#I wanted to go to Seheron

[ambrosia-vinca]

If Veilguard wanted a freedom fighter-style faction as allies to fight both the Antaam and the Venatori, it shouldn't have been the Crows, but the Fog Warriors

[ghost-bard]

I hope in the next dragon age game theres 3 dwarf companions 3 qunari companions 1 elf and a human that dies early on like that one girl from the dao awakening dlc

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

it's like i'm sorry even if you wanted to find a natural environment for them you can't honestly just go lmao arlathan just because it's fucking there bc even if you set aside the fact that these 12 were eggs that came from generations of griffons that were companions for people, griffons were said to originate from seheron?? arlathan forest isn't even the right environment lmaooooooo

[squibll]

worldstate where the hero of ferelden does get to go with sten postgame, actually

[yavvana]

I can't get over how fucking awful Mythal actually was.

Don't read below this if you haven't finished Veilguard, lmao.

The fact that Solas wore her vallaslin, and somehow still saw her as a friend, and trusted and loved her enough to do everything she asked of him makes me so angry/sad. Friends don't make their friends wear slave markings on their faces. Him being called her lapdog by Elgar'nan makes so much more sense.

And then Solas goes and accepts the blame for decisions that she made, and then manipulated him into agreeing to, and she fucking accepts no fault! If you confront her about the Blight when you meet her in the Crossroads, she basically just says, "not my problem."

And he blames himself for her death because he couldn't convince her to walk away from the Evanuris! But really, sorry Mythal, that's her own fucking fault?! She saw herself as above Solas, so she refused to heed his warnings, and then Elgar'nan killed her because Elgar'nan's a bitch.

And then if you pick the good ending, and Solas sees her again, you cannot tell me that his reaction to her is not one of someone who has been abused being confronted by their abuser. The way he curls around the dagger...Mythal, when I get my hands on you, Mythal...And then she says, "I release you from my service." Bitch. I wanted my Lavellan to punch her ghost with her prosthetic hand so fucking bad, lmao.

Solas was a spirit of wisdom! And she corrupted him from his purpose. If he had stayed a spirit, he would have become a pride demon because of her manipulations.

Cole has a couple of lines in DAI that I can't stop fucking thinking about.

"He didn't want a body, but she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face."

And, "He wants to give wisdom, not orders."

Solas gets to be himself in Inquisition. He gets to return to giving wisdom. Regardless of whether or not you're romancing him, if you're not a dick to him, he offers these beautiful stories about the Fade, and GDL does a fucking incredible job of making each of them sound poetic as fuck. And he's so kind to all the companions. Even Vivienne who has so much contempt for him, and he tries to offer her advice when he notices things about her magic that he finds...unsettling, lmao. Like their interaction about her staff's aura and him being like, "Are you sure that's the aura you want your staff to have, I can cleanse it for you?" And she's just like, "Yup." And he just lets it go.

When he leaves the Inquisition, Solas forces himself to be what Mythal made him. Which makes the line, "You are Mythal's creature now!" so distressingly ironic.

People talk about how he hates the Dalish elves, and Qunari, but that's just factually inaccurate. He's frustrated by the Dalish because he spent how many years fighting to free the elves from the influence of the Evanuris, only to wake from uthenera to find that he is the villain in all their tales, and the Evanuris are regarded as gods. And when he tried to tell a clan the truth, they tried to kill him! And he doesn't hate the Qunari, he hates the Qun. He hates that under the Qun, people do not get to make their own decisions.

Iron Bull's biggest fear is becoming a rabid Tal'Vashoth, and he expresses as much to Solas. And if you play as a Qunari, Solas points out in party banter that Inky isn't rabid.

If you have Iron Bull side with the Chargers, Solas checks in on Bull several times in party banter, assuring Bull he won't become like the Tal'Vashoth that he fought in Seheron. Because Bull has the Inquisition, and his friends, and Solas. And then they play mental chess, and if that's not friendship, idk what is.

And his interactions with Sera, who doesn't think she's elfy enough, so she makes fun of elfy things as a defence mechanism, are fucking hilarious. The way he gets her to talk about the Fade by asking her about the Breach, and what she sees when she looks at it, and you kinda see that Sera is a lot more elfy than she realizes. And then when she realizes it and gets mad, he basically tells her it's payback for her filling his bedroll with lizards. And she just fucking giggles and is like, "yeah, fair." (These two are my absolute favorite characters in DAI and I would die for either of them, lmao) But he kinda makes her connect with her heritage even though she doesn't want to, and I think that's good for her.

Solas also gets angry with Blackwall, not for lying about actually being Thom Rainier, but because Blackwall led his men into fights, and to their deaths in many instances, for nothing more than his greed. And then he APOLOGIZES for that interaction. And Blackwall tells him it's fine, that Solas was right, and he deserved it. And then Solas commends him for taking the first step towards redemption by owning his past and his mistakes.

And then there's him and Varric constantly joking about having to clean up messes made by humans, and "Why are an elven apostate and a dwarf here, again?" Their interactions are some of my favorites, and it's why I firmly believe that if there had been one more wolf statuette to find, it would have been his regret over Varric's death.

Solas deserved better than having Mythal as a "friend." She manipulated and corrupted him. And then let him take the fall for things that she did. She regrets NOTHING about what they did to the Titans. Meanwhile, it's one of his biggest regrets.

Anyway, I love the Egg, and I hate Mythal. That is all. I hope Solas and my Lavellan Inky get to have plenty of Fade-ordered therapy. They both fucking need it.

[clairescotcoutts]

So, about The Veilguard.

This post is:

Long.

Spoiler full.

Read at your peril.

So.

The fact that I devoured the game in virtually less than three days should speak for itself; I was worried about the playing style, I was unsure about the combo system, and having only two companions travel alongside the MC felt a little alien to me and also added to my anxiety. (Yes, I’ve played Mass Effect, yes, I’ve been in a fighting trio before, but never in Dragon Age.) I thought, “There’s only three of us?! We’re gonna die so much and so hard.”

Turns out I didn’t die so many times as I’d expected, so yay me.

I had refused to watch anything that had to do with the plot, with the exception of the trailers, because I wanted my experience to be fresh and untainted by expectations. Of course, I had hopes — but other than that, I dove in blind and without any sense of direction.

As you know, the depths of the ocean hold both horror and beauty, so here are mine; I shall start with the horrors so all the bad air is cleared out first.

My primary horror is that, save a few points, the game very clearly follows BioWare’s own canon, in which the Hero of Ferelden must have died to stop the Fifth Blight, and thus there is no Kieran. Morrigan plays a pivotal role yet again, but her presence implies that the decisions made in previous games are… well, your own, but not the world’s own. So, no Kieran, and it is heavily suggested that it was Morrigan who drank from the Vir’Abelasan. Even if she hadn’t, turns out she ends up with a piece of Mythal inside her anyway, granted by a regretful (and finally gone) Flemeth.

Story-telling wise, well, I don’t know if it was the best choice— I just know it bummed me out a bit to find some of my decisions discarded, not considered at all.

My second horror is the absence of either Hawke or Stroud. The events at Amaranthine are mentioned, but (unless I missed a codex entry) there’s no word on what happened to the brave soul left in the Fade to fight that giant monster demon. Since I always leave Stroud behind (because Alistair is and always will be a king to me), I can’t say I’m suffering to know his fate, but it would’ve been nice to confirm something. 

At the end of Inquisition, Morrigan narrates that should Hawke live, they go to Weisshaupt, but soon all news from there ends. What happened?! Am I missing something found only in the comics or books?

Also what happened to the rest of the companions? What about the woman made Divine in Inquisition? Whether it’s Leliana, Cassandra or Vivienne, you’d think the Divine would have something to say about two ancient elven gods turning the world tits up.

What about the Qunari who are not part of the Antaam? Are they in agreement with Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain? Is Seheron torn asunder like Minrathous?

Why is nobody remarking on the fact that the Crows buy (or used to buy) people?! I love the Antivan Crows, I do, but one cannot forget Zevran and all he told us about them.

Those are my particular points of horror. 

Now, to the rest.

Veilguard is a game that doesn’t hold back. It’s out to punch you in the guts and kick you in the feelings, and boy does it do it brilliantly. The sacrifices are real. The choices are heavy and carry weight on them that slumps you down (especially if you’re extra sensitive, like me) throughout the game. The dilemma and problems your companions face are heart wrenching, and you want them all to thrive. Yes, even the one who was hardened because you can’t bloody be in two places at once. These companions are well fleshed-out, they’re alive, they’re complex and they are so beautiful to live and travel with. The emotional moments they have, I felt them, I suffered with them, I cried. I /cried/, which had never happened to me with a videogame before. And not just because this companion is my favourite or that topic hits a bit close to home— not just that. It’s because they’re amazingly written and acted out. They feel so real.

The locations are gorgeous (I especially fell in love with Treviso), and I love how much you’re able to explore. I love that you can pet animals. I love that you can interact with the world in front of you. I /love/ that you don't miss dialogue even if you get into a fight because the companions re-start conversations now.

The NPCs? My children. Isabela is fire, as always; Antoine, Evka, Viago and Teia have my whole heart. The Mourn Watch is fascinating and the Shadow Dragons are bold, united and righteous. I really like that the Veil Jumpers don’t diss on the Dalish just because they know more— they understand that, as a people, they are one. And they’re accepting of everyone, not just elves!

I simply adore Rook as a protagonist. Not just because they give purple Hawke, and I love Hawke, but because again, they feel human and real. They know this is well above their paygrade, and they’re in way over their heads, but they still step up and lead because damn, someone has to. Iron Bull would be so proud. They are fun, they are caring, they are talkative and they know they’re drowning, but can’t afford to stop swimming.

Both in Origins and Inquisition it felt as though we were The Chosen One, even if in the latter one tried to swear it off and deny any possible divine intervention, but in DA: 2 and here, we are just people trying their best with the worst circumstances, and to me, that’s beautiful. Rook is a delightful protagonist.

The game allows you to choose who you’re going to be and /how/ you’re going to be thus. You can be cis, you can be trans, you can be neither and you can be both. No limits now.

Which leads me to another point I simply adored: how the questions of gender are treated. It’s really big to have an NB character go through their own acceptance process before our very eyes. While in Origins (and a bit in Inquisition too) you have the choice to be shocked that there are people who like their same gender, this game is Thedas saying “The world is big, the world is complex, and people everywhere are not defined by your expectations or rules. It’s not even an option. Deal with it.”

Regarding the magic, I’m not even mad it looks and feels different. After all, Dorian used to say that “the South is so charming and rustic”, and now I see that’s because what he saw in Ferelden and Orlais was not what he is used to. Even in Absolution we see that the way Tevinter used magic is distinctly unique and not how it is done south of Arlathan. I understand it. I like it. It’s not as if there had been no changes in the designs of demons and darkspawn before, and now that’s what they look like. It’s fine. Time has passed and people are allowed to make different creative choices.

Now, to Solas… Solas. Oh, Solas. I understand you so much better now.

Veilguard really helps put into perspective some bits of dialogue from previous games. Why does this 8-ball care so much about spirits and the Fade? Gods, because he /is/ them, and the Fade used to be his home. Every time he has to hear that spirits are monsters or unreal he takes it personally, and how could he not? People are saying he’s a monster, he’s not real, and nobody knows any better because they wouldn’t believe him anyway. Now I understand why he gets so worked up if you make Cole more human—you’re doing to him what Mythal did to Solas himself. You’re forcing him to be something else and Solas knows it hurts. (Also, Cole is happier as a spirit— “Thank you for helping me find this again. For believing in me. You don't know what it means”, he says, and now it hits so differently.)

I have to remark on some things I’ve read that have shocked me— first of all being the interpretation of Solas and Mythal’s relationship. Like Taash, you can assume “they were doing it”, however, I don’t think they ever loved each other like that. Their bond, to me, is that of a queen and her most loyal knight, a “king and lionheart” sort of situation if you will. Solas knows her better than anyone else, certainly, but the way I see it, that right there is his commander, inspiration and also, his heaviest shackle.

Their relationship merits another post altogether, I believe, as does Solas and Lavellan’s.

All in all, the good, to me, far outweights the bad.

Give the Veilguard a chance before you discard them, enjoy the appearance of some of the characters you love, enjoy getting to know the new heroes. Give yourself the option of having an informed opinion before you love or hate.

Also, petition for Solas to let his hair grow out again.

That's it, for now.

[vigilskept]

Saw your tags on the last few posts and hard agree! Between the ever present Fen'harel foreshadowing AND Sandal's prophecy AND Mythal's reckoning? It always seemed like the Veil coming down was that proper big bang finish that would rewrite all the rules in a satisfying and interesting way. One of my issues with Veilgaurd is I feel like it took the series' opportunity for a destinct ending away. Personally, I believe good stories end. I don't want 30 DA games in a MCU verse. And now, to have the series end they have to come up with a stopping point that makes more sense than the Veil. Or revisit the Veil. And what would be the point in that when they wasted all the foreshadowing?

yes, exactly!! i felt like i was going insane on my soapbox there, thank you!! it really feels like they ran up against the natural end point for the franchise and just decided to do a little shimmy around it. i just don't see what exactly that achieves except to set up a new, bigger bad which we have no real stake in.

was i curious about the executors prior to veilguard? yes! but i expected them to appear in this game since they clearly had an interest in solas' plans!! not for them to have 3 completely missable interactions followed by the worst idea of a post credit scene i've ever seen. whatever curiosity i had about what they were up to & how the kossith relate to what's across the sea is pretty much gone at this point.

a "shadowy cabal" who's secretly responsible for all of the evil enacted in this world by people in power is not a plot i care to see play out in bioware's hands. it's a stupid, elders of zion ass direction to take things and was not worth trashing over a decade of build up.

there is nowhere they could take that plot thread (already relying on the worst possible trope...) that would give dragon age a more satisfying conclusion than dropping the veil.

it would've resolved or set up a potential resolution for all of the major conflicts that have been established up to now!! (mages under the chantry, tevene class structure/slavery, oppression of elves, the blights, the waking titans, etc. etc. i could go on!)

and with the way veilguard ends... it looks to me like they wanted to somehow get the implied resolutions that would come out of dropping the veil without committing to it. that's why no matter what you do, dorian or mae will become archon and singlehandedly restructure tevinter society. the load bearing piece of "mageocracy can't function if everyone's a mage now" is gone, so we have to have a poorly executed sideplot to resolve this plot thread for us instead...

i'm sure people will feel differently, but i personally would've found it more satisfying if the veil fell and the franchise wrapped up there. for good or ill, it changes everything and we can all have the time of our lives speculating about the Implications thereafter.

if they really wanted to(/needed to promise EA they could) make more games in this setting — they could've gone backwards! there's lots of stories you could tell throughout thedas in the gap between the fifth blight and solas' ritual! there's lots of stories you could tell about the centuries between andraste's rebellion and the fifth blight! there's so much happening in the background here that they've hinted at through codices that if they really wanted more content in this setting, there is so much room to expand on those.

could they set up world shattering events like "tearing down the veil" again? no. but i think that was a very obvious one and done situation, and i don't think anyone came into this franchise expecting their dragon age games to have stakes that apocalyptic until trespasser! i think there absolutely would've absolutely been an audience for a game about the assassination of queen madrigal or the fog warriors' resistance on seheron if they hadn't fumbled this....

[shallow-between-stars]

So like... hear me out and feel free to tell me if I've been proven wrong already or my maths is off or anything and I have only had about three hours of sleep here (because my body responded to ALL THE SLEEP I've had the past three days by refusing to acknowledge the passage of time yesterday) but the more I play and the more I replay the more convinced I become that...

...Taash could possibly be Bull's child. (Hear me out!)

As evidence I provide the following three points. The first is...

The math checks out.

Look, okay, I've been bored. I don't do well with enforced idleness and I've been sick. So I sat down and did the math. I have recollection of Bull being 39 during Inquisition. I don't know where I got that number from but it is a number that feasibly works with his military history. So I'mma go with it. This math works out -anyway- with Bull just being 'late 30's, early 40's' in either direction so I'mma just gonna go with 39 for the sake of convenience.

Taash is said to be early 20's. This math does get a bit more iffy the closer to 20 they are and I think the sweet spot is if they're about 23. So that's the age I'm gonna use. Again, math still checks out if slightly older or slightly younger, but gets more dicey the closer you go to 20.

Let's take the timeline and play with it now.

Fact one: We have Taash at around 23, which puts them at around 13 around the time of base Inquisition.

Fact two: Bull spent 7 years in Seheron, plus a year or so with the re-educators, plus two years in Fisher's Bleeders, plus a couple with the Chargers before we meet him in Inquisition. So all up let's say... 11-12 years total since leaving Par Vollen for Seheron.

So it checks out that Bull is in Par Vollen being a baby Ben Hassrath (26, 27 years old) at the same time that Shathaan is an ashkaari in Par Vollen.

And look, Ashkaari are teachers, right? I had a look and it's not specified as to which part of the Triumvirate Ashkaari are part of, but logically you would need teachers for Ben Hassrath training. My own personal standing on how much I hate the "Hot for Teacher" trope aside, (comes with the territory of being a -responsible- teacher) it is fully possible that Bull... well... got Hot for Teacher.

Whether or not Bull was involved, Taash's conception happens some time around the time Bull is 22-25 years old. He's in Par Vollen, so is Shathaan. It's possible. (Par Vollen is a big place, but it's still possible.)

Physical similarities

Bull and Taash look similar in a lot of ways, and not just in a whole "All qunari look alike" (ew) kind of way. I give you that this is the weakest point on my list because a lot of these features Shathaan also shares, but onto the points.

All three qunari have green eyes. (Well, eye, as the case may be) All three greens are a pretty similar shade.

Taash's horns hit a middle-ground between Bull's massive rack and Shathaan's curly horns. This is less convincing than I want it to be because we know that qunari can and do manipulate their horns into growing a certain way but horns also do need a form to start from.

Taash is significantly taller than their mother. Bull is pretty freaking HUGE for a qunari. Yes, we do see other huge qunari, but both Bull and Taash stand head-and-shoulders above pretty much every other qunari out there, including Inquisitors and Rooks. Taash also has an incredibly muscular frame, which Bull shares. They stronk.

Taash and Bull share cheekbones and have similar underlying bone structure to their jaws and chin. Add in genetic variation from Shathann and...

Personality similarities

Yes, yes, this could just be "They both love dragons" but it's more than that. Taash and Bull are both extremely blunt tell-it-like-they-see-it people who are both significantly more intelligent than they appear at first glance. Taash doesn't like learning about qunari, but retains what they learn fairly well (despite their mother being, in my professional opinion, a shit teacher.) They're both able to find connections and alternate pathways to getting what they want, and both usually choose the path of least resistance. (Even though Taash absolutely fails their stealth check the first time you meet them, they still try to talk the Antaam down from trying to take the dragon before resorting to violence when this doesn't work.) Taash evades questions about themselves like the plague, similar to Bull when you first meet him ("You writing a book?") and both are incredibly loyal once they've decided where their loyalties lie.

Also, they both lack confidence in their identity and turn to others for help choosing who they want to be, and both struggle immensely within the structure of the qun and crave freedom. Both also are willing to repress this desire if told that it's better in the long run.

And, y'know, both love alcohol, dragons and fighting.

In conclusion

Look, I just wrote this for fun, okay? And also because I love fucked up family dynamics. I'm presenting this as a possibility and nothing more and am mostly doing it because I'm tired and sick and trying to make the most of my weekend. That said, I do believe there's a case for Taash being Bull's kid and it would absolutely make my fanfic heart delighted if it were more than just a pipedream

Yes, I know I wrote like 500 words just now but don't take it too seriously, it's mostly just for lols and 'what ifs'.

But yeah. In conclusion Bull is Taash's daddy and I will be taking no questions at this time. (Kidding, kidding, give me any questions you have, rebut me with grace and kindness if you want. Just don't be a jerk.)

[assblastergaster]

while i understand the complaints about the tone of DA:V (especially because the game suffers a lot from those EA/bioware writing team cullings and three different development cycles) , i think it’s a kind of “in-canon” acceptable explanation for a lack of things like elf/dwarf/qunari racism, slavery in tevinter, mage bigotry is just the rush the characters are in to solve this crisis. your team is simply not interacting enough with other people for long enough to get to know their complexities. it’s not the most satisfying explanation—but i think it explains a lot.

like the other games are on similar time frames (except DA2) BUT with the constant idea that no one really believes that the world is ending. however, after the events of inquisition, the entire world has been forced to deal with the ramifications of solas’ shit and the literal veil tear across the sky that was seen across the world. and the southern chantry (the only one with real power) has been gone for 10 years, meaning the EVERYDAY pressures to hate mages have gone, especially after people realized free mages don’t just randomly turn into demons all the time. the game literally starts with the Magisterium exploding half of the world’s largest city, the blight rising in the south, and the antaam invading the east (predicating on the fact that Seheron has fallen into chaos). like in origins, i think there’s an uneasy alliance between everyone right now regardless of magic or not.

racism and slavery are poorly addressed, regardless of an explanation, but semi-reasonably we can also conclude that this is because your rook/companions is not literally traveling through the world like the previous MCs were (given eluvian travel), and you spend little time in each area to interact with people who aren’t literally your contacts (who you know aren’t racist/magephobes) or your enemies (a given). now, a lack of all the previous conflicts between races mentioned even in passing, or between NPCs, and a complete lack of moral grayness of the companions regarding the issues magic/race, is just bad. but, of course, i think that this is a result of the writers’ working conditions. EA doesn’t want a game with complex, interwoven storylines that deal with horrible topics that you may or may not come to terms with—they want money. so the DA writing team doesn’t get the time they need to add these layers, and are instead made to focus solely on the complexities of the Evanuris and their history.

yes. this is copium—to the nth degree—but i refuse to be a pussy bitch who whines that this game shouldn’t be canon at all. that’s stupid, and be real. all of the games, even in the last DLC of origins, have been absolutely hated at first. no one likes the way the writers go with anything, because they have to choose a single path in the twisted, complex world we all have grown to know. there are parts of this game that i would rather just imagine didn’t happen (taash’s story being handled so amateurishly for one, the whitewashing of the crows, etc.), but the ultimate story is not bad—and it doesn’t “undo” nearly as much lore as many people have claimed it does. Solas either is made to, or chooses to, undo mistakes that set the modern Thedas into motion thousands of years ago. he rids the world of the artificial doomsday he created, to bring it back into a state it was before them (potentially bringing back titans in some way), for the next game to face the ancient evils that existed in their world BEFORE what we knew to be true.

the games have always been leading up to this. Mythal as flemeth is a classic example of—you think you know, but you do not. The evanuris didn’t know what ancient forces they were messing with and still were brought to their knees by themselves—which is literally the plot of Origins.

[daitranscripts]

Trespasser Pt. 20

Elven Ruins

Trespasser Masterpost Previous: Agent of Fen’Harel

The PC emerges in an overgrown path of some elven ruins.

Party comments:

Cassandra: The Viddasala cannot have gotten far.

Blackwall: The Viddasala can’t be far.

Iron Bull: Come on. The Viddasala can’t be far.

They see the Qunari running up ahead.

Sera: There! On them!

Varric: There, up ahead!

Cole: Up there!

The Anchor begins to flare and the PC falls. The mark creates a huge blast that knocks everyone back.

PC: It’s going to… everyone back! (Cries out in pain.)

Party comments:

Cassandra: If it keeps up like this, it will kill you. Solas must help, as he did at Haven.

Varric: We’ve gotta stop this before it kills you. Assuming we find him, maybe Chuckles can help.

Dorian: That can’t be healthy. Perhaps Solas can help.

Vivienne: We must hope Solas can reverse the Anchor's effects before it kills you.

Sera: Solas can stop it, right? He has to know something. He always did. The whole time.

Cole: It's louder, faster. Solas can help, heal the hurt.

Iron Bull: You all right, boss? That's… damn. Maybe Solas can help.

Blackwall: If it keeps up like this, it will kill you. Solas must help, as he did at Haven.

Party comments:

Cole: Solas doesn’t want to hurt people. He isn’t that kind of wolf. The Qunari don’t see.

Sera: Hated his “too-smart-for-you” pity before the whole agent-of-Fenny business. He better help. We’re owed.

Varric: Chuckles, who apparently works for Fen'Harel. It's always the quiet ones…

Vivienne: Solas, the agent of Fen'Harel. I suspected something was off with our unwashed apostate.

Cassandra: Solas… an agent of Fen'Harel. I should have suspected.

Blackwall: That'd be Solas, the agent of Fen'Harel. (Grunts.) Knew there was something off about him.

They continue to chase down the Qunari through an eluvian.

Iron Bull: Over there. that’s gotta be where Solas is.

Dorian: That must be where Solas is.

Vivienne: that must be where Solas is located.

They emerge in a gully, where the Viddasala stands on a high ledge.

Viddasala: Saarebas! Rethra! Shokra!

The party is attacked as she goes through the eluvian with her saarebas.

Sera: The big mage! He’s always with their leader-woman!

Varric: There's the big saarebas who's always with the Viddasala!

Cole: There! He can't be far from her, or it hurts him!

The PC heads through the next eluvian, fighting across a long bridge and into another eluvian, emerging at a shrine to the dread wolf.

Viddasala: Saarebas! Meravas adim kata!

The saarebas, Saarath, leaps down to fight.

Sera: Here he comes! Let's have you!

Varric: The big guy's headed our way!

Cole: He's coming to stop us!

Viddasala: Saarebas! Rethra! Shokra!

More Qunari join the fray.

Iron Bull: Is that all you've got? I went through Seheron, you little shits!

Cassandra: Be ready! They have reinforcements!

Blackwall: More coming!

Eventually Saaraths’s collar breaks, and he runs off.

Iron Bull: Damn! Looks like he's off the leash!

Dorian: It seems the saarebas is no longer following orders!

Vivienne: Their pet mage has gone mad!

Viddasala: Saarebas! Meravas! Meravas!

The PC makes their way forward.

Viddasala: You will not leave here, Inquisitor! Antaam, ebrashok adim!

They fight across another bridge, and end up in a room with multiple eluvians.

Cassandra: One of the mirrors must lead out of here!

Iron Bull: One of the damned mirrors has to lead out of here!

Blackwall: One of these blasted mirrors has to lead out of here!

They continue to fight Qunari as they make their way across the area.

Cassandra: We must hurry!

Iron Bull: We gotta move, boss!

Blackwall: We need to keep moving!

Solas: Come on!

Varric: We need to hurry!

Cole: Quick, we're almost there!

They finally find the eluvian that takes them forward.

Romanced companion in party

Cassandra: Finish this, my love!

Iron Bull: All right, kadan! Take him down!

Blackwall: Let's end this, love!

Sera (married): Whatever happens, wifey—I’m wearing your underpants! (Laughs.)

Sera (not married): End them, [Shiny/’Teetness/Tadwinks/Buckles/Honey Tongue/Inky]! (Laughs.)

Dorian: Finish them off, amatus!

No romanced companion in party

Cassandra: Let us finish this!

Iron Bull: All right! Meravas katara!

Blackwall: Time to finish this!

Viddasala: You are dead, Inquisitor! Your soul is dust!

The Viddasala goes through the Eluvian, leaving Saarath to fight the party. He summons demons as the fight drags on, and Saarath begins to get overwhelmed with magic.

Cassandra: We cannot hurt him! Use your mark!

Iron Bull: We can't touch this guy! Use your mark!

Blackwall: Use your mark!

Sera: He's all magicky! Use your hand!

Varric: Nothing's hurting him! Use your mark!

Cole: You can't hurt him, but the Fade can! Use your mark!

Dorian: He's invulnerable! Use your mark!

Vivienne: You must use your mark!

Saareth is defeated, and the PC heads into the eluvian.

Next: The Dread Wolf

[storybookhawke]

Fic Rec Friday - Adoribull Edition

I've just been reading and re-reading a lot of adoribull recently! They are such a great and interesting canon x canon ship and I enjoy all the things the fandom has created so lovingly for them~

★

Drapetomania by ToPerceiveIsToBePerceptive

Rated E / major tags: slow burn, violence, AU, bondage, hurt/comfort, suicidal thoughts/attempt, racism, misgendering, slavery

Summary:

Pre-Game AU. Dorian is captured by slavers while trying to escape Tevinter. He's not the only one. Based very VERY loosely on the basic concept of "The Defiant Ones".

★

Miles to Go by desiredemon

Rated E / major tags: canon divergence, slavery, trauma, hurt dorian, captivity, Seheron, hurt/comfort, rape recovery, whipping, torture

Summary:

When Dorian refuses to be the heir his parents want, they send him away to Seheron. As if the war-torn island isn't enough of a nightmare on its own, Dorian's fellow legionaries take exception to his presence, and nearly break him even before the Qunari get their hands on him. Unexpectedly, one of those Qunari ends up being the one to help Dorian come back from the brink.

★

The Caro-Kann Defense by LuckyPanda13

Rated E / major tags: arranged/forced marriage, slow burn, canon divergence, enemies to lovers, emotional hurt/comfort, caretaking, trauma, grief, angst, fluff, happy ending

Summary:

12 Guardian 9:37 Dragon In the wake of the Qunari invasion of Kirkwall, they have renewed negotiations with the Tevinter Imperium, hoping to create a peace treaty to end the centuries-long conflict. Such treaties are traditionally sealed with a marriage. No self-respecting Tevinter magister would agree to marry a barbaric Qunari. No Qunari in their right mind would even consider marriage to be viable, let alone tie themselves to a bas-saarebas. Being volunteered to marry and be kept "safe" at some obscure, crumbling keep in the south isn't exactly where Dorian expected his life to end up. He'll do it, because it's better than the alternative. Likewise, The Iron Bull has been busy running his mercenary band, and being rerouted for some foolish peace treaty that won't last longer than a half-second isn't worth his time. He'll do it, because it's his job.

[demonic-dorito]

I know many people immediately hate Varania for betraying Fenris, but I think in her eyes, it was the best she could do for him.

When Fenris kills Hadriana, he says that Danarius must know that Fenris knows about his sister. Could there even be a world in which Danarius is monitoring Varania constantly? Checking through all the messages she got, having her followed, reading the messages she sends to Fenris, using his influence as a magister to make sure Varania’s work was never quite successful- keeping her desperate for a way to have a decent quality of life. Like if she straight up said no to his proposition he could literally just have her blacklisted from whatever line of work she wanted to be in, so she’d be forced to come back to him, groveling. “””Best””” case scenario is Varania gets to Kirkwall, hangs out with Fenris for a few days, Danarius captures Varania and tells Fenris that if he doesn’t come back, he’s gonna torture Varania. With this in mind, Varania’s best play is to go along with Danarius from the get go. And the sad part is, that’s also the best for Fenris in Varania’s mind. If Fenris returns to slavery with his sister as his masters apprentice, she would be in a position of authority- one she could use to help him, ease his struggles. And think about the way Varania reacts to seeing her brother again. She isn’t cackling maniacally and twirling her stick-on curly mustache- she sounds devastated he actually showed up. This, to me, doesn’t read like she was power seeking. It feels like she genuinely cared for her brother despite the resentment she felt toward him due to her struggles of being a free elf in a slave society.

Now, do I believe that Danarius would hold up his end of the bargain? Absolutely not. I think he’d plot to have to disposed of the second the three of them landed on Seheron to replace her with a respectable (read:human) apprentice. At that point, it’d be far harder to Fenris to escape.

I truly don’t believe Varania ever had a real moment of agency in the situation. She, like many of those whose misfortune lands them in Kirkwall, is a tragic character. I hope she was able to find work in the Free Marshes.

[bharv]

Tamassran

I don’t think I’m ever going to finish this. But this was my thoughts around my abandoned Rook, Tammy, a former Tamassran from Kont-aar which is a peaceful Qunari settlement in Rivain.

The life of a Tamassran is service, this she knows. She aids in the birth of her first babe when she is fourteen, a handsome strong boy bred from the line of the Arishok himself. It is a great honour, but she will not be proud. The mother is an excellent merchant of pearls, chosen for her quick mind and strong hips, and the union is blessed by the Ariqun herself in conception and labour. She falls in love with this baby, whom she names Hissera in her heart, and quietly cries when the charge of raising him until his schooling is given to one of the others, but this is what it is. She is known for her talent in moments of pain, and she must let those with a talent for the moments of joy hold love in their hearts freely. Love to her feels like a long cut on the palm of her hand.

*

She can show her love in a hundred tiny moments of care.

She works with the healers to save those who come back from Seheron, beached in the shores of Rivain and brought to her under the cover of darkness. Her favourite is the one whose men call him Hissrad, who shakes so hard she wonders if he is poisoned even as the healers tell her no. When he is cleared, she misses his smile, his kindness. Love is a wound for him, too.

The Viddasala comes to her with a long, hard gash in her arm which takes a careful hand to stitch; she is impressively still as the healer works slowly, breathing through her nose. It is better in the long term if the work is done right, not fast, and she tells her she will heal quickly physically, but should take the time she needs. The Viddasala prays over the message; work in Rivain is long, and subtle, but she believes they will win.

When she is done, the Viddesala looks at her in a way that makes her chest burn. The Tamassran is proud, and feels shame immediately for it.

*

Many years later, Tammy sits on the beach of Rivain and tries to imagine what Par Vollen is like. She had thought that perhaps the freedom of joining the Lords of Fortune would give her all that she wanted, but leaving Kont-aar only made her wish to grasp onto more of the edges of what she had left behind. She does not care for the tombs and the towers. All she wishes for is the sun, and silence.

There was a world out there, a world of gold and glory, but every coin weighs heavy on her.

Gold was not needed in Kont-aar. What use was personal wealth when all worked in tandem for the better of all? A golden coin was a trinket, a bauble and nothing more, and this new world would slit a throat for the sight of it. Glory, that was understood, but the way in which the Lords of Fortune fit around each other felt like a poorly bound rope. If it were tighter, measured better, it would chafe less, but that was wisdom for another life.

*

When she heard that she had lost her body, she keened with rage and sorrow. How could she live without her arm, her leg, her heart? What was the mind and the soul without the touch of another, without its vessel, its sinew? She loses her voice, she who should speak. She cannot find her tongue without them.

It is that which severs her, that is what she tells herself. It is the loss of the body of the Qun, and not the disappearance of the Viddasala in the unknown paths of the fade, whose wisdom surely would have guided them all back to the truth. The shame is heavy in her heart as she slips away from the gates of the city, that she thinks not of any other, but the face of one woman, who would surely hate her for all that she has become in the love of her.

*

It is hard, sometimes, remembering all that she is now. To work with mages, and not call them Sarebaas out of habit. To remember to separate out the parts of people into smaller things, not leave them in their whole. They are things beyond their role here, in a way she still struggles to reconcile. Harding is she, and is soldier, and is tender of her garden. Davrin is warrior, which is easy, and caregiver too, even if poorly suited for it.

She watches Bellara pull apart her machines, and Emmrich lay out bone. She will learn, she tells herself. She will learn. She can never be Tamassran again.

*

It is hard to not look for the Viddasala in every corner of the fade.

Through every pathway, through the rocks and the still trees.

Through the soft sorrow in Solas’ eyes.

Sometimes she wishes she could ask him. Just ask him. But she cannot find her tongue without her body.

*

The moment Taash breathes fire, she feels that burn in her chest again for the first time in almost a decade. Her own Tama told them stories of the adaari, the fire inside, and for just a moment she is a child again, home again, in the tiny pieces of charred flesh on the sand.

She will protect her. She knows it. She will lay down her life for her.

*

“Shanedan, Shathann. I would speak with you in our tongue, if you permit it.”

The Shathann smiles as she replies in Qunlat and invites her to sit, and every word they exchange fills her with the warmth she has missed.

“I remember the story of her birth,” Tammy tells her, watching the steam from the tea curl into the air. “Rumours, mostly. But they were ever-present. Then you left with her. You left Par Vollen. Then you left Kont-aar.”

“You think ill of me for doing so.”

It is not a question, but she shakes her head. “We are both Tal-Vashoth. I can think nothing of it. But you do Evataash no favours by hiding how much you must have fought to keep her from the Ben-Hassrath.”

“There is no need for her to know what will harm her. She is… already troubled, by her burdens.”

“I will say nothing. You have my word.”

“And you, Rook. Why did you leave?”

She considers the question as her hands are warmed by the cup. “I could not be. I had served wholly for my whole life, and then I. Could not speak. I lost my voice. I failed the Qun.”

“Then we are the same.”

She smiles. “Perhaps.”

[solitaireships]

Friendly Banter - Part 2

And now for another in this series of ficlets of banter, Minala and Lucanis chatting a bit! This takes place a decent bit after the first one I did, but you can read this without having read the first part. It's just a little bit of fun fluff, this time bonding over some delicious rice cake soup <3

Rating: Gen

Genre: Fluff

Words: 734 words

Divider by saradika

Content warnings: mentions of alcohol

“Thanks again for helping out with this, Lucanis,” Minala says.

She’s never been much of a chef. She knows how to make basic meals— mainly things easy to make with limited ingredients and in a short time. She’s certainly a better chef than Harding, but she tries to leave the cooking to the members of the Veilguard that are better at it. And as much as she loves Bellara’s cooking, today she sought help from one of the team’s other resident chefs.

“It’s no problem,” Lucanis replies. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had rice cake soup. Caterina used to have it made for us to celebrate the new year.”

“I used to do that with my family all the time too,” Minala says. 

For a moment, they cook together in silence, Lucanis chopping up some green onions while Minala’s hard at work preparing the beef to go into the soup. It’s nice getting into the rhythm of things, and a good way to distract Minala from how much she usually hates cooking with other people. Lucanis is easier to work with for that, though. The last thing she would have expected is that an assassin would be a gifted cook, but getting to know her new companions has given her plenty of surprises by now. 

Maybe most surprising is how well she and Bellara are getting along. Minala knew that she liked her, of course, but since they started dating, she’s only come to adore her more. They seem to have the perfect balance of similarities and differences, working well together both on the field and off. It’s exciting to meet someone and feel so connected to them, to feel as if they fit together perfectly. 

Minala has never been good at telling people she loves them. She always second guesses herself, worrying that it’s too soon, or she may not truly understand her feelings. But if she could see herself telling anyone she loves them, Bellara is one of those people. She just hasn’t worked herself up to saying that yet.

“May I ask if you decided to make this tonight for a reason?” Lucanis asks after a moment. He’s moved on by now to dividing egg yolks from whites, getting ready for the next steps in the recipe as Minala finishes up her part.

“Bellara and I have been together for a month now, so I wanted to do something nice for her,” Minala explains.

Bellara has family from Seheron too, just like Minala and Lucanis. Things like rice cake soup are harder to make when you’re constantly traveling, though. The Dalish are able to make countless dishes from the things around them, but it’s hard to get ahold of rice cakes if you never visit the city and even harder to get ahold of seaweed if you’re not by the coast. She mentioned having it once and loving it one night when she and Minala were exchanging stories about their cultures, finding even more commonalities and differences between them. But that was years ago, and Bellara said she's been craving it since.

At least with the eluvian network at their disposal, it’s easy to collect ingredients. Though Minala had to make sure she went on her own to get them— usually Lucanis and Bellara do most of the grocery shopping.

“You should bring the bottle of Pinot Grigio too,” Lucanis notes.

“Do you think it’ll go well with the soup?” Minala asks. She’s never drank much— alcohol has always tasted bad to her, and she hates the thought of not being in control of herself. But Lucanis knows more about this kind of thing, and Bellara might like some wine to go along with their meal.

“It should pair nicely with it, and Bellara mentioned it sounded good when we got it from Treviso market,” Lucanis says. “She’ll like it.”

“Then I’ll make sure to pour her a glass,” Minala says. “Thank you again, for everything.”

“I’m just doing my part,” he says.

“Is helping to prepare a romantic dinner usually part of a Crow’s contract?”

“Not often. But it does help to know how to prepare one.”

Minala doesn’t know whether that’s a joke or he’s being serious, but she decides not to ask. She’ll just be grateful for the help Lucanis is offering, especially knowing that with his help, this anniversary dinner will be perfect.

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #95: DA: TV, but make it different first meeting

Sometimes I have terrible fic ideas. Other times terrible fic ideas have me, leaping out of my subconscious when I'm trying to fall asleep and shaking me until I get out bed and try to do something with it. Like this one.

Or: In which the passing thought I'd have liked to have had playable origins for DA:TV turned into What if Rook had been imprisoned in the Ossuary with Lucanis pre-DA:TV?

aka the 'Til It's Daylight fic

Just imagine it:

Rook is born Lucretia Mercar - or, rather, she’s found only hours after birth on a battlefield in the north of Tevinter, without a sign of who her birth parents were or where every might have gone. She’s taken in by the solider who finds her - an older NCO by the name of Valentinian, who raises her in as much comfort as one can expect in a military camp and names her Lucretia after his beloved older sister, who died the previous year in Seheron.

Valentinian Mercar comes from an old military family - one with just enough linage to have weight, but long enough without magic to have minimal influence. He is, however, a good man. Gruff and sometimes uncertain what to do with a young daughter, but kind. Caring. Generous. Good to the men under his command and the slaves who serve the camp. Hates abuses of power. Loathes corruption. He is as good a man to ever come out of Tevinter - with the exception that he believes whole-heartedly in human superiority and the restoration of the Empire.

When Lucretia shows signs of magic, Valentinian is thrilled and sends her off to Minrathous to the best apprenticeship he can manage for her. She spends most of her teenage years away from home, studying - and becoming increasingly radicalized after hearing anti-slavery speeches by Magister Dorian Pavus and his ilk. This leads to many arguments with her father on the rare occasions they see each other.

Lucretia comes home for the winter holidays in the last year of her apprenticeship. She expects disagreements over her position on slavery over dinner; she does not expect for her father to have summoned his Venatori friends to help her see the error of her ways.

The Venatori attempt to reeducate Lucretia. When their initial intimidation attempts fail, she’s taken to one of their facilities - and when those attempts only steel her resolve, she’s taken to the Ossuary where she can be of use.

As it turns out, while you can force a demon into a non-mage with some effort, a mage has to allow themselves to be possessed. They can be tricked or tortured into it, but you can’t just stuff one inside them against their will. So when their new method of creating abominations fails, the Venatori go back to basics.

After about four months of this, Lucretia is tired. Her strength is failing. As much as she doesn't want to give the Venatori the satisfaction, she doesn't think she can hold out for much longer.

This is when she's visited by a Spirit of Purpose - or what seems to be a Spirit of Purpose anyway. It offers her freedom in exchange for possession, which is a deal Lucretia is no longer strong enough to refuse...

...but their jailbreak goes poorly until they stumble upon the cell of an Antivan Crow whose mind hasn't been subsumed by his demon. With Lucanis' help, they're able kill all the Venatori in the Ossuary along with their surviving experiments.

This is where I imagine the real thrust of fic beginning.

Though free of their cells, Lucretia and Lucanis are trapped in the Ossuary until the next supply ship arrives in three weeks time, as the prison can only be opened from the outside. They spend those three weeks exploring the prison, attempting to heal, and falling in to that sort of codependency that only comes from being offered a kind touch for the first time in nearly a year. To say nothing of the fact that they are each other's only support system - Lucretia keeps Lucanis and Spite level, and when she breaks down he does the same for her and Purpose. There's nothing romantic about things at this stage, but there is something verging on the dangerously obsessive, and if they'd been left to their own devices for much longer things might've become terribly unhealthy for the both of them.

Three weeks of eating real food and sleeping in real beds (well, one bed, partly for warmth and protection, partly because of nightmares and touch starvation) does wonders. Overpowering the Venatori supply ship goes much more smoothly than the rest of the jailbreak.

They manage to scuttle the supply ship near Afsaana on the Rialto Bay and catch a proper ride back to Treviso.

Caterina is thrilled enough to have her grandson returned that she doesn't question his relationship with Lucretia - at first. After a few weeks it becomes clear that Lucanis' experiences in the Ossuary have changed him and that Lucretia's presence is - in her mind - keeping him from healing. She encourages Lucanis to send Lucretia away, which Lucanis naturally refuses.

The situation between Lucanis and his grandmother is approaching untenable when Varric and Harding show up, asking for the Crows' help taking down a powerful ancient elven god going by the name of Solas before he can tear down he Veil. Caterina refuses to help them, thinking them mad and their terms not worth playing along, but Lucanis agrees to help them, walking away from his position as heir to the First Talon to do so.

And so Lucanis and Lucretia join what will eventually become the Veilguard c. 9:50, two years before the events of the game.

Lucretia at first is considered something of a tag along - she had, after all, been just shy of completing her apprenticeship when captured, has no useful contacts, and retains just enough of her Venatori-adjacent upbringing to be leery of the idea of ancient elven gods having been more powerful predecessors of Tevinter magisters, if they existed at all. But she quickly makes herself an integral part of the team, having a strategic mind and charismatic personality that helps her become Varric's second in command as she matures.

The next two years are a series of cat-and-mouse adventures, Varric and his team hot on the heals of Solas across the length of breadth of Thedas as he tries to gather what he needs to tear down the Veil. Dealer's choice on details, but at least one of these instances should involve Lucanis getting in what should be a fatal strike, but whether because ancient elves are hardier or because gods can only be killed with lyrium daggers, Solas survives.

Come 9:52, Solas has everything he needs to tear down the Veil...

The events of DA:TV follow canon, with some exceptions.

The Spirit of Purpose in Lucretia - who has been called Rook for being almost but not quite a crow since Varric took her and Lucanis on - keeps Solas from tricking her with blood magic, but still allows for a connection to be formed between them. Instead of trying to turn Rook into someone who can replace him in Fade Jail, he tries to radicalize the Purpose within her to do whatever is necessary to stop the gods - include release Solas of her own accord.

Canon proceeds apace - albeit it with major changes to the Crow storyline, with Lucanis being redeemed in his grandmother's eyes for ending the Antaam occupation and revealing Ivenci's betrayal of the city. (Dealer's choice how much this redemption is wanted - and how much of a part Caterina played in allowing Illario to have him kidnapped to ensure Lucanis was molded into the proper heir.)

After losing two companions defeating Ghilan'nain, Rook reluctantly releases Solas from his prison to help them defeat Elgar'nan. Which he does, failing to inform the rest that this will allow for the destruction of the Veil...

...but Rook has been expecting betrayal from Solas - and is willing to do (almost) anything necessary to achieve her purpose, including convince him to tie his life-force to the Veil when all she really wants to do is put her knife through his throat.

Thus ends the Sixth Blight... but no part of Thedas is untouched. There is much rebuilding to be done. Rook and Lucanis focus much of their efforts on Kirkwall in Varric's memory, as neither has any strong desire to return to their homelands. Aveline, eager to return to her position in the guard, eventually pushes the role of Viscount on them both, claiming Varric named them his heirs.... but that is another story.

Bonuses include:

Dealing with the realities of torture, imprisonment, betrayal, and possession. Neither Rook nor Lucanis should be in a good place when they escape the Ossuary. It should take a lot of effort - physical, mental, and emotional - to get them to a place where their relationship could be called healthy, and there should be a lot of false starts and backsliding. They're the only ones that understand what they went through... but sometimes that very closeness makes it impossible for them to help each other. But what began through circumstance eventually turns into solid relationship built on seeing each other at their worst and watching them choose not to be the worst version of themselves every day thereafter.

Navigating a relationship made up of a mage, a demon, a spirit, and an assassin with two bodies and one unwilling procession between them. Especially when not all parties are able to talk to each other at the same time. (This should be made somewhat more interesting by Spite and Purpose being the Fade equivalent of close kin, as Spite is corrupted Determination, which is the "first cousin" of Purpose.)

Some kind of closure for Rook and her adoptive father. Maybe Valentinian gets a redemption arc, realizing just how bad the Venatori are after their "reeducation" presumably leads the to the death of his beloved daughter. Maybe he doubles down on the Kool-aid and thinks to kill his daughter himself out of shame for her betrayal of Tevinter. Dealer's choice.

Nobody is perfect. Rook, for all her anti-slavery tendencies, still needs to work her way through some of her Venatori-adjacent upbringing. The Crows may have (theoretically) moved beyond purchasing slaves and beating recruits occasionally to death, but their training methods are still firmly in the spare the rod, spoil the child camp. The Danish and city elves view each other with suspicion, but both are leery of Tevinter mages. Varric still feels betrayed by Anders and Justice's choice to blow up the Kirkwall Chantry and sometimes this bubbles over onto Rook, Lucanis, and their spirits; &c.

And at least one completely meaningless side quest along the lines of DA:I's shards. Rook especially should become obsessive about collecting every single one of whatever it is, even after it becomes clear that whatever it is won't help them with Solas. Just because you have a purpose doesn't mean it's good or useful, after all...

And that's it. A little front-heavy on the background, but what can you do? As always, feel free to adopt this bun. Just link back if you chose to do anything with it.

More DA Ideas |More Terrible Fic Ideas

[someshakespearequote]

Random speculation about Taash and Qunari in general: (no real spoilers, but I talk about Tevinter Nights and some of what we've seen in general previews)

In DAO, Sten was our first look at the Qunari, a simple but deep believer. This was like if you dropped a blue-collar soldier into another country. They'd be giving you the basics of their country's belief system.

In DA2, the Qunari were more alien and antagonistic, and we got to dive into the mind of the Arishok in some places, really seeing how his thought process worked. A commander who has had more time to philosophize but is still a soldier, a different view.

In DAI, we get Bull, who gives us our most sympathetic look at someone grappling with whether to leave the Qun. He's a former soldier broken by his experiences (Trick Weekes compared Seheron to Afghanistan and said that while they didn't give Bull full PTSD (to avoid stepping on the toes of Cullen's arc, I think), Bull does talk in some places about hyperawareness and always knowing where the exits of a building are.) He's cynical and seems to feel that people are just people, and the Qunari philosophy is just rules to make people not kill each other, like the Chantry is supposed to do for humans.

Some people have complained about that, and I'm honestly on the fence. Do I want the Qunari to be more alien and unique, with a really different philosophy, or do I want them to be "just people"? I can see both sides. It reminds me of the arguments that have been circulating about the revised edition of D&D 5e. In the original 5e, you had ability score bonuses locked to certain races, and you had strongly worded suggestions about how to play those races. Yuan-Ti should always be evil. Half-Orcs should probably be evil but at least be chaotic and hot-tempered. In the expansion books to 5e, the devs seemed to listen to feedback and untethered ability scores from race, and in the revised edition, race (now "species") doesn't affect ability scores at all (it's tied to backgrounds, which are like jobs), and the rules make it clear that there's room for a genius scholar half-orc or a softhearted Yuan-Ti. You might have a nation of evil Yuan-Ti, but that stuff wasn't genetic. D&D heard what its players wanted, which was less "Your personality is innately tied to your species," and modified the rules accordingly.

And this feels like Dragon Age doing the same thing. Bull is humanizing the Qunari. Do they still have all the fancy Qunari stuff? Yes, in the same way that humanity in Dragon Age has the Chantry and elves have the elven gods and their stories. But the Qunari who act like Sten or the Arishok did are now over on one side as true believers/hard-liners.

So what are we getting in Veilguard from Taash?

Given that the events of the Tevinter Nights novels set up the Qunari Antaam as breaking away from the Qun and invading the south, it seems likely we'll be fighting them in some places. So these are our hard-liners, although they've broken away from the Qun, so if anything, they're the equivalent of evangelical "Christians" who talk about God's Army destroying the heretics and really just mean "fellow white people" when they say "Christian" -- the Antaam aren't following the Qun anymore. They're just using it as a handy guide to identify members of the in-group. They're Sten or the Arishok with all the tribalism and none of the philosophy (or at least, they are in Tevinter Nights, to the point where one of them gets killed by a Ben-Hassrath for giving Qunari a bad name).

My initial theory was that Taash was going to be the flip side of the Antaam -- the philosophy without the tribalism. It doesn't look like Taash is a formal follower of the Qun, though, which made this initially tough to believe.

She (they? we'll know in a week and a bit!) does have a Qunari name, though, likely something related to "dragon" or "glory", since it looks likely that the name Taash relates to Ataash (glory) or Ataashi (dragon). Taash also wears the arm-ropes, so either those ropes are just terribly comfortable, or Taash still keeps some elements of Qunari tradition. It feels like we can assume this isn't a complete "human with horns", culturally (a vashoth, to use the formal term), like Inquisitor Adaar if you made a Qunari Inquisitor in DAI.

My best guess at trying to figure out the little contradictions from what we've seen so far is that Taash is a first- or second-generation immigrant -- someone who left the Qun young or was raised by someone who left the Qun before Taash was born. (That also fits with Rivain, which had a peaceful, even friendly, relationship with the Qunari, at least before the Antaam broke off and attacked.) If Taash's story is an immigrant story, then that lets us look at the Qun in a new way -- someone who left (or was born having already left) the Qun formally, but who (unlike Bull) still keeps many of the cultural traditions while living in a new country.

Maybe Taash begrudgingly keeps a few of the Qunari traditions taught by family, but doesn't don't think much of them?

Maybe Taash was raised with no Qunari traditions but has grown more interested in exploring Qunari heritage as an adult (while not being willing to actually join the Qun)?

Whatever it is, and I'm confident that it's going to be something in that neighborhood, I hope it gives us a new way to look at the Qun and make Thedas a little more complex. (And also that however it does that works with a fun cool character exploration of Taash!)

Or possibly I have just smashed my keyboard a whole bunch while making no sense whatsoever, which wouldn't be the first time I had thoughts that made sense in my head but not here.