Domain Of Kourna - Well, that didn't take long.
First off - A little bit of History
Kourna. The story behind this map is really interesting. The Elon river was divided up North after Palawa Joko returned to power, which caused Kourna to fall to famine and thirst. It is possible that this region was once far more verdant than it is now - especially considering that the Elon used to flow through it until it reached the Unending Ocean.
For those who do not know, the Unending Ocean is the name for the collection of all the world's major bodies of ocean. It used to be presided over by the Margonites, before they lost their humanity and became the demon servants of Abaddon. Before their transformation, they were a seafaring folk who chose to be monotheistic, (only serving one God) and were Loyal to Abaddon. Their main place of living was on the Clashing Seas and they created settlements to the North and the West of Elona.
However they chose to deface the statues of the other five Gods within the Temple of the Six and caused the conflict between Abaddon and his brethren. After Abaddon saved a Margonite named Jadoth from the attacking Forgotten, Jadoth became the first of the Margonites. Not long after they were all imprisoned within the Realm of Torment along with Abaddon and once exposed for so long to his power, found themselves transformed into the Demon servants we know today.
Each one can live for over a thousand years but they are unable to breed - this means that they can only increase their numbers by transforming other living beings into Margonites.
However it is important to note that although they are 'Servants' in nature and in title, they are still capable of thinking for themselves - two such examples are the Lost and the Apostate, who decided to betray Abaddon.
Kourna used to be the Elonian equivalent of the Hirathi Hinterlands - For centuries Elonian Centaurs claimed the land as their own, but as we have been able to see simply by exploring the area we have at our disposition, their fate is currently unknown. It is to be hoped that they made their way elsewhere and managed to locate new, safer lands to call their home.
Or, you know, got eaten. Because screw Centaurs.
For those who do not know, the Unending Ocean is the name for the collection of all the world's major bodies of ocean. It used to be presided over by the Margonites, before they lost their humanity and became the demon servants of Abaddon. Before their transformation, they were a seafaring folk who chose to be monotheistic, (only serving one God) and were Loyal to Abaddon. Their main place of living was on the Clashing Seas and they created settlements to the North and the West of Elona.
However they chose to deface the statues of the other five Gods within the Temple of the Six and caused the conflict between Abaddon and his brethren. After Abaddon saved a Margonite named Jadoth from the attacking Forgotten, Jadoth became the first of the Margonites. Not long after they were all imprisoned within the Realm of Torment along with Abaddon and once exposed for so long to his power, found themselves transformed into the Demon servants we know today.
Each one can live for over a thousand years but they are unable to breed - this means that they can only increase their numbers by transforming other living beings into Margonites.
However it is important to note that although they are 'Servants' in nature and in title, they are still capable of thinking for themselves - two such examples are the Lost and the Apostate, who decided to betray Abaddon.
Kourna used to be the Elonian equivalent of the Hirathi Hinterlands - For centuries Elonian Centaurs claimed the land as their own, but as we have been able to see simply by exploring the area we have at our disposition, their fate is currently unknown. It is to be hoped that they made their way elsewhere and managed to locate new, safer lands to call their home.
Or, you know, got eaten. Because screw Centaurs.
And, back to normality.
The more I explore of this map, the more I find ! Though I believe elements have been added since the release of the skyscale in May 2019. Primarily with the appearance of a room hidden far, far FAR out of bounds, which has been thrown together in a hurry, given an atmosphere and the only method of entry for people like me was a tiny hole in the ground and a lot of squeezing.
As you can see in the video below, there is not a lot of things in this room - but what there is is invisible. It is possible that these assets were only designed to load when the person entered or exited the room through a 'normal' method - in this case the Dev actually porting from another destination, as opposed to me coming through the water and the floor.
Edit of 03/09/2021
We've found more ways out, and whilst there's still not too much to see bar the Dev cube with the confetti that you can see in the video below, Jokos room looks much nicer when you're not in it.
As you can see in the video below, there is not a lot of things in this room - but what there is is invisible. It is possible that these assets were only designed to load when the person entered or exited the room through a 'normal' method - in this case the Dev actually porting from another destination, as opposed to me coming through the water and the floor.
Edit of 03/09/2021
We've found more ways out, and whilst there's still not too much to see bar the Dev cube with the confetti that you can see in the video below, Jokos room looks much nicer when you're not in it.
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Note: Everything in this segment was from before the skyscale update. More has since been added to the map.
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Now we've gotten most of the history out of the way, there is a couple of interesting points about this map. The first one is just how large it is. The parts of the map we have at our disposition do not do it justice in the slightest! It is far larger and more interesting* than we can see from the wrong side of the mountain range. * By interesting, I mean empty. That's right. This map is huge but almost all that which you cannot see is just a flat plain! Part is high, part is low, and for some reason there's a massive freaking hole right in the center. |
But here's the curious thing. No other map has this kind of blatant emptiness. Sure, Sirens Landing has NOTHING outside of the barriers, but that's because the borders go right up to the edge, but this is just - strange.
We could see that there was something under the map but for now at least, there's no known way of getting under there, so we just have to wait and see. [Edit: Thanks to I Need Flea Spray, this has been remediated!]
Hopefully this is something we will be able to update everyone on soon, as the absence of any detailing is incredibly odd and rather unique. Of course it is possible that Anet plan to do this for every map going forwards, but comparing this one to Dragons Stand - which is the best one to compare it to due to the sheer scale of inaccessible space - it's a shame. Dragons Stand has two completely separate areas - one of which is almost fully build and raring to go, but to see all of this go to waste, without a single Dev getting the chance to tinker or leave their own little mark, gives the space an almost sad emptiness.
And now, please join us for an underwater swim of parts of Kourna ! Most can be found in the gallery below, but we have selected a few of our clips to show some of what the underbelly of Kourna conceals.
Bearing in mind that from the top there is absolutely nothing, this is quite a pleasant surprise!
Even with Joko glaring at us from his hiding place beneath the map.
Bearing in mind that from the top there is absolutely nothing, this is quite a pleasant surprise!
Even with Joko glaring at us from his hiding place beneath the map.
click to show video