#Elven Pantheon

[ohmyarda]

“Do not mistake absence for forgottenness. The Evanuris are still with us, watching, and waiting, somewhere beyond the veil.”

[dragon-age-codex-entries]

Codex entry: Fen'Harel: The Dread Wolf

"There is precious little we know about Fen'Harel, for they say he did not care for our people. Elgar'nan and Mythal created the world as we know it, Andruil taught us the Ways of the Hunter, Sylaise and June gave us fire and crafting, but Fen'Harel kept to himself and plotted the betrayal of all the gods. And after the destruction of Arlathan, when the gods could no longer hear our prayers, it is said that Fen'Harel spent centuries in a far corner of the earth, giggling madly and hugging himself in glee.

The legend says that before the fall of Arlathan, the gods we know and revere fought an endless war with others of their kind. There is not a hahren among us who remembers these others: Only in dreams do we hear whispered the names of Geldauran and Daern'thal and Anaris, for they are the Forgotten Ones, the gods of terror and malice, spite and pestilence. In ancient times, only Fen'Harel could walk without fear among both our gods and the Forgotten Ones, for although he is kin to the gods of the People, the Forgotten Ones knew of his cunning ways, and saw him as one of their own.

And that is how Fen'Harel tricked them. Our gods saw him as a brother, and they trusted him when he said that they must keep to the heavens while he arranged a truce. And the Forgotten Ones trusted him also when he said he would arrange for the defeat of our gods, if only the Forgotten Ones would return to the abyss for a time. They trusted Fen'Harel, and they were all of them betrayed. And Fen'Harel sealed them away so they could never again walk among the People."

—From The Tale of Fen'Harel's Triumph, as told by Gisharel, Keeper of the Ralaferin clan of the Dalish elves

[celestialscarlet]

Elgar’nan

The All-Father, the Eldest of the Sun, He Who Overthrew his father, God of Vengeance and Sun, Husband to Mythal

This is the start to my series drawing each of the Elven Pantheon. I don’t have much in terms of information and inspiration, just generally sticking with those gold elements - as well as taking some inspiration from his Vallaslin. I got very frustrated with this drawing halfway through, as I’m just generally trying to work out a style I like - and I was also trying to keep some of that Dragon Age Tarot style reminiscent (mainly in the background). Ultimately I’d say I’m pretty happy with how it came out, this is the most ambitious drawing I’ve done in awhile and I generally achieved the look I was going for 🙂‍↕️

A close up on detail, and then the starting sketch. I wish I would have kept the richer skin tone but with all the shading I did it turned out different. I also went back and forth about adding back details to the cloth, but I think the very simple shape adds to the drawing.

[tomoleary]

Mike Dubisch Forgotten Realms: Silver Marches Illustration Original Art (Wizards of the Coast, 2002) Source

Mike Dubisch - Elven Pantheon Illustration Original Art (Wizards of the Coast, 2002) Source

Michael Dubisch - "Spelldancer" Illustration Original Art (Dungeons and Dragons, 2001) Source

[lairofdragonagelore]

Brecilian Ruins - DAO

[Remade post, originally from here] 

I don't know what to make of Brecilian Ruins. Can we truly trust DAO design with its statues? Spoiler answer: no.

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

The following post contains

Tevinter architecture filled with Elven traps

Iconography

The Well of Sorrows: DAO version

The Tevinter Artefacts

Extra minor details

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

Tevinter architecture filled with Elven traps

The first thing we have when entering these Ruins is Morrigan telling us that, despite seeing the whole place with the same architecture we saw in the Ruins of Dalish origin, this is Tevinter. Sure, we can assume that the Dalish hunters know nothing of Elvhenan Architecture or Tevinter Architecture, so their opinion about those ruins being elven could be wrong from the first moment. They are, after all, extremely unreliable beholders of the reality. 

Anyways, let's assume Morrigan is right and we see Tevinter arquitecture with Elven traps. This is quite different of what we usually find in Thedas: which is elven structures appropriated by Tevinter humans. This makes sense when you think that the elves were the first creatures in this world, and humans came later, in addition to Tevinter always co-opting any knowledge or techniques from the Elvhenan. 

However in Brecilian forest the order of the events seems to be on the other way around. Historically speaking, it can be explained in the following way:  we know that Tevinter invaded Ferelden and built many structures with defensive purposes, like Ostagar [which was built to contain the “danger” of the Chasind in the far South]. 

We also know in the DLC: Witch Hunt, that slaved elves ran away from the North to the South years later after the fall of Arlathan. We know they hid for a while in a Thaig, but maybe some could have reached these forest and inhabit the ancient human structures, protecting themselves with elven traps to keep Tevinter slavers away from them.

Another possibility is that Tevinter simply co-opted the Elven traps and used them in their own buildings. It would not be the first time doing this.

Iconography

The Ruin corridors and chambers are filled with statues. They are the same statues we saw in Zathrian's camp: Sylaise (woman with a vessel), Andruil (woman with a sword. Why? Should not be a bow?), and Ghilan'nain (woman without head and hands). 

These are the same exact statues we find in any Chantry, Circle of Magi, or human town, so this is exactly why I never trusted DAO design in general. I don't know if the engine and its lack of resources made them reuse a lot of background details, or there is a real intention in them [I incline to the former]. Considering that DAO had almost 10 years of development, I want to believe that this is not by chance... but maybe the limitations of the engine forced them to remove most of the potential that environmental telling has to offer... I don't know.

In any case, inside the Brecilian Ruins we see a symbol or figure we also saw in the Dalish origin: a kind of dragon-head like figure, accompanied many times by one of those figures that we believe, it represents Andruil (the goddess of Hunt). This could also represent Andraste [who always has a sword or a shield in her representations] beside two figures that look like dragon heads. This would link Andraste with Dragons too, which has been a repeated association that we are not stranger to. 

In DAO we see that the dalish are deeply related to Dragons too if we pay attention to the enviromental details that are not repeated anytwhere else:  in Zathrian's clan we see many aravels with masks that are dragon-like skulls, and when you click on them, you find out it's a representation of one of their elven pantheon. 

We see the concept art of these in the credits of the game.

By now it's quite difficult to say if this is an obvious link of the Elven Pantheon with dragons or maybe Old Gods, or it's just a vestige of former slave elves whose masters may have forced them to worship the Old Gods. It is not strange that a slaved group takes the religious symbols of their slavers and worship them in the name of their own (forbidden) gods. We know that we can't trust in Dalish tales as reliable sources of History, because it's extremely fragmented and lost (thanks to DAI we are truly aware of how false they are containing barely a pinch of truth in them, twisted and romanticed).

On the other hand, I am inclined to think that this is just a representation of how the Elvhenan had, originally, a religion based on Dragons. We know that they venerated a “divine” shape that was meant for their gods and their chosen ones that implied Wings, and due to Mythal’s shape, we associate this Divine Shape with the form of a Dragon. Additional material that can support this speculation can be found in the first three comics of DA comics [The Silent Grove , Those Who Speak, Until We Sleep] where we are informed that the Dragons were the ones who controlled the skies originally, possibly had a broad power over the Fade [Dreamer-like, so from the Fade they could alter reality], and they may have been related to an original non-fragmented “song” that everythign and everyone in the world sang.  Also, Dragon Blood is “the blood of the World”, placing the Titans in a confusing position within the lore.

In these Ruins we find a codex of Falon'Din. Which is the same god that Talem told us about when we asked him if he could identify that strange winged statue. So... the confusions gets worse here: it's a Tevinter Ruin, with elven traps, and Elven God statues. 

It’s impossible to overlook the fact that this statue of Falon’Din has strong resemblance to the Old God statue of Urthemiel. As if Falon’Din wanted to have the shape of Urthemiel.

The chamber with the fire traps displays “Sylaise” and “Andruil” statues. Which in terms of Dalish Elven lore makes little sense. Andruil? Sure, she is the hunter goddess, though in these statues she is not in a aggressive stance. So is she chasing after you?. And what about Sylaise? The goddess of the domestic arts? Trying to kill you? Protecting the home of the elves? In a Tevinter structure? This makes a bit of more sense if we keep in mind what we know about Andruil from DAI and the little bit of Sylaise [read their sections in Evanuris]; Sylaise is a very agressive, envious goddes of Fire, who is described top have fire breath [like a dragon?], as powerful as Andruil’s spear [a very dangerous and brutal weapon so far we know]. Andruil is presented to us in DAI as the goddess of Sacrifice, brutal and merciless so far we can gather from the codices. So both goddesses seem to fit a bit better in a deadly trap room if we keep in mind the interpretation we had from DAI.

The Well of Sorrows: DAO version

Then we reach to our first "Well of Sorrows". Or more like "Puddle of Sorrows", lol. Once again, we find a wall covered with that Dragon-like skull statues of “Andruil” and “Sylaise” [I keep the quotation mark because we know we can’t trust little these representations]. We also find the codex of an ancient elven tablet explaining the ritual which, after DAI, makes more sense. You drink from the water of the pool, taking the knowledge left by other elves, and then you put the rest of the water in it, leaving your knowledge there [it works similar to what Abelas explained about the Well of Sorrows]. It seems to be corrupted or empty since you don’t have any whispers or sudden knowledge inside your head, and many Shades are summoned if you fail in the procedure. This chamber unlocks the following one where we find the Uthenera chamber.

Since the only Elven god codex we found in these ruins is Falon'Din’s, it could be fair to believe that this may be interpreted like a "Well of Falon'din" which gathers all the knowledge of those elves that want to stop living and go to Uthenera. 

This is consistent with the info provided in The Masked Empire, when Felassan explains that powerful mages went into Uthenera in underground tombs beneath Orlais and their servants had to take care of their bodies until they rebelled to them and slit their throats. This part of the Ruins are deep down underground. It is also reasonable in its location: Mythal’s Temple is located in the Arbor Wilds, South of Orlais, while this potential ruin in the depth of the Brecilian Forest. What’s a bit inconsistent is that some chars [Morrigan] said that this place was a Tevinter building [not an elvhenan one], but we can’t take Morrigan’s words as reliable either. She has been wrong many times along the series. 

The one thing that deeply disturbed me was that there were two spirits, a little boy and a woman, clearly humans, talking in elven. We could assume they were elf-blooded, but there is no assurance in this. I want to believe this is not a mistake, there is purpose in them being humans since this game has elven models. There is no “engine” limitations there. Now, about the meaning of it, it’s another thing entirely.

The ghost human woman is beside the altar where you find the codex of Uthenera, some elven remains, and a piece of the Juggernaut (a lot of these Ruins History can be scratched via the rare items you find, so sometimes finding a particular item in a particular place is not minor).

Another detail that annoyed me is that the platform where the elven burial lays is surrounded by Alamarri/Tevinter statues. It’s not clear the story of this building: was it originally elvhen? retaken by Tevinter and later taken by elves again? Or this was an Elvhenan ruin, taken by the Avvar or Alamarri of any tribe, and then taken by Tevinter when they invaded the South? It’s not clear neither the original construction of this building nor the succesive invations and appropiations of it, 

So the elven chamber dedicated to Uthenera is surrounded by dragon skull-like figures, there are Sylaise and Andruil statues on the outside ring and Alamarri/Tevinter statues with spears in the inner ring. Clearly this shows that we can’t truly trust much the enviromental telling of DAO due to the restriction of resources. 

The Tevinter Artefacts

Finally, when you head to the deepest bottom of the ruins, you find a big statue I can't establish to what culture belongs yet; I speculate it's Tevinter due to the places where I found it most of the time. It has a similar flavor to the ones found in Kirkwall. 

Behind it, an instrument with two tables filled with research stuff. The instrument is something that I can't decide if it is the same artefact we use in DAI to strengthen the Veil, those elven artefacts, or it's a prototype version of the Tevinter artefact to see the stars: the astrarium [which would make NO sense in the deep bottom of the Ruins, lol. What stars are you looking at?]. 

In any case, after this part you find a big chamber with a quincunx. Probably the first time we see this organisation. Which makes us remember Solas Tarot Card: the thing we find in a quincunx’s centre tends to be of great importance.

So, this disposition makes a quincunx inside another one, since each of them is also a  quincunx, but its centre must be.... a person? a sacrifice? 

 And if this symbol were not crazy enough already, the squares have a Chantry symbol in each corner. Not the Imperial Chantry (which won’t be a big fuss) but the Standard Chantry! I can’t believe this is a lack of resources... the sunburst symbol is extremelly important in DA series.

In the centre of this big chamber, once again, we found another artefact that may be an Astrarium or an Elven Artefact. We are sure it's Tevinter, since the same object can be found in the basement of the Circle of Magi. We have no idea what it does, or if it's related to any other artefact we found in DAI. (But it’s related to the one found close to the tables full of research stuff. They look the same, one only has a spherical glass around it while the other is more like the skeleton of the first one, with some missing part)

Anyway, returning to the quincunx Chamber: Here we fight an Arcane Horror. I always found these creatures with a design preeeetty close to the Sidereal Magisters. I don’t know if this means something, but in this context, it hints that a Tevinter experiment went wrong in this chamber and corrupted the mage performing it. It’s not by chance that Arcane Horrors are a product of a Pride demon taking control of a mage corpse. It has a big symbolism.

So, we can speculate that some Tevinter experiment happened here, there is no doubt. Not by chance Zathrian and the Oak tree tell us that the Brecilian Forest has a particular thin Veil, and rage demons possess the trees around. We also find a lot of revenants here (pride or desire demons bound by blood magic, explained in the codex The Black Vials). In short,  Brecilian forest has similar symptoms to Kirkwall. Tevinter made experiments here, but it’s not sure if they were performed before or after the slave elves lived here.

Extra minor details

In these ruins is where we found a soul trapped (or bound?) to a gem that will teach us the ancient arts of the Arcane Warrior. It says that it is the last of their kind, implying that if you don’t acquire this knowledge, it will be lost forever and would make no sense for Viviene to have this knowledge in DAI. 

All over the Ruins there are some rugs with a symbol that can be interpreted as an oversimplification of the Tevinter Imperium heraldry.

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore ]

[teoceearts]

Lord Inquisitor Dalinev Lavellan

Knight-Enchanter, First to the Keeper, and Not Your Fucking Herald

[rpgchoices]

Okay so we agree that the elven gods were already tainted with the blight when they got trapped in the fade so the city was already corrupted, right? And they got the corruption from the void and maybe infected one titan too, and then when the tevinter magisters entered the fade they fully spread it everywhere?

Tho I don't know how this is connected with the old gods and why they are the ones searched by the darkspawn.

[emahriel]

time to study again and refresh my mind... latest da4 update got me thinking about what other god we may possibly see 👁️ we know worship of the seven old gods was the religion of the imperium for hundreds of years so...

[sequesteredbhaalspawn]

Also why is Minthara a "Lolth-Sworn" Drow, when she clearly doesn't like Lolth? Like did Larian just give her the "evil" subrace (gross of them to have it be that why in the game tbh) because she's "evil?"

[blightbear]

Davrin Solas truther

[skullmoss]

i can always tell when a dragon age fan has only ever played as a lavellan inquisitor and never bothered playing a qunari or dwarf inquisitor run based on how they talk about solas

[elvhenmage]

i desperately need them to put out dav's cc early, especially after the newest gameinformer article talking about all the different options. i need at least two weeks of being able to fuck around in there to actually decide what i want my rook to look like because thinking about opening the game for the first time and having to spend hours in the cc for rook + inquisitor is making me anxious 😭 i don't want to rush making them but i know i'll want to get into the game itself so badly that i probably will unless i can plan them out ahead of time

[dragon-age-codex-entries]

Codex entry: Mythal: the Great Protector

"Elgar'nan had defeated his father, the sun, and all was covered in darkness. Pleased with himself, Elgar'nan sought to console his mother, the earth, by replacing all that the sun had destroyed. But the earth knew that without the sun, nothing could grow. She whispered to Elgar'nan this truth, and pleaded with him to release his father, but Elgar'nan's pride was great, and his vengeance was terrible, and he refused.

It was at this moment that Mythal walked out of the sea of the earth's tears and onto the land. She placed her hand on Elgar'nan's brow, and at her touch he grew calm and knew that his anger had led him astray. Humbled, Elgar'nan went to the place where the sun was buried and spoke to him. Elgar'nan said he would release the sun if the sun promised to be gentle and to return to the earth each night. The sun, feeling remorse at what he had done, agreed.

And so the sun rose again in the sky, and shone his golden light upon the earth. Elgar'nan and Mythal, with the help of the earth and the sun, brought back to life all the wondrous things that the sun had destroyed, and they grew and thrived. And that night, when the sun had gone to sleep, Mythal gathered the glowing earth around his bed, and formed it into a sphere to be placed in the sky, a pale reflection of the sun's true glory."

—From The Tale of Mythal's Touch, as told by Gisharel, Keeper of the Ralaferin clan of the Dalish elves

[sorcerous-caress]

I have so so many obscure characters I simp for its not even funny. Like, every time a somewhat handsome and kind of flirty character come son screen I want to fuck the daylights out of them lol. Should have been more options to fuck your way through Faerun tbh

YOU KNOW WHO I REALLY WANT TO FUCK?

THIS GUY, LORIN.

God he is just so scared and whimpering and crying <333 he is such an elfy elf too! All coddled and soft poor baby. I wanna tuck him in, I wanna give him a kiss and wanna hug his cock with my insides to dry his tears and comfort him.

Like awww the poor little elf man is scared? He is crying? Oh no! No no precious baby. Come here, this human will comfort you. Want me to suck your dick? Want me to fuck you with a strap? Wanna cum inside me? Whatever you want sweet angel <3

[maintitle]

I will say, the biggest thing Veilguard could do to upset me in it's plot is try to minimize the abuse that Flemeth put Morrigan through. It was heinous conditions and I worry that if they don't take the more obvious angle in this game, they'll backslide on that.

[n1ghtwarden]

also reeling w the fact that the underdark book in bg3 on lolth's lie and what we do know of yvonnel the eternal implies she was one of lolth's first cultists; and one of the last drow who held any knowledge of their past culture of the ilythiir empire(which was theirs prior to the sundering and the destruction of their texts and cities by surface elves)/dark elves. it died when yvonnel did - though snippets of it likely live on in both quenthel and yvonnel ii's heads.