#*takes notes on new important tevinter word*

[lunian]

Neve is the best auntie for skeleton son

[kaija-rayne-author]

The elves 'needed a win' in Dragon Age Veilguard, huh?

Obligatory 'I'm not an asshole' disclaimer. Feel free to jump to the cut if you've read it.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I was on media blackout while I played DAV. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Note. None of my writing on DA, but especially DAV, is edited. This is just my off the cuff writing. I don't have the time, energy, or heart to edit them properly.

Grab a drink of preference, walk the dog, then find a comfy spot, this is gonna be a long one.

I'm referring to a quote of John Epler's. Creative Director for DAV at BioWare in this Polygon article.

"elven historian Bellara Lutare and Grey Warden Davrin, come from Dalish clans themselves and even though they’re a little shaken about confronting their gods, they’re not conflicted about doing so. In fact, among Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain’s lackeys and puppets, there’s not a single elf to be found. Epler said that it’s vindication for the Dalish — which is nice to see considering how they’ve been portrayed in past games."

Okay. Let’s think about this first part. Epler says it's vindication for the elves and how they've been treated in previous games. You know? Ever since I read that article, confusion has just run around in my head. How? How can absolutely anything that happened in DAV be considered as ‘vindication of the elves’?

Firstly, I'm not sure if vindication is the best word for the concept he's going for. Vindication means to Justify, Confirm, Substantiate, or Avenge. I can't honestly see how any of the events in DAV do even one of those things for the elves.

You know what it really is? It's not anything good, regardless of which transitive verb you use. It's just bad writing. Like absolutely awful, pretty deeply racist, terrible writing.

You’re trying to actually have me believe that within the entire race of elves, city elves, Dalish, veil-jumpers, enslaved elves (who we conveniently don’t see at all in DAV, even though we spend time in Tevinter… the capital of enslaved elves…) there aren’t some who would follow Elgar’nan and/or Ghilan’nain? At least for a little while? The enslaved elves wouldn’t follow their old gods if they promised to free them? Really?

More realistically, there would be a schism within the elves. Some would follow the returned gods, some would deny them, and some would be like fuck this, I have halla to feed or floors to scrub.

Having the gods return would be a world shaking event on every front. Not just in the Disney villain mustache twirling way, like in DAV. But also culturally, religiously, anthropologically.

Every single elf in the entire elven race is ‘good’? There aren’t any who are power hungry? (Raises an eyebrow at Zathrian DAO.) No power hungry, not exactly ‘good’ elves, huh? Riiiiiight.

Would some, maybe even most, change their minds once they realized what Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain really were? Of course, there would be some. But there would be just as many who might stick with their gods.  For so many reasons. Revenge, greed, desire for power, unwavering fanatical faith... I could keep listing reasons for a while. That's just, realistically, how intellectual beings behave. There wouldn’t be any elves on that entire continent that wouldn’t throw their fists up in victory, and shout, ‘Yes! Finally! Let’s squash Tevinter first, then Orlais.’?

Really? Isn’t that kinda reducing the existence of elves to the same old fashioned child ‘not to be seen or heard’ thing? It’s infantalizing an entire race.

That’s both so naïve it’s sad and so disrespectful of the elves as intellectual beings with free will.

And how would most elves even know that the two returned gods were, y’know, returned? Much less that they’re actually mustache twirling bad guys a la Disney? (I could personally think of a few ways, but they weren’t shown or even mentioned that I saw in game.)

THEDAS is depicted as a fantasy medieval-esque world. Communication is depicted by courier and letters. The travel time alone would mean that most elves wouldn’t have a clue about even the return of the gods, much less their character. There’s nothing shown in the games that I can recall that covers this.

It’s unrealistic that even Bellara and Davrin know they’re evil until a few story quests in, leading to the second act. They just automatically know? How?

It’s already firmly established in Dragon Age Lore that the elves will willingly, some even happily, leave behind everything to serve an ancient Elvhen God. Even one with dirt, blood, mistrust, and disgust directed at him for millennia.

In the end pages of DAI, it’s clearly shown that elves leave their current circumstances to go serve Solas. Fen’harel, The Dread Wolf, The elven trickster god. The most utterly despised God of all of them has an extremely large following of elves. (Who we don’t see anything of in DAV, convenient, no?)

And we have a retcon from our dearly talented /s John Epler on that from /theplaydragonage reddit group. Paraphrased, Solas decided to work alone because he hated being a leader. He didn’t care about the elves. Somewhere between DAI and DAV the elves sworn to Solas sparkle glitter farted poof into the ether’

You know? That’s just so uneducated on how intellectual beings work that I’m not going to dignify it with a response.

And there are so many quotes from Solas about truly caring about the elves in Inquisition and supplementary materials that it's an utterly ridiculous Solas-hater thing to say.

So, why in all the worlds wouldn’t elves want to serve Elgar’nan, All-Father, the Eldest of the Sun, He Who Overthrew His Father, The Father of Retribution? He represents promise before acceptance. The power before the price. The moment of choice that precedes justice or vengeance, rise or fall.

Why wouldn’t they want to follow Ghilan’nain? Mother of the halla and Goddess of Navigation. The price and acceptance of purpose, and the becoming that allows no return. Betrayal and devotion are as equals to her.

Many, many elves throughout the history of the Dragon Age franchise have been depicted as extremely faithful to their gods, especially amongst the Dalish.

They stoned Solas and drove him away when Solas tried to tell the truth about them to at least one Dalish clan. It’s why Solas isn't particularly fond of the Dalish. If you stoned me for trying to tell you the truth of a thing, I doubt I'd like you very much either.

It really just feels like self-insertionism on Epler's part. Or poorly thought out ideas suitable to a first draft that any decent editor would've suggested get scrapped. Or maybe a bad case of CYA (cover your ass). I honestly have no idea whether Epler is faithful to any religion, agnostic, or atheist, nor do I care, it isn't anyone's business but his.

But the writing and actions surrounding both Bellara and Davrin, as well as the elves in general, feel like a modern atheist trying to self-insert their belief structure onto a fictional group of people it just would never fit for. Or that someone doesn’t actually know the Lore very well. (Yes, I’m aware how long Epler has been with BioWare. DAV, interviews, and AMAs absolutely prove he doesn’t know the Lore. And doesn’t seem to care? I’ll never understand that. Nor does he understand the people of THEDAS. Or maybe even people in general? Writing well demands at least some understanding of how people work.)

I can't for a second believe that absolutely none of the elves, a people who have been enslaved, abused, tortured, and used for thousands of years, wouldn't willingly and very even possibly happily, follow beings who are, in fact, their Legendary Gods. Beings that in elven cultures are still venerated. Beings whose bad actions have been forgotten. It just doesn't make sense to say there wouldn't be.

“Still, though, why haven’t any Dalish elves decided to join forces with their gods? As Epler put it, the gods simply don’t care about them.”

No. You know what saying there’s no elves in the entourages of either Elgar’nan or Ghilan’nain really does? It doesn’t provide vindication. Nor even surcease, which might be a better word. All it does is infantalize and remove agency from an entire race of people. From all elves.

And that somehow means the elves don’t care about the gods? That’s, uh, not how that works?

Agency, in writing, means that characters make decisions and it affects the plot (good!) or that the plot pushes your characters around, (bad).

Agency is whether the character happens to the plot, (good!). Or if the plot happens to the character (bad).

It’s honestly the essence, in some ways, of ‘choices matter’.

There is a severe dearth of good agency in DAV. Sad as that makes me.

So let’s talk about faith amongst the elves, generally, and the Dalish, in particular. Because following a god requires faith.

Saying 'there's no elves in the group of 'lackeys and puppets' following Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain is like saying that die-hard Catholics wouldn't follow a proven return of their savior, Jesus or even the father, god. Or insert any other cultures' living/dying gods return. Illogical, kinda offensive if you happen to be religious, and honestly? Foolish.

For many elves, their faith would be something they cling to. It would be hope in the darkness of abuse.

It’s kinda rude to say it’s a win for the elves to ignore their ancestral faith when it’s often, likely, the only thing they have left.

Honestly? It’s pretty offensive. THEDAS, elves, their rampaging elven gods, none of that is real. But there are plenty of abused minorities on Earth that they modelled the elves from. I didn’t grow up within the cultures, and I’m of Mohawk, Mikmaq, Irish Romani, mixed European, and (previously enslaved) African descent. Some things were passed down, regardless.

It's both my personal experience and proven in cultural anthropology that abused peoples will often cling to anything colonizers leave them that the people value. It’s the only way to maintain culture.

It’s why the residential schools took our hair first. Many native cultures don’t cut hair for numerous reasons. Then came the theft of language. My grandparents on both sides were kidnapped and taken to residential schools. The last one closed in 1996. I was a sophomore in university. This isn’t ancient history. And while, yes, Dragon Age is fake, people with similar experiences or backgrounds in the real world are hurt by crap we see in fiction every day. This is just a particularly egregious example of it.

History lives on in those still bleeding. No, if you’re of any abused minority, you’ll know what I’m talking about. We hang on to anything we can, because it’s all we have left.

So how and why would the Theodosian elves be any different? Because the gods don’t care? That’s some ridiculous authorium handwavium right there.

I could buy either Bellara or Davrin as being atheist or agnostic (more likely Bellara IMHO) but not both.

But as far as artistic depictions go? Regardless of anything anyone may say, they're shown as elves who are both pretty faithful. Here's why. They both wear Vallaslin.

It's pretty well laid out in the Lore (which we already know they ignored or retconned into insensibility in DAV and OMG in the interviews and recent AMA!) that the application of the Vallaslin (which translates to blood writing) is a sacred right of passage only offered to Dalish youths around the age of eighteen who will be staying with their people.

Regardless of the meaning of the Vallaslin in the past, they’re considered sacred by modern Theodosian elves.

They aren't just cool decorations. They're not make-up they can just wash off. They indicate which of the nine gods that particular elf has sworn themselves to in Dalish culture. (Technically eight, because Solas, The Dread Wolf, God of Rebellion and Trickery, never claimed or designed Vallaslin. Because he never owned slaves that is ever indicated anywhere.)

And only the Dalish use them. The specific design each Dalish elf wears is indicative of which elven god they both feel drawn to and wish to work to emmulate in their life. Making them even less likely to be worn casually.

The Lore is clear that application of the Vallaslin is ritual. It’s sacred. It would likely take multiple days to tattoo them into someone’s face. It would be excruciatingly painful. The face is one of the most painful places to get inked. I’ve got ink. It’s not comfortable even in ‘easy to tattoo’ places. On the face? Ouch!

Vallaslin would never have been given to Davrin. Davrin’s story shows some of his past, and in his heart, he always knew he wouldn’t be staying. His mentor Eldrin said something along the lines of ‘he knew/felt Davrin wouldn’t stay with the clan’. In the kind of social structure that’s been described for the Dalish, a youth’s mentor would absolutely be consulted on whether they were ready for Vallaslin. So why, for all the halla’s in THEDAS, would Davrin have Vallaslin? He wouldn’t. They’re marks of clan belonging, of pride, of faith in their gods and the Dalish way of life. Davrin just wouldn’t have them unless he deeply believed in serving Ghilan’nain. Which would mean being a Dalish wayfinder and halla keeper. Not a Grey Warden. 

While it’s cute given his backstory that Davrin wears the Mother of Halla’s marks. He just wouldn’t have them, no matter how sexy he looks with them.

If we handwave all that though… oh, the missed opportunity to have any Dalish wearing Vallaslin as a traitor to Rook’s cause, by wearing the blood writing of the God/Goddess they’re fighting? I was just waiting for the Vallaslin to actually mean something. For the gods to control, puppet-like, those wearing their blood writing? The missed angst, character development opportunities, and just… gah.

I don’t know if I’ll ever stop grieving what DAV could’ve been.

So if Bellara is more into science and questioning things, I could see her more as an atheist. So why does she wear Dirthaman’s Vallaslin? She’s not even technically Dalish that is ever truly shown in game. Dalish have a clan that is usually pretty important to them. Lore states there aren’t many, if any, Dalish who brave Arlathan because of slave-hunters. Where is Bellara’s clan? The veil-jumpers don’t count as a Dalish clan regardless of the window-dressing. They haven’t even been around that long according to some of Bellara’s lines. Okay, so if Bellara is actually Dalish from somewhere? I could see a scientist type having Dirthamen’s Vallaslin. But where in all the mysteries did she get them? Why would she have them? Given the why’s listed above, she just wouldn’t, no matter how beautiful she looks in them.

I mean, in a lot of ways, someone getting their Vallaslin would be sort of similar to anything sacred that is deemed ritual that dedicated a person to a faith/god-dess/religion.

So a quote from the Polygon article states, “instead of being accidentally (or purposely!) killed off by the player character, the Dalish elves in The Veilguard get to righteously rally against the mages that they once called gods and reclaim part of their history.”

Er… call me mistaken but wouldn’t that be sort of like destroying part of their history? Y’know, with destroying parts of Arlathan, banishing Anaris, and outright killing two of their venerated gods? Even if those gods weren’t as advertised? (A lot like this damned game tbh.)

Epler. “I love that the Dalish in this game, by and large, are saying, No, we were lied to. We were the first victims of these gods. We’re going to fight back,” Epler said. “And they really get a sense to kind of rise up in this game and start establishing themselves in this way that in the future I can’t wait to go back to, but in this game gives them a sense of a win. They get a victory in how they respond to the threat of the gods in this game.”

Future? What future? Given the events in DAV, there isn’t even a statistically relevant breeding population (in the scientific sense) of elves left!

In the Lore, the blight is a death sentence, one way or another. Between the Venatori’s favourite blood bags being enslaved elves, the gods using them as sacrifices, and the entirety of southern THEDAS being overwhelmed with blight, just how many elves does Epler think might possibly be left?

This is what I mean about DAV having bad planning, lack of Lore adhesion, poor attention to detail, and just crappy writing. Nothing. Makes. Sense.

Completely pushing aside pretty much everything I’ve just talked about… can someone please explain how most of the elves on the entire continent of THEDAS dying from the blight… y’know, the Dalish, named after the Dales, in southern THEDAS, which were quite clearly overrun by blight and not-fucking-darkspawn in the codices… y’know, the Dalish, on the wide open Dales, in land ships/Aravel, and with herds of Halla, children, and elders to care for… how is all of them being dead or blighted a win? The only potential ‘win’ for any of them is for Bellara/Davrin, who aren’t even technically Dalish by the ways of the Dalish in the Lore. And depending on player choice, its possibly a win only for one of them?

Bellara, in speaking about the gods, sounds like the worst sort of uneducated twit. And she's supposed to be smart? The thing with smart characters? You have to actually show them being smart.

I just can’t see how one or two ‘Dalish’ being kinda creepily uncaring of their venerated gods coming back to reality and being on the team to kill them… is in any way ‘a win’.

The racism in DAV is woven all throughout. And it seems it's baked right into the core of BioWare.

[daitranscripts]

Skyhold Conversation

Ser Morris

Skyhold Masterpost

Morris: Oh! Oh bells, it’s you. (Ahem!) Morris. Ser Morris, I suppose. I am serving as quartermaster for Skyhold and its… arriving throngs. Stores are growing, and so long as we have fair coin to restock, you and yours will be well served. (Nervous cough.)

1 - Dialogue options:

General (Threnn alive): Where is quartermaster Threnn? [2]

General (Threnn died): You replaced Threnn? [3]

General: What are your qualifications? [4]

General: Are we well supplied? [5]

General: Goodbye. [6]

2 - General: Where is quartermaster Threnn? PC: The previous quartermaster survived Haven. Where is she? Morris: She… had views. Has views. Perfectly legitimate ones if you share them, Inquisitor. I believe it was felt that your quartermaster should be more palatable, now that the Inquisition is in Orlais. She continues to serve. Just not at the fore. (Nervous cough.) [back to 1]

3 - General: You replaced Threnn? PC: You’re the replacement for Threnn after she was lost at Haven? Morris: I’m sorry I didn’t meet her. I’m sure she was a stalwart defender of liberty. I confess, no one has been forthcoming with an opinion. I assume out of respect for her pious nature. [back to 1]

4 - General: What are your qualifications? PC: What makes you ideal for this position? It’s an important one. Morris: My family has ties to several freehold militias, as well as cousins acting as officers in Ferelden and Orlais. PC: And your qualifications? Morris: My family holds treaties with three new-money Tevinter houses, and a rare Orzammar contract with a Paragon namesake. PC: And your qualifications? Morris: To be honest, Your Worship, that was my question! I am the nexus of a dozen threads tied by others, designed to cast the widest and most appealing resource net. But! I will rise to the occasion. Skyhold will want for nothing! I swear it! (Nervous cough.) [back to 1]

5 - General: Are we well supplied? PC: How is it going? Do we have what we need?

Skyhold not repaired Morris: We have what we need, although there is only so much we can stuff into Skyhold in its current state. [back to 1]

First set of repairs (leaving and returning to Skyhold) Morris: Our capacity increases, as do our requests to suppliers. I’ve had to threaten some contracts. It was… exhilarating. [back to 1]

Final set of repairs (completing HLtA or WEWH) Morris: With Skyhold shining like a beacon? You name it, it’s here or on the way. I’ve wrung out the slackers, given them what for! I think—I think I like this job. [back to 1]

6 - General: Goodbye. PC: As you were. Morris: We are here for you, Inquisitor.

—

After HLtA, Hawke left in the Fade Morris: I was grieved by the loss of the Champion, Inquisitor. [Their] name was well respected. Except where it wasn’t, I suppose. Funny how effort inspires both.

After WEWH Morris: Oh, my Maker, you cannot imagine how many letters I’ve received about that fracas at Halamshiral! Fortunately, you tied twice as many threads as cut. Although it is yet bewildering at the center.

General: Halamshiral caused a stir?

PC: There are problems coming out of Halamshiral?

Morris: There are always problems from Halamshiral. We’ve lost a few contracts, but more than made up for it. Although if a few commendations were given, it might retie some severed threads. I couldn’t suggest how. That is better decided at your war table, and I am not going near that thing.

Activates War Table: Negotiate a Deal for Weapon Plans

Upon completion Morris: You are wily, Your Worship. I’ve received word of your influence yet again. And the rewards. Take note of the effect in the stores. How you do it is beyond me.

Filling a requisition

Morris: We are honored to serve.

Morris: I hope it helps.

Morris: Consider it done.

[thessalian]

Since some Rooks are Dalish already, let's go one better:

Rook summons the entire group for what they think is a big important "I HAVE NEWS" meeting, and asks for the worst profanity options in every culture represented at the table. Not just linguistically, but idiomatically. Rook is just like, "I want to be able to cuss him out for twenty-four straight hours, minimum."

Bellara: Comes through with little snippets of profanity she's heard from Veil Jumpers from all over the place, messages Strife to ask for suggestions from the folks at their current camp, and tells the Nadas Dirthalen to give her a list of every horrible thing any of Anaris' enemies called Anaris back in the day.

Davrin: Not so great on ancient elvhen, but given that the Grey Wardens are a place you get conscripted by and/or exiled to when you have Done A Bad, as well as someplace you can go to become a hero, he has so much invective from all over Thedas that gets ... particularly colourful in its idiom. Suggestions that one perform various sex acts on darkspawn are particularly apt in this situation.

Emmrich: Turns up with a pile of parchment two inches thick of particularly filthy swearing in ancient Nevarran. Apparently Nevarran is a very good language to swear in. Emmrich did attempt a pronunciation guide but recognises that he has to go through the entire list at least once to get the full nuance. He manages to get Manfred to go play with the wisps while the tutelage in ancient Nevarran profanity happens.

Taash: The Qun doesn't have a lot of swear words (or so Shathann has told Taash over the years, and they don't know enough to argue), but Rivaini has some really juicy idioms and sounds really lovely.

Harding: She spent too much time playing "I am nice and likeable so please don't be a dick" in Ferelden to really get much of Fereldan profanity, but years in the Inquisition made up for it. She does tap her few contacts in Orzamarr, but apparently no one really knows how to pronounce the ancient dwarven runes anymore.

Lucanis: Coffee with Teia and Viago. Teia has great idioms. They mostly invited Viago to see him pop a blood vessel, but his idioms are better than Teia's. Spite, surprisingly, joins in subtly with languages no one's heard of and may not exist outside the Fade.

Neve: Sits Rook down with Elek, Tarquin, Rana Savas, Maevaris, and Dorian with several bottles of good wine, then sets them to talking about the Venatori and lets the profanity flow while the Tevinter Brigade are too drunk and raging to notice Rook taking notes.

The next group meeting gets ... colourful.

Rook sitting Bellara and Davrin down all somber and they're expecting some sort of serious conversation only for Rook to go "I need you to teach me how to curse in elven. The common tongue isn't enough. I need to cuss Solas' ass out in his native language."

[108garys]

House of Ashes/Thedas AU: "misconceptions"

sorry its taking so long I'm still new to this, decided to split this one in half as it was a bit long(and then this part doesn't need to be held back while I tweak the other)so this part is Dar and Salim's povs and the others are in the second(boy are they not on the same page)

(part 1, part 2, part4)

tag list: @kassiekolchek22 @leevila-today @disabledbears @ultrabananapudding @seraphjewel @delurkr

(9:34/Dragon-Tevinter)

Dar settled into Amani’s sitting room, he always took his evening tea with his wife to go over the day and discuss the future; the last of the dying sun glared across marble walls and all of her glittery sculptures of fanciful things giving him a headache…

Today’s meeting was of particular importance as he would be away from Minrathous and Amani was in talks to find a match for their son, he wouldn’t know if they’d come to an agreement until his return. Dar hoped he would be happy like Amani and himself, although maybe happiness wasn’t exactly correct… He had been fond of her, as one who holds admiration for a peer they look up to, since they met some thirty years ago when he was their son’s age, she had been confident and irreverent and up front about every little thing that crossed her mind; on first meeting she declared neither he nor any other man would have her and he shyly admitted he had no desire outside of duty and two decades of marriage and fifteen years of parenthood later he counted her among his most cherished confidantes…

“It would be easier if you were here, it may be cause for offense that you deem their daughter’s hand less than some excursion to the deep roads,” Amani shuffled through parchment with engagement correspondence and Dar’s own scrawled notes seemingly indiscriminately, “Oh don’t look at me like that, I’m not suggesting you stay it’s just frustrating to deal with.”

“I’m sure we caused our parents the same frustration,” Dar smiled at her taking a note from her as an elven woman brought their tea, Amani’s smelt of sweet spices and his was bitter to his taste. "Please Dar, our parents were glad to find matches for people like us," she didn’t look up as she sipped. "Tell me again why you insist on such a small force?" He felt confident in the handful of men he'd be taking but understood her concerns. "Taking too great a number into the deep roads is asking for trouble, supplying a larger group would be a logistical nightmare."

"The Dwarves manage it." She quipped. "The Dwarves live there, it’s different." He reread the parchment as he finished his tea. "Salim has been working out the details for months, if we add to our number this late we may as well scrap the whole trip."

"Ah yes, Salim," Amani leaned forwards with a devious smile, "Now that’s a name I hear paired with such pining and sad cow eyes, tell me why don’t you get on with it and bed him already?"

"Venhedis, Amani!" His wife had no patience for shame or to mince words. "I couldn’t, he’s still grieving the loss of his wife and as his employer it would be inappropriate to…" She was giving him that look that said she knew better. "You say that like she died." Dar thought the loss of relationship or reputation was cause for grief besides the fact that people of lower status could marry for love, he didn’t know if Salim had loved Raina but he couldn’t just ask about it…

"It’s been five years, his son will be going south to study in Orlais soon and what if he goes south with his boy and decides he likes Val Royeaux?" She lazily adjusted a pin in her dark hair as she continued to paint her husband’s nightmare scenario. "He could be wed to a southerner within the year and I’ll spend the rest of my life married to a great lump that stares south wondering what could have been if only you had the balls to make him yours."

"I don’t meddle in your affairs." Dar tried his best to keep a casual tone, these things had always come easier to her and right on cue she proved it, "At least I have them," she said winking at the elf as she returned for the tea cups, this drew a blush to the girls cheek. "Kaffas! I can’t just make him!" he was desperate for this conversation to be over. "Of course you can, what? You think he’d turn you down?" Amani sorted the papers back into their original piles, "Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to enjoy sex at least once in your life."

“Salim is a citizen of the Imperium, not some slave I can do whatever I want with!” He tried to convince himself that Salim’s professional loyalty would suffice but the idea of him being swept away by some southerner who wouldn’t hide behind duty and tittles, it was nearly enough to consider his wife’s suggestion…

“But he wouldn’t refuse you, if you insist on treating this infatuation like something deeper then promise him the whole world for all I care, just stop punishing yourself over it.” Happiness wasn’t the word for what Dar had with Amani, he could be happy if Salim called him Amatus, his beloved, maybe it would be right after their success. Offer the man everything he has in exchange for love and hope for the best. “Why did I marry a woman more clever than myself?”

Satisfied Amani left Dar to his thoughts, most involved Salim, the things he wished to say and much more the things he wished to do, he couldn’t let it distract him from his work but after that he would catch him, keep him from the evils of the barbaric south and any uncivilised backwards lover he may find there. Salim deserved the world and the Magister was beginning to convince himself that he alone could give it to him…

--

The hour was growing late, a week from now his son would be on his way to his new life in Orlais and he had dusty darkspawn infested ruins to look forwards to. Dar was certain that there was some power he could put between himself and his enemies down there, rumours had been circulating about something strange in that part of the deep roads for years now and it had near consumed the Magister as of late.

Salim went over everything, he had time but he’d rather be ahead. The house was a mess between his preparations and Zain’s. His niece Dalia, with whom Zain would be living, had come all the way from Orlais to accompany her younger cousin. She was making the most of her stay as she hadn’t much opportunity to return to Tevinter since her marriage to an Orlesian merchant and she had never been to Minrathous.

Zain’s classes wouldn’t begin for months and Salim was glad that his son would have time to familiarise himself with the culture but right now as he sat watching the front entrance a candle burnt down and his patience grew thin…

A few painfully slow minutes of worrying later the front door swung open. “Zain,” his son looked as if he’d expected to escape notice returning at this hour. “It’s my fault,” Dalia cut across, “I just get so turned around, truly I would be wandering the streets until dawn if it wasn’t for Zain.” She gave her cousin a nod before slinking off to her room. She was nearly thirty but seemed more like a child trying to avoid reprimand. Zain began to follow her down the hall.

“Zain…” The boy stopped without turning to him, Salim left his seat to approach him. “You know it worries me when you stay out this late, especially at this time.” Zain turned to him, “Why can’t you come with me?” They’d had this conversation before…

“Zain, you know I can’t back out of this… You should be thankful that Magister Basri allowed me to plan things around your departure.” His son frowned, Salim was sure his boy hated the man nearly as much as his mother had; especially this past year…

Raina had hated Minrathous, she held out for five years unable to convince Salim to return to Ventus and towards the end she held him in suspicion; that he was dishonest and disloyal and of imagined duties to the Magister. He’d never denied his attraction to men but it was singularly ridiculous to imply that there was anything between them. The man was stubbornly proper and the very idea of them together would mortify him.

“Basri can hang for all I care,” Zain had never been this open with disdain. “Zain! Have some respect, we wouldn’t be half as well off if I didn’t serve him!” Zain shook his head, storming off down the hall. Salim hadn’t meant to be so harsh, his son was going through a lot and he couldn’t be as present as he wanted. He let ten minutes pass before knocking on Zain’s bedroom door. “Zain, please…”

The lock clicked and Salim let himself in. The boy was sitting on his bed near tears. “I understand the difference it’s made but…” his voice began to waver, “Don’t die for him!” and with that tears were pouring, Salim rushed to Zain’s side, sitting with him on the bed, wrapping his arms around him. “That’s not going to happen,” he smoothed his son’s curls, it wasn’t like his concerns were unfounded… “I promise as soon as I return from the deep roads I’ll come and visit you in Val Royeaux for as long as you need.”

“You promise?” Zain’s voice was slightly muffled, his head buried in his father’s shoulder. “I promise.” His son pulled away from his embrace and looked him dead in the eye, “And if I asked you to leave him?” he had meant ‘leave his service’ but Salim couldn’t help how he how was reminded of Raina at the end. He couldn’t stand the idea of losing Zain like he’d lost her…

“It is true that I have given him a decade of my life,” and he was grateful, he truly was, but the damage to his personal life was too much, “but it isn’t a simple thing to just quit.” Zain crossed his arms, blinking away fresh tears. “I knew it!”

Losing Raina had felt inevitable; things hadn’t been the same after Seheron. He could argue away his responsibility, that it wasn’t wrong to strive for a better life, that his loyalty to the Magister wasn’t truly to blame and they just wanted different things but not with Zain. Dar couldn’t know the effect he had, that in the year since Salim had suffered major injury in the Magister’s defence a rift had steadily grown between him and his son; a rift Dar’s increasing paranoia filled as he drew closer for fear of his own life. Salim didn’t want to hurt his friend but if it was between his boss and his son…

Salim put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, maybe a successful venture would be the right note to retire on. He could celebrate the Magister's personal victory and announce that things needed to change… “This isn’t a decision that can be made in one evening but I will consider it.” Zain sighed heavily, brushing a hand over his face. “I want an answer before you leave.” It was the best compromise for the moment; it gave Salim a week to decide what the rest of his life would be like…

Zain was due to depart the day after his eighteenth name day and in his mind’s eye Salim couldn’t see himself breaking his son’s heart like that, Zain would never forgive him and he could hardly forgive himself. “Ok,” he said softly, it would be hard to focus on his work but when the time was right he’d make sure Dar understood the necessity, “Now you should get some sleep, we still have a lot to do.” He hugged him before leaving for his own room, he had expected to live here for the rest of his life and now nothing was certain…

[theheraldsrest]

“Companions (+Scout Harding and Varric) when they realized they were in love? Thank you, have a good day!”

Heehee, hooho, I’m very tired. We both work with schools and sometimes it gets hectic. Had one kid who knew what Dragon Age was and went on an entire rant about how wrong the Qun is. I’m so proud of him.

-LordLex

Cullen

-Kept brushing it off, could only see it as admiration. How you held yourself through different obstacles, being made the Herald, having to fight off waves of enemies and looking to help the people, it was truly a sight to see

-But then you started coming by to see him more often, even if you just spoke. Why did he keep stuttering? And he couldn’t stop himself from glancing over at you. Were you looking at him, just now, as well?

-Tried to keep up his professionalism but couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face when he saw you approaching him or when your voice came out of nowhere.

-And after helping him with his personnel quest, Maker help this man. He can’t help but to look for you whenever he leaves his study, listening for your voice or laughter. Love is complicated and Cullen sure as hell knows nothing about it.

Josephine

-She had lost all hope after the attack on Haven, thinking that all that you did was for nothing and it only ended up with you getting killed. But you saved so many lives and-there you were, alive. Injured but alive.

-Compared to most of the people she meets, you were very well mannered, not trying to gain favor, but honestly cared for her when you asked her if she wanted to talk for a second. Josey didn’t think much of it but started to enjoy the time spent with you, the conversations you’d have.

-At some point, she started to take mental notes about such small things: your favorite food, where you came from, what makes your nose wrinkle and what makes your lips turn up into that wonderful smile.

-She felt horrible about getting you involved in her family business but, when it came down to it, she wouldn’t have any regrets, thinking you two had grown closer through this experience

Solas

-You caught his eye and it wasn’t just because of the mark. You were...different. That’s the closest word he could connect you to. You were strong and powerful but also kind and gentle. Working with those around and yet you’d also be by yourself with a thoughtful look.

- He fell in love when you started asking for his advice Kidding, but he does get very excited when you start questioning about magical studies and the fade and the history behind certain artifacts

-He tries to distance himself from everyo1ne but you always seem to pull him back, pull him into conversations, going out of your way to spend time with him, even when you didn’t even seem to understand what he was saying

-With his personnel quest, he’s completely taken by you. You do so much for others, for him, when you really should care for yourself. He doesn’t want to feel this way, he doesn’t want anything to do with mortals. But you...you’re a different story.

Cassandra

-It’s been a hell of a ride for Cassandra on the rollercoaster of emotions. First she despises you, then gives you an inkling of doubt, then suddenly she values you as a friend. And now...flirting?! How dare you

-When you started to change your tactics and be more direct, she continued to try and brush them off as nothing more than friendliness. Sometimes would humor the idea, but you had more important matters to deal with

-Cassandra Allegra Portia Calogera Filomena Pentaghast does not fall in love, there’s too much to do and too much to take care of. And with the Inquisitor no less! Preposterous! She could lie to herself but that didn’t change how she’d drop whatever she was doing to talk to you

-Even with her personal quest out of the way, she has more emotions to sort through, including what she thought was admiration for you

The Iron Bull

-Bull doesn’t ‘fall in love’, it’s always just someone curious or someone wanting some company or something new. Never ‘in love’ and he didn’t think that would ever be something he’d have. He’s a soldier, meant to be used

-Started out as admiration. Was impressed with how you handled yourself and the inquisition. It’s not easy being a leader when you’re thrown head-first into war with a darkspawn

-Starts to question his feelings a bit after helping him during his quest. There’s still admiration, but with every touch, with every word, there was something else. Maybe he just appreciated you more?

-And then you brought him the other half of a dragon tooth. He had spoken about it so off-handedly, not expecting anything further from it and yet here you were, wishing to commit yourself to him. It was that moment that he truly fell in love with his boss.

Dorian

-Doesn’t seem like it, but he’s a romantic. He used to picture the perfect life with someone he truly loves, but since the issues with his family, he had basically given up on that life. Until you

-Most of his partners so far were just flings, so you can bet that he thinks he’s sick when he starts feelings butterflies in his stomach around you or looking to you to lend an ear

-He’s not used to someone caring for what he has to say or actually treating him more than that ‘evil magister from tevinter’, he likes it but is so confused

-He wants to accept these feelings but he’s so unsure of himself, so unsure if this is more than just another one of his flings. Gods, he hopes it is

Sera

-She doesn’t much care for relationships or ‘caring’ or ‘feelings’. If someone’s fun, she’s gonna hang around them more often. Nothing more to it

-Except it’s more than that with you. You’re big and important, nobles talk about you like you’re one of them and lower class praise you like Andraste gave birth to you, but you don’t hold yourself like any of that. You’re not a prick, you’re a goof and you actually enjoy Sera’s company

-She’s so excited when she sees you coming, when you look to her, you’re so easy to read and it’s easy to make you smile and laugh and- Sera’s falling for you

-She’s so inexperienced with these things, she doesn’t know what to do and she doesn’t want to screw up what you two already have. So, for now, she’ll lay low, admiring from a distance

Blackwall

-Blackwall respects the person you are. A fierce warrior but at the same time a kind leader. And he knows you respect him as well, as a person and as one of your companions

-He didn’t know he had more feelings than that till you started to flirt with him. He would have never considered it, not because he didn’t like you, but because he didn’t think he’d ever have that kind of chance with someone

-He pushes them down, trying to convince himself that he didn’t deserve it. You don’t want him, you’d be making a mistake. He could hurt you, he could hurt who you are. But sometimes he’d slip up, let something show

-After his quest, he fully believes that now you’ll truly see he doesn’t deserve you, but he’d forever love you

(Bonus!)

Varric

-Love is a touchy subject. Sure, he knew how to write it and a lot of his readers lapped it up, but that was only from witnessing it and experiencing the worst of it

-Who’d have thunk that he’d become rather attached to the Inquisitor, seeing them as the person they were before the mark, treating them as if they were anyone else, but always offering a shoulder if needed

-He’d worry for you, watch over you, making sure you were ok and not pushing yourself. It wasn’t until he saw you come back from the fade that he realized he cared for you, more than he ever cared for Bianca. Even Hawke would ask if he’s crazy

-Also tries to convince himself that he doesn’t deserve these feelings. You can be so close to someone without them knowing how you feel and it hurts. He had to go through it once, he doesn’t know if he can do it again

(Scout) Lace Harding

-Honestly, she hadn’t planned for you. How could she? She joined the inquisition to help and was made as one of the main scouts for the Inquisitor. She hadn’t planned on the Inquisitor having pleasant conversations with her on the few times they meet, even some playful banter

-She also didn’t plan on seeing you more often when the inquisition was moved to Skyhold. Before now, she had one of the most well-spoken attitude, but with you around she’d stumble over her own words, hitting herself for saying anything embarrassing

-She both hoped she was and wasn’t imagining the flirting, it gave her some hope that maybe you felt the same but also that maybe it was some sort of game.

-She did enjoy your company and, when given the chance, the drinks you two would share. If only you could do this more often, but then she’d be completely smitten with you

[felassan]

Tevinter Nights & Solas

Here’s everything we learned about Solas, his followers, his plans and the anti-Solas efforts from Tevinter Nights. This post is the motherlooode for everything you’d wanna know and consider/wonder about re: Dread Wolf from this book. Some peoples’ books are apparently arriving or being found in shops early/now (2), so aw heck here we go. There’s loads of other new stuff in this book, from fairly significant lore additions to developments in Thedosian current affairs (spoiler warning for TN for that link), but the subject of this post is Solas. Let me take you through Tevinter Nights on a Dread Wolf-tour from start to finish. I’ve ordered it by importance, and at the end there’s a summary if it’s too much too read. Obvious major spoiler warning for under the cut, for whole book.

Edit: Part of this post is featured in this vid by @jackdawyt​ ! which is cool. check it out :)

The Big Un: The Dread Wolf Take You story

In The Dread Wolf Take You, Charter, in her capacity as an Inquisition agent participating in anti-Fen’Harel efforts, attends a secret meeting in The Teahouse, a discreet riverside establishment near Hunter Fell in Nevarra. (Please note when I say "Inquisition" I mean either what remains of it, or the "officially disbanded but still a group of associates that were in it".) The express purpose of this place is to function as a neutral space where spies, assassins, rogues and other covert-ops / intelligence agency / sneaky types can meet to conduct clandestine business and have shady dealings. Aside from Charter, there are 4 other attendees at this rendezvous: a male Carta Assassin, a male Orlesian Bard, a female Mortalitasi and an Executor (could be male, female, or something else). This unlikely group of individuals have gathered because they possess what they describe as a "shared interest in the Inquisition's Wolf". This is a meeting of the best spies on the continent. The Executors want to eliminate the Wolf. However, the Tevinter Siccari and the Qunari intelligence network, the Ben-Hassrath, declined to answer the Inquisition's request to attend. The Tevinter Siccari are an order of operatives whose existence has been officially denied. Charter is especially frustrated that the Ben-Hassrath declined, as they had more knowledge on Solas' movements than anyone else.

The Assassin mocks Charter and the Inquisition about the fact that they worked with Solas for a year and were none-the-wiser about his true identity, seeking to rub in the fact that they overlooked the god in their midst. Charter asserts that Solas is not a god, merely a very old, very powerful elven mage, as he himself says. The Bard suggests that he could be a young mage, a simple elf who stumbled upon old magicks. The Mortalitasi offers that he could be a demon impersonating an elf. The Executor does not care about what he is, stating that those across the ocean only care about what his goals are and his means of achieving them. Charter responds that according to what he told the Inquisitor, he wishes to restore the empire of the ancient elves, and made clear that doing so will cause massive destruction to "our world". The Mortalitasi opines that this destruction would be especially impactful for Tevinter, since most of it is built over where the ancient elves lived. Charter goes on, saying that beyond this, the Inquisition knows little of what Solas intends. She states that most of his research involved the Veil and that he claimed to have created it. She says that he asked the Inquisition for help activating artifacts that strengthened the Veil and wonders aloud as an information-gathering tactic whether this poses a good place to start. Based on Charter's words, the Inquisition believe that what Solas wants is "to end [...]". She was cut off, but reasonable inferences here are the world, the modern world / world as it currently is, or possibly the Veil and the subsequent separation of the 2 worlds it separates.

The Assassin is there because Viscount Tethras called in a few favors. The Assassin claims he knows Solas' target, not just his goal. He relates an encounter to the group. In Kirkwall, the Carta have been maintaining a watch on the statue of Meredith, to stop anyone from sneaking in and stealing a piece of it. They've been doing this because they no longer endorse dealing in red lyrium as they believe the Blight is bad for business. A Dalish elf (Dalish-looking, at least) came, asking can someone get the idol (yes That idol) out of what's left of the statue. Most people believed the idol gone, that Meredith forged it into her sword and then the sword exploded. The elf is persistent, claiming he learned of this in a dream and that an old legend of his people says that the idol is in Meredith's body and that if he gets it out, he can free his gods. He has with him a potion that will soften the raw lyrium and weaken its magic, so that the idol inside can be retrieved safely. He promises the Carta lots of gold and the potion recipe if they help. They agree and sneak in. The square stinks of magic, they hear music in the wind like an old song they used to know as kids, and some of them keel over mad, whispering and shaking, or run off screaming. The potion melts the area over Meredith's heart and they retrieve the idol. The Assassin describes it thus:

It's not much to look at - a couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves - but it's sitting there, glowing softly like a ruby lit by the grace of the Maker himself . It’s heavier than you’d think - lyrium��s heavier than you’d think, too, but this was heavy even for that. When I hefted it in my hand, it was like it wanted to keep moving, like it was liquid inside

The song stops when they stash it in a special chest. They return to the elf in their safehouse, but templars/ex-templars are waiting for them. The elf tries to fight them and the templars knock him out. A male Tevinter mage connected to House Qintara comes, pays the templars and takes the idol. The templars and Carta wait overnight in an awkward standoff waiting for the elf (who has the recipe) to wake. Some of them fall asleep while others keep watch. Suddenly near morning, all the sleepers start seizing and fitting like they're having a bad dream, even the dwarves, who we know don't dream. Blood pours out all their ears and they die. Arrows suddenly shoot through the window killing everyone except the Assassin, including the potion-elf. The Assassin quickly plays dead. Two other elves burst in, unlike any the Assassin has ever seen. No vallaslin, no downcast / fearful City Elf air. They have fancy armor (making me think of Sentinel armor and Solas' Trespasser duds) and case the place like pros. One says the idol must have been moved, in a normal Ferelden, non-Dalish accent. He's upset to see the dead potioneer. The other leans down to their deceased comrade and says "The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother". This guy's accent does sound Dalish, only more formal, like he's reading a poem, implying he might be an ancient. Clearly they're agents of Fen'Harel. They leave. The Assassin concludes that the Dread Wolf wants the idol, is willing to get his hands bloody to get it, and pities House Qintara if the Wolf ever finds them, especially if they are deep sleepers. The Assassin has been drinking lots of coffee to stay awake ever since, afraid. Solas can clearly kill people who oppose him while they sleep.

The Mortalitasi comments that it's interesting to see both Dalish and City Elves working with "this... thing". The Executor states Qintara fell with Ventus, speculating that the Qunari now have the idol. Charter says she had agents there at the time and that it was actually sold or traded to the Danarius family. (This is a reference to the events of Dragon Age: Deception). The Mortalitasi says the ability to kill sleepers reinforces her demon theory. The Executor wonders if instead Solas is a poisoneer, as the Crows have poisons which are heavier than air and kill sleepers while leaving standing people unharmed. The Assassin insists it was magic that killed the fitting sleepers. The Mortalitasi knows where the idol went after House Qintara and tells her tale next.

In Nevarra, the Mortalitasi rule since they rule the king. They also perform rituals, commanding the magical forces that underlie the very fabric of the world. They find places where the Veil is thin, behind which the Fade flows like a mighty river. (Recall Solas' Haven comments: ‘without the Veil, the Fade was not a place but a state of nature like the wind. Spirits were part of the natural world like a fast-flowing river’). In these places they can bind spirits and in so doing guide the course of the river more to their liking. She asserts that those Mortalitasi who do so are the truest mages as they bind the Fade and the world to their will. These death mages allowed a Tevinter mage from House Danarius to come with some slaves and perform a ritual - clearly the same mage from the Assassin's story or the next Tevinter mage who got the idol from him. He asked for the death mages’ help to change the world in this way, wanting to help fight the Antaam's invasion by directing every dream, demon and half-interested spirit to urge the Antaam back north. So 12 death mages go with the Vint to one of their ritual chambers in the Grand Necropolis, where the bodies of their greatest mages are preserved, now housing spirits that empower the rituals. The Vint has the idol with him, telling the death mages it's an ancient elven artifact. (Remember prior lore says the idol was dwarven forged). The Mortalitasi describes it thus:

seemed to show two lovers, or a god mourning her sacrifice, depending upon how it caught your fancy. It whispered in our minds, but we hear such murmurs all the time as mages so thought nothing of it.

The death mages drank lyrium and they all begin the ritual, which involves arcane horror possessions bound in ritual circles and the death mages focusing their thus-amplified magic on the idol. The Vint begins killing the tranced-out slaves, catching their blood on the idol. When the Vint gets enough power, he raises the idol and a lyrium spike springs from its base, effectively becoming a ritual-blade. He slashes his hand and a wave of power knocks everyone to the ground and their minds are pulled into the raw chaos of the Fade. Light and color - magic - swirls around the Vint. Suddenly there's a booming roar from high overhead where the Black City is, and something huge trembles around them, a "spirit so great that it shook parts of the Fade I had always considered neutral, devoid of life". Before the Vint could complete his ritual, the Dread Wolf arrived.

He’s a lupine, dragon-sized beast with shaggy spiked hide and six burning eyes like a Pride demon. It flew towards them on wings of fire that resolved themselves into a horde of what the Mortalitasi calls lesser demons. It shouts: “YOU MEDDLE PAST YOUR UNDERSTANDING, FOOLISH MORTAL MAGES, AND IN DOING SO, YOU THREATEN ALL CREATION.” It kills the Vint, he becomes a withered husk, the lyrium blade vanishes, the ritual collapses, and the 'demons' swarm them. “YOU USE MY IDOL CARELESSLY TO VANDALIZE THE SEA OF DREAMS. NOW FEEL THE PAIN OF WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED.” They wake up back in the ritual chamber in the real world. A Fade rift opens and the 'demons' surge out "in righteous fury, shining warriors with blades forged from the raw Fade itself, and behind them, dimly visible through the crackling light, the shadow of the beast itself." It speaks once more with quiet contempt. “FROM THIS MOMENT, SHOULD YOU EVER BIND A SPIRIT, THEN YOUR LIFE IS MINE.” The Mortalitasi wonders at this point why they would attack if they were not bound, saying the Wolf is therefore a hypocrite. It's clear the demons were likely actually spirits of Justice and Valor.

In the chaos of combat one death mage seizes the idol and escapes, supposedly to Tevinter. The rift closes and the 'demons' kill most of the death mages. The narrating Mortalitasi fled, the lone survivor. She concludes that it's not uncommon for powerful spirits to be worshipped as gods, like the Avvar do. The Fade is the Wolf's natural home and the spirits there serve him gladly. They whisper in her dreams now, promising to get their vengeance on her if her wards fail. Weaker mages would have been dead or mad by now. The Wolf was angry that the death mages bound spirits, that the Vint used forbidden death magic, and that they had all disrupted his own work. He intends something for the Fade, and since he wants the idol, whatever this is will be terrible.

Charter wonders if the Wolf has an alliance with a demon, a la Cory and the Fear Demon. She surmises that Solas has begun whatever ritual he intends to use to restore the elven empire, is aware of disruptions, the ritual involves the Fade and requires the idol. The Mortalitasi adds that the idol reacts to other lyrium and that perhaps he needs lyrium for his ritual, either blue or red. The Bard knows where the guy who ran away with the idol went, and continues with his own tale.

The Bard was tasked with retrieving a ring that once belonged to Empress Celene, the one that was a gift from the previous Lady Mantillon. He tracks it to an auction presided over by Xenon the Antiquarian in Llomerryn. In attendance were an Avvar augur, a Rivaini pirate captain, a soberly-clad Starkhaven noble, a Warden-Commander, Divine Victoria and a red-haired elven Ben-Hassrath agent. (Probably Tallis, this bit is clearly a series of fun cameo reference-nods for fans.) In the crowd the Bard learns other Qunari are present, like Qunari-Qunari. Intrigued, he infiltrates the floors below. What are they guarding? There's probably a smuggler's cove further down.

He finds and watches a group of Qunari Ben-Hassrath led by a female Qunari (a Viddasala?) break open a door using explosives and enter an ancient elven ritual chamber. The Bard hides and continues to watch. There's an eluvian flanked by halla and dragon statues. In the middle of the room, on a pillow on a protectively rune-marked pedestal, is the idol. Suddenly another group enters: 2 Tevinter mages, a female human archer, and a golem with seemingly Shale-like intelligence - Siccari. The lead Qunari says the idol is no trinket and is being searched for by a dangerous mage who styles himself the Dread Wolf, who threatens both their peoples. "Leave and we will have no quarrel with you." One of the Vint mages replies that Tevinter would know better how to harness the idol, that they know of the elven upstart and that he is a mage named Solas. His ritual has already started to affect the Fade. They can't risk him acquiring it and finishing what he's begun. The 2 groups are about to fight when Solas himself walks out of the eluvian, in gold armor with a pelt across his shoulder. He looks at them all, expressionless. They all begin to scream, his eyes blaze and he petrifies everyone the way he did in Trespasser, even the golem. Solas takes the idol, whispering something as he did so:

 tracing his gloved fingers gently along the crowned figure who comforted the other, but I could not make out the words, for I fear they were elven.

Then he leaves through the mirror which goes dark.

The Bard concludes that this is all he knows of the Wolf and surmises the idol's journey is complete. He says the Wolf will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and does not believe they can stop it. The meeting attendees suddenly realize there are many liars at the table and start finger-pointing in flurry. All three tales featured grains of untruths. Ben-Hassrath teams aren't so obvious in their dealings. Siccari are not screaming cowards. The Assassin killed the elf potioneer, not a stray elven arrow. There were no templars, the Assassin sold the idol to the Vint mage. The Mortalitasi knew the Vint would kill his slaves (in her story she claimed this shocked her). As she escaped she knifed one of her colleagues and used blood magic to make spirits possess the slaves' corpses to defend her from the Wolf's 'demons'; this is of note because in her story the Wolf said she was dead if she ever bound spirits again. During all this the Executor is silent and Charter says three times, "I ask for my life". She says she regrets being outplayed and not seeing the Wolf for what he was during the Inquisition year. She will never make the same mistake again.

PSYCH! The Bard is Solas in disguise and has been all along!!! MOTHERFUCKER! Charter has worked it out through various tells, smart as she is. He'd subtly frozen the Executor mid-meeting. Solas ordered tea to drink at the meeting because it was a joke around Skyhold that he didn't like tea. For his costume he tried to do everything the Wolf would not. He sounds tired. He freezes the Assassin and the Mortalitasi who go to attack him. He grants Charter her life ("Ar lasa mala") and frees the little spirit the Mortalitasi had bound to stir her wine. He removes his dragon mask and wig. He cautions Charter against dealing with the Executors, saying those across the sea are dangerous. More dangerous than the elf that threatens the world, Charter asks? She asks him why he came, and personally. He wanted to find out what they all knew; many oppose him and they are not fools. He's there personally because the Inquisition was involved. He asks her in turn why she came. "Because you told the Inquisitor that you were going to destroy this world. Did you not expect us not to try and stop you?" He sighs that this was a moment of weakness. "I told myself that it was because you all deserved to know, to live a few years in peace before my ritual was complete. Before this world ended.” She says maybe he was lying to himself there, like other lies he told others, and that he doesn't have to do this. (It makes sense that the ritual will take a few years because it’s likely an ancient elven ritual and in those times spells could take years to cast)

Solas tells her "I have no choice. What I am doing will save this world, and those like you—the elves who still remain—may even find it better, when it is done." [This is odd wording... Those like you who still remain?] Charter thinks of her lover Tessa and says there are people she cares for who would not. He smiles sadly. "“I know that feeling well. I am not a god, Charter. I am prideful, hotheaded, and foolish, and I am doing what I must. When you report back to the Inquisitor . . .” His voice falters. “Say that I am sorry.” He leaves. The whole story itself concludes thusly:

Then she drank the rest of her tea, her fingers shaking a little. She looked at the dragon mask on the table. Prideful, hotheaded, foolish. Doing what he must. Sympathetic to elves. Said that he was sorry. The red lyrium idol was of a crowned figure comforting another. It was not much, but it was more than she had known before, she thought. Pulling a small notebook from one pocket, she began to write her report. After all, the Dread Wolf wasn’t going to stop himself.

Quick cliff notes for this section since it’s a whole ass thing:

Dragon mask; interesting choice and makes me think of Mythal and how he absorbed her power, and his role as Mythal’s “attendant”

Go here for notes on the choice of the mask’s opal inlay 

Before his true identity is revealed, the Bard is described as a “peacock”, as many Orlesian fops are. Smart word-choice, obvious pride motif/symbolism.

The Bard’s fake Orlesian accent “curled like smoke around his words”. Makes me think of the curling smoke we see after he’s absorbed Flemythal’s power

All the tales contained grains of untruths, and its possible the entirety of Solas’ was a straight up asspull/lie. in that scenario, he hasn’t actually yet managed to obtain the idol and the man who made off with it at the end of the death mage’s tale has it somewhere in Tevinter. but assuming he does have it is more fun, so I’m running with that assumption for the rest of this post.

In this story he comments disdainfully of the Wardens’ actions in DA:I - “they trapped themselves.”

He also objects to the Mortalitasi’s use of magic re: spirits, the Fade and influencing the world. He expresses that this is unsafe and inappropriate. Makes sense, we all know how he feels about binding spirits.

Compare the different descriptions of the red lyrium idol and consider what they might imply.

The Dalish elf who claims to have seen the stuff in his dreams reminds me of the ambient conservation a City Elf in Val Royeaux has about seeing Mythal in his dreams. If the dreams story is true, was it Mythal who told him this? Or, obviously Solas is a dream walker and this guy is an agent of Fen’Harel - maybe Solas commonly contacts his agents with their latest instructions in dreams? That would be one way to be super clandestine.

The Executor gets some intriguing description and speaks in this story but that’s for another post. But what’s the deal between Solas and the Executors? There’s clearly beef.

This version of Solas seems like high approval Solas

The table was booked under the name Gauche. That’s a French word in origin so it will have been Solas’ fake Orlesian Bard identity. Notable since he’s the one who booked the table for the meeting. It’s also clear that he knows of the clandestine Teahouse and the new Darvaarad and probably many other places like them. is nothing safe from him? lol Solas is nothing sacred? Thedosians have their work cut out for them.

The word gauche’s etymology is: “left, awkward, to veer/turn, to trample/walk clumsily”. Its English meaning is lacking in social graces, bumbling, unsophisticated, gawky.

Solas can freeze people by touching them, not just with his eyes-glowing thing. He can also freeze/petrify specifically/with finesse - like someone’s actual body under their clothes but not their clothes. He can even freeze golems to a state of not-living stone like regular people.

Other golems like Shale, with real intelligence, seem to exist in Tevinter and perhaps elsewhere, and are in use in organizations like the Siccari.

About the ring the bard-persona in Solas’ story was tasked to retrieve

It’s the description of the idol in the Bard’s story that is going to be the most telling re: the specifics of its origins, what it is and what it depicts, since that’s Solas’ POV on it. A crowned figure who comforted the other, and he’s reverent to it, and it’s an elven scene featuring elven figures. The crown matches the headpiece in Mythal statues and that Flemythal wears, and Mythal was a female god. The other figure is smooth-headed/bald. Reminds you precisely of Flemythal comforting Solas in the post-credits scene before he kills her. The scene depicted in the idol is something Solas has lived before, both in the post-credits scene and also at some point in the distant past. The couple/lovers stuff brings to mind the theories that these 2 were once lovers but I don’t think it’s literal, just that they were (and is obvious from the post-credits) very close. Interestingly in the DWR teaser the red lyrium corruption on the idol is first seen creeping up Solas’ spine. Symbolic of something? And what’s the sacrifice? Is this it about the terrible thing Mythal had to do in order to strike down the Titans to save the People? Mourning? Prolly to do with Mythal’s death.

He’s using the red lyrium idol to take the Veil down because it’s the next best thing for the job that he knows about after the destroyed foci orb.

The Mortalitasi ritual involved circles with bound dead ringed around them. I’m reminded of the circles in the background of the DWR mural.

We only have a few years left in which to stop him. Let’s say DA4 begins about a year before he reaches ritual completion time (going by the 1 year in-world time passing in DA:O and DA:I as standards), that would put us around oh.. 9:47 or so when the game starts.

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Solas’ followers, the bomb and suicide-ing

In Half Up Front an elf mage agent of Fen’Harel disguises herself as a human and hires 2 thieves to steal [back] an artifact she wants to acquire, Dumat’s Folly. She makes references to her vast resources and how much info she has at her fingertips. She clearly has lots of funds because she offers to pay them exorbitantly. Dumat’s Folly is supposed to be a piece of the Black City, a reminder of humanity’s hubris. One of the thieves is a human Vint mage. The other is her lover, Irian, a non-mage elf who is an expert hunter and staff-fighter and very skilled. The Qunari tried to recruit Irian a while back. Capers ensue and the pair eventually track it to the storeroom of a Qunari ship moored in Kont-aar. They’re infiltrating it and hear Qunari being like “oh no they must be here for the artifact. And if they are, chances are they’re working for him. We cannot risk them making their way onto the ship.” Obviously “him” is Solas. They’ve just located it in a box, and think something is wrong when it starts to thrum with wild magic (”growing, it was hungry”), when the agent suddenly shows up.

Btw what also stands out to me here is that an agent of Fen’Harel thru these machinations managed to infiltrate the ship, which incidentally is the new Darvaraad. Because the last one’s walls were ineffective (lol), this one is a ship; the Qunari wanted to keep it safe/moving with speed and secrecy instead of fortifications. 

Now, no longer in disguise, the agent is wearing a simple robe, embroidered with an unknown symbol, with her hair brushed back away from her pointed ears. She gloats that she knew they’d succeed. She paralyzes the mage with a strong spell and takes the artifact, looking at the Vint with a mix of pity and contempt. She repeats “Felassan” 3 times, seemingly an activation passcode for the object. It begins to glow red. She disgustedly says the Vint did well, “for a shem”. The Vint asks her who put her up to this. The agent replies that she acts "freely. For the Dread Wolf. To bring back what was once ours—what must be ours again.” The Vint realizes that she’s heard the rumors that dozens of elves have gone off to heed the call of “some god”. The agent reveals the object is a weapon. It pulses rhythmically and gets brighter and the air starts to warm. Energy starts to stream to the device from magical objects nearby that were also in the storeroom - they crumble to dust. It turns out that the object isn’t the real Dumat’s Folly. The agent says “It is an ingenious device. Not a piece of the Black City, like the true Dumat’s Folly, but taken from the same time [probably meaning ancient Elvhenan?]. It draws magic into itself. Stores it, and then when it is full [exploding motion]”. It’s a bomb.

The agent tells the Vint this is the end for her. “Take comfort that in your sacrifice, the glory of the true people will be restored.” She’s about to kill her with a small crystal she has that starts to crackle with energy, when Irian knocks her out. “Those damned Fen’Harel cultists! ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back!’” rants Irian. It turns out Solas’ people tried to recruit her a few years back. The agent wakes up and before they can interrogate her clenches her teeth. Green foam fills her mouth, she spasms and dies, having taken some kind of suicide pill. It starts to get really warm as the weapon keeps powering up. They can’t disable the device because there’s too much energy buildup. They realize that thousands of innocent people, a whole town, are going to die.

In the end they manage to save the day by taking the ship far enough out to sea before the bomb detonates and escaping off it, getting back to land. When it explodes it’s a flash of light like a second sun. It releases all the magic it drained in a single cataclysmic blast. It’s followed by a shockwave and a roaring crashing sound. Gatt appears and they have a discussion. He explains that one of their Ben-Hassrath agents spoke of Dumat’s Folly. This agent suggested it was an artifact of great power and danger, integral to Fen’Harel’s plans. They captured him planning to interrogate him, as this was clearly one of Solas’ spies in the Qun, but he killed himself before they could (our second example of Solas’ followers suicide-ing rather than being captured or betraying the cause). The group establish that the original agent of Fen’Harel hired these 2 thieves so that it would look like a Tevinter altus struck at and blew up a Qunari settlement (Kont-aar) which had not entered hostilities. This would have caused chaos; the Ben-Hassrath wouldn’t have been able to sit out of the Qunari invasion of the south anymore and Rivain and even other countries/groups might have gotten drawn in. Gatt agrees that if that scenario had occurred the Qunari would have settled for nothing less than the total destruction of Tevinter. (Here I’m reminded of the causing chaos in order to take advantage of the confusion and weakened nations modus operandi of Cory).

Gatt says the Ben-Hassrath will remain officially neutral and blunt the strike of the Antaam. This leaves them, more importantly, free to act against the true threat - Solas. “With their allies standing next to them”. The Vint is happy that in the end she didn’t get tricked by “some egomaniacal elf” into starting a war. Gatt says they can’t go home because they are now known to Fen’Harel and he has eyes everywhere, inside Tevinter without a doubt. Irian asks where they should go. Gatt contemplates and says he/the Ben-Hassrath have other allies, “a dwarf in Kirkwall”. Probably Varric. This dwarf will want to hear what the Vint and Irian have to say about the enemy, and he will have work for them. “Something more than survival—a chance to strike back. A chance to matter.” The Vint and Irian agree to this.

Inquisition anti-Fen’Harel information-gathering mission

Excerpt:

[The Inquisition] fell within a mirror, past a mysterious Crossroads, in the shadow of something impossible—the Dread Wolf, a creature so powerful the elves once called him a god. The Chantry didn’t want him to exist—the Maker didn’t allow room for gods that weren’t God—but if he did, whatever he was, they needed information. There were apparently spaces between that Crossroads and the Fade—broken spaces that weren’t all there. Which meant pieces might be somewhere else. And a certain type of mind might follow that backward, and find what had undone this elf, and any others, that walked as gods.

In Genetivi Dies In The End (important to bear in mind: this story is told by an unreliable narrator who put in some of the stuff for shock value), as part of the anti-Fen’Harel efforts, the Inquisition-remains dispatch 3 writers, good ol’ Genetivi, Philliam, a Bard! and formerly-Sister Laudine on an expedition and investigation with a Lord of Fortune to a location in the north of the Silent Plains (btw which for some reason are strangely purple). This is in Tevinter. (Remember that the settlement Solas is near there. Not a coincidence, I am sure! Certainly learns credence to the Inquisiitor’s table map stab) The purpose of the expedition is to find the true history of the elven pantheon, in a piece of elven Library, beneath the Imperium, deeper than the Deep Roads. The Inquisition has clearly done research and found information on this place’s location. Laudine is human but has an affinity for [presumably translating] ancient elven since the language is about rhythm and feeling as much as vocabulary, and she’s secretly an untrained mage and has some kind of quirk or condition which sounds to me like fantastical Thedosian synesthesia combined with intuition. Evidently this gives her a leg up with ancient elven.

In the long journey to the entrance, they work together to start their manuscript - the story travels back from the end of the Inquisition and upends history, revealing that Arlathan wasn’t destroyed by Tevinter but by strange magics that caused the rise of the Veil:

The division of the mortal realm from the Fade was not a natural state that had always existed. It was an event, a moment in time that had literally shattered the elven empire. Pieces of that glory now drifted beyond dream and will, with the Dread Wolf stalking between. But other pieces remained, displaced in the physical world. And in the gap between accepted fact and fantastical guesses, there were clues a group of squabbling writers now chased to hidden secrets.

They find the entrance and go down a supply shaft to the Deep Roads that functioned millennia ago. They pass a Tevinter mine, dwarf areas, darkspawn tunnels and then find the piece of the impossible they were looking for:

Natural caves and the occasional support beam suddenly gave way to delicate elven carvings, the stone floor abruptly changing to mahogany hardwood. There was no doorway, no planning or joinery. It was as if a pocket had suddenly formed in the rock, replaced by the notion that shelves and reading desks should simply be there. They had turned a corner and stepped into an elven library. When Arlathan “fell,” a piece of it had “fallen” here.

Sounds exactly like the bits of the Vir Dirthara we go through in Trespasser. It’s full of old elvhen tomes and “here could be the means to defend the world”. They look at symbols and meanings and start stuffing books that Laudine thinks might be important in bags. Genetivi realizes that a lot of what he believed (Chantry faithful) and the lens through which he interprets things (le glorious Maker) isn’t quite correct i.e. has an emotional crisis of faith. It turns out they were followed and the Antaam arrive, led by Rasaan. The Qunari have been following the same research threads that the Inquisition and its writers have, although they wouldn’t have found the shattered library without following them. Rasaan tells them that Fen’Harel is a name given by enemies. She says the translation, “Dread Wolf”, isn’t true. She goes on to say that the name Solas gave when he lied to the Inquisition and the Qunari (Solas) was chosen by a self-styled martyr and is also not true. Laudine chips in that it means “Pride” and Rasaan says she knows this. Names are important to Qunari, especially Rasaan. The Qunari came to the library seeking information as they think there is no greater advantage than to know an enemy’s true name.

The writers manage to grab the most promising elven tomes and escape. The Qunari pursue but they flee successfully. Later they pore over pages old and new and finish writing their account, which is implied to be partially fictional / embellished. They plan to fake their deaths and take on new names from which to continue to write warnings from under, in order to evade Rasaan who they are sure will chase them. They note that they can’t publish what they found about the ancient elves’ end/Solas in their book, as that info is “for the generals [of the Inquisition-remains]”. But the adventure part of it is fine to publish as it’s for the people. Their findings are sent to Varric and “plans will be made”. This short ends ominously, “Around them, the bar served on, the coast lapped at historic sands. A year later, nations would stand, and tremble. And in distant places blades were sharpened, and wolves walked in dreams.” Part of their manuscript btw reads as follows:

The Fen’Harel question. How many lives had ended seeking an answer? Four more, if our turn chasing a legend fails tonight. But we’ve dragged truth from the darkness beneath Tevinter, found pages that will guide tomorrow’s righteous hands. And if our flight dies at the tip of an Antaam spear, make certain that more than the Silent Plains will know what we have found -

Revisiting Skyhold, the frescos and Regret

In Callback, we learn that Skyhold was shuttered. The rotunda has become known for the fresco. At the time, Solas claimed the fresco was his gift of record. The rotunda is noted as being an odd choice of room/space for a fortress, and it’s unclear what it was originally for. This is interesting to me because ofc it’s where Solas chooses to take up residence during DA:I, and we know that Skyhold was once his fortress and the place where he erected the Veil. (Apparently btw, not just Solas used that desk, but Inky and countless dignitaries too.) Anyway after the Skyhold caretakers fail to report in, Sutherland and Company are dispatched to deal with a demon that has taken up residence there. The last report from the caretaker guy was a meandering description of restoring the fresco, which was not has mandate, and other than that only said “I have made mistakes”. The Veil is very thin at Skyhold, hence the thinking it’s a demon. The Veil reacts to events like water reacts to stones, and the fortress has seen a lot of ripples. The demon originally emerged in the rotunda! It’s Regret, clearly born of all Solas’ regrets and man-pain. Regret is attracted to statements that echo the regrets that brought it here - Solas’ regrets of acting alone, using his friends. Recall that the painting technique was a special grand elven technique, an art with few living practitioners even among the Dalish. With how in the paint application, “it is considered, with long periods of study before the image emerges, whole cloth and with certainty”, with the thin Veil at Skyhold, with all the time he spent in the rotunda and with the extreme depth of his feelings and regrets, it’s not surprising really that this has occurred. Now, Sutherland and Co arrive to find the rotunda with a greenish Fade rift tinge. They find it not-pristine (the rest of Skyhold is maintained pristine, museum-like), old blood splotched on the floor, dripping old body parts stuffed in the hanging rookery cages. They realize the demon’s in the plaster of the fresco. The fresco shifts, gains depth, whispers in the wall, color crawls from each panel of the wall to form a mass of plaster and shadow. The demon thus begins to form itself.

As it forms, there are some bits I’d like to draw attention to, because the way it’s written is really interesting. Refer to screenshots of the panels as you go. In the first panel, a black shadow moves behind the Breach above the Conclave. Obviously the Dread Wolf, black as the villain, was behind everything, all those events, the explosion. He was lurking nearby trying to retrieve his opened orb. In that part of the art you see into the Fade which is his lair, and the repeating eyes/feathers motif which look like the Dread Wolf’s and Pride Demons’ many eyes as well as harking to peacock feathers (symbol of pride). In panel 2, red pigment scrapes itself off the stylized pupil. The hairy eyeball which is the symbol of the Inquisition we know to Thedosians is the eye of Andraste. It’s interesting to me because clearly the Inquisition was Fen’Harel’s vehicle and tool all along, the eye now more reminds me of like the Eye of Sauron and the eyes of the Dread Wolf kinda thing. You know, like it takes on a more sinister tone during this ‘second reading’. The red pigment slides down the blade (blood on a weapon, obvious imagery). Blackness then crawls from the howling wolves that guard the symbol, leaving them pale and dusty. This was hinted at in the panel originally with the two smaller white wolf shadows behind and off to the side of the main ones. Solas is no longer with and helping/guarding the Inquisition, those carefully detailed ally wolves were all for nought. It also speaks of the white wolf - black wolf (romance card vs other card) duality.

Pigment is “stolen” from panel 3, the short triumph before the fall of Haven. The Inquisition’s power and triumph was short-lived. When we get to the image of Cory, he’s described as “formerly an image of such dread”. We all know who the real figure of dread is now. This reminds me of how we thought the “he” in Sandal’s prophecy referred to the Elder One, when it instead probably refers to the Dread Wolf. Cory is “drained” like the wolves. Okay stay with me here. Remember the freezing / petrifying people, the curling smoke reference and glowing eyes as mentioned earlier? Solas absorbed Mythal’s power and his eyes glowed blue and there was smoke. When he petrifies people to stone, his eyes glow blue. Is that just the side-effect of him using his freezing/general powers or is that him also absorbing the strength and power of these other people? Not identities or possessing them or anything but definitely their strength. This is what this kind of language like “stealing” and “draining” from the moving fresco makes me think of. This idea of the freezing also having the effect of powering up using those peoples’ power / adding their power to his own also reminds me of the ancient bomb-device artifact that powered up by absorbing the energy of magical items in its vicinity and turning them to dust. Tinfoily but just sth that occurred to me. In fairness his eyes also glow when he stabilizes the Anchor and takes our arm in Trespasser. Now for the eighth and unfinished final panel.

There was a fair bit of debate at the time what the final panel represented. I theorized that it was a wolf standing over the body of a dragon, slain by the sword: i.e. Solas killing Flemythal in the post-credits scene. We finally get some clarification on this. In-universe people thought it commemorated the final battle against Cory. The mass of color which crawled around the room now fills in the rough shapes and completes it! That is a fallen dragon, and that is an Inquisition sword. We’re told this isn’t the final battle, or the victory, but “after”. It is indeed a representation of Solas killing Flemythal in the post-credits. And even though two dragons fought in the final Cory battle, naturally the beast standing over the dragon is not a dragon. The outline alone might have allowed that assumption, but now it fills in with black and red and is becomes something other:

The creature was reptilian, but also canine. The snout was blunted and toothy, but edges came to a point in houndlike ears. As the mass of plaster filled the shape, it began to rise, revealing scales and tail, and paws with talons. It looked like two figures painted on either side of a pane of glass, then viewed together, their forms confused. A wolf that had absorbed a dragon, and now stood crooked over all. 

Clearly the Dread Wolf. But kind of more draconian than before or previous depictions of it in cards, frescos etc. Scales, talons. Reflecting Solas having absorbed the power of the dragon, Mythal. I’ll note here that this for me puts to rest the “Flemythal possessed him he didn’t absorb her power it was the other way around” theories that float around. We’re clearly told here the wolf has absorbed the dragon. I’ve said this before but I don’t think she’s possessing him, there may be grand-scheme manipulations going on (I don’t think she’s dead, she’s Horcruxed somewhere, and she needs him to succeed to release the gods so she can take her vengeance) but he is responsible for his own actions and is nobody’s agent but his own. Also interesting here is the pane of glass, making me think of eluvians, and the two figures being painted on either side of a pane of glass. Remember the eluvian behind Solas and Flemythal in the post-credits DA:I scene? On one side, a wolf. On the other, a dragon. Also recalls the Trespasser codexes where an elf was wondering why wolf statues of Fen’Harel were appearing in attendance to statues of dragon Mythal.

Back with Sutherland and crew in the moment, Regret peels off the wall and fully forms. When it snarls it also sounds between wolf and dragon. It has too many eyes. It seems more feral and less articulate the further it goes from the fresco. It rises to a big height, has 7 legs and reshapes itself with every step. Sutherland demands the demon name itself. “I am the heart of what was here. An echo that has breached the Fade. I am Regret!” Regret briefly traps them in individual mini-nightmares about each of their greatest regrets. They become lost within themselves at moments when a choice was made. It finds your doubts and feeds on them to get stronger. Its arms grow more talons when Sutherland echoes the regrets that drew it to this place. “There is so much of me that’s here,” it says, “So much Regret behind these deeds. You will stay and face your choice. I am all that you have done.” It pauses, looks at the hole it left in the eighth panel, wistful. “I wonder if you know the dread that’s coming?” It says this while looking at the now-empty Panel 8 and seems wistful, like a child anticipating promised candy on Christmas morning. “The actions here have scarred the world.” Clearly in these bits it's referencing the Dread Wolf rising, and taking glee in it (also a reference to the scars the sky above Skyhold now bears post-Breach) Not suggesting Solas takes glee in it though, he obviously doesn’t, this is just a twisted demonic echo. And, these emotive descriptions pain me, they reflect what Solas was feeling and has lived through. Poor Solas :( Regret can “still” the greatest blade or magic, reminding me of Solas’ freezing power. Interestingly it also shrieks “I am the Regret of a god!”

Sutherland and Co try to defeat it. When he lets it come for him, Regret expected resistance. “It had never been accepted. Never owned.” Consider that and how Solas conceives of his actions. (Regret initially can’t touch Sutherland because he has no regrets, btw. It goes for him when he intentionally makes himself feel regret and shouts that he is). Regret tries to rally: “It would reach the rotunda. It would sleep and plan and come back stronger. This was all their fault. They would learn how smart it was. The regret that had drawn it to Skyhold had a very long memory.” Obviously, since Solas is immortal and he regrets things from ancient Elvhenan but also in the present. And the impacts of his Veil-erecting choice, which he now regrets, have spanned centuries and brought the elves low and to suffer in every one of them. But they vanquish it. Everyone looks at it as it perishes.

Its dismembered limbs were now strange piles of dry plaster. Some of the pieces were large enough to see details of the fresco. A careful hand might paste them all back on the wall, restore it, though that didn’t occur to anyone in the moment.

The core of the creature lay on its side, its too many eyes drifting unfocused. It could re-form, given time, but at this point even a few simple wounds would return its mind and will across the Veil. For a moment, the sunlight illuminated something within—a sliver of the spirit that might have been. Not the opposite of regret. A different flavor, or shade. Contemplation. Introspection. It felt the echo of the actions that had summoned it. There might have been a better choice, said a thought it had not been allowed. 

It glimpsed the spirit realm beyond the Veil, and a faraway glimmer. Familiar, and somehow far brighter than what had drawn it here. It knew where it would go. 

Here we have again the spirit duality (more on this in the General section below) - Contemplation / Introspection vs Regret - and mention of Solas’ actions inadvertently summoning this creature. There might have been a better choice, but he’s never really allowed himself to contemplate that. You can see that from his words in the first story about how although he’s conflicted, he clearly feels like he has no choice. Where in the Fade does Regret go in the end, I wonder? Obviously spirits reform in time in the manner Solas tells us about after his personal quest. If Solas was once a spirit, I wonder if he ever thinks about the place where he originally came from. In any event lost ancient Elvhenan for him is a faraway glimmer, brighter than the modern world and he knows what he’s trying to do. Voth bids the spirit to go in peace. Sutherland reflects that Regret will linger if you let it lie there. He makes it taste its own mistake. An epitaph to this story, which seems like a sign that’s put up at Skyhold to commemorate the Inquisition peoples’ efforts, says that change is coming, both to and because of the Inquisition. “And we are blessed with the ability to accept and move on, to leave dread and regret behind.” If only Solas could move on from the past. We have this ability that he does not. Overall the message of this piece is that in order to ‘vanquish’ regret, you should feel it, accept it and like own it? I can’t help but wonder if that’s like a accept the feelings and own your mistakes as opposed to continuing on this current course Solas, kinda message.

The artifacts which ‘strengthen’ the Veil

We all remember Solas’ quests relating to Veil strength and the elven artifact ‘collectibles’. He claims they can hold off demons and strengthen the Veil in their immediate area, so we go around activating them for him. He says they help prevent Veil tears and can measure the strength of the Veil. They supposedly provide him with readings on the Veil’s magical energies. If activated in a coordinated fashion they could even predict ‘uncovered’ Veil tears i.e. where tears are more likely to open. Strengthening the Veil seems at odds with his goals of tearing it down so there are theories that they actually do the opposite and weaken it, and that he was having us going around unknowingly assisting him with that.

In The Wigmaker Job a horrid Vint mage is doing awful experiments/’art’ with slaves using red lyrium. Consequently the Veil is thin in his workshop. Our POV char here infiltrates the workshop and realizes the place is so filled with anguish and suffering that it should be a hotbed for demons. He wonders how the mage is keeping them at bay and thinks “There [are] rumors of elven artifacts that strengthened the Veil and prevented demons from breaking through.” He searches for anything that might provide a barrier against the spirit world. He finds in the center of the chamber, a cage hangs from the ceiling, and inside it is a globe crackling with green energy (sound familiar? like the artifacts in-game after activation). He destroys it and suddenly all the demons it was keeping out are able to burst through.

To me this suggests the artifacts in DA:I really did strengthen the Veil and Solas was being truthful on this matter. Presumably his method of taking down the Veil does not involve them and is different in nature. Maybe even, in order for his method to work it requires the Veil not to be filled with literal tears like those ones. (Also in general minimizing harm and protecting innocents where you can fits his character.) Anyway, we knew already that a repeat of Corypheus’ ways of Breaching the Veil, letting a giant tear expand, isn’t going to be Solas’ methods of Veil-removal.

The possible effects of Solas’ ritual on the Veil

Remember the Vints in the Bard’s story saying that Solas’ ritual has already started to affect the Fade? What could that mean? It sounds bad. It probably isn’t regular ol’ Fade rifts and demons coming through, that’s the plot/catch in DA:I, that’s old hat. So what could this mean? In Luck In The Gardens, Dorian hires a Lord of Fortune to kill a monster plaguing Minrathous. The monster is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in DA-verse before, even considering the body horror already in the setting, even unlike the new fucked up darkspawns in Horror of Hormak. It’s not a demon, it’s not a Venatori abomination. It’s called The Cekorax. It’s a tentacley, wormy thrashing mass bulk that radiates joyful malice. It kills people and takes only their heads. Its voice is many voices speaking together, some parts on its tentacles open to show real human eyes studded in there. It’s the perfect predator, surrounding you, nestled everywhere, not just in the sewers below the city but with coils running behind grass and under tree bases in the gardens. It can open up like a lily and inside is a ring of the severed heads of its victims, eyes gouged out (as they’re now studded in the tentacles) but otherwise healthy, and the heads are the source of the voices; it calls this its “crown of the blind”. It’s positively Lovecraftian. Interestingly it makes reference to “Things are rising” and says its victims are better off “nested safe and warm inside” its body instead, i.e. instead of facing the horrors to come. Dread Wolves rising indeed.

Anyway, why I mention the monster. At the end of this short Dorian and the Lord of Fortune wonder what the Cekorax was. Ancient breed of demon? Fiend brewed up by a magister? Dorian was at a party with a Mortalitasi a while ago. Five cups in, she went on about “things past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit”. Perhaps it wasn’t the tipsy nonsense he assumed it to be. If Solas’ ritual is about the Veil, is affecting the Veil... is an inadvertent side effect of tearing it down or doing this ritual, like letting these horrors from past the Veil in?! Where? This some other dimension shit? Or maybe they’re from the Void?? Seems like they’re gradually starting to ‘bleed’ in to the mortal realm. I’m not suggesting this is at all intentional on Solas’ part, but there are already affects being noted by some people, “Fade rifts and demons coming in” has been done, and we know whatever he’s doing is gonna cause some amount of chaos and destruction. I also enjoy the idea that there are things beyond even Solas’ ken in this universe - beyond even a god-figure’s ken - and that there’s an encroaching bigger bad. In this line of speculation, in the narrative maybe Solas is The Dragon. Whether that’s going to be in DA4 or in relation to a big bad rising in the game after remains to be seen. Previously I’ve wondered if he’d be The Dragon to vengeful Flemythal or angry razing mad unleashed Evanuris. The potential here is !!!

Parallels and things that came to mind

Some Vints are still Venatori cultists. In The Streets of Minrathous we pass a street prophet. He goes on about how Tevinter was glorious and how their ‘god’ would see them lifted. Look at Minrathous now - are they content? The cult’s dead god wanted to bring Tevinter back to what it was, to its “glory”. This is “nonsense, of course, it always was” thinks our POV char. The old empire was even more corrupt and heartless than what it is now. Sound familiar? It’s not a direct comparison, but you can see the ironically similar thematic stuff going on. Probably intentional, like a foil. Ancient Elvhenan was glorious. Are elves content with their lot now? One of their ‘gods’ would see them lifted. He wants to bring back what was, restore it. And ancient Elvhenan had its own problems as we know with corruption, heartlessness, classism, slaves, mage-rulers, etc. And stuff like “Our lives for the glory of Tevinter reborn” reminds me of some the stuff some of Solas’ followers say.

Another thing that sticks out to me is the mirror? of Dorian? That’s not the word I want but I can’t think of the right one. Tevinter is shitty (sorry Dorian). Solas has massive problems with Tevinter e.g. oppression of elves, misuses of magic, binding spirits, keeping slaves. Part of Solas’ whole deal is that the modern world is a crapsack world, especially for elves, and Tevinter is emblematic of that. So Dorian’s crusade to improve and redeem his homeland sticks out to me. Since he came back from the south he no longer has slaves, only paid servants. He’s probably one of the first mages of his station to do so. As we saw with the references to the Lucerni in Trespasser epilogue slides, him and Mae are currently doing everything they can to make Tevinter better and less evil, to the extent that they’re on the outs with most of the rest of the Magisterium. The state of Tevinter makes him feel raggedly depressed but they feel they have a duty to their country. They’re keeping an eye on scoundrels, trying to deal with political rumblings, trying to win allies over, trying to prove Vints aren’t all heartless, there’s now an anti-slavery movement, they’re posting rewards for hunters to rid Minrathous of monsters, etc (they’re so busy crusading they don’t have time to do that themselves). It’s slow progress but they’re doing it. I don’t really have a comment to make here but it’s a link my brain made. It’s potential redeem-ability of the modern world and efforts to fix and improve what they have vs preoccupation with the past and wanting to hit the reset button for a do-over.

This book is careful to give us a lot of examples of modern elves who are strong/capable and/or powerful in their own right, in a variety of different ways. Strife, Bolivar Nero, Cyrros, Irian, Guili Arainai, Teia, adding to existing examples like Charter. The lot of modern elves in modern society is an unacceptable, indefensible crapshoot, but I think the point of these characters perhaps is to show that there still is a bit of potential in the modern world. There are strong elves in positions of power. Just because some ‘beat the system’ and rose doesn’t mean it’s okay, but I think they’re here to 1) show that some modern elves are gonna be opposed to Solas and his plans, elves aren’t a monolith and they aren’t all going to mindlessly go to his side in droves, they have a diversity of opinions 2) not so much ‘some elves have managed to obtain power’ but ‘modern elves are strong, capable people’. This is important because of BW’s habit of crapping on the modern elves/portraying them as stupid, and Solas’ ‘sadly you’re shadows of your former glory’-shtick. Also, while there continue to be examples of awful treatment of elves by humans in the book, like slaughter of a group and horrid racism, they’ve also been careful to give us examples of people being good to/helping them. a mix of humans and elves doing this actually. again it feels like a ‘there is still a bit of potential in the modern world’, thing. we have Teia’s policy not to kill the help on contracts unless they’re guilty (the help is usually elven since servants. as Talon I bet this is a policy she enforces in her whole house). Vadis and Irian not killing and rescuing Qunari elves who were just doing their jobs, and making a point to avoid killing or getting into trouble servants in their heist. Dorian’s freed his slaves and now only has paid servants. Lucanis frees a bunch of elven slaves from a magister. there are pockets of good in the world. 

they’ve also, with Charter & Tessa, and now Irian and Vadis, set up a situation where some elves aren’t going to be okay with the cost of the price of the new world, because they love their non-elf partners who probably wouldn’t survive the change. elves can obviously oppose Solas for their own reasons that don’t center on a non-elf SO of course, but it’s something Charter specifically highlights.

Also Solas has ironically unintentionally become a bit of a cult leader again. Cory parallels/foil reinforced. Solas Disapproves 

Other references in the book (minor/general)

No direct references, but there’s ancient elfy / general elfy / Evanuris-y stuff going on in Three Trees To Midnight, An Old Crow’s Old Tricks and The Horror of Hormak. The Veil is thin in Arlathan Forest and it contains ancient powerful spirits. Stuff for another post. We find under Hormak one of Ghilan’nains 12 fucked up monster factories.

It’s unrelated yet worth mentioning: the demon that possesses a corpse in Down Among The Dead Men is a Pride Demon / Spirit. Interesting choice, the writers are obviously weaving related stuff throughout. The “body and the spirit [Pride] are at odds”. Pride “has the power to cast forth a shadow and make itself known where it is unwanted.” The hulking expanding shape over the mortal form is the mark of a Pride demon. Also in this story is a spirit of Curiosity in a similar (but not exactly the same) situation to the spirit of Compassion that became an imitation of the human boy Cole who died. Is he a dead man or imitation of a dead man? A spirit clinging to the dying curiosity of a man? We learn that the Mortalitasi know of such things. Entities as “complete” as that particular one are rare. Some of the Mortalitasi argue that these “higher dead” hold fast to their mortal souls. Others say this is impossible and that these entities are caught between two spirits. (In this case curiosity and anger. Multiple times throughout this story Curiosity almost loses himself to anger and his Mortalitasi helper has to assist him in not falling to rage). Whatever the case, they are unbalanced and need a remedy. This is of note because of the Wisdom Spirit / Pride Demon dichotomy, the theories that Solas was once a spirit who took form at Mythal’s behest, and the theories that “Solas” and the "Dread Wolf” are not just his 2 identities as a dude and as a rebellion leader, or just symbols / representations of his inner conflict over what he’s doing, but more like two actual entities at war with one another in the same body. In this story also the Mortalitasi helper allows Curiosity to see that Pride is “a cheat”.

Also unrelated, but in Hunger a Hunger demon possessed a dying starving man and spread a werewolf curse. In Murder By Death Mages a noble threatens to throw an assassin he hired to further his claim to the throne to the wolves along with the Mortalitasi. Wolves. There are also a few places throughout where unrelated characters deal with issues and various forms of pride and hubris. How topical lol.

Summary

In or after 9:44 Dragon, what remains of the Inquisition, either officially or unofficially, is undertaking various covert anti-Solas manoeuvres. Some of their agents refer to the leaders as “the generals”. Charter is an agent on the front-lines here and likely reports some things to Divine Victoria. Varric is also helping, on the side of being Viscount. He’s calling in favors, recruiting, listening to reports/info from people about the enemy, and giving out work/tasks relating to combating Solas and striking back. The Inquisitor is still involved in some capacity because Charter is going to report back to them and Solas gives her a message for them. Genetivi, Philliam, Sister Laudine and a Lord of Fortune called Mateo also help. A family of Orlesian nobles, the Varondales, have also been noted as investing in the Inquisition with genuine intentions

Other groups are moving against Solas too, with varying degrees of cooperation with the Inquisition - a bit, none/separately or even somewhat antagonistically to them. Other groups are also interested in keeping tabs on him and the threat he poses. These different groups include the Carta, Nevarran Mortalitasi, Tevinter Siccari, Qunari Ben-Hassrath, the Executors and probably Orlesian bards. Some of these groups realize they have a shared interest in stopping him. Some realize he threatens all of their peoples. Some of these folk are among the best spies on the continent. Some Tevinters think he’s an elven upstart. This goes to show that the Inquisition hasn’t kept or been able / didn’t try to keep the Fen’Harel threat secret; it isn’t known only to them. There are rumors going around and some fairly regular Thedosians seem to have heard about it too. One rumor is that dozens of elves have gone off to heed the call of “some god”. Some Thedosians theorize he is a demon or has a deal with a demon, or is a powerful spirit that is worshiped as a god like the Avvar do.

The Ben-Hassrath seem to have the most info on him. The Qunari believe he is a dangerous mage who styles himself the Dread Wolf. The Ben-Hassrath want to stay neutral on the Antaam Qunari invasion in order to focus on the real threat. They want their allies standing next to them in the anti-Solas effort. They refer to Varric as one such ally. Clearly the Qunari have not listened to Solas’ warning to trouble him no further.

The Executors expressly want to eliminate Solas. They care only about what his goals and means of achieving them are. They wonder if Solas is a poison-master rather than a dream-stalker. Solas cautions the Inquisition against working with the Executors, saying that they’re dangerous.

The Inquisition insist that as he said, he is not a god, but a very old, very powerful mage. They say he wants to restore the empire of the ancient elves, and that he made clear that doing so will cause massive destruction to their world. This destruction will probably be especially bad for Tevinter as it’s built on the bones of Elvhenan. They believe that he wants “to end [something, probably the world]”. Charter references his claim of creating the Veil, his Veil research and the Veil-strengthening artifacts.

Charter attends a secret info-sharing meeting. The Siccari and Ben-Hassrath declined to attend. The attendees compare Solas-notes. It turns out one of them was Solas in disguise. She asks for her life and he spares her. Solas came to the meeting personally as the Inquisition was involved and came to find out what they all knew.

One of Solas’ main targets was the red lyrium idol which still existed in the statue of Meredith. Even though most people believed the idol gone, a Dalish-appearing elf appeared in Kirkwall one day claiming that he learned of it in a dream and that an old legend of his people says that if he gets it out, he can free his gods. He was persistent and had a special potion which could melt the lyrium. In this way the idol is accessed and retrieved. A Tevinter mage came and took it from him before he can pass it to his collaborators, 2 agents of Solas. It’s implied one is Dalish or an ancient but Solas removed his vallaslin.

The idol next showed up in Nevarra where Mortalitasi helped the Tevinter mage do a ritual with it. A spike/blade appears from the bottom of the idol. Solas in the form of the DW interrupts the ritual angrily, kills the Tevinter and roars about how they threaten creation and the sea of dreams. He claims the idol is his and sends spirits to swarm them. He was angry they bound spirits and disrupted his work. He doesn’t like Mortalitasi magic that involves binding spirits or shaping the world to their will via influencing the Fade. He eventually obtains the idol. The ritual-blade part had vanished after the Mortalitasi ritual got interrupted. 

The idol is described as: a couple hugging, too thin to be dwarves; glowing softy like a lit up ruby; heavier than you think, even for lyrium; when hefted it seems like it wants to keep moving, like it’s got liquid inside; seeming to show 2 lovers; or a god mourning her sacrifice; it whispers in the minds of mages and made some dwarves scream/run off/go mad; a crowned figure who comforted the other; people hear music around it. Solas strokes it reverently and says something to it in elven when he finds it. Its effects can be negated by protective runes and double-shielded chests. Tevinters think they are best-placed to harness it.

It’s surmised that Solas intends something “terrible” for the Fade and that the idol is now with him. He has begun whatever ritual he intends to use to restore the elven empire, is aware of disruptions, the ritual involves the Fade and requires the idol. The idol reacts to other lyrium and he may need lyrium for the ritual, either blue or red. If so, he’s going to be having to gather inordinate amounts of it in the coming times. The ritual has already begun to start to affect the Fade, which doesn’t sound good. It will take a few years, hence the “few years of peace”. In disguise Solas says he will destroy anyone in his way without regret or hesitation, and that he does not believe they can stop it. Solas clearly knows about some covert locations where intelligence agencies and spies trade info and do stuff.

Out of disguise he’s tired and sad, and knows that many oppose him and that they are not fools. Telling the Inquisitor what he intended to do in Trespasser was a moment of weakness. He refers to the world ending. He insists he has no choice. He says that what he’s doing will save this world and that the elves who still remain after when it is done, like Charter, may find it even better than it was before (Charter notes he’s sympathetic to elves). This is unacceptable to Charter as she loves a human woman. Would all modern elves remain? If so, is the annihilation of the other 3 races an acceptable price to pay for the elevation of one...? He admits he’s prideful, hot-headed and foolish. He says to tell the Inquisitor that he’s sorry, voice faltering.

Agents of Fen’Harel say stuff like: “The Dread Wolf guide your soul to peace, brother”; “I act freely. For the Dread Wolf. To bring back what was once ours—what must be ours again”; “Take comfort that in your sacrifice, the glory of the true people will be restored.” One modern elf who refused to join them rants “Those damned Fen’Harel cultists! ‘Ooh, if we blow up enough people, ancient Elvhenan is definitely coming back!’”

Solas can kill people while they sleep, even dwarves. He can petrify even Executors and golems. He can petrify with specificity e.g. someone’s body beneath their clothes but leaving the clothes unfrozen. He can petrify groups at once, as seen in Trespasser. It’s implied some spirits are helping him.

Solas’ agents include both Dalish and City Elves. They follow him willingly, some appear devout/devoted/fanatical about the cause. His cause has been recruiting for a few years at least. He doesn’t only employ ancient elves. Some of his agents have fancy armor and some have robes with unknown symbols. They seem to have lots of resources, info and money at their disposal. He has eyes everywhere especially inside Tevinter. He has agents posing as elven Ben-Hassrath. At least one has disguised herself as a human before. Some kill themselves rather than be captured or interrogated. One displays open, naked contempt, hostility and disgust for humans. One tried to blow up an innocent town of thousands of people in order to cause chaos; the aim was to make it look like a Tevinter Altus blew up a neutral Qunari town in Rivain to try and draw the Ben-Hassrath in to the Qunari invasion, prompt Qunari to want to completely destroy Tevinter and try to drag in Rivain and even other countries/groups.

The Inquisition dispatched agents to an underground location in the north Silent Plains near the settlement of Solas in Tevinter. The purpose was to find the true history of the elven pantheon. The Inquisition did research and found the location of a piece of shattered ancient elven library which is embedded in the Deep Roads. They want to find out what undid Solas and the others who walked as gods. They find the fallen piece of Arlathan with lots of old elven books in it, and in there might be the means to defend the world. They leave with some books they think are important. It’s implied they find some kind of answer.

The Qunari have been following similar research threads. The Qunari say the translation “Dread Wolf” of “Fen’Harel” isn’t true. They want to find his ‘true name’ because they believe it will him them combat him.

A demon Regret emerged in the rotunda from the frescos after Skyhold shut, born of the intensity of Solas’ regrets, mistakes and pain. It completes the final panel. This panel depicts the post-credits scene where he kills Flemythal. He absorbed her/her power/essence. Regret’s form has many eyes and was a wolf-dragon. Regret says it’s the heart of what was in the rotunda; there’s so much regret behind the fresco-deeds; and wonders if people know about the “dread” that’s coming. It describes itself as the regret of a god. It was defeated. As it dies it thinks about how “Maybe there is a better choice” is a thought it was never allowed.

The Tevinter mage’s attempted ritual with the idol involved blood magic and sacrifice of slaves. If Solas’ ritual is anything similar (and it may well be, the Magisters Sidereal also had to sacrifice inordinate amounts of slaves to get the blood magic power to make the Veil rip open), I’m afraid.

The future is implied. The Inquisition are making plans based on what the expedition found. “A year later, nations would stand [against Solas], and tremble.”

Extended speculation about the specifics of his ritual here

The biggest questions now to me

What did the Inquisition agents find out in the library about the history of the Evanuris and how to counter Solas?

What does this ritual specifically involve?

Where is the site of his ritual?

I’m still wondering what are Solas’ plans for dealing with the unleashed Evanuris?

What specifically happened between Mythal and Solas in ages past?

[aarongoldenwrites]

Alright. Get ready for a trip. I'm gonna go point by point through this because I'm obsessed with these games, I dig the real world connotations, and the new trailer just dropped and I haven't played any DA since the flood. So...

We need to start with a discussion of Solas in general. He's Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf. He fought against institutionalized and systemic slavery, freed his people, and fought alone against corrupt being powerful enough to be considered gods (and they are the old gods of the Tevinter Imperium, I believe, but that's a whole other thing). He created the veil and imprisoned the gods, possibly in Black City, and doing so nearly killed him and sent him into a thousand year coma. He didn't understand the consequences of his actions, but he trusted people enough not to mess it up further.

And then he woke up.

Let us start with the Qun. The Qun is fascism. Individual Qunari are fascinating individuals, especially when they are removed from the Qun as a whole – Sten and the Iron Bull being our prime examples. But everything we know about them paints them as fanatics that torture mages and lobotomize anyone that doesn't accept their philosophy. Their entire culture is systemic slavery, which is the very thing Solas opposed. Of course he hates them.

There's two instances that can change his mind: one is a possible Qunari Inquisitor, but your Inquisitor is Vashoth (edit 2020/09/03: as noted by @felassan -- thanks!), someone who was never part of the Qun. He's not been awake long enough to see it, and it shocks him out of binary thinking. He's apologizing badly, because he's personally a social disaster who doesn't know how to people (and we'll get to that). The second is if you choose to save the Chargers; Solas turns around on the Bull instantly, shows genuine concern towards him, and helps him deal with Fade-related PTSD.

In fact, all he ever wants to do is teach. If he comes out and says he's Fen'Harel people are going to assume he's a crackpot, but I think Solas, as a persona, is actually who he is. He jokes with the Bull and Blackwall about his Fade knowledge, and offers them both knowledge on how to kill fade spirits more efficiently. All three of them respect one another as soldiers. He compares knowledge of magic and history with Dorian, Cassandra seeks his opinion on organization and faith, Josephine appreciates his insight, Leliana asks his advice, and Varric and he chatter and shoot the shit.

He constantly tries to teach or learn. The only two people he has issues with are Sera and Vivienne, and even there he tries to offer advice and wisdom as best he's able. Sera can't stand him because she hates elves, and Viv is a victim of the Circle and can't imagine a world without an entrenched power structure, regardless of how many people it hurts.

And I suppose that's a thing a lot of people have trouble with when it comes to Solas: he tells you straight out at the end of Trespasser that he's going to tear down the Veil and destroy the world as we know it. And that's terrible. That's destroying a world state and trying to return thing to how they were, kind of like how the Inquisitor and Dorian reset time in Redcliffe. I mean, that world was a hellscape where everything you ever cared about was dead or corrupted, and fixing it was the right call. It's not at all like how the world Solas wakes up to is a hellscape where everything he ever cared about was dead or corrupted. Fixing it is the right call?

And we could argue that the future that we averted was a monstrous place, but how does Solas see his own world? His people worship the slavers he defeated and die with a terrible frequency. Elves die and face fates that are about as terrible as that faced by mages; he's fucked coming and going. And we know he went to the Dalish and tried to talk to them and they attacked him. Why wouldn't they? He knows about what's happening outside of the Plato's cave that the Dalish are dying in.

His actions are going to kill thousands. His actions are going to save millions. The Dalish are dying in droves and the city elves are going to follow. Giving them a fighting chance at survival means reminding them who they are.

He also tells us that waking up was like “swimming in tranquil”. I think creating the Veil crippled the elves in some way, and he's not trying to give them magic so much as he's trying to heal them of a disease he inadvertently created. And while I know it's hard to take him at his word, it shouldn't be: he lies by omission once (about being Fen'harel, as we've covered the reasons why already), and lies directly twice.

After Orlais, he talks about how much he missed intrigue and court. If you ask him about this, he stumbles and you get disapproval – the only time you get disapproval for asking him a question. He lets his guard down around you and still doesn't know what to do.

The last time is in Crestwood and only happens if you romance him. He's about to tell you who he is and he chickens out and tells you about the slave marks on your face instead. Because – and this is the important thing – he cares. He's viciously selfless; he doesn't believe he deserves happiness and he can't imagine a world where he can save his people and be happy.

Make no mistake: the elves are threatened with extinction with the world as it is. The city elves in Origins are blamed when they react to some of their number being raped and killed by human nobles. The Dalish in Origins can be wiped out by the werewolves. The Dalish in Awakening are wiped out regardless of what you do. The Dalish in DA2 can be wiped out in Act 3. The city elves in Kirkwall are hunted for sport, see their children kidnapped and raped before being murdered, are locked away and left to burn whenever there's any problem at all. Three different Dalish clans can be wiped out in Inquisition, and it's so easy for Lavellen to lose her clan.

The status quo is killing the elves. It is wiping them out. This is an existential threat that no one is doing anything about, except Solas.

He's also lonely.

He says he was derided by his enemies also when he offered to share his knowledge of the Fade. We took this to mean the Dalish before Trespasser, but given who he is, we can speculate that he's talking about the old elven gods. But if his enemies derided them, that means his allies did, too. His old allies still saw him as a madman and a fool, probably because he was one man standing against an empire. He clearly couldn't trust anyone in the old days, and even tells Sera he had to sacrifice some of those closest to him for fear of betrayal.

Consider that the Inquisition was the first time he had friends. No one knows him as anything other than the elven apostate hobo with bad fashion sense and a weird relationship with spirits, but, as mentioned, he has mostly good relationships with everyone. People rely on him. They like him. Lavellan potentially loves him, and he loves her.

You change his mind on the Qunari race (but not their culture). You show him that he was wrong and he accepts that with good grace and moves on; he keeps coming to the Inquisitor afterwards because he respects you and he does not want to do what he sees as the only way to avoid genocide. I don't think he ever stops feeling bad about any of the things he's gotten wrong; he wears his mistakes like a chain and tries to do better, never stops trying to do better, but his perspective and capability are so much greater than anything the Warden, the Champion, or even the Inquisitor currently understands.

And I wouldn't be surprised if we get a chance to fold him back into the party at some point. I think the actual villain of the series lies with the monsters the Evanuris fought against and were corrupted by.

I think the actual villains are the Forgotten Ones, and I think they are the Blight, and I think they are what lies in the corruption we know as Red Lyrium.      

[trulycertain]

fic writer interview

Tagged by @skogrr Thank you very much! It's a while since I've done one of these, and I've missed them.

Name: Tru/"Oi you" Fandoms (that I write for): Dragon Age, mostly. Still the fandom of my heart. Mass Effect, Deus Ex... uh, accidentally GreedFall? I don't know how or when that happened. Two-shot: Hmm... The actual last two-shot I wrote was Terms & Conditions, a very silly Dorian/Inquisitor modern AU where Gal is the guy Dorian hires to stop his late father's house falling apart. Recently? I suspect that's going to be Driftwood, which can stand on its own as a sort of weird post-canon first-meeting AU, but is trying to tempt me to continue it. (Vasco ends up going looking for Tír Fradí, which has disappeared - and finds it. He also finds De Sardet as a highly avoidant tree god of the island, post-Bad Ending, who transformed against her will. And he ends up falling in love with her anyway.) Weird tree gods! Pining by literal pine! An eventual happy ending! More grumpy commentary by Vasco!

Most popular multi-chapter: Either An Unquenchable Flame or Distraction, probably - both juggernaut pairings, the former close to the game's release and the latter with some fancy forbidden romance, so not so surprising. But surprisingly, Prague, 10:42 PM has done really well, considering it's for a small fandom (Deus Ex) and a rarepair age/rank-difference pairing that I thought would be a one-off experiment? I get it, guys. I like sad repressed stoics too.

Actual worst part of writing: Editing - which can be fun, but that "over and over" stage when you're about to post, especially in a longfic if you fear you've lost the spirit of the thing and the character voices and you can't see the wood for the trees. And when I have to remove a whole scene which Jenga-unbalances the fic, and then I have to redux from the top. Basically, most things to do with pacing. How you choose your titles: I like double-meanings and one word titles. If that fails: quote from a song. If that fails: quote from poetry, but very rarely. Do you outline: Only a little. A bulletpointed list of events or noted-down major lines of dialogue, that's usually it.

Ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: Uh... oh god. I blame so many people for some of these.

Post-Destroy ending where John is attempting to build a shed on Rannoch because that's the kind of thing retired people do, right? and Tali is far better at it than him, and it's just... disgusting fluff.

Actually, just reduxing the early John/Tali stuff with a bit more nuance and a stronger style.

Eva and Kaidan, and their mutually wary first meeting. ("Wow, that's a lot of pomade." "Wow, that's a lot of death-glare.")

AU where Gal and Dorian never met in DAI, and after everything went down, Gal tried to fade into the shadows and leave. He ended up working in Tevinter as an occasional informant/odd-jobs guy the way he was pre-Inquisition. He ends up being a gardener for a bitter, wry magister who seems to hate the entire Magisterium, has recently lost his father to political scheming and murder, and wants to take down the entirety of the remaining Venatori with one staff and maybe his teeth if he has to (hi, Dorian). But first, Dorian's going to drink his own body weight in whiskey and be a recluse for a while and start thinking about time magic again. Gal is trying to keep his head down and should definitely not be falling in love with said magister. Who's someday going to end up at one of the more southerly ports, come across a statue of the great Inquisitor, and go, Oh.

Stuff on Jensen's PT and rebuilding himself post-augs. More of Proprioception, basically.

Mer-AU where Marie De Sardet is still a diplomat attempting to make new connections, just not a human one, and it's a disaster. An awkward disaster. Highlights include her being framed as the beast trying to drown their best captain; her attempting to wobble about on brand-new legs and Vasco's coat while everyone assumes the dear captain has had a few too many; her asking Vasco if his "fascinating markings" glow; them getting into a duel, and her (fondly) getting punted off the side of the ship going "Woo-hoo." OK, I wrote a bit of that, but only a 1k doodle I'll probably never return to.

Non-Naut court AU where Marie gets promised to Bastien D'Arcy, because he's a bit of a layabout but he's also rich, popular at court, and amenable to bribe - [cough] suggestion, and the D'Arcys have prominent trading links with the Alliance. Instead she falls for his far less of a social butterfly, tired, worried-numbers-guy brother Léandre, who's pretty damn uncomfortable around Nauts because he's well aware he nearly got sold to them and he is not the favourite.

Straight-up role-reversal AU (another thing where I've put down 1k that I'll probably never return to), where Marie's Naut name is Paz, and she's a fed-up second-mate who's tired of noble idiots and feels a little strange and conflicted about her mark (and has context for it, because they make frequent crossings to Tír Fradí). Also a little more jaded, without the love of her mother, and not nearly as much of a tryhard as Vasco in canon; she ended up here because she had nowhere else to go and the Nauts were like "Ooh, free kid," and she's well aware. She gets stuck escorting the D'Arcy brothers to Tír Fradí for their new venture and is not looking forward to it. Except one of them is intensely bright and wry and keeps asking questions about the ship and noticing shit he is definitely not meant to notice, and they keep ending up in strange conversations, even if he seems really, really wary and uncomfortable about Nauts.

Some vague stuff about Vasco's thoughts on Jonas and that whole side quest, considering he's also a sea-given and implies sea-given take some shit in the Nauts, and also how damn difficult it must be watching a sea-given's parents endeavour to get their kid back when he knows full well his didn't do that for him.

Actually, just more Vasco POV in general, even though he's damn hard to nail down. I've written much pining for him from Marie's perspective, and I'd like to try things from the opposite. This guy's idea of wooing someone perfectly normally is to panic and then recite Baroque poetry. You know he's sappy as hell in the privacy of his own head, even if he's trying not to be.

Jean and Síora having the "I'm a sad healer who just lost my mother and I'm trying so hard not to crumble under the weight of assisting the leader" mutual talk way too late at night around the campfire and maybe him crying on her shoulder a little, with mutual kindness and the beginnings of attraction, and her finally getting past his jokey-smug facade to understand him.

More stuff about Jean's past in general, and how he wanted to be a doctor before he was dragged away from it by looking after Constantin and being nobility.

Síora and Eseld and the ways they changed over the years; something like an exploration of grief and growing her own will and the ways they very differently view the renaigse. Also maybe more about the en ol menawi magic, if I can worldbuild well enough?

I'd also love to do a GreedFall soulmark AU - it's generally not my kind of trope, I'm not into biological determinism type tropes - just because names and aliases and assumed identities are such a mess in GreedFall and it's a repeated plot point. That said, I feel like it's been done so beautifully in this fandom before that I wouldn't have much to add.

Callouts @ me: So. Many. Commas. So much over-explaining everything. If they get out of the car, your readers do not need a five-page manual of "and then he undid his seatbelt and leaned over to grasp the door handle, and then pulled it, and then stepped a foot out before he almost thought better of it - but no, he was going to get out of this car. The other foot joined the first, and he nearly banged his head on the doorframe."

Best writing traits: People say I have a head for finding small-but-important moments. I'm also told I write likeable protags. People have more than once said my writing makes them feel safe or makes them smile, and I really couldn't ask for more than that. I'll take those.

Spicy tangential opinion: I don't think I have any, really? Oh god, that makes me sound so very boring. Oh! Um. There should be more tree body horror in fandom. And body horror in general. *thumbsup*

No pressure tagging: @artemis-crimson, @eridanidreams,@rainypixel, @aphreal42.

[aces-to-apples]

I posted 2,389 times in 2021

430 posts created (18%)

1959 posts reblogged (82%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 4.6 posts.

I added 3,328 tags in 2021

#star wars - 879 posts

#by apples - 565 posts

#the clone wars - 525 posts

#sw fanart - 296 posts

#darth maul - 244 posts

#dragon age: inquisition - 221 posts

#sw fic rec - 176 posts

#obi-wan kenobi - 158 posts

#answered asks - 146 posts

#anakin skywalker - 118 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#as i understand it a lot of understanding of 'the jedi code' or w/e is word of god and like. wtf are we listening to word of god about this?

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Some rando with too much outrage to spare: you're shipping clones?!?! But they're brothers!!

Me, sexily draped over a piano with a rose between my teeth and a feather boa over my shoulders:....and what about it?

237 notes • Posted 2021-04-16 18:01:33 GMT

#4

A bad argument for why AO3 should let me block users but the strongest one I have:

Just stop reading then. If you don't "get" it or if you don't like it, why the fuck did would you bookmark it like this. What is the fucking point. Also, what the fuck does that even mean, "meh" is not a confused noise, it's a disdainful one. *pulls hair out in What The Fuck*

237 notes • Posted 2021-02-17 06:26:19 GMT

#3

Just once! JUST ONCE! I want to see Obi-Wan dip-kissing Cody!

307 notes • Posted 2021-10-08 20:45:05 GMT

#2

Shaak Ti or whoever, arriving on Kamino and taking Alpha-17's measure: "So... thoughts on Master Kenobi?"

Alpha-17: *sips caf* "So Kenobi has thots now..."

Commander Colt: "Crawling all over him. Like weevils."

Commander Havoc: "They're the called the 212th Attack Battalion, I think."

616 notes • Posted 2021-01-14 10:13:52 GMT

#1

So. Couple of things:

1) King Calenhad drank dragon blood to become a Reaver and some of that power was passed down through the generations, to the point where Arishok!Sten tells King!Alistair that he has the blood of dragons in his veins. (Also Sten calls Alistair kadan and that's not important I'm just still squealing about it.)

2) Vashoth have enhanced senses, particularly enhanced senses of smell, which dovetails nicely with 3.

3) The Iron Bull really wants to fuck dragons. This is not news, of course, but seriously in the game if you become a Reaver and are in a relationship with him, he straight up goes all googly-eyed horny for you because you drank dragon blood and smell like a dragon.

In light of these facts, I think it's only logical that if Bull is with you for In Hushed Whispers then he would definitely be DTF on sight with King Alistair who marches his ass into Redcliffe to chew out the mages for Doing A Stupid with Tevinter, smelling like goddamn dragon blood. I'm just saying. We were robbed of the Iron Bull very publically getting scent-drunk and making a pass at the King of fucking Ferelden.

1380 notes • Posted 2021-09-10 23:53:53 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[lairofsentinel]

Mystra

I'm so new in the Forgotten Realms lore that everything I read needs always further research. So far, what got me between disbelief and mistrust was Mystra stuff meddling with humans to such deep level. Because, really... what the fuck these Gods? I always have problems with Gods in fantasy worlds. I don't like them when they are like Greek mythology entities. I prefer them when they are a mere illusion of mortals.

However, here, in the Forgotten Realms, we got them as entities like Zeus... so they can have mortal fun. UPDATE April 2021: What it’s said in this post about shadow weave and shadow weave magic and shadow magic are incorrect. In 5e, shadow weave is not mentioned, apparently a non used concept anymore. In 4e it was collapsed with the destruction of the Weave, and Shar attempted to recreated it, failing at it because she never “was” the Shadow Weave. Shar always rejected that level of commitment. However, according to bg3 [Ethel’s words] shadow magic currently is the same as netherese magic, described by Gale/Narator also as “Primal weave” or “blackest weave”. No book from 5e says a word about shadow weave anymore. 

According to what I've read, Mystra was, in fact, a young peasant girl with non-trained skills in magic, but somehow, she became the Goddess of Magic when Netheril fell. [I need to read a lot of Netheril because apparently everything bad comes from there. It's the Tevinter of the Forgotten Realms. I honestly don't understand how you just become a goddess out of the blue. One day a mediocre mage, the next one, Goddess of the Magic itself. What a gap there.]

As a Goddess, she has a system to determine who is her “Chosen One” (hence why Gale explicitly said that word, it was not by chance). The Chosen Ones have unique access to the Weave and therefore they cast powerful magic. Among their responsibilities, they need to research new magic, wander the Realms fighting the evil (and/or doing research), and to stop the abuses of magic and the imbalances of the Weave. This makes Shar followers an easy target for them to strike so far I understand, since Shar crafted an alternative Weave (Shadow Weave) from where she drags the power that infuse into her followers. However, it's a mirror Weave, extremely dependable of the normal Weave. Like Gale explained, when Mystryl died, the Weave stopped existing, and with it, the Shadow Weave fell apart too. It seems that Shadow Weave is an aberration, an imbalance of the Weave itself. [So, Shadowheart and Gale may have strong discussions on the matter.]

The man who was Mystra’s first Chosen One was a lesser god called Azuth (we found some books of this guy in BG3). The man was his devotee (despite being a low rank deity as well), his servant, his chosen one, and later, his lover (when Mystra was still Mystryl). It seems he shifted his role to a more fatherly one when Mystra was reborn [Oook]. He also was in love with another Mystra's chosen, so... divinity polyamory we have here.

Then she proceeded to accomplish a strange plan [details of this atrocity here]: to have seven immortal Chosen. So she possessed a sorceress who conceived seven immortal women with her husband [thanks god it was with her husband and not with a random man that Mystra fancied]. These women are known as the Seven Sisters, all of them are “chosen ones” of Mystra, and in a sense, they are also her daughters. [oh, boy. Greek Gods-like stuff.]

She also named Chosen One a necromancer called Sammaster who was doing research related to metamagic and dragons. The story says that Mystra appeared before him and they “spent 10 days together”, turning him into his Chosen One for a while. She apparently had a whim to choose him because soon a previous chosen one was going to die in battle, so she wanted to sort this out sooner than later. The story also says that this encounter made the necromancer feel as though they were in love. [I see the pattern now....] What it's worth highlighting: this man went into deep undead research all his life showing that Mystra has a weird moral sense of what is good from evil, which makes sense, since (magical) knowledge by itself has no alignment. Magical knowledge is never good or evil, it depends on the use you give to it (It’s also worth noting that the previous Mystra was True Neutral while the one reborn in Midnight was Neutral Good. There are two different Mystras in history.). But returning to the necromancer, the guy, in the end, manipulated by a priest of Bane, abused of his powers of Chosen and Mystra removed them. He concluded that most of his problems have been caused by accepting Mystra's role as Chosen One. Soon after that Sammaster became evil and succumbed to madness.

In short, Mystra is a goddess who loves to play favourites, and encourages research in a competitive way using a certain degree of seduction for that. So that, the Arts and the arcane knowledge will be always expanding via competition [she has such a neoliberal-magic ideas]. So, being her Chosen One seems to bring a lot of responsibility and troubles. However, it also grants you fancy benefits:

Casting more spells with less effort. 

Natural detection of magic (maybe some residual effect of this ability is what makes Gale able to sense shadow magic in Shadowheart or in the Main Character if they are a user of magic. Hence his “that gust of weave”. Gale also presents sensitivity to detect magic via smell (mirror) and taste)

Development of magical immunities, and sometimes even poison and disease immunities.

The chosen ones become harder to kill, kind of tank-wizards. [Which feels like an oxymoron, lol.]

And the most important blessing: silver-fire [this is the fire Gale speaks about when his spell failed] Which is an overpowered ability in the Forgotten Realms. It can destroy any barrier and does massive damage. It can be cast once each hour, which is... wow. It can destroy “dead magic zones”, which are zones disconnected from the Weave and therefore, places where no common magic can be cast. With Silver-fire, such zones are reconnected to the Weave and become part of Mystra's influence once more. And finally, it allows precise teleportation once a day.

What we can infer now from this info and Gale, is that... when he got Mystra’s attention, it was not just because he was a prodigy alone. It had to be whether he was doing some research that interested her (probably not) or his fate was going to lead him to unknown knowledge in a future. Considering what he did with the netheril orb, one would say that maybe Mystra saw that event in a future, and considered it interesting enough to choose Gale as the one dealing with that bit of hidden and dangerous knowledge. Because so far I read, it’s clear she can see future or potential in a certain degree, and determine who replace her chosen ones. We also saw she favours those who explore the unknown without moral issues, and she has no reserves to exploit that by seductive ways. 

Now, unlike Sammaster, why did Gale stop being his Chosen one if his fate was to retrieve that netheril orb? I believe she removed his title of chosen one when Gale got that orb stuck in his chest, not because his action was an aberration before her eyes (we remember she is quite flexible in her morals) but because the artefact was dangerous to herself. That orb looks to me like something that imbalances the Weave in great escale; it’s basically a necrotic black hole which feeds on Weave. Maybe she removed her favour on Gale because now the man had a power that could consume her. Remember the Chosen Ones are constantly in “touch with her body/weave” [lol, horny gods these gods], and considering that thing sucks all Weave... it seems obvious that could eat her up. So, maybe, all this stuff of Gale being Chosen One was just another of her plans to access to the knowledge of that tiny bit of primal Weave, completely hidden from her, and she is expecting for Gale to resolve it in order to recover his benefits as Chosen one. 

She certainly is a super smart goddess, basically a mastermind, who doesn’t care to whom she uses and discards in order to obtain knowledge. So, using Gale this way, without explanations.... it could be one of her plans. Turn into her lover a young man that would be desperate enough to risk reaching dangerous spaces to offer her precious unknown knowledge. The plan became too dangerous to Mystra, so she severed the deep link between them out of preservation, and now she is waiting for him to solve it, offering her the knowledge obtained from the process. Absolutely possible.  

But we’ll see. So far, I know a little bit more of Mystra.

Update of several days after writing this: The more I think about all this info, the more I wonder if Mystra’s Chosen One system splits her champions into two different groups: The “valuable” Chosen Ones, where Elminster and her seven daughter fall; they are the embodiment of the good use of magic in favour of neutral or good uses. And then, you have the “disposable” Chosen Ones, who seem to be more like victims of a certain degree of manipulation of the Goddess. In this category falls the necromancer Sammaster (and potentially Gale?). They can have more grey morals, but as long as they provide new knowledge and advance in the Arts, she favours them anyways. I mean… so far I read, Elminster was never “in love” with Mystra, and all that crappy dynamics between Goddess and mortal was never part of his relationship with her. His lover, though, was one of the Seven Sisters, so maybe that’s why Mystra controlled herself. I don’t know xD [These horny gods]. But when it comes to the necromancer’s story… it feels as though she encourages this seduction so the wizard will take all the necessary risks to go beyond the limits of knowledge to get her attention and favour. There is something manipulative there. 

More content of bg3 in general [here]

[enigmalea]

Rating: General Audiences Words: 1948 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cassandra Pentaghast & Cullen Rutherford Additional Tags: Cullen Rutherford/Dorian Pavus Mentioned, Cullen Rutherford/Female Lavellan mentioned - Freeform, Friendship, Tea, Tevinter Imperium (Dragon Age), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Cullen Week, Single Parents, POV Cullen Rutherford, POV Third Person Limited, Bisexual Cullen Rutherford

Summary: Months after his wife, Ellana has passed, Cassandra and Cullen meet for tea, so that Cassandra can discretely check up on how he's doing.

"Tevinter is… to be perfectly honest, I'm not comfortable here," he admitted, averting his eyes. He let his finger trace the rim of the cup idly. He let his voice drop as he continued so that no one would overhear him. "But, I use the Eluvian to go home nearly every day, so I'm still very hands-on with the farm and Knight's Repose. This is the best place for Matthias to learn magic.".

Cassandra hummed and nodded. "And the new women you're seeing, where did you meet her?".

Cullen's eyes widened, and he took a sip of his tea to stall as best as he could. "What makes you think-".

"Please, Cullen, you're one of my closest friends. You're lighter than I've seen you in months; there's actual joy in your smile. You will always miss Ellana, but someone new has certainly caught your eye," Cassandra countered..

Notes: This fic is actually a scene from a much larger Cullrian long-fic I've been working on since 2019. The fic itself is planned to deal with a lot of heavy topics surrounding grief and moving on after someone you love has passed. It's ultimately slow-burn angst with a happy ending. That said, it is an emotionally draining thing to write and has often been moved to the bottom of my WIP list, because... well... it's a lot.

This particular scene takes place after Cullen and Dorian have just gotten together and is much, much lighter, but of course touches on and mentions the themes above. Please do not read it if mentions of character death and grief could be triggering for you.

I'm mostly sharing it for the @cullensource​​’s Cullen Week for the FRIENDSHIP prompt, because I think it shows how important Cullen's friendship with Cassandra is to him. I'm also not really sure if I'll ever make it through the longfic, but I adore this scene.

Thanks to @coffeebirby​ for the title suggestion. Click here to read on AO3.

[thedinanshiral]

Dragon Age 4 Short Stories

To celebrate Dragon Age Day 2020 with us, BioWare surprised everyone with a new version of the Dragon Age site and 4 short stories and illustrations. These short stories are heavily related to some chapters in Tevinter Nights.

The Next One

Tells us of Grey Warden Lwrence who’s already in the Deep Roads for the Calling, and despite his condition continues to fight, even as he could be about to die, when he hears someone in danger he goes to the rescue and this catches the attention of a spirit of Perseverance. The spirit takes possession of the body just long enough to save a dwarven girl and a sort of promise is made, that in return she saves the next person who may need it. The Grey Warden dies, Perseverance returns to the Fade, and the dwarven girl , Evka, becomes the Grey Warden from Tevinter Nights’ “Hunger”.

Ruins of Reality

Strife, whom we previously read about in Tevinter Nights’ “Three trees to midnight”, is in the Arlathan Forest, witnessing some sort of anomaly that defies his perception of time and space, and possibly of himself, as he tries to find his way in a maze where he can watch himself from moments ago heading into the same trouble he just barely got alive from. Holding a magical journal, a relic of Clan Morlyn that writes its own entries, trying to follow directions to find a powerful artifact, he finally reaches a point of reference, a Ghilan’nain statue holding a crystal halla figurine. Irelin shows up and both realise what they’ve been experiencing is very old magic, ancient. The shapeshifter turns into an eagle and takes the figurine while Strife has no option but to play bait to dangerous sylvans, and once the figurine is gone the forest suddenly, eerily,  returns to normal. 

The Wake

In this story we meet again some of the many Crows Tevinter Nights introduced. Viago and Teia from Eight Little Talons (previously from the comic Deception), and Illario from The Wigmaker Job. The latter is drunk and the other two are trying to get him away safely. Someone important, someone dear appears to have died and they were just at the wake. Illario laments the death of his cousin Lucanis, and drunkenly reminisces and tells anecdotes until his fellow Crows put him to bed. 

Minrathous Shadows

At an unidentified establishment, a magister lady is playing cards when a man sits at the table. The magister identifies him as a Templar based on his appearance and he joins the game, taunting the magister on her low bet as the dealer hands the cards. The Templar is named Tarquin, and he rises the stakes with a ledger that he implies contains information implicating this magister to the Venatori. She denies it, of course, and carries on with the game. Tarquin doesn’t have a winning hand -he wasn’t really there to play cards- so when the magister wins the hand, she tries to teach him not to threaten her. Magic begins to gather at her fist but is suddenly countered, nullified, and then she notices the dealer; shocked, she seems to identify them as “the Viper”, and claims they’re supposed to be “just a tale”. When Tarquin is about to leave the magister asks him who are they, what do they want, is it gold? Is it power? The Templar tells her they are the Tevinter they forgot. What could they want then? From behind the magister, the dealer put up his hood. “Everything.”

While the first three short stories call back to Tevinter Nights in both location and characters, Minrathous Shadows, with Tarquin and the Viper -and whatever tale is spun around that name- are new elements, and i’ll get to that soon.

As these are very short stories i’ll try a quick anaylisis.

The Next One: serves as a sort of “origin story” to Warden Evka, and also illustrates how spirits can work. Spirits are drawn, not only to where the Veil is thin or where there’s blood and violence and negative emotions and desires, but also to good intentions, hopes and values. Perseverance lends its force to Warden Lawrence when he, fatally wounded, still wanted to fight to save one more life, and when that last and desperate goal is achieved, Perseverance leaves.

Ruins of Reality: The journal from Clan Morlyn sounds suspiciously similar to the Emergent Compendium, a tome that writes itself found at the Black Emporium in Act 3 of DA2. As described in the codex entry, it produces pictures and lines of gibberish, which are writen in a cypher; the last entry recorded is in reference to Fen’Harel.  So to have the elves Strife and Irelin searching through an enchanted Arlathan Forest for a powerful artifact using a journal that one day started writing its own entries, well, there’s got to be something there. Specially considering as well the illustration that accompanies this story, where Strife is seen wearing clothes with suspended metal golden triangles much like one of the concept art pieces (that i insist could very well be ancient Elves and/or temple guardians.. Arlathan Forest has to have a temple or two) 

The Wake: personally i loved Lucanis Dellamorte and refuse to believe he has died before we got to see him shine in 4K. He was the grandson of the First Talon, leader of the Antivan Crows, and he was most likely set to follow in her steps and become First Talon himself eventually, but that’s not a fate he desires and there’s no denying Grandma Dellamorte, so...he could have easily faked his death in order to escape that. And the reason Illario is so broken about it is because in order to make it safer and more believable, he wasn’t informed of the plan. And this is the theory i’m running with until and unless BW reveals something different. Viago and Teia are suspiciously unaffected by the loss of Lucanis and we could say maybe they didn’t know him enough to care, but i’m saying maybe they know he’s not really dead. 

Minrathous Shadows: Tarquin is a templar and we know Templars in Tevinter are little more than law enforcement, they lack the templar powers their counterparts from the South have, which would explain the contempt the magister woman has for him on sight. A Tevinter Templar is hardly a threat to the power of a Magister, that’s why in response to his threat she attempts to strike him with magic she knows he can’t fight back. But she’s stopped by this other new character. Someone who the magister points out should be “just a tale”. And i suspect this would make the Viper a Templar who can actually counter magic, something that by all means seems is not allowed to exist in Tevinter.  She was just accused of having ties with the Venatori, going against current Tevinter law, and maybe thinks she can get away with a bribe, but that won’t cut it. These new characters now claim to be “the Tevinter you forgot” and want “everything”.  There are easily more than one way to read into that. Can’t be the Venatori, they were all about returning to past Imperium glory which was lost, not forgotten. No, what we get in this story tastes more like a claim for justice, like what the Tevinter the Magister, the powerful and self-absorbed, have forgotten is everyone else. I think this Viper and Tarquin could be part of a rebellion that’s been brewing in Tevinter for quite some time. Maybe they work with the Lucernis, maybe they are part of the Lucernis themselves, or belong to a different faction, but seems they’re ready to take the Magisterium trash out. Another possibility is they are Siccaris, Tevinter spies, working for the goverment cleaning house, the mention of complicity with Venatori being considered treason by the government adds to this. Either way, colour me excited about these two. Last note here, while we have nothing on the Viper but the name, Tarquin’s name has appeared before in lore, in a codex entry from Inquisition titled “Shriek”, as an entry in the Blighted Codex, a collection of studies on Darkspawn kept in the Imperial Library at Minrathous and accessible only to the Magisterium. Tells the story of the son of a Magister named Tarquin who was the sole survivor of a darkspawn attack on his unit. He was shocked, speechless, having nightmares, eventually improving only to speak the word “Shriek” over and over again. There’s no indication of when this recorded darkspawn attack took place, could have been centuries ago. And really all we can get for sure from this is that Tarquin is a Tevinter name. 

That’s it for now, please correct me if there is something about the Viper somewhere, i’m really not finding anything (other than vipers being snakes and snakes being symbolically smaller dragons and both snakes and dragons being literally on the Tevinter flag)

[pikapeppa]

Pikapeppa wears a tinfoil hat: The Arishok in post-Trespasser times

[Warning: this contains spoilers for Trespasser and for Tevinter Nights. Proceed with caution.]

For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m a HUGE FAN of Sten from DA:O. While doing research for my current fic, I was reviewing Tevinter Nights and the Dragon Age Wiki, and I pulled together some threads regarding the qunari and their activities during the time of Tevinter Nights. 

In a nutshell: I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT ARISHOK-STEN’S SAFETY AND WELLBEING.

Read more below the cut!

A quick refresher of qunari rulership

Just as a reminder, the qunari are ruled by three leaders:

The Arishok: the military leader. Leads the antaam, i.e. the army.

The Ariqun: the leader of the priesthood, who are also the scholarly branch of the qunari. 

The Arigena: the leader of the craftsmen and support workers of the qunari people.

Together, these three leaders are called the salasari. The salasari are supposed to make decisions jointly about how the qunari people proceed at advancing their own culture and bringing the uneducated bas into the wisdom of the Qun.

A summary of what we know 

Sten becomes the Arishok around 9:34-9:35 after Hawke kills the current Arishok in Kirkwall. By the time the Inquisition rolls around in 9:41, he is still the Arishok as confirmed by dialogue between Bull and Varric. 

In Trespasser, in the Darvaraad, we find a letter from the qunari to Josephine stating that the Viddasala was acting without the qunari leaders’ official sanction — an indication that their citizens are not as well-controlled and orderly as they would have the rest of the world believe. Of particular note, this letter indicates clearly that “military action has not been approved against the Inquisition. No one in Par Vollen has authorized actions of any kind involving the Exalted Council. Nor will they.” To me, this speaks of an Arishok who is being quite conservative in his actions. Similarly, in world states where Bull becomes a Tal-Vashoth, the qunari did not send military action against the Inquisition even when the Inquisition reneged on their hoped-for alliance.

All but one of the stories in Tevinter Nights take place post-Trespasser, and the qunari feature heavily in these stories. The book opens with Three Trees to Midnight, which tells of the qunari making a bold and unprecedented attack on the Tevinter city of Ventus. Importantly, it is mentioned that the antaam (i.e. the qunari army) are acting without the support of the priesthood or the workers:

Usually the other Qunari were there to support the Antaam—the workers crafting the gear and managing supplies, the Tamassran priests making sure the Antaam were healthy in mind as in body, the Ben-Hassrath spies scouting behind enemy lines and removing any Antaam who might forsake their training and abandon the Qun. This time, the Antaam had attacked the bas of the south without the blessing of the other Qunari, and little things were not working as well as they should. Supplies were late. Ships were not in good repair. 

When I read this, alarm bells immediately went off in my mind. It seems odd to me that the antaam would suddenly attack Tevinter on what feels like an impulsive move, without the support of the two other branches of the Qun. Importantly, the antaam is under the Arishok’s (i.e. Sten’s) rule, and I thought it was VERY out of character that he would do something so anti-qunari as to basically go rogue without the support of the Arigena or the Ariqun. 

Another relevant story is Brother Genitivi Dies At The End. In this story, Brother Genitivi, Philliam, a Bard!, and another lesser-known but infamous writer named Formerly Sister Laudine form a reluctant team to recover books from an elvhen library that, for some reason, has “fallen” underground in the Silent Plains in Tevinter. The mission is cut short by a qunari named Rasaan, and the three writers manage to snatch a small number of elvhen tomes before narrowly escaping from Rasaan and her soldiers. It very important to note that in this story, Rasaan refers to the army as being “my antaam”, and it is emphasized and pointed out that she called the antaam “hers”. 

I should say now that I haven’t read any of the DA comics. On a whim, I decided to look up Rasaan in the Dragon Age Wiki, and I discovered that Rasaan is a prominent character in the comic Dragon Age: Those Who Speak, and that she belonged not to the military branch of the Qun, but to the priesthood/scholarly branch, and that she was next in line to become the Ariqun. The wiki says the following: “Rasaan was stranded in the Qunari city of Qunandar, unable to perform her duties. Since a new Arishok was chosen in 9:34 Dragon, Rasaan has been at his side almost constantly.” It’s also interesting to note that Rasaan has a particular interest in people’s ‘true names’ and believes that a person’s many names or titles are indicative of their character, their triumphs, and their failings. 

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego Sten???? 

OKAY. To sum up, then, the qunari situation in the post-Trespasser Tevinter Nights era is as follows:

The antaam, usually governed by the Arishok, has gone rogue, and it would be very out of character for Sten-Arishok to sanction this without the okay of his co-leaders.

Rasaan, a higher-up of the priesthood, is in mainland Thedas chasing down information about Solas and referring to the antaam as hers. 

From this, I can only conclude that Arishok-Sten is not fully in charge of the antaam anymore, and that Rasaan plays a major role in this. Maybe Rasaan has pulled a coup and is trying to take over as the new Arishok, believing that ‘Arishok’ is supposed to be her true name. If this is the case, WHERE IS STEN? Is he a prisoner back in Par Vollen, perhaps? Stuck working in a labour camp? Or… Maker fucking forbid, is he dead?

Personally, I don’t think Arishok-Sten is dead, and this is not just my undying love for him that’s talking. There are indicators in Three Trees to Midnight that, even though the antaam has gone rogue and some of the qunari are acting extremely cruel, there other qunari who are still trying to maintain the integrity of the Qun. One example is the character named Saarbak, a Ben-Hassrath agent who has been tasked with removing threats to the Qun such as the overly cruel qunari. Characters like Saarbak make me think that the qunari are divided within themselves: there are those who have been impatient to move on Thedas, leading to the hasty attack on Ventus, and there are those who are trying to maintain the integrity and order of the Qun, such as Saarbak. And it’s my belief that Arishok-Sten is one of these honourable qunari, and that he is still alive and may play a significant role in DA4. 

Fen’Harel ma ghilana: Solas’s interference

There's one other piece of qunari involvement that should be mentioned. At the end of Trespasser, Solas says that “in stopping the Dragon’s Breath, you have prevented an invasion by qunari forces. With luck, they will return their focus to Tevinter. That should give you a few years of relative peace.” It does not seem coincidental to me that a year or so after Solas says this, this is exactly what happens — particularly in light of the story called Half Up Front. In this story, it is discovered that Fen’Harel’s agents are purposely trying to fan the flames of the war between the qunari and Tevinter. 

Why would Solas be trying to do this, though? Especially after telling the Inquisitor that he wants the people of the Inquisitor’s time to “die in comfort” free from the Qun? My conclusion is that Solas is trying to prevent the former Inquisitor from allying with Tevinter or the qunari. If they’re caught up in a war with each other, neither Tevinter nor the qunari will have the resources (or fucks to give) to invest in military efforts against an alleged elven god. I also think that Solas has no qualms about screwing Tevinter over by throwing them under the metaphorical bus of the qunari, given their longtime treatment of slaves and spirits. (Please note that I say all of this with great love, as I also have undying love for the Dread Egg.)

DA4 hopes: allying with the qunari 

Based on the above, it’s my hope that a big part of DA4 will involve stopping an all-out war between Tevinter and the qunari, and then gaining the cooperation of both groups to help The Group Formerly Known As The Inquisition™ to stop Solas’s plans. It’s my even greater hope that the qunari portion of this will involve finding Arishok-Sten, restoring him his place as the rightful Arishok, and thereby securing his alliance to stop Solas. It’s my even greater GREATER hope that the Hero of Ferelden will play a role in this and have some ACTUAL FACETIME in the game by helping us to broker an alliance with Sten. 

Of course, it’s a Bioware game so there has to be choice, so the choice here might be between helping Sten vs. helping Rasaan, but I’m sure you can all see where I would stand on this. (I just want Sten and his kadan to have a sweet sweet reunion, okay?? My tender heart is soft and weak for him.)

Okay, that’s it! Them’s my thoughts! Sorry if this has already been laid out before by somebody else – I just had to word-vomit my thoughts because of STEN FEELS. 

Feel free to comment or reblog, but please do not use this as a forum to discuss the pros or cons of the Qun. I am wholeheartedly middle-ground on the Qun and can see both sides, so please refrain from that rhetoric here.

Finally, a little self-promotion: I ship Sten with my Warden Yara Mahariel, and have written a relatively short fic about their romance, which takes place during the ship ride from Denerim to Par Vollen after the Fifth Blight is ended. It’s called Fall Into The Tide, and you can feel free to check it out on AO3!

- Love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo

[bluekaddis]

Today is 11/11 which marks 101 years of Poland regaining independence and I thought it is a perfect time to publish a post that I’ve been working on for a while. 

Ferelden from Polish Perspective aka Why We Can Relate to Dog Lords So Much. 

This is a sort of compilation of my own thoughts I had while playing the games and various talks with my Polish friends. It is not supposed to force any ideas or teach others how to interpret the game. I just thought it could be entertaining for anyone interested in history and culture. I was trying not to elaborate too much on the subject here but it still ended up being A Very Long Post TM. To make this post a little neater to read, I divided this post into 4 sections:

1. History

2. Fashion and Food

3. Politics

4. Relationships with Other Countries

I will be very happy if you find a minute or two to read some of my points. If you have any additional questions or comments feel free to leave me a message :)

And once again - enormous thanks to @aeducanka​ for proofreading. I would be a poor mess without you. 

DISCLAIMERS

1. Yes, I know that Ferelden is based mostly on Anglo-Saxon England and I have no problem with that. True, I may be a little disappointed that the game includes references to so many European cultures and countries (France, Byzantine Empire, Venice, Roma culture etc.) and yet practically ignores Central and Eastern Europe completely, BUT this post is not meant to be a “Where is my representation?!” rant. If I wanted a game with Slavic culture vibes, I could always play the Witcher trilogy again. We are doing alright. 

2. I am in no way an academic specialist on culture or history, even these of my own country. I did some research, but most of facts and figures can be easily found on wikipedia. You can treat this as just some observations and headcanons of a 29 y/o Polish woman, who has grown up and lives in Poland. 

3. The main focus of this post is Poland in different moments of history. However, when talking about fashion and political system I will mostly refer to Polish culture between the 16th and 18th century. During that time Poland and Lithuania formed a dual state known as The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. So, whenever I refer to this particular period, I will use the term “Commonwealth” instead of “Poland”. 

PART 1 – HISTORY

The country’s name origin

Ferelden means „fertile valley” in Alamarri tongue [WoT vol. 1], Poland most probably comes from the Slavic word „pole” meaning „field”. They both refer to land that can be cultivated.

History of unification

Ferelden lands were divided between many tribes until they were unified by Calenhad Theirin. He fought and defeated other Alamarri tribes’ leaders, proclaimed Andrastianism as the new official religion of his kingdom and started the Theirin dynasty.  

A similar story can be told about Mieszko I of Poland – the leader of the Polans tribe (one of many Slavic tribes of that time) who, by means of war and diplomacy, united many Slavic tribes and created the Polish country in 965. In the same year he was baptised, abandoning native paganism in favour of Christianity. Mieszko started the Piast dynasty which ruled Poland for over 400 years. He never officially became a king, though – his son, Bolesław, was crowned king in 1025.

Also, Ferelden is a relatively young country compared to countries like Orlais or Tevinter. Even if Poland has over 1000 years of history as a country, it has to be noted that some Western European countries have a longer history (eg. the Carolingian Empire or the Visigothic Kingdom). Polish lands have also never been a part of the Roman Empire. 

Fun fact – the half-legendary sword of the first king of Poland, Szczerbiec, was stolen by Prussian troops during their invasion on Poland in 1795. Calenhad’s sword, Nemetos,was lost during the Orlesian invasion on Ferelden [WoT vol. 1].

Ostagar

Now, I will tell you a story. It is about a young king (in his twenties), a little reckless, wanting to be the leader who stood against the great invading threat to his country, a little blinded by the perspective of glorious victory. Just before the battle one of his allied forces betrayed him and did not provide the promised aid. The enemy army was too strong, too large. The king’s army was defeated, the king was killed in battle and his body was taken by the enemy. The king did not have children and his younger brother had succeeded him.

No, I’m not talking about Cailan, this is the story of Władysław III of Poland.

PART 2 – FASHION AND FOOD

Fashion

All cultures in Thedas have their own style and fashion. Ferelden is supposed to be this “We like fur and warm fabrics” culture, opposite to the extravagant Orlesian style. However, I have few problems with how Fereldan fashion is shown in the game.

1. It is too early-medieval looking. I know, it is a fantasy, you can mix ancient Egypt with steampunk and nobody should care. But we see, from cultural and technological perspective, that Thedas in Dragon Age is more renaissance/baroque than your typical medieval. Heck, some elements, like the infamous Formal Attire, look like clothes from 18th or even 19th century! In comparison, outfits like Arms of Mac Tir or Robes of the Pretender (though good looking) look like something from the Vikings era.

2.  We do not see many good looking Fereldan outfits in the games. I like Alistair’s royal outfit and some of Fereldan armors and clothes from DA:2 but remember this?

Or this?

Yeah, Dog Lords can do better :/

And that’s why I like to headcanon Fereldan fashion as something more resembling the Commonwealth fashion between the 16th and 18th century. It was an interesting mix of European and Asian influences and I think it would work perfectly with canon Ferelden because:

1. People LOVED fur elements in their clothing. Fur lining on coats, fur caps decorated with feathers, pelts of wild carnivores (lions, wolves, bears, etc.) on armour  - fur was everywhere.

2. It is simple but regal. The quality of materials and patterns were more important than volume and the number of layers. A typical male noble outfit consisted of a long garment (żupan), a long, ornate sash, one of two types of cloak (delia or kontusz) and a fur cap decorated with feathers and jewels. If you compare it with the baroque fashion from France it is less extravagant and more practical. No wigs, no flounces, no man tights. 

Compare these two dudes – the older one is dressed Commonwealth style, the younger – in French style. 

The Deluge, 1974

Of course some wealthy noblemen who spent a lot of time in France or other Western countries tended to adapt their style, but from what I know it was not that common. Women, on the other hand, tended to dress more similar to their Western counterparts (especially when they wanted to look fashionable) but their everyday dresses were not that much elaborate. They also wore kontusz (though the female version was shorter) and fur caps when outside. 

Below I post some more costumes to better illustrate my point. They all come from Polish movie adaptations of H. Sienkiewicz’s novels (I looove both the books and the movies).

With Fire and Sword, 1999

The Deluge, 1974

Fire in the Steppe, 1968

And I could not NOT to mention the wonderful interpretation of Fereldan armor and clothing for my OCs drawn by @ankalime​ - I still can’t get over how beautiful they look :3

Food

From what we know, Fereldan food is very similar to traditional English cuisine (lamb and pea anyone?), HOWEVER, I can totally see some traditional Polish dishes on Fereldan tables. Let us look at this part of Alistair’s banter with Leliana:

“Now here in Ferelden, we do things right. We take our ingredients, throw them into the largest pot we can find, and cook them for as long as possible until everything is a uniform grey color. As soon as it looks completely bland and unappetizing, that's when I know it's done.”

Dishes like bigos, flaki or goulash (mostly associated with Hungary but also present in various forms in Slavic countries) totally fit this description. Tasty and hearty but I know some foreigners see them as totally unappetizing :P

Poland is also culturally more into beer than wine  (high five, British Isles!), so Fereldan ale fits this image, too.

PART 3. POLITICS

When I first played DA:O and heard about choosing the new queen/king on Landsmeet I was like “omg, they have wolna elekcja!”

The canon Ferelden is a feudal country, however, there seems to be less focus on the king's absolute power – instead, the nobles can choose the king they like, the hierarchy inside this particular social class is also less striking than one can expect. 

And this brings me to the concept of Golden Liberty. (I will quote Wikipedia here, I am not that smart to explain this well in English on my own).

The Golden Liberty was a unique political system of the Commonwealth – a mixture of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. The most distinctive elements of that systems were:

- All nobles regardless of rank or economic status, were considered to have equal legal rights (and you did not have to own a town or two to be considered a noble – a large part of the nobility owned nothing more than a farm, often little different from a peasant's dwelling, and some did not even have that much). The rights were, for example:

-  Neminem captivabimus ("We shall not arrest anyone without a court verdict").  

- right to vote – every nobleman, whether rich or poor, could vote. Of course if someone was rich, they could bribe others to gain more political influence, but it is the same as today. 

- religious freedom – unlike many other European countries of the time, people in Commonwealth were legally free to follow any religion. The Commonwealth became a common refuge for people who were persecuted for religion in their homelands. The religious freedom was not restricted to nobility but to all social classes. 

- rokosz - the right to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated nobility freedoms.

- the monarchy was elective, not hereditary, and the king was elected by the nobility. That “democracy” was not, of course, perfect, as only male noblemen had the right to vote and elect the king. However, it was still between 10-15% of the population who could vote. In comparison, “in 1831 in France only about 1% of the population had the right to vote”

The Landsmeet in DA:O is basically the free election (well, maybe minus the duel :D) and I would say the Fereldan nobility does not feel obliged to be obedient 100% of the time. 

PART 4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

Orlesian occupation

We know from the game that Orlais invaded Ferelden in 8:24 Blessed and occupied it for decades. The Fereldan forces were rebelling against the occupant and finally, under the command of Maric Theirin, they won their freedom.

Again, it is a huge topic, so to summarize: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth suffered a similar fate in 1795 as it was conquered and divided between Habsburg Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire. For 123 years Poles have been trying to regain their country, have started several uprisings and lost many lives in their fight for independence. Finally, at the end of WW1, independent Poland reappeared on the map of the world. Then came the WW2, probably the most tragic event in Polish history – the cities were razed to the ground, a vast part of national heritage destroyed or stolen, and over 6 million people (1/5 of the pre-war population) were killed.

So yeah, a country invaded and occupied for decades by its neighbour sounds way too familiar to be ignored. 

Ferelden in the eyes of Orlesians

The Fereldans are a puzzle. As a people, they are one bad day away from reverting to barbarism. (...) They are the coarse, wilful, dirty, disorganized people [DA:O Codex Entry: Culture of Ferelden].

Yeah... this, unfortunately, sounds familiar. I fear that the stereotype of a drunk, stupid, poor, thieving Poles (and other Slavic nations), which originated from WW2 propaganda, is somehow still alive in the West. I will not dive deeper in this subject because I want to believe my followers have their own brain cells and I do not need to explain how hurtful and offensive those stereotypes are.

My point is – I could identify easily with a fantasy country that is located east from the “centre of culture and civilisation” and is unfairly believed to be more barbaric.

So – for all two of you who bothered to read the whole thing - thanks for coming to my TED talk.I really appreciate the time you spent here :)

[brialavellan]

It has been 20 years since Inquisitor ‘Manehn Lavellan defeated Corypheus, and 18 years since the Exalted Council. Solas is furthering his plans and so far, all efforts to stop him seem to be in vain….until the Well of Sorrows begins to speak to ‘Manehn once more. Led by ancient magics and beset by enemies from Ferelden and Orlais to Antiva and Tevinter, ‘Manehn must gather allies old and new in a race against time to defeat Solas - at any cost.

(NOW ON AO3)

Chapter 1 ||  Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8

CH 9: Smoke and Mirrors

“What good luck we’re having,” Katrina murmured to herself as she made her way down the stairs towards the Cathedral exit, her hands on the hilts of her daggers and a smile creeping across her face.

Everything was going as planned. The bait was irresistible. It was almost foolproof, if Briala wasn’t so cautious, so cagey. Decades of loyal-enough service had won her a spot in Briala’s inner circle among her most trusted spies. However, if Natalie was too sloppy, and if Katrina did not choose her words and actions carefully, the web of careful intrigue would be torn to shreds.

Briala would not look lightly on traitors. Solas would not look lightly on failures.

She was about to open the doors towards the outside grounds when she heard the faintest footsteps following her. She turned to see Briala hot on her heels in russet brown leather armor with a crossbody bag and a bow on her back.

Briala was trained for years in the art of subterfuge, misdirection and occasional assassination. Her calm masked her anger. This slaying was merely more retaliation. Or misdirection. None of Solas’s agents were so sloppy as to be seen. She was sure of it. But she couldn’t let any potential lead go to waste.

Briala pulled Katrina to the side and checked her surroundings to make sure no one was listening.

“Where did you say the boy took off to?”

“The catacombs, my lady.” Katrina whispered back, “I was on my way to inform Amir and -”

“No need,” Briala said, “We’ll look ourselves.”

Katrina paused for a brief moment, caught off-guard by Briala’s insistence, worried this meant Briala was getting suspicious.

“Of course, I can take you to the last location I saw him,” she said as they both left the Cathedral, crossed the grounds, and made their way towards the bustling streets of Val Royeaux in front of them.

Carts and carriages rumbled past while pedestrians darted in between. Merchants and peddlers yelled to the crowds from stalls, shops, and street corners, selling wares from Orlesian finery to Fereldan leathers, from Tevinter curios to Nevarran books. The cacophony of sights, smells and sounds would be nearly unbearable to those newly initiated to Val Royeaux’s streets, but both Briala and Katrina knew these streets intimately. They had wandered the hidden alleys and the underbelly as much, if not more than the cobblestone streets that weaved their way across the city.

Briala and Katrina darted into a nearby alley and nearly collided with a family of huddled, filthy, weary elven beggars, all tearing into a loaf of hard tack with skeletal fingers, their pale skin as pallid as bleached bone.

“My lady,” a small boy with matted auburn curls scurried up to Briala and tugged at her sleeve with wide and sunken brown eyes. “Can you spare something, please?”

Briala pulled out a sovereign and pressed it into the palm of the young boy and closed his fingers over it.

“Don’t despair, little one. Have pride.” she said as the young boy stumbled away, wide-eyed, clutching his prize. She let herself be still for a moment as the boy presented his gift to the others, who eyed her with a mixture of gratitude and suspicion. She could have coaxed him for information but she wanted to pay a kindness without demanding a price.  

Katrina noted otherwise. “You could have pressed the boy for information, ask if he’s seen anyone around.”

Briala glanced back at the boy before turning to Katrina. “We’ll find a better lead in the catacombs, and I have sovereigns to spare for bribing.”

They kept walking through the alley, watching for anyone who would tail them or would attempt to accost them, before coming to a dead end. They crouched behind a wall of crates and bags, both scanning the ground and tracing the cobblestone surface with their fingers until Briala found a rim of steel and a small slot. She took a small socket wrench from her bag and placed the wrench into the slot and pushed hard with both hands, nearly wrenching her own fingers in the process. The cobblestone began to move and loosen with the shriek of grinding metal. Briala pried the circle of cobblestone from the slot and descended into the catacombs, Katrina following closely behind her and pulling the cobblestone on top of them with a loud scraping thud.

————————

Cassandra and Vivienne found a templar and a servant to clean up the body and the mess, respectively. Vivienne had suggested taking the body to a doctor to examine the wound and deduce any potential clue, and Cassandra had agreed. The Knight Vigilant had ordered rotations doubled and a pair of templars stationed outside the Divine’s office, which she had protested.

“I do not need a full garrison, not when forces are stretched thin. Put your men back in the Circles or out on patrol where they belong!” she argued, “We need to find who did this!”

“With all due respect, Your Perfection, your life is obviously at risk, and we will not allow you to come to harm,” the Knight Vigilant implored her. “One garrison to protect you now beats the ten I would have to put on the streets to calm rioters if you are slain.”

“We have men looking at the scene and watching for anything suspicious.” he said to mollify her. “We will let you know immediately if anything is amiss.”

Vivienne coaxed Cassandra to turn towards her and placed both hands on her shoulders with a gentle squeeze and reassuring tone. “It’s for your sake, darling. The Knight Vigilant speaks sense. Yes, you can handle yourself, but let them do their jobs.”

Cassandra closed her eyes, and took a long, heavy breath.

“Very good, Knight Vigilant,” Vivienne said with a wave of her hand in dismissal, “Let us know if you find out anything at all.”

“Of course, Grand Enchanter,” The Knight Vigilant said with a bow as he departed. Vivienne and Cassandra retreated into Cassandra’s quarters.

“Despite everything, Briala has her uses and her network of agents are vast enough. They will find something,” Vivienne said as Cassandra sat herself down at her desk. “Whether they will act quickly enough is another question. The important thing now is that we find out who was so brazen enough to do this. I will interrogate the girl’s associates.”

Cassandra shifted in her seat and rapped her fingers loudly on her desk, trying to displace her energy into something as close to punching as she could manage. She was far more comfortable with a straight and honest fight, but she was grateful to have someone well versed in the ways of the Court to advise and support her. She did not have the head for the politics of the Chantry and the patience to learn the intricacies of the Grand Game. For her, it was not only a distraction from her work as overseer of the religious life of all Thedas’s people, it was an affront. She believed that the Divine should not stoop to such pettiness. Many of her beliefs had been tested since she had been voted into her position.

“I don’t think you should do that.” Cassandra said after a long silence, “If you’re right, you’d be in danger. Maybe I should go with you. A Chantry sister would not think to lie to my face.”

Vivienne laughed at her naivete. “They will absolutely lie to your face, my dear.”

She saw Cassandra’s jaw clench and face redden and reached to grab her hand, gently squeezing it as she leaned against the desk. “Chantry sisters are Chantry sisters because they wouldn’t last even five minutes at a simple soiree without losing their status, their wealth, or their lives,” she said with an apologetic smile. “I appreciate the offer. And the sentiment.”

“Now, why don’t you change into some armor, take a guard with you to the training grounds, and beat out some of that nervous energy?” Vivienne teased her as she rose to leave. “I will inquire about her dealings. I’m positive, as I’m sure Briala is as well, that all traces will lead to Natalie.”

Cassandra took a deep breath and rose to her feet. “I will take your advice. All of it.”

“Of course you will,” Vivienne said with a mischievous smile as she departed. She walked down the hall and down the stairs, leaving the Apartments and crossing the grounds to the Chantry sisters’ living quarters. She would find a few initiates there, and a few answers. She had lied to Cassandra. Some sisters were actually quite good at the Game. 

But she was better.

————————

Useless! Useless! Useless!

The word drummed in Mirwen’s head as she combed her way through every scrap of paper in every book she could get her hands on in that squalid library. They had nothing, of course. No information that she didn’t already know. In fact, most of the books were wild conjectures and half truths all bathed in anti-elf sentiment and disdain for every magic outside of a proper Circle’s purview. Contempt leaped from the pages.

Even the “forbidden” books were merely re-treads of the same theories in less palatable language for a rigid Chantry. All books with any mention of blood magic were here, she noted, not because they condoned such magic (none did), but because they mentioned it existed.

Mirwen took a deep breath to suppress her bitter disappointment.There was no reason for her to feel this way, she thought to herself, just as there was no reason to expect that the any shemlen Circles had answers. Maybe Tevinter’s libraries might bear more fruit. Their magics were appropriated from elven magic, after all. Legend did say their first magister, Thalsin, had learned blood magic from the elves.

And what all of Thedas had learned within the two decades she had been alive was that most of their legends were true.

As she lifted the last tome from her reading stand and put it upon the shelf, she noticed a small paper placed in the empty space, meticulously folded. She glanced around the room. The paper wasn’t there before, and her section of the library was sealed off. She took the paper and placed the book back on the shelf. She gingerly unfurled the paper. At her touch, odd symbols began to scroll across and envelop the page. These symbols could reveal themselves only to a mage’s eyes, she hypothesized, and though the symbols were unclear in their meaning, there was a definite pattern to them, a flow of structure that suggested that this was a cipher of some sort. 

Footsteps and voices coming closer to her snapped her back to her senses. She took a few sidelong suspicious glimpses around her as she hurriedly shoved the note into her small belted satchel, just as the First Enchanter was unlocking the door.

Varric peered into the room, the First Enchanter standing behind him, with the smallest glimmer of a smile.

“Did you find what you need?” he asked. “Shall we go back to the Keep?”

“I found nothing at all, unfortunately,” Mirwen said as she adjusted her belt. “Let us move on.”

————————

Back at the Keep, Mirwen and Varric shared a small table and a scrumptious meal, with servants waiting to change courses and serve water and wine. The air was warm with the scent of succulent foods and the vaulted walls of the Keep’s dining hall were softened by the glow of candlelight and of a setting summer sun. Mirwen felt much more comfortable in this space than the squalor of the Alienage, the cold sterility of Kirkwall’s Circle, and the harshness of Sundermount’s rugged peaks. A small amount of guilt began to gnaw at her as she ate. She enjoyed such finery to the point that she almost expected it, while her brethren wanted for little more than food, shelter and safety. 

She couldn’t help it. She was, in all arenas except magic, quite sheltered after all.

She tried to put her unease out of her mind by listening to Varric talk. She could see why he was a prolific author and she smiled softly as he weaved his tales of her mother’s heroics and their long-past battles. Mirwen placed her head in her hand, feeling strangely nostalgic as she listened to Varric wax on. She did remember his love of stories, and her love of his love of them from when she was small.

She remembered her mother’s other friends as well. She remembered Dorian. She remembered Iron Bull. She remembered Blackwall and Sera too. When her mother spoke of them, there were faint flickers of faces vaguely familiar from the time when she was a toddler in pinafores teetering around Skyhold. But that was all they were. She knew Vivienne well and Cassandra well enough, but these were her mother’s friends, her mother’s stories, and her mother’s memories - not hers.

Now, she wasn’t so small anymore. Now, she felt incredibly irked by her sudden complacency. Her mood soured immediately and Varric’s sweeping tales now sounded like meaningless drivel. There was no more time to waste on nostalgia, she angrily mused, her breath quickening. Not when her mother and Davhalla were aimlessly wandering Maker-knows-where while Briala was up to Maker-knows-what and while they fumbled for answers, an immortal self-proclaimed God was Void-bent on destroying everything.

His rising has shattered her small world once before.

And he was coming for whatever she had left.

As Mirwen silently groused and Varric talked to her to soothe her nerves, the doors slammed open and Aveline barged in with a full retinue of guards, her jaw clenched and her face as red as her hair. Three elves flanked her and the guards, dressed in bl leathers and brown cloaks with short swords on their belts and sour grimaces. Mirwen recognized their leathers and their faces. They were Briala’s people, she was sure of it.

“Varric, we need to go. Now.”

“That bad, huh?” Varric said with a weak chuckle.

She shoved a small, bloodstained paper into his hands. Varric’s eyes widened as he scanned the page.

“From my retinue stationed outside the Alienage,” she said grimly. “Sent by courier just before they were cut down.”

“Well, shit.” He looked at Mirwen, his jaw slack and eyes wide. “We need to get you back home. Immediately. You’re not safe here anymore, no matter how many guards I post outside my doors.”

“I can take care of myself -”

“This is a little beyond taking care of yourself, Sugar Plum,” Varric said, his voice trailing off, followed by a small stream of curses, “Ancestors preserve me, I didn’t want it to come to this…”

“They have not taken the docks yet, but we would have to go through Lowtown to get there.” Aveline said. “Unless…”

She drew out parchment and quickly scribbled a crude map of Kirkwall. “Remember Hawke’s estate? Her wine cellar leads straight to Darktown. And she would just be another elf fleeing the chaos. No one would know or notice.”

“Sure, you can get to the docks from Darktown, but how many of your guards would you like to send to their immediate deaths?” Varric pointed out, “Guards would draw way too much attention.”

“We don’t send my guards,” Aveline said “We send -”

“Here on behalf of Marquise Briala.” the youngest of them, a petite man with striking black hair and carrying a fourth cloak, addressed them with a slight nod of his head and a strong Starkhaven accent. “We’ll make sure she’s safe. We’ll stake our lives on it.” The other two nodded at his words.

Varric pulled Aveline closer and whispered. Mirwen couldn’t hear what he said, but could read his lips as he asked her the most important question.

“Can we trust them? If some of her spies have turned before - “

Aveline looked at Mirwen and back at the spies that stood at the doorway as the sound of shouts and fighting began to make their way up to Hightown’s sealed gates.

She whispered back. “We don’t have a choice anymore, do we?”

Aveline approached Mirwen and unclasped a small silverite dagger with a golden handle that gleamed in the warm glow of the candlelight from her belt. 

She pressed it into Mirwen’s hands.

“Consider this a gift from us that we hope you never have to use,” she said firmly, her eyes darting to the side where the elves were standing.

Mirwen nodded as she took it and cinched it on her belt. “I understand,” she said darkly as she rose from the table. The young Starkhaven elf handed her a cloak to put on and carefully fastened it while pulling the hood over Mirwen’s head.

“Keep that cloak covering you nice and tight,” he advised with a crooked grin, “Fancy-dressed elves don’t last two seconds in Darktown. As long as you follow our lead, you’ll be fine.”

“Right then. I’ll take you to the estate,” Aveline said with a firm shake of her head. “My guards here will stay near the entrance to the Keep. Varric, I beg you to please stay put until I get back.”

————————

Aveline and the elves promptly left the Keep and sprinted to Hawke’s old estate, occasionally sticking to the shadows to avoid drawing attention and to give time for Mirwen to catch her breath. As they approached a Kirkwall mansion at the foot of the stairs that led to the Keep, Mirwen could see what time had worn away. The white marble that shone in the Kirkwall sun was a dull, drab gray from decades of accumulated dirt. The glass windows were shattered from vandals, and the crest that had hung above the door, a proud mark of Hawke’s heritage, was hanging askew and weather-worn away to the point that she could only see a vague outline and smatterings of blood red. This was formerly a glorious building, now decaying and dying, as if it too mourned the loss of the Champion.

Aveline wrestled with the rusted lock for a short while before impatiently bashing in the door with a plated boot. The elves scrambled inside and Aveline slipped them her map. As she pulled the door, now hanging off its last hinge, shut, she urged them one last time.

“Do everything in your power to keep her safe.”

————————

The Starkhavener moved down the stairs towards the cellar, keeping to corners and signalling with a quick wave of his hand to move forward. The other two trailed behind Mirwen, eyes darting towards the slightest hint of shadow or movement. Mirwen kept her cloak pulled close. She had reluctantly left her staff behind. It would draw too much attention, the spies had warned her. Varric had promised she would get it back “when the shitstorm settles down at least a little bit”.

The years of disuse had turned the cellar as fetid as Kirkwall’s sewers. Waves of vermin scurried across the tiles, parting at the sound of their footsteps. Rank puddles pooled in spots where slick water dripped from the ceiling. They had even found a couple of groveling squatters, who had seen a flash of the elves’ blades and decided not to take a chance on attacking the group, or the pangs in their bellies would no longer come from hunger but from steel. By the time they had descended the ladder into Darktown proper, Mirwen was queasy from the noxious smells.

They stopped for a moment to let her breathe, and huddled close to a corner, watching waves of elves and humans alike slip and scramble as they fled from the fires of Lowtown into the tunnels. The guards and rioters would not dare descend down here. That is what all four of them were counting on.

What they were not counting on was that someone was waiting for them.

As they crept forward towards a hatch that would take them towards the docks, they were met by three elves - a woman holding a staff and two men holding axes - all three grinning with homicidal glee as they approached.

“I didn’t think you would make it at all,” the woman taunted. “I’d hate to go through all this trouble to find out you were all eaten by giant spiders and such.”

Briala’s spies moved forward to guard Mirwen.

“Sorry to disappoint,” one of the other ones said in a brusque Fereldan accent. “But we have no time to stick around.” All three unsheathed their swords and rushed towards the mage but were intercepted by the two melee fighters.

The clatter of blades was muffled by the sound of people fleeing, but she could hear the death wail of one fighter falling, his axe clattering to the ground, and a hiss from one of Briala’s people as the other fighter made contact with his side.

Mirwen stood ready to cast but found her arms grow leaden, her head beginning to ache, and her magic sputtering away. The mage began to approach her as Mirwen’s knees began to buckle.

The mage, eyes gleaming, walked up to Mirwen and began to taunt her, “All of this effort over a child who is useless without her -”

She shrieked as Mirwen tackled her to the ground, flailing and reaching for the staff. The mage rolled over and grabbed her by the cloak, choking Mirwen and throwing her aside. Mirwen snapped back up and drew her blade but the mage had readied herself, grabbing Mirwen’s curls and slamming her head to the ground. She began to stand, assured in victory before a leather boot collided with her face. The black-haired Starkhavener rushed forward, snatched the staff from her hands, snapped it over his knee and threw it on the bodies of the melee fighters all three had slain. Then he calmly walked towards the mage who now struggled to her feet and cut her down.

Assured she was dead, the Starkhavener raced to Mirwen’s side, ready to apologize, but she waved him off with a weak smile. 

He smiled back, “Guess you were right, you can handle yourself fine.”

The Fereldan elf lifted Mirwen from the ground, examined her head, and slapped a poultice on her scalp under the matted curls where she had begun to bleed. The third clutched his side, mildly limping as he approached. The Fereldan elf turned towards him and slapped another poultice on his wound.

“I can do better,” Mirwen said as she approached the man and gingerly touched his side with her fingers. He winced but stayed still. A few words from her lips and the bleeding stopped. Flesh and sinew began to stitch itself back together. He said nothing back but nodded with grim approval.

The Starkhavener walked towards the hatch and bashed it open with a swift kick. The Fereldan elf went first and motioned for Mirwen to follow as they all descended a long ladder. Mirwen could hear the rush of water and saw a small ballinger waiting in an expansive stone grotto. She could not help but gape at the size of this cavern, for she could not possibly fathom how Varric or Briala’s spies could have kept something like this hidden, though she had to assume someone knew something.

Otherwise, how could they have been attacked?

Anxious to get to safety as their feet found ground, the elves rushed towards the ballinger while several elves already on board wrestled with the sails. Mirwen and the others hurried on board. They set the ballinger loose, all exchanging wary glances even as they shook hands and smiled.

Mirwen watched from the deck as the ballinger emerged from the grotto and she caught a glimpse of Kirkwall within sight. Her veins turned to ice as she saw the furling of black smoke and flickers of orange that were starting to engulf all of Lowtown. She turned from the sight, took a deep rattled breath and descended into the hold below.