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Sylvari and the Icebrood Saga


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Something that hasn't been broached yet but I think might merit a bit of story is whether and how Tyrians' view of Sylvari (especially the Norn and Charr) might be changing with the emergence of Jormag.

In HoT, the power of Mordremoth's "call" to the Sylvari was a major plot driver. It created a whole bunch of plot threads about whether any Sylvari could be trusted and how some were able to resist it while others heeded and became Mordrem. Laranthir and his band were kept at arms length and discriminated against, and it certainly affected our characters' interactions with Canach and Caithe. I'm not sure that those prejudices entirely cleared up even after Mordremoth's defeat; it wasn't a pressing issue in PoF, though.

Now that Jormag is using a similar type of influence on the Norn and Charr, I wonder if this will come up again - perhaps the other races will have more sympathy for what the Sylvari endured, or perhaps they will just shift to more of a belief that it is an entirely personal failing to succumb to an Elder Dragon? It would be nice if this were talked about, at least next time we see Canach and Caithe.

A tangentially related discussion point I was thinking was about Jormag's power vs. Mordremoth's. Mordy had influence in the sphere of "mind," he spoke directly to Sylvari to pull them into his command. Jormag seems to do the exact same thing though. If I had to describe the difference, I would say that it seems that Mordy uses domination - he commands, instructs, and speaks of fate and inevitability - while Jormag seduces, offering power and making it seem like you're the one getting what you want. I guess to some degree all the Elder Dragons have the ability to more-or-less willingly "turn" other creatures into their slaves (Kralk's branding it seems was entirely indefensible, while Zhaitan had to kill you first but then could control who/whatever). But is Jormag able to do this because of the blurring of dragon powers, or is this just an overlap of similar-type abilities?

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The fantastic racism was limited to the Pact and the aftermath of Trahearne grabbing the idiot ball (or maybe Mordy was influencing him?) and charging into the jungle.

I think there was one instance in S3 of an Asura calling Canach a crazy sylvari and running away but that still seemed limited to Phlunt's phlunkies working in Rata Novus. I dont recall any of that hitting the ambient world dialog at the time so I stand by the idea.

Also everyone seems to still trust Javi and can separate her and the other Vigil norn from the Sons so I doubt any fantastic racism happens beyond the normal bookah stupidity.

Also I'd be surprised if we see Canach any time soon. His v.a. is kind of expensive.

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I think this will be different because it's not a new development. Jormag has been corrupting norn since GW1 times (when Drakkar convinced Svanir that following the dragon would get him more power than Bear could offer), that's what happened to all the Sons of Svanir. For norn at least it's definitely seen as a personal failing, the popular opinion among other norn is that all those the dragon takes are stupid and gullible and really should know better.

It was a bit different with the sylvari because it was so sudden, because even sylvari who had always been determined to defeat and kill the dragons were turned relatively quickly and because until then it was thought they were immune to dragon corruption (because Zhaitan couldn't raise them and Kralkatorrik couldn't brand them), no one knew it was only because dragons can't take over each other's minions. (Incidentally it also came as a nasty shock to some sylvari that it's only dragons they're immune to and Joko could raise them as Awakened. I wonder what happened to those guys.)

Which isn't to say the way sylvari were treated during HoT was reasonable, some people massively overreacted and IMO that could use a bit more acknowledgement, but I don't think we're going to see a total re-think of attitudes because of Jormag.

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