They have a powerful Genetic Memory, where new sylvari are grown with innate knowledge passed down to them by the tree, drawn from the pool of collective experiences of living sylvari who return to commune with their parent, infusing them with a powerful communal morality. They are a new addition to the lore, with the oldest being born 25 years before the start of Guild Wars 2 from a tree that was planted in the original game. Sylvari: Plant people who grow on a tree.Driven from their underground civilisation by Primordus at the end of Guild Wars, they now control much of the Tarnished Coast from their breathtaking floating city, and shrewdly leverage their position as the local Higher-Tech Species to compensate both for their small stature and their small numbers. Asura: A diminutive, big-eared, formerly subterranean race consisting of insufferable geniuses, responsible for the Asura Gates and various other nifty magical technologies.
They have reclaimed Ascalon from humanity and now reside there. Half blood knights and half egomaniac hunters, with a strong streak of self-determination.