On the fourth day of Asura Week, ArenaNet first updated the Asura page on the official Guild Wars 2 website. There is new lore, new wallpapers and screen shots, as well as a stunning video from the asura home city, Rata Sum (bonus points for those who know what the letters in that name can be rearranged as). The video shows a technologically advanced city, far from the brutish tech employed by the Charr. The asuran technology is sleek and clean, but no less dangerous. We also get a first look at what looks like asuran computer screens.

The diminutive asura are the smartest people in Tyria. Just ask them; they will tell you. Once, they were the undisputed masters of a powerful underground civilization, but were driven to the surface by the Great Destroyer, the herald of the Elder Dragon Primordus.

Then Lead Animator Heron Prior talked animation in a blog post with video examples of unique asura animations.

Some players will undoubtedly scowl and grumble that the asura have been reduced to comic relief and the race has been ruined. Instead, we feel we’ve brought to the forefront something that was always at the core of their collective personality. These are the smack-talking creators of the “Genius-Operated Living Enchanted Manifestations” after all. So, set aside your preconceptions and take an asura for a spin. We think you’ll come to love the little guys as much as we do.