#Isatunoll

[andarateia]

LYRIUM: SONG OF THEDAS

A millennia of history in two paragraphs. The truth about the Maker, elves, dwarves, Titans, and the Evanuris - and it's all thanks to lyrium, three little words, and one big song!

[fanfoolishness]

Isatunoll Long-Remembered

Lyrium has always held memory and music. What does a lyrium dagger recall throughout the ages?

(Yes, this is lyrium dagger POV, a fairy-tale perspective on Titans, dwarves, the doings of the Evanuris, and the events of Veilguard. Spoilers for all of Dragon Age, ~1000 words. Thanks to @terioncalling for the encouragement!)

---

There was a time before there was time, when all was whole and sung within a thousand thousand throats. Blood carried the Song of the Stone through beat and breath, and there was harmony resounded, echoing through the firmament and the very bones of the world. Isatunoll.

Then came wounds, bitter and jagged, leeching the blood into soil and spirit. A Faded world of shimmering spirits sent invaders in their ignorance. There were battles that heaved the mountains down, that ruptured the very earth, that caused fire and flood and pain. The pain reverberated through the Song, sour and foul, a discord shivering through the blood.

The stolen blood had other uses than weaving an entire people’s dreams. Once spilled it could create new bodies — or end those that it had raised and nourished. A spirit once Wisdom, now Pride, folded blood upon itself in layers shimmering and bright, until a blade was forged that sang with dreadful purpose.

The blade could sever.

The blade could sunder.

And Pride’s cruelty echoed through the firmament and the very bones of the world.

-

The blade was not alive. But nor was it dead. It was something unto itself, a mirror of what had come before, a prism to refract the future. Or to create it.

Pride was not its only master. Tyranny bore it for a time, casting Retribution -- before Benevolence -- into splintered shadow. The blade sang anew, echoing with the scattered refrain of the spirit’s shards, until Pride reclaimed his own and drew forth the fragments in his sorrow.

The blade hung at Pride’s side as an anchor, the great sundering of the Titans, the ending of Retribution, remembered in a faint and voiceless song. It did not let him forget. The weight of it would have destroyed a lesser spirit.

But Pride was one of the old dreamers of the world beyond, and his will was mighty, enough to fill his ears and heart with a music of his own that drowned out the silent screaming of the Titans. Vengeance came upon him, and he devised a plan to bring it forth.

The dagger sang again, binding a new world where all was shadowed and the voices of the world beyond made faint. It sent Pride to his knees, the dagger clattering beside him. 

The screams of Pride’s own people carried not the ancient melody of the Song, but it was a chorus still remembered.

-

Darkness twisted what once was pure and singing, and the blade roiled with the poisoned music of the Blight. It gleamed red in the shadowed halls, a perversion of what had come before.

It sang to a Child of the Titans in the wending deep, its music choked with retribution, with sundered dreams, with the follies of the proud. The Child listened with his heart unguarded, and the voices wove within his mind a song that could not be denied.

-

A city cast in ruins, smoke heavy on the air, stone broken like a Titan’s mind. The blade whined and hummed in its corruption, rippling in a prison of pulsing red. 

It slumbered in this frozen form until mortal hands freed it once again, until it traveled under guard and spell. Great magic wove within it and without. At last the red corruption was destroyed and anew it breathed in purest blue.

It recognized the hand that held the now-cleansed blade. Pride was not so easily evaded.

-

Ah.

There, familiar, the Song! Carried still in Child’s blood, if faint and near-forgotten: the ancient music, oneness, isatunoll! 

The dagger drank deeply of its own lifeblood, but the Child of the Stone was only mortal, and he could not bear the blade.

No matter; an echo still would linger, as of Retribution, as of sleeping Titans. The blade hummed, waiting to discharge its gifts, to remind the Children who they long ago had been.

-

A filthy hand upon the blade, marred and soulless. Mercifully the carrying was brief. 

The next hand, small and strong and reaching —

ISATUNOLL!

The dwarven blood unleashed, the song resounding, unlocking, reweaving — remembering —

Another hand upon the blade, but the music slowly faded, a silent song once more.

-

Resonance. Like met like, the amplitude increasing, the effect doubling, trebling. Pride’s touch on his enemy was light and masterful, deft weaving of remembrance. It sang in harmony with the fragment in the blade, a Child wise in his own way, an admixture that seemed real as real to one that would behold it.

-

The assassin’s hand hid a tremor, a rupture nearly imperceptible. A note soured in the distilled music of the blade. The demon the assassin carried twisted, straining, in its bonds of flesh.

The blow did not strike true.

-

God-blood now twice-stolen, draining from the wielder of the flesh, flowing into ancient soil like the sweetest rain. What was stolen, now reclaimed, fragments of the Titan-stone anointed in her blood  —

The blade flashed beneath a shrouded sun. Pride and his games again!

-

The enemy of an enemy was not a friend, but perhaps an ally. The blade danced between them, gifted freely.

Until bright and blighted Tyranny fell from his lofty throne, and the Veil shivered, shredded, ached to open.

Strange words, a tuneless verse that yet held meaning, many voices in the fray, fragments of Retribution and Benevolence. Pride’s tears fell upon the blade, no magic in them but what made them fall. His blood on the blade’s edge tasted of regret upon regret, a chorus all its own.

Pride’s hands trembled, the weight too much at last. In his blood a hint of Wisdom stirred and struggled. 

His enemy’s hands were merely mortal, but they were strong and certain, cradling the blade.

Blood and blade and bound again, the Veil renewed, the sundered dreams a soft motif instead of crushing melody. Like this, the blade could find a peace.  Like this, the blade could slumber.

Until someday the Titan-song was sung again, until the blade was at last unmade, until it could rejoin the Song in blood and blue.

Isatunoll.

[thedaswolves]

Harding's awakening ⚡

[therookerydatv]

Major Spoiler warning for the ending of Veilguard

But...I think they really had a missed opportunity, in killing off Harding or Davrin at the penultimate mission, they really should've kept them both alive(With Hardingwhich you send her to lead the second team, because Titan Magic, somehow Harding reacting negatively to the creation of the Red Lyrium Blade would shock Ghilinain long enough for her let go of Lucanis and then he attacks, and then Harding seemingly is injured and lost(she is captured just like your second party member choice. This causes her to be Blighted being a mini boss you fight and then free, she is not blighted but was instead responding in pure rage to anything and everything and then she and say Neve help you out against Elgarnan in the last leg, because Elgarnan guess tries to will the Blight back and is failing at it.

So then when confronting Solas, and redeeming him, he says he will go to soothe the Titans pain. Here Lace can offer herself up to go and soothe it, in completing her personal quest with either rage or calm, she says she can best understand their pain and needs to be the one to go and do this. Thus fulfilling her Destiny in typical Chantry fashion, chants a bit of the chant to herself.

Solas being long lived is made to promise her to find a way to bring the Veil down safely if it needs to come down one day, and she'll work on soothing the Titans.

There, that's my ending.

In fact, even if you choose Davrin, so long as you have him as a Hero of The Veilguard Status, then he lives, and Harding gets captured because Ghilinain registers her as the bigger threat.

Like, who else but Harding, the voice of the Titans, not a Deep road Dwarf, but a Surfacer, one entirely disconnected from the mainstream culture of Orzammar Dwarves and Surfacer Castes and Merchants. She was a homely farm girl growing up as the one dwarf in a human village, and she joined up because she wanted to protect her home. Plus with all the elf root she grows, she wants to soothe pain, and if need be taken out the thing or person causing the pain. So either in rage or calm, she still goes to soothe the Titans. The only thing that would change is her tone towards Solas.

[sidneysussex]

Toward a unifying theory of the blight and its effects

In this paper, we present a unifying theory of the blight that positions it as a corruption of the ancient isatunoll, or collective hivemind consciousness, of the Titans and their descendants. We propose that this isatunoll, sundered from the Titans and cast into the Fade by the Evanuris and then further altered to incorporate the Taint, constitutes the blight as it is known today. Additionally, we propose that the Joining ritual of the Order of the Grey Wardens serves to inoculate those who survive it against further corruption by the Taint via a sympathetic bond with the archetypal isatunoll. Finally, we provide reasoning to suggest that the Joining can only be survived by those with latent genetic heritage derived from the Titans themselves, whether directly (as with the dwarva) or via the ancient elvhen people who constructed physical bodies from lyrium, the blood of the Titans.

Download the PDF version here.

Not a story, just a full-on academic paper on the blight by @aquamonstra, Antoine, Evka, and yours truly. Because why not, I guess?

[aquamonstra]

sooooo @sidneysussex and I did a thing....

Prompted by the question of "What EXACTLY is the success condition of the Joining, and why is the survival rate so low?" I fell DEEP down the DA research rabbit hole and developed this theory based off in-world lore/evidence and real, natural world comparisons.

But because I'm a disaster when it comes to academia and its practices, the BRILLIANT @sidneysussex swooped in and saved my ass, molding my rough ramblings into this BEAUTIFUL AND PROFESSIONALLY FORMATTED paper 😍

Without further ado, please enjoy possibly the driest Dragon Age publication ever 😅

Toward a unifying theory of the blight and its effects

In this paper, we present a unifying theory of the blight that positions it as a corruption of the ancient isatunoll, or collective hivemind consciousness, of the Titans and their descendants. We propose that this isatunoll, sundered from the Titans and cast into the Fade by the Evanuris and then further altered to incorporate the Taint, constitutes the blight as it is known today. Additionally, we propose that the Joining ritual of the Order of the Grey Wardens serves to inoculate those who survive it against further corruption by the Taint via a sympathetic bond with the archetypal isatunoll. Finally, we provide reasoning to suggest that the Joining can only be survived by those with latent genetic heritage derived from the Titans themselves, whether directly (as with the dwarva) or via the ancient elvhen people who constructed physical bodies from lyrium, the blood of the Titans.

Download the PDF version here

ao3 link

[falcatas]

Because I am doing nothing important today I was thinking of the word "Isatunoll" and a possible Spanish translation. What if we use a reflexive impersonal construction? For instance " Se es", o "Se existe". Couldn't it be right?

[royalich]

I am. We are.

[the-northern-continent]

Checking in to confirm that I did indeed play a dwarf, and wowee was it the right choice. The fun thing about playing a dwarven Rook is that you, the player, get to yell “oh the Veil is a wound inflicted on this world? It must be healed??” in increasingly louder and more sarcastic tones as the game progresses.

My current plan for Veilguard is to play a dwarf, because I can just smell the titan drama on the horizon.

That being said, if I peek at the vashoth options and see the word “Ben-Hassrath” on ANY of the backgrounds, I will be picking that so fast your head will spin. Sorry Thedas, you’re about to have two vashoth heroes in a row. Aban aqun, motherfuckers.

[vigilskept]

datv where everything is the same but u get to play as lace harding. hit post.

[liaragaming]

Me sitting here and realizing the reason Merrill's eluvian doesn't work is because June split a lyrium crystal and put a half in each eluvian.

Merrill's eluvian doesn't have another half.

BUT

somehow Solas took one eluvian and make it connect to all of the others...

so technically... Merrill should be able to do the same???? 🤷🤷🤷

[thedivinelights]

I DID NOT PLAN THIS

I was making my Games Design Document for uni and I just realised the name of the game I was making-

I SWEAR I DID NOT PLAY DRAGON AGE BEFORE MAKING THIS

@rom-e-o

[doriansbutt]

Flynn: say the magic word

Harding: Isatunoll

Flynn: 😩💦

[hipandhorrific]

Does my Rook know that I love him? That I care him? That I'd rip Thedas part for him?????

[childofthestone]

elves fleeing the ruined city of arlathan and being welcomed with open arms into cad'halash thaig. the very spirits that stole the lyrium from their gods and used their newfound bodies to tranquilize them, and yet the dwarves said "come to us, we will shelter you". dwarves and elves alike being destroyed by kal-sharok so as to not jeopardize their alliance with the tevinter imperium. somewhere in cad'halash thaig a dwarf and an elf were holding one another when they died. ir sa tel'nal. isatunoll.

[merrinla]

DATV - FINAL BATTLE CUT CONTENT

What changed during the fight with the final boss. The Archdemon was supposed to die from a cannon shot in the Archon's Palace. Bellara or Neve would boost the cannon with the red lyrium the Venatori had pumped into them. Or Emmrich would cast enchantments on it. Solas didn't turn into a wolf, he was holding back a portal of blight. The wolf was his beast, which was supposed to be a distraction. Rook meanwhile fought the demons, and then Elgar'nan, who took on different forms of Pride, Envy, and Rage. There were more banters during the fight. I wouldn't say these dialogues are very diverse. But if someone wants to read it, here it is.

Soals: Rook. Our only chance now is to work together! Rook: Really? While you drown the world in demons? Soals: If you recover the dagger, I will do what I can to stop Elgar'nan! Soals: I must hold back the blight! My wolf will distract Elgar'nan while you take the dragon!

Soals: Rook, I will hold the portal as best I can!

Elgar'nan: The Dread Wolf? Elgar'nan: You cannot stop me! You never could! Soals: No! Elgar'nan: Yes! The portal opens! Feel the true power of the blight, Fen'Harel! Soals: You will not bring your poison into this world!

Rook: Let's move. As long as any of us are still alive, nothing gets to Bellara/Neve! Emmrich: We'll protect Bellara, no matter the cost! Lucanis: We'll give Bellara/Neve the time she needs! Neve: For Bel. Whatever it takes! Taash: For Bellara/Neve! Bellara: We'll keep you safe, Neve! Emmrich: We'll shield Neve, come what may! Harding: We've got her back! Lucanis: Just give me something I can kill! (if romance with Neve)

After the fight with the demons

Bellara: The cannon is ready and targeting the Archdemon! The firing panel should be nearby. Neve: Cannon's ready, and the Archdemon's in sight! The firing panel should be close. Emmrich: The cannon is ready and aimed at the Archdemon! The activation panel should be nearby.

Bellara: The mechanism for firing the cannon must have gotten damaged in the fight! Davrin: The mechanism to fire the cannon broke during the fight! Harding: The firing mechanism was damaged in the fight! Lucanis: The cannon must have been damaged. Neve: The firing mechanism—it got damaged in the fight! Taash: The demons broke the thing that fires the cannon!

Rook: Bellara/Neve/Emmrich, the firing panel's damaged. Is there any other way to fire the cannon? Bellara: Let me see.... Yes, there's a manual firing mechanism, but it's all the way over on the Archon's throne! Neve: Damn it. Wait—there's a manual firing mechanism, but it's over on the Archon's throne! Emmrich: Let me—Yes! A manual firing mechanism, over on the Archon's throne!

Solas: Rook, I cannot reach the mechanism while keeping the portal closed, but I can make you a path! Rook: Appreciate it.

Rook: Crystal's down there. Let's move!

Elgar'nan: Bear witness, mortals, to the power of a god. Bellara: Still not a god! Davrin: I haven't been impressed so far! Emmrich: History will record your fall here! Lucanis: Do you ever shut up? Neve: (Laughs) You think a speech will impress me? Taash: You talk too much! And your dragon is ugly! Elgarnan: You cannot harm me. All you can do is flee. Davrin: I've got a few moves left! They all end with you dead! Emmrich: Your fellow god thought so as well! Harding: This is for the Titans! Isatunoll! Harding: It is no longer your time, it is ours! For the Titans! For the dwarves! Isatunoll! Lucanis: We'll see about that. Neve: I run toward disaster. Bad habit! Taash: Davrin/Harding wouldn't give up! Neither will I! Taash: Lace is gone because of you! (if romance with Harding) Elgarnan: You will fail. You will fall. And then you will submit. Bellara: The elves will never bow to you again! Davrin: Wardens don't know how to do that! We fight to the end Emmrich: Neither the living nor the dead shall ever bow to you again! Harding: I am the memory of my ancestors. I am the heart of the Titan. I will never submit! Harding: I am the child of the Titans, and it is you who will fall! Neve: Not my style! Taash: You're not even that tall! Lucanis: Say that again when my knife is in your back.

Lucanis' last line gives the vibes of his narrative sketches.

Elgar'nan: You cannot win! Elgar'nan: I am your god! Elgar'nan: This world is mine! Elgar'nan: While my dragon-thrall lives, I am invulnerable. Yet still you fight. Pathetic. (ingame line) Rook: We killed an Archdemon at Weisshaupt, and we saved the Dalish at Arlathan. Rook: I don't need thralls. I've got a team. Rook: That was enough to take down Ghilan'nain, and it's enough to take down you.

Elgar'nan turns into Pride

Elgar'nan: This is my moment of triumph. Nothing shall interfere with the dawn of my empire! Bellara: What is this? It's more than just a demon! Davrin: What is this thing? Has he got a demon impersonating him? Harding: What is this thing? Did he force his form onto a demon? Lucanis: What the—? Is a demon impersonating him? Neve: What is this thing? Not a demon impersonating him? Taash: What is this vashedan? Has he got a demon impersonating him? Lucanis: This is no demon. This is Elgar'nan's will. Bellara/Harding: It's not a demon. It's a manifestation of Elgar'nan's will! Neve: It's not a demon. It's Elgar'nan's will—a full manifestation of it! Taash: It's not a demon! It's his feelings or some crap! Emmrich: This is no spirit. It's a manifestation of Elgar'nan's will!

Rook: Keep him off Bellara/Neve!

Reaction to Pride v.0.1 Taash: This thing's tougher than a regular demon! Bellara: That demon's going to be tricky! Davrin: That's one tough demon! Lucanis: This demon is not going down easy. Harding: This one's a lot! Why isn't it down yet? Neve: This demon's a damn pain! Harding: It's not a normal demon! It's Elgar'nan's will, in physical form! Emmrich: This isn't a mere spirit of pride, but a manifestation of Elgar'nan's will! Taash: I don't think it's just a demon! It's Elgar'nan's feelings or something! Neve: It's not your typical demon! It's a manifestation of Elgar'nan's will! Lucanis: This is not just any pride. This is Elgar'nan's pride. Bellara: Not just a demon! It's a manifestation of Elgar'nan's will!

Rook: Bellara/Emmrich/Neve? Elgar'nan's taking a personal interest in the crystal. We might be a minute. Emmrich: I'll ready the cannon while you see them off! Neve: You get that handled. I'll get us a cannon! Bellara: You can do it. I'll get the cannon ready!

Elgar'nan turns into Envy

Rook: Right. We got him. Elgar'nan: I am rulership. I am authority unchecked over all the sun touches! None who live will oppose me! Rook: Here he comes again! Elgar'nan: All who serve me are extensions of my will. My power is manifest across this world... while you stand alone.

Elgar'nan tries to mindcontrol Rook

Elgar'nan: "Goodbye, Assan." The final words of the elf who sacrificed himself for your failure. (in this version, Assan survived) Elgar'nan: "Tell my ma I love her." The final words of the dwarf who sacrificed herself for your failure. Rook: Oh, you really wanna do this? Rook: "Elgar'nan. I had such plans." Ghilan'nain's never gonna finish those plans, is she? Rook: She died a failure, because Harding/Davrin chose to give her/his life like a damn hero. Rook: And you're not saying anything about Bellara/Neve, are you? Because we got her back.

Elgar'nan: Empty words from a mortal who was little more than the Dread Wolf's tool. Rook: Yeah, I got played. And then my friends were there to help. Rook: But you have no friends. All you can send against me are copies of yourself, because you have nobody. Rook: And when we're done with you, you're gonna die alone. Elgar'nan: (Roars in anger)

Elgar'nan: (Straining) You will kneel! Rook: (Straining) Not today, and not to you!

Rook back

Bellara/Davrin/Emmrich/Harding: Rook, you're back! Are you all right? Taash: Rook! You good? Neve: Rook—Trouble! Are you all right? (romance line) Neve: Rook—you're back! Everything good? Rook: Never better. Neve: I'm done with his mind games! We're ending this. Neve: You don't give up, do you? So let's finish this! (romance line) Neve: Good! Now let's kick him out of Minrathous—and the rest of Thedas, too! Bellara/Davrin/Harding: Then let's finish this! Taash: Good! Now let's kick his ass! Lucanis: Then let's finish this bastard. I have a contract to fulfill.

Bellara: How's it going down there? I can't finish with the cannon 'til you destroy that crystal! Neve: Rook? Hate to bother you, but I can't do much with the cannon until that crystal's destroyed. Emmrich: Are you all right, Rook? I can't do anything with the cannon until you've destroyed that crystal. Rook: Soon as we're done with Elgar'nan!

Elgar'nan turns into Rage

Elgar'nan: I am fire and darkness! If you will not bow, you will burn!

Bellara: This feels like a lot of manifestations of will for one person! God. Whatever. Davrin: Oh, come on—how many forms does this guy have? Harding: How many of these shapes does he have? Lucanis: Mierda. How many shapes does he have? Neve: Another side of Elgar'nan—well isn't he charming! Taash: How many damn different shapes does this asshole have?

Solas: Rook! I cannot hold the portal much longer! Rook: Hey! You wanted this fight! Don't you dare give up on me now!

Bellara: Now! Take him down! Davrin/Emmrich/Lucanis: Now! Finish him off! Harding: Now! Finish it! Neve: Now's your shot! Take it! Taash: There! Take that asshole down!

Rook: Solas! We've got the dagger, but we still need to kill the Archdemon!

Solas: Rook! Here! Solas: With my power, you can stand against him!

Post fight

Bellara: Okay! Destroy the crystal before Elgar'nan returns! Emmrich: Quickly! Destroy the crystal before Elgar'nan returns! Harding: Get the crystal before Elgar'nan can come back! Lucanis: Now! Smash the crystal before we get more trouble! Neve: Quick! Destroy the crystal before he comes back. Taash: Come on! Destroy that vashedan crystal before that vashedan elven god comes back!

Crystal broken

Rook: Crystal's shattered! Bellara: Perfect! I'm finishing with the cannon. Just give me a minute! Neve: Knew you had it covered! I've almost got it. One minute! Emmrich: Perfect! I've nearly aligned all the enchantments. One more minute!

Rook: Solas! It's time! Solas: Ready when you are, Rook!

Solas: Elgar'nan! Elgar'nan: Nothing is over. I am eternal. You are an insect. Solas: Surrender now, and this insect will let you live. Elgar'nan: You cannot kill me. You cannot even hurt me. And yet you expect me to yield. Solas: No. Solas: I expect you to gloat. Solas: I was just the distraction.

Bellara: (Grunts with effort) Come on... Neve: (Grunts with effort) Damn it! Come on... Bellara/Neve: Almost got it... Bellara/Neve: (Final scream of effort) Bellara/Neve: (Breathing hard) Rook, the cannon's ready! The firing control is on the Archon's throne! Rook: Got it! before the shot Bellara: The Dread Wolf won! Neve: It's the only shot. Neve: I'll set the dogs on you!