Kurzicks Great Houses - Kormir and Balthazar

[Legion.4198]

The Kurzicks, alongside their archenemies, the Luxons, were once one of the two vassals people of the Canthan Empire. They used to be described as very devout and religious people that saw everything as a portent or divine message from the human gods and their saints. They used to be organized as a church-state and lead by the Council of Nobles and their Great Houses, each Great Houses having its own patron god and patron saints, who were usually an ancestor of that house. And while all of this may be moot given that they could have been fully absorbed into Canthan culture by GW2, I wonder how Kurzick responded to Kormir's apotheosis and, maybe, the Balthazar's fall from grace. Would Kormir's ascendance meant the rise to power of a new Great House with Kormir as their patron? Would have they been welcomed among the rest of the houses, or would they have been seen as mere upstarts and heretics by the other houses, possibly leading to a religious and political schism within the Kurzick church-state, weakening them and making them easier prey to Emperor Usoku? Could the downfall of Balthazar, assuming they are aware of it, also meant the downfall of House Vasburg as well?

[Lonami.2987]

I wrote some kind of D&D campaign a while ago, and I used House Gorhopf for Kormir. Here's my personal take on their potential backstory:

In the ancient past, the Gorhopfs were the house dedicated to Abaddon. After his downfall, House zu Heltzer (Dwayna) and House Vasburg (Balthazar) got into an argument about what had to be done with them. The zu Heltzers wanted to take over and reform their house, and the Vasburgs wanted to destroy it. The three houses clashed against each other in the Battle of Amatz Basin, where most of House Gorhopf was destroyed.

Abaddon's loyalists escaped, fading into obscurity. They would return centuries later, vowing revenge against the Kurzicks. Led by a lich named Magadore, the cultists would terrorize the Echovald Forest for the next decades. Eventually, sidhe and humans would solve their differences and work together, defeating the lich and his followers once and for all. Contrary to sidhe opinion, the scriptures found at Magadore's Lair were not destroyed, but preserved for study. During the destruction of the first Raisu Palace, the Xunlai Vaults would be assaulted by brigands and the scriptures stolen. The originals were eventually recovered, but not before duplicates were made and traded in the black market. This fatal mistake has cursed Cantha with demonic cults up to this day, including the one behind Shiro's corruption and the Jade Wind. Urgoz blamed the humans for their mistake, and the wardens of the forest haven't been friendly to outsiders since then.

The rest of House Gorhopf kept to themselves, remaining a minor house, bent on hunting down warlocks and sorcerers across Cantha, feeling responsible for the crimes of their corrupt brethren. After Kormir's ascension, the Gorhopfs reclaimed the cursed ruins of their former house, , and rebuilt it in the image of their new goddess. Their seat of power lies at the southernmost area of the Echovald Forest, south of the Rijeka Springs.

The area near the epicenter of the Jade Wind doesn't show signs of recovery, remaining petrified to this day. The Gorhopfs watch over it, vowing to preserve it as a reminder of their terrible past.

Hope you liked it! :smiley:

[The Greyhawk.9107]

First off, I'm inclined to think, until we learn otherwise, that the two factions would try to continue most of their respective cultures in secret.As for Kormir, there hasn't been any post Nightfall lore, including Winds of Change, that make any reference to any new houses. As the houses are noble bloodlines the creation of one fir the purpose of giving Kormir a house to be a patron of is probably pretty complicated.
As for Balthazar, unless the Kurzicks got some kind of divine insight they probably still have no idea. Can't say I can comment on how that would effect House Vasburg. Ror one it would kind of depend on how much influence the Six really had on any of the Kurzick Houses in the first place, as quite frankly the Six really kinda suck. They can't seem to do anything right, and instead of trying to be better they instead abandoned Humanity and the Forgotten. Anyway, they probably haven't really effected the status of any of the houses in a long time, if ever at all. But even if they did, Balthazar's fall might not necessarily have had negative repercussion on the Vasburgs, as its currently presumed that there is a replacement for Balthazar, and perhaps said replacement has continued to support that house in whatever manner they Six bother to do.

A lot of ifs there, but really it probably all we can manage right now.

[draxynnic.3719]

My gut feeling is that House Vasburg, and the Kurzicks in general, probably don't know about Balthazar's fall from grace. It'd be hilarious, though, if they not only did know, but they knew who his replacement was.

The simplest approach, from ArenaNet's perspective, would probably be to simply have House Vasburg switch from Balthazar to Kormir. While not a war goddess per se, Kormir's mortal life still makes her well suited as a patron of soldiers in the absence of a true war god.

[Weindrasi.3805]

Based on the concept art we've seen for EoD, it would appear that Kurzick culture has survived, or re-emerged, since the Empire's takeover. Here's a link to the art piece I'm referencing. Those are DEFINATELY Kurzick buildings. https://media.altchar.com/prod/images/940_530/gm-6bc6bb2d-1336-4e9e-b7c0-bb031a4d0344-kurzicks.jpg

[Fueki.4753]

@"Weindrasi.3805" said:Based on the concept art we've seen for EoD, it would appear that Kurzick culture has survived, or re-emerged, since the Empire's takeover. Here's a link to the art piece I'm referencing. Those are DEFINATELY Kurzick buildings. https://media.altchar.com/prod/images/940_530/gm-6bc6bb2d-1336-4e9e-b7c0-bb031a4d0344-kurzicks.jpg

The Kurzick (and the Luxons) have been culturally and politically absorbed into the Kaineng Empire.But that doesn't mean their structures have vanished, even though the forest gradually reverted after Shiro's second death.

It's comparable to how Spain still has Muslim buildings from back when it was ruled by Muslims during the Al-Ándalus period.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@"Weindrasi.3805" said:Based on the concept art we've seen for EoD, it would appear that Kurzick culture has survived, or re-emerged, since the Empire's takeover. Here's a link to the art piece I'm referencing. Those are DEFINATELY Kurzick buildings. https://media.altchar.com/prod/images/940_530/gm-6bc6bb2d-1336-4e9e-b7c0-bb031a4d0344-kurzicks.jpg

The Kurzick architecture surviving is not a good cause of belief for their culture surviving. Especially because those cathedrals of theirs were carved into the Echovald Forest trees. The Canthans would have to very literally deforest the entire Echovald Forest in order to remove the old Kurzick architecture, unlike with Luxons which had very temporary structural buildings.

For similar reasons, the Kaineng City slums are unlikely to have been removed in the 250 years, due to their sheer massive amounts.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@"Weindrasi.3805" said:Based on the concept art we've seen for EoD, it would appear that Kurzick culture has survived, or re-emerged, since the Empire's takeover. Here's a link to the art piece I'm referencing. Those are DEFINATELY Kurzick buildings.

https://media.altchar.com/prod/images/940_530/gm-6bc6bb2d-1336-4e9e-b7c0-bb031a4d0344-kurzicks.jpg

The Kurzick architecture surviving is not a good cause of belief for their culture surviving. Especially because those cathedrals of theirs were carved

into

the Echovald Forest trees. The Canthans would have to very literally deforest the entire Echovald Forest in order to remove the old Kurzick architecture, unlike with Luxons which had very temporary structural buildings.

For similar reasons, the Kaineng City slums are unlikely to have been removed in the 250 years, due to their sheer massive amounts.

Conversely I could totally see a lot the old slums of Kaineng collapsing in on themselves and being built over....probably with more slums.