[spaceman236]

I'm really sorry if there is a thread for this, i tried looking but couldn't find anything good.

So far i know there isn't lot of info known about them?
I only know that they live on giant iceberg's and that they are social (multiple kodan fighting the monster in the concept art)

Now did i miss something? Do you guys know more about them?

[Konig Des Todes]

They come from the "Arctic Seas" and were pushed south by Jormag and his forces. Their icebergs are called "Sanctuaries." It is suspected in-universe by scholars that they and norn hold a similar ancestry.

But no, not a lot of information about them.

[spaceman236]

similar ancestry?
how are they gonna do that? (im sorry for the language, but i dont know how to say this any different) what were they thinking? comon! lets hump a polar bear and see what comes out?

and we never saw the kodan, that means they had to be north of the norn. wouldnt it be easier to assume that they will travel more north away from jormag instead of south coming past him?

[BrettM]

spaceman236 said:

similar ancestry?
how are they gonna do that?

Suppose that one day a certain group of ancient norn decided to transform into polar bears and stay that way. Forever. That group became the kodan. The rest went on to become the norn we met in EotN. That is one way of explaining how they could be of similar ancestry without any bestiality being involved.

[SweetZoid]

or the kodan are polarbears

[captainnl]

SweetZoid said:

or the kodan are polarbears

Which immediately explains what their shared ancestry is with the Norn..

BrettM's way of explaining it sounds very possible. Another way could be to say that the roots of both races go all the way back to the first Norn and Kodan worshipping the spirit Bear together.

Edited by captainnl, 07 August 2010 - 09:32 PM.

[Ambitious]

Off topic a bit, but is it possible the norn are the magical ancestors of the Giganticus Lupicus?

[spaceman236]

that would be a nice guess... maybe that could be true... but what forced them to negate eachother during EOTN... U don't see them in GWEN so something must have happend...
maybe they are some religious group who are so fanatical that the norn distinct themself from them, and they decide to team up cause the danger is to big...
(ok... this theory is going nowhere... Norn don't team up)

Edit:

Ambitious said:

Off topic a bit, but is it possible the norn are the magical ancestors of the Giganticus Lupicus?

there is a part of a thread going about that topic... something with history of the norn, it's in the lore forum)

[HawkofStorms]

Or the Norn are Kodan who choose to shapeshift into humans. Whose to say that the humanoid form of the ancestral Norn is their "true" form.

[Saul Spotter]

spaceman236 said:

and we never saw the kodan, that means they had to be north of the norn. wouldnt it be easier to assume that they will travel more north away from jormag instead of south coming past him?

Unless the Eye of the North is the actual north pole, and Jormag was heading south into lands on the opposite side of Tyria. Then, they'd just be traveling east or west to avoid the dragon. That is assuming of course, that Tyria resides on a sphere shaped world.

[Amannelle]

Saul Spotter said:

Unless the Eye of the North is the actual north pole, and Jormag was heading south into lands on the opposite side of Tyria. Then, they'd just be traveling east or west to avoid the dragon. That is assuming of course, that Tyria resides on a sphere shaped world.

But weren't there trees around the eye of the north?

[Crow Clown]

it is SPECULATED that they are related to the Norn. I think the Kodan are what they are. Living in close relation with the Norn might have affected their Culture. Or it might and is probably the other way round. Because the Norn are closely related to Humans. Meaning they moved north in some time and evolved into a greater size to suit their environment and Embracing the Animal spirits. If they are related. I think The Norn split in two. One group (the modern Norn) decided to choose many totems while the Other norn (the present day Kodan) where Originally Norn that chose one totem and they were permanently transformed into the Polar bear-Humanoid. A very long time ago

Quote

Although they share several similarities to the norn (and indeed, it is speculated by some scholars that they share a common ancestry), they are not known to have any connection to the fighting species.

Edited by Crow Clown, 07 August 2010 - 10:46 PM.

[Konig Des Todes]

spaceman236 said:

and we never saw the kodan, that means they had to be north of the norn. wouldnt it be easier to assume that they will travel more north away from jormag instead of south coming past him?

This would indeed seem more likely... But considering they retcon'd the Shiverpeaks to make room for the kodan (and added that Frostgorge Sound). I doubt they're gonna take icebergs across lands, so, it may be they weren't in the poles.

BrettM said:

Suppose that one day a certain group of ancient norn decided to transform into polar bears and stay that way. Forever. That group became the kodan. The rest went on to become the norn we met in EotN. That is one way of explaining how they could be of similar ancestry without any bestiality being involved.

That has always been my thought. And that norn are descended from humans. Yes, that would make kodan descendants of humans.

That, or the speculations are not true.

Ambitious said:

Off topic a bit, but is it possible the norn are the magical ancestors of the Giganticus Lupicus?

I find this incredibly unlikely. The Elder Dragons and even Glint are more likely to be connected to the giganticus lupicus than the norn are.

[Saul Spotter]

Amannelle said:

But weren't there trees around the eye of the north?

Their planet might not be as cold as ours. Or the magical energies from the structure might have made it warm enough for those plants to grow.

[Amannelle]

Saul Spotter said:

Their planet might not be as cold as ours. Or the magical energies from the structure might have made it warm enough for those plants to grow.

True, those are both good possibilities. :)

[spaceman236]

remember that snow never fell into the eye... maybe the structure itself generates some warmth?

On topic again: wasn't it stated by anet that kodan are no norn? That they were a seperate race? Cause if so, I dont think that the kodan are norn in a permanent animal form :s

[Crow Clown]

spaceman236 said:

remember that snow never fell into the eye... maybe the structure itself generates some warmth?

On topic again: wasn't it stated by anet that kodan are no norn? That they were a seperate race? Cause if so, I dont think that the kodan are norn in a permanent animal form :s

dude. That's what I said. The second part was a explenation if they were related through ancestory(Like people on this thread have sudgested). It is not impossible though. Take Humans and monkeys for example. Evolution.

Edited by Crow Clown, 08 August 2010 - 09:11 AM.

[spaceman236]

but humans and monkeys are say what... half a million year old )i really dont know :$)
the world of tyria is just a few thousand years old as far as i know. the first socialized race were the forgotten in 1769 BE the world of tyria now is somewhere near 1400-1500AE i tought... there is no way that a race can eveolve that much in 3000 years i think...

[captainnl]

spaceman236 said:

there is no way that a race can eveolve that much in 3000 years i think...

We took less to get from monkey to slightly more evolved monkeys, so it seems very possible to me.

[Crow Clown]

I'm still gona go with my Kodan came from diffirent side of the planet and Affected Norn Culture that's why there are simmilarities as my first explenation and the above arguement for my second.

Now Kodan history. Anet threw Kodan in our face and said here you go another race. absolutely nothing was said about them before GW2 nothing in the histroy of Tyria. So I think they are not from Tyria. Sailing in northern shiverpeaks is like sailing in a lake SO they must be moving to another continent aswell. Maybe some of this continetn we bill revieled in a Expansion to do with defeating Jormag Because Elona is proerbly going to have a Expansion that defeats Kralka and Palawa then Cantha is overthrowing the Emperor and defeating DSD Which leaves Primordus and Jormag Jormag will be EoTN type expansion and Primordus will be a Utopia type Expansion. Utopia was never a Guild wars 1 campaign or Expansion maybe they will try again this time

[spaceman236]

will they plan so far in advance?
that must mean that they have suitable plans for 4 expansions :O
it also means that were gonna hear nothing of the kodan for 4 expansions... thery dont live in cantha or elona so would anet just "ditch" a race in the middle of tyria, make it dissapear for a while without any good reason?

[draxynnic]

Regarding the Kodan - it's been expressly stated by ANet that when one of their concept artists came up with the idea of humanoid polar bears that lived on icebergs, they decided it was cool enough to be worth making a minor retcon to make room for it. That's why we don't hear of them in EOTN, but in GW2 I suspect it's going to turn out that there was always a massive inland lake (shown in the Ghosts of AScalon map) in the Shiverpeaks between the dwarven and Norn territories.

HawkofStorms said:

Or the Norn are Kodan who choose to shapeshift into humans. Whose to say that the humanoid form of the ancestral Norn is their "true" form.

Interesting theory, but given that it's the humanoid form that they revert into, it's probably reasonable to conclude this is their true form...at least now.

[Konig Des Todes]

spaceman236 said:

wasn't it stated by anet that kodan are no norn? That they were a seperate race? Cause if so, I dont think that the kodan are norn in a permanent animal form :s

Being a different race does not disclude the possibility of having similar ancestry.

Now, if their ancestry is in the form of being norn permanently in bear form, could it not be possible that the permanentness of being in bear form caused them to become a different race?

spaceman236 said:

but humans and monkeys are say what... half a million year old )i really dont know :$)
the world of tyria is just a few thousand years old as far as i know. the first socialized race were the forgotten in 1769 BE the world of tyria now is somewhere near 1400-1500AE i tought... there is no way that a race can eveolve that much in 3000 years i think...

How do we know how old the norn are?

The forgotten are not said to be the first civilized race and we know that the dwarves, mursaat, and seers - perhaps the charr as well - are all older than the Six Gods; and in turn, they are older than humanity and most likely older than the forgotten.

And you don't necessarily need 3,000 years for this situation between the norn and the kodan, you just need a handful of generations where even in the second generation the form could be permanent and thus mean a separate race. In other words, the utilization of magic could easily offset the evolutionary process - or rather speed it up.

Crow Clown said:

Now Kodan history. Anet threw Kodan in our face and said here you go another race. absolutely nothing was said about them before GW2 nothing in the histroy of Tyria. So I think they are not from Tyria. Sailing in northern shiverpeaks is like sailing in a lake SO they must be moving to another continent aswell.

Uhm, yeah. Nothing was said of the hylek, quaggon, krait, ogres, norn, jotun, asura, skritt - hell, nothing was said about half the races in Tyria during Prophecies.

What's important is that they go into the past of the race after introducing them.

[spaceman236]

Konig Des Todes said:

Now, if their ancestry is in the form of being norn permanently in bear form, could it not be possible that the permanentness of being in bear form caused them to become a different race?

that might well be the best explanation...

Konig Des Todes said:

The forgotten are not said to be the first civilized race and we know that the dwarves, mursaat, and seers - perhaps the charr as well - are all older than the Six Gods; and in turn, they are older than humanity and most likely older than the forgotten.

I found this on the wiki...http://wiki.guildwar...i/Tyria_(world)

Quote

The earliest mention of a civilized race on Tyrian soil is mentioned in 1769 BE. They were the Forgotten, a race of upright serpents, who were summoned from another world from across the Mists by the gods to protect the races of the world while the gods shaped the planet to their liking.

so either one of you is wrong ;)

[Konig Des Todes]

The article hasn't been updated. Notice the tag at the top.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Lore That's more updated. But the information of the forgotten come from this: http://wiki.guildwar...istory_of_Tyria

This is, quite literally, what we have that the line you mean comes from:

Quote

It was almost three thousand years ago that a race of serpents stepped out of the Rift onto the soil of Tyria. Unlike ordinary serpents, these moved upright, used language, and adhered to an elaborate culture. They had been summoned by the old gods, brought to this world to be the custodians. Their task: shepherd the other creatures of the land through this time of transition, while the gods continued to create the world around them.

[spaceman236]

i was thinking of something else... what if the kodan are a new race, just like the sylvari?
or isnt that possible?

[Konig Des Todes]

It's probable. But I find it unlikely, as it is implied they have ancestry. And I don't see how/where the Kodan would just "sprout" from (for lack of a better word).

[Saul Spotter]

Perhaps, the Bear spirit the Norn revere was once a powerful Kodan ancestor. The other spirits were from similar species that died out.

[Amannelle]

spaceman236 said:

i was thinking of something else... what if the kodan are a new race, just like the sylvari?
or isnt that possible?

Well, I think they confirmed that the 5 races are the only playable races we'll have for the base game of GW2... but we could always get more races in Expansions.

You see, I'm pretty sure they said they wont be adding any professions in expansions, due to balancing reasons. HOWEVER, adding more races wont affect balance at all, so long as racial skills are just sort of "starter skills", in a sense. So technically they could add as many races as they want, seeing as how races would just add more content and more culture, rather than throwing off balance. :)

[spaceman236]

no i didnt mean that. it was meant as a new race as in new to tyria, just as young as the sylvari...

Saul Spotter said:

Perhaps, the Bear spirit the Norn revere was once a powerful Kodan ancestor. The other spirits were from similar species that died out.

that means that all norn WORSHIP the kodan?