Charr RPing Guide
By: Tayto
(This is a copy/paste from the forums)
To any of you roleplayers who wish to play as a Charr, know that Charr is a very, very strict race to play as. From how your Charr acts all the way down to it's very name. Let's go over a few terms that are specific to the Charr. Curtesy of http://guildwars2roleplay.wikispaces.com and http://wiki.guildwars2.com for some direct quotes.
The Charr: The charr are a race of large, savage, feline creatures that occupy much of eastern Tyria. They have renounced all gods as false and instead view all of life, from magic to combat, with a hard, cynical eye. Their culture has developed into a military state where they are raised as warriors from birth.
The High Legions: The High Legions are the four primary legions of the charr race and hold the highest form of organization within charr society. After the last Khan-Ur's death, the leadership of the charr was split into the four large legions, each led by claimants of one of the four children of the last Khan-Ur. Each High Legion is named after the primus warband of each legion and each is led by an imperator, who claim to be direct descendants of the Khan-Ur. The High Legions are the Ash Legion, Blood Legion, Flame Legion (now mockingly called the Gold Legion), and Iron Legion.
Each High Legion has claim to a different portion of charr territory. The Iron Legion holds control over Ascalon; the lands to the east of Ascalon, beyond the Blazeridge Mountains are said to be held by the Blood Legion, though their homelands lie to the north, in an area previously known to be under Flame Legion's influence. It is uncertain where the Ash Legion originates from, but all four High Legions show interest to and operate in the region of Ascalon – Iron, Blood and Ash cooperating from within the Black Citadel and Flame Legion from their base of operations, the Citadel of Flame.
The Fahrar: Every legion has one. At the core of a young charr's life is the Fahrar, or a form of creche or boot camp, controlled by a High Legion. Each Legion controls one or many of these places, and from each will be trained the next generation of Charr Soldiers. Within the Fahrar, an older Charr, known as a Primus, overlooks a group of young charr, forced together through common cause and trial. These groupings over time, after they have proven themselves, will claim a name that will form the basis of their Warband.
The Warband: Those who gave birth to you are not your family. Your Warband is. The cubs you trained with in the Fahrar, along with your legionnaire are your new family for your legion. They are your brothers and sisters at arms under the leadership of your Legionnaire.
Charr are NOT born with a surname. Their surname is given to them the moment they are accepted into a warband. A charr's last name is always a compound word, or two different words put in one, imagined words or otherwise. "Viktor Rageclaw" for instance, would be in the RAGE warband. The name of your warband also implies as to what it's good at. For Example:
The Ember warband is good with heavy guns, explosives and overall killing Goldies (Gold Legion or Flame Legion).
The Ghost Warband is from the Ash Legion, and is trained in wet work (killing targets) and recon.
The Blade Warband is trained and excels in frontal assault, and wishes to prove itself above all others.
So do take care in the choice of your name if you choose to roleplay as a Charr.
A Warband can have the name of other warbands, which means there are many Ghost Warbands, and many Blade Warbands. A name of a Warband is not reserved for any legion, except for that of the Primus Warband.
The Legionnaire: The legionnaires are the leaders of warbands that serve underneath Centurions. They provide individual leadership to the squads and manage the organization of the warbands, even given the ability to split a warband in two should it become to large, or promote a temporary legionnaire in case of their own inability to lead.
The Centurion: The Centurion is a charr legion military rank. A centurion reports to a tribune and commands a company of warbands, coordinating maneuvers on a broad scale within the tribune's authority. A primus centurion is chosen to lead when multiple centurions are coordinating in the same area. A primus centurion is considered a "first among equals" for the centurions and might lead a force of three to five companies, which is a sizable portion of a tribune's forces.
The Tribune: Tribune is a military rank among the charr legions. A tribune reports to the imperator and are the imperator's primary commanders of the legion. A tribune is responsible for an entire theater of war or large swath of controlled territory and command the centurions who are next in rank. There are rarely more than ten tribunes in a legion.
The only known two Tribunes in the canon are Tribune Rytlock Brimstone of Blood Legion, and Tribune Torga Desertgrave of Ash Legion.
The Primus Warband: The primus warband of any legion carries the name of that legion–Ash, Blood, Iron, and in the case of the Gold Legion, Flame. This singular legion is hereditary, but the leader must claim the name through blood challenge; a fight between descendants of the Khan-Ur, for supremacy within the legion.
Occasionally, non-descendants of the Khan-Ur join the primus warband, taking the name of their leader as their own, as is Charr tradition. But the leader of the primus is always a descendant of the Khan-Ur, the foremost heir of the legion, and their rightful inheritor of the crown of leadership among the Charr.
For the sake of roleplaying and not tying yourself to lore, avoid these 5 names or else people might think you're trying to say that you're in a Primus Warband. The only Charr who are allowed in these warbands are those who tie into lore.
Iron
Ash
Blood
Flame or Gold
So please do not make a character named, "Ritolv Ironfist" if your character is in the Iron Legion. If he's in any other legion, fine. But a good roleplayer tries to not tie his character into the canon.
The Imperators: The Imperators are the leaders of the High Legions and have the second-highest rank in charr society, the highest being the Khan-Ur. The imperators are always descendants of the Khan-Ur, and only an imperator can take the title of Khan-Ur. As there is currently no Khan-Ur, the imperators are the highest ranking charr and have supreme authority within their legion's structure.
Malice Swordshadow is the imperator of the Ash Legion, Bangar Ruinbringer is the imperator of the Blood Legion, and Smodur the Unflinching is the imperator of the Iron Legion.
The Kahn-Ur: The Khan-Ur, or the primus imperator, is the title used by the supreme rulers of the charr; underneath the Khan-Ur lies the imperators. The Claw of the Khan-Ur is the weapon of the Khan-Ur and having it is one of the requirements for a charr to become a Khan-Ur, another being performing a great act to show the individual's power.
The first Khan-Ur unified the charr before the arrival of humans on the Tyrian continent, and the last Khan-Ur was assassinated by humans around the time of the Exodus of the Gods. The four imperators of the last Khan-Ur formed the four High Legions. Although a few charr have attempted to claim the title, none have been able to hold it or unite the charr under a single banner.
The Gladium: Not to be confused with another word for Gladiator, A gladium is a charr who has lost their warband. It is the lowest rank in charr society as the charr has lost what they consider to be more important than their family. It doesn't matter how you became a gladium. If your entire warband was slaughtered, if you decided to simply leave it, (which is the largest disgrace a Charr could ever do), or if you were kicked out by your Legionnaire. A gladium is the very bottom of the totem pole deserving of no respect.
Another few things to note: Charr are a very militaristic race, joining the army pretty much as soon as they are born. Naturally, most charr hate humans as they have been in constant conflict for hundreds of years. They see anyone below them as cannon fodder (or sometimes food) and most charr (somewhere in the 99% range) have vicious tempers.
Gender roles do not exist in modern charr society (Excluding the Flame Legion). Every charr is considered as a cog in the machine, regardless of gender.
Charr mature very quickly, becoming independant as soon as a few months old, however their lifespans are similar to humans.
A gladium can be accepted into a new warband, or start their own. If a gladium chooses to join a new warband, it is encouraged that the gladium change his surname to match the name of his new Warband. To keep his surname can rub their new bandmates the wrong way since they aren't willing to adopt the name of their new family. (This nuggest of info brought to you by my friend, Fathuran) However, since I have yet to see a name change feature, you probably won't need to worry about this.
As long as there are two members of a warband, neither of them are considered gladium.
The majority of charr shun religion entirely, especially the six human gods. They instead see gods as an opponent. The exception is the Flame/Gold Legion. They worship the Titans.
Though the aesthetic of the game always shows the charr with all of their claws out, all of their claws are retractable. (With the exception of the Dewclaw)
If you ever consider going into a more, "sexual" kind of roleplay know that female charr do not have breasts like humans do, and the male charr's genetilia is barbed.
I might add more as I learn more, but it's safe to say that charr is a strict race to roleplay as. A slip of the lore can cheapen or even spell disaster for your character. I'm always happy to help my Family in any way, shape, and form. If anyone has any questions on Charr lore, feel free to ask on this thread or send me a PM! :D