Book I

arms, shouting the last word of her spell. The sky above
lit up, and huge cones of sputtering flame rained down all
around. Those Charr within a few steps of the gate were
pummeled with magical balls of fire. Their fur caught
quickly, and their flesh began to bubble. The beasts let
out nerve-rattling squeals, and many fell dead where
they stood.

Those who hadn’t been caught i n the f la ming ra in
stopped in their tracks, waiting for t he conflagration
to subside.

The gates began to close again, pushing the bodies of
dead Charr out of the academy entrance as they did.

“Devona, get back!” shouted Mhenlo.

The Warrior retreated to within the relative safety of
the closing gates just as Cynn’s spell subsided. When the
flames stopped falling, the Charr rushed the door again.

Most of them were caught outside, left to pummel their
weapons against the heavy wooden door. But one made
the dash, squeezing through the gate just before it closed.

The beast eyed each of the Ascalons, grunted once, then
turned toward a Flaming Scepter mage. With a bounding
leap, it jumped on the weak, unarmored man.

The mage screamed as the Charr dug into his flesh.

“No!” Devona closed on the beast, slashing down on
it from behind. Her blade hit the creature in the neck,
severing the monster’s head from its shoulders with just a
single blow, and it slumped to the ground.

Mhenlo rushed to push the creature’s carcass from on
top of the mage’s body. The man was barely conscious.
He had been badly mauled by the Charr. His face was
slashed, and he coughed blood. Dropping to his knees
beside the man, the Monk laid his hands on the mage’s
wounds. With a quick word, a flood of blue-white energy
crossed over from the Monk to the wounded man.

From outside, the sounds of Charr at the gate echoed
into the desolate courtyard.

“Great,” said Cynn, “we went from being trapped inside
one academy to being trapped inside another.”

“At least this one has thicker walls,” said Aidan.

“There is another passage—” Prince Rurik pointed to
the east, in the same direction as the huge magical crystal
in the middle of the academy “—that leads out and
around to the Wall.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” said Cynn, starting off
to the east. “Let’s get that little bugle of yours to the king
and be done with this.”

Mhen l o looked up fro m his ministra t ions to the
wounded mage. “Cynn, please. You aren’t helping.”

“I don’t think it is wise to take the mages outside of the
academy unless we are sure the way is clear,” interjected

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

13

Aidan. “They are weak from their long imprisonment
and are ill-prepared to fight. Outside the gate we cannot
guarantee their safety. At least here they are not in
immediate danger.”

“Agreed,” said Prince Rurik. “What do you propose,
Aidan?”

The Ranger leaned on his bow. “Let us four venture out
and ambush the Charr from behind,” he said indicating
Cynn, Devona, Mhenlo and himself with a wave of his
hand. “Once we’ve cleared the beasts from the gate, then
we can take the mages home.”

Prince Rurik’s face grew grim. “What you propose is
ver y risky. It’s not something I would ask of you.” He
looked down at the wounded mage then around at each
of the other Ascalons with him. He nodded. “But if you
think you can succeed, then I give you my blessing.”

“’Bout time,” said Cynn. “Come on, let’s go.”

Devona made eye contact with Aidan. She shook her
head in disgust, but the Ranger just smiled and chuckled.
The Elementalist’s antics always seemed to amuse him as
much as they irritated Devona.

Mhenlo finished tending to the fallen Flaming Scepter
mage then stood and joined the group as they marched
up and out the back passage to the academy.

“We will man the defensive obelisks while you are away,”
the prince shouted after them as he helped the downed
mage get back to his feet. “We will watch for you. Once
the way is clear, we will open the gates and join you in the
trek back to the Wall.” He stood up straight and, in his
best military style, Prince Rurik, the heir to the throne of
Ascalon, saluted the Warrior, the Monk, the Elementalist,
and the Ranger.

14

Book I

s the prince had said, a door in the eastern
corner led out of the academy. Unlike the one at
the front, this one was already open.

“Guess this place isn’t as safe as you thought,” quipped
Cynn.

“Then we should move swiftly, to make sure no harm
comes to the good prince,” replied Aidan. “Without us,
he has little help if the Charr get in.”

Devona led the way through the door and up a winding,
rocky path out the back of the academy to the northeast.

Several hundred yards up the path, Aidan grabbed
Devona by the shoulder and stopped her, placing a finger
to his lips. “Shhh.” With a nod and a flick of his eyes, he
indicated the hanging rocks overhead.

Devona craned her neck, listening. She could just
make out a slight sound . . . a scraping, like someone
dragging something.

She looked at Aidan. “Charr?” she whispered.

Aid an shook hi s head . “Dev ourers.” The Ranger
dropped to his knee and laid a pile of arrows out on the
ground. Pulling a small vial from a pouch at his belt, he
poured a few drops of a viscous green liquid on their tips,
then he nocked one to his bow and, returning the others
to his quiver, headed up the path.

The others fell into step behind him. Cresting the rise,
Devona could see the double stinger tail, hooked claws,
and thick carapace of a Plague Devourer.

“Only one,” said Cynn. “Walk in the park.”

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

15

Aidan sighted down the shaft of his poisoned arrow and
let it fly. It struck the creature, puncturing its chitinous
hide with a crunching pop. Though it was on target, the
arrow didn’t kill the beast, and it turned toward the group,
its tails waving in the air.

Devona raised her sword over her head and charged
in . A s sh e ca me, the gr ou n d a rou nd t he Pl a g ue
Devourer began to shift and move. Small rocks tumbled
away, and a pair of Carrion Devourers emerged from
the baked earth.

“That’s more like it,” shouted Cynn.

That brought a smile to Devona’s lips, and she gripped
her sword tighter, advancing on the newly arrived vermin
and swinging her blade downward onto one creature’s
head. The Carrion Devourer staggered backward under
the blow.

The Plague Devourer’s tails stopped waving, and it
pointed them at the Warrior, casting something on her
just before it fell dead from Aidan’s poisoned arrow.

Devona’s knees grew weak, and her legs struggled
to keep her upright. Her sword grew heavy in h er
hands, and as she swung at the creature
again, her Rin Blade rebounded
off th e cr e at ure ’s s h el l,
hardly making a dent. The
Plague Devourer’s hex
ha d sap pe d he r
strength.

16

Book I

The Carrion Devourers closed on the Warrior, battering
her from both sides. Devona’s armor took some of the
impact, but the creatures’ mighty pinchers slashed her
across the forearm and down one leg. Devona pushed
herself to move more quickly, tr ying to parry the attacks
of both creatures despite the hex that weakened her.

She wasn’t fast enough. A pincher raked across Devona’s
shoulder, puncturing her armor and dropping her to her
knees. Something hit her hard in the chest, knocking her
to the ground.

Devona opened her eyes. A devourer sat perched atop
her, its beady eyes peering down. The creature’s mass
flattened her lungs, and breathing was almost impossible.

Great, she thought, squashed by a bug. Not the most
heroic way to go.

Devo n a’s vi sion cloud e d, an d her ears rang as
consciousness began to slip away. The sound of Cynn’s
voice came to her distantly; the Elementalist spoke the
words of an incantation Devona recognized, and a surge
of adrenaline brought her fully back to consciousness.
The ground around her lit up with flames. Spreading
out in a wave, the magical fire washed over the downed
Warrior, roasting the two devourers inside their shells,
turning them into crispy little curled up balls.

Devona shoved the dead devourer off of her then
slumped back against the ground. She looked up at the
Elementalist. “Well done.”

Cynn shrugged. “Naturally.”

“May the goddess Dwayna protect you,” said Mhenlo.

Devona could feel her strength returning as the Monk
lifted the Plague Devourer’s hex.

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

17

Book I

“When you are ready,” said Aidan, watching the path,
“we should move on. We’re not far from the front of
the academy.”

Devona took a few deep breaths as she regained all that
she had lost, then got to her feet and again headed down
the path.

The group traveled for some time, until Devona heard
what she thought was the sound of a crackling fire.

“Must be their effigy,” she said.

Aidan nodded his agreement.

The ground was torn and shifted here. Near the edge
of the path the ear th
fell away, dropping
dow n be lo w wh ere
Devona could easily
see. Moving closer to
the edge, the Warrior
climbed up on a large
boulder and peered
over. The other three
followed suit.

18

In the valley below them stood the plaza and the flaming
effigy they had seen in the middle of the Charr camp.
The beasts were attacking the academy, shooting arrows
over the wall and smashing their weapons against the
wooden gate.

Devona could just make out the Flaming Scepter mages
up on the wall, powering the defensive obelisks. Jags of
lightning shot down from the wall, catching the nearest
Charr and turning it into a burnt, smoldering pile. From
the looks of things, others too had fallen prey to the
magical defenses. Their dead bodies lay on the ground at
the base of the wall, fur standing straight up.

As they watched, a large, mean-looking Charr barked
something in their guttural language. A group of six
Charr lifted the trunk of a fallen tree from the ground
and proceeded to charge the gate with it.

“That must be their leader,” said Aidan, pointing to the
order-barking Charr.

“Then that’s the one we should take out first,” said
Cynn, standing up from her hiding place.

“Cynn, wait,” said Mhenlo.

But it was too late.

The Elementalist shouted and threw her hands out
before her. A fireball launched from the tips of her
fingers, arcing out and smashing into the big Charr.

The Charr leader looked up at the ridge, then pointed.
A volley of flaming arrows followed.

“Now you’ve done it,” said Aidan. Standing up, he
launched two arrows into the midst of the group, then
dropped back into a crouch.

The Charr’s volley went soaring over. Devona could hear
the flames flicker as they passed by her head.

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

19

Book I

20

A large crash sounded from below, and everyone lifted
their heads to see. The Charr were using the tree trunk as
a battering ram.

“That gate won’t last long,” said Aidan.

Devona stood up and backed away from the edge.
“Then we’d best get down there.”

As one, the four heroes dashed down the path into the
middle of the Charr camp.

“Attack the Axe Fiend!” shouted Devona, and she
charged in, ahead of the others.

“That which is taken shall be returned. That which hath
been broken shall be mended. That which hath displeased
me shall be struck down at the hands of mine army.”
Mhenlo’s words grew softer as the Warrior ran, but the
effects of his magic were far reaching, and she could feel
her body tingle with divine power.

The first of Cynn’s fire spells impacted the creature’s
chest a step before Devona slashed the beast across
its arm.

The Charr let out a howl then raked its axe across the
Warrior’s face, cutting a deep wound into her flesh. But

as quickly as the wound was made, her skin knitted

itself together again.

“ G o t t a l o v e t h e
Monk,” she gr unted,
raising her sword up
ov e r he r he a d an d
b r i ng i ng i t d o wn
with the force of her
entire body. Her Rin
Blade cut deep, and
the creature spouted
blood.

A pair of fier y ar rows smashed into the Axe Fiend’s

face, and he went down.

“Who’s ne x t ? ” sho u t ed De v o na, her adren a l ine

pumping.

Arrows rained down on her as a pair of Charr Stalkers
perched on a small hill ahead answered her inquiry. One
glanced off the chainmail protecting her belly. Another
clanged off her armored shin.

In three huge steps the Warrior closed on the two Charr
Stalkers. Spinning as she neared them, Devona gained
momentum, then slashed at the closest. Her sword cut
through the Charr’s bow and dug into the beast’s gullet.
The creature’s insides spilled out, and it dropped to the
ground, writhing and howling in pain.

The second Charr Stalker nocked an arrow to its bow
and let it fly. At this close range, the head of the arrow
punched through Devona’s armor, cutting into the front
of her leg and exiting out the back. Devona shrieked in
pain and frustration, limping on the freshly wounded
limb. Turning her blade around, she shoved the tip into
the creature’s face, lodging it in its mouth. Holding the
hilt with both hands, she drove the sharpened point
straight up into the Charr’s skull and out the back of
his head.

Yanking her weapon back, she let the Charr’s lifeless
corpse fall to the ground beside his companion.

“The gate!” Mhenlo shouted. “They’ve breached the
gate!”

Devona looked up. The academy gate was smashed in,
and the Charr warband leader was climbing over it.

“To the prince!” she shouted, and took off toward the
gate with the others close behind.

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

21

Running with all of her might, Devona drove herself
into a frenzy. Her Rin Blade danced left and right. Where
a Charr stepped in front of her, it fell. They came at her
from all sides, and she took wound after wound, but each
time, Mhenlo was there to patch her up.

Arrows flew and fire rained down. The group of four
took on three times their number in Charr. They fought
like cornered lynxes, the hope of their nation hanging in
the balance.

As Devona neared the gate she could hear the roar of a
Charr mixed with the shouts of the prince.

“You are a pox on Ascalon,” yelled Rurik. “And I am
the cure.”

Flashes of light issued over the walls. Spells went off
every few seconds, lighting up the ruined plaza with an
eerie magical glow.

Cutting down the last Charr in her way, Devona leaped
through the smashed gate and hur ried up into the
courtyard.

On the academy wall, Prince Rurik stood bravely in
front of Erol and the other mages. His flaming sword
held the Charr leader at bay, but as a group the prince
and the Flaming Scepter mages were retreating and
running out of room fast.

The fight to the gate had taken a lot out of Devona, but
she pressed on, climbing up the ruined steps in pursuit
of the Charr warband leader. Right behind her, Devona
could hear the others climbing through the gate.

Four on one, she thought. I like those odds.

An arrow hit the big Charr in the back of the leg,
causing the warband leader to turn around.

“You lookin’ for me, fuzzy?” shouted Devona, coming
up behind the creature.

22

Book I

Aidan’s well-placed shot had hobbled the beast. It tried
to follow the prince and the mages as they dashed along
the wall, but its movement was slowed, and Devona moved
in closer. The Charr growled at her as she stalked around
it, staying just outside its reach.

“Hey,” shouted Cynn, “catch.”

A huge ball of fire slammed into the Charr’s side. The
resulting splash of magic consumed the creature, and
Devona shielded her eyes from the blinding flash.

The creature came stumbling out of the blast, its furry
hide ablaze. That ought to do it, she thought. But instead
of burning to a crisp, the warband leader seemed to draw
strength from the flames. It looked like some sort of
demon, flaming and cackling as it came on. It raised its
huge axe in the air, bringing it down on the Warrior with
both hands.

Devona set her feet and stood her ground. As the
flaming Charr advanced, the Warrior raised her blade and
lunged forward, shouting “For Ascalon!”

Their blades passed in midair. The creature’s axe
cleaved into her armor. The Warrior’s sword caught the
growling beast just below the neck. The tip slipped past
its crude metal chest plate and into soft flesh.

Devona lost her grip on her Rin Blade as she staggered
back, her shoulder wounded heavily from the beast’s
pounding.

The Charr warband leader dropped its axe, clawing at
its throat. It let out a strangled cry—a hoarse gurgling like
the last breath of a drowning dog. Another arrow struck
the beast, and it lost its balance. Falling to one side, it
caught itself on the edge of the academy wall.

The creature struggled for a moment longer as the
flames slowly went out. Then, its chest heaved once,

Nolani Academy of the Arcane Arts

23

and its body went slack. The Charr’s huge head flopped
backward, causing it to topple over, twisting as it fell over
the edge of the academy into the ruined plaza below.

Cynn was the first to reach Devona’s side.

“You all right?”

Devona smiled. “Yeah, nothing a little of Mhenlo’s
divinity can’t fix.”

The two women walked down the battered stairs to the
courtyard where the prince and the mages stood talking
to the Ranger and the Monk.

“The way is clear, my lord,” said Aidan, bowing before
the prince.

Rurik grabbed the Ranger by the shoulder and lifted
him to his feet. “Come, my friends,” he said, strapping
the legendary horn Stormcaller to his back. “We are
almost home.”

As a group, they headed out of the Nolani Academy
toward the Great Northern Wall.

24

Book I

Book I: Chapter 1

26

t was almost three thousand years ago that a race
of serpents stepped out of the Rift onto the soil

of Tyria. Unlike ordinary serpents, these moved
upright, used language, and adhered to an elaborate
culture. They had been summoned by the old gods,
brought to this world to be the custodians. Their task:
shepherd the other creatures of the land through this
time of transition, while the gods continued to create the
world around them.

From the Tarnished Coast in the west to the Bay of Sirens
(now called the Sea of Sorrows) in the south, from the
far eastern reaches of the Crystal Desert to the Giants’
Basin on the northern coast of Kryta, Tyria flourished
under the protection of these mystical creatures. The
serpents were the protectors of the land, the keepers of
knowledge, the teachers of all things, and during their
time the world was in balance.

But then a new race of creatures was birthed upon the

History of Tyria

27

world. They were neither serpent nor beast. They were
neither plant nor stone. These creatures had no chitinous
hide to protect themselves. They had no claws to tear
flesh. They arrived naked a nd defenseless, except for
one thing: their desire for control.

This ne w race of creatures w a s none other than us
huma ns, and in no t ime we began to take over. Cities
bloomed across the continent. Walls were erected, and
weapons forged. Those things that we humans lacked,
we simply built. We didn’t need tough hides nor rending
claws when we could make metal armor and sharpened
spears. We discovered fire, wrote books of our own,
pa s sed k nowledge to one a nother t hrough song and
verse. Soon humans had everything we required, and it
was then that we began to prey upon the other creatures.
We hunted animals for sport, chased the druids from
the jungle, and took up residence in lands that did not
belong to us. We became the masters of this world. We
took all of the privilege and none of the responsibility.

In less than a centur y, the serpents who had protected

and nurtured Tyria were no longer needed. The balance

Book I: Chapter 1

28

they had achieved had been undone, and there was no
way to bring it back. Seeing that the world had changed,
and preferring not to fight a war over control of the
continent, the serpents retreated from the world of men.
They left the coasts and the jungles. They abandoned
their settlements in the highlands and in the mountains.
Leaving the newcomers be, the serpents went to live in
the only place where we humans did not—or could not:
the Crystal Desert.

The serpents never returned to the world of men, and
slowly, their influence faded. To humans, they were just a
part of the past, spoken about only in legends and myths.
Eventually their memory all but passed from human
consciousness. But they were not gone, only forgotten.

Despite the serpents’ retreat, the gods never halted their
work creating the world, and with the benevolence of
indulgent parents, they decided to create magic. It was to
be a gift to all the intelligent creatures—meant to ease a
life of toil and make survival a less arduous task. When
they had finished creating their gift, they presented it to
the humans and the Charr, the Tengu and the dwarves,
the minotaurs and the imps, and all the races of the land.

But the gods had not counted upon one thing—greed.

Wars broke out immediately as the magical races fought
for dominance. So much destruction was wrought that
humans found themselves at the edge of extinction. When
all seemed lost, it was King Doric, the leader of the united
human tribes himself, who made the long trek to Arah,
the city of the gods, on the Orrian peninsula. He gained
an audience with the creators and begged them to help,
to stop the wars and bring peace to the land once again.

The gods heard his pleas, and they intervened.

The forging of the world was complete. As their final act,
the gods gathered back their gift of magic from all the
races and trapped it inside a tall stone. They smashed the
stone into five parts—four equal but opposing stones of
magic, and one keystone. Without the keystone, the other
four couldn’t be reassembled.

History of Tyria

29

Each of the first four stones was the embodiment of
a specific school of magic: preservation, destruction,
aggression, and denial. Magic would still exist in the
wo rld, but the de vastati ng powe r of all fou r types
together would never again be at the command of one
single creature. Those who accepted the gift would have
to cooperate if they intended to use it to its fullest.

Book I: Chapter 1

The gods told King Doric that since he had asked for
peace, he and his descendants must car r y the burden
of protecting the stones. As an additional precaution,
they used a drop of King Doric’s blood to seal each of
the stones.

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.

Thi ngs were good fo r a tim e. No one ra ce gained
dominance over any other, and the world was once again
at peace.

Over the next hundred years, the human kingdoms
prospered. Powerful groups grew up within each nation.
These were known as guilds. It was these groups, these
guilds, that held the real power in Tyria. Though there
were kings and organizations that made the laws and
regulated the land, it was the guilds that enforced these
laws—or didn’t—as they saw fit. As these guilds grew,
their influence began to overlap.

As is ever the case with peace, it once again came to an
end when the volcano er upted, spitting out the five
stones and scattering them across Tyria. The magic
they embodied seeped out into the lands around them.
Though the Bloodstones, as they are called, have never
been reunited, the power that they possess was enough to
re-ignite the desire for power in the hearts of men.

History of Tyria

The struggle for power commenced, and again war broke
out. This time, though, the humans were not united. The
guilds of the three most-influential kingdoms on the
continent battled each other for supremacy. The kings
of Ascalon, Kryta, and Orr were not powerful enough to
stop the conflict, for the armies of the guilds were even
more powerful than those of their own home nations.

The Guild Wars raged for decades, fueled by the
desire for power and the influence of the Bloodstones.
Never did the peace accords last long. Never did the
negotiations take root. The conflict claimed the lives of
many hundreds of thousands. It uprooted families, made
neighbors into enemies, and soured the relations between
the human nations—perhaps irrevocably.

Though the battles continued, each with a winner and
loser, no one nation ever gained enough power to fully
dominate the other two. Slowly, over the course of years,
the wealth of each nation diminished. Their people grew
wear y, and their armies grew weaker as the constant
fighting took its toll.

Eventually, as all things do, the wars did come to an end.
But it was not the words of the silver-tongued peace
negotiators or even the rough hand of a conquering hero
that ended the Guild Wars. The resolution was instead
brought about by an even greater war—a war brought by
the Charr. In unprecedented numbers, the beasts from
the north swept down through all three human kingdoms.
Ascalon, Orr, and Kryta, embroiled in conflict with one
another for more than fifty years, dropped their grudges
and turned their attentions to defending their borders
against the new threat.

Each kingdom dealt with the invasion in a different way.
Ascalon stood their ground, having no place else to turn.
Though their forces were depleted, they managed to
rally behind the Great Northern Wall. But their defense
was short lived. In a magical battle that would eventually
be looked upon as the turning point for Ascalon (now
referred to as the Searing), the Charr brought down

Book I: Chapter 1

fire and brimstone, destroying ever ything on the open
plain for hundreds of miles. Their magic scorched
the ground and the human cities as they swept through
the Wall and moved on to Orr. The sur viving humans
of Ascalon have since retaken the wall and have held
it against periodic attacks, but there is little left of this
once-prosperous empire.

Orr was another stor y. To stop the invading army, the
King of Orr’s personal advisor and sage turned to the
powers of dark magic. Venturing into the vaults far below
the marble streets of Arah, he unrolled a forbidden scroll
and read the words he found printed there. The resulting
explosion sank the entire peninsula and sent enough
dirt into the air to blot out the sun for a hundred days.
Though the Charr never reached the hallowed streets of
Arah, nearly every citizen of Orr was killed that day.

Unable to keep the Charr out, and lacking magic powerful
enough to push them back, Kryta turned to a man named
Saul D’Alessio and his promises of unseen gods coming
to aid in the war. Whether it was luck or truly the invisible
hands of some new gods, Kryta managed to push back the
Charr invasion, banishing the northern beasts back from
whence they came.

History of Tyria

The dust from this conflict is beginning to settle. Perhaps
in this next age we will glean knowledge from our past
mistakes. Perhaps we have learned when it is time to put
away our hatred and simply work together. Or perhaps we
will do what all nations in the history of the world have
done—look blindly away from our past, and proceed to
unleash a new and more terrible plague upon our land.

Let us hope this is not the case. Let us hope that we
have learned our lesson.

Excerpt from The History of Tyria, Volume 1

— Thadeus Lamount, Historian

The Mouvelian calendar (named after Grand Patriarch
Mouvel, the first high priest of the Church of Dwayna)
begins counting years from the moment the gods left
Tyria. This event is known as the Exodus. Years before
this date are labeled BE (Before the Exodus). Years after
this date are AE (After the Exodus). Years prior to the
year 1 AE count down, getting smaller as they get closer
to the time of the Exodus (just as they do in the Gregorian
calendar).

There are 4 seasons and 360 days in the Mouvelian year:

Season Alignment Days

Season of the Zephyr Air 1-90

Season of the Phoenix Flame 91-180

Season of the Scion Water 181-270

Season of the Colossus Earth 271-36 0

Book I: Chapter 1

Timeline

The calendar starts at year 1 AE, the first year after the Exodus.

1072 AE Present day

1071 AE Bay of Sirens is renamed Sea of Sorrows

1070 AE Guild Wars end

1070 AE Charr invade human kingdoms

1013 AE Guild Wars begin

898 AE Great Northern Wall is erected

851 AE Lord Odran enters the Rift

358 AE Kryta becomes an independent nation

300 AE Kryta becomes a colony

221 AE Cantha begins trading with Tyria

174 AE Serpents leave the world of men

2 AE Orr becomes an independent nation

1 BE Gods give magic to races of Tyria

100 BE

205 BE Humans appear on Tyrian continent

1769 BE Serpents arrive in Tyria

10,000 BE

High-planes human set tlements
become known as Ascalon

Last sign of Giganticus Lupicus (the great giants)
walking on Tyrian continent (best guess)

35

Book I: Chapter

Once, Ascalon was a beautiful, fertile land of rolling
green countryside and magnificent cities. Her people
were viewed as a bit grim by their neighbors, but this
was perhaps to be expected, given their never-ending
wa r against the Cha r r. I ndeed, it wa s their unfailing
vigilance, their Great Northern Wall, and the blood they
shed each year to defend it that had protected not only
Ascalon, but also Kryta and Orr through the ages.

Then came the invasion, and with it, the Searing.

Anyone alive today will remember the day the lands of
Ascalon were blasted and torn with mag ic fire. Whole
cities and guilds were destroyed in the Searing, and the
might of Ascalon was shattered. Now the Great Northern
Wall lies broken, and the Charr have overrun much of
the kingdom, defiling it with their unholy shrines, killing
those who stand in their way.

The survival of Ascalon hinges on but a single remaining
corner of the fallen kingdom—the capital city of Rin.
In the final years of the last Guild War, the people of
Rin looked to a soldier named Adelbern, a simple man

The Human Kingdoms

of humble orig i n s, who ra llied t he p eople w it h his
courage and cunning and steeled them not only against
the guilds of Orr and Kryta but also against the terrors
of the Charr.

The sudden destruction of most of the kingdom during
the Searing has taken much of the fight out of the man now
known as King Adelbern. He has become stubborn and set
in his ways, afraid of losing what little he has left. But in
his son Rurik, the people see a leader with the courage to
perhaps help them reclaim their fallen kingdom.

The sur v ivors of A scalon live in a st ate of con sta nt
warfare, using hit-and-run tactics and the remnants of
the Great Wall to prevent any significant advances by
the Charr into their territory. King Adelbern has circled
the wagons, so to speak, content to simply defend what
Ascalon has left a nd live to fight another day. Prince
Rurik, on the other hand, is far more da ring t han his
father thinks is wise, and has even suggested that the
time may be coming to l aunch an offensive a g a inst
the Charr.

Book I: Chapter

Already the rumbling of the winds of change can be heard
in the streets. People are frightened. They wonder what
will become of them. Some even wonder aloud if Adelbern
has lost what it takes to steer Ascalon back from the brink.
They wish to see the prince step up and take command of
the kingdom. Perhaps under his guidance, the people of
Ascalon will live on to see another golden age.

Situated on a peninsula south of Ascalon and west of the
Crystal Desert, Orr was a vibrant, proud, and prosperous
nation. Its citizens were the favored of the gods, living
in the shadows of Arah, the deserted city once inhabited
by t h e likes of M e l a ndr u, D w a yna, and Balthazar.
Deeply spiritual, the Orrians looked after the buildings
and structures left behind when the gods left Tyria,
caring for them in the hopes that one day, the divine
beings who created magic and bestowed it upon the world
would return.

The Orrians were a peaceful people, hoping only to do
their duty toward their gods and content to be rewarded
in either this life or the next. When the g uilds bega n
feuding, Orr as a nation tried to stay out of the conflict.
This was not the sort of struggle that entire kingdoms got
involved in. But when the strife overflowed into armed
conflict, and guilds from the other human nations began
fighting in the streets of Arah, Orr rose to defend itself
and the city of the gods.

Soon after Orr mobilized its armies, Kryta and Ascalon
did as well, and what had started as a dispute between
localized groups became an all-out war. The Guild Wars
raged for nearly fift y years. During that time, none of
the three human empires was able to assert dominance
over either of the other two. While Ascalon, Orr, and

The Human Kingdoms

Kryta were busy fighting with each other, they became
blind to the threat from the nor t h —the Charr. The
northern beasts swept in, taking Ascalon in a spectacular
magical battle.

At first, Orr was saved from much of the fighting. The
guilds with allegiances to Ascalon and K ryta withdrew,
heading back to defend t heir homes. Orr regrouped,
granted a moment to prepare simply because they were

Book I: Chapter

40

farther south. The Charr had to make their way through
Ascalon before they could reach the gates of Arah. But
eventually Ascalon fell, and the Charr arrived in Orr.

Hopes were high that t he Char r would be defeated
quickly. The Orrian army was the equal of any in Tyria,
and the invaders had already fought a long battle against
the Ascalons. But those hopes were dashed in less than
twelve hours.

The invaders reached the gates of Arah without breaking
stride. The Orrians failed to protect their charge. With
defeat at the doorstep and the kingdom nearly in ruins,
one man turned to a forbidden magic. The king’s own
personal advisor i n the matters of t he arcane took it
upon himself to destroy the invaders, no matter the cost.
Unrolling one of the Lost Scrolls, kept inside a warded
vault deep within the catacombs below Arah, he spoke
the words of a litany that spelled the end of the Kingdom
of Orr forever.

There are few who survived that day, now known as the
Cataclysm. While the Charr were never allowed to step
foot in Arah, few count what the king’s advisor did on
that day as a victory. The resulting explosion
felled the invading army where it stood, but
so too did it sink the entire peninsula,
leavi n g on l y a scatter ing of sm a ll
islands in its place. The beautiful city
of Arah was consumed. What ’s left
above water now lies in a pile of ruins,
blackened by the Cataclysm and years
of ne g l ec t . Al l that r e m a ins i n t he
wreckage of Orr a re t he wandering
dead—those souls unable to rest in
the shadow of this great disaster.

The Human Kingdoms

T h e r e are t w o t y p e s
of h u m a n s i n K r yt a :
tho se who wor ship the
mysterious Unseen Ones
and those who d o not.
The wor s h ippers have
bec o me kn own a s t h e
White Mantle because of
the long white sleeveless
robes many of them wear.

It is t he res p on s ib i lity
of the Wh ite Mantle to
oversee the other humans
and i mpose upon them
the rules and laws of the
Unseen Ones. Those i nside t he orga nization receive
special privileges (more food, better clothing, access
to books) simply for abiding by the rules of the Unseen
Ones and carrying out the orders handed down by the
White Mantle h igh priest. To the K r ytans t he White
Mantle are the root of law and order, the protectors or
saviors, if you will, of their lands.

The White Mantle maintain a series of temples all over
the continent. Members of this organization frequently,
though not always, choose to reside in these temples to
better perform their duties to the Mantle and to more
effectively worship the Unseen Ones.

Since the end of the last Guild War and the repelling of
the Charr invasion, the W hite Mantle have maintained
a high level of militar y preparedness. They don’t ever
want to be caught off gua rd agai n , and they often
keep la rge stores of weapons inside their temples to

Book I: Chapter

42

use in case of emergency. It’s also not uncommon for
followers of the Mantle philosophy to be highly trained
warriors. Fighting skills will come in handy if the day
comes when they will need to once again defend Kryta
from invasion.

Saul D’Alessio—Founder of the White Mantle

Saul D’Alessio was a fallen man. A gambler and a drunk,
Saul reached the lowest point in his life when he lost
a bet he could not repay. At the time, the local betting
house w a s ru n by t he Luc k y Hor seshoe, a g a mbling
guild whose influence spanned almost the entire length
of the continent. To avoid defaulting on his pay ment,
Saul took to robbing merchants traveling on the road
from Beetletun to Shaemoor. Though he successfully
paid his debt to the Lucky Horseshoe, he was eventually
fingered by one of his victims and tried as a thief. His
punishment was exile from the Kingdom of Kryta. The
local authorities blindfolded him and rode him out three
full weeks before leaving him to fend for himself.

Alone, broke, and lost, Saul wandered through a dense
forest for severa l days, su r viving on on ly roots and
berries. On the fourth day, delirious with hunger, Saul
emerged from the trees to see what he t hought was a
hallucination— a city of ma ssive towers reaching into
the heavens. The architecture was astounding, and the
creatures who lived here were u nlike any he had ever
seen. Walking down into their city, Saul got a closer look
at the denizens of this place. They were tall and thin
with with strange wing-like appendages that waved about
in the sl ightest breeze. When they walked, their feet
seemed not to touch the ground, and when they spoke, it
was the most melodious sound he had ever heard. Surely
these creatures were the stuff of divinity. Hungry and
exhausted, his clothes ragged and dirty, Saul dropped

The Human Kingdoms

to his knees and touched his forehead to the g round.
He had found his gods, and they in turn had found their
most devoted disciple.

Saul D’Alessio returned to K r yta a changed man. His
rags had been replaced with a sleeveless, pure-white
robe embroidered with golden thread. His once sunken,
sic kly fe at u res were agai n full a nd hea lthy. He no
longer craved the bott le, no longer wished to strike it
rich gambling. His life had purpose. He had returned
to spread the word, to deliver his finding to the humans
of Kryta.

During this time, the Kr ytan Empire was in the midst
of two wars—one against the guilds of the other human
nations, and another against the beastlike Charr. Food
was becoming scarce as the invaders burned the crops and
salted the fields. It was then that Saul came to the people,
offering help from his powerful, enigmatic gods.

Saul’s new faith was so powerful that soon he had a small
following. As a group, they traveled the land, recruiting
more and more, offering salvation from trying times.
Though no one ever saw the winged gods or their cities
of massive towers, they took Saul at his word that they
did t r uly exist. Sau l w a s a shepherd, a nd his sheep
fo l lowe d his e v e r y st e p. T h ose who sho w e d rea l
conviction were given white robes, each embroidered with
golden thread.

This was the beginning of the White Mantle.

Beaten, outnumbered, leaderless, and facing almost
certain death, t he people of Kryta looked to Saul to
lead them out of their darkest hour. Saul D’Alessio was
tra n sformed from a mes senger into the general of a
great army. Wit h their new faith and their new leader,
Kryta and the W hite Mantle managed to push out the
Charr, forcing them back over the mountains.

Book I: Chapter Book I: Chapter Book I: Chapter

444444

Though his efforts were successful, Saul eventually lost
his life fighting the war that freed the humans of Kryta.
In the last offensive of the war against the Charr, Saul
led his troops deep into Charr territory. His network
of spies, though nor mally quite effective, failed h im
on this day. The Charr were waiting in ambush, and the
beast ly creatures slaughtered Saul’s unit to the man.
Con s equent l y, Sau l became a marty r for t he W hite
Ma ntle. His teaching s l ive on in the temples, and his
name adorns a seacoast on the southern edge of Kryta, a
memorial to a man who brought peace and prosperity to
the people of this tropical region.

Book I: Chapter

46

The goddess of life and air,
Dwayna is the even-tempered
leader of the old gods. Her
followers are mainly healing
Mo n k s an d E l e m en t al i s t s
sp e ci al iz i ng in air ma gi c
(though in times of war,
there are few denizens of
Tyria who have not let fly
a prayer to the Winged
Goddess to spare them
or th e ir lo ved on es).
Dwayna is often depicted
as young, tall, and slender
rising over the ground on
huge feathered wings.

The god of war and fire, Balthazar is

often worshippe d by War riors and

Elementalists, though there are Monks

who have been known to follow his

scriptures as well. Army commanders

and guild lords will often say a few

words to the Bastion of Martial Glory

before leading their followers into
battle. Balthazar is frequently shown

holding a greatsword, its tip lodged

in the ground, with a pair of battle

hounds sitting at attention at his feet.

T

he Old Gods

47

Necromancers lear n early that
the way to true power is by bowing
down at the foot of the god of
death and ice and pledging
total, undying a llegiance.
Statues of Grenth depict
the god with the body of
a man and the skeletal
head of a drawn-faced
beast. Often, there are
followers at his feet,
gra sping toward his
open, clawed hands,
c l a mo r i n g fo r t he
powers the unforgiving
deity may feel so inclined
to heap upon his subjects.

The twin goddesses of beauty and illusion,
Lyssa is the patron god of the Mesmer
profession. Many a spellcaster has fallen
under the charms of these two, making it
easy for them to choose to specialize in the
mesmeric arts. Lyssa is usually portrayed
in her natural state—a pair of t win,
intertwined goddesses, back to back, no
illusions or glamours involved. There
are stories of young men stopping
to gaze longingly at statues of the
beautiful goddesses, only to forget
themselves and die of thirst while
simply looking on.

Book I: Chapter

48

Th e go d d e s s of
earth and nature,
Mel a nd r u is the
f a vor e d g o d o f
Rangers and earth
Elementalists. It is
sai d the Mag uuma
druids at one time
worshipped this deity,
bu t th er e a r e n o n e
a l i v e t od ay w h o c a n
confirm the tr uth of this
rumor. Melandru is frequently
depicted as a human female torso
whose lower body is the trunk,
branches, and roots of a living tree.
Her statues attract weary travelers.
Beneath her branches await plenty
of fresh water and shelter from
the elements.

Born In: Drascir

Nation: Ascalon

Profession: Warrior

Age: 61

De s c e n de d fro m the g r e a t
King Doric , King Adelbern is
well- l iked by t h e cit i zens of
Asca lon. His ea s y demeanor
and battlefield heroics secured
hi s sp ot as one of the most
popular kings in the history of
the walled nation.

In his younger days, Adelbern
was the champion of his guild,
Ascalon’s Chosen. Tales of his
feats during the Guild Wars are
told and retold today—the enemies he fought growing
larger and fiercer as the stories are passed from one
mouth to the next.

He’s older now, and though he’s a well-li ked king, his
insistence that the army can hold back the beasts from
the north has st a r ted t he people whispering to each
other in the streets. Not everyone agrees with the king
on t h is matter. Making matters worse, Prince Rurik,
the king’s eldest son and heir to the throne, is among
those who criticize Adelbern’s policies. And though he is
close to his son, the king and the prince often do not see
eye to eye.

50

Book I: Chapter 4

Born In: Drascir

Nation: Ascalon

Profession: Warrior

Age: 32

Firstborn son of King Adelbern
a n d h e i r t o t h e t h r o n e o f
Ascalon, Prince Rurik is a brave,
bold man who often takes action
on the spur of the moment. He
leads by example, never cowering
or shirking a challenge. Some
say he has no fear. Others claim
hi s br a sh br a v er y is m e re l y
reckless. Regardless, the prince
is li ked by almost everyone in
Ascalon , a nd he spends muc h
of his time a mong the citizens,
pr efe r r i ng th e com pa n y of
commoners to that of Ascalon’s
rich upper crust.

As a boy, Prince Rurik trained at the Ascalon Academy
and d id a stint as an officer in the army. Today, he
ma i ntains a fighting force of his ow n , known as t he
Asc a lon Va ngu a rd. T hese sold ier s a r e compl etely
independent of t he king’s financi ng a nd influence.
Rurik’s father, K ing Adelbern, takes a certain amount
of offense to this, though he keeps it to hi mself and
his closest advisors. Though the prince is loyal to his
father, he doesn’t always agree with the man’s methods
or ideology.

The Guild Wars Personalities

51

Born In: Grooble’s Gulch

Nation: Deldrimor

Profession: Warrior

Age: 127

T he wi s e k i n g of t he
D e l d r i m o r d w a r v e s ,
K i ng Jal i s Iron h a mmer
rules his people from the
peaks of the Shiverpeak
mountains. He is a smart,
strong, patient man who
ma ke s dec ision s ba sed
sole l y on how t h e y w i ll
affect the well-being of all
the dwarves in Deldrimor.
He li v e s to se r v e h i s
people, and they love and
respect him for it.

There are those, however, who wish to see the good king
taken out of power. Namely, the Stone Summit, a group
of xenophobic dwarves who have broken their ties with
Deldrimor and are trying to take control of the dwarven
nation. Over the pa st several years, the Summit have
been growing their power, and a civil war is brewing.

King Jalis Ironhammer does not want to fight ot her
dwarves, but he will do what he must to keep his people
safe. Along with his loyal brother, Brechnar Ironhammer,
the king has rallied his forces, and they stand ready to
defend t heir home. The question on the ki ng’s mind
though is this: Can he win?

52

Book I: Chapter 4

Born In: Rin

Nation: Ascalon

Profession: Warrior

Age: 24

Devona is quite serious and direct in her dealings with
others. She aspires to be a g reat Warrior, just like her
father. At times this aspiration turns into a tremendous
internal pressure to succeed. Devona’s father was one of
the leaders of Ascalon’s Chosen, a prestigious and
well-respected guild. He died defending the
city wa lls against a raid by an Orrian
gui ld dur i ng t he last G u ild War.
Devona was only a little girl at the
time, but since that day, she has
dedicated her l i fe to mastering
the ma rt ia l ar t s of swo r d a nd
hammer.

Devona is the level-headed leader
of the party. She always assesses a
situation before rushing in, which
sometimes puts her at odds with the
brash Cynn. Despite her restraint and
cont rol, Devona ha s a temper, a nd
it can get the best of her. She would
sacrifice her own life to save the life
of a friend, and she frequently puts
herself i n har m’s way to protec t
those who travel with her. Devona
has a deep sense of loyalty and
duty. To her, there would be no
greater honor than to follow in
the footsteps of her father and
give her life defending that

which is most dear to her.

The Guild Wars Personalities

53

Born In: Surmia

Nation: Ascalon

Profession: Elementalist

Age: 20

A former child prodigy, Cynn always had people catering
to her every whim. Her family was among the nobility
in the city of Surmia—until the Charr invasion and the
Searing. When Ascalon was destroyed, Cynn got caught
outside the Wall (Surmia was one of the first places to
fall during the initial assault). A magical projectile fell
directly upon her palatial home, killing her parents and
trapping her under a broken table for several days. A
Charr warband discovered her while looting the city. They
dug her out, thinking to make a meal of her, but Cynn
had other ideas. She single-handedly wiped out the entire
warband, turning them and the remains of her home into
little more than a smoldering pile of ash.

Cynn is a bit of a princess but
with a decidedly dark streak.
She’s often cynical and flippant
when dealing with authorities or
situations that seem hopeless.
She’s highly intelligent, and
ma gi c co me s e a s y to h er.
Be cause of he r experiences
during the Searing, Cynn has
dev eloped a rath er cavali er
attitude toward her own death.
Consequently, she tends to bite
off more than she can chew,
and often gets herself and her
friends into trouble.

54

Book I: Chapter 4

Born In: Kree Foothills

Nation: Ascalon

Profession: Ranger

Age: 32

The son of a huntsman, Aidan grew up with a quiver of
arrows on his back. His mother died giving birth to him
while his family was on a wagon train from Kr yta to
Ascalon. As soon as the boy was old enough to hold a bow
in one hand, Aidan’s father packed up just the good steel
heads of their tools and the two men headed off into the
wild. They found a spot in the middle of a forest clearing,
refitted their tools with hand-carved handles, and built
their own home from scratch.

Aidan is a survivor. Nothing is out of the question if it means
he and his companions will live for another day. He thinks
fast and acts even faster. His inner calm—a sort of simple
confidence—has a way of infecting everyone around him.
Being the oldest member of the party, he has the wisdom
of years his younger counterparts lack, though he never
feels the need to lord it over them. He does feel a certain
amount of responsibility to keep the group informed
a n d o u t o f
trouble if at
all possible.
From tim e
to time, he
takes on the
role of group
patriarch, but
only if there
is a meltdown
and he se es th e
need for his cooler

head to pr e vail.

The Guild Wars Personalities

55

Born In: Serenity Temple

Nation: Ascalon

Profession: Monk

Age: 22

Born in Serenity Temple to a priest of Dwayna and
priestess of Balthazar, Mhenlo has been steeped in the
teachings of healing and smiting magic. A devoted servant
of both Dwayna and Balthazar, he has studied hard his
entire life, and has been rewarded by both the gods of his
provenance. But paying allegiance to two gods has not been
without its consequences; without a
clear path to follow, Mhenlo has a
tendency to over-analyze situations
and possible consequences, not
sure whether to take the path
of aggressive strength or that
of defensive grace.

Mh e n l o h as sp e n t
most of his life inside
S e r en i t y Te m p l e ,
paying hom a g e to
the old gods and
studying the Path,
which will lead him
to enlightenment.
He is rather timid as
the story begins, not
completely trusting of
his magical prowess,
but with Cynn’s help
he gains confidence
and becomes more
comfortable with his

considerable power.

56

Book I: Chapter 4

57

Book I: Chapter

5

58

The land north of Ascalon’s protective Great Northern
Wall is occupied by a savage race of beast s known as
the Charr.

To the Charr, flame is the physical representation of their
gods. In order to keep the gods happy, they must first fulfill
their obligation to the flame. To that end, the Charr have
constructed a series of sacred buildings know as Flame
Temples. On raised platforms, these bestial creatures have
inscribed huge circular runes, which define and magically
feed the sacred fires. Further defining the ring are pillars
of pure obsidian or carved sandstone, sculpted to depict
the faces of the mysterious creatures the Charr worship.
Between these pillars, in the very center of each of these
temples, are the ever-burning Sacred Flames. The Charr
believe that as long as the flames are burning, the gods are
pleased. If the flames go out, then the Charr have failed
in their duties and will be punished by the gods.

Enemy Armies

59

Each temple has its own fire, which

is tended at all times by four Charr

Flame Keepers. The Flame Keepers

have only one job—to keep the

Sacred Flame burning. This is the

most prestigious position a Charr

can occupy; only the strongest,

most capable Charr can take this
honor, and all other Charr bow to
the Flame Keepers.

In ad di t i o n to th e tem pl e s,
whenever a large Charr warband travels anywhere, they
take with them a bronze brazier, lit at a Flame Temple
by the Sacred Flame. These braziers are placed upon
palanquins, which are then carried from location to
location by four Charr Flame Carriers. Each night when
they make camp, the Flame Carriers erect a flammable
effigy in the shape of one of their gods, then ignite it and
let it burn till daylight.

Humans learned quickly how to read the flame sign: if the
flame is lit, the Charr camp is occupied. If the flame is
out, the Charr have moved on.

The Stone Summit are a guild
of xenophobic dwarves who
live high up in the Shiverpeak
Mountains. Their hatred of
other cultures (particularly
humans) runs so deep
th a t the y wo n’ t even
deal with other dwarf
clans who have trading
relationships with the
human nations.

Book I: Chapter

5

60

The Stone Summit pride themselves on their fanaticism.
To them, there is only one right way to do things—their
way. There is only one group worthy of ruling the world—
the Stone Summit. All other life is meaningless. They are
cruel, brutal, calculating, and cold hearted to a degree
rarely seen in civilized nations. A Stone Summit dwarf
could split a man’s head without a thought and feel as
little concern as if he had just stepped on an earthworm.

The Stone Summit leader, Dagnar Stonesplitter, is said to
aspire to one day rule all of Tyria. His methods are messy
but effective. The price he extracts for failure is death,
which tends to put a hard edge on everything.

Those dwarves who have managed to sur vive inside the
guild for any significant period of time are as tough as
stone and just as cold. They execute their orders with a
brutal efficiency, knowing that they must succeed or die.

The Stone Summit have a penchant for slavery. They

ca n often be found rid ing g iants and

Enemy Armies

61

other bea sts bound wit h all ma nner of manacles and
restraini ng devices. They don’t bother to t a me t heir
mounts, rather preferring to simply chain the beasts and
overpower them, making them bend to their will rather
than becoming accustomed to their new role. If given
the opportunity, they would enslave humans and other,
“non-pure” dwarves as well.

Except for the obvious differences (lack of skin, hair, a
working circulatory system, and so on) the undead army
are very much like any living human army. They have
military ranks, a chain of command, and a set of marching
orders. The bulk of the army is made up of once-living
humans, though there are tales that when this force
marches into battle, the animated skeleton of a once-grand
dragon marches with it.

There is much speculation about the undead of Tyria and
what their goals might be. Many believe that they are the

Book I: Chapter

5

62

remnants of Orr, those lost souls who were so disturbed
by the destruction of their home in the Cataclysm that
they refuse to pass into the next life. Others believe there
is a more sinister force motivating these creatures, a
malevolent being who has raised the resting dead to do his
bidding. Some even say this mysterious leader is a powerful
lich lord who rules them all from behind the front lines.
But most of this is just campfire tales and barroom gossip,
for there is no one who lives today who can claim to have
seen this creature in the flesh (so to speak).

63

63

Book I: Chapter

6

64

Blasted and battered, the current landscape of Ascalon
holds only the ghost of its former glory. Skeletons of
grand cathedrals and remnants of whole cities lie broken

on the shifted, displaced ground. The protective Great

Northern Wall is perhaps the most intact structure in

the entire kingdom, but the destruction that surrounds

it lies in testament to its ultimate failure.

Before the Charr invasion
and the Searing, Ascalon
was a fert i l e land, fu l l

o f w h e a t f i e l ds a n d

blossoming flowers. Now
though, little grows here in
this wasteland. The once-

loa m y earth is now dr y
and arid. The riverbeds

have dried u p , and th e

mudflats have turned into
a patchwork of cracked

plates and jagged scars in
the ground.

Regions &

Landscapes

65

For hundreds of years,

all th e dw a r ves in this

mo u n t ai n r an ge we re

u n i t e d u n d e r o n e

flag: the nati o n of the
Deldrimor dwarves. Most

of the architecture in the

Shi ver pe a ks was bu i lt
during this time, and it
reflects a time of peace
and prosperity—but that
time is over now. Today,
the mountains ring with
th e sounds of civil war,
and new architecture has
sprung up: slabs of stone

lashed together with huge iron chains mark the areas
where a new guild—those who have broken from the old
ways—have made new settlements.

The Shiverpeaks are an inhospitable environment for the

ill-prepared. There are only two known passes through the

mountains, and any wishing to cross them must endure

freezing wind, flash snow storms, and unstable terrain
that shifts with the change in temperature.

Book I: Chapter

6

66

Travelers to Kryta will find a stark contrast between the

fortified, polished-stone buildings of the White Mantle
and the thatch-roofed huts of the regular citizens. There

is a surprising amount of wealth here, but it is kept in the

hands of those who adhere to the doctrines of the Mantle,
and this is reflected in the architecture of the region.

On the coast, the weather is hot and humid. This is
somewhat mitigated by the beautiful white-sand beaches
and the crystal-clear blue
saltwater beyond. Farther

inla n d , it cools down a

bit, making the area ideal

for far ming and raising

livestock. Those Kr ytans
who don’t practice any of
the mystical arts tend to
gravitate toward fishing
and farming.

Regions &

Landscapes

67

Yea rs ag o , man y trib es
of hum a n d r ui ds liv ed
among the Maguuma’s lush
greenery and wildlife. But

it has be e n a lon g tim e
sinc e anyone has hear d
word from them, and many

believe that they were eaten

by hostile jungle creatures
or simply swallowed whole

by the man-eating plants
now rampant in the jungle.

The higher elevations are

mostly devoid of water. Only
the largest and hardiest of

plants can live here. But down farther, closer to the water
table, the Maguuma grows thick. The vegetation can

become so dense that there are areas of the jungle floor
that have never been touched by the sun’s light.

Book I: Chapter

6

68

Legends tell of a time, thousands of years ago, when
the Crystal Desert was covered in water. These legends
claim that it was the gods who raised the land, leaving

it bare and empty in order to give the solitary creatures
of the world a place to call their own. If the legends are
true, humans were not among those for whom this land
was made. There have been attempts by humans to settle

in the desert, but they have, without exception, failed

miserably, leaving behind only the g rand monuments
they built here proclaiming their short-lived triumph
over this harsh land.

The weather in the Crystal

Desert is hot and unforgiving.
T h e w i n d s b l o w h ar d ,

making and unmaking dunes,
covering up the present and
unco v erin g the pas t . An
examination of the sa nd
will reveal that each grain

is actually a tiny, pointed
crystal. In isolated locations,

larger cr ys tal formations

have been revealed by the
constant, unforgiving wind.

Regions &

Landscapes

69

Just south of the Tarnished
Coast lie the volcanic islands
that together make up the Ring
of Fire. The large volcano at
the center of the ring is where
the gods reportedly dropped
the Bloodstones before leaving
Tyria for good. Of the islands
that surround this one, many are
still active. Ships that pass by the
Ring report hearing the tell-tale
hiss of scalding hot lava hitting
the ocean, instantly vaporizing
the saltwater into steam.

The reefs off the islands are formed of black pumice
stone. There are very few natural ports, and those that

might be suitable for docking would bring the crew
of the ship within danger of being caught by a sudden,
unexpected eruption.

There are no known settlements in the Ring of Fire.

Book I: Chapter

6

70

The Rift

Before there were humans or dwa r ves, before there
were even worlds or the stars that light t he night sky,
there was but one thing in the universe—the Mists. The

Mists touch all things. They are what binds the universe
together, past present, and future. They are the source
of all good and evil, of all matter and knowledge. It

is said that all forms of life, no matter how simple or
complex, can trace their origins back to this one place.

In the middle of the Mists is a spot where time moves
neither forward nor back. It is a tear in the fabric of the
cosmos, the point of perfect balance between all forces of
the universe. 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. Those who have the know-how
to travel across the universe through the Mists must pass
through the Rift on their way to all other places. It is the
center of all things.

Regions &

Landscapes

71

The Hall of Heroes

In the center of t he R ift , deep in side t he Mis t s,
stands the imposing walled fortress known across the

multiverse as the Hall of Heroes. This structure is the

pinnacle of the afterlife. When a hero dies, his spirit
goes to one of two places: either it is buried with the
deceased body, forever t rapped inside t he r otting

flesh and rancid bones of the corpse, or it is released

into t he Rift. This latter honor goes to only those

few whose deeds in life were legendar y enough to be

known across multiple worlds, and fewer sti ll earn a

place among the souls ensconced inside the Hall itself.

For a long while, the Rift and the Hall of Heroes were
accessible only by those who had passed from the mortal
world into the immaterial. It was the Land of the Dead,
an exclusive club whose membership cost the blood
of one’s own life. But w ithin the last century all that

has changed.

Lord Odran’s Folly

Using a spell of his own devising and the sacrifice of

many s ouls, Lord Odran, a powerful arcanist who
specia lized in the s tudy of tempora l di s t o r tions ,
opened a portal that offered him access to the Mists
and eventually into the R ift itself. T he spi r its who

had g iven their lives to earn access to t he ha llowed
afterlife were outraged. They turned their fury upon
the intruder, attacking Lord Odra n with a l l of their

legendary, collective might. But it had been hundreds
of years since most of the spirits had interacted with
the physical world, and none of them had ever done so

in their shadow form. As powerful as they had been in

life, they could not harm the physical manifestation of
the w iza rd lord—not yet. He was untouchable here in
the land of the dead, and he traveled freely through the

Hall of Heroes.

Book I: Chapter

6

72

Over the years, Lord Odran learned to use the Rift to
travel across the multiverse. He opened portals on nearly
all of the different worlds, turning the Rift into his own

personal gateway. But though he was clever, the wizard

lord was himself only mortal, and eventually the spirits of
the Hall discovered a way to interact with the corporeal
world. Odran’s last physical journey through the Rift cost

him his mortal life. The wizard lord was torn to shreds

by hundreds of angr y souls seeking retribution for

his trespasses.

When Odra n ’ s mor tal body di e d , the wa r d s 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

its costs as well.

Creatures of Tyria

73

73

Book I: Chapter

7

74

In addition to enemy armies you’ll encounter, such as
the Charr and Undead, you’ll find that Tyria is crawling
with hostile creatures that will attack you and your party
on sight. Here are but a few of the host iles you may
encounter, along with such information as we have on
each of them.

Sightings Old Ascalon, Nolani Academy, Regent Valley

Breeds

Known
Brood
Leaders

Sightings

Types

Known
Clutch
Leaders

Thorn Devourer, Whiptail
Devourer,
Plague Devourer

Skuzz Sudgereaper,
Gnash Underfoot, Fleck
Grokspit, Stank Reekfoul

Often seen scavenging near ruins in
Ascalon or along the beaches of Kryta.

Flash Gargoyles, Shat ter Gargoyles,
Mergoyles

Spazmo Thunderbolt, Claw Fleshfi xer,
Plook Wavebreaker, Muga Riptide.

Creatures of Tyria

75

Sightings

Regent Valley; also reportedly seen
in the Southern Shiverpeaks.

Known Clan
Names

Known Clan
Leaders

Sightings Old Ascalon, Pockmark Flats

Breeds Stone Elementals, Ice Elementals

Known
Clutch
Leaders

Sightings Twin Serpent Lakes, Stingray Strand

Lorimung, Siamung

Makani Ookook, Anani Mokmok,
Palila Uggugg

Pulv Rubblegrinder,
Cobble Poundstone,
Mallet Runecolumn

Types Lightning Drake, Grand Drake

Known
Elders

Scale Fleshrend

Book I: Chapter

76

Sightings

North Kry ta Province, D’Alessio

Seaboard, Forest of True Sight

Breeds

Bog Skale, Fiendish Skale

Known

Brood

Geck the Coldblooded, Laris

the Meateater, Cella the

Brood

Leaders

the Meateater, Cella the

Hooded, Skigg the Tongue

7

Sightings

Clans Caromi, Avicara

Raiding the settlements outside of Lion’s Arch,
also menacing caravans in Divinity Coast

Known Clan
Leaders

Sightings

Sightings

Breeds Bog Skale, Fiendish Skale

Breeds Bog Skale, Fiendish Skale

Known

Known

Brood

Brood

Leaders

Leaders

Sightings

Breeds Jungle Troll, Mountain Troll, Fen Troll

Known
Warchiefs

Glyd Swiftwing, Squaw Nimblecrest,
Chuff Quickbeak, Pello Agileclaw

North Kry ta Province, D’Alessio

North Kry ta Province, D’Alessio

Seaboard, Forest of True Sight

Seaboard, Forest of True Sight

Geck the Coldblooded, Laris

Geck the Coldblooded, Laris

the Meateater, Cella the

the Meateater, Cella the

Hooded, Skigg the Tongue

Hooded, Skigg the Tongue

The Wilds, Silverwood, Forest of
True Sight

Grook Plugalug

Creatures of Tyria

77

Below are just a few of the more docile creatures one
might encounter i n Tyria. If one has t he skill, some
of t hese can be ta med and will fight to defend their
human masters.

Lynx

Environment

Warmer climes, seen often in the
temperate areas of Kryta

Warthog

Environment

Dry arid areas like those near the
Great Northern Wall of Ascalon

Snow Wolf

Environment

Seen exclusively in the
colder, snowy regions of
the Shiverpeak Mountains

he humans of Tyria are at the brink of extinction,
and only their heroes can save them. The many

who have chosen to train in the six professions,
and the mighty guilds they comprise, are the only hope
against the armies of undead, Charr, and other creatures
bent on total world domination and the destruction of the
human race.

The choice to train in a primary and secondary profession,
to learn the skills of those professions and use them to
va nquish the enemies of hu manity, is not to be taken
lightly. Choose a name worthy of great deeds, and follow
the calling that best utilizes your natural style.

The challenge is this : Follow the hero’s path. Take up
the weapon s and skills your heart chooses and wield
them a gai nst t hose w ho would t a ke you r fr e e dom ,
and the freedom of t hose you love. Save your people
or die trying.

Book II: Chapter 1

Heroes come in all flavors: male and female, large and
small, and in any of 30 combinations of the 6 professions:
Warrior, R anger, Mon k, Elementalist, Mesmer, and
Necromancer. Add to that more than 150 unique skills
per character, which can be combined for any number of

effects. . . . The possibilities are mind boggling.

The heroes you create begin life at level 1, fresh from
home and ready to learn. The most important choice
you must ma ke for them is that of primary (and later,
secondary) profession, which determines not only
ar m or, sk ill s, a nd f i ghtin g st y l e , but you r ove ral l
gameplay experience.

You can c rea t e four heroes per u n ique G u ild Wars
accou nt. You can del ete and c reate new h e r oe s at
any time, so have fun experimenting with profession
combinations, skills, and attributes until you create the
hero that suits you best.

A Her

o’s Lif

Gaining Levels

As you travel through Tyria joining adventuring parties,
completing missions, or recruiting henchmen for more
casual ex plorat ion, your hero w ill earn exp erience
points and gain experience levels. With each level comes
an increase in ma x imum Health, which makes you
harder to kill.

Improving Attributes

Each level awards you attribute points to spend improving
your attributes, li ke the War r ior’s Sword s ma n sh ip,
wh ich i ncreases sword da mage; t he Monk’s Healing
Prayer s , which ma kes healing skills more powerfu l ;
the Elementalist’s Energy Storage, which permanently
increases maximum Energy, allowing you to use more
skills more often.

Skill Points

With experience, you’ll gain skill points, which entitle
you to train new skills from your primary and secondary
professions. With each skill you learn, your skill arsenal
becomes more versatile, more powerful in a wider range
of situations, against enemies of various types.

Note: Rumor has it there may be ways to acquire

skills temporarily, even those from other
professions!

Book II: Chapter 1

The choice is yours: Warrior, Ranger, Monk, Elementalist,
Mesmer, or Necromancer. Every profession has its own
strengths a nd attributes, a weapon or mag ic specialty,
and a unique set of skills with which to deal damage,
manipulate the enemy or environment, or protect and
heal allies.

For each hero you c r e ate, you’ll c h oose a prima ry
profe s sion, and later, i f you choose, a sec on d ar y

profession.

Your primary profession determines your hero’s basic

Primary
Profession

appearance, including the type of armor you’ll wear.
It is your hero’s outward identity. It also provides
several attributes that improve skills over time,
including a primary attribute that is not available
when the profession is chosen as a secondary.

Secondary
Profession

Attributes

Every profession has a set of attributes you can build to
improve the effectiveness of related skills (including
weapon mastery) over time. Each profession’s attributes
are geared for a distinctive fighting style, and by choosing
attributes for improvement you c reate a specia l i zed
style all your own. Your hero’s attribute pool is derived
from the combination of your primary a nd optional
secondary professions. Your Warrior/Ranger’s attribute
set contains only those attributes that affect Warrior/
Ranger weapons and skills, so you can’t go wrong when

Your secondary profession provides your hero with
a second set of attributes and skills to compliment
the fi rst. (Your secondar y profession does not have
access to the primary attribute for that profession.)

A Her

building up attributes. And attribute refunds allow you
to adjust attributes later if you wish, taking points from
one and allocating them to another.

Note: Attributes appear next to skills in the Skills

menu. Mouse over icons in the Skill Bar to
see the attribute in the skill description. For
more on skills, see page 122.

Primary Attribute

Each profe s sion ha s a powerful p r ima r y att ribute
avail able on l y to cha racters who h a ve c h o s e n that
profession as their primary profession. For example,
when chosen as a primary profession, the Elementalist
ha s Energ y Storage, which provides a larger Energy
pool with which to use skill s ; the Mesmer has Fast
Cast i ng, which i nc reases s p el l cast i ng speed. T he
secondary profession you choose will not have access
to this primary attribute, so it’s important to note each
profession’s primary attribute when considering which
profession will be your primary.

Book II: Chapter 1

Attribute Points

For each level you gain, you receive attribute points to
improve the effectiveness of your skills. Allocating points
to an attribute increases the power of skills and weapons
tied to that attribute. Increase the attributes tied to the
skills and weapons you think you’ll use most often.

Attribute Refunds

Attribute refu nd points allow you to reallocate points
from one attribute to another. Points subtracted from an
attribute return to your attribute point pool so you can
use them to improve another attribute.

You Can Have it All

You can create four very different characters, each taking
advantage of a unique set of resources, including skills,
attributes, weapons, fighting styles, and strategies. Your
Warrior/Elementalist can set enemies up with distance
spells, then knock them down with a hammer blow. Your
Monk/Mesmer can subvert enemies’ Energy and use it
to defend and heal allies. Your Ranger/Necromancer
can charm animals a nd raise t he dead to aid you in
battle. Each combination has hu ndreds of skil ls that
work together so you can create an a rsenal t hat su its
your playing style (or styles).

The combination you choose, along w ith the skills and
attributes you choose to learn and improve over time,
results in a unique Guild Wars experience for each hero
you create.

A Her

o’s Lif

Attribute Level Point Cost Total Cost

1 1 1

2 2 3

3 3 6

4 4 10

5 5 15

6 6 21

7 7 28

8 9 37

9 11 4 8

10 13 61

11 16 77

12 20 97

Book II: Chapter 1

Warriors rely on stout hearts, brute strength, and melee
weapons to subdue their enemies and protect their allies.
They generally disdain long-range warfare, preferring
instead to cha rge directly into the fray swinging their
weapon of choice. They can take a beating unlike anyone
else. Warriors are equa l ly comfortable w ielding axe,
hammer, or sword, though many choose to master one
weapon over all others. Many Warrior skills require
adrenaline, which builds up during combat to enable
those ski l ls, a nd usua l ly result s in major da m a g e.
Defensive tactics help the Warrior to avoid damage and
protect allies, but Strength is the Warrior’s biggest asset,
allowing this hero to do more damage with every attack.

Warrior Attributes

Strength increases the armor penetration of your

Strength*

attack skills by 1% per attribute level. Strength also
improves the effectiveness of skills that keep you
alive, and those that infl ict damage on your opponents.

Swordsmanship

Axe Mastery

Hammer
Mastery

Tactics

*Available only to Warrior primaries.

Swordsmanship increases basic sword damage
as well as damage dealt by sword skills.

Improve Axe Mastery to increase basic axe
damage and damage dealt by axe skills.

Hammer Mastery increases basic hammer
damage and damage dealt by hammer skills.

Tactics improves Shouts and Stances that give
you and your party an advantage in battle.

A Her

o’s Lif

Book II: Chapter 1

Rangers are unique in their ability to succeed with the
help of, or even in spite of, their environment. Nature
rituals allow them to manipulate the environment to
hinde r t heir enemies, or borrow the ver y power of
creation to heal and aid their a llies. They favor long­range combat, the bow bei ng their weapon of choice,
and can be especially effective from elevated locations
such as bridges and cliffs. They are the only profession
with the ability to charm animals, which then accompany
them on their travels and assist them in battle, gaining
ex p e r ie nce a nd levels over ti me. R angers a re a lso
blessed with survival skills that help keep them alive.

Ranger Attributes

Expertise*

Beast Mastery

Marksmanship

Wilderness
Survival

*Available only to Ranger primaries.

Points into Expertise decrease the Energy cost
of your attack skills, Preparations, and Traps.

Beast Mastery improves your animal companion’s
basic attack damage, as well as skills that
help to keep your companion from harm.

Improving Marksmanship increases basic bow
damage, and increases damage dealt by bow skills.

Wilderness Survival improves defensive
Stances, Preparations, and Traps.

A Her

o’s Lif

90

Book II: Chapter 1

Monks employ a direct conduit to the gods, and the
answers to their prayers come in the form of healing and
protection for their allies and damage to their enemies.
Combined with any other profession, Monks can alternate
between supporting their party and dealing damage to
opponents. Monks enjoy Divine Favor, which provides
extra healing power, while their healing and Protection
Prayers help to keep their allies strong and healthy. Smiting
Prayers, on the other hand, call down divine anger on
enemies, exacting holy damage that ignores armor, though
damage-dealing is not the Monk’s specialty. What Monks
lack in firepower they make up for with their unparalleled
gift for keeping their allies alive.

Monk Attributes

Divine
Favor*

Healing
Prayers

Smiting
Prayers

Protection
Prayers

*Available only to Monk primaries.

This attribute provides a healing bonus to all
spells that target allies, and increases the
duration and ef fectiveness of spells that help you
call for th divine powers to aid your allies.

Points allocated to Healing Prayers increase
the duration and effectiveness of spells that
allow you to heal yourself and your allies.

Smiting Prayers increase the duration and effectiveness
of skills that infl ict damage on the enemy. Smiting
Prayers are especially effective against the undead.

Allocate points to Protection Prayers to increase
the duration and effect of your Protection spells,
which help protect you and your allies from harm.

91

A Her

o’s Lif

92

Book II: Chapter 1

Elementalists summon the powers of earth, air, fire, and
water and command them at will. They can inflict more
damage in a single strike than any other profession. Earth
Magic summons quakes and eruptions, encases enemies
in stone, or protects allies. Air Magic harnesses the power
of tempests to strike foes down with lightning or enable
allies to run like the wind. Fire Magic manifests flames,
fireballs, molten lava, and even meteors to burn enemies
to a crisp. Water Magic conjures mist and ice to slow enemy
movement and attacks, blur vision, protect allies against
magic, and inflict cold damage on enemies. Elementalists
have access to Energy regenerating skills, and when chosen
as a primary character, they can increase their maximum
Energy over time. The wise Elementalist avoids becoming
surrounded, but keeps a local area-of-effect spell on hand

just in case.

Elementalist Attributes

Energy
Storage *

Fire
Magic

Water
Magic

Earth
Magic

Air
Magic

*Available only to Elementalist primaries.

Energy Storage increases your hero’s maximum Energy,
and improves skills that help you regenerate Energy.

Improve Fire Magic to increase the duration and
effectiveness of your fi re skills, which infl ict
fi re damage and can affect large areas.

Allocate points to Water Magic to increase
the duration and effectiveness of your water

skills, which slow enemy movement.

Build up Earth Magic to increase the duration and
effectiveness of your earth skills, which can protect you and
your allies, or attack your opponents, ignoring armor level.

Points to Air Magic increase the duration and
effectiveness of your air skills, which pierce armor,
cause Blindness, and knock down your enemies.

93

A Her

o’s Lif

93

94

Book II: Chapter 1

Mesmers are masters of illusion and control, subverting
the enemy’s Energy for their ow n use, and that of their
allies. Combined with any other profession, their skills
prov ide excellent support, turning enemies’ powers
against them and changing the very fabric of reality to
hinder foes and help allies. Mesmers have the ability to
cast spells quickly, which ca n make all the difference
in the heat of battle. Their powers of domination allow
them to take control of enemy skills and Energy. Their
unique illusionary talents can slow or even halt enemy
movement and skill casting, or cause imaginary illnesses
that drain Health and Energy from foes while healing
and energizing allies. W hi le Mesmers a re not know n
for brute strength, their ability to confuse, distract, and
drain the enemy’s resources more than compensates.

Mesmer Attributes

Fast
Casting*

Domination

Illusion

Inspiration

*Available only to Mesmer primaries.

Increases the speed with which you cast spells, allowing
you to cast more often for greater overall ef fect.

Increases the duration and effectiveness
of your Domination spells, which allow you
to disrupt your enemies’ actions.

Increases the duration and effectiveness of your
Illusion spells, which deceive your enemies and hinder
their movement and their ability to cast spells.

Increases the duration and effectiveness of your
Inspiration spells, which steal Energy from enemies.

95

A Her

o’s Lif

96

Book II: Chapter 1

Necromancers are masters of the dark arts, calling on the

Death Magic

enemies as well as those that increase the

effectiveness of your undead minions.

spirits of the dead, and even death itself, to overpower
enemie s and a s si st allies. In sacr ificing Healt h a nd
ta king curses and diseases upon themselves, they can
deal large amounts of damage to those foolish enough
to oppose t hem. D e a d and dy ing e nem ie s become
unwilling allies in their hands. Necromancers have the
singular ability to absorb Energy from an enemy’s death,
and can raise a fighting force from the corpses of their
foes. Curses, which often cost the Necromancer dearly,
exact an even greater toll from enemies, who find that
their Enchant ment s and healing skills are rendered
useless. Due to the sacrificial nature of their methods,
Necromancers must practice patience and self-discipline
to survive.

Necromancer Attributes

Soul Reaping*

Curses

Blood Magic

Death Magic

*Available only to Necromancer primaries.

Soul Reaping allows you to gain Energy
whenever a creature near you dies.

This attribute increases the duration and
effectiveness of your Curse skills, which reduce
your enemies’ ef fectiveness in battle.

Blood Magic increases the duration and
effectiveness of skills that steal Health
from your enemies and give it to you.

Increases the duration and effectiveness of
skills that deal cold and shadow damage to
enemies as well as those that increase the
effectiveness of your undead minions.

97

A Her

98

Book II: Chapter 1

Your hero’s basic appearance choices are determined by
the primar y profession you choose. Each profession has
a basic body type and armor style, and a set of physical
features from which to choose to customize your hero.

Sex

You ca n choose a male or female character. Sex is a
factor in determining your hero’s appearance, but it has
no bearing on your hero’s abilities.

Physical Features

Adjust you r hero’s body size, skin color, hair color
and sty l e , a n d facia l featu res t o g ive you r hero a
distinctive look.