Evolution of other races

[James Orland.9786]

So, we know that last time the Dragons awoke and ate everything, Glint hid the dwarves, jotun, seers, and forgotten, while the mursaat stepped off reality. That was around 11,000 years ago. What I'm wondering is - if the Dragons destroyed everything except for those races, how did everything _else_ evolve in such a short time? 11,000 years isn't enough for several sapient species (krait giants quaggan norn asura charr centaurs...) to evolve. Where'd they come from?

[Aaron Ansari.1604]

Best we can currently tell, it's because they _didn't_ manage to destroy everything. The kodan, the tengu, and maybe the charr or the krait all seem to have cultural memories of the last dragonrise- the kodan legends of [Jormag's last rise](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Kodan_Snowcaller) and [the 'elder' races](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Enduring_Icicle), [Genzhou's cryptic hints](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Genzhou_Talonrend), the charr stories about the [Giganticus Lupicus](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Myths_and_Legends_of_Ancient_Ascalon), the krait's [supposed prophets](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shadows_in_the_Water_%E2%80%93_The_Krait). And if those managed to remember, other races probably made it through who didn't, like the dwarves- be it due to their civilizations being so ravaged that they lost the means to remember across generations, or simply the long grind of time in between. The gap might not be long enough for strictly biological developments, but it's almost an eternity for cultural ones- 11,000 years ago in real life, we barely had domesticated crops, and we were thousands of years away from writing systems.

 

That's just one theory, though, even if it has the most evidence pointing towards it at this point. Others I've seen are that a world with magic and/or the Mists might accelerate evolution, or that, like the humans, other races might be transplants from other worlds.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

There's also the djinn and karka, who were both [around when the world was emptier and the continents were a different shape](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Lost_Shores/Phase_1/dialogue#Dialogue_with_Miyani), which was the last time the karka were forced to the surface - the wording, and lore around why they're now on the surface again, heavily hints that said time was the previous dragonrise.

 

And if Thrulnn the Lost's supposed "Age of Giants" is any indication, as well as the ogre's confirmed relation to jotun, then the ogres and various giants also survived the previous dragonrise.

 

There's also the probability that more than just humanity were brought by the Six Gods - if they terraformed the world per charr legends and [not-so-subtle hints](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Orrian_History_Scrolls#The_Six) in human records, then it's probable that said terraforming included bringing more species from the Mists (or made out of scratch like true gods of ancient myths) to the world.

 

As an aside, while the Durmand Priory, star records, and mursaat records do indicate that the last dragonrise was 11,000 years ago, dwarven and forgotten records (and Glint herself) indicate that it was only 3,000 years ago. Which would further indicate that there simply wouldn't be enough time for evolution to play a truly sizable role, even with magical enhancement (which is heavily hinted to accelerate evolution [as it is](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Unnatural_Growths)).

[mercury ranique.2170]

short version: Magic.

Long version. We even have some races who where not around 250 years ago. The evolution on earth happens slowly cause the world changes slowly. However, when chance comes quicker, so does evolution. A famous example is a butterfly that lives around Birches. It is originally a white butterfly living on the white birches. But then the industrialisation came, turning all birches black from polution. In a matter of years, this butterfly became black as well. Now we have cleaner air again, they once again turn white. So a strong impact in our environment means evolution speeds up. The biggest impact we have seen in Tyria is the introduction of magic. It really escalates evolution as it impacts all layers of society.

[Oglaf.1074]

Magic indeed. Tyria isn’t fueled by natural evolution like earth. Like, the Norns aren’t simply tall humans but actually magical beings through and through.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

> @"mercury ranique.2170" said:

> short version: Magic.

> Long version. We even have some races who where not around 250 years ago.

 

Which race is this? Every race that is in GW2 that wasn't in GW1 is given the excuse of "migrated into the region", with the exception of some wildlife like colocals and pinipals that are simply never talked about.

 

Kodan, quaggan, karka, largos, choya, ogres, skimmers, etc. - these all come from regions that were unexplored in GW1 (even if the areas were small).

 

While I would agree with "magic hastens evolution" theory, it doesn't create races out of nothing in 250 years.

 

And some of the more drastic redesigns is less lore evolution and more artistic changes (e.g., giants redesign).

[Narcemus.1348]

> @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:

> > @"mercury ranique.2170" said:

> > short version: Magic.

> > Long version. We even have some races who where not around 250 years ago.

>

> Which race is this? Every race that is in GW2 that wasn't in GW1 is given the excuse of "migrated into the region", with the exception of some wildlife like colocals and pinipals that are simply never talked about.

>

> Kodan, quaggan, karka, largos, choya, ogres, skimmers, etc. - these all come from regions that were unexplored in GW1 (even if the areas were small).

>

> While I would agree with "magic hastens evolution" theory, it doesn't create races out of nothing in 250 years.

>

> And some of the more drastic redesigns is less lore evolution and more artistic changes (e.g., giants redesign).

 

My guess would be that he is talking about Sylvari. Which is a special circumstance and has nothing to.do with evolution.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

> @"Narcemus.1348" said:

> My guess would be that he is talking about Sylvari. Which is a special circumstance and has nothing to.do with evolution.

 

Well if you want to get technical, "icebrood", "destroyers", "branded", and "mordrem/sylvari" were all in GW1. In the form of Svanir/Drakkar, Destroyers, Glint/Crystal Guardians/Facets/Crystal Spiders, and the Pale Tree. And while newer to lore, they would have existed millennia ago too by their placement.

[Narcemus.1348]

I didn't say he was right! Just that it would be my guess ;)