Castora
This article is about the region. For the achievement category, see Castora (achievements). 
“The island of Castora has been whispered about among seafarers for generations, but very few have risked the journey due to the treacherous storms and threat of the Elder Dragons. Those who dared to set sail? Well, they never made it back.
— Official short video: Visions of Eternity Lore Drop: Castora
“Folk here are hard as nails. Took the bits and pieces of our former lives and built a home. Most of us try 'n help each other out. But some ain't got a care for anything outside themselves. Do our best ta keep it civil, but it ain't easy. Castora's a beautiful place, no denyin' it... Real pretty. And real dangerous. You gotta adapt to survive. Things wasn't easy before. But now we got these Inquest folk upsettin' the balance. No respect. No remorse. Weapons like we've never seen. Buddy-buddy with our enemies. But it ain't all bad, newcomer— we've got a few tricks of our own. Just watch yourself—the deeper ya strike into Castora, the more Castora wants to strike ya back. Don't understand the power here, but there's no denyin' it. The Inquest figure it out 'fore you do... No good's gonna come of it. But if you can put a stop to 'em, and help us survive, well, you'll always have a home here.
— Castaway Westergard: Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity Launch Trailer
Castora is an enigmatic island continent[1] featured in Tyrian seafarers' stories. It is so remote that it has long been thought to be inaccessible—or even nonexistent. Castora's landscape, brimming with ancient magics, has warped the local flora and fauna in stunning ways. In 1338 AE, the Tyrian Alliance pursued the Inquest there to stop them from harnessing the island's abundant ley energy for nefarious purposes.[2][3]
The island is surrounded by a magical barrier erected by the seers, which is how the island has managed to stay protected. One of the side effects of the barrier is also the fact that it has managed to protect sylvari castaways from the Elder Dragon Mordremoth's call.[4]
Getting there[edit]
- The Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity expansion is required to access this region.
- Finishing the second Visions of Eternity story chapter Unscheduled Departures will lead to this map.
- There is a portal in Lion's Arch in Coriolis Plaza that leads to Shipwreck Strand.
Locations[edit]
- Convergence (in a future update)
Interactive map[edit]
- For every explorable map, see also: Tyria (world)#Interactive map
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
Due to being infused with ley magic, Castora served as a natural site of magical studies and the rite of divinity among the seers in the conservatories of Stellis Quor. The island continent contained a well of power which was needed to ascend seers with Ancora, a magical staff empowered by the lives of three powerful seer spellbinders.[7] The seers built many basilicas, temples, and statues across the island, treating the grounds as sacred. Castora also saw experiments on the shadowstones and early attempts at creating the Bloodstone which was inspired by the shadowstones.[8] The island ended up containing a native fey population known as the gwyl who would look after Castoran nature while tending to their fairy rings.
The seer doyen, Sidony, invited representatives from the elder races of dwarves, Forgotten, and jotun for a curated tour of specifically chosen locations and to participate in a summit but excluded the mursaat initially. Despite his caution about the mursaat, he did let them study under the finest seer arcanists and crafters in Stellis Quor. Seer knowledge helped the mursaat construct their first city of Apavim whose looks were inspired by Stellis Quor.[9][10] These collaborations would pave the way for the shortlived elder race alliance against the Elder Dragons during the previous dragonrise. At some point the seer Isgarren ascended the kodan Waiting Sorrow, who had been suffering from the Rage of Koda during the Dragonstorm caused by the Elder Dragon Jormag, in order to save her life. The act angered Sidony as he had only intended the ritual to be used on worthy seers.[11]
After the seers had chosen to step away from the conflict with the Elder Dragons and subsequently angered the mursaat who had viewed such a retreat as a betrayal, the mursaat used their shadowcraft to flee from the ravages of the Elder Dragons while the seers worked to create the Bloodstone to seal Tyria's available magic into it and force the Elder Dragons into slumber. The mursaat returned some time after the Elder Dragons had fallen into slumber, and they waged a war against the seers for thousands of years.[12] Even though some mursaat had studied in Stellis Quor, they were unable to locate and assault Castora.
Sidony punished Isgarren for ascending Waiting Sorrow by cursing and banishing him from Castora while ensuring that the entire island would repel Isgarren should he ever return. Ancora was hidden in a secret vault in Starlit Weald as a temporary measure while Sidony enslaved several native Castoran creatures such as Kela and Gwyllian to act as the island's bound seneschals to guard the seers' secrets and artifacts.[11] A marine layer consisting of the enchanted Castoran Coral, which blanketed the entire coast of the island continent, acted as additional defense.[13] The seers left Castora soon after to keep Castora's location hidden from the mursaat, raising a magical fog to hide it and lead most trespassers astray. They traveled to the Valley of Agony all the way in Janthir to assault the mursaat there without realizing that they were headed into a trap set up by the mursaat who had prepared spectral agony to wipe out the seers.[14][15][16]
Interim years[edit]
Long after the seers' demise, new Tyrian cultures flourished and began exploring the world via lengthy voyages. Stories about an enigmatic island continent spread among these seafarers; earliest known mentions of Castora appeared in Margonite sailing records from the time when this seafaring human civilization was said to have ruled the Unending Ocean.[13] Any sailors who successfully navigated past the treacherous fog and storms ultimately ended up shipwrecked due to Castora's magical and physical defenses. Castaways did their best to survive on the island but apparently perished to seneschals and the local wildlife as well as seers' animated weapons, leaving few if any clues of their civilizations before new castaways from Orr and elsewhere would end up in their position to continue the cycle. The castaways would consist not only of humans but at least asura, charr, kodan, norn, tengu, and even the new sylvari race as well as quaggans as time passed. The side effect of the island continent's magical defenses was that it also protected sylvari castaways from the Elder Dragon Mordremoth's call in 1328 AE.[4]
While at the height of his power and when Dive Master Astora was already making a name for herself as a skilled diver, Captain Weyandt possessed Agaleus, an aquabreather that was said to be able to turn its wearer into a fish or at least make them swim really well. Fearing mutiny from his greedy crew, the cunning pirate captain divided the aquabreather into several pieces and hid them in hidden corners of Tyria and even in the Mists. He managed to reach Castora intact somehow despite its many magical and monstrous defenses and hid three pieces of Agaleus across Shipwreck Strand. Some crew members, including Ryumond Lakes, mutinied and were cast off on the island as a result, while Weyandt seemingly returned home safely unlike any other people who remained stuck on Castora.[17][18]
Visions of Eternity[edit]
In 1338 AE, a group from the Inquest under the command of Director Vloxx traveled to the island of Castora in search of Ancora.
Gallery[edit]
- Screenshots
Undisturbed nature brimming with magic.
A homestead repurposed from a shipwreck on Comosus Isle.
Inquest devices littering the island.
Floating rocks and lush flora caused by abundant ley energy.
Ruins suggesting a presence of previous inhabitants.
Shipwreck remains in Shipwreck Strand at Jetsam Point.
Hullgarden, a settlement inhabited by the castaways known as Hullgardeners.
Bioluminescence in the waters of Castora.
Bioluminescence in the waters of Castora.
The Lost Basilica, a ruin of the seers.
Entrance to the Lost Basilica.
The interior of the Lost Basilica.
The landscape surrounding the Command Complex.
The Enchanting Grottoes.
Abundant flora in the Overgrown Thicket.
- Promotional materials
Teaser image showing Castora's location.
Lore Drop: Balance of Power
Lore Drop: Castora
- Map
Part of the unexplored Castora map.
Castora, titled "Arid," on a fan's map of Tyria with English labels by that_shaman.
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See also[edit]
- Associated items
External links[edit]
- Shipwreck Strand Map Flythrough | Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, YouTube.com
- Starlit Weald Map Flythrough | Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, YouTube.com
- Eternity's Garden Map Flythrough | Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity - The Only Way, YouTube.com
References[edit]
- ^ Nautical Charts of the Unending Ocean
- ^ a b Visions of Eternity product page, buy.guildwars2.com
- ^ a b Announcing Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, GuildWars2.com
- ^ a b Breezy Cay ambient dialogue
- ^ Shipwreck Strand Map Flythrough | Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, Youtube.com
- ^ Flameseeker Chronicles: Hands-on with Guild Wars 2’s Visions of Eternity, MassivelyOP.com
- ^ Path of Divinity
- Isgarren: Those who crafted Ancora sacrificed a piece of their essence to it. You are hearing all of them, all at once.
- Rytlock Brimstone: Sounds way too powerful to be tucked away on some island.
- Isgarren: Sidony thought its destruction would mark our demise. Otherwise, it would have been destroyed long ago. [...]
- Rytlock Brimstone: If Vloxx could perform the rite with just the staff, he'd have done it already. What else does he need?
- Isgarren: Deeper in the island, there's a well of immense power. It is where Ancora was crafted and where our rituals were performed.
- Isgarren: He must take Ancora to those grounds first if he wishes to perform the rite.
- ^ Path of Divinity
- Isgarren: This vault is sealed by shadowstone—ancient seer magic used to store immense power.
- Rytlock Brimstone: Like bloodstone, yeah?
- Isgarren: One inspired the other, so to say. But shadowstone is far more powerful, and more pure.
- ^ Unnamed object (seer memory fragment)
- ^ Weathered Scroll
- ^ a b Path of Divinity
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: The kodan Voice was not going to die. She was simply not ready to wield the power that stood before her.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: So, you gifted her ours. What logic guided you toward that choice?
- Echo of Isgarren: I saved her soul from Koda's claws.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: You mutilated our power to your will. Your turned the Rite of Divinity into a parlor trick.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: You betrayed us, Isgarren. And this is but the peak of your ever-building sedition. Time and time you chose yourself.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: Especially now, as the mursaat seek our blood... I cannot allow your negligence to flourish as war rages against us.
- Echo of Isgarren: Sidony, listen to reason. I have never stepped against you.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: You are too great a risk and must be struck from this place. You are not of my flock any longer.
- Echo of Isgarren: You need me.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: You are banished, Isgarren. Exiled from our people! No home. No belonging. No asylum.
- Echo of Sidony the Shadowkeeper: My seneschal will attack you. Your mind will fail you! If you touch Ancora again, your flesh will burn.
- ^ The Unseen Ones: A Primer on the Mursaat
- ^ a b Nautical Charts of the Unending Ocean
- ^ Dusty Tome
- ^ Historical Record
- ^ Worn Seer Tablet
- ^ Acquiring Agaleus
- ^ Tattered Note
