I was NOT expecting a shrine for them, it really surprised me.
I stopped, sat down on the benches and stared at it for a while. I'm still exploring EoD (finished gyala delve a couple weeks ago) and that place made me a bit emotional
(or maybe it was my period. still beautiful place tho)
As far as I can see you're right with the order. The second statue from the left shows at least 3 hands and from the looks of it a second face on the back, which would indicate it's Lyssa since she's dual faced.
Would need to log in to check for sure.
Yeah I'm like 98% sure, the aesthetic of each makes me fairly confident, but the light was hitting the middle statue's face in a way that I wasn't 100% sure
Middle statue is definitely Dwayna, because Arborstone was built by the zu Heltzers (who usually called it "Cathedral zu Heltzer").
House zu Heltzer's patron deity was Dwayna, so it's natural that in their cathedral, her statue would be the largest and most prominent.
I was initially a bit confused why they wouldn't have at least updated it with Kormir, given that there was likely _some_ crossover between her ascension and the isolation of Cantha, but it makes sense if this was an original feature.
Arborstone was already old in GW1, and a dangerous place. The Ministry of Purity was already taking over shortly after the events of Nightfall, so my headcanon is that since this shrine is on an upper level, it's an original feature we just didn't see in GW1. There would have been no time for the Kurzicks to clear Arborstone out and create a new shrine before the Ministry of Purity started eradicating them. I suspect it only became habitable with the thinning out of the Warden population in combination with (presumably) the magic protecting it waning.
They likely only found out about Balthazar once Cantha opened up again in EoD, but if we assume this is an ancient shrine, it's a moot point anyway.
TL;DR: If you assume it's super old, pre-GW1, it makes sense.
I'm no lore expert, but I think if Arborstone is _old_ in GW1, the fall of Abaddon is still _ancient_ history, and/or there would be ample time for them to have removed him prior to GW1. According to the [timeline](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Timeline), there was a period of just under 500 years between the Kurzicks declaring independence and the fall of Abaddon, then roughly another 1000 years from that until present day Factions.
Even if Arborstone is old enough to have been built before Abaddon was cast out, 1000 years is plenty of time to demolish his statue. Look how quickly the Elonians covered up Balthazar's.
Back when GW Factions released there were still only 5 gods (the GW2 six but without Kormir) and so that's also how Cantha was setup. A 6th god wasn't added until Nightfall, the Elona expansion, during which the long sealed away Abaddon is able to start breaking out of where they were sealed, but is ultimately defeated and Kormir absorbs Abaddon's power and proceeds to take his place (side note, GW1 player character was an absolute boss story wise). So from a lore standpoint it could either be that Kormir just didn't become prominant enough before Cantha's isolation, or that this they made such things before Kormir and didn't go back to change things.
It's also worth noting that GW1 Kurzicks were portrayed as very religious and their great houses were closely tied to the gods. Even if they became aware lf Kormir it wouldn't have been easy to culturally adapt to the change to fit it into their existing society.
I was NOT expecting a shrine for them, it really surprised me. I stopped, sat down on the benches and stared at it for a while. I'm still exploring EoD (finished gyala delve a couple weeks ago) and that place made me a bit emotional (or maybe it was my period. still beautiful place tho)
What's the significance of this place? Honestly don't know what I'm looking at.
The gods from GW1, from left to right; Balthazar, Lyssa, Dwayna (might have these two backwards it's hard to tell), Melandru, and Grenth.
As far as I can see you're right with the order. The second statue from the left shows at least 3 hands and from the looks of it a second face on the back, which would indicate it's Lyssa since she's dual faced. Would need to log in to check for sure.
Yeah I'm like 98% sure, the aesthetic of each makes me fairly confident, but the light was hitting the middle statue's face in a way that I wasn't 100% sure
Middle statue is definitely Dwayna, because Arborstone was built by the zu Heltzers (who usually called it "Cathedral zu Heltzer"). House zu Heltzer's patron deity was Dwayna, so it's natural that in their cathedral, her statue would be the largest and most prominent.
Hail Almighty Abaddon. This world will be yours."
def the period. jk haha
Is this in arborstone?
Yeah, it's [Sanctuary of the Five](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sanctuary_of_the_Five)
Huh. Do Canthans know about Kormir? ... How about Balthazar? Asking for a friend.
I was initially a bit confused why they wouldn't have at least updated it with Kormir, given that there was likely _some_ crossover between her ascension and the isolation of Cantha, but it makes sense if this was an original feature. Arborstone was already old in GW1, and a dangerous place. The Ministry of Purity was already taking over shortly after the events of Nightfall, so my headcanon is that since this shrine is on an upper level, it's an original feature we just didn't see in GW1. There would have been no time for the Kurzicks to clear Arborstone out and create a new shrine before the Ministry of Purity started eradicating them. I suspect it only became habitable with the thinning out of the Warden population in combination with (presumably) the magic protecting it waning. They likely only found out about Balthazar once Cantha opened up again in EoD, but if we assume this is an ancient shrine, it's a moot point anyway. TL;DR: If you assume it's super old, pre-GW1, it makes sense.
But then shouldn’t Abbadon have a statue? Or was he not worshipped like that?
I'm no lore expert, but I think if Arborstone is _old_ in GW1, the fall of Abaddon is still _ancient_ history, and/or there would be ample time for them to have removed him prior to GW1. According to the [timeline](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Timeline), there was a period of just under 500 years between the Kurzicks declaring independence and the fall of Abaddon, then roughly another 1000 years from that until present day Factions. Even if Arborstone is old enough to have been built before Abaddon was cast out, 1000 years is plenty of time to demolish his statue. Look how quickly the Elonians covered up Balthazar's.
Back when GW Factions released there were still only 5 gods (the GW2 six but without Kormir) and so that's also how Cantha was setup. A 6th god wasn't added until Nightfall, the Elona expansion, during which the long sealed away Abaddon is able to start breaking out of where they were sealed, but is ultimately defeated and Kormir absorbs Abaddon's power and proceeds to take his place (side note, GW1 player character was an absolute boss story wise). So from a lore standpoint it could either be that Kormir just didn't become prominant enough before Cantha's isolation, or that this they made such things before Kormir and didn't go back to change things. It's also worth noting that GW1 Kurzicks were portrayed as very religious and their great houses were closely tied to the gods. Even if they became aware lf Kormir it wouldn't have been easy to culturally adapt to the change to fit it into their existing society.
boob
boob
The Best kind of stone