Was it really Kormir's protection? (Spoilers)

In Sun's Refuge you're protected from the brand and its attributed to Kormir and bedrock. But before it was even discovered by the sunspears it was a shrine to Melandru, and still has a hidden chest room with her statue.

Realized earlier that there's another area that reminds me of this.... the Secluded Glen in Fields of Ruin. The brand passes right through that area but this one little area with a tree and a "traveling priestess" is untouched by the brand. The only npc chatter from the priestess relates to the dagger of Khan-ur so there isn't anything depicting her as a priestess of Melandru specifically.

It's also interesting that Melandru, and perhaps all gods have a similar capability, but Melandru's shrine in Siren's Landing is the area with the most regrowth. Does Melandru specifically have some innate ability to purify dragon corruption or protect against it?

The only direct interaction I can recall between a god and elder dragon minions or elder dragons is Balthazar, and he used a divine fire to wipe out destroyers pretty easily.

Or is the hinted explanation for the lack of brand in Secluded Glen that it's somehow influenced by Mordemoth or at the very least the Sylvari buried there?

Secluded Glen is where Killeen, a sylvari necromancer, was buried in the novel Ghosts of Ascalon. She was buried outside of the Dragonbrand from the get go. There's no "fighting the brand" there.

Also, Balthazar didn't wipe out any destroyers - what killed the destroyers was exposure to Jormag's magic, not Balthazar's fire.

Balthazar also faught along side you and killed destroyers when Aurene hatched, using spectral smite and so forth. He had a good amount of power even then.

@Tyson.5160 said:Balthazar also faught along side you and killed destroyers when Aurene hatched, using spectral smite and so forth. He had a good amount of power even then.

That was after absorbing the bloodstone explosion wasn't it?

@Eekasqueak.7850 said:

@Tyson.5160 said:Balthazar also faught along side you and killed destroyers when Aurene hatched, using spectral smite and so forth. He had a good amount of power even then.

Yeah.

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Secluded Glen is where Killeen, a sylvari necromancer, was buried in the novel Ghosts of Ascalon. She was buried outside of the Dragonbrand from the get go. There's no "fighting the brand" there.

Also, Balthazar didn't wipe out any destroyers - what killed the destroyers was exposure to Jormag's magic, not Balthazar's fire.

Isn't secluded glen quite literally in the middle of the brand?

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/1/12/Ascalon_map.jpg

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/d/db/Fields_of_Ruin_map.jpg

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Secluded Glen is where Killeen, a sylvari necromancer, was buried in the novel Ghosts of Ascalon. She was buried outside of the Dragonbrand from the get go. There's no "fighting the brand" there.

Also, Balthazar didn't wipe out any destroyers - what killed the destroyers was exposure to Jormag's magic, not Balthazar's fire.

Wasn’t one of the supposed clues that Laz was Balth due to the debuff icon listing the fire that killed the destroyers as “divine fire?”

And Secluded Glen is in the middle of the brand. So something kept that area safe despite not being in a deep cave.

@kasoki.5180 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Secluded Glen is where Killeen, a sylvari necromancer, was buried in the novel Ghosts of Ascalon. She was buried outside of the Dragonbrand from the get go. There's no "fighting the brand" there.

Also, Balthazar didn't wipe out any destroyers - what killed the destroyers was exposure to Jormag's magic, not Balthazar's fire.

The fuzzed out areas aren't always canon to what they appear to represent. The Brand kinda swerves a bit round that area so to have it clear of corruption is entirely plausible

It is also possible that the brand has attempted to expand around the Secluded Glen but has not succeeded in claiming this area. It makes me think about the Vabbian Sunspear Sanctuary which is in the middle of the brainstorm and yet not affected. And at the center is a woman that Kormir protected. We also cannot forget that Balthazar is said to have come into Tyria and used fire to basically clean the slate in Orr. I'm not sure how the secluded glen has stayed free of corruption, but it is an interesting topic of conversation.

I'm willing to go with the idea that faith and hope are powerful things, and leave it at that. Regardless of which deities or powers may have been involved.

@"kasoki.5180" said:Isn't secluded glen quite literally in the middle of the brand?

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/1/12/Ascalon_map.jpg

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/d/db/Fields_of_Ruin_map.jpg

@"cptaylor.2670" said:And Secluded Glen is in the middle of the brand. So something kept that area safe despite not being in a deep cave.

I would blame this on ArenaNet adding it to the zone after feedback from players but not updating the world map (which isn't always exact anyways) to reflect this.

In the novel, where they buried Killeen is explicitly stated to be on the western edge of the Dragonbrand, not inside of it.

And I mean, if we're going on inconsistencies, they went from where they buried Killeen towards the Ascalon Basin. So there should be a path to Plains of Ashford right there.

@"cptaylor.2670" said:Wasn’t one of the supposed clues that Laz was Balth due to the debuff icon listing the fire that killed the destroyers as “divine fire?”

I thought you were talking about the scene in Flashpoint where the Commander is surrounded by destroyers which get wiped out in the OP. "Lazarus's" power wasn't doing too much against the destroyers in Rising Flame, though. Not to the point where I'd say they were especially weak to his fire.

The Spectral Smite was supposedly one of the few hints that it was Balthazar though as was his using fire and not air magic (which completely ignores the fact that elementalists like Lazarus could use multiple elements...) and that one White Mantle dude serving Caudecus wielding a Balthazar Shield.