#Imperium Nation

[nnn-lll-nnn]

PRESKAN NEWS

DATED; NOVEMBER 1 16TH, 1975 2 ARG TIME, AT 09:00 AM LOCAL TIME.

SOURCE; LIMAN NEWS AGENCY.

BREAKING XANXON TROOPS DECLARE FULL EVAC FROM PRESKA!

In an official press statement, General Hrixien of the devilish Xanxon Armed Forces, stated that all Xanxon forces south of an undisclosed line would be pushing upwards, into the relatively desolate and empty northern section of the country, although experts warn this could simply be a new[er] strategic posturing, as opposed to an outright rout.

[nessacousland]

It's starting to drive me nuts how often I'm seeing the claim that the "southern" Chantry and its relationship with magic have zero influence in the north.

The Chantry schism created the Imperial Chantry vs. the Orlesian Chantry. Imperial because it’s only a thing in the Tevinter Imperium. That’s one country in the north.

Yes, we only get to see the Mournwatch in Veilguard, but have we forgotten the College of Magi in Cumberland? The philosophical heart of the Circle of Magi? Where they used to elect the Grand Enchanters? How about the Circle of Perendale? There’s an actual wartable mission about Perendale's mages who barricaded themselves in for fear of what the general populace will do to them!

Remember Zevran mentioning the Circle in Antiva and how the templars there were watching the mages like "a jealous husband guarding the chastity of a wanton bride"? Remember Josephine's line "little but the Chantry ties Orlais, Nevarra, Ferelden, Antiva, and even Rivain to a common cause"?

You think Brother Genitivi - a Fereldan Chantry brother - would call the Anderfels a nation that produces the most devout priests if they didn’t give af about the Orlesian Chantry? The place where they carved a giant statue of Andraste into a mountain?

Rivain, sure, the Chantry’s influence there has always been minimal (though ironically, the aftermath of the Dairsmuid Circle's annulment is the only time we actually see the Chantry’s influence up north in this game). But Nevarra, Antiva and the Anderfels?!

Sorry, no, there's an entire list of known Circles of Magi readily available online. Don’t freaking try to tell me that people everywhere were letting their mages cuddle wisps and shit, and it was only Orlais, Ferelden and the Free Marches that didn’t get the memo! Of course there have always been cultural differences, but "we're in the north now" is a piss-poor excuse for Veilguard's absence of any palpable faith.

It damn well should have mattered who we put on the Sunburst Throne.

[biowaredisasterbisexual]

One thing I found wonderful about Neve, aside from literally everything about her of course, was how she subverted our expectations about mages from Tevinter and provided an excellent and nuanced view into facets of how Tevinter’s class system works in practice.

In prior games, most of what we learn of Tevinter is hearsay from Southerners who aren’t fans. We are told by these sources little of true detail, other than broad explanations of the Imperium’s class system and that they are a mage oligarchy. Oh, and that the south think they’re all evil blood mages.

The times we’ve interacted with mages from Tevinter at all, they’ve come primarily from the Altus class, like Dorian. Those from another class were acknowledged in Inquisition, Calpernia being a good example, but largely if we were interacting with a Tevinter mage, they were an Altus citizen of the Imperium. These are the elites, right? They play an important role in Tevinter society - indeed Tevinter’s society is formed around them - but they really aren’t exemplars of it because although they wield a lot of power they are by far outnumbered by people from other classes.

Enter Neve. Not born into an Altus family, not born into a mage family at all, she grew up Soporati class and by all accounts not well off, until her magic showed up and she was elevated to Laetan class. Dorian tells us that part of how the Magisterium keeps the many, many non-Altus inhabitants of the Imperium in line is that there’s always that hope that a mage will be born in the family. It opens up the opportunity to join the Laetan class, opens up better marriage prospects, opens up jobs in the bureaucracy….

But the flip side of that, we learn through Neve, is that those Laetan mages who fulfill that hope for their family of being born with magic can be just as damaged by that elevation as they are benefitted by it. Being Laetan doesn’t make someone rich, it just means they might have access to certain jobs (ones Dorian scoffs at) they otherwise wouldn’t. And they can attend the Circles of Magi, which guarantees them an education. They’re still poor, sometimes, or maybe middle class bureaucrats, they’re still looked down on by Altus mages. Still denied meaningful access to that privileged class. But marginally better off than the Soporati. Neve’s relatives try to use her new status to their advantage, all the same, other than a single uncle she speaks well of.

Compare this to a Shadow Dragon Rook. The game tells us SD Rook is adopted into a military family. That means that, unless you headcanon one of their parents as a mage, the Mercar family are Soporati (Liberati and slaves cannot serve in the Imperium’s army). One relative of SD Rook is a high-ranking officer, though which relative is headcanon specific. In practical terms, speaking only financially, SD Rook likely grew up better off than Neve did. Even though she’s a mage and even if SD Rook isn’t. If Legate Mercar is Rook’s father, SD Rook was likely Significantly better off financially growing up.

Service in the Imperium’s army is one of the few stable, arguably decently paid jobs in the Imperium other than working in the civilian government (like the Templars) for Soporati. That’s its whole appeal.

So through Neve, we get insight into how the class system works in practice in this nation we’ve been taught over and over in prior games prioritizes and elevates mages. And what we’ve heard is…kind of true, in broad strokes. But it’s not the whole picture. She challenges a lot of what we thought we knew. And I think it’s awesome that through Neve we get to see that nuance.

* Now, I have…so much to say about how I personally conceive of the Imperium’s military and its pay, none of it canon although informed by it, because I am a nerd, but this is all just from in-game information.

[jew-ish-posting]

Just came across a “land back now” sticker which had the flag for first nations people in Australia and Palestine.

“Land back now! Free Palestine”

Palestine cannot be pronounced in arabic due to the “p”. It is a hebrew word. The native language. The word is used in the bible. It translates to “invader”.

You are legitimately saying “Land back now! Free [“invader” in native tongue]”, and putting that next to the flag for actual native Australians who were treated as “flora and fauna” and hunted practically for sport and denied any land rights, dominium or imperium for decades. Do you fucking hear urself right now.

[maryannecrimsworth]

The line

Pairing: Mel Medarda x Winged! Reader

Warnings: you may fall in love

Summary: a continuation of A wolf, a witch, a lover ; Mel and her new general struggle to find a common ground on their complex affair

Part 1, Part 3

Mentions: @justyourwritter69 @powderbomb-jinxed @maq34

You had to be a secret at first, and it surprised her that you were the one who suggested it. You didn’t want anyone to see her as anything less than a powerful leader. Not a woman in love, not a general’s mistress. You wanted her to be a respected queen, you understood that—understood her. There was a sparkle in her eyes when you said so, a gleam that had become familiar in her gaze. You wondered if your own eyes carried the same light when you looked at her.

Most of your daily routine didn’t change much. You both had jobs to do, people to guide, battles to avoid. Noxus was different now. Bright, civilized, pure. Many came to the pacified nation, but some left. Not all Noxians believed in peace built on alliances, so they retreated to the imperium’s outer regions, seeking places untouched by Mel’s reforms.

The colonies adapted quickly: mercy and freedom were welcomed with open arms. But peace never lasts forever. Troubles began at the borders and in the capital. Neighboring countries mistook her mercy for weakness, as you had feared, and threatened to invade Noxian territory.

You flew to the border as soon as the reports arrived. It was your duty to handle such matters—dissidents, rebels, threats. None of it should trouble the Empress while you were there.

A confrontation between the Noxian army and the trespassing militants ceased the moment you landed on the field. All eyes turned to you, paralyzed by the sight of your open wings.

The militants hesitated, retreating slightly as fear spread through their ranks.

“Where is your leader?” Your voice echoed across the tense field. The men before you were not soldiers but a loosely organized group—rebels, perhaps, or a resistance tribe.

The leader stepped forward. Your conversation with him was brief. He wanted more land and lower taxes for his tribe’s growing production. Their trespassing was born of expansion, but his arrogance grated on you. Immature and overconfident, he acted as though he were untouchable—a dangerous combination of naivety and hubris.

You offered him an audience with the Empress of Noxus, and the suggestion left him visibly stunned. He barely hid his surprise, and you chose not to acknowledge it.

The man didn’t fully realize you would personally fly him to the capital until it was too late. He clung to you, screaming most of the way.

“General,” Mel greeted you as you landed on the balcony of her private meeting room. She was alone, as usual, working late. “To what do I owe this honor?”

You bowed and quickly explained the situation. “The leader of a northern tribe wished to speak with you.” You gestured toward the man still panting on the balcony, struggling to regain his composure. “I believe you might find his proposal worth hearing.”

You turned to leave, but not before Mel’s gaze lingered on the marks his grip had left on your arm.

“I see you scared the man,” she remarked, smirking with quiet pride.

“I'm afraid it was necessary,” you replied. His bravado had shattered during the flight, ensuring he would approach the Empress with proper respect.

The negotiation was swift. The leader wanted power, and Mel had the wisdom to grant him just enough to feel important. In return, his tribe would no longer trouble the borders.

An hour later, the man left—this time in a carriage—and Mel sent for you.

“Empress,” you spoke once you entered. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the servants and the door was closed behind you. “Am I in trouble?”

“I’m still unsure,” she admitted. “What made you bring this man to me?”

“Not all battles need to end in bloodshed,” you said. “He only needed to be heard.”

“And that was reason enough to bring an enemy into my palace?”

Your wings shifted uneasily. “He is not an enemy.”

Mel frowned but said nothing more, returning her attention to the documents on her desk.

You hesitated, then asked, “Am I missing something, ma’am?”

“Of course not. I only wished to understand your judgment.” Her tone was neutral, but something in her manner unsettled you.

After some time, you began to read her better. She loved to test people, always posing hidden questions. For you, it was exhausting—not difficult, but relentless. You often felt as though you were constantly proving yourself.

Her demeanor changed as well. More often than not, her eyes avoided yours.

One restless night, you had enough. Slipping out of your quarters, you made your way to her chambers, avoiding guards and servants. You knocked softly on the door.

It opened abruptly, and Mel pulled you inside.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded in the dark. Her room was pitch black, though it was clear she hadn’t planned to sleep.

"You seemed worried." you confessed, following her quick pace around the room. "Something's wrong." it wasn't a question.

The dim lights of the city streamed through the windows, illuminating her features and the golden tattoos on her skin as you walked over to her bed.

"I'm...I..." she fell over her bed, uneasy. You stayed at distance, watching her expression. "I don't who to trust." her weak voice almost disappeared into the silence of the night. “My assistant is dead, Jayce is gone, my mother... " a tired sight came out of her lips. "and the Black Rose lurks in the shadows. I feel surrounded by an invisible threat I can’t escape.”

You frowned, recalling the name. The Black Rose—a secretive society of Noxian aristocrats. You had thought it a myth told by soldiers to scare one another, but Mel seemed genuinely afraid.

“Is that why your council remains empty?” you asked. As a new ruler, she should have rebuilt the nation’s leadership, yet she had worked alone for months.

Mel nodded. “The noblemen are either as ruthless as my mother or entangled in something hideous. I can’t fully understand it yet, but it’s dangerous.”

“Magic often is,” you replied, sitting beside her on the bed, though you kept your distance. “As is any power in the wrong hands.”

Your words caught her attention.

“We’ll find the right people,” you said firmly. “One by one, if necessary. They exist, my Empress. Don’t let the darkness blind you to the light. The future of our nation is bright.”

Her eyes widened slightly at your words—our nation. You hadn’t meant to claim such ownership, and you quickly masked your flustered smile.

“I have a few men in mind,” you continued. “They’ll need testing, perhaps training, but they’ll build the council you need. They’ll be your eyes in the shadows.”

“A shadow unit?”

“Yes. It’s simple, but it was effective in Karyndor.”

“It’s prudent,” she said, her confidence returning. “Diplomatic, but not defenseless. Piltover could have used something like that. It might have prevented the war.”

“It's a young nation with young leaders,” you replied. “They’ll learn in time.”

“I’m glad you’re here to teach me.”

Her words caught you off guard. “You flatter me, my Empress,” you said, grateful for the darkness concealing your flushed face. “I’m only fulfilling my duty.”

Your words seemed to strike a chord, causing Mel to pull away slightly.

"Your duty?" she repeated in a whisper, her tone layered with doubt. "Is that why you came to my room, General?"

You were left speechless. Her question turned your thoughts into a chaotic whirlwind, leaving you unable to respond. Mel stood, her movements sharp and deliberate, as though expecting you to take the unspoken hint and leave.

"Draw the line for me, Mel," you said at last, her name rolling off your lips like a forbidden indulgence. The sound of it felt intoxicating, both sweet and powerful, and you craved more. Your voice dropped to a near whisper, laden with longing. "Where does my empress end and... my lover begin?"

For a fleeting moment, she hesitated, as though caught in the gravity of your words. Then, slowly, she stepped closer, her presence consuming the space between you. Her delicate fingers reached for your face, her touch a gentle yet commanding force. The soft glow from the city outside illuminated her figure, her golden tattoos gleaming faintly against the dark fabric of the night. She wore nothing but a sheer nightdress that left little to the imagination.

"For the night," she breathed, her words brushing against your lips, "I shall be your lover." Her eyes, deep and unwavering, held yours captive. "For the morning, I shall be your empress."

Yours. The word echoed in your mind, transcending the boundaries of any title and formality. You reached for her with deliberate care, your hands resting on her hips as you guided her onto your lap. Her warmth enveloped you as your arms encircled her, drawing her closer. Even your wings joined in, wrapping around her like a shield.

"Very well, my love," you whispered, the words heavy with meaning and commitment.

For the rest of the night, no titles, no politics, no duties mattered. Only the intimacy shared between you two filled the room, each movement and breath a testament to the unspoken bond you dared to explore.

[vigilskeep]

What do you think happens with the eluvian network after the game? There are a couple factions who definitely won't want to give up using them, and that's gonna be... interesting depending on the faction. If I was really anyone in Thedas I wouldn't sleep great knowing that the Antivan Crows can essentially teleport now.

i’ve been talking about this for a while, i seriously think the veilguard (or some part of them) might have to stick together long term just because someone has to run the place. the crows are the obvious offenders but as dearly as i love them i would not trust the wardens with it long-term either...

but it’s not just the factions—any nation or power in thedas would be after these things. they’re such a ridiculous power boost to give anyone that i would suggest shutting them down entirely if i wasn’t a) unsure that’s even possible given the load-bearing role the crossroads seem to have in the fade, b) aware they’re home to all those poor spirits, and c) vaguely nauseated by the idea of being able to offer safe passage across and out of the imperium to those freed by the shadow dragons and then not doing that

someone needs to be defending the crossroads, then, and deciding who can and can’t use them. obviously it depends on everyone’s rook and companion endings and worldstates whether the veilguard are actually available for that, but if they are, they kind of are the specialised team for this, plus the only ones respected by all the factions and thus most likely to get away with it. not to mention it lets the team handle all their interests at home while sticking together, which is my selfish stake in the matter. LORE-BASED JUSTIFICATION: the idea of the lighthouse empty makes me feel sad :(

i’m not sure who else you could suggest to do it if the veilguard aren’t available. the veil jumpers have a little expertise but they’re also massively overworked and underprepared for the dangers they already face. the mourn watch know the fade, but they’re also distracted academics who belong to a wider order with its own national interests. i would probably hand it over to the shadow dragons entirely if i had to pick anybody?

[moltengoldveins]

so we can all agree that the newest 2WEI song (take the crown) is the trailer song for an Antarctic Empires Emerald Duo pg14 movie where Techno is a gladiator who earned his freedom and has vowed to destroy the government that enslaved him and Philza is an old demigod banished to a solitary plane of existence for five decades after attempting to run a coup against the ruling class.

They meet on a battlefield, Techno having joined up as brute muscle and Phil having used some minor illusions to pass as a quirky avian and join the bombardment team. Combining some similar plot beats as Oceans 11 and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, they gather a specialized team of insurrectionists, anarchists, battle mages, and warriors to take down the imperium from the inside, eventually planning on restoring the nation to the democracy it was in Phil’s earliest memories. But will they manage it, or will their bloody pasts and violent present seat Technoblade on the throne as the Antarctic Emperor, with Philza as his right hand, the Angel of Death? (Spoiler, the second option. It’s the most controversial film finale decision of the decade.)

The movie is filmed in a style somewhere between Dune 1, the Prince of Egypt, and Topgun. (denis villeneuve is too busy and too expensive, but it’s clear they’re taking inspiration. Bold colors and lighting and a lot of shots of the sky, wildlife, architecture, or of characters’ hands.) It’s scored by an up and coming indie musician, working under the consultation of Ludwig Gorannson in his spare time as a pet project, though his association with the film doesn’t really come out until it Smashes the expected theatre income in the first two days of release and critics start Raving about it. Techno’s actor is nominated for an Oscar for one of the most compelling intricate portrayals of ptsd and platonic devotion in modern cinema, but doesn’t actually get the Oscar.

Tumblr is flooded with gif sets of Techno in the Obligatory No Armor After Gladiator Fight Scene and the Late Night Vibing With Phil In A Loose Poet Shirt scene (firelit, lots of closeups of his eyes, the film is obviously attempting to express his complex emotional state and his deep relationship with Phil, and is failing miserably at doing Anything but making him hot. The internet is ✨gay✨ about it, because when is the internet not?) Also most of the simps are calling Phil a dilf.

Fit MC is the fan-favorite side character, his four scenes and nine lines of dialogue are clipped and edited and giffed and memed into the dirt. (His armor and prosthetic, the makeup and costuming department say, were the hardest thing to do in the entire film, which is why he isn’t in too many shots.) Though, a close second is Niki, who is played by a woman built like a brick house who doesn’t wear sleeves, so…. Yeah. We all know what the response is there. The effects, including Phil’s wings, are almost entirely practical and the only real places it gets iffy is Steve, the giant war polar bear that’s pretty clearly clipping through a few snowbanks here and there. Nobody can agree on which characters are morally reprehensible.

Within a few years, very few people outside a dedicated fan base have seen it and a few assume it’s made up like Goncharov. It’s also, for some ungodly reason, been labeled a Christmas film. (most of the plot happens in the ice and snow, hence ‘Antarctic Empire.’) I guess nothing says ‘Christmas spirit’ quite like ‘unmitigated violence, platonic yearning, and overthrowing oppressors.’

[jezebelgoldstone]

yo zukka nation do i ever have good news for you!

there is a movie (yes movie, not show, so the required time commitment is under three hours) that is an opposite-sides-of-the-war, enemies-to-lovers, blue x red, water x fire, battle-couple, gay-as-all-hell truly epic romance. it's asian. it's anti-imperialist. the music slaps. every single fight is an absolute banger. the symbolism crammed into this one movie outdoes any other given twenty movies combined. it's easily one of the most gorgeous pieces of media i've ever seen. the tragic backstories are tragic. it's a war story. it's about besties doing goofy best-friend-things. there's torture. a mom gets killed. some of the most important relationships are siblings. the redemption arc for the red fire-coded one is off-the-charts. there's a divorce arc. there's a dance-off.

like, seriously. a little tribal girl from a village under the protection of the blue water-coded one gets kidnapped by one of the imperial rulers, and the red fire-coded agent of the imperium is sent to hunt down the water-coded one so he can't rescue the little girl. and then fire and water fall in love.

there's an active fandom, there's fic on ao3 and yes i've written some of it, and there's a huuuuuuge extended universe for anyone who wants more canon to play with.

best part is you can watch it absolutely free and 100% legal here.

and if you don't want to watch it by yourself literally dm me because i am always down to watch it again & i have a hyperbeam account. oh and did i mention that everyone in this movie but especially the two mains are some of the most insanely beautiful people i've ever seen?

kindly pleading with everyone to reblog this also, so that more people who might be interested can find it. there's nothing quite so tragic as the thing that would be one of your favorites being something you've never heard of.

[felassan]

"also, on the broadest line around the edge, you can see those symbols again. I’m thinking now that these 6 symbols represent the 6 factions we can choose from for Rook to belong to."

not only that, but the factions of 6 out of our 7 companions, Harding/the Inquisition aside. from some of the things they've said lately (tho at the moment I can't remember specifically where), it sounds like we will encounter each faction in the game too and that they each play a role in the story. in the center is the Veilguard logo itself; it's like representatives from these 6 factions came together to form Voltron The Veilguard. :> about the symbols btw:

The Warden symbol is closer style-wise to this new seemingly updated or northern Warden[?] symbol than it is to previous game/southern Warden[?] symbology (two). shape of the wing, stylization etc. it being 'half' like that gives it the impression of a shield/heraldic beasts.

The Veil Jumper symbol looks to be a halla. it makes me nostalgic for Clan Sabrae heraldry :') makes sense for a faction based in Arlathan and interested in ancient elvhen ruins.

The Shadow Dragons (Tevene faction) have a snake. dragons are all around in Tevinter imagery, a country where they are a symbol of divine power. Another kind of 'worm'/wyrm also kicks around in Tevinter iconography; snakes. in the Imperium heraldry, a serpentine dragon faces off against a snake (opposition..). (side ramble - As a group the Shadow Dragons are a resistance group, they oppose slavery, corrupt rulers and the worst aspects of Tevinter society. Their name makes them seem like 'a different kind of dragon' - an alternative way for the 'dragon' Tevinter is to be, a different future it could have. a different kind of dragon than the dominant ruling one, but one that is currently still overshadowed. it also carries the implication of them working in the shadows and carrying out operations under the radar - this is contrast to the Lucerni, a faction in the Magisterium whose goal is to redeem and restore Tevinter. They're more like a political party, they operate more in public. "lucerna" is Latin for lantern. light, and shadow. Maybe the Shadow Dragons are basically the stealthy/secret operational arm of the Lucerni? like a left and right hand. end side ramble) Snakes crop up in Neve's design (her leg, her hat). I keep thinking about the snake in the Imperium heraldry. with their symbol, it's like the Shadow Dragons are saying they're fighting for a Tevinter.. without the 'dragon' part. in which.. the dragon is a metaphor for the bad stuff? corruption etc? Snakes also carry the symbolism of stealth and slyness, which again fits with the 'shadow' stuff. Would a dragon be able to see a lowly snake coming...? probably not :> I also can't help but think of the imagery of snakes that's to do with healing and medicine. like they wanna de-corrupt Tevinter, heal it of its rot. ALSO. the other thing thing is The Viper from Minrathous Shadows. well, look at that. The Shadow Dragons' symbol is a snake. "We are the Tevinter you forgot". And what do they want? "Everything". maybe The Viper is the founder of the Shadow Dragons? the story mentions they have a contact, a lady who is lightning-smart (Neve?). in the accompanying art-piece, the dealer's silhouette and other aspects of their design are snake-like, recalling Neve and what seems to be 'Shadow Dragon Rook's clothes.

The Lords of Fortune have a cephalopod. (it reminds me of House Greyjoy). makes sense for a faction with ships, dominion over the coasts of Rivain, a pirate-y aesthetic and originating from a nation almost entirely surrounded by sea. maybe this explains the cephalopod that was portrayed 'on' Rivain in the trailer from a few months ago? like maybe it was supposed to represent the Lords of Fortune, their presence in Rivain, and their storyline.

The Mourn Watcher one is just so cool. it's at once both a humanoid skull (you can see the two eyes and the teeth), recalling the symbol for the broader Mortalitasi itself, and a beetle. it makes me think of stuff like scarab beetles and deathwatch beetles, both of which have lots of cool symbolism/lore and cultural meanings irl on stuff like life and death, the cycle, decomposition etc. beetles are also culturally important in Nevarra, where they are prized. lots of households keep them in cages for good luck, and encrusted beetle wings are part of Nevarran decor.

The Crow one is obviously like looking down at a corvid in flight. its head is the top triangular part, but this shape is also known to be worn by Crows as a mask/disguise, and from that perspective the pointy part at the bottom gives the wearer a beaked appearance, masquerade-ball style. the Crows are always watching :>

[thekingofwinterblog]

You know what the most annoying thing about the Twists regarding the Elves in Inquisition was?

That all the twists, if taken on their own, would make for a really good story.

The reveals about Solas backstory and how him and his fellow God Kings rose, became decadent, warred with each other and fell, setting the stage for their transformation into the Old Gods is frankly speaking, some of the best lore that Dragon Age ever had, and lines up really well with how the world is structured while explaining how the Old Gods came to be, how the elves fell, and so on.

That the tevinter imperium when it conquered the nation of Arlathan was not the great imperial state lead by mighty mages their descendants liked to think they were, but instead a bunch of weaklings that needed years and years to take on one, measly city-state that had utterly obliterated itself in civil war.

There is so much great stuff here.

So where did it all go wrong?

The answer, is of course execution.

Inquisition overall is a great game... But man did it drop the ball so hard with the Elves that it's pretty much hard to believe that they will be able to tell a nuanced story about them in Dread Wolf.

Everything from the companions, to the world itself as the game presents , to retcons regarding mages that's there, not to tell a story about the elves, but to try and make the Templar vs mage conflict grey.

Starting with the companions, we have a great example of coming so, so close to greatness... and then falling right on it's face.

The game has two Elf companions, solas and Sera... and the contrast between them really illustrates the big picture with how incapable Inquisition is with trying to tell a nuanced picture with the elves.

Solas as a character is perfect. Love him or hate him, he is a fully fleshed out character with very clear, defined, understandable motives that makes sense to him.

And most importantly of all, his way of viewing the world is WRONG. The game acknowledges that he is wrong.

The entire story of where dragon age 4 is heading, is all about how the Dread wolf, for all his knowledge and intelligence and genuine virtues, is at the end of the day, a monster, who is willing to see the world burn to restore the Elves magic and immortality.

He is a racist, he is bigoted, and ultimately misguided. Despite all his development with the inquisitor, he does not manage to grow enough as a person that he manages to abandon his genocidal goals. And the game does not pretend othervise.

That is what makes the story of Solas rise to become the big villain of the sequel great.

There is no disconnect between the story, the characters, or the way the game wants us to view solas.

Solas is far, far more bigoted and close-minded than any of the dalish he so despises, and the game ultimately does not pretend othervise.

Which brings us to the opposite end of the elf spectrum with Sera.

Sera is a very disliked character by a lot of people, but by dalish and elf players/fans more than most.

Just like Solas, she is bigoted, racist, and ultimately misguided in her hatred of her fellow elves, whether they be city elves, or Dalish, or ancient elves.

And that frankly, would not be a problem if the game acknowledged that fact. If her character arc was about it, and either how she could not overcome her own issues, or actually managed to grow beyond them, she could have been a great character.

The problem is the fact that the game is not willing to handle this fact head on. Its not willing to come out and portray Sera as just as bigoted against her own kind as Solas is, and to treat this as a flaw.

Instead the game treats her as if her biggest flaw is that she's annoying, and not the fact that in a game that is in many ways about setting up the rise of the dread wolf, she is just as bad as Solas, just from a different origin point.

Sera should have been a mirror to Solas, both from a story point, as well as a thematic one, but unfortunately she is not.

Hell, she doesn't really overcome her racism either. The closest she comes to doing so, is basically burning out on hating the dalish and other elves in trespasser, not admitting she was actually wrong to hate them so much in the first place.

The game does not treat Sera's disdain for other elves and their culture as a problem, and it does not give a dalish inquisitor the option to tell her to go fuck herself on the topic that you are given with Solas if you really desire to do so.

You are given the option of kicking her out of the inquisition, but not actually stand up for the dalish or even city elves the way the player could against Morrigan's flemeth raised cruelty in origins, anders and Fenris obsessions with, and hatred for templars/mages in da2, or solas ideals in inquisition.

And thats a problem that really illustrates the bigger issue with the way Inquisition took what could have been a great story about the Elves and the reveals about their anceators, and frankly ruined it.

The dalish and city elvea were very thouroughly fleshed in both Origins, Awakening and DA2.

However, city elves largely managed to avoid being utterly destroyed by the narrative the way the Dalish were, for the simple reason that outside briala, we don't get much if any interaction with them at all, making them essentially a non show foe the game for the most part. They don't get a city elf inquisitor, and so we have no point of view to look at them from a pc perspective.

They got off much better than the dalish though.

Starting off with the arguably single worst thing in all of DAI is the retcon that Dalish clans, if there is more than two mages in a clan, sends off the third one alone in the wilderness to fend for themselves. This goes against absolutely everything that has ever been established about the Dalish, and worst of all, wasn't even an addition meant to demonize the dalish, instead being an addition to handwave away the obvious fact that the Dalish had a much better system than the human circles when it came to magic... Which in turn was made irrelevant by the fact the Avvar was later shown to have a much better and more effective solution to the possession question anyway.

It was, in essence, a pointless retcon, that overall only made the dalish look bad, and has now opened the door for the idea that most dalish clans acts like this, and will be portrayed so in future games.

Its bad, but unfortunately it was only the start.

The game goes out of its way to portray absolutely every single person who critices the dalish as having a point, that they brought on their own downfalls, even as they are being the most imperialistic, racist assholes imaginable, while the dalish inquisitor can only offer a token of defence for his people, a far cry from way origins allowed you to handle the same situation wheter your main ethnicity was ferelden, mage, city elf, dalish, casteless or dwarven noble.

But nowhere is it worse than the way the game handles the fall of the dales.

Now the actual lore you learn about it, is not bad. At all. I know some complain that the reveals that ameridan(and presumably other elves) worshipped both the creators and the maker, as well as the fact that the dalish unfortunately did have a bad relationahip with the rest of the world, in particular orlais, is bad storytelling, but i firmly disagree.

No the problem is the execution.

Ameridan is not wrong when he says that The Dales should not have distanced itself from the rest of the world, especially not in the face of a blight... But the Dales of his era were in turn not wrong when they argued that the Orlesians were little better than the imperium, and they would be completely right.

This is not a grey issue, its a grey and black issue.

Orlais was, and still is an evil, expansionist empire with 99% of its population living as serfs, that can be raped and beaten at will, little better than slaves.

The dales were the morally right side of the exalted march on the dales. No amount of new lore we learned in inquisition has changed that fact. We simply get the details fleshed out a bit more to add context.

Orlais was going to invade and enslave the elves anyway, as they proved through their actions against all their other, very much fellow Adrastian neighbors.

The problem is that you are not allowed to express this kind of point of view and stick to it like steel.

The characters you meet having the bigoted opinion that the dales ultimately brought on their own fate is NOT a bad thing in and out of itself... the problem is that you are not allowed to challenge that opinion the way you could challenge Lelliana's view of the dalish in origins, or the way you could tell both Anders and fenris to go fuck themselves on their extremist opinions all through da2, and ending that fuck you by killing them in the endgame.

And thats a real shame, because just looking at characters like cassandra's character development through Inquisition, you could easily have made a really compelling narrative put of a dalish inquisitor who stuck by his or her principles, and actually challenged the people they met's racist views on the dalish the way you could in origins, just with a more fleshed out and(unfortunately something way too many people just cannot emote to a character withouth) an actual voice to raise those arguments with.

I do genuinely like Inquisition, and i think it's overall a much better game than DA2... but man did they drop the ball with the elves so hard.

I feel so sorry for anyone who really got invested in the elves as their favorites factions, and i honestly don't think the elves will be handled particularly well in Dread wolf, especially as the only Dalish we are likely to see fleshed out will be the villains fighting for Solas.

[fatehbaz]

taking relentless severe psychic damage from watching several hours of videos of television commercial advertisements from the United States in December 1999.

a world-historical moment, an all-time high peak of self-assured smirking arrogance.

ascendant home computers and internet modems. a new millennium! a time after Cold War but before Nining Leven, with saxophone-playing heads of state and cheery Spielbierg-ian sentimentality attempting to plaster over 1970s/1980s disappointments and hangovers with renewed millennarian End-Of-History optimism.

come celebrate with us! look at these images of The Nation! from sparkling Times Square and the cast of "Friends" in bustling cosmopolitan New York City, to sunny Californian prosperity, to those cartoonish frogs in the quasi-mythical Deep South-ish rural periphery of Budweiser ads, and all the suburban Midwestern Kay's Jeweler's in between! planetary hegemony. "Head east from the Colosseum, across the ruts of chariots, and you'll find an imperial estate built by a second-century Caesar. It's a rough ride. And if the agile and durable Chevy Tracker can handle these ancient roads, driving back home will be a walk in the park. Chevy Tracker: It Gets Around!"

or perhaps "our" power extends beyond this terrestrial imperium, into space, conquering the stars. UFOs; space aliens; The X-Files; Independence Day; Space Jam; Men in Black; the Phoenix Lights; Coast to Coast AM on the radio; Space Command in Colorado Springs.

the anxious fragility belied by the desperate constant promotion of an almost religious dedication to recognizable icons.

talking chihuahuas, marketing jingles, annual football game events. self-referential circular cross-promotion maelstrom.

"An all-new holiday spectacular, a Christmas special destined to become a family classic! With music from REM's Michael Stipe, voiced by Ally McBeal's Peter MacNicol, and starring Drew Barrymore! It's Olive the Other Reindeer! At 8/7 Central Fox Friday!"

trying to insist that this "classic" cultural iconography binds us. it has always lived in your heart. fabricating in real-time a supposedly shared history, insisting on this "reality" even at the moment of its very creation. hammering away at the soul.

Daffy Duck saunters in and pronounces: "Eat your way into the new millennium with this 'gigundo' party sub from Subway!"

why aren't you smiling?

[stardriveskickstart]

Parahuman Space

While Stardrives is complete, I'm not done with TTRPG writing yet. I've been working on the @para-imperium setting for over a decade now and I'm almost ready to launch a complete RPG based on the Cepheus System derived from Mongoose's Traveller (but more open).

Parahuman Space is a furry setting, yes, of the genetically modified variety. It covers over 2,000 years, but the RPG will be focused on the period after the collapse of the big interstellar empire. When newly independent planets and systems are busy scavenging the wreckage.

Players will primarily be salvage crews venturing into hazardous ruined spaceships and stations. Braving haywire security systems, leaks of corrosive chemicals, and the dreaded Kessler Syndrome to retrieve valuable technology.

In other words, dungeon delving.

At present I am about halfway done drafting the rulebook, drawn heavily from the Cepheus System Reference Document that can be read online here. Once I'm finished and I have interior artists lined up I was hoping to bring it to Kickstarter.

Below is the setting's history, as written for the rulebook.

Timeline:

Most calendars in Parahuman Space are oriented around the launch of the first parahuman-built starship as the start of the exodus from the clade’s system of origin, Sol. On the Georgian calendar the year 0 Post Exodus (PX) would be in the early 22nd century AD. So the Federation would be founded in the 32nd century AD and collapse in the 45th century, or roughly the year 4600 AD.

-40 Before Exodus: Creation of parahumans. -24 BX: Parahumans emancipated and corporations that enslaved them dissolved. -17 BX: Events of The Pride of Parahumans. 0 Post Exodus: First Seedship, the Traveller, launched. 4 PX: Pallas launches second seedship. 10 PX: Earth destroyed by relativistic projectile, origin unknown. 14 PX: Second Pallene seedship is caught by berserker probes that destroyed Sol.  Crew commit suicide first. 45 PX: Traveller lands on a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, creatively named "Secland." 48 PX: Vestan ship lands on opposite hemisphere from the Traveller.

115 PX: Ship from Ceres arrives at Epsilon Eridani to find a lifeless system. Instead of terraforming the new corporate government opts to build artificial habitats in the asteroid belts and beneath the surfaces of planets.

124 PX: A second Vestan ship discovers a garden world orbiting Tau Ceti. The crew decide to eschew technology after printing enough colonists in fear of Sol’s Destroyers.

150 PX: Sleeper ship carrying 1500 humans from Sol arrives over Secland. After an abortive attempt at invasion the survivors gradually integrate into Pallene society. 500 PX: Cold war between nations on Secland ends with the completion of terraforming.  Biological weapons leave New Pallas the sole nation standing. 950 PX: New Pallas contacts Tau Ceti thanks to the newly developed conversion drive. Triggering political restructuring among the natives resulting in the kingdom of Schwarswelt under King Hideo Fink.

1060 PX: Stable wormholes large enough to move a spaceship through are produced and launched from Proxima Centauri to Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani. 1100 PX: Alpha Centauri, Tau Ceti, and Epsilon Eridani form the Federation.

1150 PX: Centauri Grand Mayor Selkd de Argentum assassinated by Cetan partisans and succeeded by his more aggressive sister Lirdrill.

1200 PX: The Federation centralizes power in the office of the Praetor, first held by Lirdrill de Argentum.

1205 PX: The Outworld memetic quarantine and contingency program is established, forcibly relocating ideological dissidents to frontier worlds with limited technology.

1500 PX: After extensive lobbying by Centauran merchant houses and the Eridani Company, Federation Senate votes to allow limited trade with Outworlds, which now compose roughly half of all colonized planets.

1846 PX: Kershkans, the first extant xenosophont species, discovered. 1903 PX: Contact established with Kershkans. 2300 PX: Federal Guard destroys Sol with strangelet bomb, inducing a nova. Evacuation of Core Worlds begins. 2304 PX: Wormhole gates at Alpha Centauri collapsed ahead of the nova's radiation. The capital cut off, the Federation quickly begins to fragment. 2345 PX: The Emissary-Governor of the Tiere System, wracked by tensions between earlier colonists and new refugees, disables all nanotech in the system in an attempt to reassert control. He is lynched by an angry mob within weeks. 2590 PX: The self-proclaimed Imperator Ronkal launches Project Paladin, sending ships with new reactionless drives and augmentation suites to neighboring systems. 2600 PX: A Ronkalli ship reaches the Tiere System, only for interplanetary debris to kill the entire crew. The ship AI forcibly augments a crew of scavengers who come looking.

The Origin of Species:

The first parahumans were engineered from a blend of human and animal genes and bioprinted in corporate labs in high Terran orbit. They were designed to fill roles in asteroid mining that were too complex for robots but too dangerous to risk human life for. It took less than a decade for rebellions and strikes to start.

Fortunately, the parahumans found many allies on Terra and after the revolutionaries on Ceres worked out a treaty to maintain the flow of resources back to Terra they were essentially left to themselves. With their new freedom came disagreements over how to govern themselves. The guilds on Vesta formed a form of anarcho-capitalist feudalism regulated by the cloning guild that held the early parahumans’ sole means of reproduction. But then a Vestan scientist, a silver fox named Argentum, discovered a simple gene therapy to remove the genetic sterility imposed by their creators and their followers formed a breakaway colony on Pallas.

The Vestan guilds could not tolerate this loss of control and war almost broke out between the two asteroids. Luckily they found an alternative means of proving the superiority of their respective systems of governance. A space race. Exploration of other star systems had been proposed many times but there had been little interest with the abundance of resources right there in Sol system. But with the new nanofabricators it was possible for even a small asteroid outpost to construct an Orion-style starship with a small crew and the fabricators to print out an entire new colony, colonists included.

They couldn’t have timed the launch better. Just ten years after the first starship, the Traveller,was launched from Pallas towards Alpha Centauri, it received a frantic message from Sol:

“This is an automated beacon broadcasting what may well be the last message ever sent by the human race. Five years ago, our homeworld, Terra was struck by a 50-ton projectile traveling at 90% of the speed of light. The debris took out most of our habitats in Earth’s orbit, a few million of us survived elsewhere in the solar system. Then the rest of the invasion force arrived. Machines, vast machines kilometers in length that home in on any sources of radio transmissions, and annihilate them. We pray they are not intelligent and are simply weapons fired by a xenophobic alien race. But they’ve almost completed their work, we estimate that there’s only a couple hundred of us left in the system. We’re sending this message in hopes that there is someone out there who can hear it and beware. This universe is more hostile than we thought. They attack radio transmitters, dismantle whatever devices you are listening to this on before they find you.”

In total, five starships were far enough out to heed this warning. The Traveller, a Vestan ship also headed for Alpha Centauri, a second Vestan ship on course for Tau Ceti, a craft launched from Ceres to Epsilon Eridani, and the largest but slowest ship, a sleeper ark from Terra to Alpha Centauri.

Alpha Centauri: Sol’s Nearest Neighbors

Around Alpha Centauri A the Traveller found a Terra-sized rocky planet that had long been scoured of life by stellar storms from the trinary stars nearby. It was determined that this little rock could be reanimated with comparatively little effort and the crew made immediate plans to colonize and terraform the planet which they named “SecLand” (the landing on Pallas being the first land).

Just three years after the Traveller’s arrival, they were followed by their Vestan rival. Considering the horror they’d experienced since Sol’s last transmission they decided to set their differences aside and work together on terraforming SecLand, albeit from opposite hemispheres. This detente was strained at times, but the first real threat to world peace didn’t come until 150 years PX, when the ark carrying the last of unaltered humanity arrived.

By the time the sleeper ark arrived SecLand had a population of several thousand, the ark carried a mere 1500 passengers but over half were soldiers who’d entered stasis with orders to make sure that the first exosolar foothold of humanity was human, not parahuman. Or at least that was the plan, when word of what happened to their homeworld got out there was a mutiny and the victors immediately surrendered to the parahuman colonists, with most passengers integrating into the Republic of New Pallas. These newcomers brought a wide range of skills and knowledge, living knowledge, to a planet whose inhabitants up until then had primarily only known life inside their half-built habitat structures. The humans emigrated nearly equally to both colonies, over the centuries they interbred with the parahumans, with the net result being that many SecLanders have less fur or their facial features are closer to human than many further colonies. Today pure-bred humans, and parahumans (excepting uplifts), are miniscule minorities on SecLand with only a couple million individuals. The average SecLander resembles a blend of at least half a dozen species of Terragen origin.

For centuries the two colonies lived in relative peace, New Pallas breeding like rabbits while the Vestans cloned new citizens in bulk. But when the terraforming of SecLand had reached the point where colonists could breathe the atmosphere tensions re-established themselves between the two old enemies. With terraforming nearing completion some wondered what use New Pallas could have for the Vestans, on both continents. To that end the Vestans began to covertly build weapons in their Arcologies while New Pallas shifted their orbital satellites slightly. It all came to a head when the Vestans concealed a lethal virus in food shipments sent from their farms to the cities of New Pallas, thousands died in the months that followed. By the time the New Pallas government realized what had been done every Vestan arcology had unveiled surface-to-orbit mass drivers that could shoot down their enemy’s satellites. Even then, many arcologies were leveled by orbital strikes. Then the land battles began. The cybernetically augmented citizen-soldiers of New Pallas facing off against the bioprinted legions of the Vestans. The fighting raged on for months, then abruptly, it ceased less than a year after the war had begun. You see, the Vestans had underestimated New Pallas’s skill with biotechnology, crafting a virus that could be deadly to all the diverse inhabitants of the Republic had been difficult, but a dirty little secret of many 21st century regimes were the techniques to engineer a virus that had disastrous effects when it interacted with a specific gene or genes. And the Society for the Preservation of Parahuman Species had only used a couple genotypes for their army, and even fewer for their ruling priest-scientists. Once the virus had been grown any Vestan unit that came into contact with the enemy was dead within a week, in a month the ruling class had been reduced to a few paranoid individuals who had sealed themselves in hermetic bunkers. Specialized by repeated cloning into an effective caste system, and their soldier castes suddenly extinct, the surviving Vestan arcologies found themselves helpless against New Pallas occupation forces.

The medical advances achieved fighting the bioweapons led to the development of leukosynths, symbiotic microbots that could fight off nearly all microbes and repair the body at an accelerated rate. Even fighting off the advances of aging. When this “immortality” was proven to the public they clamored for the government to subsidize their deployment to the masses. Within the century 90% of New Pallas’ population enjoyed the benefits of leukosynths.

Among this chaos a new power emerged in the Pallene cities and settlements. Families all over the planet started giving birth to silver fox kits, reminiscent of their colony’s nearly-deified founder, Argentum. Some religious leaders saw this as a sign and exalted these silver foxes, propelling many into high positions in politics. The cynical suggested that the parents had modified their children’s genes in-utero, but after the plagues many people were desperate and willing to believe anything. Most of them were actually descendants of Argentum’s, but their progeny numbered in the hundreds of thousands by that point anyways.

An unintentional side effect of this bit of social engineering was a renewed interest in their origins out in the depths of space. And despite the terrors they knew awaited them they couldn’t help but wonder if any other colony ships had made it…

Epsilon Eridani

Ceres, the largest asteroid in Sol’s asteroid belt, was the main off-world base of operations for the corporation that created the first parahumans. During the revolution parahumans took over the local branch offices and largely continued to operate along the same lines. Their participation in the exosolar space race was almost an afterthought, an attempt at remaining relevant compared to the other two major asteroid civilizations in Sol system.

Upon arrival in the Epsilon Eridani system they found even fewer viable prospects for terraforming than those in Alpha Centauri. Instead, they opted to construct enclosed habitats in the system’s asteroid belts and under the surface of the larger rocky planets. Like on Ceres the colonists retained the corporate style of government that had served their forebears fairly well.

After about a century of this arrangement dissatisfaction among the lower ranking employees spread towards the shareholding class. A bloody revolution followed, after which the revolutionaries distributed the seized shares in the Eridani Company equally among the employees, granting everyone a vote in company elections and a share of the profits. Roughly a generation later a group of managers started buying up shares from others.

The third such regime made contact with a probe from New Pallas, trade began almost immediately.

Tau Ceti

The second Vestan colony ship took over a century to reach its destination, the star Tau Ceti. Along the way two generations of crew were decanted from the ship’s bioprinters to replace their predecessors. While the final crew were genetically identical to those who had set out from Vesta their commitment to the ideology of the Society for the Preservation of Parahuman Species had wavered, and with the news of Terra’s destruction some suggested that perhaps the best way to avoid sharing that world’s fate would be to lose their advanced technology.

That would require them to give up cloning as a means of reproduction, however they were unwilling to allow reckless crossing of genelines so they added genetic markers to prevent different phenotypes from interbreeding. Fortunately, unlike the other colony ships they discovered a lush world that wasn’t too hostile to Terran life which they named Schwarzwelt after the dark colors of the local chlorophyll analogue. They then settled each “species” into different “clans” in different regions of the planet. The clans grew in population rapidly, bumping up against the borders designated at founding in less than a century. War broke out.

Clans rallied behind charismatic warrior-nobles and weaker clans swore oaths of fealty to stronger ones to save their own skins. These wars continued until contact with the first probe from the Centauri system, realizing that there was another civilization out there and that they were capable of interstellar travel the clan heads held a council to decide what to do about it. The majority ruled that they needed a single man to represent their world when the outsiders came in person, they elected King Hideo Fink of the feline clan as the official ruler of Tau Ceti.

Birth of the Federation

While the first manned starships with conversion drives were still traveling to their neighbors, scientists at a research base orbiting Proxima Centauri, the small red dwarf star that barely qualified as the third star of the Alpha Centauri system, made a breakthrough. Using a newly discovered form of exotic matter a wormhole could be pulled from the quantum foam of the universe and held open indefinitely. Once they successfully sent a laser through a pinprick-sized wormhole from Proxima to Secland, the New Pallas senate approved funding for the production of wormholes large enough to send materials through.

A very expensive experiment proved that wormholes larger in diameter than a micrometer could be catastrophically destabilized by proximity to large gravity wells. It was decided that no traversable wormhole could be placed closer to a star than the Oort Cloud, but even then the potential for shortening an interstellar voyage from decades to months was too exciting. Proxima Centauri was enclosed in a small Dyson sphere dedicated solely to producing the exotic matter for wormholes and just over a century after contact the first interstellar traversable wormhole between Proxima Centauri and Tau Ceti was ready, Epsilon Eridani followed suit. Commerce and communication between the three systems exploded, and conflict with them.

While interstellar war didn’t break out, there were many in both Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani who suspected that New Pallas intended to invade them through their wormholes. Before long both planetary governments were dealing with armed insurrections. New Pallas was all too glad to provide advanced weaponry and vehicles, especially on Schwarzwelt where the military was decentralized and entire clans or houses were rebelling. Eventually Pallene troops and warships were stationed in the two systems to defend Pallene interests.

Seeing tensions rise Grand Mayor Selkd de Argentum came up with an ingenious solution, an interstellar government composed of representatives from all three star systems, as well as any new systems that would be colonized in the future. That way, everyone could theoretically have a say in interstellar politics. While visiting Schwarzwelt in 1150 to promote his vision, Selkd was assassinated by a sniper.

Selkd was succeeded by his sister, Lirdrill, who ordered the sniper’s family estates leveled by orbital bombardment as an example to the others. The ruling houses of other clans that had rebelled were rounded up and stripped of their noble ranks, then imprisoned in stasis banks. She continued her brother’s vision of a united parahuman government, but centralized around Alpha Centauri and the office of the Praetor, which would be held by her house.

Wormholes took a lot of time and resources to set up while probes were reporting back dozens of exoplanets that were inhabitable or easily terraformed, so the senate on New Pallas had been debating whether to launch colony fleets before or after traversable wormholes arrived at the potential colonies. As Lirdrill solidified the Federation, she made an executive decision. Wormholes would be spaced anywhere from 20 to 50 light-years apart, depending on resources and stellar density, and the stars between them would be reachable only by ships traveling at 80% of the speed of light or slower. Since leukosynths and cryo-stasis had become mature technologies by then the decades of travel were deemed acceptable.

Even then, there was some trouble finding enough volunteers to fill the colony ships that were being built. After a few suggestions of using rebels as indentured labor the Memetic Quarantine and Contingency program was established. The thousands of rebels held in stasis were to be shipped off to marginally inhabitable “Outworlds” light-decades from the nearest wormhole, and to make sure they didn’t draw too much attention, without any technology more advanced than the most basic steam engines. It was hoped that eventually they’d become “civilized” and submit to the Federation, or die off.

But, there was a secondary purpose to the program. The machines that had destroyed Terra were still out there, and if the Destroyers were to notice the Federation growing under their noses, perhaps they’d overlook those small Outworlds without radio.

The Traders

With the vast distances between most inhabited systems trade opportunities were limited. Most star systems had enough raw materials locally that shipping them from another star without a wormhole was simply not cost-effective. While nanofabrication meant that most manufactured goods could be produced in a small warehouse, if not a garage. For the first few centuries of expansion the only goods that were worth shipping interstellar were in the form of digital data, and most of that could be handled by laser transmissions, and the occasional courier.

Just over two centuries after the Federation was established, a courier ship operated by a branch of House Argentum decided to stop off at an Outworld. The captain decided to land a shuttle near one city-state established by the unwilling colonists to see what they were up to.

The locals were wowed by the great flying machine and the crew, having forgotten their origins already. They offered tribute to the visiting immortals, foodstuffs, sculptures, and textiles. The crew decided to take some of the tributes with them, leaving some inconsequential trinkets of Federation technology which were quickly replaced by their on-board fabricators.

When the courier next made port at a Federation starbase they showed off the unique goods they’d acquired, many of which were purchased at exorbitant prices by bored oligarchs. The Outworld’s inhabitants were rapidly diverging culturally from their forebears, far faster than the leukosynth-using worlds of the Federation. Those simple couriers had found something valuable to the nearly post-scarcity Federation, novelty.

Many houses and companies commissioned their own Outworld trade freighters while the senate debated whether it was even legal to trade with the “barbarians.” Eventually it was determined that trade would be allowed; but no weapons, vehicles, communications, or nanotechnology were to be given to Outworlders. Small starships with industrial nanofabricators would set up shop over Outworlds for years at a time, fabbing trinkets made from space-age alloys and exchanging them for cloth made with alien fibers. Many of these traders became fabulously wealthy during the next few centuries as the Federation expanded outwards and established more and more Outworlds.

It was fun while it lasted.

The Return of the Destroyers

The Destroyers responsible for Terra’s demise had made occasional appearances in the next two millennia. Zeroing in on sources of radio transmissions with relativistic projectiles followed by hunter-seeker probes that would scour the surrounding system of life. But it seemed they hadn’t noticed, or didn’t care about the Federation at large.

Then astronomers in the Federal core noticed something. Sol, Terra’s sun, was dimming. A few disposable probes sent back horrific images, a Dyson sphere, and it was almost complete. With the energy of Sol the Destroyers could incinerate the core worlds at the speed of light! A secret panel of the senate met with the Praetor to decide what to do about this unthinkable prospect.

The Federal Guard’s fleets were assembled at Proxima Centauri and dispatched for Sol. Never before had Federation technology been tested against the Destroyers, and no one wanted to underestimate them, so the fleet was loaded with the most advanced weaponry they could muster.

It wasn’t enough.

Quantum ansible transmissions reported massive ships that maneuvered without visible reactions and accelerated to impossible speeds in seconds. The Federal Guard was slaughtered in short order, but before they died one ship managed to launch an experimental superweapon at Sol itself.

A strangelet bomb, filled with the same strange matter that converted baryonic matter into antimatter in conversion drives, with catalysts for self-replication. They spread across the star in a matter of days, triggering a series of detonations that tore the star and the incomplete Dyson sphere apart.

When word came that they had a potential nova carrying strangelets in their neighborhood the Federation’s elites abandoned the core worlds en masse. Fleeing through the wormholes at top speed. As the secret mission to Sol and its destructive results leaked everyone who could afford a ship followed suit, departing for distant worlds that they hoped could bring salvation.

Then, just before the nova’s wavefront reached Proxima, the wormhole network was collapsed to prevent it from spreading to the far colonies.

The Collapse

Every star system that had a direct link to the wormhole network found itself swarmed by refugees from the Core. The remnants of the Federal Guard struggled to maintain order as refugees clashed with natives. Many refugee fleets were forced to leave for other systems that were less sparsely populated, a few even attempted to invade Outworlds. Other fleets became nomads, passing through inhabited systems without slowing down and trading for or extorting supplies as they passed.

As unrest reached critical levels many governors activated failsafe programs embedded in every Federation citizen’s leukosynth implants, rendering the star system’s entire population mortal. Most such governors were torn apart by angry mobs. On other worlds the population voluntarily gave up advanced technology in hopes of hiding from the Destroyers.

Three hundred years later the dust has mostly settled. Few star systems are politically united, with individual planets and megastructures using everything from wooden carts to gravity-manipulating starships. The Federation is ancient history, and its technology treasure waiting to be discovered.

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

More Superman

At one point the treacherous Darseid had abducted Superman and effectively brainwashed the hero into believing he was Darkseid’s son and a general of Apokolips.  He led an assault on earth that was ultimately repelled by Lex Luthor and the United States Army.  Aided by Lois Lane, Superman was able to recover his true personality and  he defeated Darkseid.  

The damage to Superman’s reputation with Earth's populace proved quite difficult to repair. It would be some time before Superman could regain the people's trust entirely. In spite of this, he would continue his never-ending battle for truth and justice, although he would soon find that he would not need to continue it alone.  

Telepathically contacted by the Martian J’onn J’onzz, Superman came together with other great superheroes of Earth to fend off an alien invasion by the Imperium.  The heroes went on to form the Justice League and defended the world from all manner of threats.  After the Justice League had saved the world from being destroyed by the Thanagarian Armada it had seemed that Superman had finally earned back the people’s trust.  Nevertheless, factions within the government remained reticent over the great threat superheroes posed were they to ever go rogue.  And this paranoia resulted in the formation of Project Cadmus, a shadowy organization that cultivated contingency measures to neutralize Superman and his allies were they to act outside of national interests.      

Actors George Newbern and Tim Daly both provided the voice for Superman with the last son of Krypton first appearing in the premier episode of Superman: The Animated Series.  

[thanathicca]

Pathologic Fest Day 1: From the Other Side

Are AUs allowed on @pathologicfest ? Regardless, we are submitting an illustration of our 22nd century Thanatica AU, "imperare sibi maximum imperium est", anyway (ft. transfem Haruspex) :)

Image description is in alt text. News writing, as well as no text versions of the art, are under the cut.

The text:

(note, the fic itself may or may not have this version of the news - we will definitely edit it later)

Is this the end for Thanatica Labs?

THE CAPITAL, 1 OCTOBER 2165

Daniil Dankovsky, founder of Thanatica Laboratories and lead scientist of the first successful mind-uploading device AVA Project, has once again declined an offer of cooperation from a multinational company. The cooperation deal by Vector Tech, which would have netted Dankovsky a record XXX billion, would have Thanatica Labs give away their exclusive rights to the AVA blueprints and let the company build new AVA units with a tiered subscription program.

"We regret that the deal couldn’t be done," Mr. Telman, CEO of Vector Tech, has gone on record to say. "It’s a shame that Thanatica hoards all their progress under Dankovsky’s influence. Our company would have brought your AVA to the whole world! What kind of scientist are you?"

When requested for an interview, Dr. Dankovsky responded, “Thanatica has, and will always, stand with ethical practices. We are scientists who would not gate one’s life behind paywalls. The deal would have made a version of AVA with proprietary Vector Tech operating system, which has gone on record to sell people’s data to third parties, including intelligence agencies. Would you want data submitted the AVA, which would contain your most vulnerable memories, to be sold to the highest bidder? Would you want targeted advertisements in your brain? Moreover, the deal also mentioned using the subscription programs to access certain memories or even brain functions, which meant you could randomly forget the most important moments in your life, or even forget how to solve a crossword, just because you are a little short on money.”

Vector Tech has not responded to an interview request.

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Plague “Panacea” safety put into question

While the so-called “panacea” for the plague has been lab-tested for human consumption with 100% efficacy, the contents has so far eluded researchers. A scientist of Thanatica Laboratories has been suspected to be its discoverer.

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Thanatica founder indicted after siege

THE CAPITAL, 2166

A nation-wide warrant has been released for Thanatica Laboratories founder Daniil Dankovsky, 30, who is wanted by our Nation for unethical experimentation, medical negligence, and leaking classified documents from both governmental bodies and private companies.

Dankovsky has fled his laboratory in the Capital alongside his employees after the month-long siege of Thanatica, where he has been requested to reveal the contents of the so-called “panacea” of the plague. The creators of the “panacea” is also wanted for medical fraud and negligence, as well as rejecting government mandate to explain themselves in court, the Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Research and Development.

[tobiasdrake]

Man, revisiting Dragon Age: Origins 15 years later is a trip. I've recreated Fighter and started into the Human Noble origin, and Ferelden is certainly a curious nation.

The Landsmeet

Ferelden is really more of a federation than a kingdom, despite the existence of a monarchy. The "noble houses" are Alamarri tribes with centuries long relationships and grudges and conflicts between one another.

The monarchy has been around for four hundred years, and not unbroken.

The Landsmeet, where the tribes meet annually to workshop politics between them, has been around for three thousand years.

It's not hard to see why the Landsmeet has higher authority than the monarchy. Which is itself a weird feature of the Ferelden monarchy. The national identity of being Ferelden is weaker than the tribal identities of being Cousland or Howe or Guerrin.

The Alamarri tribes who would become Ferelden's "houses" have been hammering out their beefs with one another at the Landsmeet since before the Tevinter Imperium was founded. Of course it's more powerful than the monarchy. This kingdom is barely a blip on the map of Ferelden history.

The monarchy exists because of King Calenhad, who "united the tribes". Read: Conquered his way to forcing the tribes to bend the knee.

Teyrn Talk

In "Politics of Ferelden", it's noted that there used to be many Teyrns across Ferelden, great warlords whose military prowess unified multiple territories under them. But Calenhad's rise to power whittled the Teyrns down to a mere two: Gwaren and Highever. Under Calenhad, these two remaining Teyrns became noble ranks beneath the King but above the middle-rank Arls and lesser Banns.

This is why Loghain and Howe conspire to destroy Castle Cousland in the days leading up to the Battle of Ostagar. The Human Noble's father is the other Teyrn. Following the death of King Cailan, Teyrn Cousland is the only person in Ferelden's hierarchy that would be equal in rank to Loghain. By getting rid of Cousland, Queen Anora and Teyrn Loghain are the only authority figures left in the shaky alliance higher than an arl.

Anora is Loghain's daughter, but Cousland could push back against Loghain's misaimed plans for Ferelden's defense against the Blight impending Orlesian invasion.

What's especially ironic about this is that the Howes were actually pro-Orlesian during the Ferelden war for independence. They only jumped ship when they saw which way the wind was blowing. To protect Ferelden from the Orlesians, Loghain jumped into bed with Orlesian Imperialists.

Highever and Cousland/Howe Politics

Speaking of Highever, the Cousland rise to power actually mirrors Loghain's own. Originally, Highever was presided over by the Elstan family, cousins to the Howe family.

About 500-600 years ago (so, pre-monarchy), the Elstan ruler Conobar was murdered by "his wife Flemeth". Yes, that Flemeth. Morrigan has more to share on that topic. Conobar had no heirs or siblings and so Flemeth's slaying of him ended the Elstan bloodline and left Highever with no successor.

In the wake of the power vacuum Flemeth created, the captain of the guard stepped up and took control of Highever. Sarim Cousland rose from a high-ranking commoner soldier to ascended nobility, just like Loghain.

Cousland then broke off ties with the Howes of Amaranthine and declared Highever as an independent state. (Again, pre-monarchy.) Amaranthine and Highever went to war with one another for thirty years. And would remain in bitter conflict with one another all the way up to the Ferelden War for Independence, when the Howes stood with Orlais and the Couslands with Ferelden.

Until Loghain and Howe destroyed their bloodline in a truly ironic conspiracy to eliminate the political rivals to Loghain's coup and return Highever to the treacherous Howe lineage.

Post-Occupation Ferelden is a Political Shitshow

As of the time of Origins, it's been 30 years since King Maric and Loghain drove out the 76-year Orlesian annexation of Ferelden. And only 10 years since Orlais officially signed a peace treaty with Ferelden and said "War's done, no takebacksies." And Ferelden's not in good shape, politically.

Ferelden was already a struggling federation with pretenses of monarchy before Orlais. A region of warring clans barely held together with spit and duct tape by the idea of a mutual kingship, but who kinda hate each other's guts.

The war with Orlais brought an end to many of these families and left Ferelden's regions politically devastated, as well as divided. Loyalist clans hated Imperialist clans, Imperialist clans hated Loyalist clans, and everybody hated the new clans that arose to replace the dead lineages. The only thing keeping the alliance together was respect for independence war hero King Maric.

And now Maric's dead. Succeeded only by his son Cailan, and his two Teryns Loghain and Bryce. Until.

[dalekofchaos]

Context

Context for choice 3.

Here is what I mean about The New Republic and The First Order.

What happens after you win a war? How do you not make the same mistakes or become the thing you fought. What happens in a power vacuum? The New Republic should have been the dominant emerging power, and the Remnant should have been a small, secretive, unknown order, striking strategically from the Unknown Regions where they hid, and causing fear and panic to spread in the NR. After the Galactic Civil War, The New Republic commanders the Imperial Fleet and starts protecting systems who join the NR, all while chasing down and fighting any of the Remnants (Moffs, Warlords, Crime Lords, etc) who have grabbed power in the resulting vacuum. We could have seen an evolution of ships from Old Republic to Empire to NR ones. They could have renamed Star Destroyers into Star Defenders. Hell, they could have had a Republic of independent systems, each with their own sizable military, so that power isn’t centralized.

But no, instead of telling an interesting story, we are force fed the recycled poorly written rehashed Rebels vs Empire and the Rebels are made to be weaker than The First Order. The First Order are a terrorist movement, they should not be reigning after Hosnian Prime’s destruction, ESPECIALLY AFTER LOSING STARKILLER BASE!

Choice 4. Here is how I would give Kylo Ren motivation as to why Ben Solo fell and his main motivation as Kylo Ren.

Choice 6. I don't think there was absolutely no need for a Palpatine clone and eventually Palpatine himself(🙄) we all knew what was happening around the time this trilogy was being made. Trump. Base Snoke around the mango Mussolini and his lunatic fringe followers. An Alt-Right cult leader who cultivates the worst people imaginable. All The First Order needed to be was pointing out The New Republic brought the galaxy to an age of scum and villainy. A lawless state that usurped the rightful rulers that brought law and order. Basically "Make the Galaxy great again with Imperial Greatness"

You see, originally Lucas was going to make Palpatine JUST a politician and base him around Richard Nixon.

“George Lucas has spoken on various occasions of the way that the Nixon administration and the Vietnam war had an important influence on how he shaped the plot of the early films in the saga. The impact that these two events had an American in the 1970s started him thinking about the ways in which democracies can sale and how they deteriorating to dictatorships when corruption goes unchecked. He’s quoted as saying that Nixon - Who he viewed as having subverted the Senate and as acting an increasingly imperialistic way - what is the direct inspiration for Emperor Palpatine the supreme leader of the evil Empire in the first Star Wars trilogy”

So I don't see why they couldn't do something similar with the CLEAR FUCKING EVIL going on in the world at the time this trilogy was being made. No Sith master was needed.

In this scenario, I would call The First Order, The Imperium

Now you might have questions. What about the Stormtroopers and Kylo?

Stormtroopers? Don’t abduct kids, nationalize and recruit them willingly. Abducting children and training them to be Stormtroopers instantly made The First Order out to be cartoonishly evil from the start. So what do you do instead? Use propaganda. Nationalize them. Make them believe The Empire was right and convince them that the life of a Stormtrooper will help bring order in a chaotic galaxy. We’ve seen cults do something similar, Far Right Wing groups do it and we’ve seen Trump radicalize and nationalize white supremacists, so it’s not impossible for The First Order to do the logical thing.

Finn only leaves because he sees they are murdering unarmed civilians and chooses to leave. He is an example that it isn't too late to leave harmful fringe cult movements.

So how would Ben turn in this scenario? He's radicalized by Snoke. Ben starts hearing passionate speeches in the senate and Ben is moved. "I know he opposes my mother, but he's making a lot of sense" "He's right, we need to bring order to the galaxy" and Ben is radicalized by this Imperium movement and what he believes is Snoke's righteous cause. To Snoke, Ben represents everything great about the Empire. Snoke collects Sith Holocrons and uses the holocrons to turn Ben Solo into Kylo Ren.

In this scenario, I wouldn't redeem Ben. He is far too gone. He's committed atrocities in Snoke's name, for The Imperium and to bring order to the galaxy. While Finn represents those who could break away from Right Wing movements and Cults. Kylo Ren is far too gone, he's radicalized to the point where he's a die hard believer like Hux and Phasma and he's willing to fight and die for this indoctrination.

Choice 11. The Episode IX rewrite with Ben living and Reylo ending

Choice 12. The original plan for the Sequel Trilogy was to just get three young directors together to direct the Sequel Trilogy. It was supposed to be JJ, Rian and Colin Trevorrow, but Colin's IX was bad and his Jurassic World trilogy was terrible. So I would make either Matt Reves or Greta Gerwig as the director for Episode IX and ideally they would plan the trilogy out together instead of JJ setting up Mystery Boxes and expecting Rian and others open said mystery boxes and Rian subverting expectations.