Biology
Sylvari biology is very different from any other race.
They do not have internal organs, but instead are formed of growing
plant matter, sap for blood, leaves and bark for skin. A jaw, for
example, can be formed by leaves, vines, or even shards of bark that
grow and press together to form the silhouette, but if you look closely
you can still see the fibers and holes of the structure. Instead of
bones, an arm is a mass of tightly-woven stems and leaves that work
together to do the work of such a limb.
Many scholars hypothesize
as to why the sylvari look human-like at all instead of having a
monstrous form, such as other “vegetable” races possess. Some suggest
that the Pale Tree saw mostly humans during her youth. Individuals such
as Ronan, who planted the seed, and others around the Pale Tree may have
been physical role models for her eventual children. A popular asura
theory is that the Pale Tree was planted on the graves of Ronan’s
daughter and his ruined village, d3 gold
and their ”discorporate mass” was absorbed into the ground. The Pale
Tree took nourishment from that soil, and therefore, the sylvari are
predisposed to be shaped in a humanoid manner.
Sylvari do sleep,
and they can eat both meat and vegetables. They drink, as other races
do, and they get tipsy on alcoholic beverages. They gain enjoyment from
sitting in the sunlight—and it invigorates them—but can’t live on it as
plants do. Their blood is a sticky sap, and though they can bleed, they
do not have blood pressure or a pulse.
No one knows how long the
sylvari live. The oldest of their race are the firstborn, all of whom
awakened twenty-five years ago. Sylvari show little signs of growing
old, and none have yet died of advanced age. Physically, sylvari are
male or female, and the relevant external biology is accurate on both,
but they cannot sexually reproduce as the other races do; they have no
internal organs capable of diablo 3 gold creating children. Whether they have their own methods of reproduction outside of the Pale Tree has yet to be seen.
Sylvari
grow their armor and much of their clothing. Their bodies create
petal-like coverings, vines, and leaves that they shape into pleasing
garments. When they wish to remove the garments, they simply shed their
petal clothing as a human might cut their hair. Some sylvari wear armor
made by other races or weave clothing in a more traditional manner, just
out of preference. As an adopted custom, they cover themselves as
humans do, concealing certain portions of their anatomy where it seems
culturally appropriate.
Cadeyrn stood high on a limb in the center
of the Grove, listening to the stillness of night. Crickets chirruped
here and there, and night birds uttered lonesome cries, each calling to
their own, even as he called to something greater than himself.
“Mother,” Cadeyrn murmured, raising his hands in gentle supplication. buy d3 gold “I need you.”
The
wind soothed the leaves at the top of the Pale Tree, and Cadeyrn felt
her presence. Softly, the Mother murmured, “Son of my bough, what do you
seek?”
“Wisdom.” Tears touched his eyes, and he rubbed them
roughly with the back of his hand. “I see the evil in the world; I am
told to fight it, but the lessons of the tablet shackle me. They prevent
me from doing what is right. We put down our weapons when we should go
to the slaughter. We turn away from vengeance when we are wronged, even
though our spirits cry out for it. We do not take what we desire, or
kill whatever we wish, or use our strength to force the world to hear
us! These things are within us when we awaken. Why do we turn away from
those impulses? Why do we do not follow our instincts? Always, we
justify our actions with this tablet. Why do we not do whatever we
want?”
The Pale Tree rustled softly. “The most effective path is not always the best one, sapling. gw2 gold As the firstborn have done, you must strive to be good.”
The words stung. “Who defines ‘good?’ You? Ventari? Some dead human?” Cadeyrn retorted. “The firstborn are not perfect.”
The
Pale Tree paused, and for a while, Cadeyrn thought she might not reply.
Mist had risen upon the nearby brook before she spoke again.
“Would
you do evil in my name?” The Pale Tree sighed. “Would you cause
devastation, as the charr do? Or justify wickedness in the name of
knowledge, as the asura do? No, Cadeyrn. We come into this world to
destroy the dragons. We must not lose ourselves in that challenge.”
“Have
we not already lost ourselves, Mother? We are not centaurs or humans.
Let me destroy the tablet, and we will see what it truly means to be
sylvari.” There was no answer. As dawn rose and bathed the clearing in
gold, Cadeyrn realized that the tree would say no more.
“She will not hear you.” The quiet voice was feminine, but it was not the tree who spoke. Spinning, Cadeyrn guild wars 2 gold
readied himself for battle but froze when he saw Caithe, cold and
still, standing in the last shadows of night. “She will not hear you,”
Caithe repeated.
“I am the first of my generation—” he began, raising his voice in argument.
Caithe
shrugged and interrupted, “Why should she care? She has thousands of
children now, Cadeyrn. You are either firstborn…or you are simply
sylvari.”
A storm gathered upon his features. “I will never be one
among many, Caithe. Not even to the Pale Tree,” he vowed, storming
away. “I will make you hear me, Mother, like it or not. When I am
finished and you are free at last, then I will be first in your heart!”
Caithe lingered in silence and watched him go.
The Nightmare Court
“A true sylvari should have two hearts: one soft and pliable as hot
wax, and the other as hard and impenetrable as an icy diamond. The
first, he should show to his companions, the second, to his enemy. Woe
to the one for whom the two are the same.”—Dagonet
The Nightmare Court buy wow gold
are sylvari who embrace the darkest parts of their nature, relishing a
terrifying nightmare that contains as much horror as the Dream holds
inspiration. Their dark vigils are things of legend, filled with
depravity, twisted courtliness, and sadistic tournaments that pervert
sylvari chivalry. Their greatest ambition: to turn the Pale Tree to
nightmare.
These sylvari reject the teachings of Ventari’s tablet
and claim that the influence of outside races perverted the true nature
of the Pale Tree and the sylvari. They seek the shadow within the Dream,
turn away from what they deem false morality, and explore the darker
side of their personality. Cold, cruel, and without mercy, they see
themselves as true sylvari, untainted by the influence of Ronan,
Ventari, and the lessons of the tablet. They consider it to be their
noble purpose to bring others of their race away from that forced
behavior and into darkness.
With each act of cruelty and evil,
they add more nightmares to the tree and hope, one day, to change the
balance, turning the Mother to their side. Certainly, as the tree
gathers emotions and memories, she draws from the Nightmare Court as
well as their kinder brethren, and her pool of memories swells with both
dark and light thoughts. The Nightmare Court believe that, if they can
propagate more dark emotions, the pool will become more and more touched
by nightmare, and new sylvari will tend away from the ethics that were
forced upon them by Ventari and his followers.
In order to achieve
this goal, the Nightmare Court commit acts of evil both upon sylvari
and non-sylvari alike. When their own emotions become too jaded to be
likely gathered into the tree, they rely on harming and tormenting other
sylvari and giving them memories, horrible emotions, and other traumas
in the hope that those memories will be sharp enough to be gathered. The
more awful their crimes, the more likely it is that the Pale Tree will
carry the memory into her well of emotions, passing those inclinations
on to her next generation.
