#Dragon Age: The Veilguard spoilers

[katelynthedragon]

Now he’s *really* Pissed Off

Mages when they run out of mana 🤣

[ariannaserissa]

Rook gets rescued from the regret prison? 👀

Thank you for the ask! This is a missing scene from towards the end of Veilguard.

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING - This story covers some of the biggest spoilers in Veilguard's finale, so don't read it unless you've already played the whole game.

From the WIP Ask Game here!

----------

The world flashed white when Rook’s companions pulled her out of the regret prison. Hands grabbed at her arms and shoulders. A cacophony of voices overlapped so much that she couldn’t make out what anyone was saying.

But all that mattered was that she ended up in Davrin’s strong arms. She tucked her head underneath his and burrowed her face in his shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, the sound of his voice rumbling in his chest, “and I don’t think I’m ever going to let you go again.”

“You finally caught me,” she said, meaning it to be joke, but it came out as a tearful whisper. There were tears running down her cheeks – from saying goodbye, finally and truly, to Varric, from her fear that she would be stuck in Solas’ trap for eternity, and from relief that the people she loved had gotten her out.

She tilted her head up and met Davrin’s lips with her own, wrapping her arms around his neck. His lips were the softest thing about him. He kissed away her tears, then her closed eyes, then one corner of her mouth and the other until she couldn’t help but laugh.

When they showed no signs of stopping, Taash made a disgusted noise. “Ugh, get a room already!”

Davrin stopped long enough to say, “We’re in a room right now. Maybe the rest of you should leave.” He pressed his forehead against hers.

Rook shook her head at him, amused, and finally looked around at the others. Bellara was crying, too, and there were tears in Emmrich’s eyes. Lucanis looked even more exhausted than usual, but there was relief on his face as well. Taash was standing with their arms crossed, but they were unable to keep a small smile off of their face even though they were pretending to be offended by Rook’s and Davrin’s displays of affection.

But it was another blow to her heart when she looked for the rest of their team and made the sharp realization they were both gone, perhaps forever. Neve had been captured by Elgar’nan when the Tevinter mage had tried to unbind the blood magic keeping them from moving forward. And Harding…

Rook swallowed hard, remembering how the dwarf had been stabbed multiple times by Ghilan’nain. Rook had lost sight of Harding when she fell into some type of crevice. Was there any chance that her Stone sense had protected her? Had she been alive when she fell?

“Is Harding – ” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Davrin’s arms tightened around her. Taash’s face fell and they looked down. Bellara covered her mouth with her hands as fresh tears gathered in her eyes. Emmrich shook his head sadly, and Lucanis clenched his hands into fists.

“She’s gone,” Davrin said. “Elgar’nan summoned this huge pillar of fire after Ghilan’nain died and you disappeared. The rest of us barely got out of there. We don’t know where Neve is, either, or if she’s still alive.”

Rook closed her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Taash, Lucanis.”

Neither of them responded. After a moment, Rook untangled herself from Davrin’s embrace and stood up. He got to his feet alongside her, but didn’t let her go entirely, keeping a tight grip on one hand. She appreciated the contact – it made her feel grounded and convinced her that this was real, not some twisted dream conjured by the regret prison to torment her.

Her time spent trapped by Solas was as hazy as a dream. She could not remember moving around the space but it felt like she had. Statues of Neve and Harding suddenly appeared before her, reminding her of her faults with sharp words.

Only the memory of Varric’s death had been clear. It was as if learning the truth after spending so long being deceived had lifted a fog from her mind.

They were in the room at the top of the Lighthouse, the space the Caretaker had called the Wolf’s Den when they had shown it to her. Rook guessed that her companions had needed a clear space to open the rift into the Fade and pull her out. She had observed the mages in the Veil Jumpers cast spells enough to get an idea of how complicated such an undertaking would be.

“What do we know?” she asked. “Where is Elgar’nan now?”

Emmrich answered her. “After we killed Ghilan’nain on Tearstone Island, Elgar’nan went to Minrathous. He claimed control of the city easily because the Venatori already had a hold there after their coup. We’ve had reports that Solas is there as well, and helping fight against Elgar’nan’s forces. But things are at a bit of a stalemate at the moment. We have time to rest before we need to join the resistance there.”

“No, we can’t wait. We have to get there now.”

“Rook,” Bellara began, then stopped, biting her lip. “Please. We need to rest. You need to rest. You’ve been gone for weeks.”

Rook went still. “Weeks?” She looked at Davrin, whose eyes were shadowed. “It felt like moments to me. Hours, at the most.”

“Time fluctuates wildly in the Fade,” Emmrich said. “It is not possible to predict its pattern. It might pass as it did for you, weeks going by in less than a day, or it might do the opposite, stretching the time for those within when in reality much less than they thought has gone by. Here at the Lighthouse and in the Crossroads, it is more reliable. My hypothesis is that Solas or another ancient mage from his time stabilized these places temporally when they were first created.”

Rook barely listened to Emmrich, still reeling from learning how much time she had lost. She leaned against Davrin, a steady bulwark by her side. He let go of her hand so that he could wrap his arm around her shoulders. She was grateful for the strength he gave her.

“That’s all the more reason to get moving,” she said. “Elgar’nan’s already wreaking havoc. How much more damage can he do while we waste even more time here?”

“Rook, listen to us,” Davrin said. “We’ve been working nonstop trying to find you and getting everything else in order. We need time to recover and prepare. Now that you’re back, we’ll reach out to our allies and have their leaders come here to make a plan of attack. We have to wait for them to get here and gather their own people. There’s no point in rushing off before we’re all ready.”

Rook sighed and relented. With each moment that passed, she felt fatigue weighing on her more and more heavily. That was another sign that she’d been gone for longer than it had felt. She had been conscious in some form for weeks and that was catching up to her now.

She also took a moment to look closely at the others. All of the them looked exhausted and drained. There were dark circles under Emmrich’s eyes. Bellara’s hair was messier than Rook had ever seen it and she didn’t seem to care. It would not surprise her if all of them had gotten almost as little rest as she had while they’d worked tirelessly to rescue her. That convinced her more than her own exhaustion.

“Fine. We’ll rest up so that we’re ready. We’ve taken down one god already. We have one more to go. And the next time we face him, he won’t survive the encounter.”

[starfleetteddybear]

Preview of what I got cooking for ch5 of the flame eternal (part 2 and the finale of the Emmrook honeymoon).

I’ve been enjoying opening some of my chapters with letters.

[kilannad]

THIS EXACTLY!!!! Look, I have a lot of problems about Veilguard but the Crows being sanitized isn’t actually one of them (except Illario and Ivenci both should at least have the option of being killed but whatever). I’m replaying Origins and romancing Zev right now and Lucanis echoes a lot of what he said! These two are both fucked up and pretending otherwise is a bad faith reading

Warden: You've never killed an innocent?

Zevran: Now there's an interesting word, "innocent." How many men do you know who can claim to be truly innocent?

Zevran: But if you're talking generalities, such as children and relatives and bystanders and such… never on purpose, but it happens.

Zevran: It's unfortunate, but death comes to us all. If not me, then some wasting disease. Or a fall down the stairs. Or at the hands of a darkspawn. It's all relative in the end.

Zevran: "Death happens," as we like to say. And when I get paid for it, death happens more often.

-

Zevran: In Antiva, being a Crow gets you respect. It gets you wealth. It gets you women… and men, or whatever it is you might fancy.

Zevran: But that does mean doing what is expected of you, always. And it means being expendable. It's a cage, if a gilded cage. Pretty. But confining.

-

Davrin: Lucanis, how do you decide when one of your targets deserves to die?

Lucanis: Usually when the client pays up front.

Davrin: I'm serious. Do you just kill anyone?

Lucanis: No. There has to be merit.

Davrin: "Merit?" Who decides that?

Lucanis: The Talon of the house.

Davrin: And then you just carry out the order?

Lucanis: It's my job.

Davrin: Must be tough to sleep at night.

-

Lucanis: You kill for a living, too, Davrin. How do you sleep at night?

Davrin: Like a baby. The things I hunt are pure evil. Monsters. There are no shades of grey with darkspawn. But you...

Lucanis: Provide a service.

Davrin: What if your target doesn't deserve to die?

Lucanis: Who does? Good, bad, everyone dies eventually. We just speed things up.

-

Emmrich: Do you have any say in your... targets?

Lucanis: You want to know if my victims deserved it.

Emmrich: Forgive me, I shouldn't have asked.

Lucanis: Everyone wonders.

Lucanis: I've never killed an innocent, by my count.

Lucanis: I cannot say if yours would agree.

-

Emmrich: Lucanis, do the implications of your work never trouble you?

Lucanis: Everyone on this team has killed before. I'm hardly unique.

Emmrich: Yes, of course. But in your case, it's a profession, rather than an act of necessity.

Lucanis: I'm not sure the Venatori or the Antaam see the distinction as you do.

-

Emmrich: I find it extremely interesting, Lucanis, that you consider the point of view of your enemies in battle.

Lucanis: I have to. It's much more difficult to find and kill them, otherwise.

Emmrich: Exactly! A utilitarian attitude towards death, and yet you extend empathy to your victims.

Lucanis: Not that much empathy.

Emmrich: Enough to wonder how the Venatori and Antaam view your actions.

Lucanis: Death comes to everyone, in time. I get paid to deliver it. Like a letter not everyone wants to read.

-

I think about this a lot. I'm always... surprised when I see the talk that they're supposedly trying to make Lucanis into the perfect "cinnamon roll" in Veilguard, because his sweet personality doesn't "match" his profession and background. Like, no? That's a very surface level of looking at it, I think.

Zevran is like this, too. He is an incredibly chill guy, and when you romance him, he is also very sweet and vulnerable, despite being an assassin. They're not that different in that department. They were both trained to be assassins since they were children. They're both traumatized in various ways. But neither of them acts like a bloodthirsty, evil freak. But they both also take pride in the job they do (or did), and how well they can do it, and have no intention of stopping. And yet they both express surprising empathy. (Zevran argues against annulling the Circle! Quite extensively!) And they make pretty much the exact same arguments about being killers for hire, as shown above.

Death is a natural part of life. Sometimes it just comes sooner, because we're there to deliver it. There's (almost) no such thing as an innocent person, so my victims aren't innocent people. Therefore, I've never killed an innocent in my entire life, as far as I know. (At least not intentionally.)

And that's interesting and fun about them! It's beautifully deranged. Lucanis completes an assassination mission, slitting somebody's throat or what have you, and then goes on his cosy coffee break, satisfied with a job well done.

The fact that they both say that they've never, in their opinion, assassinated "an innocent", so it's all good, doesn't automatically make it true and doesn't mean it's not complicated, however. Not every line of dialogue can be taken at face value. As video game players, we're rather desensitized to this, but hearing this should normally be at least a little alarming. For a regular person, at least. And it is for the people in the game! Like Emmrich and Davrin. Davrin has several banters with Lucanis about it. Like, who decides when somebody deserves to die and which contract's going to get carried out? Well, the "CEO" of "the company," of course! What could ever go wrong that way? Emmrich tries to coax Lucanis into saying that he does feel something about the whole thing, because he really wants it to be true. While Lucanis is very matter of fact about it. He knows what the Crows are, and that's it. He doesn't glamorize or demonize it.

So, it definitely isn't that "Veilguard says that Lucanis has never done anything wrong ever in his life," just like Origins doesn't do it with Zevran. Both the men's attitude towards killing is warped in an interesting way, completely in line with their background and upbringing. It shows when Lucanis argues with Davrin about them both being killers, because it completely escapes him (or maybe he ignores it for the sake of the argument) how the killing he does (contracts where the targets tend to be people) and the killing Davrin (a monster hunter, a darkspawn slayer) does is of different kind entirely. His logic is flawed at that point. But to him, it boils down to the fact that "it's just a job," and "killing is killing," and "death is death" regardless of form, and that rightfully baffles Davrin to no end. If anything, it shows how the Antivan Crows are taught to hand wave the issue, because the arguments Lucanis and Zevran both present are too similar to be anything else.

Of course, Lucanis, unlike Zevran, as the grandson of the First Talon and her favourite, might have had some extra privileges and wiggle space in comparison, which might have allowed him to bend the rules sometimes, give him space to show more compassion and act more heroically, because people are complex and there are many layers to what each person might consider right and wrong (e.g. killing is okay in various circumstances, and slavers in particular can get fucked - hell, we do it in video games all the time), but still. The fact that his grandmother wanted to tap a new market, so she made Lucanis specialize for hunting mages, which ultimately led to him killing a lot of Venatori and blood mages, makes it cleaner, which is nice, but then again, we hardly know the full extent of all his work. Moreover, when you ask Zevran to tell you stories about his jobs, you don't get much dirt out of him, either. He talks about some of the goofiest ones he's had. One of his targets that he (unsuccessfully) participated in taking out, a royal that got his position through plotting and murder, he also describes as somebody so immoral he basically deserved it. Also very clean. (Compare both these guys with somebody like Blackwall who truly committed a despicable act of murder for money that we do know of. And this single crime sounds so much more upsetting than anything either Lucanis or Zevran describe. None of the things Zevran says is as awful, besides the murder of his lover, which is framed like it wasn't really his fault, because he was misled.)

It's also worth noting that Zevran talks about how he was the best the Crows had before he left and how it brought him respect, wealth, women, men, or "whatever it is you might fancy." All in all, it comes with benefits. By his own admission, he was well off. But of course that came with a catch, as well. The "gilded cage" Zevran talks about. But that's not what made him leave. It was the plotting, backstabbing, and ever present distrust in the end, which led to the biggest mistake he'd ever made. Much like him, Lucanis also mentions that he had a comfortable life before getting captured, in the same quest where he also talks about how he didn't actually have full control of his life. ("Even before I was captured, my life was not really my own. So much had been determined for me.") The gilded cage comes up yet again. And it was plotting and backstabbing that made him lose a year of his life in the underwater prison.

My point is: Lucanis and Zevran are both assassins, because that's what they've always been, they were trained to be assassins since they were kids, they have a very pragmatic approach to death and killing, which they were most likely taught or perhaps were forced to develop, and they both take pride in how good they are at their job, and express no intention of ever stopping. And yet they both show that they have a good heart in various other ways, turn out to be friendly and incredibly loyal, and even very sweet as lovers. Because people can be complex, and so can be fictional characters. Yes, they're very different men, with different problems and personalities, yet also not that different.

You can't think that Lucanis is "too good" without also thinking that Zevran is "too good." You can't have this problem with Veilguard unless you also have it with Origins, is what I'm saying. And I think this may also apply to some of the other Crows we meet in Veilguard.

[fanfoolishness]

Just losing my mind at the implications that the companions have all been trying to help Rook grieve Varric, and Rook doesn’t know

Emmrich, wise and long-familiar with grief, being told by Neve and Harding what happened; understanding why sometimes he overhears Rook’s muffled voice in the Infirmary, talking to no one. He takes Rook to the Memorial Gardens and mentions he talks to his parents, thinking Rook might be comfortable with the same. Rook lights candles and rings bells but Emmrich watches, sorrowed, to see Rook still seems in deep denial.

Neve takes Rook to the Wall of Light; a Shadow Dragon Rook knows just what this means but any Rook can understand the solemnity, the power of remembrance. Neve reenergizes Brom’s light and looks to Rook, hoping Rook will mention wanting to make one for Varric. Rook is kind and comforting to Neve, but Neve is lost in wondering why Rook doesn’t take the chance to open up. She can’t figure it. Maybe Rook just can’t face it, not yet. Maybe Rook does something privately. She isn’t sure but it nags at her.

Davrin’s not big on talking about feelings. He’d rather just move on. But he sees the way Rook seems a little hollow sometimes, a little distant; he sees how Rook takes so quickly to Assan. “Hey Rook,” he says, and invites them to come with him and Assan to safe places in Arlathan, where the woods are clean and green and growing, where real sunlight dapples through the trees. Rook always seems to love these outings, seems lighter afterwards. But Davrin feels a little confused in that Rook never seems to realize the outings are mostly for them.

Taash is another person not big on feelings. But they know how much feelings can twist you up and mess with your head. When Lace tells them about Varric they feel badly for Rook, and think to how they feel when they’re struggling. Epic fights, dragon fights, drinks with the Lords. Taash is perfectly capable of doing all that on their own. But maybe bringing Rook along will help get them out of their head a little bit. Does it help? Taash isn’t sure.

Bellara’s double-versed in grief after what happens to Cyrian. Rook helped her through trying to reach him, and Bellara wonders, in her own pain, if she can help Rook a little bit too. Especially if Rook is elven, teaching Rook about the braziers and the challenges is another tool she can share about her or their people, another way that might help Rook with their grief. Neve’s told her that the Wall of Light didn’t seem to help Rook much, but maybe a different funeral tradition could help them instead. Rook helps her light the braziers and Bellara feels her heart lightening, though she wonders at Rook, who seems more moved by Bellara’s reactions than anything else.

Lucanis is nearly as allergic to dealing with feelings as Davrin is, but he immediately clocks how Neve and Harding are acting, and asks what happened before he joined them. They tell him about Varric and that they’re worried about Rook, that Rook seems to just be shoving those feelings down without dealing with them. Lucanis is no stranger to that, but while it’s fine for him, he doesn’t want to see someone who risked their life to save him share that struggle. He brings Rook to Caterina’s funeral planning to show Rook it’s okay to admit the loss and honor it. When that doesn’t seem to make a dent, he falls back to his standard - lavish meals, small gifts, coffee. He knows it would help him. He just wishes it helped Rook too.

Lace hurts the worst after losing Varric and Lace is where Solas’ magic comes the closest to faltering. Rook can see Lace is down, she’s quiet, she’s afraid after what happens with the gods escaping; but Solas’ magic holds and Rook can still never see quite why. Lace would love to sit over drinks one night and share stories about Varric, but she sees that Rook doesn’t seem ready, and she doesn’t want to push. Instead she writes letters to Ma, to the Inquisitor, to Cassandra, to Aveline, maybe even to Hawke. She writes out her stories with Varric’s old quill and she carries a bolt of Bianca with her. A dozen times she goes to talk to Rook about him, and when she tries Rook turns away or changes the subject. It hurts, but Lace knows she can’t make Rook talk about him, and she hopes in time it will get better.

This just absolutely crushes me the more I think about it 😭

Edit: Varric’s death is Rook’s personal companion quest every other single companion tries to help them with, and can’t 😭😭😭

[hyperions-light]

Davrin is suuuch a fake idgaf-er about those griffons from day one

You’re just their bodyguard? Okay then how come Assan immediately comes up and rubs against your leg first thing? How come you’re the one who thought of his name? How come you can individually call out the griffons in the cages to reassure them?

Uh huh. Suuuure you’re “just their bodyguard.” I DONT BELIEVE YOU, YOU CARE ABOUT THEM SOOOOO MUCH ! YOU LOVE THOSE WEIRD LITTLE CATBIRDS!

[arlathen]

SOLAS' MEMORIES [►]

[profoundlyfaded]

Let’s talk about Emmrich, specifically let’s talk about flirting with him after he first joins the team because I’m seeing a lot of discourse expressing frustration that he appears unmoved by your attempts to gain his attention, except, he knows what your doing. He’s holding back and let’s explore why -

Taking a step back, let’s look at who Emmrich is in terms of that public facing persona:

A Professor, who actively teaches.

An expert in his field who is prolific enough that Bellara, a Dalish elf living in relative isolation, knows who he is.

He written books, Davrin talks about this.

He’s wealthy, wealthy enough that Harding mistakes him for nobility.

All these factors have likely won him a lot of attention. Emmrich tells you in the romantic interest scene with the skull that if your interest ‘goes beyond charming flattery’ then he’s interested in exploring that as well.

This line tells me that flirting with him, at least at the start, is something he considers transactional. He gets it a lot when people around him might try and charm him for various reasons; could be students looking for better grades, or others studying his field of expertise attempting to gain recognition from him, even, perhaps, the odd person who might view Emmrich as a possible sugar daddy (you’re all thinking it).

So, Rook rocks up, shows interest in him and he’s seen it all before - until Emmrich realises that Rook means it, the interest is genuine, no subterfuge. We see that through the gradual reciprocation of flirting; that soft line about picking extraordinary moments for compliments, the relaxing into the flirtation during the first visit after bringing out tea, showing you his magic.

He knows you’re flirting, he’s just making sure it’s genuine first.

[albaharu]

Continuation of Rook!Oghren ; I was like "i need to do some solrook toxic enemies to lovers after the trapped-forever-together-with-someone-you-hate bad end. it has to be a dwarf and a grey warden so solas hates him extra... WAIT" anyways soghren otp 5ever

[pausegame]

Veilguard Companions + Rook, don't.

[bookishmeow]

We must protect Assan at all cost!

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

Beautiful prince with a death wish, scars all over, slutty cleavage, and big brown eyes, who thinks his only purpose is to lay down his life heroically, maybe we should take Assan for another walk, so you too can touch some grass and find a reason to stay alive?

[galedekarios]

emmrich + talking with his hands

[source]

[vaguely-concerned]

the contrast in lucanis' early game responses to bellara and davrin are sooo funny and also quietly devastating. the vibe is like

BELLARA: heey so... how are you feeling lucanis? generally, I mean. or specifically, if you'd rather talk about something in particular! well, you usually don't, so no worries if not, you know, no pressure, only if you'd think it'd maybe, I don't know, help! I know it doesn't always. but ah, um... are you -- alright? (in the pantry. we should probably stop asking you about this but are you sure you're alright in there? it's where the parsnips live. and you now, too, I suppose! just... you and the onions. and a demon. sorry, didn't mean to remind you! you see I'm only asking because um for a second there I thought the dark circles under your eyes were actually bruises and it jumpscared me a bit)

LUCANIS (tired but soft): I'm fine, Bellara. Really. Don't worry about me.

VS.

DAVRIN: So hey lucanis. just out of interest. what the fuck is your damage anyway. why are you like this

LUCANIS (at his most 'orders one black coffee and drives away' and also honest): Well you see Davrin since you're asking: I am in hell. Also go fuck yourself.

[starfleetteddybear]

Oh hey, if some of y’all like yearning, and heartbreakingly romantic soundtracks… I got you covered.

I listen to this on repeat when I write my fics.

[fanfoolishness]

wait, what's that? Computer, enhance:

...wait a minute

son of a bitch