Order of the Vael

Species

• AsuraBut in the present of Guild Wars 3, over a millennium before Primordus's stirring, asuran society has a more balanced relationship with the surface. Though fossorial at their core, the asura do venture above ground for a variety of reasons: business, pleasure, curiosity. So, the average asura you meet in Orr will be of a different stripe than their evolved descendants, figuratively and literally. Rougher around the edges, a little taller (though still not eye level with humans), a hair furrier. On the inside, however, they very much resemble the species you know and love with their large, inquiring minds and even bigger ambitions. This is especially true of the asura who migrated to Orr before the start of Guild Wars 3. It was that insatiable urge to discover that kept them going through a decades-long journey of trial and error, from the Maguuma Jungle to the Shiverpeak Mountains and, finally, to Orr. The Big Dig Orr first blipped on the radar of asuran consciousness during their initial expansion of the depths around 300 BE. Tunnels were stretching out in every direction from the heart of the Maguuma Jungle; no small feat before the gift of magic. Bound to mechanical tools and physical processes, their engineering efforts cost time, materials, labor...and sometimes the laborers themselves, as a few unlucky krewes discovered whenever their shovels turned toward Orr. First, it was the unexpected seawater that flooded a branch of tunnels along the coastline. Then—once they figured out underwater construction—came the tremors emanating from deep beneath the peninsula's abyssal plain. No matter the method or angle of approach, the way would collapse; it was almost as if Orr itself rejected the asura's digging. Most asura took these obstacles at face value; why sacrifice more time and bodies when there's plenty of space elsewhere to dig? But one engineer couldn't give up so easily. Zouelle the Archengineer was a young apprentice when, while on an above-ground survey, she glimpsed Orr on the horizon and heard tell of it brimming with impossible magical forces. The memory stuck with her through many obstacles and little progress until her elder years, when she decided to take one last sojourn to the surface. Accompanied by her granddaughter, Niommi, Zouelle led them to emerge near the top of Criterion Canyon. Their eyes still adjusting to the light, the pair turned toward Orr just in time to witness a great eruption, brief and incandescent, paint the horizon. There it was, in stark prismatic relief: the magic of Orr. More potent than anywhere else in Tyria and far less understood. They had to go there. And if the underground was not a viable path, it was time the asura adapted. On that very spot, grandmother and progeny founded Rata Pten: the humble beginnings of the asura's most ambitious above-ground expedition in Tyria, fixed squarely on the storied lands of Orr. Launchpad to Orr At first, many asura rushed to join the pioneering Rata Pten lab. Zouelle and Niommi's joint account of the raw power they witnessed sparked a collective hunger that would one day define them. All craved knowledge of magic—to study and master it for the uplift of their species. This fervor only increased as news of humans and kodan migrating to Orr trickled down through the depths. Suddenly, there was competition, and the asura were behind. But while the desire to go was strong, the will to do it was in shorter supply. It took many more years of experimentation and investigation before the first step could be taken: land surveys from which none returned, machines that malfunctioned, and the usual bickering and planning delays of any mass collaborative effort. Only the most daring and committed were left by the time Niommi (soon to be deemed "the Trailblazer") formed the Rata Pten Expeditionary Krewe. Save for one notable absence: the night before the journey, Zouelle died in her sleep—dreaming of the land her granddaughter would one day reach. And reach it Niommi did...sunburnt, surly, and missing half her krewe. The survivors had withstood heat sickness, supply shortfalls, and wildlife encounters. They had left behind all they knew, effectively cut themselves off from their kin in the depths, sacrificed years of their lives, and for what? An unknown land of uncertain challenges, unquantified resources... ...And the Vael. Years of doubts evaporated in an instant. It had all been worth it. Lifting the Vael Of course, the dilemmas didn't end with the expeditionary krewe's arrival. Their enthusiasm for the land's potential and their no-holds-barred investigative style resulted in more than one clash with Orr's native creatures and their protectors. The Vaelwardens came to regard the asura as reckless—if well-intentioned—interlopers. The asura, in turn, viewed the Order of the Vael as dogmatic and allergic to the march of progress. Eventually, however, the order did evolve—opening their ranks to all, including the asura, now decades into their establishment in Orr. Only a handful leaped at the chance to learn the guild's ways, especially regarding the artificing of signets. This signature art, passed on by the human gods Dwayna and Melandru, allowed the Vaelwardens to craft powerful and versatile arms by binding multiple signets to a single weapon.Asura

  So, the average asura you meet in Orr will be of a different stripe than their evolved descendants, figuratively and literally.

• KodanOriginating in the Far Shiverpeaks, the kodan are, broadly speaking, a culture defined by their faith. Kodan worship Koda the Creator, a deity they believe to be the sole fashioner of Tyria and all the natural and magical life that inhabits it. Devoting the whole of their civilizational effort in service of this creator, the kodan are among the most capable fighters on Tyria: ferocious, intelligent, and driven by unshakable conviction. Per their belief, a direct connection exists between Koda and a blessed few among his tribes of followers, called Voices—chosen tributes attuned to the mind, thoughts, and will of their creator. Guided by these leaders, the kodan interpret the will of their god as a mission for the whole of their people: the duty to watch over all of Tyria and foster an enduring balance in the natural harmonies of the world. This connection is an almost universal feature of kodan settlements across Tyria, with one notable exception: the bearkin of the isles of Janthir. Featured prominently in Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds™, the kodan of Janthir were brought to those fabled lands as a result of a notorious Voice who abandoned her calling and rejected Koda. This population of kodan would endure for centuries, carving out a new way of life unburdened by the faith that defined the contemporaries they left behind. But as any kodan who has heard it themselves can tell you, the call of their god is powerful and compelling. Even—and perhaps especially—among those who refuse to listen to it. A Stirring, a Flash, and a Long Journey Echoing across Janthir, the call went mostly unheard by the kodan who dwelled there, save for a chosen few. Steeped in a culture that roundly rejected the will of Koda and was fearful of ostracization, those who experienced this sudden and jarring renewed connection largely kept it to themselves, whispering of it only behind closed doors with those who had felt it too: an inexplicable pull toward a far-flung and mythic land called Orr. A sense that some duty awaited them there. Many who felt this stirring refused to believe it was real at all until the motions of the world confirmed it for them, with news of a great calamity erupting in Orr's Tughra Basin. The disaster was so mythic in scale that it prompted the renewed faithful among the Janthir kodan to publicly attest to their experience, despite the risk. Koda's will was not only real, they claimed, but clearly apparent: a call to the faithless of Janthir to renew their conviction in service of the natural balance of the world, needed nowhere more than the storied lands of Orr. This proved to be the catalyst for yet another schism among the bearkin. Refusing to let their divine call to action go unanswered, those who heard Koda's beckon began a second migration, flanked by those inspired to follow. These chosen few formed the first seeds of kodan settlement in Orr—your forebears as a kodan player in Guild Wars 3. The Orrian Kodan and the Vael The first of the southbound kodan reached Orr over a hundred years before the start of Guild Wars 3. They felt an immediate conviction that they had arrived at their destination; they sensed a land ailing, the way one smells sickness in a loved one long before it's spoken of. A palpable pain radiating from the natural-magical world. But what was its cause? As the kodan continued their exploration of the region, the environment exuded something else entirely: beauty. Surrounded by the majesties of the Vael—the range of breathtaking magical creatures that lived in Orr—the arriving kodan were certain that they had interpreted Koda's call correctly and that his will was to see this land healed and protected. This certainty prompted the founding of a permanent settlement in northwestern Orr. The Orrian kodan felt an immediate kinship with the Vaelwardens, still young in their mission to protect the Vael's magical creatures, but that sense of fraternity was not immediately returned. Fresh off their originating tragedy and highly insular, the order was not trusting of outsiders and refused to open their ranks to the kodan—or anybody else—for many years. Though early friction and clashes led some among the kodan to doubt the call that brought them to Orr, the ethos they shared with the Vaelwardens would, over time, grow into one of the Order of the Vael's deepest and most enduring alliances. The Orrian Kodan of TodayA century deep into their grand experiment to reclaim their connection to Koda, the Orrian kodan find themselves at a fork in their path. The Vaelwardens' mission is faltering. The conviction that carried their forebears south is dwindling with each passing generation. And all the while, the world around them is rapidly changing, the natural balance they were called to protect crushed beneath the wheels of progress. So, when the long-insular Order of the Vael at last opened its ranks and began to recruit, the kodan were—of course—among the first to answer. As a kodan player, you are one of them: swearing yourself to the Vaelwarden banner as your own interpretation of Koda's will. Your forebears came to this land to carry out their divinely appointed duty as Tyria's guardians; devoting your life to the order is your way of picking up their torch. How you fulfill your duty to the guild is as unique as the wardens who make up its ranks.Kodan

  Originating in the Far Shiverpeaks, the kodan are, broadly speaking, a culture defined by their faith.