#Dragon Age: Asunder
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After reading "Down Among the Dead Men" in "Tevinter Nights", I really feel like the lore about demons/spirits possessing someone who died and then having their memories, thoughts, and feelingsā to the point where they often think they are the person they possessedā recontextualizes Wynne for me.
Myrna does also say in "Down Among the Dead Men", that some of the Mortalitasi believe that some of the "higher dead" may in fact still have their mortal souls, but that seems to be instead of being possessed by a spirit or demon. Although Myrna did seem to believe that Audric was a spirit of Curiosity, on the brink of becoming a rage demon.
Justice was aware he wasn't Kristoff but he did have Kristoff's memories in Awakening. And then Anders merged with Justice so he's a bit different, since he didn't die first.
Cole also seems to be a bit of an outlier as well. Compassion didn't possess the original Cole, just kind of became his doppelgƤnger after his death, but if I recall correctly, he didn't realize he wasn't the real Cole in Asunder until the end. And in Inquisition, he's kind of somewhere between human and spirit, which seems to be very unusual, but again, he didn't possess Cole's spirit, so not quite the same.
So were Wynne and Evangeline really revived by Faith? Or did Faith just take on their traits and think that it was Wynne and then Evangeline?
Veilguard spoilery speculation under the cut
And I've been seeing the theories that Lucanis is a Spirit of Hope, and I was thinking maybe he would be like Wynne, or Anders. But now I'm wondering what Wynne was and if Lucanis is Lucanis or just a spirit that possessed him after "The Wake." I really need to see his interactions with Emmrich.
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perhaps i think if they wanted to give us a redeemed (ex-)templar in the games it should've been evangeline de brassard.
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āØWhen you are a giga-strong mountain of stone muscles crushing the heads of weak people, and your wife a diplomatic, intelligent mage who needs to be protectedāØ
#dragon age#dnd character#dnd#dragon age origins#dnd art#dragon age origins wynne#wynne#wynne x shale#dao shale#shale x wynne#dao wynne#dragon age wynne#dragon age asunder#asunder
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his cards ingame were too pretty i had to do something with it
#cole#dragon age inquisition#the blouse he wears in the card is soooo pretty#still messed up from reading asunder i LOVE him#my ugly gorgeous guy
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Playing through the entirety of Veilguard screaming "WHERE IS COLE"
#dragon age#dragon age inquisition#da: inquisition#inquisitor adaar#adaar#dragon age cole#Cole#Asunder#colemance#my art#art#Inquisitor#qunari#no I will never finish anything I sketch sorry#da: the veilguard#veilguard
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How Things In Ferelden Actually Went Down During The Events Of Dragon Age: Veilguard
[The Inquisitor, Leliana, Cassandra, and Vivienne at one of their regular catch-up meetings, all lounging on cushions together and drinking tea]
Inquisitor: Aaaaand done, with this next missive to send to the Veilguard! Leliana, please have it delivered via your sloppiest of spies. Maybe take 2 or 3 copies that can get conveniently lost along the way, for the Venatori and Antaam.
Leliana, reading the letter: Really? You're making it sound as if Ferelden is doomed. Yes there've been skirmishes, but nothing near what we saw a decade ago. We don't have nearly as many darkspawn as they're seeing in the north, and Orzammar is silent because they have started another one of their councils that last for months, not because they've fallen.
Cassandra, snatching it to read next: What? Yes, the armies of Orlais and all our chantry support is kept busy at the moment, but hardly the level of devastation you're implying.
Vivienne: What are you up to, Darling?
Inquisitor: Well the last time the world went to shit none of them came down to help us. Just let them think we're too busy to offer more assistance, it's fine. They can manage.
Cassandra: Shouldn't we at least give them our intel on Solas?
Inquisitor: I'll handle it, Morrigan said I can pop over through the eluvian and be back for dinner.
Inquisitor: Besides, they got Varric killed. I'm not risking anyone else.
#the land is NOT all destroyed and blighted its fine there actually :)#i mean like at the end of Asunder we were firmly led to believe thedas was falling apart and val royaux was possibly burned to the ground#and then at the beginning of inquisition everything was FINE everyone was just unruly#just cant trust em! to keep a canon anyway so make ur own up#dragon age: veilguard#dragon age: the veilguard#dragon age: the velguard spoilers#datv spoilers#da4 spoilers#ferelden#jade plays dav#ramblings#veilguard#veilguard spoilers
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Wynne from Asunder. Artwork from 2012
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#Dragon Age tag is for the Dragon Age Franchise.
#Dragon Age: Origins tag.
#Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening tag.
#Dragon Age: Origins - Witch Hunt tag.
#Dragon Age: Origins - The Stone Prisoner tag.
#Dragon Age: Origins - Return to Ostagar tag.
#Dragon Age II tag.
#Dragon Age: Inquisition tag.
#Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon tag.
#Dragon Age: Inquisition - The Descent tag.
#Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser tag.
#Dragon Age: Absolution tag.
#Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne tag.
#Dragon Age: The Calling tag.
#Dragon Age: Asunder tag.
#Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights tag.
Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2 tag.
#Anders (Short Story) tag.
Other Tags Related Tags - working on this
#The Warden tag for the first game player character. Related tags: Mage Warden, Mage Origin, Warden Cousland, Warden Mahariel, Warden Tabris, Rogue Warden, Warden Origins
#Hawke tag is used for the second game player character.
#The Inquisitor tag for the third game player character. Related tags: Inquisitor Lavellan, Mage Inquisitor.
#Companions tag generalized and related: Hawke's Companions, Inquisitor's Companions, Warden-Commander's Companions, Warden's Companions??????
#The Fade tag for the realm. #Fade Spirits tag for the native beings. #The Veil tag for the barrier. Fade Creatures: Desire Demons, Rage Demons,
#Mage tag general for people who have magic. #Blood Magic for the general school of magic.
Related tags: Apostates, Circle Mages, Circle of Magi, Curing Tranquility, Kinloch Hold, The Harrowing, Phylacteries, Rite of Tranquility, The Tranquil.
#The Chantry tag generalized.
#Specializations tag for the sub-classes. #Mage Specialization tag and related: Arcane Warrior Specialization, Blood Mage Specialization, Shapeshifter Specialization, Spirit Healer Specialization. #Rogue Specialization tag and related: Ranger Specialization. #Warrior Specialization tag and related: Reaver Specialization, Spirit Warrior Specialization, Templar Specialization.
#Templars tag for the peope/order.
#Darkspawn tag for the race. #The Taint tag for the infection. Red Lyrium tag. #Grey Wardens tag. #The Joining tag.
#Companion: tags Anders, Justice (Dragon Age), Justice!Anders, Nathaniel Howe, Solas
#Temporary Companion: Mouse,
#NPCs: Cullen Rutherford, Kitty (Dragon Age), Irving, Mr. Wiggums, Ser Pounce-a-lot,
Other tags, The Anchor, Anders's Clinic, High Dragons
Blog Masterpost
This blog is purely for reblogging posts I like and arranging them in a manner easy to navigate.
For Tumblr posts I made go to https://briarruler.tumblr.com/
For Tumblr posts I have commented on or other people continuing my posts go to https://remark-reflect-reminisce.tumblr.com/
The tagging system of this blog is in this post's reblogs.
#Masterpost#Dragon Age#Dragon Age: Origins#Dragon Age II#Dragon Age: Inquisition#Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening#Dragon Age: Origins - Witch Hunt#Dragon Age: Origins - The Stone Prisoner#Dragon Age: Origins - Return to Ostagar#Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon#Dragon Age: Inquisition - The Descent#Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser#Dragon Age: Absolution#Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne#Dragon Age: The Calling#Dragon Age: Asunder#Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights#Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Volume 2#Anders (Short Story)
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thinking about pharamond again and how when he is getting crushed by guilt and mega crying they are like "oh man he was better as a tranquil :/ maybe we should kill him" but when he is experience happiness and joy x40 and laughing loudly at shitty jokes is like ah whatever this doesnt matter
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Things Tranquility does:
Cuts you off from the Fade
Prevents you from doing magic
Sunders you from your emotions
Things Tranquility does not do:
Affect your intelligence
Render you incapable of reasoning
Turn you into a subservient, mindless drone
Cause lapses in judgement
Get rid of your morals and beliefs
Cleanse you of opinions, prejudice, or preconceptions
Make you immune to posession
Make you less of a person
#I am begging you all to revisit Owain in DAO#and to read Asunder#Tranquil in the Circles are Like That because they were *raised in an environment where subservience is the only way to survive*#just idle chatter#Tranquility#dragon age
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Oh fuck I completely forgot
K, so, in Asunder, there's a scene where Lord Seeker Lambert comes to Evangeline's room and gives her 4 vials of lyrium for her trip
Later on in Asunder, when the team is coming back from the Western Approach,
1) Evangeline (Or Rhys, I don't remember who) notes that it's been two weeks since they left
2) When Rhys tries to convince Evangeline to run away with him, she shows him 3 empty vials and 1 full vial of lyrium (I think, the 4th vial might also be a bit empty). She says she's addicted and will be useless in a week. She also repeats this later on to Wynne
So we can conclude:
- Once a Templar is addicted, it takes about a week for the withdrawal symptoms to come in. Evangeline doesn't abuse the stuff though, and she shows a lot of restraint, so this might be the wait time for an average Templar, but it's probably much shorter for a Templar who's actively abusing lyrium
- We have no idea if Evangeline's taking lyrium one vial at a time or taking micro doses, but three full vials of lyrium are gone in the span of two weeks, meaning she's taking this shit pretty regularly. To my knowledge, we've never had an idea of how often Templars are taking lyrium, so this is great information to have
I can't remember fully where it's said, so correct me if I'm wrong, but Cullen, when talking about becoming a Templar, says that after their Vigil, they get a philter (a box of stuff that prepares the lyrium), and their first draught of lyrium, so Evangeline probably has this on her during her trip and philters are needed in order to properly take lyrium
Now for the iffy part
- In Origins, Alistair says he's never taken lyrium. This is a lie, but probably one he didn't know about
- The Joining requires lyrium as an ingredient, so Alistair definitely ingested at least a little bit
- Alistair is able to use his powers as a Templar for an entire year
As much as I'd like this to mean Templars definitely don't need to be taking lyrium as often as they do, there could be multiple reasons for this
- The amount of time lyrium works for a Templar simply got retconned and they do actually need to take lyrium often. Boo
- Bc The Joining changes a Grey Warden forever, it's possible that the lyrium is now permanently in a Grey Warden's veins just like the taint is, meaning Alistair could use his Templar powers forever if he wanted
- Alistair is just the Maker's specialist little boy and gets to be exempt from things like withdrawals because of his family's bloodline.
Also, in the Silent Grove, like 8 years after Origins I think, when Alistair, Varric, Isabela, and Maevaris are surrounded by mage occultists or whatever, Alistair uses his Templar powers. Someone asks him how he did this, and he just says something like "I knew we were coming to Tevinter so I decided my Templar powers would be useful, so I got back into practice"
We never find out what this means
Whether he decided to take a little bit of lyrium, or is just cool enough to not need it, is up to anyone
We also have no idea how long Cullen is able to use his Templar powers in Inquisition since I'm pretty sure we never see him in action besides in his personal quest when trying to find Samson, but he'd literally have no reason to use Templar powers on other Templars, so who knows?
So in all, we've basically no clue how often Templars NEED to take lyrium and no official date for how long their powers last after they stop taking it, but we do know ~generally~ how often they're taking it, which I don't believe we knew before
I personally like to think that Templars could just take lyrium like once a year but the Chantry likes to have them on a leash so they make them take it way more often so they get addicted because the Chantry is terrible
But ya, that one line made me spiral
#dragon age#dragon age inquisition#dai#dai cullen#cullen dragon age#cullen rutherford#alistair dragon age#alistair theirin#evangeline dragon age#rhys dragon age#dragon age asunder#asunder#dragon age templars#the templar order#templar order#lyrium#i gotta stop writing shit like im the first one to discover something when this books been out for over 10 yrs#but im too lazy to change my wording
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Some more of my old DA art, again from 2021. I had just finished reading Asunder and Cole's entire story broke my heart completely. Desperately need to see these three unite again... It would be so bittersweet.
Patreon | Instagram | Redbubble
#dragon age#dai#dragon age inquisition#cole dragon age#dragon age asunder#jazz art#dragon age veilguard
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Someone in my life decided to declutter their dragon age media soā¦got a pretty big reading pile ahead of me š³
Not pictured: a hand bound printout of all of Inquisitionās codex entries.
#dragon age#Iāve already read asunder and the world of thedas books#not really interested in the origins novels tho#also the coloring book is meh#my old coloring pages were better š¤
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The Best Orlesian: Pt. 2
We had Leliana, Antoine, and Vivienne as the top three in part one! Briala and Fiona completed the top five. ā¤ļø
Now, for characters who didn't make it into the first poll, we've got part two. This still won't be everyone, because there are a lot of Orlesian people in DA, lol.
#orlesians#orlais#dragon age#dragon age inquisition#dragon age origins#dragon age games#dragon age 2#bioware#dragon age masked empire#dragon age absolution#dragon age asunder#heroes of dragon age#dragon age the stolen throne#dragon age the calling#dragon age ii#poll
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you ever wonder if vivienne doesn't like cole (besides the 'ew icky abomination' bs) because he's a walking reminder of the awful shit that can happen to mages at the hands of templars at a circle, and as easily as 'misfiled paperwork'?
also, mortal cole was half-chasind, fun fact.
#dragon age#dragon age inquisition#dragon age asunder#cole dragon age#dragon age cole#vivienne dragon age#dragon age vivienne#anti templar#anti chantry
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Why Vivienne Needs the Inquisition
No one 'winds up' at Court, my dear. It takes a great deal of effort to arrive there.
āEnchanter Vivienne to the Inquisitor
An ask I received (referring, I think, to something I said in this post, though I've alluded to it at other points as well):
How/why is Vivienne's position at court shakier than it seems? (Please publish this anonymously.)
Thank you for asking! Iāve wanted to write something on this subject for a while, so I appreciate the push to get it all down. Itās something I find really interesting about Vivienne, because it's something she doesn't want the Inquisitor, or anyone, to know, so it's all subtext in the game. Vivienne is a character who always holds the player character at arms' length--a bit less so when she likes them, but there is always some distance there. As such, she's a difficult character to get to know.
And while I do have some issues with the way Vivienne is handled in the game, particularly with narrative and quest design, I wonāt be touching on those heavily here. For this post I want to focus on what can be determined about her motivations from the character as written.
Vivienne can be recruited to the Inquisition after the Inquisitor's first trip to Val Royeaux. Notably, she seeks out the Inquisitor's attention herself, inviting them to a gala at the Duke of Ghislain's estate, and also notably, once recruited she will not leave the Inquisition and cannot be forced to leave, no matter how low her approval of the Inquisitor. This is also something I have seen people question: why can't you kick Vivienne out, and why won't she simply leave if she disapproves of your choices? I hope this post will answer that question as well.
The most critical aspect of Vivienne's character to understand, I think, is that she has no stable institutional power. She is not a noble. She has no familial connections of the sort that can help even a mage to keep their head above water. She is a woman who was taken from her family at a young age and raised in an institution, and who has used all her wit and charisma to make the very best of that situation for herself.
Vivienne's position as First Enchanter of Montsimmard is mostly an achievement within the Circle itself. Montsimmard itself, however, was also a stepping stone to influence outside the Circle. Personally, I think the fact that Vivienne declined to join any fraternity when she became a full Enchanter, a shocking move at the time, indicates that she held ambitions outside the Circle from a young age. And Montsimmard was the perfect proving ground for her, a major Orlesian city whose ruling family maintain close relations with the Circle. In The Masked Empire, the Marquise de Montsimmard boasts about dining at the Circle, and she and her husband wear masks adorned with lyrium crystals which we are told were a gift from the First Enchanter. It seems likely, though not confirmed, that this was Vivienne herself.
(Incidentally, it is a real shame that Vivienneās character seems to have solidified so late in the gameās development, because in retrospect I really feel her absence in the novels. She gets a brief mention in The Masked Empire as Madame de Fer, and absolutely nothing in Asunder, which we'll come back to.)
It seems that the Montsimmard mages were called upon with some regularity to entertain the court, and this is how Vivienne first caught the attention of Duke Bastien in 9:16 Dragon. Within a year, she had moved into a suite in his estate. Her position came under attack for the next few years, but nonetheless, after a single meeting with Empress Celene in 9:20 Dragon, she became the newly-crowned Empress's Court Enchanter.
(Edited to add: It seems to be sometime after this that Vivienne became First Enchanter of Montsimmard, at "an age young enough to cause scandal," though the date is never confirmed that I can find. Incidentally, as @shrovetidecat brought to my attention in the notes, Fiona is also supposed to have been Grand Enchanter of Montsimmard, which given that may be a lore inconsistency, unless Vivienne is only meant to have taken the position after Fiona rose to Grand Enchanter—and I'm not sure why a 40-year-old First Enchanter would be scandalous.)
By the time she meets the Inquisitor, she is likely somewhere in her 40s, and has been the Enchanter to the Imperial Court and the Mistress to the Duke de Ghislain for twenty years. She regularly mingles with the court and has built a practically unprecedented influence for herself in Orlesian high society.
And it's all about to fall apart, for three critical reasons.
First, the obvious: the mage rebellion. One cannot be First Enchanter of a Circle that no longer exists, though Vivienne certainly tries. A majority of mages, even if by a razor-thin margin, have declared that they do not recognize the Circle's authorityāand therefore Vivienne's authority as a loyal Enchanter within that system.
I think Vivienne's dialogue with the Inquisitor and her remarks if taken to Redcliffe reveal a deep frustration and resentment of Grand Enchanter Fiona, who called for the vote to leave the Circle and now leads the rebel mages. Vivienne of course handles this in the manner to which she is accustomed, the culture of the Imperial Court, in which trading in verbal jabs and barely-veiled insults is a standard matter of social one-upsmanship. Outside of that environment, she comes across as petty and rude, which is an interesting point of characterization in itself: Vivienne has thrived in the court environment, but she does seem to have a bit of trouble adapting her manner to different circumstances, where that sort of thing might not benefit her. But what she's trying to do is frame herself before the Inquisitor as the reasonable and respectable mage, and Fiona as misguided and pitiable. How well this goes for her, of course, depends on who the Inquisitor is. But the effort itself kind of reveals the shaky ground she's standing on.
In her dialogue with the Inquisitor, Vivienne claims that as the rebel mages follow Fiona, the loyal mages follow her. But where are these loyal mages? There's maybe one or two mages we meet in the game (Enchanter Ellendra comes to mind) who seem to respect Vivienne's word. But if the loyal mages look to her as a leader, why is Ellendra alone in a cave in the Hinterlands to begin with? Why doesn't Vivienne bring a group of these loyal mages with her to Skyhold?
I think it's because Vivienne doesn't truly have followers among the mages, the way Fiona does. This is the story she's telling the Inquisitor, to capitalize on the idea that the rebel position is not a consensus, and also that she still has influence among a significant number of mages. The truth is, she doesn't. Sheās spent most of her life courting influence outside the Circle, not in it. She has presided over a Circle where she doesnāt even live day-to-day. I canāt imagine that has particularly endeared her to many of her fellow mages, even the ones who are loyalists or moderates.
Contrast this with Wynne, a pro-Circle Aequitarian who is deeply involved in Circle life despite undertaking sanctioned work outside the tower, and is also deeply involved in the events leading up to the vote for independence. Whatever the Doylist reasons for Vivienne's absense from Asunder, the fact remains: she's just not there. She has no presence in the events leading up to the rebellion. When speaking critically of Fiona's vote, she discusses it in the context of Anders' attack on the Kirkwall Chantry, and says nothing of the circumstances surrounding Fiona's push for a voteānot the revelations about Tranquility, not the conclave (no not that Conclave, the conclave of mages at which Fiona called for the vote for independence), not the subsequent massacre by the templars and the remaining mages' decision to stand and fight. And perhaps most notably, no one mentions Vivienne, positively or negatively, during the events of Asunder. Not once. We are left with the conclusion that Vivienne is simply not heavily involved in Circle politics, no matter what impression she may wish to give the Inquisitor. Her influence does not lie within the Circle.
And I think Vivienne knows this, and realizes that it's suddenly become a big problem for her.
The second big problem is Morrigan.
Vivienne has had the favor of the Empress herself for twenty years. She has, by others' accounts, managed to turn the position of Court Enchanter from "little more than court jester" to a position of influence and respect. And then the Grand Duke attempts a coup, and the Empress's elven lover runs away with a dangerous secret, and suddenly the Empress is enlisting the services of some unwashed swamp witch while Vivienne is standing right there!
Like I cannot overstate what a absolutely galling slap in the face it would be to Vivienne that even as she is attempting to uphold the legitimacy of the Circle and thus of her own authority within it, Celene effectively creates the "Arcane Advisor" position as "Court Mage 2: Apostate Boogaloo" just so she can get advice on non-Circle-approved magics. Advice that Vivienne could not give even if she wanted to, even if the Empress asked, because she has no knowledge of eluvians and ancient elven magic.
Both Dorian and Cole needle Vivienne about her jealousy of Morrigan, and I think quite accurately, no matter how quick Vivienne is to deny it.
Her influence over the Empress is fast eroding. She has been replaced in all but name.
And the third and most personal big problem is Bastien's illness.
Vivienne has enjoyed a romance with one of the empire's most influential nobles for twenty years. She has lived in his home and been on good terms with his wife until her passing. Her influence in the Imperial Court owes a lot to Bastien's affections. Bastien is not only a Duke but a member of the Council of Heralds, the political body responsible for overseeing matters of titles and inheritance in Orlais. They are quite literally the most powerful group in the country; even the Empress rules at their favor, without which she would never have gained the throne in the first place.
And now Bastien is dying, something Vivienne takes care not to mention to the Inquisitor at first. It's not until after the ball at the Winter Palace that Vivienne asks the Inquisitor for help with her potion in a last-ditch attempt to prolong his lifeāand even then she does not reveal her true purpose until after the Inquisitor has returned with the wyvern's heart. And while it's possible to interpret multiple ways, I personally believe from her response to his death that she did care for Bastien. She didn't need to bring the Inquisitor to his deathbed at all, if she wanted to continue concealing his illness, something she's taken care to do up until that point. It bespeaks a measure of trust that she allows the Inquisitor to see her soāin her grief, as well as in her loss of position.
Because Bastien's death is a terrible loss for Vivienne socially as well as personally. Bastien's son will inherit his estate, and whether Vivienne is allowed to go on living there will be entirely at his discretion. Perhaps he will permit her to stay, but she cannot count upon his grace, nor upon the protection she enjoyed with Bastien any longer; and furthermore if she is allowed to stay, it will be a favor to her, making her beholden rather than granting her greater influence. She won't have the dignity of being Bastien's widow; she is his mistress, and respected as that position may be in the Orlesian court, it gives her no true claim to his family.
Vivienne is about to lose everything she has built for herself.
Without Bastien, without Celene, she will be left withā¦ what? The position of First Enchanter to a Circle that no longer exists? If her own best-case scenario occurs and the rebellion is halted and the Circles are reinstated, then she still loses all the freedom she has gained and is forced to return to a Circle tower herselfāa sphere in which, as previously discussed, she holds less influence than she would like the Inquisitor to believe. Even if she remains First Enchanter, it's hard to see this as anything but a massive step down in the social hierarchy, the beginning of a long slide into what the Fade reveals as her greatest fear: irrelevance.
It's a humiliation that Vivienne cannot bear.
This is why she won't leave the Inquisition, no matter how much she may despise the Inquisitor. Vivienne needs the Inquisition far more than she lets on. This even puts the petty low-approval furniture-moving scene into context. Yes, sheās doing it to snub the Inquisitor, but that doesnāt actually gain her anything. I think itās deeper than that. The Inquisition was Vivienneās fallback plan, and itās not going well. The Inquisitor is making her look bad, she is finding no avenue to further advancement here, but she canāt leave. So, her response is to try to reclaim some sense of control over her life, asserting a kind of power she had at Bastienās estate and was likely denied in the Circle: control over her own space.
Even if Bastien were to live a bit longer, Vivienne really has nowhere higher she can climb in the Imperial Court. She can't become a noble herself. She can't marry Bastien, or any other noble for that matter, because she is a mage. And I'm sure she's highly aware of this fact. Bastien is several years a widower himself; it is not his former marriage that prevents him from marrying her, now. It is her status as a mage which bars her from entering a noble family, legally, socially, politically. That Bastien never seems to have raised the question at all speaks to the fact that no matter how much he may have stuck his neck out for Vivienne, there was a line even he was not interested in crossing.
So where does she have to go from here?
Along comes the nascent Inquisition. Shaking things up. If any organization could rattle the gilded walls of the Chantry, it's this one.
Why not take a stab at the Chantry, at this point? What does she have to lose?
It didnāt really sink in for me for several playthroughs because she isn't wearing cleric's garb, but Bastien's sister Marcelline, who visits Skyhold after his death with Bastienās son? She's a grand cleric. One of the surviving grand clerics who will decide the next Divine. Vivienne involves the Inquisitor in her plan to save Bastien, a plan she likely knows will failābut she puts in the effort. She then introduces the Inquisitor to Grand Cleric Marcelline, having told her how the Inquisitor came to her aid. Marcelline expresses gratitude: āMadame de Fer has told us what great trials you faced, trying to save my poor brotherās life.ā Bastienās son Laurent is a powerful ally in his own right, now a member of the Council of Heralds, but also likely the one who will decide whether Vivienne keeps her suite in the Ghislain estate.
And if the conversation goes well, Vivienne tells the Inquisitor that it was "quite the triumph." If the Inquisitor expresses confusion, she patiently explains the influence that both Laurent and Marcelline wield, and that they have now secured the trust of both. If Vivienne becomes Divine, Marcellineās favor no doubt goes a long way in getting her there.
Of course Vivienne will continue to take a conservative position on the mage question. A mage looking to insinuate herself into the Chantry hierarchy would have to, just as a mage seeking the freedom to consort with the court would have to. In the same way that a Hawke with aspirations of seizing the vacant seat of Kirkwall's Viscount must side with the templars at the end to show the nobility that they represent stability and order, the Chantry's first mage cleric must be pro-Circle, pro-templar, conservative to the bone. Vivienne seems to recognize this as far more important than actually appearing devout. It's also fascinating to me how little she bothers to make any pretense of a personal faith, instead always discussing the Chantry as an important social institution and political body. And this attitude doesn't seem to impede her chances at the Sunburst Throne very much, no more so than being a mage already would.
Vivienne knows exactly what she's doing. She always has.
Vivienne comes to the Inquisition seeking power and influence in the Chantry because her position among the nobility is falling apart. Whether she comes in with the intention to reach for the Sunburst throne itself is debatable, and I personally think it might have been the intent that she does have that ambition but seeks to let the Inquisitor think it was their own idea, though I'm iffy on how successful that is if it was the intent. Nonetheless, I do believe that Vivienne comes to the Inquisition with the intent to seek influence within the Chantry, realizing that the recent upheaval may offer her a unique opportunity to do so. And depending on how closely the Inquisitor aligns with her goals, she may succeed quite dramatically.
References
Codex Entry: Madame de Fer
Talking with Vivienne at Haven and Skyhold
Vivienne's high disapproval scene
After Bastien's death
Banter with Cole
Banter with Dorian
The World of Thedas vol. 2, pp. 235-239 (hardcover edition)
Dragon Age: The Masked Empire, p. 31 (paperback edition)
#vivienne#madame de fer#dragon age meta#dragon age inquisition#the masked empire#asunder#bastien de ghislain#blunders of thedas#ask anne#thedas politics
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