A Guardian and a Mesmer : which from Orr, which from Vabbi ?

[EraZorus.5892]

As you can read it in the title, I have a guardian and a mesmer, both humans, and I want one to be from Orrian descent and the other to be from Vabbian descent. But I don't know which how to attribute their respective descents.

Guardian are mystical warrior monks, which would fit the orrian culture, which revolves around Faith in the Five (at the time) gods and mystical lore, but at the same time, I read in the wiki that the protective magic used by guardians originates mostly from Elona, and furthermore, firebrands are stated to be Vabbian librabrians.

On the other hand, though Vabbi worships Lyssa, the patron of mesmers, more than any other human country, and she seems to be their principal goddess, with the Festival of Lyss and all that kind of things, mirages create magical mirrors with the sand of the Crystal Desert, which ties them with the aforementioned Desert, linked to the Margonites and the fall of Abbaddon, and thus, indirectly to Orr, and the illusionary zones created by these mirrors remind me of the way Orrians do mesmer magic (i.e. Lord Kitah). But again, there is the Mirror of Lyss in Vabbi.

So my question is : with all this in mind, which of these two cultures would fit the most each profession ?

[Valmir.4590]

Well, I fought a lot of Risen Mesmer during the Orr Campaign if my memory isn't too fuzzy (I didn't replay most of it in a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery long time), which makes me think that Mesmer magic was pretty common in Orr. Which seems to fit with the refined -almost decadent- style that Orr has for me, with its magic everywhere doing every mundane things and all. I can't really see Elementalists or Necromancers being a huge part of their culture, while reffined Mesmer magic definitively could be seen as a natural fit for their tendencies.

An Orrian descendant could very well have turned into a Mesmer because it's today's school of magic which seems to fit the most with whatever was preserved of this country's now long-dead culture and history. So I would go for an Orrian Mesmer and a Vabbian Guardian.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

Guardians are a pretty late 'invention'. In Sea of Sorrows, we run into one of the first - and that was after Orr refloated again. So Orr = no guardians. But certainly Orr = elementalists.

[draxynnic.3719]

It's an interesting question.

Personally, I wouldn't put too much stock in the Path of Fire elite specialisations being linked to Elona. All of them are, apart from Renegede, so it's not really a strong indicator of anything except that both professions are present in Elona, or at least the Crystal Desert.

Mesmers seem to be fairly present in both regions. Vabbi has its historical connection with Lyssa, albeit having been somewhat washed out now by Joko's oppression. However, what we see of Orr seems to indicate a strong presence there - a lot of important persons in Orr appear to have been mesmers, and Lyssa's cathedral is one of the larger cathedrals in Arah.

Guardians, by contrast, didn't exist as we know them when Orr sank (Risen Putrifiers have Guardian-like skills, but it's hard to say whether that's indicative of anything, while mesmers are clearly present among the Risen). There are also links between the Guardian and Elona: Sea of Sorrows has the "a bundle of Elonian protective magic" line, and a sadly lost interview on the Guardian when it was stated was that it started off as a meeting of minds between Paragon refugees coming from Elona and Monks that were fed up of being everyone's focus target and wanted to develop additional martial skills.

So, given that guardians postdated the fall of Orr, and we know that they're connected to Elona, that probably points towards making your Guardian the Elonian, while the Mesmer can be the Orrian by elimination.