Unending Ocean
“My apprentice and I came from the ocean deeps. I wouldn't advise you go there. You're not ready for the horrors of that place.
The Unending Ocean is the collective name of all of Tyria's major bodies of water. It contains various seas and bays, such as the bay surrounding Lion's Arch, and Janthir Bay. When Tyrians refer to the Unending Ocean, they typically refer to the large body of water—alternatively called the clashing seas[1] and the Great Sea[2]—south of the Sea of Sorrows separating the Tyrian continent from Cantha.
Between the northwest coast of Cantha and the southern rim of Elona, a deadly sea is troubled by sudden storms and cyclones, hidden reefs, and dangerous sea creatures. These waters were once navigated by fearless Luxon raiders from Cantha, and at least until the rise of the Elder Dragons, brigands from many cultures searched for secret coves hidden by these deadly waters.[3] The Unending Ocean is home to thousands of aquatic species.[4]
History[edit]
Prehistory[edit]
| After the Mother Dragon Soo-Won had split the six domains of magic in the All between herself and her five Elder Dragon scions and became the Elder Dragon of Water while the world of Tyria was still forming, she began acting as the protector of the Unending Ocean. Saltspray dragons would come to call her the mother of the sea in reverence for her nurturing role.[5] |
Early history[edit]
Human voyages[edit]
At an unknown point in time after the previous rise of the Elder Dragons, the Six Human Gods brought humans from the Mists to the world of Tyria before transporting them elsewhere while the gods turned Orr habitable.[6] Humans would eventually spread across the globe, sailing to the continents of Cantha, Elona, and Tyria on multiple occasions over the centuries and eventually settling Orr as well with the earliest known recorded historical date on human settlement being Cantha in 786 BE.[7] The Kurzicks and Luxons sailed to Cantha later under unclear circumstances, and Luxon legends refer to a distant homeland across the Unending Ocean.[8]
Thousands of aquatic species of varying intelligence resided within the Unending Ocean during this era,[4] including the karka,[9] krait,[10][11] largos,[12] and quaggans.[13] Most of them did not appear in shallow waters at the time, so humans remained unaware of their existence at first.
Over a thousand years ago, the human Margonites were said to have ruled the Unending Ocean until they lost their humanity, though they were centralized around the Crystal Sea and Elona's shores.[14] The Five True Gods' battle against the rogue god Abaddon and his Margonites led to the Crystal Sea boiling away and turning into the Crystal Desert, connecting the Tyrian continent with Elona in 1 BE.[7][15]
Dragonrise and aftermath[edit]
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Circa 200 years ago,[16] Soo-Won, the Elder Dragon of Water, awoke in the deepest parts of the Unending Ocean. According to the saltspray dragon Kuunavang, all those of the sea—whether she meant the Jade Sea or the entire Unending Ocean—felt the Water Dragon's rise as it was a presence powerful enough to drive back the shadows in the depths.[17] According to the Durmand Priory's theories and testimonies from quaggans, the deep sea dragon seemed to have begun forcing the aquatic species out of their homelands and into Central Tyria.[18][19][20] The krait fled through the domain ruled by the southern quaggan kingdom, and the krait slaughtered or enslaved any quaggan they came across. Quaggan tales claim that the krait seemingly slew the quaggan goddess Mellaggan,[21] and either slaughtered, ate, or enslaved the markissios and the rest of the quaggan royal family.[13]
Following an ancient doctrine interpreted by their oratuss priest caste, the krait based their religion on massive obelisks of a unique, dark stone that could be found exclusively and rarely on Tyria's ocean floors. They came to believe that each of these obelisks was raised upon the site of a krait prophet's ascension into a mystic world, a world beyond Tyria, where these nameless abyssal prophets would be building an army great enough to eradicate all other species. The krait expected the prophets to return and drown the surface of Tyria beneath one massive sea one day, and they began sacrificing slaves to show reverence to the prophets and to ensure that the prophets would have servants in their mystical "other world." Krait legends state that all the races living above water were driven out of the sea by the prophets and forbidden to return.[22]
The Battle Isles were once located in the Unending Ocean between Tyria and Cantha, acting as a natural resting point for human naval routes between Cantha, Elona, Central Tyria, and beyond, although these routes were sometimes waylaid by the krait. Although Emperor Usoku had pushed for isolationist policies in Cantha by 1127 AE,[23] the Empire of the Dragon and the Kingdom of Kryta continued trading regularly decades later.[24]
The Elder Dragon Zhaitan awoke and caused the Rising of Orr which created the Great Tsunami, flooding surrounding coastal areas in 1219 AE. The Battle Isles sank beneath the waves, and areas such as the D'Alessio Seaboard, Sanctum Cay and the port city of Lion's Arch were flooded as well, destroying the latter.[23] The Great Tsunami affected areas all the way south to Dajkah, flooding the Olmakhan village of Atholma with many casualties and forcing the charr tribe to rebuild their home on the Sandswept Isles.[25] It was during this time that many tengu around the world migrated to Sanctum Cay, founding the Dominion of Winds as they sought a safe haven from the Great Tsunami.[26]
| Realizing Cantha's imminent destruction was nigh, Kuunavang sought out Soo-Won in desperation and pleaded for the Water Dragon's help to stop the great tide. Much to her surprise and delight, the distant Soo-Won answered her plea and traveled to Cantha to ensure that the tsunami would not affect most of Cantha beyond Old Kaineng City which was hit by the brunt force from the wave. Zhaitan's Risen minions washed ashore and took over Cantha's sunken capital, trying to spill over to the rest of the continent. However, Canthans discovered the Eyes of the Ocean which Soo-Won had sent to aid them, and they used these blue orbs' power to create magical barriers to keep the Risen from taking over the land where surviving Canthans were building New Kaineng City after the Zhaitan Disaster.[17][27][28] |
Displaced corsairs and pirates eventually settled into the remains of Lion's Arch in Kryta and rebuilt the ruined port city into a pirate haven which would earn its independence from Kryta during the Great Krytan Blockade in 1256 AE. The Risen used sunken corsair vessels to build a fleet of Dead Ships which would patrol between Orr and the Ring of Fire, making naval travel between the Sea of Sorrows and the Unending Ocean nigh impossible. The existence of sporadic Canthan sailors washing upon the Tarnished Coast since the Rising of Orr suggested that Canthans still sailed the Unending Ocean despite the risks.[23] Some largos had extensive knowledge of Orr,[29] implying that they lived relatively close, which would place them in the northern Clashing Seas. If so, then the encroaching influence from the ocean's dark depths, which scholarly theories had attributed to the deep sea dragon, had reached these waters.
Living World Season 4[edit]
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Following a battle in the Mists in 1332 AE, the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik lost one of his wings and fell from a rift, which the dragon Aurene had created, into the sea south of Orr alongside chunks of the realms of the gods. The impact created a new landmass called Dragonfall which was comprised of Kralkatorrik's body trapped under chunks of land from portions of Balthazar's Fissure of Woe, Grenth's Underworld and Melandru's domain. Various denizens of the god realms, ranging from nature spirits to the undead and the Shadow Army, went berserk and attacked both Kralkatorrik's Branded minions, which had arrived to defend their wounded master, as well as the Pact's armed forces and the Mist Wardens, which had arrived to finish the battle with the Elder Dragon. After Kralkatorrik's demise, his lifeless body and the chunks from the god realms remained as an island on the Unending Ocean while the god realms' spiritual inhabitants, who had been pulled from the Mists, continued fighting against anything encroaching on their domain.
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons[edit]
As Cantha opened its borders to the outside world in 1335 AE, Magister Ela Makkay visited the continent and learned about Soo-Won stopping the Great Wave. The legend contradicted earlier Priory theories about Soo-Won possibly being the cause of the eruption of many underwater races to Central Tyria. A new, more troubling theory arose from Ela's investigations: the aquatic races were only driven away from the Unending Ocean's depths after Soo-Won had migrated to Cantha, suggesting that some other heretofore unknown force may have been behind it and how Soo-Won's presence had originally kept them at bay.[17][18][30]
Locations[edit]
- Explorable zones
- Dragonfall (Lore-wise)
- Inaccessible regions
Gallery[edit]
Yong Reactor in the depths of the Unending Ocean.
Krait Obelisk concept art by Kekai Kotaki.
World map found in the Durmand Priory's library, showing the Unending Ocean.
A fan-made map with English labels by that_shaman.
Map of the Unending Ocean between Cantha and The Battle Isles.
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Notes[edit]
- Dragonfall is mechanically part of the Crystal Desert region, so viewing vistas and gathering nodes in Dragonfall count as Crystal Desert dailies.
- Unlike other region names, the Unending Ocean label appears twice on the in-game world map: southwest of Dragonfall, and north of Cantha's Great Turtle Highlands.
See also[edit]
- Associated items
References[edit]
|
The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Unending Ocean. |
- ^ Jiaju Tai
- ^ Minister Cho's Estate
- Master Togo: I believe it is a moa bird, Yijo. It is from a land far across the Great Sea.
- ^ Guild Wars Nightfall Manual, GuildWars.com
- ^ a b Deepest Secrets
- Xunlai Jade Tour Guide: The Unending Ocean is home to thousands of aquatic species.
- ^ Albax, the Unlucky
- ^ Orrian History Scrolls: The Six
- ^ a b Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire—Road to the Desert
- ^ An Empire Divided
- ^ Post by Matthew Medina in "No Risen Karkas?", Old Guild Wars 2 Forums (Archived)
- ^ Nanacatl
- ^ Tatli
- ^ Master Sdias
- ^ a b The Mostly Harmless Quaggan
- ^ Statue of Abaddon
- ^ Facing the Truth
- Kormir: Thirteen hundred years ago, Abaddon and his army of fanatics waged a war ranging across the shores and islands of the Crystal Sea.
- Kormir: The battle was so ferocious that the ocean boiled away, leaving behind the desert you see today.
- Kormir: When the gods finally struck down Abaddon, his fall warped and ravaged these lands, creating the Desolation.
- ^ The Machine cinematic
- ^ a b c Fallout
- <Character name>: How long have you served Soo-Won?
- Kuunavang: I felt it when she woke. All those of the sea did—a presence powerful enough to drive back the shadows in the depths.
- Kuunavang: But it was not until Zhaitan that I sought her out. An act of desperation to save what was left of a land I loved.
- Kuunavang: It takes...effort for one like her to see you. We're but moments in her infinite life. I did not know if she would care.
- Kuunavang: But she did. Somehow, she did. I became her champion.
- ^ a b Magister Ela Makkay
- ^ Quaggan sad: A look back at the Guild Wars 2 Dynamic Events panel, Massively.joystiq.com (Archived)
- ^ Post by Angel McCoy in "How important is Lore for you", Old Guild Wars 2 Forums (Archived)
- ^ Pastkeeper
- ^ Shadows in the Water – The Krait
- ^ a b c The Movement of the World
- ^ "Chapter 3," Sea of Sorrows by Ree Soesbee:
- They'd been twice to massive Kaineng City in Cantha, each time carrying a heavy cargo of cotton and returning with a load of silk and other goods. Cobiah loved exploring the twisted labyrinth of Kaineng City's streets and trying the strange Canthan food, but best of all was the pure freedom of being out to sea. Travel was glorious, opening his horizons to different cultures and perspectives.
- ^ Of Maelstroms
- ^ Hayato
- ^ Lieutenant Zhao
- ^ Soo-Won and the Great Wave
- ^ Temple of the Forgotten God
- ^ Research Journal
