The Lore of Metals

[Dracyon Imperius.6309]

Hi everyone, I've recently been trying to make sense of crafting and how it would actually happen in the lore and stories. I would like to know more about how crafting actually happens in the lore, because making hypothesis based on the crafting system is, to say the absolute least, sub-optimal.

 

Whereas materials like darksteel are a bit of a headache because their exact properties are ill-defined, we have some inkling they exist, and some idea of what they are. Dragonite and Empyreal shards, however, are something I don't understand. I've seen a rather interesting theory that one is a metal relating to the crystallization of energies appropriated by elemental or draconic forces, and the other a manifestation of divine presence, however I find absolutely nothing to corroborate these theories.

 

Also, why would it be sought after and used? Bloodstone has proven capabilities when it comes to raw power. It is a hallowed material that has been a consistent part of GW lore. But we have little idea as to how it would be used in crafting, when it has been the focal point of an arms race during the three guild wars. Dragonite and Empyreal shards are woefully underexplored, in comparison, and we have no idea how they are used, save that forging them into ingots requires thermocatalytic agents, indicating that they are near-impossible to forge in their raw form using heat alone. But how much of this is canon?

 

Am I missing something in the lore? Is this something we should ask during the next dev sub-forum on lore?

[ugrakarma.9416]

Im also a bit curious about Cristallyne Ore from Dragon Stand........ in general terms I have the impression that the lore of minerals is poorly developed, in defense of Anet we can say that lore of minerals is that way in most games.

 

[Rognik.2579]

I don't think there's any direct lore related to the ascended materials at all. As I recall, when they decided to add ascended crafting to the game, they all started dropping from bosses and during certain events with little explanation.

 

As for the materials themselves, we can infer certain things. First off, it's called "dragonite **ore**", so we can probably assume it's a kind of metal. Now, the name seems to imply it's related to the dragons in some way, but whether that's because it was only found after the dragons' rising, discovered near a dragon's sleeping point, or if they somehow metamorphed a stone or metal into dragonite is unclear. I also feel that empyreal fragments are similarly ambiguous, and the living world updates haven't helped much, as they could be salvaged from petrified wood and difluorite crystals.

[Dracyon Imperius.6309]

Well, based on etymology alone, empyreal shards probably refer to a crystalline mineral with ties to an empyreal dimension, in other words probably a Mists realm. There are pretty cool hypotheses we could make, like them being minerals saturated with Mists energy, or attuned to a particular type of divine or demonic energy. However, the lack of specific sources should rule out the most simple explanation, that they are the results of rifts between Tyria and the Mists, since we know places like that and none of them are associated with Empyreal fragments. Perhaps dragonite ore and empyreal fragments are the same basic thing: metals and minerals transformed by high levels of concentrated magic for milennia. But even that can't be currently confirmed. I hope I get to ask that during the next dev AFC, as it's a simple bit of lore that could go a long way towards explaining the backstory of magical item crafting, for instance.