After long hours of prayer, the Goddess of Truth herself has at last revealed the answers I sought. Praise Kormir! In her name, I will share the reasons behind our gods' withdrawal from this world. And make no mistake: the gods have withdrawn. Prayers go unanswered, Ascension fails. But do not despair, or rage: our gods still love us, and it is that love that drove them to leave. When the gods first brought humanity to this world, they were planting a garden; we were the seeds, with Tyria the fertile soil in which we would thrive. Like all gardens, it would experience and demonstrate life, death, challenge, order, growth, and beauty as it matured from carefully arranged rows of potential into dynamic, evolving reality. But there was a blight below the soil the gardeners could not prepare for; a predatory threat that would consume both the garden and the nutrients that sustained it: the Elder Dragons. When the dragons rose, the gods realized a terrible truth: any effort to save the garden would instead destroy it...or them. If humanity were to endure under their guidance, it could not be here. Reluctantly, the gods withdrew. They had to find new soil to tend, that their faithful might someday see the full, resplendent bloom of this most glorious garden. Praise Kormir!