The Mists

Current Beliefs about the Mists

 * 1) The oldest thing in existence.
 * 2) The Mists are the physical embodiment of time, space, and connections.
 * 3) The Mists are affected by the world(s) within them, forming pockets of various types of reality.
 * 4) Only accessible via portals. (Asura gates?)
 * 5) The resting place or residence of powerful spirits and past heroes.
 * 6) The human gods first arrived on Tyria from a portal to the Mists.
 * 7)  It is possible to coalesce a portion of the Mists into a physical item and corrupt it to use as a weapon.

Known Locations within the Mists

 * 1) The Underworld
 * 2) The Rift?
 * 3) The Mist War
 * 4) The Mad King's Realm

What is the Mist War?
The only easily accessible part of the Mists is a series of territories over which several "worlds" compete, apparently for resources that can affect the fighters' world of origin. These territories are called "battlegrounds," and can be accessed at any time through several Asura gates in Lion's Arch.

There are recruiters known as "Mist Warriors" throughout the cities of Tyria. Some of them seem to fear that if the other worlds are not beaten back, they may destroy ours, though there is no evidence to suggest such a possibility beyond a slight drop in accessible resources. Other Mist Warriors suggest that the Mist War is a way for the disillusioned to find a purpose in life. That purpose appears to be to fight for one's "world" for power and glory. Beyond that, there does not seem any great moral incentive to take part.

Within each battleground is a treasure that requires effort to access and is also accessible by one's "enemies," making acquiring it a trial of subterfuge, dexterity, and might.

The Heart of the Mists appears to be something completely other to the battlegrounds. Within it, very small scale battles are fought, and the teams do not seem to be designated to any given "world" or other. In fact, they seem quite random, and fighters often find themselves teamed up with others who were their enemy in the previous match. Because of this lack of clear enemy, the purpose of these skirmishes appears to be fighting solely for the sake of fighting.

The portal to the Heart of the Mists in Lion's Arch was supposedly created by the human god Balthazar. The fact that it appears to be an Asura gate like any other is not explained. The story is that Balthazar helped construct a temple where heroes could enter the Mists to compete in contest with each other, with the apparent goal of earning his favor. This may explain the lack of coherence between the various parts of the Heart of the Mists. Perhaps it was also his will that various items found within that section of the Mists cannot be removed from it, unlike other locales.

The Six Gods
The human gods are said to have stepped out of the Mists and into Tyria for the first time at the location of the Artesian Waters in Arah, also known as "the Source of Orr." This suggests these deities are related in some way to the Norn Spirits of the Wild. Despite their status as "gods," it has been proven that neither the human gods nor the Spirits of the Wild were truly immortal. Perhaps it is more appropriate to view them as a powerful species of creatures or people from the Mists rather than divine entities per se.

Norn Spirits of the Wild and the Mists
Each of Hoelbrak's Spirits of the Wild has a "Havroun," which appears to be something like a "lead shaman." All Havrouns are able to visit the Mists, either physically or by spirit, leaving their body behind, though it seems to be an arduous task and some of them are better at it than others. New Havrouns must be trained in "walking the Mists" before they can take the place of their master.

The Svanir Problem
It is "known" in Hoelbrak that Jormag is not a Spirit of the Wild and thus does not reside in or derive from the Mists. There is logic to this if one considers that Jormag is an elder dragon, and therefore something else entirely. However, the Sons of Svanir believe otherwise, and seem to be attempting to restore Jormag's rightful place in the Mists as a Spirit of the Wild by violence, conquering parts of the Mists and attacking Havrouns of other animal spirits.

It is the Sons of Svanir who were able to find a way to weaponize or corrupt a small amount of the Mists and thus access them without a portal, or by forming a portal through the use of the physical aspect of the corrupted Mists.

Possible theories:
Perhaps the Mists have coalesced from the emotions and mental energies of Tyrian people, such as the fear of the unknown. The other "worlds" and enemies within the Mist War are simply an embodiment of the idea of "other," someone who is not me. The Underworld is an embodiment of the fear of death, the fear of the violence that surrounds death, and the fear of what lies beyond death. The treasures found within the battlegrounds are the physical aspect of greed seeping into rage and fear.

This theory also suits the derivation of the human gods and Norn Spirits of the Wild from certain ideologies, themes, and temperaments. The human gods represent vast concepts such as war or love, while the Spirits of the Wild represent various characteristics of the animals they personify. If Tyrian emotion strongly attached itself to concepts and characteristics found within the world, it follows logically that those concepts and characteristics could then develop into individual entities within the Mists, entities that then achieve a physical state not unlike the geographical locations, and become able to move freely between the Mists and Tyria itself.

Alternately, perhaps the Mists are the form and intent of nature given physical shape, which is what the Norn proclaim. In such a case, the Mists become a creative plane, perhaps even a figure, on which the Mists themselves created Tyria, infinite variant Tyrias with splitting and differing timelines, and the scattered "islands" accessible to Tyrians through portals.

(compiled by Pheilan)