http://www.arena.net/blog/the-sylvari-soul
The Sylvari Soul Angel McCoy on Writing the Sylvari
My name is Angel Leigh McCoy, and Im one of several writers on the Guild Wars 2 design team. Weve been molding Tyria into a living, breathing world, and Im here to share some audio clips of in-game dialogue and give you some insight into the sylvari, Tyrias newest race.
Sylvari Basics
All the races of Guild Wars 2 are fun to write, but sylvari rank in the top three for me. I love how their virtue blends with their innocence and then contrasts with the darkness of the world surrounding them. This disparity illuminates the sacrifices, gallantry, and tragedies of Tyrias war with the dragons.
Remarkably, the sylvari race didnt come into existence until 25 years ago (in game years) when the twelve firstborn awoke. Since then, new sylvari have continued to awaken on a regular basis, their numbers growing as time advances.
Sylvari arrive in the world fully grown. They emerge from pods that grow on the Pale Tree: a magical, sentient tree with its roots deep in Tyria and its branches in the Dream. They leave the Dreama mystical place where sylvari memories are collectedand incubate in their pods, then emerge into the world. They bring with them a spectators understanding of how the world works, having witnessed aspects of it while in the Dream. Their first few days in the world are critical, and theyre met by mentors and other newly awakened who help them find their way.
In this series of scenes, a male sylvari attempts to explain his awakening to a female norn. Listen in:
Designing Sylvari from Scratch
The sylvari have evolved a great deal over the years. When first designed, they looked like gnarled, wooden figures. The next concept art iteration resembled children. We didnt want child warriors going into battle, so we matured their look. Sylvari were also telepathic in the early days, but we quickly realized how much of a game-mechanic and story nightmare that would be, so we trimmed back their telepathy, making it empathy instead. It suited them better.
The writing team, led by Bobby Stein, along with world designers Ree Soesbee and Jeff Grubb, spent many hours discussing the sylvari, what their lives would be like, and how they would act. We took those discussions and molded the everyday sylvari that you pass in the streets of Divinitys Reach or elsewhere in the world.
Some of the questions we asked ourselves included:
What are the first few weeks of a sylvaris life like?
The first few weeks are an exercise in overcoming disorientation. Fortunately, newly awakened sylvari have a lot of help adjusting.
Sylvari dont have brothers, sisters, parents, or any other familial connections. How does this affect how they bond with others?
They get to choose their families! The honorable sylvari can be extremely loyal once a bond has been created with another being. Sylvari also have strong racial attachments, not just because of the empathic links that connect them, but because only other members of their own race can understand what its like to be sylvari. These ties may be strengthened by shared experience or ultimately weakened, like distant cousins you only see on holidays.
Do sylvari have romantic relationships?
Sylvari fall in and out of love, just like other races do. They have a romanticized view of devotion, and theyre curious about passion in all its forms. There are male and female sylvari, but none has ever produced a child as other races do. Because of this, traditional human-style gender roles have no meaning to sylvari, either in their society or in their romantic relationships. Often, a sylvaris ardor is expressed with courtly zealemotional, empathic, personaland is not necessarily defined by gender.
Are sylvari naive?
Sylvari may be naive when they first leave the pod, but they dont stay that way for long. They learn their lessons well, especially if the lessons come with lumps, thumps, or broken hearts.
Since they awaken fully grown, do they have an understanding of what its like to be a child?
No. They have never been children. Those small beingsminiature versions of the adultswho are so well protected, are alien to sylvari. Many are terrified at the thought of being born so vulnerable.
As a group, we pondered these questions and many more until we came up with a race that felt fleshed out. We then tried different approaches to sylvari dialogue. During this process, we identified several personality keystones that defined our sylvari voice.
Sylvari Keystone #1: Honor
A sylvaris honor gives her a sense of propriety that the youth of other races do not have. In many ways, they are like the Arthurian knights (without the gender bias). They take their duties seriously, and they live by a personal code. Their justice system involves duels, and when duels no longer satisfy, then the wisdom of an elder sylvari prevails. While evil sylvari do exist, most stand up for what is right, and even those who succumb to nightmare have a hatred for the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and the horrors of Orr. Listen in:
Love Lost
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Sylvari Keystone #2: Curiosity
The sylvari race is less than 25 years old, and most sylvari are younger than 20. When they come into the world, they have already seen much via the Dream, but they have experienced none of it themselves. For this reason, a sylvari may express surprise, joy, and even awe at the sight of something that most of Tyrias citizens would consider mundane.
However, sylvari are not childlike creatures who see a miracle in every blade of grass. They have an active sense of wonder but are not naive. They were born in a world at war and their own home, the Grove, suffers constant assault. They learn quickly that people deceive, that death is painful, and that evil exists. Despite this, theyre driven to go out into the world, to help others, to right wrongs, and perhaps, one day, to banish evil in all its forms. Listen in:
Sylvari Keystone #3: Empathy
As progeny of the Pale Tree, sylvari have a special connection with plants. They can often empathize with flora, even possessing certain magical abilities that allow them to grow plants into useful items such as walls, armor, and weaponry.
Being a form of sentient plant life, they can sometimes feel another sylvaris emotions if the emotion is strong enough. They dont get any information other than the feeling itself, but its something that connects all sylvari and gives them a sense of belonging. Listen in:
Citizens Roaming
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Sylvari Keystone #4: The Dream
Sylvari exist in the Dream of Dreams prior to awakening. While in this womb, they draw nourishment from their mother, the Pale Tree, and along with that nourishment, they receive knowledge of the world. The Pale Tree collects her knowledge from awakened sylvari. She gathers memories of their experiences like a mystical net collecting leaves from a stream. The more intense or emotional an experience, the more likely the memory of it will reach the Pale Trees consciousness and eventually seep into the Dream where unawakened sylvari may witness it. Powerful as this is, the Pale Tree doesnt see every moment of every sylvari life, and she is not omniscient.
Furthermore, not all sylvari see the same Dream visions, so everyone awakens with a unique foundation of worldly knowledge. The Dream may reveal clues that foretell the sylvaris profession and talents. It may reveal historical events that will impact the sylvaris personality and future choices. It may reveal knowledge of everyday life, both in sylvari society and among other races. They see many things about Tyria and are thus ready to begin living when they awaken fully grown and leave the Pale Tree.
A small percentage of awakened sylvari eventually receive a calling to the Wyld Hunt. Their first hints of this may have appeared in the Dream prior to their awakening, though few would recognize it as such. A sylvari called to the Wyld Hunt has an especially important purpose and is dubbed a Wyld Hunt valiant. Great responsibility comes with the Wyld Hunt, as does great opportunity. Most sylvari take this so seriously that they would die in service to this quest. Each sylvaris Wyld Hunt is unique. Listen in:
Arching Boughs
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Sylvari Keystone #5: Philosophy
When the first sylvari awakened at the base of the Pale Tree, they found a stone tabletthe Ventari Tabletcarved with seven tenets to live by. It was written by Ventari, a wise centaur who lived hundreds of years before the first sylvari was born. The sylvari have embraced these tenets as one would embrace the words of a prophet. They discuss their meanings and have deep philosophical exchanges about the nature of life, love, and honor. Listen in:
Diversity
The sylvari have personalities built of complex emotions, quirks, and goals. They have quickly become just as complicated and nuanced as our other races. You wont find anything cookie-cutter or cardboard about any of them, and our in-game dialogue gives us the chance to express the sylvari in all their colors, shapes, and sizes.
Was kind of expecting this but still cool to know they havent changed this low spec approach.
