#'Varric who's about to be viscount of Kirkwall would you like to be friends and unite the Free Marches in democracy :)'

[varyathevillain]

Sebastian Vael would've been such a better character for the Dragon Age fandom to enjoy if in act 3 instead of the shitty "here, have a Leliana cameo and another proof there's Blood Magic Everywhere in Kirkwall, go fetch!" quest, we had a different one.

Let's say... Hawke has an option of investigating a weird deal between a chantry sister and a Starkhaven diplomat, and during it you uncover that the chantry has been embezzling from Starkhaven's treasury, as well as putting "former chantry members" (read: malleable or outright Chantry puppets) in the ruling circle which is currently holding Starkhaven afloat in absence of Sebastian as their Prince.

If Sebastian is not in the party as you uncover this, you have an option to either tell him about it, or investigate the questline further. If he is, however, in the party as you find the first notice of something being wrong between Chantry and Starkhaven relations, Sebastian will exclaim that this is a mistake, someone posing outside (or within) a Chantry to implicate either Starkhaven royalty, or Grand Cleric Elthina, and reference Sister Petrice. The moment you involve him in the questline, however, he'll be locked in for the investigation missions, and start getting special points in the code, one for each encounter (including the very first one starting the questline), for the final confrontation of the questline. The same happens if you start involving Sebastian at any other point of the questline, but with less and less points available.

As you progress, there would be three more quests to go through, one of which even takes you to either the outskirts of Starkhaven, or to the busy streets of it, allowing 1) to show another city state of Free Marches, 2) where Sebastian comes from, 3) actually be worth your money for the DLC, if ideal DA2 still had him as a DLC companion. Which I still hate with burning passion a decision, same with Javik being DLC in ME3.

The questline has chantry sisters and nobles implicated, Flora Harriman reaching out to Hawke about weird decisions made in Starkhaven politics, resembling what her mother did, and at a second quest there's even a possibility of you uncovering a chantry brother in a contract with a Desire demon. It seems like it all leads up to corruption in the political sphere and stragglers in the Chantry circles, right?

Except. On the final quest. It is revealed that Elthina, in her own handwriting, no forgery as confirmed by any rogue in the party, has forced Grand Cleric of Starkhaven to resign, installed her own puppet (one of the chantry sisters you might see in Act 1) as a new Grand Cleric, all for a bid of "uniting the Free Marches under the Chantry banner". It also implies that Sister Petrice was telling the truth, and that Elthina was, in fact, more involved with the unrest against Qunari than one would believe in the base game (I believe she was involved, but it's not majorly pertaining to this post in particular). There's a letter that implies Lady Harimann was allowed to do what she did, because Elthina believed she'd be able to manipulate Sebastian in favour of the Chantry. It also unveils how many people of Starkhaven were hurt by this. Turns out, a lot.

Then, you can go about this questline ending several ways.

This is where the points counting in the background come into play.

If you did not bring Sebastian alongside you on any of the missions, or if there aren't enough points for you to sway him... Sebastian will claim the evidence as plot against his support of the Chantry and Elthina specifically, and burn the letters in particular, calling them a "bad replica of what sister Petrice tried to do". Elthina, on prodding, feigns innocence, or if you have not talked to Sebastian yet, calls him in to discuss "this silly accusation", which gives +15 rivalry if you're not in a locked relationship with him. He still burns the letters, and accuses you of believing the conspirators, or even being one of them. There are some undertones in Elthina's dialogue to imply she's ready to blackmail you back if you press the matter, and Hawke has no choice but to back off.

If you bring Sebastian along and your relationship with him at this point is so-so, neither a full friendship or a rivalry, you'd need at least 3 points with favourable dialogue, this makes Sebastian question the Chantry, even Elthina. You'd need all 4 points (bringing him from the get go in your party when they rock up to the start of the questline) without going further into discussion for him to buckle. With friendship, you'd need to bring him on at least 2 missions, or 3 with favourable dialogue. With rivalry, however, you need for him to be brought only on one mission with favourable dialogue, the final one, after which he'll even say that "You (Hawke) were right about me needing to step up and rule Starkhaven". On two missions if you want to bicker with him throughout the quests instead.

If you would manage to sway Sebastian by the end, you'd have one final choice: support him in standing up and demanding answers from Elthina, or asking him to forgive her involvement.

Supporting him on Friendship is the simplest, but supporting him on Rivalry ends up in Sebastian switching to Friendship, like with Merrill reversing her Friendship in Mirror Image if you don't give her the Arulin'Holm. This ends up in a calmly voiced, but very angry Sebastian Vael, pure venom in his words, listing how Elthina has abused his trust and his people by using faith in the Chantry, and manipulating a Prince of a sovereign nation for her own means. If you supported him on Rivalry, he'll have additional lines on how you've challenged him to see problems with Chantry and Templar order, as well as to come back to Starkhaven, and outright thank you right in front of Elthina, whose eyes will throw daggers in your direction. At the end of the speech, Sebastian will actually start removing pieces of his armour, them clattering to the floor at Elthina's feet, and walk out alongside you out of the Kirkwall chantry.

However, if you ask him to forgive Elthina, he'll have the biggest rivalry (+30) jump in the game if you aren't in a Friendship, and will briefly lash out at you, saying that complacency with his devotion to the Chantry is what got him and his people into this mess. On Rivalry, it's worse. Instead of a calm but angry and vicious reprimand of Elthina's actions, Sebastian will SCREAM at her, throw evidence in her face, and then scream at you on Rivalry for good measure, about how you can't simply forgive someone who would seek ruin his city, and is actively ruining Kirkwall. How he was blind to Elthina's actions, but sees now that blood magic isn't the rot at the city's heart that is dividing the Circle and Templar order, it's Chantry politicians like Elthina. And instead of armour pieces clattering to the ground, they're thrown at the feet of the Andraste statue, while Sebastian outright declares that if Elthina doesn't cease machinations in Starkhaven, he'll rage war against her, specifically, and everyone who would support her. Then, he storms out, alone.

You can insert either a "there's nothing to talk about" with Elthina afterwards in both endings of this form, or promises of Hawke "never holding a position in this city aside from carrying the Amell name".

After that, you can find Sebastian, clad in a new armour (simple, reminiscent of what Alistair wears in his introduction scene in DAO, only with the Starkhaven symbol emblazoned on an archer chest piece), with a box in his arms, on the steps out of Hightown into Lowtown. He jokes about how his whole life in Kirkwall can, at the same time, be put into a small box like this one, and be something world encompassing. After a dialogue, where he tells you he is going to live in a small hovel in Lowtown, since he doesn't want to even see the chantry building, or talk with nobles who'd gladly eat him and people of Starkhaven alive, until the moment Kirkwall unrest is over, since he wants stability for you and your city as well. Also, he'd rather spend money on his people and those in need, not himself.

If romanced, or with certain persuasion options, you can invite him to live with you. You can still try to invite him with a couple of options, but he'll deny them for various reasons. After that, he'd live near the market; or, if you managed to convince him, in Hawke's mansion.

If in a romance, there's a hot makeout scene in the library which fades to black implying a proper sex scene. If not, he'll have amusing additional scenes with other companions, especially other love interests, with a bit of hostility from Isabela and Anders, and a lot of genuine fun from Fenris and Merrill.

When you talk with him alone (at either Lowtown hovel or at home in the Library), Sebastian discusses, on Friendship, how he is still Andrastian, even if Chantry failed him and his, or on Rivalry how he feels that blind devotion blinded him to Chantry mistakes.

Banter between party members also changes, with one dialogue from Merrill implying that Sebastian is now helping refugees and the poor, Fenris talking about his efforts in making an organisation for former templars/chantry members expelled for one reason or another, Anders being surprised at a late night visit where Sebastian covered in blood (not his) brought him herbs and potion flasks as a peace offering, et cetera. There's still tension over Sebastian belief in the Chant and Andraste, but it's not anymore about him having to perform for the Chantry and his public image.

If you don't complete the quest with this ending, Sebastian Vael still demands Anders to be executed, or he'll wage war. But if you do... he confesses that Anders has asked him to warn as many people in Lowtown and Darktown not to come to the Hightown and chantry, but assumed this would be because of Meredith and Orsino outright fighting in front of Elthina, not this... murder.

He will, however, draw his bow and point an arrow at Anders, saying that this was not the answer to help his cause, and Anders needs to pay now. Hawke can allow him to do that, or step in.

In a so-so relationship, if you choose anything else but "I will execute him myself" or relent to Sebastian's demand and let him shoot Anders? Vael will spit at your feet and leave your party and the conflict, resulting in a very similar ending to his character as in the original DA2, just less anti-mage and pro-Chantry.

However, in a Friendship or Rivalry, it's very easy to convince him to still stay at your side and see it through. With his unknowing help, many innocents of Kirkwall were saved, and now he has to stick around to help as well, and to either see Anders pay for his crimes with work and healing, not redemption through martyr-like murder, or to understand that this, inadvertently, would be every city across Southern Thedas, including Starkhaven, if Chantry dogma supported by Templars will continue murder, physical and emotional, of mages. He'll have additional dialogue depending on whether you're a mage Hawke, or if Bethany died/is in Circle.

In Romance, Sebastian will lower his bow immediately as Hawke steps between. You'll have to mess up really badly in dialogue for him to storm out.

[felassan]

GamesRadar: "It felt like we needed to do something": How Varric Tethras went from nearly being left out of Dragon Age: The Veilguard to becoming a foundational character

Interview | Exploring the role of Varric Tethras in Dragon Age: The Veilguard with BioWare's creative director, John Epler

Excerpts under cut due to spoilers.

John Epler: "Varric is such a fan favorite, and has been part of Dragon Age since Dragon Age 2 – it felt like we needed to do something. At the end of the game, it's very clear that a chapter of Dragon Age is being closed, even as a new one is being started, and having Varric involved in the ending and that final beat in the way that he was felt right to us."

""While it may have "felt right" for Varric to be in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and factor into its ending in this way, says Epler, it took some time for the team to come to that conclusion. With such a long development cycle, the loveable dwarf wasn't even part of the story at one stage. "It's interesting, because in some of our earliest versions of what we wanted to do for Dragon Age 4, Varric was not actually involved. Varric was doing his own thing as the Viscount of Kirkwall," Epler says. "But I think especially as we got to the version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard that shipped, it felt very strange to have a story about Solas not also include Varric. For us, having them [Solas and Varric] exist in contrast throughout the story - obviously, with Varric being something existing entirely in Rook's mind - provides different ways of looking at the core theme, which is regret." As Epler explains, Varric is "not someone who does a good job of confronting his regret", whether that be in Inquisition when it comes to his love interest and crossbow namesake, Bianca, or with his brother in DA2. Rook, on the other hand, is forced to confront them, while Solas's regrets "drive everything he does." He's a character that "refuses to be happy, refuses to feel joy, because he feels it'd be a betrayal of his people, of what he's done". But as Epler adds, having Varric "be the kind of linchpin" around which all the regrets hinge "felt powerful". Varric may not be good at confronting his own regrets, but his death and role eventually pushes Rook to face theirs, and in turn, you can try to help Solas get past his own if you so choose.""

"Without a mark on your hand like the Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition, or an army you can bring together like the Grey Warden in Dragon Age: Origins, Rook is "just a person with a team", as Epler puts it, so you have to make sure that they're as ready as possible to face what's to come. [...] Epler says Varric felt like a natural character to juxtapose Solas. Acting kind of like "the angel and the devil on your shoulder", Solas - while not actually a devil - is the one who's more focused on the mission and goal of stopping the gods, while Varric constantly reminds you that your team matters and you need to take care of them first and foremost. The decision to kill Varric early on was partly fueled by a worry that people would find Solas "a little too sympathetic in his goals". From past experience, Epler says the team saw a lot of that with The Trespasser DLC, where many really wanted to help Solas and believed he was right. But he is going to end the world, after all, and once you realize the twist about Tethras' true fate, Varric serves to demonstrate that "Solas will sacrifice almost anyone or anything in pursuit of what he sees as the greater good." But even if he is willing to go to extreme lengths, Solas does still regret what happens to his old friend. In fact, Epler explains that he even finds it comforting to think that Varric is still out there in some form. "Varric's a complex character," says Epler. "He runs away from his problems, he likes to shade the truth, even to the people that he's working with. The Varric that you see, the Varric that Rook experiences, [are] the best parts of Varric that Rook remembers. It's just this mentor figure that's always there for them. And I think even Solas finds some comfort in knowing that there's still a piece of him out there, even though he knows that it's manipulation, it's not the real Varric."

""DA2 starts with a character death about 45 minutes in, when your siblings dies. And the feedback we got, which was very fair feedback is, 'okay, but I don't care, because I've known this person for like, 45 minutes'. So having Varric die at the beginning, originally that was it. He was going to die, and it was going to be this big, shocking moment," Epler says. "But part of the problem with making a game 10 years after the last one, and needing to make it so existing players – but also new players – can get in and feel a lot of the same things, is you can't bank on two games worth of built up memories, built up attachment, to make the death land. For a lot of players it would have been like, 'okay, but I've only known this guy for 45 minutes. So why do we care?'" In order to still have the death at the beginning of the game, the team eventually landed on the idea of his not-so-real presence in the Lighthouse in order to give players more time with Varric. "And that's the beauty of game development," Epler adds, "something that you start off with as a way to solve a problem actually becomes so core to the identity game.""

"Varric Tethras was originally brought to life by Mary Kirby, a veteran developer who has worked on the Dragon Age series for many years at BioWare. Sadly, she was part of the layoffs last year, but as Epler fondly highlights, Kirby wrote the vast majority of the conversations you have with Varric. "She was one of the first people we told 'Hey, so we're talking about killing Varric, you're okay with this, right?' Because at that time, she wasn't even on the project," Epler says. "But Mary was fantastic to work with, she and I worked [together in the past]. I was Varric's cinematic designer for Inquisition and for DA2. There are a couple of things that came up towards the end of the project that I had an opportunity to write. And it was lovely to remind myself how Mary had always written Varric, and how that character came together.""

[source]

[strawberry-halla]

now im probably the many few people who actually agreed with the way bioware handled varric’s death and here’s why:

varric has been one of the most prominent dragon age characters since dragon age 2’s release. he’s basically the mascot (well, i think solas has stolen this role now but i digress), the character everybody loves! varric has been there since almost the beginning, over 10 years of our favorite dwarf.

this is the thing that hangs people up on his death in veilguard. why did they do it? why did it happen? what was bioware thinking? well i’m not expert but i think i have a pretty good idea.

varric has always been the friend who supports you no matter what, the one to pull you away from the heavy decisions the player makes to make you laugh or try to see the bright side. he made the player feel good and your character feel good, no matter who you’re playing as.

we saw this lovable dwarf go through so much tragedy in every media possible. he was dealt a bad hand at every corner but the good parts were the friends he made along the way. even if they did something bad in the end (anders and solas), varric still sees the person they were underneath everything.

so yes i think his choice to talk to solas, only to end up dying, was how it was going to end for him. varric cares so much about his friends and eventually, one of them was going to fuck that up. he got lucky so many times, escaping death at every turn. if varric would have went home to kirkwall as viscount for the rest of his days, i don’t think that would be a good end for him.

it’s a pretty thought to have, but it’s just NOT varric. he wanted to help the inquisition and he wanted to help save/stop solas because he knew him. they were friends. good ones. so of course it makes sense varric is the one to go after him.

now i think it would have been worse if varric was dead from the start of veilguard (well, he is but we don’t know that yet) because it definitely doesn’t ease the player into the reality of it. so making him a figment of solas’s blood magic on rook was a very clever way to ease them and us into accepting his death. i cannot think of a better way if i tried.

varric’s relationship with rook was so important. he was basically a mentor, a father figure for some. his role in veilguard is not a waste. rook as a character needed their mentor to ease them into this leadership. i think it would have been incredibly jarring to just have rook suddenly know how to lead the veilguard without having someone to talk to about their struggles. solas would have worked fine, but his role as the antagonist for most of the game would have made a really unrealistic connection.

and yes. i know varric’s memory is being manipulated by solas’s hand, but solas himself says that varric would never say anything to rook that they already didn’t know from him. varric’s guidance was still at play here, not solas. he just kept up the illusion varric was still alive to make sure rook would succeed. it’s incredibly shitty of him to goad this at rook, but he was never entirely wrong that rook had varric to help them. they did have varric, even when he wasn’t there. varric’s lessons and memory alone were enough.

and when rook and the player finally come to this realization in the regret prison, it just hits you all at once. i cried for about two hours once the scene ended. i had to pause my game, get up, and walk away. it was like losing a best friend. and i know how silly it sounds to mourn the loss of a video game character, but varric was more than that to many. to me. i just needed a bit to recover from the realization.

varric made a choice. one that got him killed. but he knew that it was the right one to make. solas regrets what he did to varric. he even says if he could, he wouldn’t have done it. it was an accident. a horrible accident that doesn’t justify what solas did. there is no glory in needless death. but this isn’t about solas.

varric in all his goodness as a person FORGAVE solas for this. he knew solas was still good. deep, deep down. that solas ‘wants to be the hero’ and would tear himself apart to make things better. i don’t know about you but it’s incredibly insane that someone forgives their murderer. especially varric! who said in inquisition: ‘nobody forgives someone for killing you!’ like it came full circle.

varric’s death was necessary for us and for solas’s story. i know it sounds incredibly silly to us that one character’s redemption is another’s downfall, but isn’t that how things work sometimes? you don’t have to like it or agree with it, but that’s just one thing i find so fascinating about dragon age’s characters and how they interact with one another throughout the series.

there’s an incredible post by @/corseque that explains the parallels between varric and solas that really ties this all together. please go read it if you haven’t!

i’m so so glad we had so many good memories of varric and his legacy will forever live on in-universe and amongst fans. now’s the time to make new ones with our new favorites, shall we? and we can still honor varric’s memory by writing stories, of course.

[hellafluff]

Thinking about a proper Bad End world state where every Bad Decision is reflected in DATV. Heres a few specific thoughts:

Origins:

Kill Leliana, and her ghost disappears at the end of Inquisition and she never comes back > She cant be or help the Divine > Divine less powerful, the South is more fucked.

Stab Morrigan in Witch Hunter > Injury causes permanent damage. She's just weak enough and/or jaded enough that by DATV she didn't accept Mythal and can't help you.

Sten Loses Sword > Never returns to Seheron and never becomes Arishok. The Arishok in DATV stays with the Antaam and makes them a stronger, more unified military under a power crazed leader controlled by the Evanuris.

DA2, imagining DA2 companions would have comeback to DATV otherwise:

Any of the companions dying/not loyal results in them being absent in DATV and weaker factions as a result. Merrill would have been a leader among the Veil Jumpers, Fenris would have been a key member of the Shadow Dragons but now they aren't. Isabela no longer leads the Lords and the Lords are fewer in number and weaker now, if she was taken by the Arishok, she's been made Qunari and you have to kill her (ala Jack in ME3.)

Anders may not have had much impact either way honestly bc I think him living would still be pretty contentious with a lot of characters and he's not having a great time either way. No Aveline means weaker/fucked Kirkwall as she's not there to be the interim Viscount while Varric's away. Dead Hawke siblings means weaker Grey Wardens.

Inquisition:

A lot of Inquisition decisions should make or break the survival of the south. Majority sidequests done > Stronger South. Otherwise they have less morale, less troops, and still recovering from the Blight and Corypheus. Sidequests in DAO can effect the South's Readiness here too (can you tell I like ME3?)

Companion loyalty affects returning characters again. No loyalty Dorian has way less resources, if not just ousted from the Magisterium all together. Absolutely no Archon Pavus. No Sera means worse off for the people, Red Jenny's less effective if not wiped out. No loyalty Viv or Cass means the Divine is not going to send much if any aide. They're too busy trying to protect the South. Cole's just gone, otherwise I think he should have come back at the end to help you convince Solas. Dead Blackwall is a less strong Wardens. Not helping Josie or Cullen means they are in absolutely no position to assist and Cullen is just dead from Lyrium addiction. So little help from the nobility and Templars. Varric's ending is the same. We already get an Iron Bull loyalty effect in Trespasser.

Speaking of Trespasser; keeping the Inquisition means you have a bit more resources but Inquisitor is mostly relegated to helping the South. Dissolving the Inquisition means the Inquisitor is available as an advisor/leader in the North but with fewer resources. Solas loyalty should also affect how bad Quizzy's arm is. If they weren't friends he ripped the anchor away and now they have chronic pain and are less combat capable.

Bonus: Lavellan who's clan died is extra depressed and the Veil Jumpers have less strength.

Bonus 2, this actually would have been good: Saving Avernus' research and letting the Architect live with a living Hero of Fereldan should have let us find a cure for the blight. This doesn't happen but will be factored in as if it could have in my following summary:

Have it all come together and a Rook who does everything right can barely scrape by, but with no chance of convincing Solas to bind the Veil to himself. The world is fucked and it will take decades to recover. The blight is still causing mayhem but it recedes as years go by. Tevinter doesn't survive at all, with the hit to its military strength with the massive loss of Venatori + the remaining Antaam absolutely decimating both sides. The Qunari in Seheron close themselves off and don't interact with any other country for years. Southern Thedas is nearly a wasteland and the Chantry breaks up into disjointed, often warring, sects despite the Divine's best attempt to keep power. Mages and elves persecuted everywhere, blamed for everything.

A Rook who does everything wrong just ends the world. Special options appear when encountering Elgar'nan and Ghilanain to agree with them or consider their reasoning. Taking these let's you change sides at the end of the game and let Elgar'nan rule. Potentially even cause Ghil to survive if Harding/Davrin aren't loyal or you can send someone unqualified to sabotage the plan. If you change sides with any companions still alive you have to fight and kill them. The world is engulfed in Blight and everyone dies.

Alternate Bad End: You become convinced by Solas to side with him. Everything is already so fucked that tearing down the veil sounds like the only good option remaining. You fight back your own companions while he finishes the ritual and the world is engulfed in raw magic, killing every non mage, awakening the magic in all elves, and unleashing every spirit and demon alike on an unprepared world. Also considering Dwarves kind of surviving but being thrust back into a world filled with magic but no connection to the Titans leaves them fully Tranquil.

[vigilskeep]

Considering DA protags are referred to by either title or surname, got any headcanons about that?

i’m going to be real with you i’m not sure i understand what this ask means or if it’s in reference to something i’ve forgotten but i’m going to give it my best shot anyway? and simply proceed to ramble. it’s late so i’m going to be very rambley

i’ve always taken particular notice of duncan’s codex entry saying it’s commonplace for wardens to drop their family names as a sign of abandoning their ties outside the wardens. so the warden being known by their family name is an act of defiance against warden tradition. it’s a good representation of how many warden codes they had to break to do the job, and what firm ties they tend to still have to their respective origins. reminds you that the warden is very often the ultimate anomaly. it can be something of a rallying cry for those whose names arent the type to ordinarily be heard across thedas

as for the ‘hero of ferelden’ title, there’s a couple great things about that one. firstly, it directly mimics loghain’s title, the hero of river dane, which is delicious. who knows how long yours will outlive the death of his, when the wheel of history turns once more! otherwise, i’m super interested in it tying the warden to ferelden especially if the warden is not from ferelden. if you’re dalish, how do you feel about nationhood being applied to you? if you’re a dwarf, are you paragon or hero first? if you’re a city elf or a circle mage, how do you feel about this being the moment they finally suddenly want to decide you’re ‘of’ the same people, rather than pushing you aside? etc

‘hawke’ is so great. love how it depersonifies them. love how they’re the one who doesn’t rlly get a nickname from varric; hawke is the nickname, the false persona carrying the story. love that malcolm probably went by ‘hawke’ too and they stepped right into his shoes. love the genderlessness. love the flavour it gives to the names carver hawke and bethany hawke, the twins who can never be the hawke and struggle to get out from under that shadow, but also are in some ways freer in getting to have their own unique names appended, not made into a lifeless symbol

i’m very fond of ‘champion of kirkwall’. there’s a great beautiful confusing dead tradition of referring to nobles simply as their place name, which would be like for example referring to sebastian himself as starkhaven or anora herself as ferelden, and i would love that to apply to hawke in this case. it’s more relevant if they go dark and become viscount but i think all champions should get it as a treat. you don’t even get to be hawke; you are kirkwall. you clawed your way up it and now it’s a part of you, caked under your fingernails. i like how kirkwall claims them as its champion no matter if they were just fighting for their friend. in da2 everything is narrative, decided after the fact

i wish we could get more into herald of andraste because to me it screams end-of-days cult. a herald arrives ahead of someone, a herald announces them. the implication of a herald of andraste is that they have been sent to cry that she is coming

[songofamazon]

Quizquisition: Journey to Veilguard

Hey you! Yes, you. I have some questions about your Inquisitor from Dragon Age. Because I love learning about people's Inquisitors and sharing about mine too. I'm going to ask open questions about your (yes, yours too!) Inquisitor(s) taking them from their background to possible interactions in Veilguard.

This is putting all of the prompts that I have been gradually posting over the last two months in one place, in case you'd like to answer them all at once.

Questions are under the cut as the last few include minor spoilers for the beginning of Veilguard.

Who is your Inquisitor? Give us a basic bio of who they were before they became Inquisitor and any key choices they made during the inquisition.

What does your Inquisitor look like? How has their appearance changed between Inquisition and Veilguard?

What does your inquisitor believe? Has that changed over time?

Tell us about your Inquisitor’s family. What does family mean to them?

Who are your inquisitor’s closest friends (before, during, and/or after DA:I)? Romantic relationships? What draws them together? What do they do together?

What characters from other Dragon Age games (or other DA media) do you think your Inquisitor would get along with? Does the Inquisitor ever get a chance to meet them?

What are/were their favorite parts about being Inquisitor?

What is/was their least favorite part of being Inquisitor?

How did becoming Inquisitor and their subsequent adventures and relationships affect their worldview?

How did/does your Inquisitor react to people treating them as a celebrity, hero, or saint as the Inquisitor and “Herald of Andraste”?

Immediately after Trespasser, what are your Inquisitor’s goals?

Did your Inquisitor maintain or disband the Inquisition after Trespasser? What does the Inquisition (or its remnants) look like going forward? What does the Inquisitor see as their role?

How did your Inquisitor react to losing their hand, and the Anchor? How do they feel about their disability? How have people around them responded to the amputation, and how does the Inquisitor react?

After Trespasser, did the Inquisitor visit or go home? If not, why not? If so, what was homecoming like? What felt most comfortable? What parts of reverse culture shock were the most difficult?

At some point after Tresspasser, Skyhold was closed to the Inquisition and turned into a historical preserve under a Chantry caretaker. How did the Inquisitor react to this news? Where did they go when the Inquisition was told to leave? (Or were they already elsewhere?)

As the new Viscount of Kirkwall, Varric Tethras grants the Inquisitor a title and estate in Kirkwall. What does the Inquisitor do with that estate?

After Tresspasser, which places or specific character's homes did the Inquisitor want to visit? Did they go? How was it?

Aside from stopping Solas, does the Inquisitor have any other "causes" they are working on in the years leading up to the Veilguard?

What questions are keeping your Inquisitor up at night?

What is the Inquisitor's romantic status immediately before Veilguard?

The Inquisitor has been through a lot of traumatic events. What kind of self-care do they perform to help heal from that trauma?

What are the Inquisitor's hopes and dreams for the future? How have they changed over time?

What does the Inquisitor regret?

Of the new Veilguard characters, who is the Inquisitor most and least likely to get along with?

What do you think the Inquisitor's reaction will be to Rook? What will their relationship look like?

What is the first thing the Inquisitor would do upon arriving in the Lighthouse?

If the Inquisitor gets their own room in the Lighthouse, what would it look like?

What do you think will be the Inquisitor's reaction to seeing Lace Harding again?

What do you think will be the Inquisitor's reaction to seeing Solas again?

When Solas begins his ritual at the beginning of Veilguard, fade rifts split open in the sky all over the place. How does the Inquisitor react to seeing this?

Answer however you want: in fact bullets, fanfic snippets, interviews, art, comics, audio, video, interpretive dance, etc.

Answer as many or few of the prompts as you feel like.

Answer with one or many of your Inquisitors.

Let's hype each other's characters on the way to Veilguard!

If you want to tag it with something searchable, how about #Quizquisition ? Please do tag any spoilers or put them under a cut so no one gets caught unawares.

[daitranscripts]

Trespasser Conversation

Cassandra

Trespasser Masterpost Cassandra Masterpost

If the PC gets married Cassandra: I hear congratulations are in order, Inquisitor.

If not married before her cutscene Cassandra: Were you inspired by our chat earlier? (Chuckles.) Don’t answer that. I prefer to pretend that was the case.

Married Cullen Cassandra: I am certain you and the commander will be very happy. He is… quite a catch.

Married Sera Cassandra: I am certain you and Sera will be… well, it will be enjoyable. To watch, even.

PC: Is that so?

Cassandra: Oh, yes. The Orlesian court is in absolute pandemonium over this, even by their standards.

—

If PC talked with Varric Cassandra: How did Varric, of all people, become the Viscount of Kirkwall? A mystery for the ages.

Cassandra (romanced): What would you like, my love? Cassandra (high approval): It is good to see you, my friend. Cassandra (neutral/low approval): Inquisitor.

Dialogue options:

Investigate (Divine): How have you been? [3]

Investigate (not Divine): The Chantry has changed. [2]

Investigate (rebuilding the Seekers): How are the Seekers? [4]

Investigate: About the Exalted Council… [5]

General: Farewell. [6]

2 - Investigate: How have you been? PC: So you’ve been quite busy. Cassandra: (Disgusted noise.) PC: That bad? Cassandra: Being Divine is like trying to herd a field of cats into a lake for a much-needed bath. Even so, I would be pleased with my progress, were it not for all the attendants picking over me constantly. And the hat. Needless to say, I’m more than happy for this diversion. [back to 1]

3 - Investigate: The Chantry has changed. PC: So what do you think of the Chantry? Cassandra: You ask me just to poke at me and see if I react, don’t you? It is what it is.

Leliana Divine Cassandra: Most Holy’s reforms are… interesting, to say the least. I hope they last once Leliana is gone.

Vivienne Divine Cassandra: Most Holy is a tyrant. Some would say she is what the Chantry needed, but I will never agree.

Cassandra: Regardless of what I think, it could have been far worse. You and I both remember the dark times we faced. Sadly, others have far shorter memories. [back to 1]

4 - Investigate: How are the Seekers? PC: I hear you’ve been rebuilding the Seekers. Cassandra: Slowly, but yes. I managed to find a few of my former comrades who’d scattered to the winds. Some of them were unsuitable, and I did not ask them to return. Others felt as I did, once they read the Lord Seeker’s tome. We’ve since recruited a few candidates who are going through training now—with full disclosure. What comes after this, I cannot be certain. I am making it up as I go along.

Dialogue options:

General: You’ll be fine. [7]

General: Don’t we all? [8]

General: Seekers are okay with that? [9]

7 - General: You’ll be fine. PC: I’m sure you’ll be fine, Cassandra. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Divine Cassandra: It’s much to handle on top of my duties as Divine. We shall see. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ Not Divine Cassandra: I need to be better than “fine.” I want to build something that is worthy of lasting. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 8 - General: Don’t we all? PC: Sounds familiar. Cassandra: I thought you’d appreciate that. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ 9 - General: Seekers are okay with that? PC: Your Seekers don’t mind you “making it up”? ㅤㅤ ㅤ Divine Cassandra: Not so far. I am the Divine, after all. [back to 1] ㅤㅤ ㅤ Not Divine Cassandra: If they ever do, I expect them to speak up about it. [back to 1]

5 - Investigate: About the Exalted Council… PC: What do you think of the Exalted Council? Cassandra: They are frightened of your power, and there is no longer a hole in the sky to remind them that it was needed.

Dialogue options:

General: Perhaps they’re right. [10]

General: They don’t have actual power. [11]

General: I could remind them. [12]

10 - General: Perhaps they’re right. PC: They might be right. Cassandra: Do not say that near them unless you want to give them the scent of blood. ㅤㅤ ㅤ 11 - General: They don’t have actual power. PC: It’s just talk, isn’t it? What could they actually do? Cassandra: Individually? Very little. As a united front? You do not have that much power, Inquisitor. ㅤㅤ ㅤ 12 - General: I could remind them. PC: Maybe what they need is a quick reminder of that power. Cassandra: Only if you want to stiffen their resolve. ㅤㅤ ㅤ 13 - Scene continues. ㅤㅤ ㅤ Cassandra: Even so, I would wait and see where this leads. Calmer heads may yet prevail. ㅤㅤ ㅤ PC: When has that ever been the case? ㅤㅤ ㅤ Cassandra: I’m an optimist. Just ask Varric. [back to 1]

6 - General: Farewell. PC: I’ll see you later. Cassandra: Farewell.

[blighted-elf]

your gif of varric talking to hawke about isabela makes me curious: what's your headcanon around how much varric stays in contact with the da2 companions after the game ends? :D like we know he'll send letters to the romanced companion in inquisition, but i'm curious on if you think he tries to maintain a friendship with them after or not

Ooh interesting question. Thank you for asking!

Purely just basing this on my own worldstate. Like you mentioned, he sends letters to the romanced companion (Izzy in my case) but I like to think he keeps in contact with all of them to varying degrees. As much as he complains about Sebastian and Anders, it's my headcanon that he still keeps in contact with them. The Kirkwall crew are a dysfunctional found family who fight and disagree to no end, but there will always be an underlying level of love there. A fundamental part of Varric is that he doesn't give up on people he cares about, even when he's mad at them or even when he probably should for his own sake. As for the others - I imagine he'd be in contact with Aveline a lot during his brief position as Kirkwall's Viscount. Fenris during and post Inquisition due to him helping the order. Isabela is one of his closest friends and so they'd keep in frequent touch even if she weren't an agent of the Inquisition. He's always checking in on Merrill and especially Bethany now that my Hawke has convinced herself that she needs to keep a distance from her loved ones or they'll get hurt.

On the contrary now that I think about it, my Hawke probably wouldn't stay in touch with any of them except Bethany, Isabela, Varric and Merrill. Not because she doesn't care for the others (because she does and always will) but because either the tense way things ended with them or just the differences in personality. She feels like it's better left alone. Guarantee that if you put her in a room with any of them again though, it would be like no time had passed between nights at the Hanged Man, shit talking over a game of Wicked Grace and the rather grim now.

What about you? Do you have any headcanons regarding it?

[immobiliter]

okay okay, *cracks knuckles* let's do this~

don't click if you haven't finished the game because this is HUGE spoiler territory. don't fucking do it. don't ruin it for yourselves. i'm watching you all

so let me preface this by saying that i did not expect varric to leave this game alive, and i've said from the start that he went into that confrontation with solas fully prepared to either stop him or die trying, and i was right. he did die trying lmao. i thought it was kinda wild and unrealistic that they managed to somehow get him back to the lighthouse ( and assumed that bioware were maybe too cowardly to kill off a fan favourite ), but i was glad that he made it through the prologue and hoped for some kind of meaningful close to his arc. because i still expected him to not leave the game alive

varric is then a non-entity for the entire game, barely involved in group discussion aside from being a generic life coach to rook, and i continue to blame bioware for shoddy writing choices ( especially given the way they write morrigan, which i'm still not entirely on board with her being a walking talking plot device, but w/e ). i didn't make the connection that he was already dead if only because it didn't make sense to me, considering that harding and neve were also at the ritual site and would surely have had a reaction if he had died there ( especially harding, and i'll come back to this ). plus we meet dorian, isabela, the inquisitor over the course of the game — people who might not have withheld their thoughts on varric's death to a grieving rook because they don't really know them and have no reason to.

if varric died, it would have a ripple effect across the entirety of thedas and i'm not exaggerating here because he has friends all over the place. he's been in three ( two and a half now? lmao ) games, and he is purposely well connected. he has a spy network, he was the viscount of kirkwall, he's a bestselling author and celebrity. even if the south is in fucking chaos ( and i still hate everything about that btw. the moment i started getting those missives from the inquisitor i was ready to eluvian portal hop my way over to denerim and kirkwall and play that game instead, fuck the north lmao ), this would have huge ramifications that meant it didn't make sense for him to be a figment of rook's imagination for that long. and i think that's also my problem. that this went on for the whole fucking game without anyone pushing against this fantasy that solas used to manipulate rook.

but he was dead all along. so instead, i get bioware pulling the rug on you during the final endgame like "oh so he was never alive at all actually btw" and on its own, that's a good twist. their final conversation together made me cry, it was lovely. but the more you question that twist the more it starts to unravel and fall apart because there were no meaningful hints at it throughout the game. i romanced harding, which is the romance where the ghost of varric's death should have actually had some bearing on things because they both saw it, they both went through it, and there was NOTHING from harding whatsoever. no cryptic conversation between the two about grief, not even concern from harding that rook is apparently hallucinating varric in the infirmary and they've been doing this for weeks??? months??? however long the timescale of the game's events is.

and sure, there were subtle things. bellara using varric's full name when talking about him, varric never being addressed when he was a part of the group. but nothing about this should have been subtle. he's the wrong pick of a character if you intend for this to be subtle, bioware. even solas says he had a tenuous connection to rook at best in his attempt to manipulate things, and there's no way he could have maintained that illusion that varric was still alive and with rook if their companions ( or the cameo characters like dorian or the inquisitor ) had actually pushed against it like it would make sense for them to do.

then there's the argument that rook's "regret" in causing varric's death is meant to be big enough to counter solas' own regrets so that they could escape the fade prison but..... rook has only known varric a year. there are other characters for whom varric's death would have weighed way heavier, surely. i feel like it was way more about the player's own emotional attachment to varric as a fan favourite honestly than it was about rook. arguably SOLAS should have regretted that more than rook, like come on.

it also means that he gets a death in the narrative but the ONLY people who get to have meaningful reactions to that death are solas and rook. so varric's death becomes all about them, which didn't sit right with me and still doesn't. when i say that i was fully prepared to punt solas back into the fade and not give him his solavellan ending, i stg lmao. and i do also hate that rook could only confront solas about this at the 11th hour because of when this plot twist was placed in the narrative. like if rook had managed to figure out that varric was a manifestation of their grief earlier and confronted solas about it 2/3 of the way through the game ( via their fade connection ), i think it would have hit more on an emotional level. because i don't want to hate solas and never have hated solas as a character, and i understand the rationale behind why he would have done this to manipulate rook as a failsafe but ?? good job game, you're making me hate solas at the last fucking moment despite wanting to pursue a "save him" ending. i don't think that necessarily did solas any justice as a character either in all honesty. there was surely another way that they could have done a switcheroo and had him escape the fade prison, surely.

anyway, moving away from the giant fucking elephant in the room lmao. i did enjoy the game for what it was. the companions were fun, i don't think the end mission for veilguard hit the same heights as the suicide mission from me2, but it was nice to see an endgame sequence from bioware that carried big consequences for companions and forced you to play through their stories first ( even if their questlines were very long and unwieldy at times. like trying to get to their final quest but just being handed various conversations and outings was frustrating. i like being able to get to know the companions better but my god ).

i enjoyed the factions, i think the cameos were incredibly superfluous and wish they'd actually carried more weight in the game ( i do think bioware had this issue where they wanted to make the game accessible to a new audience but didn't want to commit to their own canon and piss off those purists who wanted all of their 329843 choices in the three previous games to matter. like bioware should have just said, it's been ten years, this is the canon we have decided on for the past few games sans these three choices you pick in the cc screen, and ran with it. i think the game would have been better off had they done that and i think that's why they blitzed the south as they did. so that apparently nothing mattered anyway ig ).

sans the varric thing, i think solas's ending was handled well. i liked his final conversation with mythal a lot. i'm not a big solavellan shipper but i can see why people are happy with what happened there for him.

like it was a good game and i had fun playing it. i just think they fumbled a lot of things and the varric one is just so fucking BIG that i'm over here like ??? i somehow have to fix this and it's gonna be such an ordeal on my part i did not ask for this. it also means i can't write anything set during veilguard until this is no longer a spoiler lmao thank you bioware, truly

[deusexlachina]

Wannabe Warden Part 10: Everyone comes to me for help simultaneously because Kirkwall is not a functioning city

In which I stop people from killing the Qunari because they're afraid the Qunari will kill people so they try and make the Qunari kill people to prove their point.

I'm still reeling from losing Bethany, raging that my dream became her curse. I need to become a Grey Warden, not just for glory, but to reunite with my sister.

Unfortunately that will have to wait, because literally all of Kirkwall comes to me for help with everything at once. Merrill needs help fixing a mirror, Anders needs help icing a lobotomy-happy templar, Fenris is pursued by slavers, and Isabela needs to have sex with me Right Now.

Unfortunately for my friends, none of their needs are as urgent as the Viscount, who asks me to make peace with the Qunari before they attack. In fact, the Qunari are one of the most restrained factions in all of Kirkwall, where the most common form of social interaction is murder. Despite this, everyone is more afraid of them than the random assassins lurking around every corner who kill Anders in ONE HIT SERIOUSLY WHAT A FAT LOAD OF SHIT

The Qunari are led by the Arishok, the head of their military wing. The Qunari are a society ruled by the Qun, which gives everyone Assigned Roles and frowns on deviation. The Arishok now reveals that they're here to recover something precious that was stolen from them, but even then he doesn't explain what, what it's needed for, what it looks like or who might have stolen it, despite the fact that all of these have clear answers that the Arishok knows (book, religion, fancy, and definitely Isabela, respectively).

Tragically, if his role was as a diplomat or even a spy, he could easily solve this situation, but because of his rigidity, he knows nothing but the direct approach and will thus keep seeing everything as either a nail for that hammer or an unsolvable problem. The latest of these nails is an attempt to steal their gunpowder formula. I say attempt because they accidentally stole a poison gas formula disguised as a gunpowder formula, a substitution that could only be deceive a thief clever enough to recognize a weapons formula in a foreign language but not clever enough to recognize what sort of weapon it is.

With this warning, I rush to save Kirkwall from the poison gas. There's no time to explain to him the potential strategic flaws in withholding gunpowder but teaching your enemies how to make a powerful nerve agent that can massacre an entire block. Fortunately, Other Aveline is here to help. She gets a report from her guardsman, and, because I bluntly talk about the dangers, she reassures me that we missed the initial cloud. I'm glad she tells me this, because it's only true if she does.

Anders doesn't use his healing powers to neutralize the poison. Varric doesn't use his own poison gas skills to make an antidote. Instead, Other Aveline just decrees that the death mist is Over and it's perfectly safe to breathe without any kind of respiratory protection, like governments did with COVID except this is actually true, which I can only attribute to either the placebo effect or her guardsman's report taking so long that most of the gas has already been breathed up by the residents. Fortunately, I learned that there's a haze that smells like throw-up. Your tax dollars at work, Kirkwall.

This quest isn't too hard, as long as you don't do it in the sensible way. You see steel latches on the ground, helpfully highlit to indicate they're important, and, once Hawke picks one up, she says they could close the poison gas barrels. The sensible thing to do at this point is to immediately close gas barrels as quickly as possible, since that is your entire reason for being here. But if you do that, you'll die horribly, because each barrel you close triggers reinforcements.

The smart way to do this is to slay everybody in the deadly gas, which you wouldn't think would be difficult, but they're apparently immune to it, taking no damage even if you didn't "miss the initial cloud." So they're immune to poison? No, no. They're vulnerable to poison. But apparently not the one poison that would make my life easiest. It turns out this was all a setup by elves angry at the Qunari converting their fellow elves.

They wanted to steal gunpowder to make an explosion and pin it on the Qunari so the people of Kirkwall would hate and fear them which they already do. They didn't know they stole a nerve agent, but they caused a massacre with a Qunari weapon, so it all works out. I mean they all died and took numerous innocents with them, but it's farther than most plans get in Kirkwall.

I report back to the Arishok, who is furious that he is saddled with cleaning up our mess. But the Arishok is very restrained - he keeps composed even as he boils with rage. He's a terrific character, one of my inspirations for the Ogre Queen. He thanks me, says goodbye and gives me some gold. After this interaction which could have just as easily happened over a spot of tea and biccies, Varric is understandably terrified and says we should rush to warn the Viscount of the Arishok's anger. To appease Varric, I pop over to the Viscount, just in time for him to have another crisis not a literal day later, where the Qunari sent a delegation to him and they just disappeared. Other Aveline uses her investigation skills and social graces to discreetly look into this.

In the least shocking twist conceivable, the one behind this was the same person who was behind the last plot against the Qunari - Sister Petrice, the Priestess of Meanness! She recognizes me from last time, although she thinks my name is Serah. (She must be thinking of that girl in Denerim).

To deflect blame, she sells out Ser Varnell, a templar who is obviously working for her and pretends he isn't. I left Kirkwall just long enough to fail in my life's ambition and had to part ways with my sister and closest friend, and already there's a new conspiracy by people who should've learned their lesson years ago. And - The Last Straw - people keep getting my name wrong. I go Berserk. This makes me convert stamina to extra damage and also get an attack speed buff. More importantly, it gives me glowing red eyes because I have a mod that gives you red eyes if you're Berserk.

I find the delegates imprisoned and tortured, and tell Ser Varnell to fight someone who isn't bound. He misinterprets this and slits the last Qunari's throat. We massacre them and explain it to the Arishok. Because I do not try to hide this from him, I earn the Arishok's respect, something with next to no practical use but which I can't help but go for.

Unfortunately, he thinks my name is Panahedan.

[lavender-laudanum]

Lord Inquisitor Geth Trevelyan's Inner Circle: In His Own Words (File 4/12)

*After Geth Trevelyan's death in 9:45 Dragon in Minrathous, the former mighty Lord Inquisitor's journals were found amongst his possessions left behind at his home in Skyhold, deep within the Frostback Mountains. These journals, unedited, were brought into circulation with the help of the Viscount of Kirkwall, Varric Tethras, and by Trevelyan's husband, Dorian Pavus. Along with entries detailing his time leading the Inquisition and much of his life beforehand, which had been shrouded in near-complete secrecy until these documents' release, there were files on each of the members of his so-called "Inner Circle." These dossiers were put together as a standing testimony to Trevelyan's extremely candid personality and radical approach to leadership.*

VARRIC – The Storyteller

*The writing on the pages that describe Varric are, in particular, littered with notes in a multitude of hands, some in Trevelyan’s neat script, but most are not – they are the writings of Sera, The Iron Bull, even Cassandra’s and Solas’. It looks like a hodgepodge of notes, comments and even drawings, rather than the Lord Inquisitor’s personal journal. In its place in Tevinter, the document that holds Varric Tethras’ file is also riddled in much the same way; note after note after note, most in a hand of everyone’s – except Varric himself.*

I know what Varric would like me to write. The dramatic tale of the renowned storyteller himself; always quick to start a hand of Wicked Grace as he is to offer a drink and a quiet talk in a corner of Skyhold's main hall, and the first to offer an offhand comment or a laugh in the face of insanity. That is the Varric that he would like to be remembered as – but as a man who was forced to perform for others, once upon a time, Varric and I quickly came to a mutual understanding: We didn't have to pretend for each other. And so, respecting that, I will remember Varric as he was, as he is; not by the story he would write later.

It was Varric who showed me kindness first, in those earliest days of my time with the Inquisition. He would meet me at dusk and ensured I could sleep, and distracted people so I could eat, both without being watched. He also spoke to me, about anything and everything – I talked more to him in those first few days than I did to anyone else in the full year before. I was never comfortable with total silence myself, and Varric is the same; silence just doesn’t sit right, not when it can be filled.

Varric is also the one who brought a sense of realism to the sometimes-fantastical adventures of the Inquisition – on one memorable occasion he called Erimond a “tool,” in response to his evil machinations. But, beyond his quips, he often had a better grasp of things than he let on. For instance, one of the very first things he asked me at Haven, once we were alone, was if I thought of running. I hadn’t, of course, but he acknowledged something no one else had; that it was unlikely that whatever happened, it would be a miracle if I lived through it.

Looking back, that was an omen, though of what sort, to this very moment I don’t know.

Above all, there was a sadness in Varric, through the time I knew him. A lot of it had to do with Hawke, who is and remains his best friend. Of course, you can’t talk about either man without mentioning the other at least once – the two so desperately tied together that it was impossible to even think about them on their own. Varric had chosen to protect the one man who seemed to be unprotectable, somehow, to the point where his loyalty to the Inquisition, and thus to me, was called into question – though I did not allow it for long.

It's ironic, that the storyteller is one of the most difficult to write about – he eludes description, eludes stories of his own involvement, though without him the Inquisition surely wouldn’t have been what it ultimately became. It’s even more ironic that it was the Dwarf, above everyone else, who brought us our most human moments; moments that gave us some relief in the most damning of times. I will always remember those nights of Wicked Grace, those nights in front of a flickering fire surrounded by laughter, far longer than I’ll remember those cold ones I spent alone at a few of the Inquisition camps across Southern Thedas; a mercy of the kind I had never been freely given before.

That is how I choose to remember Varric. He may be flawed, but we are all flawed, we have all made our fair share of mistakes; we all, through either our own failures or through failure by complicity or ignorance, have regrets. But those aren’t what define us, and I hope our resident storyteller will believe that for himself one day.

Thanks, Varric.

[mrs-gauche]

So, I had planned to write a comment on the three published synopses of the upcoming comic series "The Missing" (first volume to release on January 25th btw!), but since @felassan​​ kinda beat me to it and already wrote amazingly detailed posts summing up everything and elaborating further on what I fail to put into words lol, I'm just gonna add my pointless ramblings poor two cents to it now, I guess. 😶

(Beware also of spoilers for Tevinter Nights, Absolution and the comics under the cut!)

(Thanks Dark Horse btw, for already giving away half the plot with these, jeez 😂)

First off, when I first read the second synopsis, not gonna lie, I was genuinely surprised that Solas turned out to be the "former friend" in question. 😂 I know, it was kinda the obvious answer, but maybe that's why I wasn't really expecting it? I think the title also lead me a little astray here? Assuming that the title is actually referring to Solas.. Given the circumstances, referring to Solas as "missing" would be.. pretty funny and also more than a litte strange to me, actually? lol It would definitely raise a few questions here...

So, let us assume that the theory about the eight year timeskip since Trespasser turns out to be true. Have they (the Inquisition) been searching for Solas this entire time? And if that's the case, why is that so funny to me? 😂 (Especially considering the whole ending of Tevinter Nights, even though we can't really tell when exactly that last chaper took place.. Imagine they've been searching for him for the better part of a decade, and then he just pops up with a silly wig and a fake french accent at some tea house one day. lmaoo)

Furthermore, why is it *only* Varric and Harding that seem to be conducting this search? You would think that for something as crucial as finding the person that announced to destroy the world, there would be a few more people on this search than that? lol So, what's the rest of the remains of the Inquisition doing then? Are there several teams searching in different places maybe? To expand this search as far as possible? Maybe they're trying to keep a low profile by searching in teams of two, since it would reduce the risk of Solas finding out about what they're up to? I mean, wasn't that the whole reason for why they even said they needed to "find someone Solas doesn't know"/never sees coming at the end of Trespasser, to try and keep him in the dark about any efforts against him?

Also, speaking of Varric. Assuming that this story takes place after Absolution now, the ending of the series could explain why Varric left Kirkwall and his position as Viscount? Maybe, aside from trying to stop the obvious threat/end of the world, they are now desperate to seek help/information/any answers from Solas on what to do against the corruption of the Blight and the red lyrium spread? (Because if there's *anyone* who would know something, it's him right?) What does the state of the world look like in regards to the Blight and red lyrium in general after a potential eight year timeskip?

Okay, so why would they be searching for Solas in the Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell then? Honestly, when I read this the first time, my mind (as always lol) immediately went back to the red lyrium idol again. And no, I still don't believe that a single thing about the Bard's tale in Tevinter Nights actually happened (but that's just me). lol So, assuming this happens after the end of TN (and Solas isn’t already in possession of the idol like he claimed), he would still be searching for that flippin thing now, wherever it may be. (How could the idol end up in the Deep Roads beneath Tevinter you ask? No idea. 😂) But I also can't forget about the ominous "Hunt of the Fell Wolf" poem from the Jaws of Hakkon DLC that talks of a demon wolf (Solas?) in a "labyrinth of winding cave" (Deep Roads?) where there's an "idol that could prove the monster’s doom"(!! Coincidence?? I think NOT! lmao).

Btw, wouldn’t it be kinda funny though if Solas was searching for the idol now, while Varric who found the idol with Hawke in the first place, is now searching for Solas? lol

So, what's the plan here exactly? Assuming they would be successful, in which case Varric and Harding find Solas and then.... what? You're telling me Varric and Harding are gonna tie him up and talk him out of his endeavors? 😂 Single-handedly kill him? Torture him with tea? Spy on him? Reminisce about the Inquisition days? lol I honestly think it's more likely that they would try to talk to him, being former friends and all, unless they have some type of super secret weapon against him that we don't know about yet.

So what *would* Solas be doing in the Deep Roads beneath Marnas Pell? (Besides, you know, painting yet another teaser trailer thumbnail for YouTube. lol)

(Our man has been procrastinating hard for the past eight years, painting as many Deep Roads cave walls as possible to avoid going through with his plans. lmao)

It's also worth to remember that a lot of Tevinter was actually build on the ruins of old Elvhenan, which could explain why there are still places with names like "Solas" to be found on the map. (And btw, what is it about this place that lead to it getting this name, anyway? I mean, that name practically guarantees for this place to become relevant in some form down the line in DA4, right? Especially since Solas' line about how he supposedly came from a "small village to the north" won't ever leave my mind and we all know that this man is always telling at least half the truth, so.. could he have been referring to the place literally called Solas, if that's his place of origin or would that be too much on the nose? 😂) Anyway, it definitely raises the question on how old some of these Deep Roads beneath Tevinter actually are and if there could be structures found beneath it that even precede them (like what we saw in The Descent)? And maybe that's part of the reason why Solas would go there..?

Anyway, since none of this actually seems to matter now, because as it turns out in synopsis two, apparently Solas wasn't there after all. 😂 Next stop is Vyrantium and an encounter with "deadly Antivan Crow assassins", which is interesting, since the last we heard of Vyrantium and crows, it was in the "The Wigmaker Job" in TN. Additionally, the cover of volume two features two characters that kinda look like the crows Teia and Viago!

I'll be honest, I had completely forgotten that Teia and Viago even made an appearance in Deception. lol But the look does kinda match? So the question is, what lead Varric and Harding to go from the Deep Roads to Vyrantium and then to the Arlathan Forest?

So, the Arlathan Forest. Again, please check out felassan’s post for more information, they’ve done a fantastic job to write down every important bit to know here. Much like Teia and Viago, it was also featured in both TN and one of the short stories “Ruins of Reality”. As were the characters Strife and Irelin! Could they be the mysterious “Veil Jumpers”? What even is a Veil Jumper, anyway (felassan gave some pretty cool speculations on this!)?

Former DA4 Creative Director Matthew Goldman made an interesting comment on a fanart once, that lead people to speculate that the group of people we've seen in a lot of concept art are called “Veilfire archer”?

..Which does sound to be in the same vein as Veil Jumper, so could they all be part of the same group of people/an entirely new faction even?

(Notice also the recurring background with the golden/autumn leaves. Reminds me of the leaves and branches seen on the (now removed) vinyl cover (showing the Black City *cough* Arlathan *cough*??).)

And lastly, what is this "crucious stone" and how does it relate to literally anything? lol While felassan did speculate about a potential link to Latin/Tevene, someone else pointed out that "crucious" is literally Greek for "crucial". So.. plot crucial stone? lol As in, literally another MacGuffin? (Red lyrium idol, you're getting competition lol) The fact that it's Greek is interesting to me, given that we've been speculating for a while now that BioWare seems to take a lot of inspiration from Greek mythology for anything regarding the ancient elves. 👀 And since we *are* in the *Arlathan* forest here after all, maybe that's where the connection lies..?

People have also pointed out that, based on the track Varric and Harding have been taking so far, first Marnas Pell, then Vyrantium and now the Arlathan Forest...

...assuming that, if they were to go further east, they would end up at the White Spire, which is why some people assume that this is where Solas has to be now. lol

I mean, anything is possible! We know next to nothing about the White Spire (not to be confused with the White Spire in Orlais btw lol), other than it's an Antivan mountain north of the city of Brynnlaw, so there is really nothing else to go on as to why Solas would even be there.. But considering how they are marketing this comic as a direct tie-in for DA4 and there’s still one volume to go (I think?).. Maybe we do end up knowing where Solas is at the end of this comic and this will segue directly into the beginning of DA4 somehow?

(I also want to mention that Rivain is also right next to the White Spire when going even further east. Rivain being also where the main base of a certain guild of treasure hunters is located. Lord of Fortune has been a very popular candidate for the potential next protagonist for a while now. Just saying... 👀)

[shivunin]

Late to the party, but here I am for the Codex Prompts! ✨

What about, for Emma...

10. a letter to your OC from a companion they haven’t seen in a while

Maybe late, but I am delighted to have you, as always! There is cake and popcorn and we're going to rewatch the extended edition of Fellowship after this. You haven't missed a thing c:

(and if you still aren't feeling well there is fresh bread and soup and some nice hot tea. I hope you feel better soon!)

(Codex Prompts)

10. A letter to your OC from a companion they haven’t seen in a while (for Emmaera Lavellan)

A letter hand-delivered to the Dalish encampment outside Wycome. 

15 Bloomingtide, 9:44 Dragon

Inquisitor, 

I’ve shooed everyone out of the Viscount’s office for a few moments, so I’ve got to keep this brief. 

I said there was space for you here and now I’ve made sure of it. The manor in Hightown is well stocked with books recommended by Dorian, furnishings chosen by the Ambassador or Hawke, and a small garden that Merrill has agreed to take care of until you make your way here. Say the word and it will be fully staffed within a week. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking. 

I’m not saying that this thing with your clan isn’t going to work out. Of course not. 

What I’m saying is, you have options, so don’t do anything rash like…I don’t know, run off into the forests alone to hunt our old friend yourself. I know it’s been hard, but you’ve got another family here the moment you need it. I have it on good authority that the trip from Wycome to Kirkwall is under a few weeks when the weather is good, and now’s the time for it. 

You don’t have to make a decision right now, Lavellan. If it were me, I would want to know my options. That’s all. Don’t count us out yet. 

Anyway—I don’t have much more to report. Hawke made me the godfather after all, if you can believe it. I’d complain about having to share, but how could I with such fine company as a Prince and a Warden? He’s a cute kid, Inquisitor. You should come down here if you can, even if just to meet him. That invitation is hers, by the way, though I’d be glad to see you either way. 

Take care, Inquisitor. There are people who care about you here. 

Now, I can hear Bran breathing down the keyhole, so I’ll end things here. Let me know as soon as you’re thinking about visiting and I’ll show you the very best of the city. It’s a short list, but a good one. 

As always, I remain

Your friend,

Varric Tethras 

Titles and roles etc. etc. You remember all the ones that matter.

[highwayphantoms]

JAY JAY FRIDAY JAY - ❝ sometimes i feel i’m being crushed under the weight of everything i’ll never be. ❞ for Briar Hawke and a character of your choice plsssss and thank!!

TY TY here is some Briar & Varric for you! :D @dadrunkwriting

Words: 1125 Rating: T Warnings: Alcohol consumption

-

She brushed it off at first. In the beginning, it was easy: nobility or not, she wasn’t expected to visit or entertain guests while recovering from significant injuries. If Briar maybe exaggerated the length of her recovery, no one but her handful of household staff and her friends would ever know.

But she couldn’t hide in her home forever. A month and a half after she killed the Arishok in single combat, the polite invitations from her neighbors had started to become much more pointed. Gone were the messages of sympathy for her “grievous injuries” (Anders had been far more concerned than she had, but she wasn’t dead, now was she?). In their place were requests and wheedling and subtext.

She may not have been raised in a noble household, but Briar had not lived in Kirkwall for four years without picking up on some of the subtleties of the upper classes: the hidden daggers and poisoned barbs of language. Nor was she unaware of the… expectations of these invitations. Fine fabrics, knowledge of the current trends in Orlais and the Free Marches, spending hours with Orana to tame her hair into a “more appropriate” style.

Any event that Briar could not show up to in full armor was not an event she had any interest in attending. She felt too exposed in dresses and fine shoes—exposed not to weapons but to attention. And she hated attention.

Which was how she ended up in the Hanged Man nursing the worst ale she’d seen in months. Though the place was busy, it felt deserted; Isabela wasn’t in Kirkwall, Varric was nowhere to be seen, and the only familiar faces were that of the staff. By now, most of the Hanged Man’s regulars knew to leave her alone, but there was always one idiot made brave by alcohol who would try to proposition her or some equally irritating nonsense. Still, it was preferable to what seemed like the equivalent of walking on broken glass in bare feet with a full audience.

She wasn’t so drunk that she didn’t react immediately to someone tapping her on the shoulder. On instinct, she was prepared to grab and potentially break a wrist—but she let her hand drop the moment she turned and realized it was only Varric. “Where have you been?” she said, though she didn’t really need or expect an answer.

The dwarf fixed her with an amused look. “I thought you had plans tonight. Plans of the Hightown variety?”

Briar groaned. “That was before some noble asswipe started making noise about putting my name up for Viscount.” Then she gestured loosely at the fine dress she still wore under a travel-worn cloak and added, “As you can see, I left fashionably early.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Hawke.” Varric smiled wryly and tipped his head towards the stairs at the back of the room. “Come on, I’ll get them to crack open something better than whatever watered down shit they’re serving down here.”

She got to her feet wavering only slightly, which was definitely the fault of the ankle she’d twisted earlier in the evening and not the ale she’d been drinking for… she wasn’t entirely sure how long. The stairs were a manageable prospect, so long as she kept a hand on the wall to steady herself, but she was glad to sink into one of the chairs at Varric’s table. When he joined her a minute or two later, Varric shut the door behind him. “Here,” he said, and a heavy glass bottle clinked where he set it in front of her. “Antivan whiskey. Not the best you can get in this city, but you wouldn’t be drinking here if you cared, would you?”

Briar snorted. “Nope,” she replied, and snatched the bottle. Whiskey wasn’t her drink of choice—given an option she preferred wine—but she really, truly, did not care. Not tonight.

“So,” Varric said eventually, after settling into a seat of his own, “is this a drinking in mutual silence kind of night?”

She shrugged and swallowed the last of her ale, freeing her mug to be filled with whiskey instead. “It’s absurd. I mean, look at me. I’m Fereldan, for one, and all I’m actually good at is making people dead. Viscount? It would never happen.”

“It might,” Varric countered. “So long as there’s no Viscount in the Keep, the Knight-Commander rules every inch of this city.”

While she refilled her mug, she said, “Right, because I want more opportunities to be reminded of the fact that my sister is locked in the Gallows and there’s nothing I can do to change it.” Briar shook her head with an irritated sound and grumbled, “It’s just… Sometimes I feel like I’m being crushed under the weight of things I’ll never be. Most of Hightown expects me to be just like the rest of them, to want what they want, and that’s igoing to happen.”

“Shouldn’t have saved them from the qunari,” Varric said wryly. “If they were all dead, you wouldn’t have to deal with them.”

She groaned. “What else was I supposed to do, turn my back and let dozens of innocent lives be slaughtered.” Briar paused, then amended, “Allegedly innocent lives. Maker only knows what shit they get up to behind closed doors.”

“I have a few ideas.”

“You would,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know. I almost want to start bringing Merrill with me to these things, give them something to talk about that isn’t me, but I couldn’t do that to her. She deserves better than Orlesians making snippy comments behind her back.”

Varric quirked an eyebrow and said, “Something tells me Fenris would go with you if you asked him.”

“I don’t know,” she replied, desperately reaching for some excuse to cover the fact that the thought of Fenris made her heart ache. “I don’t exactly need a bodyguard,” she said lamely.

“Uh huh.” There was no fooling Varric. She could see it in his face, that he’d just confirmed any suspicions he might have had.

Four and a half months, and she still couldn’t shake the feeling that it was her fault. It wasn’t, Fenris had said so, but knowing and feeling were two very separate things. Briar sighed and took a long drink of whiskey, half hoping the burn down the back of her throat might cancel out the pain in her heart. “I should head home,” she said after a few moments. “Thanks for the drink and the company, Varric.”

“Anytime, Hawke.”

When she staggered out the front door, Briar took three steps in the direction of Hightown before she reconsidered and turned to head for Darktown instead.

[nelkenbabe]

Ivy & Twine WIP: Shacking Up

After the Inquisition is disbanded, Amaryll makes a pit stop in Kirkwall on her way to Clan Lavellan. To her dismay, the Viscount seems to already be filled in on everything that happened since Halamshiral.

"So... you and Curly?"

Amaryll almost spit the whole cherry back out.

"What? You thought me leaving Skyhold meant I wouldn't keep tabs on what's happening down there? Ha!"

"I would have thought you're busy, Viscount Tethras," she replied pointedly after chewing with deliberation and moving the pit to her cheek.

"Never too busy for gossip. Especially when it comes to my friends." His eyes gleamed. "I gotta say, I knew you were gonna do something crazy after the Winter Palace. Didn't see you shacking up with with Curly, though."

She was about to give a retort, something between scathing and defensive, but as Amaryll stopped for a second and took in Varric's relaxed smile, her shoulders dropped. The last few days in Skyhold, Cullen and her hadn't been embarrassed about being together. Had flaunted it, in fact. So why did she feel like she had to explain herself to Varric? Because he hadn't been there to see it develop? Because it was still fresh?

Something crazy, alright. That's what it had to look like, for someone who didn't know what had happened.

Amaryll took the small bowl to unceremoniously spit the cherry pit inside. And with it, all pretense.

"I'm going back to Ferelden after visiting my clan," she then said in a much calmer tone. "I'll meet Cullen in Highever and then we'll travel to Therinfal Redoubt to see how the College of Enchanters is settling in. You probably know that he petitioned Queen Anora to let the College use it as a base. Shouldn't be long until they can start producing potions and earn their keep. Cullen used his military connections to facilitate the agreement."

As Amaryll recounted this, eyes still on the bowl of fruit, Varric's face gradually lost the spark of mischief and settled into something else. He folded his broad hands over the dark, heavy table top, leaning his head back a little. After a bit of silence, Amaryll met his eyes.

"Never thought I'd live to see the day," Varric said somewhere between solemness and jest, "Curly helping mages. By using diplomacy, no less.Your doing?"

"No," Amaryll replied without hesitation, "his own. He felt he had some things to make up for. All I did was be there."

Varric sat on that for a while.

"So there is no shacking, is what you're telling me," he finally said, only to earn himself a quick, brutal smack on the arm. "OW!"

[vigilskeep]

sorry if you've gotten an ask like this before, but imagine your hawke and warden (any of your choice) got flipped, how do you think they would get along w the companions from the other game? and in general how would they do and feel in the position of the hof/champion, hypothetically?

i just love hearing about your characters ngl i really want to put them in situations

LOVE asks like this pls put my guys in situations

keir as the hero of ferelden... i guess not totally unreasonable, he did fight at ostagar, duncan could’ve picked him up (read: pried him away from his family with the right of conscription.) he’d get along with alistair well enough, though it might take him a minute to warm up to him for near-templar reasons. wouldn’t get along too well with leliana or wynne, and wynne would leave the party after he defiled the sacred ashes, leliana only staying via an intimidation check which is a thing you can do if she’s hardened iirc. fuck the chantry he’s gotta get them reaver powers. not much patience for oghren. would do well with sten, shale, zevran. would kill loghain, no doubt abt that. and honestly, i’ve said before that they maybe had a thing in lothering, keir would romance morrigan and do the dark ritual with her (suddenly just realised the hilarious implication that kieran’s name is loosely inspired by keir possibly in the normal worldstate as well). keir would be fairly bitter about the whole thing and abt the wardens, and his priority would still be finding his family and (if only by virtue of stopping the blight) keeping them safe. he would put alistair on the throne alone, not hardened

it’s harder to see how minerva would become the champion, but if she wasn’t the hero i guess she could end up as an apostate and maybe wind up in kirkwall fleeing the blight like everyone else. if she had the relationship hawke has w varric they’d get along like a house on fire, i’m trying to find a normal way to say she loves when people are obsessed with her AGHASJSKSKK. i cannot imagine her talking to sebastian. minerva and aveline in a room would not go well. she would rival fenris but like still a close important relationship but that means even more tension. friendship with anders but she wouldn’t distract the grand cleric for him even if she would support him in the end; she doesn’t act if she doesn’t know what’s going on and she doesn’t appreciate being asked to let alone what she sees as the attempted emotional blackmail. easily friends with isabela and definitely sleeps with her regardless of romance choice, that happens in dao anyway lmao. friends with merrill, would be such an interesting way to explore minerva’s growing confidence in blood magic. i’m honestly undecided on romance—isabela hits a lot of the same beats as zev’s and thus makes sense for her to go for, merrill would be incredible for her as dalish love interest for minerva makes me insane conceptually let alone a fellow blood mage, fenris would be kind of an unhinged choice for, you know, noted blood mage, but also it’s a different flavour on fen rivalmance because of the shared heritage and i know she’d be into him and like... the drama of it all... anyway minerva would love gaining power in kirkwall as the champion and would lean ambitious, maybe even try for viscount even if it was impossible because of who she is. and in the last straw would be mad at anders for going behind her back—significantly more mad than she is in the canon situation where she is generally highly supportive, actually, because she was right here anders we could have fucking talked abt this and planned ahead—but she’ll support him when it comes to it and she’d never let anyone lay a hand on him