In Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire we will be taking a trip to the Crystal Desert and the adjoining kingdom of Elona in order to prevent the Human god of war Balthazar from killing one of the ancient dragons, who coincidentally also want to kill us. And if that wasn't bad enough, Elona is currently ruled over by King Palawa Joko, a nearly immortal lich that has an entire army of undead minions at his disposal, minions he is more than willing to send out against any pesky interlopers.

If you haven't played the original Guild Wars chances are all of this lore will end up being far too overwhelming, which is why I'm very glad to say that ArenaNet has recently posted a brief recap of the events leading up to the Path of Fire expansion. Its obviously nothing detailed, and you'll need to delve through the wiki to learn more, but it should at least give you a general idea of what to expect from the Crystal Desert.

Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire will be releasing on September 22nd, so if you were planning to dig into the lore before the expansion arrives I would recommend you get started as soon as possible. On the other hand, if you're more interested in what Path of Fire itself has to offer, you'll find my recent preview over here. Long story short: "Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire does not represent a massive evolution, but rather a solid step forward. If you've enjoyed Guild Wars 2 throughout all these years then Path of Fire is going to add a whole bunch more toys for you to play around with, but if you could never really get into it then I'm afraid Path of Fire is not going to change your mind."

Did I mention sand sharks?